I got the feeling in my poke yesterday that Radar was a bit put off by my poking. I want to make it clear, I’m an equal opportunity poker. Yesterday I was tweaked by their strange subscription choice.

Today I’m blown away by their video coverage of a visit to EA Mythic. Seriously. They’ve got a walkthrough of Altdorf, a discussion of armor dyes, more discussion on those fantastic trophies … and … what’s this? CRAFTING. They have a video about CRAFTING in Warhammer. I can’t tell you how long I’ve been trying to get this info out of them, and it’s RIGHT THERE in the video. Brilliant. Seriously guys, great job with this stuff. Nicely done.

My favorite is, of course, a discussion with Josh Drescher and Paul Barnett about the big picture. It’s embedded after the cut for your viewing pleasure.

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Two things, and I apologize because it’s normally rude to poke so sharply, but I just had to:

1. RPS put up this blurb on their site, and then quickly pulled it down: “The Warhammer Online open beta isn’t far off. It’s so close, in fact, that pre-ordering for the retail version of the game will commence today at 3pm, or thereabouts. If you want to get a guaranteed place in the beta then keeping an eye on the WO site is a pretty good idea. Pre-ordering also gets you a couple of rare in-game items, while the slightly more plush (and pricey) collector’s edition will come with a unique Games Workshop figurine, a book filled with luscious artwork, a graphic novel, and - rather more importantly to the gamer - in-game quests that can only be undertaken by collector’s edition owners. Not a bad little package.” Yay pre-orders!
2. TenTonHammer has started doing something almighty dumb. They’re offering ‘premium’ content behind a subscription wall. Case in point, coverage of the WAR Collector’s edition just mentioned above, and a ‘better’ version of Mythos trailer. Guys - this is retarded. C’mon, Gamespot doesn’t even do this with their subscription. They just offer extras and higher quality video. I’m never, ever going to pay you to see news. Ever. It’s going to be all over the internet very, very soon anyway. You can’t keep anything locked up forever. Hell, your subscriber Mythos video will probably be on YouTube by the end of the day. The Collector’s edition info will be released by EA Mythic at some point. This is a bad idea, kind of staggering in its hubris. I paid for Gamespot two years ago, when it was -almost without exception- the finest source for videogame news in the US. You, sir, are no 2006-era Gamespot.

I even wonder if perhaps 1 and 2 aren’t related? Mayhap RPS pulled down the post because EA gave TTH a timed exclusive, and got tweaked when they saw Jim’s post? If so, I’m going to go ahead and say that’s pretty dang stupid too.

Update: Of course, maybe it’s because of the NEW delay, putting WAR out to autumn. Oh mans …

Update 2: Radar notes in the comments that apparently the WAR news being behind the price barrier was a glitch. Which is good!

Via Josh Drescher’s site, which I’m really liking by the by. [adds to blogroll]

It’s been an amazing year in MMOGs. I think 2008 is going to be just as big a deal, though … and in some ways maybe even bigger. As I did last year (relatively well, I might add) I’m going to try to call some shots. Again, I’m just a guy and this is all in good fun. But I’ll keep myself honest: we’ll see how I did this time next year.

So then:

1. Is It Cold In Here or Is It Just Me? - Wrath of the Lich King won’t come out in 2008. We’ll have a firm release date (of early 2009) for the expansion by late summer, and there are as-yet-unannounced features slated for the content update. Blizzard has Hydralisks to fry this year.
2. Nickel and Dime - The concept of RMT and microtransactions will continue to gain acceptance with North American gamers. This will be reflected commercially by further successes for MapleStory and Nexon’s other games in the US. Other companies will begin to consider alternatives to the flat subscription fee, even if outright RMT/microtransactions aren’t yet on the table. At least one newly announced game this year will feature a non-subscription schema.
3. Call Me Agent Smith - The Agency is going to go over like gangbusters. A flat box fee with only microtransactions for further goodies is going to make a big impression … if it can make it out this year. Sometime mid-to-late summer would be perfect. This could even be one of the killer apps for the PS3 this year. Which is good, because it needs it. FreeRealms, on the other hand, is going to have a rough go of it. Without clear player understanding of what exactly this humor/fantasy MMOG thingie is, it’s going to take some time for it to take off.
4. WAAAAUGH For the Win - Warhammer is also going to be a big hit … though it perhaps won’t be everything that EA is hoping for. Long-term MMOG fans are going to fall in love all over again just the same. By the end of the year the house that Jacobs built is going to be very happy for all the extra hard work they put in. Conan will be a much less resounding success. It’s not going to fail, but Funcom is going to end 2008 more than a little bit frustrated.
5. Sunglasses At Night - The CCP/White Wolf game is going to be big news this year, as they announce the scope of the world. It’s not going to be everything that World of Darkness fans would have hoped for, but there will still be a lot of happy gothsicles.
6. Out of Left Field - One of the newbie studios (Carbine, Red 5) is going to announce a project that will really excite and surprise Massive fans. 38 Studios will announce what they’re doing, and it won’t surprise anyone … but it will be somewhat interesting.
7. Pushback - There’s going to be yet another major AAA title whose release date is pushed back to late in the year. One of the big games that we think is going to come out in 2008, won’t.
8. The Age Gets Darker - WAR’s release will be a very dark day for the already dimly-lit Ages of Camelot. Their emulation of Mythic’s older game’s defining feature, coupled with a better PvE experience in essentially every way, will see a lot of players heading for the hills.
9. The Legacy of McQuaid - At some point, Vanguard players are going to get tired of waiting around for ‘the good’ to show up in their game. Expect to see some of Vanguard’s best features showing up in EverQuest 2.
10. With the Brim Pulled Way Down Low - We’re going to see another live game close up shop this year, and an in-development title will slip into the unseen depths as well.
11. Way To Cast - Another MMO dev or publisher will join Blizzard and SOE in making an official podcast.
12. Coming of Age - Tabula Rasa is going to maintain a steady playerbase throughout the year as folks enjoy the new and exciting flavour. Turbine will continue to not report LOTRO’s subscription numbers, for a reason.
13. Okay For Serious This Time - BioWare will announce what they’re making in Austin. For reals, guys. C’mon! :)

