Warhammer Online's Call to Arms
DateTime:7/8/2009 5:21:12 PM

We're really pretty happy these days," Jeff Hickman said. According to the executive producer of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, that's because despite a sour economy and Internet rumors of their game's imminent demise, Warhammer Online can be considered a success. "We're able to tie live events into the Tome of Knowledge so that when people log into the game, they can just turn to the Tome and see all these new things to do and new activities to participate in." According to Hickman, the greatest benefit to a live event is the sheer surprise factor. "It helps keep people interested, can bridge gaps in knowledge introduce new mechanics and reward people for interacting with the game in new ways."

"We're calling it 'The Call to Arms'," Hickman says as we begin our conversation about what Mythic is calling a "live expansion." "We didn't want to just call it a patch or even a new content update. The amount of stuff we'll be putting out in the next few months is staggering... about as much as you'd get from a commercially released expansion." While that contention may be disputed, it can't be denied that "The Call to Arms" certainly covers a lot of ground. Among other elements, Warhammer Online will get two new classes, some big live event competitions, a whole new region and high-end RvR dungeon, and the introduction of the undead Tomb Kings to the Warhammer Online universe.According to Hickman, what makes The Call to Arms different than most other big MMO content updates is the incorporation of lessons the development team learned in the few short months since the game launched. "Our live events have been really successful," Hickman said, referring to the "Heavy Metal" event that introduced the Knights of the Blazing Sun and the Black Guard classes as well as the "Keg's End," the holiday-themed event.