And now.. the newsletter

With thanks to one of our readers, cb, who forwarded me hers to read!

• The newsletter starts with the news about release date and pricing
• As of 28th August, European players will be able to pre-order the regular/standard edition of Warhammer Online and receive headstart and in-game bonuses
• Almost all of the European CEs have been reserved, but there are still some left
• The second WAR trailer is due out on 19th August and will be shown on MTV and Game One after 5pm. After the debut it’ll be available on the European WAR website as well as at the Games Convention in Leipzig. ps. it’s over 5 mins long!
• The Leipzig Games Convention is on 21st August and the WAR stand has 360m2 of space devoted to it. Iain C, Jeff Hickman, Paul Barnett and Mark Jacobs will be there, offering prizes for puzzles and challenges.
• Mythic is returning to its name of Mythic Entertainment
• Links to E3 coverage
• Intro to Gunbad (dungeon in Badlands) with three wings, each with three PQs, as well as instanced wing bosses, as well as a big boss once you’ve completed all three wings
• Guild beta opening and what’s being tested (all pairings through tier 2, mounts, etc)
• Little overview of Rune Priest and Squig Herder (yay!)
• Screenshots of some named NPCs and some more generic ones (ie. bankers)
• Grab bag on the Magus
• Screenshots, beta journal, podcasts, and Paul’s video phone blog as detailed below

Because it was forwarded I didn’t get to see the pics included. But that’s a quick summary for now!

Newsletter on its way, honest guv!

Some of my friends have had theirs, mine hasn’t arrived yet, but in the meantime you can read some bits of it over at GOA’s site.

• More on capital cities with Jeff Skalski, RvR Team Lead, in a handy podcast
• Scenarios 101: Episode 7 (covering two tier 4 scenarios from the Greenskin vs Dwarf areas)
• Raglek’s beta journal
• Meet the team: Magnus K (Community Manager) and Gary Astleford (sole writer on the Elf team)
• and the fun one – Paul’s video phone blog (I’ve seen a couple of them and laughed!)

More as I get around to reading through it and receiving my own copy of it.

Waiting.. patiently?

Where is the newsletter???!

I’m normally a fairly chilled person, and I do write blog posts, I really do. But since last week we’ve kind of been saying ‘well, let’s wait till the newsletter and then write some stuff’. And I know they only said early this week, but I’ve been up too long already (woken by hungry cats, not anxiety about the newsletter!), so I’m sitting here.. thinking of things to write, and then coming back to – ‘but where’s the newsletter’.

It reminds me a bit of having a permanent excuse to not do something. Like, ‘I’ll go cycling when the weather is nicer’ when you live where I do. (another excuse that is well-used by me).

So instead of the newsletter, here’s some things that have been on my mind lately that have nothing to do with the beta. Yay.

The Road to War game (yes, the site is currently down, but you can go read about it and see a screenshot from it over at Keen and Graev’s). It’s no surprise to some of you that one of our discarded posts related to things Warhammer Online could learn from certain cult TV shows. I think perhaps this bit of viral marketing is one thing they share in common. At the same time as I play the Road to War game (and no, not playing until I hear about whether there is or isn’t a European alternative, though I suspect I know the answer to this already), I can also be recruited by the Dharma Initiative.

Lost has run a few successful ARGs (alternate reality games) in between seasons with mixed success. The first was a bit fiddly and only really scored with the hard-core fans who then were a bit annoyed at some of the pay-off. The second was the search for Flight 815 and worked quite well because it included mini-games and then used footage that was later incorporated into episode 1 of season 4 of the show. And now we’re being recruited for Dharma between seasons 4 and 5. It’s a fun way to spend the hiatus – a time when fans can be lost or retained.

So, back to the Road to War. It’s a good idea to keep up and build interest in the game in a viral manner (lest we forget, that’s what viral marketing is about). But, everyone taking part should remember that this is (as far as I know), Mythic’s first pass at such a big enterprise. And trust me, this kind of game is a big deal to pull off successfully. Turbine has done something similar with the Mines of Moria, but on a smaller scale – I played it for a week or two, but then went back to my normal stuff.

There will be exploits, the site will go down, there will be people who complain about the rewards – but through all of that, it’s a learning experience, it’s the games company finding a new way to connect with fans and interested parties and you can guarantee there will be more things like it, each learning from the last.

What else?

I’m as confused as anyone about release dates, pre-order stuff and everything. I seriously have no answers. I suggest waiting for the official releases and making Dress-Your-Own Paul Barnett dolls. I found making mine very zen. Now trying to decide whether to take it to Games Day with me! Also, do as Wrenn suggests and go check out the excellent Warhammer Online community out there. We’ve not really even been a part of it that long, and we feel very welcomed by everyone in it. So thanks to all for that.

But most of all:

Where is my newsletter???!