MMO Weekly - 09/09/08

09 Sep 2008 at 10:31:50 by Jeff Hollis

As always, this week in MMO gaming features stories about heroism, stories about tragedy, and stories about the kind of deep-seated geekiness that are oh-so-embarrassing to watch. (And yet, like a train wreck, I find I cannot look away....) And so, without any additional fanfare, I bring you this week's top stories in MMO gaming!

As the impending launch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) draws ever closer, salivating MMORPG fanbois and fangurls waited with baited breath for the open beta. Finally, after lots and lots of waiting, the beta launched for all those with a pre-order for the game. It went very, very smoothly, as more than 50,000 players finally got a much-anticipated taste of WAR.

That is, in the United States. In the EU? Not so much.

The problem is that EA owns Mythic Entertainment, the producers of Warhammer. EA and Mythic each have several partners in Europe. There's KOCH, Wanado, Indigo Pearl, and a company named GOA. Each of those companies brings with it an additional stable of partners and business relationships. This means that no one knows who's responsible for doing different things; recently, all the various entities couldn't even agree as to what the monthly subscription price for WAR would be, and each floated out several different thoughts on the subject. That issue was, eventually, resolved. Launching the beta is several orders of magnitude more complicated than simply agreeing on a subscription price, and thus the beta didn't exactly launch smoothly (or at all) in the EU.

In a related story, Mythic's president, CEO and all-around bigwig (whose also a very nice boy) Mark Jacobs started his own blog this week. Among the first things he blogged about was the utter debacle of the Warhammer beta launch in the EU. (The irony of a corporate big shot launching his personal blog the very same week his company has a major snafu was certainly an intriguing morsel of news). Of course, Jacobs is a total pro, offered his apologies, and reassured everyone that this will all be resolved by launch day. The state of the EU beta? Um, well, they're working on that...

Next up, we have the story of gaming legend Chuck Norris. As you are no doubt aware, Chuck is repeatedly referenced in the general chat of nearly every MMO currently on the market. Despite the fact that Chuck isn't known to have ever logged a single minute in any MMORPG ever made, he's iconic among MMORPGers. (A quirky sidenote: One of the entries into the costume contest at BlizzCon 07 was a guy dressed up as Chuck Norris. He received a very enthusiastic applause for his efforts.)

It now appears Chuck's iconic status is now spreading into the field of mobile gaming. One of my fellow staffers at WanderingGoblin.com (a site that only covers MMO news) was caught completely by surprise when she received in the mail, unsolicited, a copy of Chuck Norris: Bring on the Pain. It's a game for mobile phones, featuring some side-scrolling punches, kicks, and armed firepower. Interestingly, it seems this new mobile game is specifically targeting MMO gamers.

It appears that a blogger named Wreslur has been doing a bit of psychoanalysis, and written up this epic -- Psychological Warfare: Alterac Valley. He describes various player types (tongue planted firmly in cheek) which infest the zone and offer a handful of insights into everyone's favorite WoW battleground. Any article that describes The Horde as “the uncle that loves you so much he'll smack you in the back of the head whenever you speak out of line, or whenever he deems it funny,” gains some instant credibility in my book.

Also this week, it appears that someone has manufactured a game using only cuteness, pink crayons, bubblegum, baby animals, and adorable noises. That game, of course, is Hello Kitty Online (HKO).

HKO is apparently now live, and obviously caters to a very young audience. There are a number of promo videos that were released this week, and they showcase character creation, gameplay, and the social aspects of the game. You can view them at the jump, if you so dare. (These videos are so sickly-sweet, they may cause 1) Instant tooth decay or 2) Adult onset diabetes. You've been warned.)

Speaking of consumables and gaming, what happens when you drink 11 cups of coffee and log in to play a little Warhammer Online? This happens.

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