Wrath of the Lich King to be Released in 2008
Submitted by Atakheal on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 17:31.
Shacknews reported that according to Mike Morhaime (Blizzard Entertainment's CEO), Wrath of the Lich King will be released between October and December 2008.
"We
have said that it will be coming out this year," Blizzard CEO Mike
Morhaime revealed in a conference call today. "I can tell you it's not
coming in the July to September quarter."
As for the Wrath of
the Lich King beta, Morhaime noted that "testing is going very well."
During the call, Morhaime also mentioned that 40% of the World of
Warcraft subscribers that left for Age of Conan have since returned.
I think the most interesting
Submitted by garreth on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 23:02.I think the most interesting thing here is the % of people that left WoW for AoC whom then came back :)
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Dont forget that Blizz also
Submitted by Nellem1 on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 05:47.Dont forget that Blizz also promised to have TBC out in early Nov 06. The day was pushed back 4-5 times before it's final release on 16 Jan 07. I hear there are some other big name games coming out late this year, is blizz willing to compete with these other companies for sales? Im thinking they will push it back like they did last time.
what doesnt die right away, will always have my ticking on their mind.
I dont think blizzard has to
Submitted by bluetouguyss on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 09:39.I dont think blizzard has to worry about competing, seeing as they have a built in client base. It will be one of the biggest games this winter regardless. Also you dont push back to january unless your game isnt ready. You want it out before christmas regardless!!! I too thought it was funny to see how many people had returned to wow from aoc. I thought about playing it but just too many bad reviews. Glad I stayed with this!
Im sure they will try to
Submitted by jaibyrd on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 09:53.Im sure they will try to make the sales market for the December season if at all possible, I'm sure they missed that for BC only because it really really couldn't be done.
Yes, I like to heal. No, I've never been shadow.
1. Blue, although I do not
Submitted by Ewiges on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 10:10.1. Blue, although I do not know you, you have a very strong point. Blizzard's player base is so fucking huge on a world wide basis they don't need to compete. I'm sure they got scared when AoC came out, but like Garreth said, look who came back. I played AoC beta and knew it wouldn't hit.
2. What Garreth said, now I'm sure it got some clients but not to even dent Blizzard's budget. Most people kept their accounts active or came back shortly later, GIVE ME YOUR SCROLL OF RESURRECTION!!!!!
3. Although Warhammer promises to bring lots of goodies (haven't played beta, heard open beta soon???) I still think it won't affect blizzard's subscriber base.
In the end blizzard with WoW built a huge fucking subscriber base, 20 mil world wide??? It is incredible what Blizzard has built. WoW is working on 5 years and is still growing regardless of the reless of some other top end MMOs. With 2 more franchises coming out (SC2, D3) Blizzard is on the row to success and Vivendi is rolling in the dough (Blizzard's marketing company, they get all the money Blizz should)
My friend told me today that
Submitted by bluetouguyss on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 15:15.My friend told me today that blizzard is doing some sort of new recruiting idea as well to get more people involved in WOW. I couldnt find a link right offhand but allegedly if you recruit someone new to play you get a zebra for a mount! As well you get to teleport the person you recruited to wherever you are at any time. On top of that you get 3x the xp when the two of you are grouped together doing quests!!! Seems like a pretty solid plan. I will try and find a link to confirm this.
here is the link. You can
Submitted by bluetouguyss on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 15:21.here is the link. You can only summon once an hour.
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20588
It's on the WoW website
Submitted by saedo on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 15:23.It's on the WoW website front page. lol
But here's the details: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20588
It's a one hour CD to teleport. And the whole bonus stuff ends when you reach level 60.
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I think the "bring a friend"
Submitted by garreth on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 15:34.I think the "bring a friend" thing is GREAT. You get to summon your buddies around and help them out directly. How freaking cool is that!!
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For those of you who aren't
Submitted by karlizeth on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 16:41.For those of you who aren't going to the link, here's one more tidbit:
For every two levels the new player earns, the new player can grant one
free level-up to a lower-level character played by the veteran player.
I'd always wished that
Submitted by Shihli on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 17:00.I'd always wished that Blizzard had implemented a sidekick system akin to that in City of Heroes.
yeah it is really nice. I
Submitted by bluetouguyss on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 19:03.yeah it is really nice. I find that I have my two buddies that got me playing WOW and it is so much more fun to play with people you know. I wish now that I had waited. It would have taken a hell of a lot less time to get to 70!!!
