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Warhammer Online sheds 63 servers

In war, there will be casualties. This week, Mythic Entertainment revealed the extent of those casualties, saying that 43 North American and 20 European Warhammer Online servers have been closed, following mandatory character transfers.While the server shutdowns could be construed as a negative...

In war, there will be casualties. This week, Mythic Entertainment revealed the extent of those casualties, saying that 43 North American and 20 European Warhammer Online servers have been closed, following mandatory character transfers.

While the server shutdowns could be construed as a negative indicator of Warhammer Online's overall population, Mythic general manager Mark Jacobs believes the move was a natural step in fostering a healthy player experience. He also noted that the game's paying subscriber base continues to rise.

"As I've already said, if WAR was a PvE game, we wouldn't have closed those servers but since WAR is RvR-centric, leaving those servers open with their current population would not be a good idea," commented Jacobs in a forum post. "While these servers have been low population for quite a while once we told people to transfer off of them their population dropped too low for an RvR-centric game."

After peaking at 750,000 registered users three weeks after launch, Warhammer Online's current subscription base stood at 300,000, according to EA's most recent accounting in February. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Warhammer Online.

66 Comments

  • stan_boyd

    Posted Apr 30, 2009 8:30 am GMT

    You know I get a laugh out of people who argue over games. Its really all about personal opinion. I hate WoW does that make it a bad game, not really I just find that the game is unbalanced (cough deathknight cough) and that people don't play it for fun they are just in a hurry to get to lvl 80. It took me 4 days to find a group to do Razorfen Kraul with me because nobody wants to group the low lvl instances they would rather have a lvl 80 mage do all the work for them and they just pick up the gear. Personally I think WAR is a great game. Do I think its better made than WoW no not necessarily, I just find it more enjoyable and easier to find groups.

  • mjay68

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 1:01 am GMT

    m

  • nurse_tsunami

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 12:31 am GMT

    I am not sure that not having a PvE side is a bragging point. I tried WAR out for a month and found leveling tedious and boring. The quests had little to no storyline and seemed mostly to be the standard "kill X creatures" or "find X in the woods". The high points were playing in the battlegrounds, but often it took a long time for a BG to open up and they were always the same one. RvR is interesting, but I needed a better PvE system and some type of story or better quests to keep me around.

  • Kenji_Masamune

    Posted Mar 22, 2009 1:06 pm GMT

    300k subs vs 12 million is niche. use your noodle. niche means small. 300k to 12 million is microscopic. "He also noted that the game's paying subscriber base continues to rise." yes because going from 750k down to 300k is a steady rise. new math hard at work. RIP daoc 2.0. Try again, try harder.

  • Treifla

    Posted Mar 21, 2009 11:22 pm GMT

    war started too big with a horrendous order/destro pop imbalance, if it weren't for that this game would be growing like wildfire, it is simply the most amazing, balanced, fair, colourful, and fun MMO i have ever played

  • alchemda

    Posted Mar 20, 2009 3:36 pm GMT

    Wow oflow, I've never seen a post so filled with fallacy that my head just exploded

    1. Not a niche game... 300k+ subs is NOT niche.
    2. Mark stated explicitly that this is NOT DAOC2.0. They never intended for it to be so.
    3.Axe hewers and troll giants are GREAT siege weapons, mythic has alread said they are tweaking siege further (they already have and its good but not where it should be)
    4. The city sieges I've been in have been PVP action packed, in fact we couldnt even do the PQ's because there were so many people to fight we couldnt fight the bosses. Mythic has already stated that they will be revising sieges to include even MORE pvp
    5.Poorly balanced.... PLEASE that is the biggest joke of a openion I've ever heard. This game is the MOST balanced large scale PVP game ever. This game is not balanced for 1v1 or 2v2 or even 6v6, it's balanced for 24 on 24 action (wb on wb). Dont come here expecting to be able to choose a class that can kill every other class. This isnt wow people.
    6.Adding classes (that were already coded and conceptualized wayyyy in advanced) was needed and necessary to finish the dynamic that War has. 7.Forced to PVE... laugh... I've NEVER been forced to PVE..."Required" LOL.. I thought you did Fort raids and city raids.. what about your gear you get from those that are comprable to the PVE sets?
    8.You NEVER have to PVE in this game, that is a choice. You can level just on RVR... many people have. 9. I'm sorry you must have been playing on a super lame server because Phoenix Throne has fantastic battles nightly.

