Decisions Decisions

Decisions decisions.  With 1.4 coming out this Thursday, I have a lot to think about.  Mostly, what in the hell class do I choose?  Here are my options:

• Rank 80 Marauder
• Rank 80 WE
• Rank 60 SH
• Rank 65 Sorc
• Rank 30 Zealot

Recently, I've been leveling and loving the Zealot, but how long will that love affair last?  I mean, he's a healer.  Something I'm not really accustom to playing.  I've also been playing the SH more recently, with the others shelved.  But again I have the dilemma of playing the Marauder with the new buffs they will be receiving, which will be awesome.  

I just can't decide.  From the above, it looks like I've all but ruled out the WE.  She just doesn't interest me as much right now, as I just don't feel as if they bring as much to a group as my other choices.  I also feel like I'm nixxing the Sorc, as I'd much rather play the SH as a ranged dps.  

Only time will tell I suppose, and that time is only a mere few days away.  Who's ready?  

The Rise of Warhammer Online, an Account Price Perspective

Example Account Selling

With the announcement of the RvR Packs and 1.4 coming to a near paramount, I think we are about to see a sharp rise in the amount of subscriptions that Warhammer has open.  Obviously this can be surmised from what we have seen recently.  The PTS server being full (no, I didn't get on) being one example the other night.  There has also been a pretty good reception of the price points of the soon to be released RvR Pack, and the Verminous Horde.  One other thing that has led me to believe that Warhammer is again on the rise, is the prices now that accounts are being sold for.  Yeah yeah I know it's illegal to sell / buy accounts, but the fact of the matter remains that it's being done and will continue to be until something is done by Mythic to prevent it. 

Recently on various account buying and selling sites, prices for Warhammer Online accounts has sky rocketed.  Over the past year or so, the median price point for a renown rank 70 character has been $150.  Yes, they could have definitely been found for less.  However over the past few weeks, these sites have boasted accounts of renown rank 80's for upwards of $1,000!  Pretty crazy right?  After all Warhammer is not WoW, where accounts have been sold for well over $10,000.  In my mind in no way does a rank 80 account, let alone any account, justify the price of $1,000.  If you take a closer look at the picture to the right, you will see a total of five accounts for sale, for well over the price of $300.  A price which I feel is more realistic for a rank 80 character. 

No I don't expect most people to believe that $300 is a fair price, but to be quite honest, it is.  In the past I have done plenty of account buying and selling, and can promise you that NO ACCOUNT is worth more than this.  No matter the gear, rank, characters, etc...  If your plan is to just sell an account, never put more than a single character on it.  So what is prompting people now then to ask such absurdly high prices for their accounts now?  Is it what is on the horizon for Warhammer?  I'd like to think so.  One thing you can always break it down to is supply and demand. 

Form w/ Account Selling

Accounts have been selling like hot cakes over the past few weeks.  An account is posted on a site, and usually within 48 hours it is sold.  This was rarely the case over the last year, as near all Warhammer accounts went unsold.  You couldn't give a Warhammer account away until recently.  Now it would seem you would be hard pressed to find a reasonably priced account for Warhammer.  I hate to say it (and do not condone it any longer) but now would be a great time to sell your account, if you're looking for a quick cash grab. 

Another reason I believe accounts have been selling more recently, is that it can most definitely be done now with a sense of anonymity.  The recent addition of $20 server transfers has enabled this.  Someone can go buy an account, transfer servers, and no one would be the wiser now.  There are some that say $20 for a single character transfer is nuts, and I agree.  But for someone who just spend XXX number of dollars for an account, $20 is more than reasonable for a sense of security from other players. 

So be ready to see a bunch of new high ranking players on your server who you don't recognize, because they are coming.  People want to play Warhammer now, and it has been showing in the amount of account buying and selling that has been taking place.  While I don't condone, it selling your account gets you an easy way to several hundred dollars if not more.  If you could make upwards of $1,000 for your account, would you sell? 

Obligation to End Game

The current state of Warhammer on Iron Rock is less than appealing. People are leaving for other games or other servers left and right, and it really leaves the server to be dead at most times. Another issue is the severe population gap between Order and Destruction. I cannot remember the last time Destro outnumbered our Order counterparts, and often we are outnumbered 3 and 4 to 1. Yes the AAO is nice, but let’s be honest here; eventually you get tired of being rolled due to numbers alone.

Yesterday afternoon was a prime example of our server population, or lack thereof. Order, with relative ease, pushed IC with no real resistance at all. So, in the hopes of me winning a gold / purp bag, I joined my first city instance immediately after the zones locked. Obviously I zone in and check out the scenario scoreboard to find that I had been put up against the usual Order premade of high renown ranking characters. I waited a few minutes for a few more Destro to show up, but only a handful did. Just enough to fill out two groups, so I left. After returning to the Maw, I waited about five minutes and joined another scenario. I was placed in a completely new instance, but it was much of the same. Destro could only manage to fill a few groups against another Order premade. So again, I left. Rinse and repeat several times over, and upon entering three completely different city sieges, it was the same story in each. I even wound up in the same instance on two separate occasions, and neither was nearly close to filling a single warband. Clearly, it is evident that the population is completely out of whack. Do you really expect a Destro player to sit through a city siege for 30 minutes (estimate) for a single Royal Crest? Hardly worth it. At that rate, it would take roughly…..oh I dunno…..100 years to complete a Sovereign set.

