Patch 1.3.2 has come and gone for Warhammer Online, bringing with it the new New Player Journey, the removal of fortresses, and other balances and tweaks to RvR. Mythic hopes to bring back new players and old veterans alike who are either afraid to join or became sick of the title long ago.
Along with this update comes unlimited free trials. Yes, the ten day limit has been removed, you have as long as you want in tier 1 (That’s level 1 to 10) to experience what the game has to offer, and to form your own ideas as to whether or not the title merits your subscription.
When I talk about the new user journey, I’m going to refer back to an old article I wrote a month or so back, and that is while Mythic can bring in a good amount of new customers, they are having a hard time retaining them. Between the New User Journey and the new unlimited beta, Tier 1 areas will undoubtedly be highly populated. Public Quests will be lively, Realm Vs Realm will be packed, and you won’t have to go far for a conversation. New players will be in guilds automatically for new players, and the community will be grand.
And then some will subscribe and get to tier 2, and the population drops a little.Finally, they will hit tier 3, and the population will plummet.
This is the same fault Warhammer has had since it launched slightly over a year ago. There are thirteen servers left for all of Europe, and seven servers left for North America. According to the MMO Fallout scouting team, most of these servers are desolate after tier 1, and at tier 2 and 3 it can be close to impossible to find any Open Realm Vs Realm.
I never comment on speculation, but this one had me thinking: Could Mythic be mulling over a free to play model? If this free tier-1 initiative does not go well, it is increasingly possible.
“The corollary to that is if you’ve seen a game consolidate servers, you know it’s in deep, deep trouble — that’s not a healthy sign for an MMO, It will be the same for ‘Warhammer.’ Look at us six months out. Look at us six weeks out. If we’re not adding servers, we’re not doing well.”
-Mark Jacobs, Mythic VP
I’m sorry Mark Jacobs. It’s been over a year, and you haven’t added a single server.
MMO Fallout 