EA studio Mythic Entertainment on Friday announced that players will now have access to an expanded play trial, rather than a 10-day limit, for its MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR). New and returning players will have access to a new streaming client, cutting down time spent downloading the game, and will be able to progress their characters to level 10 while exploring two tier one Empire vs. Chaos zones.
Mythic also introduced its New User Journey feature, which offers enhanced tutorials and such community elements as a guild aimed at new players. Those whose 10-day free trial periods have ended can now return to the game for the new play trial and the new streaming client, which downloads a little over 1GB of data and then streams additional content in the background as required.
Based on Games Workshop's popular Warhammer tabletop war and role-playing games, Warhammer Online features Realm vs. Realm conflict in which characters take the side of Destruction, with its followers of Chaos, Greenskins, and Dark Elves, or of Order, with its human Empire, High Elves, and Dwarves. Players' accomplishments in completing quests, winning player-versus-player skirmishes, and other activities earn their side points that shift the momentum in the larger war. The goal is for one side to earn enough points to assault, and possibly destroy, their enemies' capital city.
WAR's Living Cities change in connection with each side's success in the overall war, looking more or less prosperous over time. As players progress through the game, they also fill their Tome of Knowledge, unlocking new information about a Warhammer storyline that is distinct from Games Workshop's other iterations of the game.
WAR costs US$14.99 per month, with cheaper per-month fees for purchasing game time in three- or six-month blocks.