    Oflow is just venting his "personal" belief because he hasnt had fun.
    I've been playing since Pre-Launch and have played almost every day since.

    Heres the deal with the servers... Pre launch, they opened 10 servers... queueing was horrendus.. like 2 hours.. Shortly after pre launch, they opened another 15 servers, and then another 15 more a week later. Mythic over planned for server pop by gauging the pre release hype and running with it. They should of only added 15 extras instead of 30 extras and they would of been fine. The game is awesome in my book, it brings me back to alot of the fun I had in DAOC, I'll be playing for a long time.. unless mythic pulls a TOA or something.. lol

  • foodme

    Posted Mar 18, 2009 12:58 am GMT

    thank you EmeraldViper,jer_1,runstalker and hatefull. ill think ill get conan because i like a good storyline with interesting pve and awsome pvp plus great graphics. i might get war and gw at a later date and ill look into lotro aswell

  • FearMeLess

    Posted Mar 18, 2009 12:08 am GMT

    We will always have haters with every game. Seriously people saying WAR failed is a failure with statistics. If the game failed then why is it still in the market? WAR is progressing people here that scream doom to this game are just idiots. I can agree that Mythic messed up on having 63 servers, that's way to much in my opinion. Many games have flaws and I agree WAR has bugs and mechanics that need fixing, but I will say Mythic is working hard to fixing these problems and the game is very stable and gaining subs. Oflow I'm sorry this game was a disappointment to you, but seriously just because you don't like it doesn't mean the game has serious potential. WAR is progressing and wion't go away. WAR will probably never reach WOW's subs, but this game has way more potentail than certain aspects to WOW, whereas WOW has more potential in itself than WAR.

  • oflow

    Posted Mar 17, 2009 12:37 pm GMT

    WAR failed. Hate to say it but it did. Its a good niche game but the game has too many problems (fundamental coding problems like server sync errors, bugged animations, set loot rolls when entering a zone etc) caused again (like most mmos) by rushing the game to market. WAR was supposed to basically be DAoC 2.0 (which would have been a good thing)but WAR's endgame is bad in comparison. All Keeps have the same basic layout, seige machines except for battering rams and oil are useless, and the ultimate goal of the game (sacking an enemy capitol city) just turns out to be a big pve event with a bunch of PQs in the enemy capitol where people just farm npcs for loot. To top all this off, the designers make too many reactionary nerfs and instead of actually focusing and fixing the fundamental core of the game, they keep adding new classes to the already really poorly balanced game. Yes, I leveled two characters to cap, but quit after basically being forced to play the boring PvE which is required to get gear in the game. This is a major design flaw-- a game thats supposed to have RvR as its highlight forcing you to run really poorly designed PvE instances as well as bland PvE keep swapping to ultimately reach the capitol seiges which turn out to be just more lame PvE events. I was really disappointed. And yes, from launch I played on the US server with the world first successful city seige of Altorf so I did experience more than the average player before I let the game go. They can sugar coat it anyway they like but closing down 60 servers cant be good.

  • hatefull

    Posted Mar 13, 2009 3:56 pm GMT

    foodme and the rest of undecided folks - its easy really imo, if you want hardcore/competitive/balanced/skilled pvp go for guild wars, if you want bone-breaking/blood-spilling/immersive-awsomeness at the cost of balance go for aoc and if you want an all around good/fun/frustrationless mmo go for warhammer ;-) lolz

  • runstalker

    Posted Mar 13, 2009 1:48 pm GMT

    Indeed, if you decide to pick up the game after the free trial -
    www.warhammeronline.com/trial
    - they provide free universal server transfers so you can stick your trial character on a 'real' server and continue playing.

