Today, on an extreme whim, I swooped by the only comic store in the area and picked up a copy of Warhammer: Condemned By Fire #1. I’m not a huge comic book reader — not that I don’t like them, it’s just that I don’t want to drop $4 on something I’ll be done with ten minutes later — but this copy is significant for two reasons.

One, it’s a good quick primer to the tone and atmosphere to the Warhammer universe, which I deem a good asset to my Warhammer education.  The story itself concerns a Witch Hunter, who I imagine speaks with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine voice, and his merry trip into the village of the damned.  The story is quite short, but nicely drawn.  My only complaint is that some of the action looks a little too “cartoony” for my tastes.

Two, each of these issues has a special scratch-off code which you can use to apply to enter the Warhammer Online beta.  Closed or open beta, I’m not sure; the only clear answer I got from brief scouting is that the deadline to use this code is May 31.  The code only gives you a 20% (one in five) chance of winning a coveted beta slot, however.

So now my beta account is all but screaming for acceptance.  Applied for the beta?  Check.  Amazon.com CE pre-order open beta code that, for some reason, is still in there even though I canceled my order?  Check.  GameStop pre-order code?  Check.  Comic code?  Check.

I think this might be an excellent substitute for actually playing WAR: trying to see how many ways I can apply for or attempt to win a beta spot.

In the past couple weeks, we’ve witnessed ominous signs leading up to Age of Conan’s launch — the Open Beta was extremely buggy and nearly unplayable for some, the system requirements are pretty demanding, and now it appears that players who paid $5 extra to get early access to the title may be shut out completely due to overloaded server capacity, which has absolutely enraged some would-be customers.

[Update: ScytheNoire informs me, "The issue is that some people didn’t pick up their pre-order card or didn’t pick the option in time, and some stores were refusing to hand out the pre-order cards until the 17th. But those who paid did get their 10 extra days and into the early access."]

Now [waggling a finger], don’t you for a second think I’m looking to bash AoC or gloat about what looks like a very rough launch. Any successful MMO boosts the entire genre as a whole, and I’m all for AoC doing well. They have a nice-sized, passionate base of fans, and many people are reporting that the game world is gorgeous, the combat is well-done, and the grit is appreciated.

Yet what worries me is that this particular company — Funcom — is the dubious winner of Worst MMORPG Launch Ever with its previous title Anarchy Online (which was so bad people couldn’t play regularly for months). If there’s any company that knows, first-hand, how very, very important it is to ensure a smooth launch, it’s them. Many players, already a little nervous over ghost of Anarchy Online, have understandably paused or even withdrawn completely from the starting month of AoC. Perhaps the launch day will come and go, and surpass all expectations — all of this previous worry was for naught. And perhaps it’ll be a nasty, rocky trip. As the Mythic team has stated all along, “You only get one first impression with an MMO”.

Whether or not AoC launches well is not (surprisingly enough) the focus of this article — instead, I’m looking to the future with a crinkle of concern over WAR’s launch, and a desire to see it slip off the boat dock with ease and grace. So with that said, here’s how NOT to launch a MMO:

1. Be Unprepared For The Number Of First Day Players

World of Warcraft, for all the praise and success it’s seen since, was absolutely unprepared, naive and uninformed as to the interest level in their title. Despite an incredibly strong beta, Blizzard launched the game with far fewer servers than were needed — resulting in horrendously long queues that kept players from, y’know, playing. What’s worse is that this server shortage went on for weeks before it was fixed.

As the MMO field grows, developers need to realize that the player base is ever-expanding, and they need to over-anticipate the first day server load. Everyone wants to play on the first day, which results in virgin servers receiving the roughhousing of a lifetime — hundreds of thousands of players attempting to log in, within a short span of each other, and demanding immediate access. A MMO that doesn’t overestimate their server needs (and then add half onto that) for the first day is a MMO that is just begging for a mess. I’d imagine that it’s ultimately easier to eliminate and consolidate servers, if they’re not needed, than have to rush to hook up brand-new servers in the middle of an ugly crunch period.

2. If You Promise Something For Day One, Put It Off.

The issue here is that, sooner or later, devs are pressured by their publishers to set a firm launch date and stick to it. You can only delay a game for so long before you irritate your fans irreversibly and become a laughingstock in the community. So when this happens and devs go into “crunch mode”, it’s often the case where they realize they simply cannot make good on a promised feature(s) — one which they’ve been touting for months in all the press hooplah — and they make a decision to cut it out of the game for the time being. Players who log in are then told that Feature X is still in the works, but will be patched in at a later date.

