Warhammer Online opens beta Sept. 7

  • By TomM_GScom, GameSpot
  • Posted Aug 18, 2008 11:43 am PT

No good general takes the field of battle without first testing the waters with a quality skirmishing party. While a common art of war maxim, that strategy has become quite common in the adversarial and heavily contested battle grounds of the massively multiplayer online role-playing market as...

No good general takes the field of battle without first testing the waters with a quality skirmishing party. While a common art of war maxim, that strategy has become quite common in the adversarial and heavily contested battle grounds of the massively multiplayer online role-playing market as well. Today, Mythic Entertainment said that it would enter into an open beta testing period for its dark fantasy MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning beginning September 7.

While "open" in name, not everyone will be able to access the beta period that is designed to test the load capacities of Mythic's soon-to-be-launched servers. Those interested in gaining access to the open beta will be required to preorder either the collector's edition or standard edition of the game at participating retailers or through publisher EA's online store. The developer also noted that current closed beta participants will automatically be granted a slot in the open test.

Warhammer Online has been developed in collaboration between EA-owned Mythic Entertainment and Games Workshop, who created the fantasy universe as a tabletop RPG in the early 1980s. While Games Workshop's originally conceived universe features a decidedly macabre aesthetic, Mythic today confirmed that the MMORPG has been rated T for Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

Mythic's latest MMORPG for the PC is expected to go online beginning September 18. For more on Warhammer Online, check out GameSpot's extensive coverage. That information is likely to be greatly augmented in the coming days, as Mythic GM Mark Jacobs has said in a post to the Warhammer Alliance message boards that the non-disclosure agreement barring closed beta players from sharing their experiences with the game is expected to lift tomorrow.

74 Comments

  • nizmor32

    Posted Sep 9, 2008 6:07 pm PT

    Oh wait they also changed the name from wow to war, crafty lasses

  • nizmor32

    Posted Sep 9, 2008 6:01 pm PT

    They took WOW and gave it different skins.... grats

  • Waximizer

    Posted Sep 4, 2008 10:17 pm PT

    2 more days people

  • chaingun543

    Posted Sep 4, 2008 10:23 am PT

    And one last comment...it's quite obvious that the vast majority of changes that Blizzard is making with WoW are geared to further dumb their game down for the people who started playing with BC.

    There was a point where I enjoyed the hell out of WoW, and even recently with some of the raid content, but the amount of simplification that is occurring in each WOTLK beta patch reeks of pandering to the casuals who will stick around as long as they get easy epics. And I have no problem with people playing an MMO casually...I play WoW for 10 arena games a week and that's about it, but that's really not worth 15 bucks a month anymore.

  • chaingun543

    Posted Sep 4, 2008 10:12 am PT

    If you see this and the first thing that comes to mind is "WoW Clone," please, for the love of god, stick with WoW.

    I've seen people stupid enough to suggest WAR stole elements of WoW's art style. Kind of ironic considering Warcraft's existence is only possible because Blizzard couldn't get the rights to make a Warhammer game. The game takes many of the trivial / aesthetic / UI elements from WoW (and the myriad of games WoW was influenced by) and combines it with far superior PvP and more depth in just about every aspect. Couple that with the fact that the Mythic DEV team has made the vast majority of changes in beta based entirely on player feedback (something that Blizzard rarely does) and it's hard to not be optimistic about this game.
    It isn't perfect, but no game is...WoW is certainly not perfect if you're a PvPer, and WOTLK is dumbing raiding down. But do your homework...if you are a WoW raid zombie and you are expecting tons of raid content with Sunwell level of encounter complexity at launch, you are going to be disappointed. If you are a PvPer and you want the return of DAoC style uninstanced PvP combined with WoW style battlegrounds, you will find something to enjoy here.

  • Ramses_2000

    Posted Sep 4, 2008 9:30 am PT

    GS no beta keys to give away?

  • warrner11

    Posted Sep 3, 2008 11:17 pm PT

    Dont know y they keep sayin "open" beta if ya gota preorder it first.

  • KelsieKatt

    Posted Sep 3, 2008 9:29 pm PT

    "Check the main website, Michael. The actual system requirements are listed there. If I remember correctly, they're only marginally higher than what you need to play WoW."

    No... The minimum system requirements for Warhammer are A LOT higher than WoW. They're almost as high as Age of Conan's.

  • Crushalot24

    Posted Sep 1, 2008 4:35 pm PT

    I have the pre order bonus of this game with the two passwords how do i start playing?

  • Zennious

    Posted Aug 31, 2008 7:36 am PT

    I love how people keep comparing this to WoW. I guess it makes sense since wow is still the number one game being played in the world.

