Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Encyclopedia
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (officially abbreviated as WAR) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game
based on Games Workshop
's Warhammer Fantasy
setting. It was developed by Mythic Entertainment
and simultaneously released in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand on September 18, 2008. The game revolves around the continual worldwide conflict that the Warhammer Fantasy setting is known for, and the game is geared toward ongoing, constant war laced with dark humour.
Another Warhammer Online game, titled Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes, was a free-to-play
release.
(RvR) combat system, originally developed in Dark Age of Camelot
. This takes place within three different racial pairings: Dwarfs vs. Greenskins, Empire vs. Chaos, and High Elves vs. Dark Elves. Although there are only two races per pairing, players may travel to either of the other two pairings to help fight with their friends and allies. There are four types of RvR combat: Skirmishes (random world encounters), Battlefields (objective-driven battles in RvR-specific areas), Scenarios (instanced, point-based battles against the opposing faction), and Campaigns (invading enemy lands and capital cities). RvR contribution includes both Player vs. Player (PvP
) combat and (to a lesser extent) Player vs. Environment (PvE) quests so that you can assist your realm in their victory, regardless of preferred play-style.
All activities in WAR contribute to the campaign, as it is the primary focus of the game. Each of the aforementioned activities generate Victory Points (VP) which measure a realm's progress in capturing a zone. When one realm reaches a designated amount of Victory Points in a particular zone, that zone falls under their control and the war pushes deeper into enemy territory. This back and forth struggle for zone control continues until one side holds two racial pairings, and the attacking side may sack, loot, and pillage the enemy's capital city. The capture of a capital city is the pinnacle objective of the campaign. Once a capital city is taken, the attackers are given a period time to loot the city. When this period expires, the defeated players receive increasing support from NPC
guards until they are able to force the attackers out of their city and close the gates. At this point the campaign then begins anew, restarting the cycle.
Mythic also prevents the ganking of new players by more experienced players. For example, in Scenarios, low-level players may be boosted to an average level of play to ensure a more level playing field. Also, if a higher-ranked player enters an RvR zone specifically designated for lower level characters, they will be penalized by being temporarily transformed into a chicken
. The lower-level players within those areas can then ignore the higher level player, or dispatch the chicken with one blow.
WAR features a "Tome of Knowledge" (ToK) that is an extension upon similar mechanisms in many other MMOs. The ToK is a multi-purpose reference tool that is designed to provide the player with a great deal of information about the game world. It is also meant to serve as a reduction in the need for players to feel like they have to rely upon third-party sources of information pertaining to the game.
(RvR) game with two factions: Order and Destruction. Each faction contains three separate armies, each of which is further broken down into four career choices.
Empire
– The Order of the Griffon is the Empire army involved in WAR, formed by Emperor Karl Franz with the blessing of the Church of Sigmar
, the Colleges of Magic and the Reiksguard. The Order is primarily made up of knights, warrior priests of Sigmar and wizards charged with defending the realm, and are answerable only to the Emperor himself.
High Elves – In WAR, high elf characters are part of an army known as the Shining Guard, under the command of the legendary warrior Prince Tyrion. They were tasked with defending Ulthuan while the Phoenix King and his army fights alongside the Empire.
Chaos
– All Chaos players are affiliated to Tzeentch, as that is the patron deity of the Chaos force in WAR – the Raven Host. These are Tzeentch's most devoted servants, and its leader Tchar'zanek is one of the Lord of Magic's Chosen. Mainly these humans come from Norsca
.
Dark Elves
– All Dark Elf players in WAR are members of House Uthorin, one of the noble families of Naggaroth. Their leader, Lord Uthorin, is a master of intrigue and has his sights set on Malekith's throne. But the Witch King has plans of his own.
elements. In this way, the careers are given variety and avoid being simple reiterations of common archetypes.
There are specialization within careers, based on career mastery lines. This allows for more variation between characters of the same career.
Most careers have the option to play as either a male or female character. However, some careers such as the Witch Elf are only able to be played as one gender (female, in this case). By contrast, the Greenskins (Orcs and Goblins) are genderless, though masculine in appearance.
for recoloring armor and accessories. Players are able to decorate themselves with trophies, such as the heads of fallen enemies, which are equipped and displayed at various points on the character model. Other forms of customization include Tactics (customizable sets of bonuses that players can adjust while out of combat), as well as Morale Abilities (increasingly powerful abilities that become available as morale is generated during the course of battle). Customizable armor and visual guild
heraldry
also aid in allowing a player to make their character visually unique.
