my thought exactly. and warhammer/Age of conan/tabula rasa/name it all gave BAD first impressions, regarless of what was tried after release. RELEASE is the only time a mmo has a chance of influence. after that it's a slow tricle if that.

Seems like most people forget how much Warcraft struggled in its first year. The game was a mess for at least its first six months, but that obviously turned out alright. Give them a little credit, as far as I'm concerned, the game is in better shape than Warcraft was three months on. At least they patch it weekly and are extremely vocal about what they are doing with content/servers. This launch has been much more pleasant than any other MMO I've been involved in.

Ebel3003

Who gives a flaming rats ass how WoW was *over four years ago*? Warhammer and the like are competing with WoW *now*, not four years ago. The age of half-assed launches and patching-to-perfection are over now that WoW has become the 800-lbs gorilla sitting in the corner of the room waiting to stomp a hole in any new challenge.

The sooner people stop making excuses for crap like this, the better off we'll all be.

Warcraft was a mess largely from an unexpectedly huge population. It was not a mess because of missing features and buggy code.

I distinctly remember being in a beta for Warhammer. I really do! It just.... doesn't ever look like they fixed anything from then.

Comparing WAR to WoW at this stage in its release is certainly valid. It's also a good measuring stick for progress being made in WAR.

By comparison, WAR seems to be much more nimble in responding to user complaints and requests. They seem intent on fleshing the game out in a responsible manner and doing so in a short time frame.

Some of the changes that are coming around in WAR would take a year in WoW. It would be nice if things were perfect from the start, but that's hardly realistic. The games, as well as the players, are quite different so nailing down features and functionality based on the WoW template probably wouldn't be smart.

Mythic takes their game and the player experience seriously, it seems. They're also fast on their feet once they realize a change needs to be made. That makes me happy.