is a success, so says developer Mythic Entertainment, with over 750,000 worldwide account holders. As we're about one month beyond launch, it's time to look into WAR's future. Mark Jacobs, VP and GM of Mythic Entertainment, recently posted on the game's official site an update entitled 'State of the Game,' detailing what's being targeted for updates in the coming months. We submitted a list of questions via email today to Mark to see if he could expand on what he said, provide some perspective on the MMO space in general, and answer a few other questions we had.
IGN: Obviously the big news is that two more careers are coming soon, the Knight of the Blazing Sun for Empire and Dark Elf Black Guard. When these careers are put into the live game, it'll round out each army grouping with one tank each. They were originally in the game, then removed during the beta testing phase. So first off, can you give us some insight as to why they were originally pulled?
Mark Jacobs: We pulled the careers because at the time, they weren't good enough to be included at launch. With the time to focus on two careers (instead of four) and a few additional months of development, we expect that the Black Guard and the Knight of the Blazing Sun will be great enough to be put in WAR.
IGN: So why is December the best time to put them back in? What sort of yardsticks or goal markers were you using to determine whether the careers were ready to be re-implemented?
Mark Jacobs: December is the best time for one simple reason: that's when they should be ready. If they are not ready, they may go in later. In terms of yardsticks, it's pretty simple: are they great additions to the game? If they are, they go in.
IGN: In what ways have the careers changed since players last saw them?
Mark Jacobs: We will be diving into the nitty gritty details in the near future through the newsletter, and I'll be glad to talk about some of the specific changes then %26ndash; for now, it's a bit early as we're still making some of the design decisions that will impact how these careers actually play.
IGN: Let's move back a little bit to the game's launch. We were there, and the launch was remarkably smooth. Why do you think it went so well, and what do you think Mythic could have handled a little better?
Mark Jacobs: Well, as to why it went so well, it's because of our incredible focus on making tech that works rather than making tech that makes pretty pictures. That was the same focus we had back in 2001 and it is why DAoC launched so well. Another reason is our tech base which, unlike some developers, we prefer to iterate on rather than toss out when we do a new game. Our engine has gone from MUDs, to DAoC, to Imperator, and now to WAR, and we keep improving it each time. In terms of what we could have done better, I think we could have better determined how many servers we would need at launch. Our game has proven itself even more stable and able to handle a higher player population per server than we thought it would, be and we probably could have had fewer servers with higher server capacity than we originally launched with.
IGN: Since there's a giant unpredictability factor associated with suddenly opening up your servers to a flood of new players, what are some of the aspects of the game that were warped or stressed in ways you didn't expect?
Mark Jacobs: The mail system for one has been, on most servers, underperforming. We hope to correct that soon. We also probably underestimated how popular our scenarios have become with a larger audience than they were in DAoC.
IGN: WAR is only the latest game in a career spanning multiple decades for you. Before came Dark Age of Camelot, which was preceded by many others. With so much experience in the field of game design, what ^ was it that initially drew you to the genre of the online role-playing game?
Mark Jacobs: W^ ell, I was interested in computer games in college and even the very early online multiplayer games. I also played the progenitor of Zork, and when I saw the first MUD, I was hooked. And when I got pissed off at the company who made the world's second MUD (which was commercial), I decided to channel my frustration into making my own MUD, competing with them %26ndash; and hopefully putting them out of business. From that, Aradath (my MUD) was born in the mid-80s, and from there it became Dragon's Gate when I put it up on Genie. I've been making online games ever since.
IGN: When it comes to the monumental task of putting together a triple-A MMO such as this, would you be willing to offer some points of advice to others in the industry either starting up or in the midst of the same process?
Mark Jacobs: Absolutely! First, understand that you will be spending at least three (and most likely four+) years of your life making this game and that you are going to be competing with some awfully big companies and developers. Second, make sure you have a lot of money. Third, make sure you have an experienced team right from the beginning. Fourth, make sure you have more money than you planned because you will always need more than you originally thought. Fifth, make sure that no matter what, you can afford to be in it for the long-term and that you'll be able to spend the time and money to make a great game, because if you aren't, you will probably fail.
IGN: In your 'State of the Game' post, you mentioned how you'll be improving the chat and mail systems, like adding in item linking in chat windows, in the 1.1 patch that's coming this fall. Can you give any more specific timing information on when that patch might come out?
Mark Jacobs: No, sorry. Wish I could but no matter what I say I could be wrong, so it's safer to simply say 'the fall' for now.
IGN: What are some of the priorities for class balancing and tweaking at this point?
Mark Jacobs: We're primarily focused on fixing major balance problems that affect our players' overall enjoyment of RvR. The key is to give equal treatment to all the careers, with a focus on 'buffing up' the careers that needs some love, and not reducing the abilities of classes that got the long end of the stick at launch.
IGN: What about the game's crafting systems, will players see any changes or tweaks to those systems in the 1.1 patch? If not, then when and what do you feel needs to be done there?
Mark Jacobs: Unfortunately, it's a bit too early to comment about this %26ndash; it's like I said before, I wish I could give a solid answer, but since we're still in the stage where things could change, I don't want to make any statements I'll regret!