The good news? Warhammer Online just launched its Guild Beta. The bad news? There's a bit less game for the Guilds to beta. In an interview with MMORPG.com, Mythic Entertainment VP and General Manager Mark Jacobs explains that in order for the game to be ready for launch, certain sacrifices had to be made, including nixing four of the six staring racial capital cities in favor of one for each faction, and getting rid of four of the classes that they just couldn't make work. On the cutting board are the Choppa (Greenskin), the Hammerer (Dwarf), the Blackguard (Dark Elf), and the Knight of the Blazing Sun (Empire)...two DPS classes and two tank classes.

“Of all of the news in this interview, this is the worst. Having to cut these guys out, even though it’s the right decision, I am really sorry that we have to do it. I truly am. I don’t like going to the guys and telling them ‘hey sorry, we’ve got to cut these guys out. They’re just not good enough but that was what we had to do.”

The PC At E3 - The Keyboard And Mouse Brigade

While we've taken a good hard look at what we expect from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony during E3 2008, we've not yet touched on the original gaming platform, the personal computer. Back during my first visit to E3 in 1998, PC gaming made up a relatively large portion of the show, with PC publishers large and small showing off everything from big-name titles to tiny indie games like Space Bunnies Must Die. The new E3 has changed that a great deal. Smaller companies who might have once brought their games to the Expo for exposure to retailers and publishers just can't justify the space to show off their wares...and why should they? In the age of high-speed internet, smaller companies can deliver a demo to the press in minutes, so the PC presence has definitely dwindled at the event.

Of course dwindled doesn't mean died, and there are still plenty of PC games on hand, particularly in the MMO department. As the most pirate-proof genre in the industry, we'll see no shortage of MMO titles at E3, but other than that particular genre we can expect PC exclusive titles to be few and far between.

Warhammer Online Enters Guild Beta Stage

It's full speed ahead for EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning as the game enters the final phase of closed beta testing, the Guild Beta. This is the stage where guilds from other games who signed up for beta as a whole will gain access to the game en masse in order to test out the newly implemented guild and heraldry features, as well as the individual servers' capacity for drama.

“WAR’s Guild Beta is here and some of the world’s most experienced MMO players will now get a chance to play one of the most anticipated MMOs of all time,” said Mark Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “We look forward to seeing them beat, bash and burn their way through the world that we have created for their enjoyment. It’s going to be a lot of fun and it’s going to be glorious!”

The WoW guild I was in when we signed up for the Warhammer beta has long since dissolved, reformed, dissolved again, and split up into a series of tiny, ineffectual guilds with no hope of ever accomplishing anything. Such is the way of all things.

EA's E3 Line Up - We're Going To Need A Bigger Website

Don't expect me to sum up Electronic Arts' E3 2008 presence in a couple of paragraphs. It's far too huge for just a quick rundown, so I'll just give you the pertinent points. The line up includes soemwhere around 38 games, including four games for the iPhone, three for the iPod, and four mobile games - including the upcoming Wolfenstein RPG.

They got a demo room filled with top-notch titles like Dead Space, Warhammer Online, Mirror's Edge, Mercenaries 2, and Madden 09, as well as the EA Software Showcase booth, which will be showing off even more games - The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Crysis Warhead, and Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 to name a few. Throw in partner games like Rock Band 2 at the MTV booth and Valve's Left 4 Dead and you've got a whole lot of real estate for the gaming press to cover in a very short time. Hit the jump for the full monty, including listings of which games are up for coveted E3 awards.

Russians, listen up! Warhammer Online is coming. That's right, a fully localized version of EA Mythic's MMORPGH Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will be released in Russia for PCs early next year. Whew! Make it through the post without a "Because in Soviet Russia, Warhammer Online plays you" joke. Oh. Wait.

Hit the jump for the short press release, which is thankfully free of such tired humor.

Warhammer Online Crafting Exhaustively Explained

Best Chance of Console MMO? Nintendo. (Oh?)

Face it, MMOs are for PCs, not consoles. Maybe one day someone will figure it how to get it on a console. EA Mythic creator director Paul Barnett thinks he knows who: Nintendo. Says Barnett, currently working on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning:

You would have to build something very console centric from the get-go. I think probably the best chance of someone doing something like that is Nintendo — doing something crazy that no one expects.