You can imagine how that might leave a sour taste in the mouth.

3. Showcase An Unstable, Buggy Open Beta.

By the time you hit open beta, the devs should pretty much be showing off a finished product, which they’re both demoing and stress testing through the open beta process. Despite the word “beta”, it is simply not acceptable to have glaring bugs, holes, crashes and any other feature that makes the game a miserable slog — or worse, unplayable. Age of Conan’s messy open beta period — from the limited downloading sites, to the (alleged) two different versions of the beta that open and closed beta testers were playing, to the nasty bugs that popped up all over the place — is a prime example of how to shoot yourself in the publicity foot.

4. Showcase An Unstable, Buggy Launch Version.

The list of egregious sinners for this are almost too many to mention: Anarchy Online, World War II Online, Asheron’s Call 2, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard, Horizons, Dark and Light…

If, on day one, you’re making PAYING customers effectively beta test your product, then congratulations! You’ve alienated and pissed off the very people you’re trying to milk money from, and guess what? I wouldn’t bet the farm on them being around for month two, when the subscriptions kick in.

Yes, some of these titles have struggled back from a horrible, buggy launch to carve out a solid niche in the MMOscape, but none of those titles have become smash hits, and many more of them wheezed to an early death.

I just can’t imagine how crushing it would be to be a dev on one of these projects, putting in years of my life to making this game, getting my hopes all high that this will be the Next Big Thing… only to be on the receiving end of a literary bludgeoning by my fans on the first day who tell me I’ve just wasted a good chunk of my life on digital crap.

5. Push It Out The Door Before You’re Ready

This has been kinda covered by previous points, but it bears repeating (stupid repeating bears, what with their redundant natures). If it’s not ready, DO NOT LAUNCH. If it’s not polished, DO NOT LAUNCH. If you need any reminders to this effect, purchase one of several hundred thousand un-bought copies of Vanguard and hang it on the wall above your desk. If a publisher does not have the resources, patience and time to wait until their MMO is 100% ready to go, then they have no business in the MMO market.

6. Have A Crappy Account Manager

Finally, as important as it is to present a playable, smooth game to your audience, you cannot overlook the account creation and payment process. First-time MMO players, especially, are a little nervous when it comes to having to make an account to pay, on a monthly basis, for the privilege of playing that title. Don’t make it worse by making the account creation process a huge chore (Final Fantasy XI) or screwing up the billing so players get charged two, perhaps three times for a game they then can’t log on and play (Hellgate: London). As this is handled online, apart from the game client, there’s no excuse for this to be anything other than picture-perfect.

Beta Ticker: 692,706 (+7,821 from last week)

Quote of the Week: “The best way to look at it is that Warhammer is Batman.” ~ Josh Drescher

Story of the Week: Oddly enough, the biggest story about WAR this week wasn’t about WAR at all — but instead, the blitz of World of Warcraft expansion info that was suddenly thrown all over the place. Many Warhammer fans are nervously chewing their nails at the shift in spotlight (and unrestrained speculation about the supposed fall head-to-head battle of the two titles), but Massively actually thinks WoW is a positive factor in the future success of WAR. In any case, a clash between these two titles looks to happen this fall, as Vivendi confirmed that Wrath is “anticipated to be released in the second half of 2008.”

In other news:

• Warhammer Geek reports that a new German online magazine, Frontline, looks to be fans of Warhammer Online – check it out if you speak Germaneze.
• In the mood for a few good men… er, videos? Warhammer Vault points us toward Warhammer-Portal for some Warhammer-Videos.
• The Greenskin reports that EA bought out Rupture. What does that mean for WAR? Snafzg speculates that the technology might be used to help extend the game experience beyond the game itself — as in social networking.
• GamesIndustry.biz gives us a sneak peak at an interview with Josh Drescher, including the revelation that the Mythic team has at least five years of content and leveling mapped out.
• Speaking of interviews with Josh, bit-tech.net has a pretty cool chat with the man about taking on World of Warcraft and how WAR is like Batman (among other topics).
• Action Trip’s second WAR Progress Report has a great overview of what WAR’s been up to, and what it’ll offer the average player.
• With all the hubbub over EA using DRM in its upcoming games, Mark Jacobs popped onto the VN boards to assure us that WAR will not use DRM (which isn’t really needed in MMOs anyway). Wow, that’s a lot of acronyms.
• Need a little Capital Cities RvR in your diet? Warhammer Vault’s got you covered.
• TTH muses on the promise by WAR’s devs to make the game viable for solo players as well as groupers.
• Mythos has announced at least five years of… something… more planned, and Keen’s all over the analysis.
• Or you could just take the word from the horse’s (the horse here being Josh Drescher) mouth.
• That Videogame Blog has a massive hands-on preview of Warhammer Online — cool info in here about gear and mounts, if you’ve been searching for tibits on those.
• JeuxOnline does us proud by translating an older French article of theirs mulling over the upcoming WAR beta/release/NDA dates. There’s a really handy chart in here too — check it out!
• Warhammer Conflict Wiki would like you to sample their wares by reading up on a dude named Malekith. We think he’s a baker.
• Another week, another awesome wallpaper from Wallhammer Vault (wait… Wallhammer?): The Marauder!
• Warhammer Conflict would like to invite you to peruse and participate in one of its famed Focus Discussions!
• The Greenskin brings a drink of water to the parched soul with his seventh webcomic, “There’s Nothing To Fear”
• Tobold wonders “Will Order or Chaos Prevail in WAR?”
• Warhammer Geek parodies Pinball Wizard with their WAR-themed tune “Witch Elf Woman”
• Want to give your cellphone or MP3 player a bit of Warhammer love? The Greenskin reports that WAR wallpaper for these devices are now available!
• With all the new Lich King info, doom ‘n gloom pronouncement for WAR’s future have been stirred anew. West Karana declares that she will “sit this one out” when it comes to this year’s major MMOs.
• QJ.net takes a brief, insightful look at the Zealot career.
• This is a little old, but this YouTube clip of Dwarf WAR music is… awesome. Pure awesome.
• JeuxOnline has a funny little article wondering about how you can cement your reputation as a “legend” in the upcoming WAR.
• How much will WAR’s graphics affect (good or bad) its upcoming release? Keen compares and contrasts with other MMOs.
• Making me think of the old SAT questions, Tobold posits “AoC is to WAR as EQ2 is to WoW”
• On the WHA forums, Iain Compton straightened out a few facts about the timing of the guild beta, open beta and NDA liftage.
• Keen reports that WAR’s graphics are definitely showing some polish, which I suppose is a “good thing”
• EA Mythic has announced Warhammer Online: The Official Drink. Cheers!
• MTV tries to be convinced by Mythic to make WAR their first MMO — yeah, we SO want those guys playing with us. Because they keep it real.
• Thought we’d go another week without mentioning Greenskin’s Forum Watch? Think again!
• IGN gives Warhammer Online a progress report, and its good enough to avoid a spanking by the parents.
• 1Up’s done their own hands-on WAR play, and have the stones to share it with you personally.
• You know you want to drool right now, so check out these brand new screenies here at VE3D!
• During the Spring Press Event, GameSpot got their grubby little mitts on WAR and molested it until it gave up the literary goodies. I’m kinda creeped out by the previous sentence, even though I wrote it.
• The Warhammer comic is finally on newstands, according to this unnamed source.
• Warhammer Geek’s started to offer exclusive wallpapers, and you can snag the first two here.
• GameSpy has a brand new article looking into WAR’s newbie zones, and it’s a fun read! After you’re done with that, Keen’s got a bit of follow-up commentary on the piece.
• Josh Dresher gave us a brief summary of the EA Games Spring Break, whetting our appetite for more info in the near future.
• Josh Drescher did another interview (the man is a MACHINE), this time with GamesIndustry.biz entitled, simply, “Warhammer Time!”
• Wikis are all the rage these days, it seems, and Warhammer Geek’s launched the fourth (I think) WAR-related wiki. Which one will become the standard? Anyway, you can read there announcement here, and check out (and contribute to) the new Warhammer Geek Wiki here.
• Warhammer Geek’s posted four motivation-style wallpapers (I particularly enjoy the squig one).
• Do you want to write about WAR but don’t want to have to hassle with your own blog/site? Warhammer Gamers is hiring (”hiring” being a loose term — don’t think there’s pay involved) new writers to the staff. Go apply today!
• Finally, The Secret Life of Mobs has a new WAR comic this week — “No More Beercraft!”