2008’s Winners: Warhammer Online, The Agency, MapleStory, New Studios

2008’s Losers: Dark Age of Camelot, Vanguard, Age of Conan

Almost exactly a year ago I put down some predictions for the year in Massive games. It’d be cheating if I didn’t grade myself, so that’s what I’m going to do here, looking back at my 2006 MMOGnostications. This will be a pass/fail test, class … pens at the ready!

Burning Problems - The launch of the expansion to World of Warcraft is going to cause Blizzard bigtime headaches.

Buzz! Bigtime wrong. The launch went almost flawlessly, and despite the huge impact it has had on the life of raiders WoW rolls along unbowed and unbroken. I always thought the expansion was going to be good, but I expected Blizzard to have problems similar to the game’s initial launch. Instead, big blue learned its lessons and scored a customer relations coup.

That Not So Fresh Feeling - At least one of the MMOGs slated to launch this year is going to end up being kind of a stinker.

Ding! This was kind of one of my ’safety’ options, but it came very much true nonetheless. Vanguard was a huge letdown for expectant fans, and the SOE team is still doing overtime work to make the ship sail in a straight line.

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It’s not something I think I’ve mentioned here before, but Viva Pinata is one of my very favorite games. I pretty much entirely love my Xbox 360; there are so many games on the console that are in my personal AAA category, but the gameplay in VivaP is easily one of the most unique and enjoyable.

For me it comes down to a combination of elements: the zen focus you can gain from playing, and the collectible nature of the animals themselves. The imaginative, unique visuals help a lot too. :)

What does this have to do with Massive games? Well, we’re always talking about how we want something other than standard fantasy … Viva Pinata has several element that speak to the MMO player, but give them a twist we haven’t often seen in other online titles.

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Christmas is mostly about family and giving and all that stuff, but when it comes down to it we all have our eyes open for loot. It’s the time of year when we hope that the wrapped presents under the tree are exactly what we want. When miracles might just come true. Last year I sat down and worked out my list for Santa, and I think it would be a shame if I didn’t do the same this year. Here’s what I want for my 2008 year in MMOGs:

• Something on the Firefly MMOG … anything!
• To find out what some of those new MMOG startups are doing, and (of course) more Metaplace news.
• A late-in-the-year launch of Lich King. I’ve still got lots of stuff to do before then.
• The dedication to keep playing EQ2 until my fellow adventurers tire of Norrath. I’d really like to get to the Kunark content at some point, too.
• A spectacular launch for Warhammer Online and a Beta invite early in the new year. (Please, Mythic? I promise to play nice.)
• Further success for my newest gig: Massively!
• A successful (first annual) Worlds in Motion Summit.
• Even *more* acceptance of MMOGs by mainstream society. I’ve gotten my Toyota commercial and Mr. T’s night elf mohawk already. Top that.
• I’m still waiting for the second episode of Illegal Danish, and now I’m waiting on MMOvie also. I could use some more of Snacky’s Journal, too.
• Announcements for the new games from Square/Enix and Blizzard … and for the love of all that is holy, just cop to KOTORO, BioWare!
• A sense of what Guild Wars 2 will bring us; 2007 made me a huge fan of Arena.net’s original.
• The dedication to keep the RSS feed smoking here on MMOG Nation.