Major features cut from Warhammer Online
by Ross Miller 
{ Jul 11th 2008 at 1:00PM }
Additionally, four classes have been cut: Choppa (Greenskin), Hammerer (Dwarf), Blackguard (Dark Elf) and Knight of the Blazing Sun (Empire). Jacobs explained the cuts were made for quality reasons and expressed dismay over having to nix the classes. Also, to seemingly curtail any conspiracy theories, he said, "This has nothing to do with EA ... they had zero input in this ... They don't even know about it. It's not a discussion we would have with them."
The MMO-obsessed at Massively have provided explanations for the ramifications of these cuts. No indication on if any of these features will return in an update or expansion pack.
[Via Massively]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bigfoot @ Jul 11th 2008 1:08PM
Well, it sounds like that the other cities will just come at a later time. I'm also guessing that if they come out with an expansion, that maybe we'll see the other classes return?
Fonz @ Jul 13th 2008 4:55AM
lolololololl warhammer sux wow reigns foreva!
Shimrra @ Jul 11th 2008 1:20PM
Damn that sucks. You know if you where any of those players paying and to login to find out the character you been putting hours into got axed you know they are going to be canceling there subscriptions.
Huey2k2 @ Jul 11th 2008 1:26PM
Except the game is still in closed beta at the moment. So nobody is paying for anything they are doing in the game right now, and any characters they have now will be wiped anyways when the game is eventually released.
Hey Apples @ Jul 11th 2008 1:55PM
So typical for them. Can't wait to see which faction is the new Hibernia with a half-baked and unpolished game world rushed out the door.
Neebs @ Jul 11th 2008 2:00PM
WoW killer I call not.
juju187 @ Jul 11th 2008 2:29PM
they never claimed to be a wow killer.
their happy being sub-par
albinogoldfish @ Jul 11th 2008 2:01PM
I like to believe that they are dumb enough to try and include this as an expansion or DLC down the road, but the brighter happier side of me believes that they couldn't possibly be that fucking stupid.
I don't know much about the game itself though, how much content is that really? I mean are 4 classes being cut out of like 15? Anyone here feel like giving me some perspective?
Cal @ Jul 11th 2008 2:17PM
I've not been following warhammer online, but I'm expecting them to add these in free updates after the game's launch, making the part of the community who didn't know about the cut happier and making Mythis look like nice devs...
Lord Foortwenti @ Jul 11th 2008 2:36PM
It is NOT true that there has been no mention of these features being released later.
The current plan is that the 4 cities will be implemented after release, and the four classes will continue to be worked on and be put in when they are ready. If they are not workable then they WILL be replaced.
Mark @ Jul 11th 2008 3:24PM
Does anyone remember Mythic's promise for housing at launch? Then it was pushed back to "after launch / when ready" status. Well, it only took about 3 years for them to finally implement it.
Grant @ Jul 11th 2008 2:41PM
it's a good thing like half the game was cut for the launch.... That'll make it real competitive.
Launch is the most important for a game like this, and if it sucks, everyone who was excited and bought it at launch will just stop playing after a month or 2, and won't give it the word of mouth it needs.
Wes @ Jul 12th 2008 3:45AM
@Grant
Hey! That's what happening with Age of Conan - Hyberian Suckage. Its got 0 features at release, no quests past lvl 20 with voices, no storyline past lvl 20, no cinematics past 20 basically. Past 50, no quests almost and just grinding to level to 80. Past 79, no end-game. No pvp combat or pvp lvl experience. No mounted combat(that works!). No real 'villians' except npc. All three races are 'aligned' and with only '1' main capital city.
Its good they are satisified with mediocre though as I think its where they are headed in time.
Only patches recently have been class balances that don't address important issues such as client crashes, memory leaks, etc that can and do make the game crash on a regular basis(once every 30-35 minutes including requiring a restart sometimes) for people paying a subscription.
It would be sad to see Warhammer online become the same way but it looks like it. I'm glad their satisfied with mediocre cause it seems like what they'll become. I'm sure people who play D&D in college with their group of hip, socolite friends will really enjoy this mmorpg.
Nox @ Jul 11th 2008 2:44PM
Think its a wise choice, too many classes and they will be unbalanced or too alike others.
As for the cities, look at WoW, each faction has 4 cities and 3 of them are deserted.
Not convinced about it yet, but still keeping an eye on the game.
voynich @ Jul 11th 2008 5:45PM
"As for the cities, look at WoW, each faction has 4 cities and 3 of them are deserted."