In the second part of our… um… 24-part series, we’re breaking down the Chaos Chosen career for you — will it become a main, an alt or a storage unit for tuna fish?

CAREER: Chaos Chosen

BRIEF OVERVIEW: A chaos god worshiper with way, way too much armor (fused to his body, no less), the Chosen is Chaos’ tank class — mighty, hulking, pointy. Uses heavy shields and massive weapons to do gobs of close-range melee damage. He basically makes World of Warcraft’s Death Knights pee their armor in submissive shame.

THINK: A Panzer tank on two legs with limited spell casting.

MOVIE CHARACTER: Jason, from Friday the 13th — stripped of humanity, a giant hulking slaughterhouse, extremely hard to kill.

ABILITIES: Can don Chaos Armor, the heaviest armor in the game. Shield-bearing. One- or Two-handed weapons (swords and axes). Some spell-casting. Can taunt.

MASTERIES: Strife (offensive melee sans shield), Retaliation (uses shield and wears opponent down), Discord (focuses on spells and auras).

MECHANIC: Chosen are granted dark spells that can harm enemies and provide a temporarily aura boost to a player’s power. Certain abilities will only be usable when a certain aura is up. So Chosen get a very simple combo chain: Aura –> Ability.

RATE MY INTEREST: 6/10. My personal preference in MMOs tends to be (going from highest to lowest) Pet Classes > Hybrids > DPS > Healer > Tank. Tank classes have a lot of work to win me (and I assume many others) over to their viewpoint. I think the Chosen is a great step in that direction: the look is spectacularly evil, and the ability to weave auras and spells into combat gives a standard tanking role a bit more spice. I very well might roll one of these come fall, and you can bet I’d be mastering in Discord.

MORE READING:

• Warhammer Online’s official Chosen description
• HammerWiki’s Chosen page
• Warhammer Alliance’s Chosen forum
• Chaos Chosen YouTube video at the NYCC

Warhammer Conflict, an unholy fusion of forums, news and piglet slaughter, was recently investigated by our crack Inquisition squad (after all, nobody expects us), dragging away Wrenn for a little “debriefing”:

WAAAGH!: Tell us a bit about yourself — your handle/screen name/real name, age, real life occupation, your pevious MMO experience, and your play style.

WRENN: My name is Dominic “Wrenn” Graziano. I’m a 43 years old male and live near Scranton, Pennsylvania. For several years I was known as KelsonEA – as I was a tester for EA Sports for a number of years, and a Community Leader from 2004-2005. Right now, I am an underwriter for commercial loans.

People always ask me, “Why the name ‘Wrenn’? You’re a guy!” When I discovered Final Fantasy XI – which was my first MMORPG – I played as Kelson. When I went to Lineage 2, my “Kelson” name was taken. After about a half hour of getting “name not available”, I came up with “Wrenn”, which is a slightly altered version of Wren Ellessidil, the main character of a book I was reading at that time. I firmly established myself in the Lineage 2 community, and the name “Wrenn” stuck.

My MMO experience began with Final Fantasy XI. From there I went to Lineage 2. That’s basically it. Sure, I’ve dabbled in World of Warcraft and some other games, but never really found a home in them.

If I had to describe my play style, I would say that I am a goal-oriented player. I really enjoy a challenge – so I tend to enjoy the role of the “underdog”. I like trying to accomplish something when the odds are not in my favor.

WAAAGH!: What type of social play do you gravitate towards: soloing, participating in small guilds/small groups, or participating in large guilds/large raids?

WRENN: I’m much more geared toward solo play or small groups. I don’t like to grind for experience in large parties. I’m also a fan of smaller, more personable guilds. I’ve found that the few large guilds I’ve been in seem to be plagued by a continual stream of members coming and going. That bothers me. I prefer smaller guilds because it is much easier to get to know your guild mates and establish lasting friendships. I love to participate in large-scale sieges and PvP battles – but I absolutely hate to do any kind of PvE raids.

WAAAGH!: What motivated you to get involved with the WAR community and how did you go about doing it?