In addition to visual character customization, Warhammer features an achievement system, similar to that of Steam. As achievements are unlocked, players may apply custom titles that appear beneath their names.
, a feature that is designed to prevent players from moving through other player characters. This feature works on enemy units as well as friendly units that are flagged for RvR combat. Collision detection enhances the role played by heavily armored
characters known as "tanks
", as it helps them become far more efficient at holding choke points and protecting weaker players in their group such as healers and casters.
Now there are four servers available to American, European and Oceanian players : two North-American Core and two European Core servers. The other servers have been shut down or merged into the currently existing servers due to underpopulation and merged with remaining servers.
. The project was officially canceled in June 2004 when Games Workshop determined that the roll-out costs would be too high. However, work on the game never actually stopped as Climax Online continued the project using their own funds until the company reported in late 2004 that the Warhammer Online project was shut down due to difficulty in securing a publishing agreement.
With the license available again, Games Workshop
was approached by Mythic Entertainment, who were interested in acquiring the license and starting a new project from scratch. A long-standing relationship between several Games Workshop managers and the CEO
of Mythic Mark Jacobs
ensured that a deal was quickly reached. The Warhammer Online license was acquired by Mythic on May 18, 2005. Mythic would soon cancel its original follow-up project Imperator Online after gaining the Warhammer License.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is not purely derived from either Warhammer Fantasy Battles or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
or any other source alone, but rather from the Warhammer Fantasy universe as a whole.
Though Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is being developed by Mythic Entertainment
, Games Workshop
is also involved with the ongoing development of the project. Their role is not only to ensure that the project remains true to the Warhammer Fantasy IP
, but also to work with Mythic to allow for the appropriate development and extension of the IP as necessitated for the MMO
. Mythic has previously created MMOs
, including Dark Age of Camelot
.
On July 30, 2009, Mythic Entertainment announced that Warhammer Online was being ported to the Mac OS X
platform in the fall of 2009, with a beta version becoming available immediately. Like other Electronic Arts
Mac games, Warhammer Online for Mac utilizes Cider technology by TransGaming Technologies
.
The official website features a list of dedicated fansites which allow them to interact with the community in addition to their own official forums. The unofficial online community includes blogs, webcomics, forum/message boards, chat channels, wikis, and information databases.
During the development of Warhammer Online, Mythic featured a video blog
of Creative Director Paul Barnett
. These videos gave the viewer an insight into the work that went on behind the scenes of WAR, often showcasing development screens and concept art for the game. Mythic also released "Development Diaries" from time to time, meant to give readers a deeper look into the ongoing development of WAR.
As of September 30, 2008, WAR had sold 1.2 million copies and had 800,000 registered users.
As of October 10, 2008, Mythic Entertainment announced that 750,000 people were playing Warhammer Online.
As of December 31, 2008, the number of active WAR subscribers had decreased to "over 300,000 paying subscribers in North America and Europe."
As of May 5, 2009, Electronic Arts
executives confirmed in an investor conference that they have 300,000 subscribers as of the end of March 2009, shortly after the company reported a loss of $1.08 billion in the financial year for 2009. Consequently, the number of servers was drastically reduced in order to consolidate the remaining population. The total number of servers was reduced to 13 and the number of role-playing
servers was reduced to 1.
Since this date, several servers were stopped, particularly in Europe, and there remained only 9 servers : 4 in the USA and 5 in Europe (including 2 in German & 1 in French).
As of February 9, 2011, 2 other U.S. Servers and 1 German server have been removed, leaving a total of 6 servers worldwide (2 in the US, 4 in Europe).
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
based on Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
's Warhammer Fantasy
Warhammer Fantasy (setting)
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...
setting. It was developed by Mythic Entertainment
Mythic Entertainment
BioWare Mythic is a computer game developer in Fairfax, Virginia which is most widely recognized for developing the 2001 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Dark Age of Camelot...
and simultaneously released in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand on September 18, 2008. The game revolves around the continual worldwide conflict that the Warhammer Fantasy setting is known for, and the game is geared toward ongoing, constant war laced with dark humour.
Another Warhammer Online game, titled Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes, was a free-to-play
Free-to-play
Free-to-play refers to any video game that has the option of allowing its players to play without paying. The model was first popularly used in early massively multiplayer online games targeted towards casual gamers, before finding wider adoption among games released by major video game...
release.
