We've accepted your mistakes Mythic, why won't you accept ours?

So I was at Tomb of the Vulture Lord, 8th boss.. kill number 22. For the first time in 22 runs I've finally seen the Black Orc cloak drop, everyone is cheering on Team Speak - Finally, Lokkie gets his back piece.

I click on need.

Need Rolls
You roll 75
The Chosen main tank rolls 75

"What the fu... I clicked pass"

It's a tie

You roll 63
The Chosen main tank rolls 65
 
.............

Ach well, we can always CSR it, use a wild card it's no problem... Except the Mythic servers don't have the wild card system (for those who don't/didn't play the EU servers back in the GOA days the CSR's offered a three a year wild card system to allow you to undo mistakes such as these, or incorrect server transfers, no questions asked, they just let you know if you had run out. I get a canned CSR response basically telling me they don't offer this service, and that if I want it I should leave feedback on the Herald. For the first time in my 11 years of playing MMO's I almost went off on a flame on the CSR. I resisted, deciding instead to post something here.

In Mythics defense, yes they have a "Need on use" feature, we forgot it wasn't on, we only go for the 8th boss, to get two cloaks and three Mortis pages and we wanted to get done as quickly as possible. However we also had to put up with the ever bugged out 5th boss causing us to reset the instance as usual, a bugged out 6th boss and the usual warping trash, unhittable mobs and getting stuck on the terrain. The general frustration, annoyance and muttering that happens every week which after 16 months you'd think they'd have fixed by now. It's not actually fun to do anymore but we promised one another we'd keep doing it until we had everything we wanted from it. Friends stick together.

We have accepted this instance is a buggy pile of crap which will never be fixed, we've accepted dreadful server performance and unbalanced careers, we've accepted for the last two and a bit years now that the game isn't perfect but we enjoy it when it works well and that is why we play it, we're loyal to Warhammer because it sometimes brings great moments and fantastic RvR. All I'm asking for now in return Mythic is that you look at your customer service you offer and think long and hard about accepting OUR mistakes from time to time as loyal, paying players because right now, I'm going to check when my subscription ends.

Mythics secret announcement - Bringing back the MMO Imperator?

From Superannuation:
http://supererogatory.tumblr.com/post/945189389/domain-name-imperatorthegame-com

The domain www.imperatorthegame.com has been registered by Mythic Entertainment in December.

Registrant:
Electronic Arts
Domain Hostmaster
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065
US
Email:

Registrar Name....: CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
Registrar Whois...: whois.corporatedomains.com
Registrar Homepage: www.cscprotectsbrands.com

Domain Name: imperatorthegame.com

Created on..............: Tue, Dec 15, 2009
Expires on..............: Sun, Jun 24, 2012
Record last updated on..: Sun, Dec 20, 2009

Administrative,Technical Contact:
Electronic Arts
Domain Hostmaster
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065
US
Phone: +1.6506281500
Email:

A previous MMO by Mythic put on hold, this game was about the Roman empire that still exists in a futuristic Earth, you can check out links at IGN and Gamespot for more information about it:

http://uk.pc.ign.com/objects/483/483577.html

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/imperator/index.html

Are we about to see a new MMO announcement from Mythic and EA?

Two things are clear here though...

1) Mythic have registered a new domain for a previously canned MMO.
2) Mythic have a special announcement next week.

Updates:
Update 1: Here's some ALPHA footage of the game from 2005. Don't judge it in the slightest.



Update 2: Also to add to imperatorthegame.com there is also http://spcqr.net/ which is very close to SPQR which is a term used for the Roman Senate (if I remember rightly..)

