wargoldvip.net, the world wide hammer-war gold, power leveling,accounts and items supplier.

By Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor

The last few months have seen a tremendous surge in the overall popularity of Warhammer Online. With the game slated to release in just a few short weeks, the Ten Ton Hammer staff thought it would be pertinent to list off a few of the reasons why so many gamers have been attracted to the title even when the game is still only in the beta phase. Without taking a breath, I volunteered for the job and concocted my own “Top Five” reasons behind the abundant popularity of Warhammer Online. None of these five reasons have anything to with the gameplay of the actual product, but much of the popularity of the game can be attributed to these five items.

Disagree with my list or have some additional “reasons” to add to the list? Drop us a line in the forums!

Paul Barnett and Jeff Hickman (along with Josh Drescher) have really used their personalities to enhance the appeal of WAR.

1. The Three-Headed Monster: Jeff Hickman, Paul Barnett, and Josh Drescher

During the decade that I've been playing massively multiplayer online games, there's really been no set of developers that have lived the rockstar lifestyle more thoroughly than Jeff Hickman, Paul Barnett, and Josh Drescher. They not only bring the party, but they also give excellent presentations on their particular product, which happens to be Warhammer Online. While some individuals may dislike the over-the-top antics of Paul Barnett, I can't think of any forum post that has complained about the conversations held by Hickman or Drescher.

Truthfully, I think these three men - along with a smattering of Mark Jacobs thrown in for good measure - have aimed an incredibly large spotlight on WAR. Every word that they utter is like verbal gold to the WAR masses, and you can almost hear their followers tracking across the Internet, scouring the world wide web for any piece of information they can find on the trio.

Few - if any - developers have ever had this sort of rockstar status. Will Wright, Sid Meier, and (at one time) John Romero are some of the names that I could compare with this triumvirate in the amount of sheer "star power" they've generated for themselves and their game. Only one other MMOG developer - Brad McQuaid - has ever had this much influence on a gaming populace, but I doubt that Warhammer Online will meet the sort of end that McQuaid’s last project fell into.

Every time the Ten Ton Hammer staff went to a show that the WAR crew was attending, we knew that we were going to get some kick ass content. Hickman, Barnett, and Drescher were always ready to tell a tale about the game, even if the interview was last minute or pre-planned for months. And nothing can top the humor that each of these three individuals brings to the table when they talk to a press crew. If you don’t believe me, check out Josh and Paul’s trip to Leipzig, parts one and two. You may just die of a comedy heart attack.

2. Warhammer Fantasy Battle

With all of the hoopla that surrounds the release of any massively multiplayer online game, it’s easy to get caught up in the vast abundance of digital offerings that spring up day after day on the ‘net. However, it’s important to note that Warhammer Online really got its first fan-base through association, since it’s based off of Game Workshop’s extremely popular Warhammer Fantasy Battle. 

Although I won’t go into the details behind Warhammer Fantasy Battle, I will state that the player base that is involved with WHFB are some of the nuttiest, most diehard individuals I’ve ever come across. While some online gamers bitch and moan about a paltry $15/month subscription fee to their games, WHFB participants spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on miniatures and paints along with innumerable hours painting those miniatures for hobby and tournament play.

Hundreds of thousands of Warhammer Fantasy Battle players are itching to play WAR.

With this pre-made fan base, it was easy to attract other gamers to this product. When convention season rolled around, it was the WHFB players that would travel for miles upon miles to lay their eyes on Paul Barnett or lick Josh Drescher’s head. The developers were creating a game based on their world, and the WHFB players were more than willing to spread the “gospel” of Warhammer to anyone that was willing to listen.

3. Kicking Ass and Taking Names

It seems like most gamers, in some way, shape, or form, are competitive. They like being better than their opponents, and then they like to brag about how much better the are. While attaining the best gear or killing the biggest boss is fun, nothing can replace the idea of being on the winning end of a combat sequence with your enemy.

In other words….kicking ass kicks ass.

Warhammer Online is absolutely full of ass kicking. Whether you enjoy PvE or live for RvR, there’s enough ass kicking in the Warhammer Online to satisfy any sadist’s fetish. Among the Ten Ton Hammer staff there’s an unusually high number of individuals that really, really enjoy PvE and never do anything close to PvP (thankfully I’m not one of them), but even the most hardcore PvE-er has taken a moment to try out the RvR in WAR and come away pleasantly pleased.

I can’t do an in-depth look at RvR in this short amount of space, but the developers behind WAR have done an absolutely fantastic job of engendering team work in the two factions while also keeping the balance of the gameplay at a decent enough level to insure that almost anyone who tries out the RvR enjoys themselves. Obviously their experience with RvR in Dark Age of Camelot has paid off, because RvR is one of the main (if not the main) selling points behind all of WAR.

People enjoy beating the snot out of each other. If you don’t believe me, watch a little UFC.

4. The Greenskins

Do you know where the WAAGH! in Warhammer Online comes from? Are you familiar with the Squig Herders? Or that Orcs are actually (at least in Warhammer 40K) symbiots with fungi and reproduce asexually?

Never before has such a strange, humor-filled race graced the coding of a massively multiplayer online game. From the very beginning of the Warhammer Online development, people were instantly attracted to the Greenskins. Aside from their funny manner of speaking, the Greenskins have a great intrinsic absurdity about them that just appeals to all sorts of gamers. While the rest of the WAR races may be serious and stoic, the Orcs could care less about seriousness.

All they want to do is eat and WAAAGH! If you haven’t already seen the WAR trailers, make sure you check ‘em out simply to watch the little Goblin and the massive Orc in the featurette. Although they still possess the same fearsome actions as the other races, their very methods cause a laugh out loud response out of many viewers.

WAR is the best acronym ever.

5. WAR is the Best Acronym Ever

Honestly, whoever came up with Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning as a title should be given ten gold stars and a cookie. With an industry full of game titles that are acronymized into oblivion (VG, EQ, DAoC, LOTRO, KOTOR…the list goes on), something as simple and punchy as WAR really makes a game stand out. Not only can the marketing team use that acronym in almost all of their press releases, it even summarizes what the game is about!

Really, the WAR acronym would be akin to the Star Trek Online coming up with a way to change STO into STAR. (Editor’s Note: Star Trek Online: The Age of Reckoning anyone?) Whenever I mention that I’m playing WAR to someone outside of the MMOG space, the response is almost always a combination of curiosity and humor. The next thing I know, my friend has pre-ordered the game and is eagerly sitting at his desk awaiting his open beta pass.

While WoW may be a normal, every day word; the WAR acronym will win out every time. I mean, it's WAR!

Do you agree with my list? Or do you think it’s total bunk and you'd like to argue with me until I'm blue in the face? Let us know on the forums!