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."
Yikes. Racial cities at launch will now be Altdorf (Empire) and Inevitable City (Chaos), with the Greenskins, Dwarves, and Elves homeless until later on down the line. Note that these are not starting areas, but bases that figure into RVR combat later in the game.
It really is shocking to see such large chunks of content cut out so close to the game's release, but I suppose it's better than just including a bunch of crap you weren't satisfied with and hoping to polish it off after the game went live. At least Jacobs didn't beat around the bush or try to sugarcoat things.
"We've always believed that it is important to go to the community with both good news and bad," he said. "Whether it's the state of the games, or just talking in the forums, we're professional enough to confront bad news head on and not try to hide it and not try to play games and wait until the last minute when people have already bought the game to tell them. We will not play those kinds of games."
Ever since that one summer where I did nothing but play Dark Age of Camelot all day long (Go Avalon!), Mythic Entertainment has struck me as one of the most community-centric MMO companies in the industry. Sure, this is a heaping helping of bad news, but all is not lost, right?
Jacobs Interview Part Two - Punkbuster, Capitol Cities and Careers, Page Two [MMORPG.com - Thanks Helen!]