Well, I don't really play any Horde characters, so I can't rally talk about their cities, but as far as the Alliance goes only two of their cities can be called deserted. The Exodar is kind of obvious. It is not even conected to the gryphon network of Kalimdor, so, no matter where you are, any other city is easier to reach. As for Darnassus, well, if your character is a non Nightelf class or has a profession not typical for Nightelves, like blacksmith, that city is useless to you. No wonder Alliance players prefere Ironforge and Stormwind. I'd go as far as saying that, if the Exodar would be connected to the Kalimdor gryphon network and Darnassus would get some more teachers thos two cities would not be so deserted.
PS. Please excuse any grammar and spelling mistakes. English is not my native language.
Nox @ Jul 11th 2008 6:03PM
Thunderbluff and UC are only used while leveling, or if you cant stand the Org lag. Silvermoons only purpose is to reach ZA.
And its a shame they are all so empty, because all 3 of them are nicer than Orgrimmar.
LaughingTarget @ Jul 11th 2008 3:13PM
Half the game isn't being cut. Is it dissapointing that some of it isn't there? Ya, but I'd rather have a fleshed out world than one filled with whatever the two Burning Crusade cities that were tagged with the new races.
Also, they are cutting down the four classes to make 20 different classes, or double the current MMO king is offering. The testers didn't like those classesand Mythic was having a hard time figuring out how to make 24 unique classes in a PvP focused game. 20 is still a far cry better than other offerings.
LaughingTarget @ Jul 11th 2008 3:27PM
Exodar and Silvermoon. Damned useless cities as are Darnassus and Thunder Bluff.
Matt @ Jul 11th 2008 3:30PM
Not a surprise, Warhammer beta's been as rough as any I've played in, and hasn't improved much in the past year.
Combat is boring, dungeons are non-existant, and PvP is as dull as it was in DAOC. Definitely a last-gen MMO.
Lord Foortwenti @ Jul 11th 2008 3:48PM
I call BS.
I am also a beta tester and to say the game hasn't improved in the past year is just plain and utter bullshit. Not to mention the fact that it is, hands-down, the best run, and most organized beta I have ever taken part in, and I have been in many, many betas so that really is saying something.
And PvP is as dull as it was in DAoC? wtf is that? DAoC has what is widely considered one of the best PvP systems out of all MMO's, and WAR just improves upon it.
Matt @ Jul 11th 2008 11:01PM
The game has improved in the past year. Is it still bad? Yes. So we're both right.
Quests are still dull, classes lack variety of abilities and roles like they have in WOW, crafting is non-functional, PvP is a DAOC style zerg, and combat lacks depth. It's a B-Rate MMO. Definitely not in the same league as WOW, even way back when it was in Beta.
PvP in DAOC was less bad than other games, because there was some purpose to it (keeps and relics), but suffered from being completely unskilled and focussed entirely on mass crowd control, macros, /follow, and radar cheats. DAOC might be considered good for PvP in an MMO, but it is still awful.
Manis @ Jul 24th 2008 2:46AM
Wait did you just say "as dull as it was in DAoC"?
What game were you playing?! i found DAoC PVP amazingly fun. Me and my friends have great memories of the classic sieges. DAoC was the epitamy of PvP.
Wex @ Jul 11th 2008 6:57PM
No one who knows how much effort their putting into the "living cities" could be surprised that they aren't able to do 6 of them of reasonable quality in a reasonable timeframe. In fact I was kind of dumbstruck when I heard they were planning on doing one for each race. Didn't seem feasible, and it turns out it wasn't.
The cut classes are less welcome news, but to be honest I thought the Hammerer and Chopper were pretty derivative and shitty anyway. They're named after their weapons with an "-er" added at the end for fuck's sake. Can't say I'm sad to see them go.
Sucks about the Blackguards and Knights though. They sounded like they could have been interesting.
Really the only one of these changes that sounds like it could hurt the game is getting rid of the Knights, since they seemed like the closest thing the game had to a traditional Paladin. Then again there are a lot of traditional archetypes that the game has no corresponding class for.
No "major features" were cut, the title is bullshit. Overall this news does not bother me at all.
Disclaimer: I have the collector's edition pre-ordered so I may be a little biased.
Big John @ Jul 12th 2008 1:05AM
Glad to see they're cutting things for quality purposes so they can deliver a finer end product.