14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most important men at Cryptic, Bill Roper, says that there are problems with the expectations that people have regarding Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the MMO developed by Mythic Entertainment.
Roper talked to MTV Multiplayer and said that “I hear half the people are saying, 'Oh gosh, Warhammer looks like it isn't doing so great,' because they said they had 300,000 subscribers. Those are not bad numbers.” He added that “I know many games out there that would love to have 300,000 subscribers.” Gamers and analysts believe that the title should have more subscribers because of the 11 million people who are actively playing World of Warcraft at the moment.
Roper is working on another MMO, called Champions Online, and his previous experience includes both Diablo and Hellgate: London. He believes that more people should focus on those MMOs that are thriving without having an immense number of subscribers, like The Lords of the Ring or Warhammer Online. After all, World of Warcraft is just an anomaly with its huge player base, like “the one kid that gets 100 per cent on every single test.”
Players have to understand that MMOs can have smaller install bases and still thrive and should stick with the games they like. Deserting them because players believe they can fail will only lead to them disappearing, like Hellgate did.
Champions Online is set to be launched in June this year. Cryptic was bought by Atari and they have the financial backing needed to sustain their upcoming MMO, even if it doesn't do too well on the short term. Champions is based on a pen and paper super hero game and it will probably be pretty similar to City of Heroes/City of Villains. Let's hope that the superpowers will allow the game to escape the fate of Hellgate.