  • jer_1

    Posted Mar 13, 2009 12:35 pm GMT

    LoTRO is a good one to play, you might look into that one as well. They have the Mines of Moria to play through now which is pretty amazing, the storyline in the game is hard to beat. The PvP component might not be top notch but the raids have been a good time.

  • EmeraldViper

    Posted Mar 13, 2009 10:25 am GMT

    "im trying to decide which mmorpg to get wahammer or conan or possibly guild wars. and i dont like wow. "
    If you want PVP go Warhammer if you Like PvE, some PvP mixed in but not required and Lots of questing, Awesome graphics, good story go Conan. I hate ethe crafting system in both, very poorly done.

  • foodme

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 11:53 pm GMT

    im trying to decide which mmorpg to get wahammer or conan or possibly guild wars. and i dont like wow.

  • baystatethrashr

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 9:43 pm GMT

    =( i liked this game a lot and i want to play it again but i dont know

  • tony2077ca

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 9:24 pm GMT

    how many servers were there before this

  • sixty7velle

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 7:04 pm GMT

    Even at the servers intended populations, the game naturally seems underpopulated when trying to find groups. This is probably the best way to ensure that people can find groups and keep the game going.

  • Dr_Thunder

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 6:54 pm GMT

    I personally think that until someone makes a good Sci-Fi mmorpg, be it either knights, Warhammer 40k, or whatever else. WoW will have the market in Sword N Board type mmorpgs.

  • Alex_09

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 6:13 pm GMT

    MMORPGS are ripoffs, but at least Warhammer has a defined universe. Screw WoW.

  • Adam_the_Nerd

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 4:54 pm GMT

    I think it will truly be a long time until the REAL wow-killer comes along

  • ldonyo

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 4:43 pm GMT

    There will be more servers shed and probably much sooner, rather than later.

  • spchernandez

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 3:30 pm GMT

    I loved WAR for the time I played it. Most of friends went there and tried it with me. We were having so much fun. BUT, WoW came with WotLK and most of them went back to WoW. I did too, I guess I couldnt miss it. Point is I did loved WAR and I am truly hoping to join the ranks again. Two new clases came on board so this might be a good time who knows...

  • ConstantinNC

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 2:11 pm GMT

    WAR is a wonderful game, with new ideas, I got lvl 21 character, but I went back to WoW, there is something missing, in fact lot of things missing, WoW did set a standard in online gaming, if you don’t create a game that have at least the minimum of that standard, there is a big chance that it will not be a great success.

  • Dr_Thunder

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 12:36 pm GMT

    It's different from WoW, they have a bunch of dead servers, except it's pvp is linked with other servers, so they don't have to shut down low pop servers. War needs high pop servers because it's focused on world PVP. I think people wanted it be WoW 2.0 or something in their minds, but when it wasn't they left. The only slander I have against the game is the lack of crafting, but then again if you're into mini-games WoW's your answer, whole damn game feels like a carnival full of mini-games and prizes to throw you off from the weak story and horrible content. Case in point 4 classes released in over a couple months versus 1 class released in a couple years, who do you think cares more about the playerbase?

  • Bocajj

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 12:04 pm GMT

    Who said that this would be a WoW killer? It's just another very good MMO. Am I the only one who thinks that both WAR and WoW are good games? I actually like WAR more because of the RvR. Also, in case you people don't know, 300,000 is a big number, especially considering that these are subscriptions and not simply games bought.

    Back on topic, Mythic made a good move reducing the amount of servers. It's not fun playing a 3v3 scenario in this game.

  • Wolfman104

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 10:41 am GMT

    No vics they were free transfers, its a decent game and the PvP is a good laugh, however like a few had said already it just lacks something, if you are tired of WoW and looking for something new and different this is unlikely to quench your thirst.