WRENN: After 3 years in Lineage 2, many people I knew (friends and enemies alike) became bored or absolutely alienated with the game. It was suggested that we give WAR a look, and we all liked what we saw. We all enjoy PvP, and WAR promised a new and enjoyable experience. So, we formed a guild. It was then suggested that we create a fansite, so I volunteered my good friend Mike “Leggy” Malnar to create the site. Less than 24 hours later, Warhammer Conflict was born! The site is really a team effort – but make no mistake about it – Mike is the guy who gives the site its heartbeat. We really run the site together, along with the excellent staff we have. I have Italian blood, so I’m the loudmouth of the group – therefore I seem to get the most attention.

WAAAGH!: What are some of the more notable trends you’ve observed in the WAR community since you’ve been active in it?

WRENN: I’ve been amazed how large and passionate this community is! This community is without doubt the best community I’ve ever been involved with. That’s saying a lot, because the game itself is still months from being released! I’ve become very good friends with several of the other fansite owners. We’re constantly helping each other out – making suggestions and alerting each other of newly released information. More importantly, some of us talk for several hours a week – and we’ve established friendships beyond just the realm of Warhammer. I think the community would be really shocked at the amount of inter-site interaction that goes on. Another notable trend that I really enjoy is the amount of information that EA Mythic releases to the community. I’m very impressed with the amount of interviews, podcasts and chat events EA Mythic participates in.

WAAAGH!: Did you play Dark Age of Camelot (or do you still), and what did you like/hate about it?

WRENN: I never played DAoC. However, during my time in Lineage 2 I met several players who had come from Dark Age of Camelot. They assured me that DAoC was likely the best PvP game they had ever played. This really helped my decision to move over to WAR from Lineage 2, knowing EA Mythic was developing this game.

WAAAGH!: What PvP experience do you have, and what are your general feelings on it?

WRENN: Pretty much all of my true PvP experience comes from Lineage 2. I love to PvP. I feel that PvP should rely on a player’s skill, with not as much emphasis on a person’s level or gear. I’m a big fan of large-scale PvP. There’s nothing better than getting 500 people together and watch them try to slaughter each other!

WAAAGH!: What faction (order/chaos) do you plan siding with when the game releases, and why?

My guild decided to go Destruction. I think the main reason is that the Destruction races/classes were just a bit more interesting to them than that of Order. However, to be quite honest, I wouldn’t mind playing Order. I love a good challenge, and it certainly seems like being Order will present a hefty challenge at this point.

WAAAGH!: What class(es) currently appeal to you the most, and are they similar or different to classes you typically play in other MMOs?

WRENN: Normally, I play an archer-class in MMO’s. I really want to stay away from playing an archer in WAR. I’ve never played a tank or support class in my life, and I don’t really enjoy playing magic-users. So, I’ve decided to play a Witch Elf. The class seems suited to my style of play. Plus, I really like their big . . . hair.

WAAAGH!: What features of WAR have you the most excited to experience?

WRENN: I really can’t point to any single aspect of the game that I’m looking forward to the most. The entire game system seems right up my alley, and I am looking forward to spending quality time in the game, and meeting many more people in this great community. Anyway, to answer your question – if I had to pick one thing, I am most excited about my guild. As I stated earlier, the core members of my guild are from Lineage 2. We’re a bunch of Lineage 2 “enemies” that got together and formed a WAR guild. During our time decimating each other in Lineage 2, we formed a strong respect for each other. It should be interesting, because these players are some of the most skilled PvP’ers I’ve ever seen. If we’re able to bring this same kind of success to WAR, we should be a guild to be reckoned with. But right now, it’s certainly a worthless point – as no one has played the final retail version of the game yet.

WAAAGH!: Did you apply for the beta, did you get into the beta, and have you pre-ordered the CE?

WRENN: Yes, I am in beta. For the longest time, I wasn’t and I often get teased by some of the other fansite owners for not being in beta with them. Yes, I pre-ordered the CE – though I was devastated that a pair of those “Paul and Jeff” sunglasses were not included. How could they omit those? Honestly, what were they thinking?

WAAAGH!: What concerns do you have for WAR’s gameplay and future?

WRENN: My main concern is that the game will present a legitimate challenge over a long period of time. I also want everyone to be afforded the same opportunities to succeed – and for the best players/guilds/alliances to establish themselves. I’m very interested in how EA Mythic will handle botters and gold sellers. So far, from what I’ve seen and heard, I am encouraged that EA Mythic will do their best to maintain a fair and challenging experience for all its subscribers.