Gameplay
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning features Mythic's Realm versus RealmRealm versus Realm
Realm versus Realm is a type of Player versus Player gameplay in Massively multiplayer online role-playing games where the player base is divided over multiple preset realms that fight each other over game assets...
(RvR) combat system, originally developed in Dark Age of Camelot
Dark Age of Camelot
Dark Age of Camelot is a 3D medieval fantasy MMORPG, released on October 10 2001 in North America and in Europe shortly after through it's partner GOA. It is still running today recently celebrating its 10th anniversary....
. This takes place within three different racial pairings: Dwarfs vs. Greenskins, Empire vs. Chaos, and High Elves vs. Dark Elves. Although there are only two races per pairing, players may travel to either of the other two pairings to help fight with their friends and allies. There are four types of RvR combat: Skirmishes (random world encounters), Battlefields (objective-driven battles in RvR-specific areas), Scenarios (instanced, point-based battles against the opposing faction), and Campaigns (invading enemy lands and capital cities). RvR contribution includes both Player vs. Player (PvP
Player versus player
Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment...
) combat and (to a lesser extent) Player vs. Environment (PvE) quests so that you can assist your realm in their victory, regardless of preferred play-style.
All activities in WAR contribute to the campaign, as it is the primary focus of the game. Each of the aforementioned activities generate Victory Points (VP) which measure a realm's progress in capturing a zone. When one realm reaches a designated amount of Victory Points in a particular zone, that zone falls under their control and the war pushes deeper into enemy territory. This back and forth struggle for zone control continues until one side holds two racial pairings, and the attacking side may sack, loot, and pillage the enemy's capital city. The capture of a capital city is the pinnacle objective of the campaign. Once a capital city is taken, the attackers are given a period time to loot the city. When this period expires, the defeated players receive increasing support from NPC
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
guards until they are able to force the attackers out of their city and close the gates. At this point the campaign then begins anew, restarting the cycle.
Mythic also prevents the ganking of new players by more experienced players. For example, in Scenarios, low-level players may be boosted to an average level of play to ensure a more level playing field. Also, if a higher-ranked player enters an RvR zone specifically designated for lower level characters, they will be penalized by being temporarily transformed into a chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
. The lower-level players within those areas can then ignore the higher level player, or dispatch the chicken with one blow.
WAR features a "Tome of Knowledge" (ToK) that is an extension upon similar mechanisms in many other MMOs. The ToK is a multi-purpose reference tool that is designed to provide the player with a great deal of information about the game world. It is also meant to serve as a reduction in the need for players to feel like they have to rely upon third-party sources of information pertaining to the game.
Armies
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is a Realm versus RealmRealm versus Realm
Realm versus Realm is a type of Player versus Player gameplay in Massively multiplayer online role-playing games where the player base is divided over multiple preset realms that fight each other over game assets...
(RvR) game with two factions: Order and Destruction. Each faction contains three separate armies, each of which is further broken down into four career choices.
Armies of Order
Dwarfs – The army of the Dwarfs in WAR is known as the Oathbearers, named because of their oath of allegiance to the High King. Their duty was to find necessary materials in the most dangerous places in the world, requiring exceptional Dwarves to undertake such a task.Empire
The Empire (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Empire is one of the human political factions and armies, and is featured in many games and novels. In terms of location, language, culture, and society, it bears a strong resemblance to the Holy Roman Empire...
– The Order of the Griffon is the Empire army involved in WAR, formed by Emperor Karl Franz with the blessing of the Church of Sigmar
Sigmar
Sigmar Heldenhammer is a fictional deity in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. He is the patron deity of The Empire. Before he became a god, Sigmar was a man, albeit an exceptional, perhaps even superhuman one...
, the Colleges of Magic and the Reiksguard. The Order is primarily made up of knights, warrior priests of Sigmar and wizards charged with defending the realm, and are answerable only to the Emperor himself.
High Elves – In WAR, high elf characters are part of an army known as the Shining Guard, under the command of the legendary warrior Prince Tyrion. They were tasked with defending Ulthuan while the Phoenix King and his army fights alongside the Empire.