  • METALFERTEEF

    Posted Aug 26, 2008 2:31 pm PT

    To everyone who says "EA EEEHHWWIE OMGZ STOOPID HEWLZ NOZ"
    EA is actually giving money to mythic so they can finish and make a great game.
    Also if you actually played warhammer in anyway you would realize that it is anything but a clone of wow, pqs are original, scenarios are greater in numbers and more fun in my oponion, leveling isnt as bad as wows, tome is crazy awesome (lorebook in game), and overall the game is just better.
    oh and the bugs, mmos probaly have it the hardest and the easiest. Yeah they have patches to fix it later but so does xbox games, and they are actually working on much much much more juicy content and such.

  • Ninja_Kinshu

    Posted Aug 26, 2008 11:06 am PT

    I played closed and preview beta, and I'm going to beplaying Open Beta. This game is NOTHING like WoW. This game is way more entertaining. You will always have something in your quest log, the RVR is fantastic, Public Quests, even the PVE has WoW's beat pretty badly.

    If anyone ever tells you its just like WoW, you're talking to a fanboy.

  • 1blast

    Posted Aug 26, 2008 10:29 am PT

    Do you have to pay a subscription fee? If you dont I might play, since Blizzard banned me for no apparent reason.. everytime they fix it I get banned again and I cant play cause of some error... wouldnt hurt to try something relatively new.

  • Nolan16

    Posted Aug 25, 2008 11:32 am PT

    alot of nay sayers im pumped for this game though lvl 40 max cap great starting lvl cap. Alot of PvP and RvR check this game is going to be great.

  • Zweikin

    Posted Aug 25, 2008 9:19 am PT

    The graphics are only better in aesthetically pleasing ways, I still cannot stand the style. To me its nothing new, it's just the same old crap that I've seen a hundred times. I think I'll waste my money elsewhere.

  • diesil

    Posted Aug 24, 2008 5:21 pm PT

    who cares i already played it all it is a copy and paste version of wow with better graphics and plus EA nuff said they will prob port it to all the consoles just to get more money lol

  • Old_Gooseberry

    Posted Aug 23, 2008 2:09 pm PT

    The graphics look a little better than wow... but who will really sign up with a game run by EA? I'd rather burn my money in the fireplace.

  • Corvan

    Posted Aug 22, 2008 6:05 pm PT

    Yea..someone needs to give them the right terms for this..open beta is for everything..this is more of a select beta.

  • TheRealUku

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 1:11 pm PT

    if ya dont like it , wanna call it a wow rip off , whatever tbh , dont bother , just feck off and stay with what ever your playing , couldnt care less for your comments as many of the fans will agree . if however your going to play this , see ya guys on there! its gonna be alot of fun , been waiting for somin to replace Daoc and now its almost here

  • fairlypriced

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 2:40 am PT

    Only 6 days of open beta - why bother!?
    The early start for those that pre-order begins 6 days after open beta and then the game is live 5 days after that. Madness

  • SteveTwo

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 12:18 pm PT

    "Not everyone would be able to download the file within the week before it starts, imagine file planets servers trying to shove 10gb down to that many people at once."

    Welcome to the future, downloads go faster the more people who are downloading at the same time. /cheer torrents

  • stevo_360

    Posted Aug 20, 2008 11:21 am PT

    It seems like an ambitious game, I hope it turns out well.

  • steelweevil

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 11:21 pm PT

    I am a little disappointed that the open beta is only coming out a week and a half in advance of the game's actual release. I was promised open beta back in April when I pre-ordered the CE. At least now there is a set date for everything, I can't wait to finally try the game.

  • lord-kenpachi

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 4:31 pm PT

    hope this is better than WoW everything always goes on about that but there are clearly more supporters for warhammer and it could quickly jump onto the chart as most played mmorpg

  • pinksandcocaine

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 10:33 am PT

    You're not "required" to preorder to get into the beta. You're just guaranteed a spot if you did. I pre-ordered months ago and I never got into any of the other closed betas... it was a random thing.

    The "open" beta doesn't appear to be much different.

  • weedrk

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 6:00 am PT

    Well, gee whiz mister AncientDozer! I sure am sorry us little kiddies had a disagreement in your comments section. We'll make sure to not make you read our comments in an area that you have designated "off limits" in the future.
    But, you are correct with your time table of release dates of the the IPs of both games.
    And now you know? Did you watch too much GI Joe?

  • Blank2k2

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:58 am PT

    Think ill skip this one, 4year old WoW tech with the same problems as AoC using the latest engines.

    If they cant debug & provide a full game at launch using proven graphics engines etc then im really not interested.

  • GolgoThirteen

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:35 am PT

    Really sucks that 'open' beta isn't really open at all. Still hoping for announcments of a trial version. I really want to play this game, but I won't shell out for the game box until I have tried it out. I made that mistake with Vanguard.

  • AncientDozer

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:10 am PT

    Check the main website, Michael. The actual system requirements are listed there. If I remember correctly, they're only marginally higher than what you need to play WoW.