WAAAGH!: What will you be doing with your gaming time between now and WAR’s release?

WRENN: Mostly, I will be on Warhammer Conflict – and on the other sites in the WAR Community. I’m trying to stay away from MMORPG’s in general right now, because I want my experience in WAR to be fresh and exciting. I don’t want to burn myself out playing another MMO – especially since I know I won’t be playing it come fall.

Hopefully, I will be in WAR beta soon. If not, you can always either find me at Warhammer Conflict or at Steamtown Mall in Scranton, PA – I’m the guy playing with the Slinky on the escalator.

As we careen into the salad days of summer 2008 and enjoy the last few months of freedom before Warhammer Online sinks its addictive claws into our brains, your craving for WAR info is undeniable. In the absence of a game to play, you start scouring the net for your next “fix”. So, in this scenario, I guess I’m a drug dealer. I can’t wait until Google adds those two words to their search engine in relation to this blog.

You should be happy to see how much the WAR community has exploded over the past few months, going from a handful of blogs and sites to an ever-increasing empire of content. Although we here at WAAAGH! do mention these other sites — in Da Newz and on our blogroll, mainly — I’d like to give a little promotion to them in the hopes that you might discover something useful and relevant that you previously overlooked.

WAR NEWS & COMMENTARY

When there’s breaking news, and you just gotta have it that moment, you should first read up on Massively’s Warhammer coverage.  Ten Ton Hammer’s been doing an excellent job at getting exclusives, so they should be your next stop.  Then pop over to Chaos War Host, Warhammer Alliance, WAR-RvR.net, Warhammer Vault, and Warhammer Geek, where they have you covered. Only-WAR.com doesn’t go all out on new news, but every so often they boast an exclusive piece that is worth your read. Of course, you should always be checking on the Warhammer Herald, but that’s just common sense.

Skewing more to commenting on the news and other issues (like yours truly), Keen & Graev’s Gaming Blog is certainly wordy when it comes to whatever might be floating through their minds. Likewise, The Greenskin has fun poking around in the WAR universe, and Warhammer Gamers is not shy about sharing an opinion.

I know I’m deliberately neglecting several foreign language sites, and I’m not doing that out of cultural ignorance or spite — just the thought that if I, personally, can’t read them, then I can’t vouch for them either. But I’m sure they’re heaven with a bit of sugar on top.

FROM THE DEVS’ MOUTHS

Although their duties (hehe… duties) keep them largely occupied, both Josh Drescher and Paul Barnett occasionally jot an entry into their personal blogs.

WAR COMICS

Although it appears to have been defunct since January, A Touch of Tentacle boasts 24 comic strips to check out. Keen & Graev gave us a brief taste of their WAR comic Goblannoyed, but we’re still in a holding pattern there. The Greenskin is all about the Orcs and Goblins in his comic, which is definitely worth a read. Finally, I’ve been very impressed with The Secret Life of Mobs, which comes out every couple weeks or so.

WAR FORUMS

Chatting ’bout WAR is a great way to pass the hours and build up some serious blood pressure as you plow through a troll blockade to achieve Thoughtful Post Nirvana. Since Mythic has (wisely) declined to host original forums, several sites have rushed in to fill the gap. Two of the biggest and best-known WAR forums are Warhammer Vault’s forums and the Warhammer Alliance forums. Other sites boasting friendly and frisky forums include Chaos War Host, Warhammer Conflict (which go beyond just the salt-and-pepper forum setup), WAR-RvR.net, Warhammer Geek, and Warhammer Gamers.

WAR PODCASTS

It’s hard to host a podcast about a game not out yet, but two sites have taken stabs at it so far: the excellent Warhamma podcast (which is sadly on haitus, but is still worth listening to the archives), and the new Podcast of Reckoning.

WAR WIKIS

Truly we are living in an age of the wiki. For those uninformed, a wiki is an online encyclopedia — usually devoted to a specific subject — that any registered user can edit. Right now we’re seeing three Warhammer Online Wikis stepping up to the plate in an effort to create a massive, comprehensive database of everything Warhammer and WAR: Hammer Wiki, MMO Wiki’s Warhammer, and Conflict Wiki. Check them out, and if you like what you see, then log in and help them create a great wiki!

