Hot air in a windy city

As you should have heard by now from Mykiel and Werit, this year Mythic are making an appearance at Gamesworkshop’s next big event in the US; Gamesday Chicago. Some are of the belief that this will be to herald big news for WAR, something of the scale of a true expansion or 3rd faction.

I wouldn’t get too excited.

Obviously I would be delighted if it was something of such magnitude, but I just can’t believe that it will be. I think it is far more likely to be about the Sigmar’s Tide event and we get a single new dungeon or instance, or I suppose it could possibly be the return of Fortresses, but whatever it is I really don’t think it’s going to be that exciting in the grand scheme of things. I’ll just settle for something fun and a little bit new, as to expect much more is just asking for a big letdown should nothing truly significant turn up.

I don’t mean to sound negative, just trying to stay grounded, but with WAR’s current lack of funding, backing and advertising, it’s best to aim your hopes low and then anything else is a bonus.

Of course if Mythic were to deliver some proper OMG big news, then it would be a coup of epic proportions and I will pray at their chaos altar. Though just the aforementioned bonus would be nice.

Gamesday INC!

This Sunday is Gamesworkshop’s UK Gamesday. It’s the biggest and most important event in the worldwide Warhammer calendar, but despite a long term interest in Gamesworkshop stuff I’ve not gone for many, many years. Too many annoying kids, too many strange people and too insanely busy. This year however I am going, partly to have a few drinks with folks from Karak Norn, but being honest as much as I wub my fellow Nornites, it’s mostly because it’s a chance to meet people from Mythic and possibly get some real news.

So I bought a ticket ages ago… which proved to be a mistake as I found out yesterday I could have gone for free, but at the time of me ordering a ticket and knowing how fast they sell out, I didn’t want to risk assuming I might be offered one. Still, I appreciate the thought ;) Anyway, since its a few hours on the train to Birmingham and is on a Sunday when the trains are extremely limited, I can’t actually get home afterwards. So I’ve got a hotel booked too AND the Monday off work, which means I can sink a few beers! With luck Andy, Carrie & Co will be up for that too. :D

The big questions are about, well, questions. Will anything of real substance be revealed at Gamesday? Will we have the opportunity to ask questions and if so, will they get proper answers?

I honestly don’t know. We expected too much from Gamescom, the same could well happen here. No bloody clue.

I keep thinking I should write a list of questions in case there’s a chance of an interview, or a Q&A but everything I would want to ask depends on either more news being revealed first or it has already been no commented before. So I dunno yet, we’ll see how I feel about it all nearer the time. I tend to adlib in general, so whatever happens I’ll blag it. One way or another, I’m sure I will have plenty to post about.

New WHFB rule book confirms Order vs Destruction groupings

This month saw the release of the new Warhammer Fantasy Battle rulebook, only its 8th edition in 25 years of Warhammer, so a big deal for gamers. If WAR was your introduction to the Warhammer world and you’re tempted to learn a bit more about the background and lore of Warhammer, the latest book is well worth purchasing.

Whilst perusing the book one thing I spotted of interest for WAR games is a proper confirmation by Gamesworkshop of which races are aligned to Order and Destuction. With Mythic being locked pretty tightly into following the official lore and needing agreement for changes from Gamesworkshop, this new section in the rulebook (which Mythic will be well aware of) sets the boundaries for new races that may one day make an appearance in WAR. Whilst each of these races can fight each other, I suspect this official grouping into Order and Destruction pretty much rules out a third faction in any form.

This is the official breakdown as detailed in the new WHFB book:

Order
High Elves
Dwarfs
Empire
Wood Elves
Bretonnia
Lizardmen

Destruction
Warriors of Chaos
Orcs & Goblins
Dark Elves
Beastmen
Skaven
Vampire Counts
Daemons of Chaos

Non-aligned forces
Ogre Kingdoms
Tomb Kings

What else is interesting with these groupings is that there are 6 Order and 6 Destruction races that could feasibly be made playable (Daemons of Chaos are quite simply not an option for many reasons). As such this could, in theory at least, mean Mythic have the option of 3 expansions that add a new playable race to each side from the yellow highlighted races above. Lots of possibilities there, should Mythic be in a position to take advantage of them.

And perhaps Ogre Kingdoms for a future Land of the Dead style zone? I hadn’t considered that as an option myself before, but there’s no reason why not.

Anyways, whatever may or may not happen in the future, this official grouping solves a few forum debates about alignments.

Mythic are NOT suing Warhammer Alliance. Gamesworkshop are suing Curse.

Big difference.

Lot of people getting all in a stress about this situation, but keep in mind folks this is not really anything to do with Warhammer Online and Mythic. Gamesworkshop see Curse, which is a business, making money and using their IP without permission. From the comments posted by the previous owner of WHA, the WHA site did have permission before the site was sold to Curse, but alas for WHA it was sold and as a result in GW's eyes will have become a business and no longer a fan site. So no matter what Mythic or Warhammer Online players may think, Gamesworkshop will always sue.

To them no matter how well WAR did it would always have been just a sideline, a licence they sold and get a little bit of cash from. It’s a small priority compared with protecting their intellectual property, since failure to do so even once can lead to difficulties when making a legal challenge in future. Gamesworkshop have a history of aggressively protecting their IP against anyone that could be seen as making money from it. And to be honest they don’t really have much choice, their IP is their entire business. They have to be aggressive, that's just how it works. It’s like with the Damnatus warhammer 40k film, GW didn’t want to give them the legal slap, but because of the way German copyright laws work, to protect themselves in future they had no choice. That one is still rumbling on I believe.

Do I like it? Of course not, whilst I couldn’t give a monkey’s about Curse (due to apathy, not some random hatred), I do like WHA and regularly read the forums. But this situation is just about business, is far from uncommon and totally understandable. Hopefully Gamesworkshop and Curse will work something out, after all that’s what usually happens in these situations. The whole suing thing is probably just a kick up the arse and a statement, rather than an attempt at taking Curse for a milllllllllllion dollars.

But don't get dragged into blaming Mythic. Feel free to shout at Mythic for not giving us news on an expansion though. I mean come on, Age of Conan gets one and we're not? Now is not the time for viral marketing, hints or just plain silence. Now is the time to kick arse and take names, it's time to stake a claim! A fitting tune considering the UK's political mess at the moment. Lib Dems get 24% of the vote, but only 8% of the seats in the House of Parliment, how the fuck is that democracy working? In fact while I'm getting cross... 52% of the population make clear votes to keep the Tories out, yet somehow with a mere 36% it looks like they'll get in. No please, no return to eighties rich person buffing! Do not want! Broken system is broken.

Ooh man now that was a tangent.

Anyways....... don't blame Mythic, this is not their fault. The sue Curse bit I mean, not the politics. Though I'm sure there is an ex-WAR playing Troll that can think up why the political mess is Mythic's fault. :P