  • Rottenwood

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 10:27 am GMT

    Nothing is going to beat WOW except for WOW itself, through player fatigue. Other companies need to be content to work smaller niches until people can't stand the sight of Ironforge anymore.

    Who knows how long this will take. Blizzard learned well from the mistakes of EverQuest, particularly in terms of customer service and easing the strain of timesinks.

  • vicsrealms

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 9:05 am GMT

    I hope those weren't paid transfer's. Sounds like something EA would do. ~grin~

    I preferred Warhammer 40k over the regular Warhammer. Or maybe it was just the novels that held my attention gave me more interest in the 40k series.

  • enoslives7 posted Mar 12, 2009 9:00 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    enoslives7

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 9:00 am GMT (hide)

    Another WOW killer gets killed by WoW

  • Mr-Apples

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 9:00 am GMT

    I wanted to give this game a real chance, but it is just plain mediocre. A mish-mash of ideas with no clear unified vision or direction. I don't know if it was rushed out the door or just ill-conceived, but its no WoW-killer. In fact, the only thing it is is a DAOC killer, and cannibalizing your own userbase isn't a good thing.

  • fourthgeartappe

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 7:24 am GMT

    Has anyone actually played the original tabletop Warhammer game? It's awesome, and a pretty fun hobby (expensive however). And the universe and backstory it's set in is incredibly deep. I remember playing tabletop Warhammer years ago, and it was a blast. I still have my Wood Elf and Chaos Warrior armies in a shoebox somewhere.

  • SpareJesus

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 7:15 am GMT

    Lord_luke:

    Because some of us are roleplayers, some of us dislike PvP, and some of us prefer to just have a bland experience without either of the other two qualities messing it up.

  • Lord_luke

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 6:00 am GMT

    I got an idea, why not have only 1 server and have everyone pooled in that! (Eve-online Player)

  • ChaosStar posted Mar 12, 2009 4:55 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    ChaosStar

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 4:55 am GMT (hide)

    Haha, so much for the WoW killer. From 750k to 350k to 300k in less than 6 months.

  • Priz23

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 4:44 am GMT

    @Kh1ndjal, you are FAR too right!

    Seems like every for MMO now-a-days, people are saying it will be the WoW killer. Its just not going to happen! WoW has had YEARS of polishing and they know how to code for their game. So any new expansion that releases will be far better than a new game that comes out. I for one cant stand WoW but thats just me. WAR was fun for a while but my server was dominated by Destro every day. My guild moved to another server but by that time I wasn't having fun anymore. I want to see the game succeed though cause it would be a nice game to return to occasionally

  • -Master_St3ve-

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 1:56 am GMT

    I'm playing the free trial right now and not too impressed. It's not bad by any means, just not what I'm looking for. Still, give it a whirl.

  • Kh1ndjal

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 1:00 am GMT

    will try the free trial, hope it will be fun.

    i think people need to take a step back and stop comparing every MMO to wow. u dont need a million subscribers to say an mmo is worth playing.

  • Mindgame_1

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 12:28 am GMT

    War had alot of great ideas but the graphics were incredibly bland and like someone else brought up, everyone kind of looked the same. It also had alot of little quirks that added up enough to annoy me. I went back to wow but I still think war has by far the best and most implemented pvp system and if they can fix a few things I think that it will definately be the alternative to wow that people have been looking for.

    long live both games =)

  • runstalker

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 12:24 am GMT

    In any case, before you think to dismiss WAR - try it first.
    They just changed it so you don't need a Fileplanet sub to download the free 10-day trial http://www.warhammeronline.com/trial

  • runstalker

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 12:19 am GMT

    "As I've already said, if WAR was a PvE game, we wouldn't have closed those servers but since WAR is RvR-centric, leaving those servers open with their current population would not be a good idea," commented Jacobs.

    Good job compressing those dozens of pointless 'Low' population WAR servers in recent weeks. My server has never experienced RvR this insane before, and Scenario queues are now popping all day long. It's great.