Armies of Destruction
Greenskins (Orcs and Goblins) – The Greenskins are part of the Bloody Sun Boyz, led by the Black Orc Grumlok and his Goblin Shaman Gazbag. Their war with their old enemies, the Dwarfs, was manipulated by the Witch King Malekith. His intention was to start a war between the Greenskins and Dwarfs so that the Dwarfs could not come to the aid of the Empire, who would be forced to call upon the armies of the Phoenix King for aid – thus leaving Ulthuan ripe for the taking.Chaos
Chaos (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a different timespace, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy...
– All Chaos players are affiliated to Tzeentch, as that is the patron deity of the Chaos force in WAR – the Raven Host. These are Tzeentch's most devoted servants, and its leader Tchar'zanek is one of the Lord of Magic's Chosen. Mainly these humans come from Norsca
Norsca
Norsca is a fictional place in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy world setting. It is analogous in position within the "Old World" to Scandinavia and its human occupants, the "Norse", are a fantasy version of the Norse peoples ....
.
Dark Elves
Dark Elves (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Dark Elves are a race of harsh, warlike and vicious Elves. They are also known as the Druchii in most Warhammer fiction books. They cruel, sadistic raiders with much disdain for all other races, especially their lighter kindred the High...
– All Dark Elf players in WAR are members of House Uthorin, one of the noble families of Naggaroth. Their leader, Lord Uthorin, is a master of intrigue and has his sights set on Malekith's throne. But the Witch King has plans of his own.
Skaven
A new "expansion" type feature released in 2010 lets you play in a skaven skin during tier 4 oRvR.Careers
Each of the careers (classes) in Warhammer Online conform to an archetype role. For example, the Warrior Priest is an archetypal support or healer career, though he also has many melee DPSDamage per second
Damage per second is a term used with computer games to describe the average rate of damage inflicted over time. The term is especially common in massively multiplayer online role-playing games and is a key aspect of theorycraft...
elements. In this way, the careers are given variety and avoid being simple reiterations of common archetypes.
There are specialization within careers, based on career mastery lines. This allows for more variation between characters of the same career.
Most careers have the option to play as either a male or female character. However, some careers such as the Witch Elf are only able to be played as one gender (female, in this case). By contrast, the Greenskins (Orcs and Goblins) are genderless, though masculine in appearance.
| Armies | Tank | Melee DPS | Ranged DPS | Healer/Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarfs Dwarf (Warhammer) In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Dwarfs are a race of short, stout humanoids very similar to the dwarves of Middle-Earth and the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. Dwarfs in the Warhammer setting are proud warriors highly driven by honor.-Homeland:Dwarfs reside mainly... |
Ironbreaker | Slayer (Male Only) | Engineer | Runepriest |
| The Empire The Empire (Warhammer) In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Empire is one of the human political factions and armies, and is featured in many games and novels. In terms of location, language, culture, and society, it bears a strong resemblance to the Holy Roman Empire... |
Knight of the Blazing Sun | Witch Hunter | Bright Wizard | Warrior Priest |
| High Elves | Swordmaster | White Lion | Shadow Warrior | Archmage |
| Greenskins | Black Orc | Choppa | Goblin Squig Herder | Goblin Shaman |
| Chaos Chaos (Warhammer) In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a different timespace, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy... |
Chosen (Male Only) | Marauder (Male Only) | Magus | Zealot |
| Dark Elves Dark Elves (Warhammer) In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Dark Elves are a race of harsh, warlike and vicious Elves. They are also known as the Druchii in most Warhammer fiction books. They cruel, sadistic raiders with much disdain for all other races, especially their lighter kindred the High... |
Black Guard | Witch Elf (Female Only) | Sorceress/Sorcerer | Disciple of Khaine |
Character customization
In Warhammer Online character customization is available in many forms. The initial character creation process allows players to select the race, career and basic look of their character, including facial features and accessories. In addition to the original name that the player chooses for their character at creation, the player has the option to add a surname to their character for a small fee at rank 20. Dye is available at NPC vendorsMerchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
for recoloring armor and accessories. Players are able to decorate themselves with trophies, such as the heads of fallen enemies, which are equipped and displayed at various points on the character model. Other forms of customization include Tactics (customizable sets of bonuses that players can adjust while out of combat), as well as Morale Abilities (increasingly powerful abilities that become available as morale is generated during the course of battle). Customizable armor and visual guild
Clan (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, a clan or guild is an organised group of players that regularly play together in a particular multiplayer games. These games range from groups of a few friends to 1000-person organizations, with a broad range of structures, goals and members. The lifespan of a clan...
heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
also aid in allowing a player to make their character visually unique.