Update 3: Ok, more digging about, and a lot more URL's have been registered for Imperator.

imperator-online.com
imperator-online.net
imperatorherald.com
imperatorherald.net
imperatoronline.net
imperatorthegame.com
voximperator.net (Created in 2004)

(edit, apologies, the formatting of the email is a bit wonky, at least on my screen. It reads hostmaster@mythic.ea.com
Edit: 2. Added 2005 Alpha gameplay footage
Edit: 3. Also added http://spcqr.net/
Edit: 4. Added more domains regarding Imperator)

Mythic.. Seriously sort the European servers out.

How?

I mean.. Really.... HOW?

What is so different with the European servers that are causing people to crash to character select screen upon changing zones. Currently I'm in a little premade of three people and for the last 90 minutes we've not managed a single scenario together without at least one person crashing out. This is the first time I've really played in three weeks so was looking forward to a good night of smush.

I know I'm not paying for the sub right now (because you won't let me since you don't have the account system setup for us) but I'm still an active subscriber. There is something seriously wrong with the servers. This is pretty much proving that the new servers are sub par that you gave us.

Apparently the free time ends soon (21st ish) and there's been little to no information from Mythic barring a "we're looking into it" and an emergency maintenance during peak time which took the server down for 6 hours or something stupid. Add to this that normal Wednesday maintenance now lasts until 6pm and you can tell see that we're starting to get a little pissed off.

There was a perfect opportunity to show former players over here how well you've done with the game but you've seriously dropped the ball, in fact it's dropped onto a big spiky pit and is actually deflating as I read about more and more European players just pissed off with the whole thing and wont be subbing when the free time runs out. Time to get your act together Mythic, communicate more (there's the C word again you like to preach) and get this shit fixed.

(Edit: Mythic have updated the Herald with the following information. I appreciate them actually saying something openly about it now, but it still worries me that there is no estimated fix time. I hope they dont expect us to pay while it's like this....

"We are currently aware of and are investigating solutions for performance and stability issues affecting the Karak Norn and Karak Azgal servers. This includes delays with the in-game mail system, frequent disconnects to character and server select and reports of performance issues and high latency. At this point we have no estimated time of repair for these issues, however please be sure to check the Herald for updates regarding this situation.

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your continued support. ")

Any fellow bloggers know how to contact Mythic for a couple of interview questions?

Subject says it all, even if you're not a blogger any idea?

I'd like to send a few questions off to Mythic about Black Orcs and I'm looking for a way to contact them or some of the guys over there. Since I have a European account I can't use the forums to PM Andy or James there (and I dont think they would pay too much attention to a trial account PM'ing him) and I'm not even sure who does what on the team anymore (maybe a who is who for the website would be good Mythic?)

Not sure if I'm even wasting my time or possibly there time but if you know, then drop me a comment or you can send me an email by clicking the orange link to the right hand side there in the "Wot's dis all about?".

Even better, if you are Mythic then let me know if it'd be ok, or if it's best just to wait for producers letters etc

Jeff Hickman speaks... Let the speculation end

But we know it won't... Every little word and phrase will be digested, picked apart and used now... No matter what Jeff would say he was in a no win situation with the doom sayers. But still, sod 'em.. I'm happy in WAR and will continue to support it for years to come as it's a gud (if amazingly frustrating at times) game!

http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=980

".... At Mythic, we remain committed to our games and the passionate people who play them – we’re going to continue to deliver the content and service that keeps you playing. We want to assure our community that we will maintain the same high level of customer support you’ve come to expect and continue to improve our games with an exciting schedule of patches, live events and new content.

... -Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has had a solid first year despite some issues that we’re working to address every day. We’ve seen a great response to 1.3.2, which introduced tremendous performance improvements. A flood of new players are discovering the game every day thanks to the recently released Endless Trial and New User Journey. Moving forward we remain committed to releasing more great patches, continued performance improvements, and changes based upon your valuable feedback!..."

The day after....

I have to admit, I was expecting to wake up to some sort of post apocalyptic MMO world this morning. As I sat in work first thing (the joys of being the only one in the office at 7am) I hit a few websites and forums to see if there had been any response, any news, perhaps a sign of the end times or a pulse of life. Instead all I found was the world moving on, Destructions king had been killed again at silly AM, the odd website had made mention of the layoffs but things seemed to be moving along with no change.