So hopefully, that should give you a good launch point for your daily WAR obsession. While I know we probably left out a couple sites or blogs, it wasn’t done intentionally or to promote any one site over another — please let WAAAGH! know if you have a WAR site that needs to be fawned over!

This isn’t strictly Warhammer Online related, but since it ended up being one of my top 10 moments in MMO gaming, I had to share.

I asked my wife yesterday what type of leader I was — made, born or had it thrust upon me. I asked because I, for some reason, end up in leadership roles in almost everything I do, even though I tend to be an introvert and quite content with following other (much better) leaders. This was kicking around in my head ever since my other WoW guild asked me to be an officer the other day.

I said yes, sure, mostly because it was a very small group of friends recovering from a guild split, and I have the free time right now to help out. They know I’ll be moving on to WAR, and that’s okay. So as I assume a new leadership role, I was asked to take a group of guildies to Blood Furnace.

One of our guildies, Mouse, is my eternal foil in the game. We’re always sniping and barking at each other, out of friendship and a constant desire to one-up each other. She’s never been to BF, so she asked to follow.

Keep in mind: me, leader. Me, not always responsible. Me, a druid.

“Sure,” I say, as I lazily start running in circles to see if she’d follow (she did). Quickly, I banked right and jumped right off a cliff, falling a little bit before hitting my instant druid flight form. I spun around, hanging in mid-air as happy as you please, and there it was. One of my top 10 favorite moments:

Mouse, on her cat mount, jumping off the cliff and obviously realizing that it would be a bit more of a fall than anticipated. “$#@* YOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!” blasted through vent in my ears, before she hit the bottom, got swarmed by mobs and killed in record time.

I don’t think I stopped laughing for about ten minutes. Who says you can’t make great memories in these games?

Footloose and fancy free, my friends.

Just an update to say that I’m canceling my Amazon.com CE preorder, instead opting to preorder through a local GameStop. I honestly don’t feel comfortable leaving the preorder in Amazon’s hands after they canceled it for me the first time without any input on my behalf — I’d rather have human agents handling this. I have new codes for the beta/head start/preorder items in my hand, and an actual person I can blame if they don’t bring it in for me. I think that’s worth the 15 minutes drive (plus, I’m assured to get it the day of release instead of having to wait for shipping).

It would be a dangerous assumption to view Blizzard as being naive and complacent this year. They know that while they’re wielding the single biggest MMORPG on the planet, their game is pushing four years now and has plenty of disgruntled players upset with the glacial pace of the expansions and the recent fixation on Arena PvP. While they’re in no danger of being toppled, Blizz has to know that they stand to lose a nice chunk of their player base to the fresh young MMO upstarts this year, what with their spiffy graphics, brand new content and promise that they’ve learned WoW’s lessons and have built something even better.

So today we’ve seen something I’m calling the “Blizzard Blitz”: a PR flood of information designed to divert attention from the upcoming MMOs and retain player interest in their product. Call it coincidence if you like, but you can’t deny these simple facts:

1. Age of Conan, a highly-touted and anticipated MMORPG, is launching in about two weeks.

2. As a result of being the only AAA MMO releasing in this spring window, AoC is enjoying a near-domination of the MMO news cycle. They want a huge launch, and they’re going all out with the publicity (as would any MMO, really).

3. Right as gamers are deciding whether or not to plunk down $50 and a fair share of their summer gaming time on Conan, Blizzard — who has been holding back info on their next expansion with an iron-clad grip — suddenly explodes over all the usual gaming sites with brand-new info, screenies, videos, interviews and revelations about Wrath of the Lich King.

Deliberate on the part of their marketing department (and I truly believe it is), this Blizzard Blitz is a brilliant counter-stroke to Funcom’s own marketing. WoW gamers have been eagerly anticipating new info on Lich King for months, and right as they’re at the point of possibly jumping ship, boom. Hook, line and sinker.

So why am I noting this? As WAR fans, we should be just as alert for this blitz when the fall rolls around. Both Blizzard and Mythic aren’t committing to a firm release date just yet, but I’ll put good money on the possibility that when Mythic comes out to say “We’re launching on [month/day] and here’s a gob of pre-release goodies”, then Blizzard will try to steal their thunder by either releasing Lich King in the same time frame, or (if they’re not at the point of launch), try to get the spotlight back with another surge of press pointed back at them.

