Warhammer takes on Warcraft.
DateTime:7/8/2009 5:21:12 PM

Four years after its launch, Blizzard Entertainment world of Warcraft?continues to dominate the field of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (known by the acronym MMORPG). It was not for lack of competition; dozens of companies have tried to peel off some of the 10 million WoW?subscribers, only to be stymied by technical problems, lack of polish and player attrition. Funcom Age of Conan,?for example, got off to a fast start earlier this year, only to be derailed by those problems.

The latest challenger is determined to avoid such issues. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning,?the sword-and-sorcery fantasy developed by Mythic Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts, has already attracted 750,000 subscribers since its September debut. But Mythic co-founder Mark Jacobs said: the launch is just the beginning. Even the first year is only a step.No MMORPG is ever ready to go out,?Jacobs said. These games are so complicated, you can never get it 100 percent right.?For a new online game to succeed, he said, players have to be able to do everything it says on the box.?

Warhammer?executive producer Jeff Hickman said the goal is to deep the momentum going,?especially with the busy holiday season and a much-anticipated WoW?expansion coming up. We stay on top of what's going on, and we'e going to keep expanding,?Hickman said. We care about what the players are saying. Our first two patches were about making players happy ?within reason.?