In addition to visual character customization, Warhammer features an achievement system, similar to that of Steam. As achievements are unlocked, players may apply custom titles that appear beneath their names.
Collision detection
Warhammer Online features collision detectionCollision detection
Collision detection typically refers to the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects. While the topic is most often associated with its use in video games and other physical simulations, it also has applications in robotics...
, a feature that is designed to prevent players from moving through other player characters. This feature works on enemy units as well as friendly units that are flagged for RvR combat. Collision detection enhances the role played by heavily armored
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
characters known as "tanks
Tank (computer gaming)
A tank is a style of character in gaming, often associated with a character class. A common convention in real-time strategy games, role-playing games, MMORPGs and MUDs, tanks redirect enemy attacks and/or attention toward themselves in order to protect other characters or units...
", as it helps them become far more efficient at holding choke points and protecting weaker players in their group such as healers and casters.
Servers
Mythic offered four different server types at launch: Core, Open RvR, Role-Play, and Open RvR/RP. On Core servers, enemy factions can only attack each other if both players are flagged for RvR. Players are automatically flagged for RvR upon entering RvR-specific areas or enemy PvE areas, and can choose to turn their flag on at any time. Open RvR servers are flagged for RvR at all times, with few exceptions. Role-Play servers have the same rules as the Core servers, and players are encouraged to role-play their characters. Finally, Open RvR/RP servers follow the same rules as the Open RvR servers, and players are encouraged to role-play their characters.Now there are four servers available to American, European and Oceanian players : two North-American Core and two European Core servers. The other servers have been shut down or merged into the currently existing servers due to underpopulation and merged with remaining servers.
Development
The second online game development began under the company Climax OnlineClimax Group
Climax Group is a British independent video game development company. It was founded by Karl Jeffery in 1988 and is based in Portsmouth, Hampshire....
. The project was officially canceled in June 2004 when Games Workshop determined that the roll-out costs would be too high. However, work on the game never actually stopped as Climax Online continued the project using their own funds until the company reported in late 2004 that the Warhammer Online project was shut down due to difficulty in securing a publishing agreement.
With the license available again, Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
was approached by Mythic Entertainment, who were interested in acquiring the license and starting a new project from scratch. A long-standing relationship between several Games Workshop managers and the CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Mythic Mark Jacobs
Mark Jacobs (video game designer)
Mark Jacobs is the former GM/VP/CEO of Mythic Entertainment, Inc. He is one of the pioneers in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game industry, having created two early MUDs, Aradath and Dragon's Gate serving as both the designer and programmer in addition to his duties as...
ensured that a deal was quickly reached. The Warhammer Online license was acquired by Mythic on May 18, 2005. Mythic would soon cancel its original follow-up project Imperator Online after gaining the Warhammer License.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is not purely derived from either Warhammer Fantasy Battles or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Over the years, it has been through a number of phases and different publishers, most of which were related in some way to Games Workshop...
or any other source alone, but rather from the Warhammer Fantasy universe as a whole.
Though Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is being developed by Mythic Entertainment
Mythic Entertainment
BioWare Mythic is a computer game developer in Fairfax, Virginia which is most widely recognized for developing the 2001 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Dark Age of Camelot...
, Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
is also involved with the ongoing development of the project. Their role is not only to ensure that the project remains true to the Warhammer Fantasy IP
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, but also to work with Mythic to allow for the appropriate development and extension of the IP as necessitated for the MMO
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
. Mythic has previously created MMOs
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
, including Dark Age of Camelot
Dark Age of Camelot
Dark Age of Camelot is a 3D medieval fantasy MMORPG, released on October 10 2001 in North America and in Europe shortly after through it's partner GOA. It is still running today recently celebrating its 10th anniversary....
.
On July 30, 2009, Mythic Entertainment announced that Warhammer Online was being ported to the Mac OS X
Mac OS X v10.5
Mac OS X Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was released on 26 October 2007 as the successor of Tiger , and is available in two variants: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a...
platform in the fall of 2009, with a beta version becoming available immediately. Like other Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
Mac games, Warhammer Online for Mac utilizes Cider technology by TransGaming Technologies
TransGaming Technologies
TransGaming Inc. is a company specialized in video game portability technology. The company has its head office in Toronto and a research hub in Ottawa. It was founded by Gavriel State, who ran the Linux product division at the Corel Corporation...
