Gladly, we can now share much more substantiated answers to the questions which has been circulating recently.
Will the Flash website be exchanged for an HTML-based website?
Whereas we have many improvements and new features coming up for our website, we will not be exchanging it for a HTML-based website for now.
Upcoming features include:
* Realm WAR pages
* New Account Management pages (will be online by the start of Open Beta)
* Web-Shop (will probably not be online by launch but it's coming)
Phew.. With that out of the way, please keep reading!
Will CE Pre-Order customers gain an extended head-start?
Yes. The final dates are almost but not quite set in stone. For certain, though, CE pre-order customers will have a somewhat longer Head Start than SE pre-order customers.
How many servers will there be for the Head Start? Will I be allocated a server, and if so, what happen if my non-Head Start friend want to play on the same server and it's full?
Players will not be allocated a server, but will be free to choose from the same selection of servers as will be available on Live Launch on September 18th. Naturally, we will be monitoring our servers intensely; if there is a need for more servers, we will plug in more of them from our stock. As of now, we cannot share any specific numbers on this.
When will the actual CE box be available in retailers for those who pre-ordered it?
September 18th.
Will EU SE pre-order customers get into WAR Open Beta?
No. This was a solution well suited for the American market, but less so Europe. With more diverse demographics, we have opted for a solution where we will be giving away 55 000 Open Beta keys through the EA Store and other community sites. This allow for a more focused approach, better suited the five-language market we operate in.
Will EU CE pre-order customers get into WAR Closed Beta?
No. When the Collector Edition pre-order program was designed last autumn, we decided to include Open Beta access as a bonus and we are sticking with this. Naturally, neither will SE pre-order customers.
Will there be a European Preview Weekend?
No. When the Preview Weekend was announced we were frankly caught by the bed. Our schedule leading up to Open Beta and Launch have included large scale testing all along, and a Preview Weekend event of sorts was never part of this plan. In the end, making such large scale changes with such short notice proved unrealistic.
Europeans will not be left in the dark, however. As we speak, WAR is being shown to approximately 200 000 people at the Games Convention, Leipzig.
When will the Open Beta start?
The EU Open Beta is scheduled to start September 7th. This is the date we have been working with for some time but naturally, anything can happen up until then.
Will we be able to download the Open Beta client in beforehand?
Yes. The client will be hosted from the EA Store from the first week of September.
Will WAR be localized in my language on launch?
Warhammer will be launched in Europe on September 18th in Italian, Spanish, German, French and English with 24/7 in-game support.
During EU Beta, servers have often been down during weekends, and with French labour laws in order, there has been no one there to fix them. How do you plan to meet this challenge?
The Closed Beta servers have indeed been hosted and maintained in France, thereby being subject to the infamous French labour laws. Again, the very reason we relocated to Dublin was so that we could get around this in preparation for WAR. The Live servers will be monitored 24/7 from Dublin.
I am very pleased to be able to share this with you and I hope our attempts to provide you with real answers to very real concerns is recognized and appreciated.
Love, peace and WAAAAGH!!
-Magnus
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English Community Manager, Warhammer Online
www.war-europe.com