It's only a day after the news broke, but I honestly feel that if we were at panic stations for WAR then it would have been noticeable by now, not just from the layoffs at Mythic but in general. I still see more and more people returning from Aion or from elsewhere to visit the old world.

A days thought about it makes me believe that EA might be putting Mythic on 'maintenance mode' but this doesn't mean a halt to production, simply that the game is focused on how it stands rather than adding more to it and at this point it's what WAR needs. A good solid focus on removing those pesky bugs and working out performance issues.

There's many games out there with less subscribers that are surviving fine, many are planning expansions and are staying afloat nicely. Yes, WAR has lost subs, but it is in no way a non profitable game, EA wants to make money. You don't get rid of something which is making money, no matter what the profit margins.

Personally, I'm looking at it as stage 2 of the Mythic/Bioware team. I can see Mythic being fully Incorporated into Bioware over the next few months with Ultima and DAoC also coming under the Biowa(aaagh)re banner.

The Waaaagh might be quieter right now, but the green tide is rising...

Mark Jacobs leaves the building...

And Bioware join the team, it's looking to be interesting times in the future for sure.

http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=841

This WILL change the development of WAR without a doubt, it's just all in the air. I'm sure no harm will come to WAR, but what of the good?

Hmm, interesting times lie ahead, and I'll be commenting more on this later on...

Treasure hunt - WAR style.

So there's a treasure hunt going on throughout this new fangled interwebs. With codes, pictures and lots of other gubbins to be had. Solve the puzzle and you can earn yourself a title or perhaps a swarm of scarabs to crawl around behind you.. Sounds fun and I have to admit it's a cool concept. Glad to see both Mythic and GOA involving the community again (very important for GOA to be seen doing things as well), gives us a reason to stretch our wings out to new sites we may have not ordinarily visited.

Downside though is that it won't take long for the solution to be posted online for all to see (once it's spread to the solvers buddies and guild) and those who are browsing the forums at that time will be able to nab all the codes.. Booooo.

Still, hope to see more things like this from GOA soon, even if I suck at puzzle solving (I'm an Orc, I just hit stuff).

All quiet on the Mythic front.

It's been fairly quiet from the lads and lasses over in Virginia and you wonder what's going on behind closed doors. Paul Barnett is noticeably silent. Mark Jacobs pops up every now and then to say "This is coming soon! (tm)" and the odd dev makes an appearance on the Oboards to give a response of very little substance. No news is good news they say, but in an MMO it's concerning.

Class imbalances are worse than they were upon release. End game is still horribly broken and bugged. Lag has pretty much killed our servers evening game play, we can't even do LV these days since IC is constantly under siege and the lag from that gives us +6 second cast timers on everything. The campaign is now dictated by the side which has the most people that can play in off peak times due to the dominance system. Apathy has set in with many players, I checked the number of players defending IC last night.. Order 301, Destro 146. Tonight was Order 273, Destro 110.

Do Mythic have a plan, or are they currently scrabbling around thinking "WTF do we do?". They can't respond to issues quick enough and severely lack in communicating to the players what they will be doing to resolve the worries and problems the players have with WAR. Can Mythic afford to let the game break apart through not being able to react quick enough. With WoW's 3. 1 patch, a new raid instance and class re-evaluations coming in a week or two, can WAR still hold onto people who are starting to feel jaded with the game in its current state.

Mythic. You NEED to get out there and start saying "This is where we are, this is what we know is not working and THIS is how we aim to fix it".

I really enjoy so much of this game, but still so much makes me able to switch the game off without a good thought. I tend to log off now thinking "That's pi**ed me off" rather than "That was cool". I WANT to keep playing this game, you're not making it easy to enjoy it though Mythic.

Speak to us.