Hypothetical Expansion Conclusion

In an ideal world…

I conclude this series and would like to wrap it up with what I would do if I was the producer of Warhammer Online. All of the proposed expansions are feasible, however alone they are on shaky ground. The true winning approach would be to combine elements from all 8 hypotheses posted and form a chain of expansions to keep players interested and subbing. A burst expansion would grab players for some time, but after a while they would whine for more, so the ideal solution is to cut up the vision into chunks and feed them a chunk at a time. Given the developed story of Warhammer as presented by Games Workshop and the limitations Games Workshop imposes on Mythic there’s only so much new content that could be added that doesn’t exist in the tabletop. So here is my formula for the ongoing success of Warhammer online and new content to keep the players happy…

• Reintroduce forts to slow attacks on capitols and keep them a unique experience and bring in the remaining cities – possibilities for new cities include a separate district with purchasable guild halls which can be raided in cities.
• Introduce a mercenary faction to aide the realm in need – Dogs of War and Ogre Kingdoms
• Announce a new racial pairing and start off the drive with a themed live event; have a ‘sub for 3 months before the expansion and its free’ promo
• Cap the live event with a new pair of classes in a new or old archetype to combat the forces to come
• Create another live event granting early access
• Release a new pairing
• Release t5, a new dungeon dropping sovereign level gear requiring excelsior wards, and raise the exp and renown cap to accommodate this tier.
• Repeat the live event cycle for a 2nd new pairing again with 3 month subbing = free expansion promos and a 2nd pair of the new archtype
• Release 2nd new pairing
• Repeat live event cycle for 3rd pairing
• Release 3rd new pairing

This chain of events could take place over a year to two years, but that is that much time that people are hooked and waiting for the next new thing. Every three months throw the players a carrot and keep them happy. Its an ideal set up I know, but it gives players something new to look forward to. So far all Mythic has done is said “something’s a comin’!” and they’ve said this for quite some time now. At some point people get tired of waiting and being hopeful and just move on. Give us something substantial to hope for not random tid-bits that can point to anything.