"Live Expansion" Announced for Warhammer Online

Zonk brings word that Mythic has announced their plans to expand Warhammer Online in the coming months using a series of live events that will open up new careers, gear, and zones. The first event, planned for sometime in March, will allow access to the Dwarf Slayer and the Orc Choppa, as well as a new RvR scenario. Later, players will race to unlock a massive new zone, the Lands of the Dead. The expansion itself is titled "A Call to Arms," and it will be rolled out free of charge.

Re:"and it will be rolled out free of charge. "

[Andy Dodd]

Keep in mind that in addition to paid expansions, Blizzard does add content for free too. (Think Ahn'Qiraj, for example.). Plus WAR has proven to have a lot of deficiencies that need to be corrected for it to be competitive... Although rather than add new classes (which always makes class balance harder) I wish they'd fix the existing major realm population and effectiveness balances - At least as of November, Destruction far outpopulated Order on nearly every server to a great deal because their classes simply had an edge... I made it to rank 15 or so before I got tired of Order getting constantly slaughtered in scenarios.

I'm sure WAR is going to see a paid expansion after a year or two, just like DAoC (Mythic's previous MMOG) saw quite a few, one of which managed to effectively destroy the game. (ooops)

Loving this game...

[SpuriousLogic]

I have to say, I am really enjoying this game. I'm not getting the grind feel form other games, and playing it way more casually, but still having a blast because of the RVR. Having a free expansion is nothing but gravy. Sweet wonderful gravy....

Notes?

[RobXiii]

I'm disappointed they havent listed any patch notes, or game balance changes. WAR is a good game, but there's definite issues with it. Whoever coded the mail system likely did the buff/debuff updates. I have a great gaming PC (new quad core + 4870x2) and I can get 30-50FPS during a keep raid, UNTIL I target something with lots of buffs/debuffs on it, such as a keep door. Even with buffs disabled, nothing showing on my screen I instantly drop to 1 frame every 3 seconds. Theres some serious issues there. I'm also an Archmage, and really sick of invisible Witch Elves dropping me before I can even cast one instant ability, thanks to stun + silence and obscene DPS. Other than those issues, I have a great time in open combat with my guild, there's routinely 100+ people online each night in our guild, fun times!

Re:"and it will be rolled out free of charge. "

[zehaeva]

my friends and i have been complaining that the new instances and heroics are way to easy, way too casual. people are running around with purples like they were running around in blues at release.

also 700 dollars for 4+ years of entertainment, I've logged only around 200-250 hours(i'm low balling it) on my account so 700 dollars for that sort of time (i took most of 2008 off so you could cut 180 off that for me) is a good deal, to spend the same amount of time in a movie theater would have cost me a great deal more.

Re:"and it will be rolled out free of charge. "

[vux984]

I am a relatively casual player and I have spent thousands of hours in those zones over the years.

"Thousands of hours"?? That's more time than most people spend at a full time job in a YEAR. (40hrs/wk * 52 wks/yr = 1680hrs/yr) and you spent thousands of hours in just 5 Warcraft zones? How much time did you spend playing WoW not in those zones?

I think your definition of "relatively casual player" is seriously askew.

Re:"and it will be rolled out free of charge. "

[Anonymous Coward]

I've easily logged that many hours and that many dollars playing Warhammer 40k and Warhammer. At the end, I sell my army and buy another and start all over again...

Re:"and it will be rolled out free of charge. "

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup. Janu-waaagh-ry alone could have kept me videogaming for close to a year.

Re:Loving this game...

[tbcpp]

I have to agree with the parent. I got this game about two weeks ago. So far, my wife and I have hit lvl16 (out of 40 lvls) and we've only been playing for a hour a day. Very casual oriented. I have a level 64 pally in WoW, and the leveling rate is so insanely slow we just gave up. You can't do PvP or even run raids in WoW until you hit 80 these days since getting 25 people in the lvl 64 range is next to impossible. In War, the RvR battles are everywhere, and you can actually help out as a lvl 16. I will be playing war for a long time....