    The same way a game can be successful selling 250k compared to GTA selling 13 million, these days a MMO can be very profitable at 300k subscribers - despite being miles away from WoW's 11~ million subs. That's an apples and oranges comparison, but you catch my drift. EQ1 and EQ2 at 100k, EVE Online at 120k, City of Heroes at 175k, so on and so forth -- all are profitable subscription games. Warhammer is settling in just fine, and the recent patch + new melee classes show continued support. Can't beat the RvR.

  • Valcrist08 posted Mar 11, 2009 11:40 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Valcrist08

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 11:40 pm GMT (hide)

    i knew this game would faill...

  • tetrasoft

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 10:53 pm GMT

    Tried War when it came out. Loved it at first but noticed everyone looked the same and that I felt as though I were playing a singleplayer RP. I kept looking for the WoW feeling with good pvp. Went back to WOW but love Wars pvp system.

  • halosniper52

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 10:22 pm GMT

    I love WaR it's so damn fun. Better than wow... boring.

  • Fearzone

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 9:37 pm GMT

    I played for 3 months after launch and eventually faded off because of the dull economy, and also the pvp suffers in comparison to WoW. Scenarios are all a variant of get in the middle and fight one another, and so is RvR, and the range of abilities and combat strategies the different classes feel a little limited.

    That said, the game has a lot of strengths; I like the pvp emphasis, and it doesn't feel like it was specifically designed and precision crafted to waste your time. It's problems are very rectifiable, and I hope to go back some day.

    The reason they had so many servers and weak RvR at the beginning was that the servers couldn't handle heavy population loads. It was a lot better by December, and if servers can handle heavy traffic now, then great! Lowering the number is the right thing to do. After WotLK I will never go back to WoW, but I might go back to WAR some day. I hope I do, actually. The game is a labor of love; play it and you'll feel it.

  • BloodMist

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 8:52 pm GMT

    Yeah, well, i don't think this game is gonna be dying anytime soon, the City of games only have about 175,000 subscribers after all...just isn't all that successful.Especially considering how much hype it got.Nor should it be since it's not a very impressive game whatsoever.That being said, it's not a mess like AoC.

  • MattieIce posted Mar 11, 2009 8:09 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    MattieIce

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 8:09 pm GMT (hide)

    WAR is worse than WoW... where is the fun in these MMO games? How dare they charge a monthly fee for a game that is far worse than most PC games?

  • foxfire0666

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 7:23 pm GMT

    while the shutting down of servers isnt a good sign, considering that for good pvp you really need a high player pop, its probably a better thing in this game then it would be in any other mmo

  • burn6

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 7:18 pm GMT

    OMFG, finally Mythic heard our cries! I've played WAR for 3 months, i was pleased during the first month because of PVP and aesthetics of the game but i got bored at end of the second month due to skill bugs, armor and weapon graphical glitches, redundant RvR maps, almost same class skills just different race, the grind can be annoying in higher levels and low population of server. I have the collector's edition, although the game has its mishaps, i f**king love the that package, the artbook is such an eyecandy starwars and lotr artbooks are nothing compared to WAR's, and the graphic novel is also good. The in-game graphics can make you drool, for a high-end PC the armor sets of Destruction looks amazing, way better than the order. one of the few reason why destruction if over populated. The PVE can easily be overlooked because of the PvP, but it depends on the players. Overall WAR can still be great MMO experience, they already have a rich game but it needs polishing in all places. Mythic's going to surpassed this, and I may be going back to WAR soon.

  • Guy12

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 7:12 pm GMT

    They would have a lot more "RvR-centric" play if they would drop the global cooldown.. 10 seconds is way too much for a pvp centered game.

  • Flat_Line_____

    Posted Mar 11, 2009 6:10 pm GMT

    Jesus... I had no idea they had that many servers. No wonder there aren't that many people on when I play, everyone is spread out over too many realms..... I hope these server changes do effect the population in a positive way though.

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