Warhammer Online

There's very little on the MMO horizon these days. You have WoW. But thats like an old girlfriend buying a Jacuzzi and inviting you over. Sure its fun and fresh at first. Then its familiar and comfortable. Then you remember why you broke up in the first place. Other than WoW there's Darkfall which may or may not go the way of the Vaporbane. And then there's Warhammer, by Mythic, the creators of the much loved and respected by guilds across the world, Dark Age of Camelot.

Everyone is still pretty down about the failure of Funcom to sustain AoC, which everyone agrees started out great. So I can understand the hesitancy to pick up a new game. Well based on the experiences of many in the Preview Weekend, you truly can get a good taste for the game in a very short time. So the Open Beta is the perfect solution. You can either join by picking up a preorder for varying cost depending on where/how you do it. Or you can Download it from Fileplanet which is where you'll also be expected to enter your preorder key and download the client.

If you still need convincing, then check out this review by Hades himself of Lords of the Dead. Pretty bold review from a well respected member of the mmo, pvp, and guild community. I already knew guilds like PRX, KAAOS, etc. were joining Warhammer. I would be surprised if there was a guild out there who existed pre-WoW, who isnt going to play Warhammer.

I think the game is light and fun. Its intuitive and doesnt take itself too seriously (AoC). But, its also very pvp focused. Where finally, after years of walking the line, a MMO truly allows leveling 100% from pvp. Several of us did that this past weekend. Not only leveling, but acquired loot drops and gold, from pvp kills. (note that the items werent removed from the victims, but were just drops like pve) The guild functionality is amazing and will set the benchmark for all future games. Example once our guild hits a certain level (yes guilds level like players) then we can choose a custom emblem for our cloaks and banners, which will be unique to us and no other guild can ever use. There's plenty of discussions in our WAR forums on the beta and preview weekend. Try not to pay attention to too much of the older posts from beta as the game is much improved since then.

Redemption will be in Warhammer, whether its what we once called an official game or not, myself and dozens of others have already preordered. I hope you will give the game a chance in the open beta and join us in September.