More on this. I recieved my
Submitted by Dragonspear on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 05:50.More on this. I recieved my Warhammer Online newsletter today where Mythic said that they planned on releasing WAR on 18 Sept.
If Blizzard follows what they have previously done, i.e. Releasing TBC less than 2 weeks after Vanguard Saga of Heroes(Errors) was released, an early October launch would seem most likely.
Please note I am looking at this from purely a marketing standpoint (and how the TBC release plus the horrible bugs with Vanguard releasing itself early contributed into minimal news about Vanguard.)
There is no Emotion; There is Peace.
There is no Ignorance; There is Knowledge.
There is no Passion; There is Serenity.
There is no Death; There is The Force.
~Jedi Code
Wrath is remarkably complete
Submitted by garreth on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:50.Wrath is remarkably complete for this stage in development, which means a 2008 release is highly likely.
Considering the fact that Warhammer is the ONLY mmo that could possibly dent WoW's market share, we all know that Blizz is going to push hard to fight back immediately after the Warhammer release.
I think a Wrath release about one to two months after Warhammer is inevitable. Give people a chance to dive into War, get their feet wet and then realize it's filled with all the PvP, jock-douchebags who left WoW because it wasn't hardcore enough. I think we'll see an exodus, then another return, just like Conan(lol).
Warhammer is the PvP'er's MMO. I'm excited to see it improve WoW.
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Warhammer online won't phase
Submitted by Shihli on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:57.Warhammer online won't phase WoW in the slightest, honestly.
AoC was supposed to be the WoW-breaker, remember? And Vanguard before that?
I agree with you G. I plan
Submitted by Dragonspear on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:57.I agree with you G. I plan on trying WAR myself with some RL friends of mine but I have no intention of closing down my WoW Account during the time. I like my downfall friends too much :D
There is no Emotion; There is Peace.
There is no Ignorance; There is Knowledge.
There is no Passion; There is Serenity.
There is no Death; There is The Force.
~Jedi Code
I agree shihli, and with
Submitted by Dragonspear on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 08:59.I agree shihli, and with many of the new at least paladin changes for Wrath it looks like blizz devs took a leaf or 2 from the WAR beta (healers having to do something other than just green numbers)
I was merely talking about marketing strategy and likely release date based on information i had garnered
There is no Emotion; There is Peace.
There is no Ignorance; There is Knowledge.
There is no Passion; There is Serenity.
There is no Death; There is The Force.
~Jedi Code
Warhammer is pretty fun so
Submitted by Jayel on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 09:06.Warhammer is pretty fun so far. I have been in the beta since the start and your right its going to pull alot of people who live for just pvp. There is also a very interesting PvE side of the game but most of it is still hush hush until the open beta.
A "very interesting" PvE
Submitted by Shihli on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 09:14.A "very interesting" PvE side, for a game that has - since its first teasers - set out to be a PvP-focused game.
At best, I think that WAR will suck out most of the arena-only monkeys from WoW with its promises of better PvP. At worst, WAR will just be another game like AoC.
Did I mention? AoC may have single-handedly sunk Funcom Games (http://www.warcry.com/news/view/85265-Age-of-Conan-Is-Funcom-Foundering). AoC was being heralded as one of the most "refreshing" and "original" and "immersive" MMO's, was being touted as the next big thing since WoW ... and it flopped so hard you'd swear it was at a public pool.
While I don't think Warhammer will flop to the extent that AoC did, I seriously doubt it'll have the staying power (or the lasting appeal) that WoW does.
I agree that it wont be as
Submitted by Jayel on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 10:19.I agree that it wont be as big a hit as WoW has been.
I'm not a huge PvP fan but I do love world PvP and War is all about large scale fights all over the place.
How much fun would WoW be you could attack a horde outpost and convert it to an Ally outpost until the horde were able to liberate it?
See: Halaa That's already
Submitted by Shihli on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 11:05.See: Halaa
That's already in WoW, Jayel :)
True, but in Halaa you don't
Submitted by Fjork on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 11:12.True, but in Halaa you don't get the satisfaction of truly capturing an enemy city:
But Halaa ain't quite the
Submitted by Dragonspear on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 11:20.But Halaa ain't quite the same as say, obliterating Orgimmar. Which from what I have read in regares to WAR, you can even do it in their "capital" cities.
That being said, no WAR won't touch WoW. However it is enough of a for lack of a better term "threat" that we will get WotLK sooner :D
There is no Emotion; There is Peace.
There is no Ignorance; There is Knowledge.
There is no Passion; There is Serenity.