Perhaps Barnett has confused "crazy" with "correct," but hey, who knows? Nintendo's surprised us before.
MMO Future [CVG]

The worldwide launch for EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning just got a bit more worldwide. Recognizing the legion of Warhammer fans in Australia and New Zealand, the two countries along with Southeast Asia will bet getting the game the same time those of us in Europe and North America do, complete with their own servers so they don't have to mingle with dirty Americans. EA Mythic VP Mark Jacobs breaks out 'down under' so I don't have to.

"Warhammer is a world-wide franchise with a strong following in Australia and New Zealand. By placing our own server down under and running customer service out of EA Mythic, we can ensure that when we launch WAR, Oceanic players will experience the same quality of game play and customer service as North American players"

World Of Warcraft Makes MMO Making Easier

Here's a rather interesting viewpoint on World of Warcraft's MMO genre dominance. Rather than seeing the Blizzard game's dominance as a detriment to new games, EA Mythic's senior designer Josh Drescher suggest that it actually makes developing a new MMO easier.

"If you actually look at the MMO-sphere right now, that is since WoW launched, the vast percentage of MMOs that launched after it have been successful," Drescher explained. "Obviously no one has eclipsed the 10 million subscriber number, but there have been numerous titles that have come out on different platforms and multiple genres all over the world that have been far more successful than MMOs had been previously."

Warhammer Online On The March

Sure it's been delayed again, but look at all of the nifty stuff you get! EA Mythic has revealed the contents of the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Collector's Edition, perhaps in an attempt to get you to look beyond the release date, which they've done twice now. If that is their tactic, it seems to be working for me. All I can think of now is getting my paws on the exclusive Games Workshop miniature, hardbound graphic novel, and 224-page hardcover art book packed inside what is sure to be a massive, weighty package. Now how much would you pay? Wait, there's more! The collector's edition also comes with bonus in-game items, quests, rewards, titles, and even special heads for your characters, setting them apart from the plebeians who couldn't scrounge up the extra dough. $79.99 secures you one of these babies, but you'd best preorder now, as quantities are limited to 60,000 in North America.

Push it back, push it back, waaaaaay back! It helps if you imagine Warhammer orcs in cheerleader outfits, though that might just be me. Speaking during a press conference today in Paris, producer Jeff Hickman revealed that Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning isn't quite ready for the 2nd quarter release they were aiming for when they delayed the game the last time. The new target date for the ambitious MMO is sometime this fall. Considering the pace they've been keeping up so far, I wouldn't be surprised if the game wound up being a Christmas release. Just remember, it isn't a delay - it's an extended development cycle.

Warhammer Online delayed again [Eurogamer]

GigaMedia Signs Warhammer Online Distribution Agreement

The team handling press for EA Mythic's upcoming Warhammer: Age of Reckoning MMORPG don't believe in information trickling. Every month we get a fresh blast of concept art, screens, and information in one huge chunk. Rather than split them up or simply toss them all together into one large gallery, I went ahead and split them up into easily digestible nuggets. This month we get information and screens on two character classes: The Sorcerer / Sorceress and the Disciple of Kaine, as well as renders of the elven zone of Ellyrion, some renders from the next cinematic trailer, and concept art featuring the taverns and RVR keeps in the game. First up is the Sorcerers, Dark Elven magic users who utilize the powers of their will to harness incredible dark magics, though building up too much power can cause the magic to turn on the player, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

Warhammer Elf Mania

Warhammer Online Delayed

In the latest State of the Game article for Warhammer Online, General Manager of EA Mythic Mark Jacobs reveals that the game, once slated for sometime in February of next year, has been delayed until the 2nd quarter of 2008. Wait - not delayed - the development cycle has just been extended. Phew! Had me worried there for a bit.

As many of you may have heard, we have extended WAR's development cycle until the 2nd quarter of 2008. The reason is simple; we will not release Warhammer Online until it is the game we set out to create two years ago.

Warhammer Online - State of the Game [Warhammer Herald via SlashDot]

Mythic Puts Warhammer Online Beta On Ice