MMORPG.com’s Bill Murphy writes this look at the unlimited trial currently offered by Mythic’s Warhammer Online and whether or not it is enough to bring former players back to the game.
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It wasn’t long ago that players were chomping at the bit to get into the beta for Mythic’s upcoming Warhammer Online. Keys were being sold illegally for hundreds of dollars, any and all leaks of info were being gobbled up like so many marbles by ravenous hippos, and the media and fans alike were preparing themselves for the game that could potentially dethrone (or at least threaten) the reign of World of Warcraft as the big kid in class.
September 18th came and went, the game sold over a million copies, and yet at an investor conference in March 2009 Electronic Arts confirmed the game to have in the ballpark of just 300,000 subscribers. Mega-smash hit to rival Blizzard’s behemoth, it was not. From over 50 servers around the launch window, the game now operates with just four. Once the heralded as the coming of an MMO god, Warhammer Online seems little more than a bit player in the grander theological scheme of the industry.