    I don't know what you kids are fighting about but ya'll need to chill. Take it to system war or something, yikes. Lord knows we already have enough "WoW Vs War" topics all over the place already.

    Also. Just to make sure we're all clear, Games Workshop created Warhammer Fantasy (the table top game) in 1983 and Warhammer Fantasy Role Play in 1986. Blizzard was not founded until 1991 and Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was created in 1994. In other words it'd be silly to say that Warhammer copied Blizzard's Warcraft franchise when Warhammer Online is staying true to Warhammer the Tabletop game which in turn has been around a lot longer.

    And now you know.

  • jekaboom

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 2:38 am PT

    I really hope that the content quality is good. The concept is really interesting. I so hope it can deliver

  • MichaeltheCM

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 2:09 am PT

    where can i find the PC requirements for this beta?

  • Zymatose

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 12:01 am PT

    Haha, I've been defeated by your paragraph of text. I won't report you because 1. Its not really that effective. and 2. I'd rather listen to your ranting about something you really don't know about. I'm sure you haven't even been a part of what you speak so much about. I'll just let it all speak for itself here soon.

  • TENTHROW2

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 10:29 pm PT

    3 years of waiting after Mythic got rights to the IP finally about to culminate. I'm very pumped up for this.

  • weedrk

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 9:41 pm PT

    Oh, and it's nice that I could be your "only thing more annoying" of the day.

  • weedrk

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 9:39 pm PT

    yalta

    You mistake disgust for hate. While I may be narrow minded(I feel everyone is to a degree), it is because no other games "extremist" fans go to such an extent to "F" up their lives quite like the "elite" WoW players. I do really like Blizzard's games, but WoW isn't a game anymore to some. It is a way for them to be successful at something. My comments were for the folks that fail themselves and everyone that counts on them, be it, family, friends, boss, coworkers... Hence, the "WoW junkie". I really want to like WAR, but if it turns into another Evercrack or Wow, where idiots are forgetting to eat or go to the bathroom due to their addiction to living a fantasy, then I'm out. So, yeah, to a certain extent, I am narrow minded. Elitist? No, I think this is all realism.

  • yalta_basic

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 9:12 pm PT

    weedrk

    the only thing more annoying than wow creeps are the self-righteous, narrow minded elitists who let stereotypes inhibit their gaming experience. Why all the hate? People who let something, like an mmo, run their lives probably have issues outside of gaming.

  • vandrius

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 8:21 pm PT

    Played WAR for a bit on a mate's PC who was in closed beta... WAR looks good. Very good. The two sides are both appealing (destruction/order) and that should result in balanced populations. Preorder in, client completely downloaded... now I wait.

  • weedrk

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 6:54 pm PT

    I'm certainly hoping that all of the WoW folks don't switch over to WAR. I know Mythic is hoping for a coup here, but I don't want my "dark fantasy/endless warfare" setting to be filled to the brim with adolescents acting like adolescents. I'm glad the ESRB rated it "T", and the only way it could be better would be if they had rated it "M" and threatened to throw anyone, parents included, in jail for buying it for the rugrats. I've had a copy of WoW sitting on my desk uninstalled since the game came out and I've enjoyed more, the feeling of superiority to all of the people who piss/deficate themselves, starve to death, have their loved ones divorce/leave them...ad nauseum. A guy I work with has a wife that couldn't be bothered to log off of WoW long enough to clean the LICE out of her children's hair. Are you effing kidding me? I don't even want to associate with people like that in a video game, much less in rl. So, in conclusion: WoW creeps, stay where you are. Don't infect the first MMO I've looked forward to in years with your addictions and immature stupidity.
    Also, call me a troll if you want, but here's a head's up. This is how just about everyone that doesn't play WoW see's you. Yes, you, WoW junkie.

  • runstalker

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 6:29 pm PT

    Holy long download time for the beta, Fatman.

  • GrimGravy

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 6:18 pm PT

    hey skullcandy i love wow but before u go and accuse warhammer of being a ripoff did ya ever hear of dark age of camelot? um ya was the mmo mythic made bfore warhammer and ya wow pretty much stole alot of stuff from that so get the hell over it.

  • halosniper52

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 5:51 pm PT

    "Antinate"
    Agreed. Wow took so much from other mmos like DAOC to name one. All mmos are alike.

  • Zymatose

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 5:03 pm PT

    All i have to say is... Skullcandy.. take your flamewars elsewhere.. nobody really cares what you have to say... saying you're in beta for months.. pfft... i'd hardly doubt any of that.

  • TrueIori

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 4:56 pm PT

    Skullcandy all i want to know is the pvp better?i care not about the clone aspect. who does not "copy" these days, imo it about who does it better.

  • BlackKnightOfH8

    Posted Aug 18, 2008 4:31 pm PT

    I'll preorder it just to check-out the beta. Worst case, I don't like it and transfer my $5 to my Fable 2 or Gears of War 2 preorder.

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