Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Interview

The ZAM Network managed to corner Warhammer Online producer Josh Drescher and quiz him about the game's new "Endless Trial" program, the "New User Journey" initiative, and more.
ZAM: Can you tell us a bit about the "New User Journey" for new players? Was it introduced for the sake of accessibility, more than anything else?

Drescher: Accessibility is definitely the primary, driving force behind the initiative. Internal polling and metrics had made it clear to us that one of the things that had been 'turning off' newer players was a sense of confusion about how some of the most basic parts of the game function. As MMOs become more popular with a broader audience, we need to be mindful that not everyone is automatically aware that for example you get quests from NPCs or that you need to train in order to learn new abilities, etc.

The New User Journey initiative was squarely aimed at helping new players and especially players without any prior MMO experience understand and feel comfortable with how WAR operates on a very basic level. By offering a much more detailed, but still non-intrusive system for informing players, we're hoping to make their first experience with WAR as enjoyable as possible.