Much to my chagrin I hopped on my DoK alt and played around in T3, which low and behold was rocking with action. But that’s the problem; T3 was filled up with great action while a freaking city siege was taking place. It’s sad that no one even cares anymore. It’s just another day on Iron Rock with Destro being beat down. People have grown tired of it, and could care less about IC.

I think something needs to happen that would make it so it is more beneficial to defend your city, rather than to just hop on an alt. Maybe if the opposing side is victorious, you cannot gain access to LoTD for a full day, or you gain a reduced amount of XP for your realm. Maybe even close off IC for more than a few hours, something like a complete day. Right now there is just no incentive to defend your realm on Iron Rock. Hopefully this changes with the implementation of 1.4 and the RvR changes, but unless there is a major population shift I can’t see it.

End Game Debate

This morning Werit posted the remaining Q&A from Andy over on the forums, and something really struck me odd.  It was actually what I had touched on at the end of my post from this morning, Alt-Itis,  Just what struck me as odd is as follows:

Weekend Recaps

Well with the weekend come and gone, we did receive a bit more news in regards to the future of Warhammer.  Bootae, Werit, and Gaarawarr all break things down nicely and I'd suggest checking them out.  My feeling are mixed at the moment about the news.  While we all look forward to the more than welcome changes in the ORvR and the campaign overall, I'm really hoping that things do not go the way of Trials of Atlantis as they did with DAoC.  There are definitely great things on the horizon, let's just hope they are implemented correctly. 

Speculation on the Bioware / Mythic Chat

Today 20th August at 15:00pm CET, Bioware Mythic allowed us to ask questions regarding the new “RvR Pack” and below is a complete list of all questions.

Hello everyone, Carrie and Stuart here from BioWare Mythic, coming to you live from GamesCom!!!
Carrie – The news is all being shared at GamesCom, but the press are hitting up a lot of different places, so they need time to write it up! If you’re eager for WAR news, keep an eye out there, we’re giving several interviews a day!

Taking Notice

Looks like Mythic has taken notice toward the general feeling of negativity in regards to the "news":

Andy Belford


Created about 9 hours ago
Folks,

I know that everyone is eagerly anticipating any sort of news regarding the future of WAR. My Apologies for not posting earlier than this (it's about 3 AM here...jetlag is teh debbil.), however after a long day at the show I needed some time to read all of the feedback and fully gather my thoughts. That being said, here goes:


We are not, at this time, prepared or ready to divulge full details of what is being included in the RvR Pack aside from what we will continue to comment on here at GamesCom. Be sure to continue checking your favorite Gaming News outlets for interviews we're conducting while here in Cologne.

There are features that we're simply not ready to discuss yet, however we made a commitment to the Community to have news about the future of WAR before summer's end. Over time, the picture of the RvR Pack will become much clearer as we will continue to involve the players in the development process of WAR.

We want to reiterate that this is a RvR Pack. We are dedicated to our continued focus on WAR as a RvR game.

As Carrie has stated, Free to Play is not something currently in consideration. Something that wasn't mentioned in the article was further explanation on what we mean by the statement "customizing your game experience" (paraphrasing): We currently plan on offering the RvR Pack with multiple purchase options which we're calling Power, Progression and Personality. I'm not ready to go into details on what exactly that means (yes, evil at work, however I just can't right now) but the focus is to allow you to purchase what you want and build your own experience with the new content.

I'm confidant that every talking point we currently have planned to discuss (both at GamesCom and Games Day) will be reported by those in attendance at Baltimore.

I am humbled by the dedication that so many of you have to WAR and it's future. Please stay tuned for more details, "In Development..." posts, Video Grab Bags, Developer Diaries and Dev Q&A's as we bring you updates surrounding this exciting new development for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

The Hype Machine Strikes Again

Yes, I know it has only been a few days, but the news coming from Gamescom is surely underwhelming so far. Take a look at some comments being made over at Werit. There are several people that are pretty down. This seems to be general consensus throughout forums as well.

That is the big problem about releasing little snippets of information here and there to your general audience.  The player base has largely made this news out to be next to near the savior of Warhammer.  Playable 3rd realms, huge RvR revamps, Vampires, Lizardmen, Skaven..... none of which was ever really even mentioned by Mythic themselves.  People, myself included, hope for the best for games that they love.  They will talk about it as if they actually know what is on the horizon.  Which really only a small handful of people do. 

Do I expect more information coming out of Gamescom over the next few days?  Sure.  But do I expect it to be some groundbreaking news?  Hardly.  If Mythic did announce any of the above I'd be shocked, not to mention ecstatic.  Then again, it might only be adding a little more fuel to the hype machines fire again, at which point I'll simply reference you to this.

Anticipation

If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of trouble

Elbert Hubbard

As we sit and wait this morning for tomorrow's patch along with the long awaited news from Mythic / Bioware about what most are hoping for a new expansion, I am near giddy with excitement. Really other than a new Sovereign set for me though, nothing crazy is on the upcoming horizon.

With the Warhammer Blogosphere going crazy over the news Mythic will dish out at Gamescon, I really hope everyone's anticipation is not for nothing. The player base for the game I feel is steady right now and it worries me that if a major expansion is not released a lot of subscribers will leave. Only time will tell I suppose, but here's to hoping we receive the news we have been pretty much begging for.

On this Monday I'd like to give a thanks to Werit as well. As a community leader he took the time to even acknowledge this new blog on his site, and it does not go unnoticted. Everyone should hop on over there for some great reads. To any other blog / writer who threw this in their blogroll, thank you as well.