April’s WAR Newsletter was all about guilds — a much anticipated facet of the game, particularly with the promised guild beta starting this summer. WAR promises to boast a huge suite of tools and a vibrant guild structure, as is fitting a game where players will almost need to be in a guild to derive the game’s full potential.

You can watch a podcast on the “Living Guild System”, read up on them in this month’s Grab Bag, or just skim these highlighted notes — and then check out my thoughts following:

• Guilds will require a minimum of six people to form (going to a capital city to do so), and no maximum guild population is set
• There will be a guild store that requires money to buy from; likewise, a guild can ask for dues from members
  
• Up to 10 titles/ranks can exist in a guild, fully customizable
• Earned guild rewards include: custom heraldry, guild cloaks, guild-only transportation, merchants with unique crafting components, banners and banner tactics
• Unique guild heraldries can be applied to both cloaks and banners
• There will be guild vaults
• Guilds can earn ranks (like characters) to gain rewards that benefit both the guild and the players, in both PvE and PvP situations
• Every activity a player does in the game helps their guild advance in levels
  
• They promise “robust tools” to help guild leadership organize and run their guilds, including integrated messenging, automated news, and guild calendars
• Guilds play crucial roles in the overall campaign, which includes capturing keeps, forming alliances with other guilds, and engaging in capital city capture
• Small guilds will have access to the same features as large guilds
• Guild rewards can be permission-based
• The guild system will automatically demote an inactive guild leader (of 30 days or more) and promote the next highest officer to that position
• Alliances are formed with up to 10 guilds banding together, each guild contributing an alliance leader and alliance officers
• Guild banners are earned at a certain guild rank, and can be customized with trophies
  
• The guildie who holds the banner is the Standard Bearer, and while they are holding the banner, they cannot use abilities and tactics on the battlefield
• Guild banners grant guildies nearby a morale bonus, and lets the Standard Bearer use special abiltiies (such as granting a speed bonus or knocking back enemies)
• Banners can be captured in RvR
• Guilds earn guild tactics, which can be slotted into the 3-slot guild banner
• Guilds can eventually have up to three unique banners available at any one time
  
• Only guilds can claim and control Keeps — although anyone can attack them
  

For those of you who are used to “going it alone” in MMO’s — soloing all the way to the level cap to prove that you can make it, baby! — WAR all but demands that you take a serious, hard look at joining a guild. Trust me, guilds aren’t as scary or demanding as you might imagine. Sure, there’s the midnight virgin sacrifice every fortnight, but it’s more of a Rocky Horror Picture Show sacrifice, so don’t sweat the murder charges.

I’ve always said that my stay in other MMO’s would have been considerably shorter had I not been in a good guild. MMO’s are social monsters, and to know that you’re not alone, but that you have the support and fellowship of good friends… that gives a game a deeper layer than you’ll ever know elsewise.

Aside from the company and the joy of banding together for a bit of ultraviolence, WAR is upping the ante why you should consider guilds. If you currently are or are planning on being a guild officer, then most likely you’re already drooling over the guild tools (like the calendar, extensive notes, messenging) that other games like WoW could only dream of. But what would a WAR guild offer the lowly neophyte?

Since WAR is all about realm vs. realm conflict, realm pride is a crucial part of the game. Realm pride makes you feel like you “belong” — just like you would to a sports team or any social group. Breaking it down further, when you join a guild, WAR wants you to feel strong pride and identity with that guild. Guilds are essentially small armies, each with their own theme and logo to set them apart. You have all banded together for battle, and as much as you contribute to the success of your guild, your guild opens up all sorts of options previously unattainable to you.

Look at it this way: guilds are the difference between driving your standard, economy car, and cruising around in a souped-up sports car. You are still driving, but your experience is radically upgraded. Guilds will offer players all sorts of goodies, such as a guild store, guild vault, tactics, Tome unlocks and so on. On top of that, you have to admit that it sounds a lot more fun to get together with your friends to assault and capture a keep, benefiting from your guild banner bonuses, than to just be a solitary player joining a mob, yet feeling isolated from them.

I think many players will experience that “something special” moment the first time they’re with a guild that captures a keep and gets to witness their own guild banner flying off the keep’s walls. In a very real way, you are claiming and owning a part of the game world, instead of merely existing alongside of it. How can you not want to be a part of this?