There is no Death; There is The Force.
~Jedi Code
Age of Conan you were
Submitted by Shihli on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 11:23.Age of Conan you were supposed to be able to build cities for your guild and armies.
What you got was glorified material gathering.
hehe you got me there =P
Submitted by Jayel on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 11:29.hehe you got me there =P
Imagine if that was possible for any outpost and
I havent really read up on whats all coming out in WotLK but I heard there is going to be more world PvP so I'm hoping its something enjoyable and not just grinding honor like bgs are currently.
the city/outpost leader
Submitted by Shihli on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 11:41.City/outpost leaders in WoW drop money and (at least they used to give) significant amounts of honor per kill, which is in turn used to buy loot.
Taking control of Halaa allows you to turn in quests there for rep tokens, which can be used to buy more loot.
Zone-wide buffs in HFP (Mag's head), Zangarmarsh (PvP objectives), and Terokkar (PvP objectives) give similar effects, some might give more xp.
Again, WoW is *ALREADY* doing all of that Jayel.
And that doesn't include anything involved with Lake Wintergrasp in WotLK.
The implementation in WoW,
Submitted by Dufe on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 11:49.The implementation in WoW, while it does exist, is limited and highly controlled. Those who choose to invest in those objectives do just that, choose. Sounds like Warhammer will take it to a whole new level, like going from a PvE server in WoW to a PvP one, only more so. This will possibly appeal to the hardcore PvP types, but those who are interested in PvE may end up just steering clear of that game environment as a whole - just like the majority of Downfall wouldn't likely enjoy spending their whole day in Halaa/Zangar/Terrokar trying to capture/hold the objectives there.
(grubles about the NDA)
Submitted by Jayel on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 12:24.(grubles about the NDA) I'll agree that what I have been saying is all in WoW but its like Dufe say "its limited and highly controlled" The benefits are there in WoW but in War they will be much greater.
The NDA has made me unable to give any examples or facts but like I said before there will be plenty of stuff for PvE folks to that doesnt involve any more PvP then you would see on Gorg while leveling and the end game PvE has been fun in my limited experience with it so far.
Overall, what I'm saying is
Submitted by Shihli on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 12:36.Overall, what I'm saying is this.
If WAR chooses to develop its PvP and have limited PvE (in the same fashion that WoW has developed PvE and limited PvP), then it will be a successful niche game.
If they try to develop its PvP to the extent you are describing while trying to develop its PvE content to a level beyond what WoW has, then two things could happen:
1) They pull it off and make "the WoW-killer"; or (more likely)
2) They fail to deliver on both fronts and the game becomes a trainwreck like AoC (which promised both highly-developed PvE *and* PvP content on release, and delivered neither)
And once again, everyone is assuming that just because you don't *have* to do WoW's limited world-PvP content that it is somehow not as good as what competitors have made. WoW has been a huge success because you can choose to play the game however you wish. You aren't FORCED to partake in world PvP, nor are you forced to fight Onyxia or dink around in arenas all day.
The choice is there, whether you (and others) choose to use it is ultimately up to the consumer.
If Warhammer literally FORCES players into PvP content without any other option, then the game will suffer.
This is all speculation, though.
And don't take my word as that of "omfg WOW IS BEST EVER and FOREVER!" WoW just so happens to be the 500-pound gorilla of MMO gaming; it is VERY hard to compete against a game that has such a huge consumer backing. 10.5million+ ACTIVE accounts indicates that Blizzard is doing something right - the best most companies can do until consumers get sick of WoW (which they haven't) is to either
1) Make a niche game that appeals to a very specific subset of gamers (see: Lineage, Ragnarok Online, Guild Wars to a degree, EVE Online, Anarchy Online, and SWG pre-game destruction); or
2) Spin the wheel, roll the dice, try to make a "WoW killer" and hope it works (see: AoC's failure, Vanguard's failure, Guild Wars' failure)
I agree with you 100%.
Submitted by Jayel on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 13:49.I agree with you 100%.
From what I have experienced War doesnt force PvP on you but its encouraged for sure. You can level from 1-40 doing all PvP or doing all PvE but the added abilities you learn from your PvP ranks are worth having in both PvE and PvP aspects (similar to how the pvp trinket is helpfull in some PvE boss fight(s?)).
The PvE isn't set up to be "Better" then WoWs its different. I hope they continue to be different instead of trying to be better because that will lead to disapointment and utter failure. imo
WoW definately has set the bar very high for MMOs, and any game that tries to directly challenge them on all aspects would be silly.