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Daily Column

Loading... we cut the WAR classes.

First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we also show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

  1. World of Warcraft - 200 BPM
  2. Age of Conan - 130 BPM
  3. Lord of the Rings Online - 75 BPM
  4. EverQuest II - 72 BPM
  5. EVE Online - 61 BPM
  6. Guild Wars - 53 BPM
  7. Vanguard - 46 BPM
  8. Warhammer Online - 41 BPM
  9. Lineage 2 - 39 BPM
  10. Dungeon Runners - 33 BPM

I hit the road for a few days and all heck breaks loose. EA-Mythic reverts their name back to Mythic Entertainment and then to dilute the obvious outrage at such a decision makes some minor announcements like the culling of four classes and four capital cities. They are an ingenious bunch, planning and preparing with a forethought that reaches to infinity. They knew that a name change would send the forum denizens into a frenzy the likes of hasn't been seen since TenTonHammer.com's drunken, roller-skating drumline hit the San Francisco streets.

So, let's take a look at this well hidden change. Mythic Entertainment was purchased by Electronic Arts. The name of the company was then changed to EA-Mythic. The company has now taken a u-turn and is once again called Mythic Entertainment. Doesn't anyone see where this is going? It's seems so obvious. There is no Warhammer Online. After many years of work, Mythic Entertainment is going to show us their new product, Dark Age of Camelot.

Let's look at the facts.

  • EA-Mythic becomes Mythic Entertainment, just like when they built DAoC.
  • Greenskin Choppa has been cut - There are no Choppas in DAoC.
  • Dwarf Hammerer has been cut - There are no Hammerers in DAoC.
  • Dark Elf Blackguard has been cut - There are no Blackguard in DAoC.
  • Knight of the Blazing Sun has been cut - There are no Knights of the Blazing Sun in DAoC.
  • Four capital cities were cut, none of which were in DAoC.

Every fact, every single one, points to a remaking of Dark Age of Camelot. You read it here first.

Now, just in case I'm wrong, let's take a look at the alternative. In the unlikely event that they are building Warhammer Online what do these changes mean for you the player?

Fewer Capital Cities

Nearly every player wants a capital city that suits their race. It's fun and it gives the game some flavour. Will not having a capital city cause people to cancel their pre-orders, march in the streets and play Second Life instead? I'll go out on a limb and plunk my chips on "no".

Sure, there were mechanics in the PvP system that made capital cities more than the normal rest stops that they have become in other titles, but that PvP mechanic is still available in the two cities that are built. The racial pairings will no longer gear up and march out to conquer the city of their mortal enemy. Greenskins versus Dwarves, Chaos versus Empire and Dark Elves versus High Elves is gone with respect to city sieges. Instead the Destruction faction will lay siege to Altdorf (The Empire's capital) and Order will lay siege to the Inevitable City (Chaos).

This cut wasn't a game breaker. It was probably more embarrassing than painful to the development team.

Class Cuts

Cutting classes is a tougher decision. Once class names and descriptions make it into the wild players start to invest in them, take ownership if you will. The Greenskins are a popular Warhammer tabletop army, mainly because they are humorous and savage in one pea green package. Of the four classes that were cut, the Choppa probably held the most public affection and the most vocal backers.

Start up an MMOG and the race that most new players choose is 'Human'. In the case of Warhammer Online that means Empire. Losing the tank from the race voted most likely to have the most players will impact the game. Order can choose from a stunted tank (Dwarf) or a poncy tank (High Elf). Fire hydrant or 'Proto-Jedi', the choice is yours.

More importantly, the game loses four melee classes. How that will affect the distribution of players and in the end the gameplay remains to be seen. Most players feel more connection with a class type (gameplay style) than a race, but will those that lost their first choice move on to another race? Will the loss of those classes have long-term effects on the player distribution?

It truly doesn't matter what Mythic does, players will complain, whine and gripe. In the end, the game will be what it will be and you will vote with your wallet. What this announcement does show is that anything that a developer says can and will be used against them in the court of fansite forums.

Are you looking forward to playing Dark Age of Camelot? Do you agree that this is just a massive coverup to keep the truth of DAoC Reborn from us?

Do tell. The Loading Forums await you. Do you feel the need to contact me personally with naughty pictures or derogatory comments? Here's my E-mail.

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[A big thanks to Phil Comeau for putting together the links and Real World News.]

12 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 137 in July! 1715 in 2008!

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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Dissecting and distilling the game industry since 1994. Lover of family time, youth hockey, eSports, and the game industry in general.

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