.
Community
Mythic has an official subscriber newsletter detailing the ongoing development of the game.The official website features a list of dedicated fansites which allow them to interact with the community in addition to their own official forums. The unofficial online community includes blogs, webcomics, forum/message boards, chat channels, wikis, and information databases.
During the development of Warhammer Online, Mythic featured a video blog
Vlog
Video blogging, sometimes shortened to vlogging or vidding or vidblogging is a form of blogging for which the medium is video, and is a form of Web television. Entries often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one take...
of Creative Director Paul Barnett
Paul Barnett (video game designer)
Paul Barnett is an English game designer who is currently the Senior Creative Director for BioWare-Mythic. Barnett is best known for Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy Battle universe, although he has also been involved in the development of numerous other games.At the age of 24, Barnett started...
. These videos gave the viewer an insight into the work that went on behind the scenes of WAR, often showcasing development screens and concept art for the game. Mythic also released "Development Diaries" from time to time, meant to give readers a deeper look into the ongoing development of WAR.
Critical reception
Warhammer Online initially received favorable reviews. GameSpy gave it 5 out of 5 stars and claimed, "[it] has hit the ground running with one of the best MMO experiences we've had in a long time." GameSpot gave it a 8.5 out of 10 and said, "Questers and explorers may not find what they're looking for, and certain gameplay systems don't mesh as well as they should. Nevertheless, there's more than enough exciting PvP content here to keep newcomers and veterans alike immersed in the perpetually violent tug of war between the forces of Order and Destruction." Warhammer Online has an aggregate score of 86% on metacritic.com and 87% GameRankings.com.As of September 30, 2008, WAR had sold 1.2 million copies and had 800,000 registered users.
As of October 10, 2008, Mythic Entertainment announced that 750,000 people were playing Warhammer Online.
As of December 31, 2008, the number of active WAR subscribers had decreased to "over 300,000 paying subscribers in North America and Europe."
As of May 5, 2009, Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
executives confirmed in an investor conference that they have 300,000 subscribers as of the end of March 2009, shortly after the company reported a loss of $1.08 billion in the financial year for 2009. Consequently, the number of servers was drastically reduced in order to consolidate the remaining population. The total number of servers was reduced to 13 and the number of role-playing
Role-playing
Role-playing refers to the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role...
servers was reduced to 1.
Since this date, several servers were stopped, particularly in Europe, and there remained only 9 servers : 4 in the USA and 5 in Europe (including 2 in German & 1 in French).
As of February 9, 2011, 2 other U.S. Servers and 1 German server have been removed, leaving a total of 6 servers worldwide (2 in the US, 4 in Europe).
2008
- IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
PC: Best of E3 2008-Best MMO - IGN PC: 2008 Best Persistent WorldPersistent worldA persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent...
Game - IGN PC: 2008 Reader's Choice
- Game Focus – Best MMO Game/ Expansion
- GameSpyGameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
: Best of E3 2008 - GameSpy: Best Use of License
- GameSpy: Top 10 PC Games – Ranked #2
- GameStooge – Best Massively Multiplayer Roleplaying Game
- G4TV: Best of E3 – PC
- Massively – Favorite New MMO of 2008
- MMORPG.com – Reader's Choice Awards – Best New Game of 2008
- MMORPG.com – Reader's Choice Awards – Most Innovative Feature
- MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
– Best PC games of 2008 - Voodoo Extreme: E3 2008 – Best MMO
- WarcryWarCry NetworkWarCry Network is a fan-based web site network centered around MMOGs and other similar interests. It boasts a large community of professional web sites and databases for these games....
's Editor's Choice: Most Anticipated of 2008 - X-Play: Best MMO
2007
- Ten Ton Hammer: Best Fantasy MMOG
- Ten Ton Hammer: Best of Show
- Beckett Massive Online Game Reader's Choice Award: Most Anticipated MMO
- Warcry's Editor's Choice: 2007's Most Anticipated
- MMORPG.com Readers Choice: Most Anticipated
E3 2006
- MMORPG.com: Best Use Of A License
- Game Amp: Best of Show
- Game Amp: Best Loot
- Game Daily Nod Award
- Voodoo Extreme: Best Massively Multiplayer Game
- GameSpot Editor's Choice: Best Stage Demo
- Ten Ton Hammer Editor's Choice Award