So was thinking about the future of WAR. Specifically how WAR would be able to handle an expansion considering the end game is already set in stone. Got me thinking about what we could see in the future of WAR. So here's my predictions, I'll have to revisit this over the next few months as well :)
Summer 2009: Land of the Dead is released, adds quite a lot to the game and after a few initial hiccups and totally broken encounters a few patches make it a valuable aspect of the game.
September 2009: Mythic announce work on the first paid expansion which will focus on revitalising the end game, including completely redesigned cities and fourth tiers. During this period Mythic do not release any content patches but focus on server stability, bug fixes and class balance.
Winter 2009: More details are released about the expansion and a closed beta is announced for Spring.
Summer 2010: The expansion is released bringing a lot of new players in as well as causing a few people to quit due to major tier 4 changes, people don't like change. It scares them. The level cap is upped to 50 and renown rank to 100. This works due to a total redesign of Altdorf and IC... The other cities basically quietly forgotten about and brushed away and don't even show on the map anymore
Winter 2010: The second live expansion is released adding customisable guild keeps which can be sieged.
2011: The second paid expansion is announced bringing a third realm into the mix. Mythic have been planning this since 2009 and it fits in nicely to the redesigned fourth tiers. Also added are Mythic Levels which go from 1-5 (check out the champion levels for DAoC). Another live expansion is released focusing on siege warfare.
2012: The second expansion is released, no live expansion is released this year due to focus on releasing it however we get some minor content to tide us over.
2013:WAR keeps it's core players, it never makes it's 1m subs but it's got healthy enough numbers to keep going for many years to come. Another live expansion comes out as we usher in five years of WAR.
I hope it does keep going for five or more years! One point of contention: I think they'd do the end-game redesign as a live update rather than a paid expansion. Otherwise players without the expansion would be playing in a completely different endgame to those with.
ReplyDeleteAlso, who would the third realm be made up of, without splitting up the existing realms? Lizardmen, Wood Elves and Bretonnians? Skaven, Beastmen and Undead? Thematically it'll be difficult to get a third realm in there. All the existing races would much more easily fit into one or other of the existing realms. It'd be a case of Order 2, or Destro 2, or unrealistic mixture: Destrorder?
i'm sorry but i don't think i can be so positive about the state of WAR or the future of it, come september IF aion is as good as its been made out by some players specially those of EC that have already left Norn, then i think WAR will have a huge lose of players for both aion and champions, and i don't think it will be enough to close WAR but definatly enough to scale it down, all depends of 1.3 for me tbh if its a huge let down then i think i'll have to cancel my sub =(
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