War-For-The-Love-Of-Hammer

Hot Dogs and Cartwheels: Random observations from the online world.

Warhammer Hits Sophomore Slump

If online games have a sophomore slump, it starts about four months after release. This is especially true for MMOs, as the next six months (maybe fewer) ultimately determine its fate.

Warhammer is in a slump. While most MMOs experience growing pains, my beloved ‘Hammer is at much greater risk. Its survivability is linked to the volume and activity of its player base.

WoW managed through lean times as a PvE-focused game. Players could still log and show something for their effort. Granted, WoW players had to slug through BRD for the 100th time, but the gear carrot remained. And the volume requirement wasn’t massive.

The ‘Hammer is fundamentally different. Here’s why:

1. If there’s no one to fight, there’s no reason to play. This isn’t an immediate issue as most servers have respectable populations. But Dark Crag can only handle so many more server transfers.

2. Gear is artificial. That’s an over-statement, as ward gear is required for capitol city bosses. But until a capitol city is truly threatened, ward gear only serves ward gear.

3. Open RvR Economics. Renown-farming zegs. Objectives have no relationship to keeps, keep-holding is pointless and zone-locking usually deteriorates to realm-point and instance farming. Once in a Capitol City, the fight becomes a gear grind no different than T1-T3.

4. Rinse, Repeat. Here’s the current template for oRvR:

A. Find and follow the zerg
B. Take defenseless objectives and keeps
C. Skirmish occasionally with opposing forces (with numbers determining outcome)
D. Lock the zone (by completing step #2 and running the occasional scenario)
E. Attempt a fortress take
F. Repeat in different pairing
G. MAYBE go to capitol city, grind PQ, log

This isn’t to say Warhammer is a bad game. In fact, its core design is one of the few innovations in the market today. And like its contemporaries, every MMO goes through a sophomore slump. To its credit, Warhammer is the only next gen MMO to remain viable for the foreseeable future (see Hellgate: London, Age of Conan and Tabula Rasa among others). The 'hammer also benefits from Mythic’s experience in its last PvP MMO – Dark Age of Camelot.

Let’s just hope they don’t fix Warhammer the same way they killed fixed DAoC (Trials of Atlantis).

Long live the WAR . . .