Play Warhammer Online forever! For Free! - with some limitations.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Play Warhammer Online forever! For Free!

Electronic Arts and Mythic seem to be taking a note from Turbine Studios' book and have announced a new trial program for Warhammer Online. The way it works? Play the game as much as you want, for free, until your character reaches Level 10.

It's gotta be tough when you're in the MMO industry and competing against the juggernaut that is World of Warcraft. When your competition has such a devoted fan base, it's hellishly difficult to lure a percentage of them over to your side of the fence. Mythic's Warhammer Online ? which was initially billed as a potential WoW killer ? has proven to be a great MMO, but EA is turning to the appeal of free-ness to help convert some more players.

In a move similar to what Turbine did last month with Dungeons and Dragons Online, Mythic has announced that it's implementing a new free-to-play trial of Warhammer Online in an effort to get more gamers hooked on the title. Dubbed the "Endless Trial," Warhammer Online will now be free for new players to get into, for as long as they want, but with some limitations.

According to the demo's FAQ, "Endless Trial accounts are restricted to Tier 1 of the Empire versus Chaos pairing. This includes Tier 1 scenarios but does not include access to the Capital Cities or the other racial pairings within the game." So, essentially, that means you can get your character up to Level 10 for free, but you'll have to start paying the subscription fee if you want to advance any further. The demo also won't allow players to send mail to other players or use the Auction House and Bank (though they can receive mail and can trade with other players in person) and Endless Trial participants have to play on designated servers (if they want to play on other servers, they'll have to buy a retail copy).

The idea of making the game free-to-play is certainly a good one. It's a risk-free way for people interested in Warhammer Online to check it out, and it could give the title a massive shot in the arm via new subscriptions (much as how DDO got one last month). While the game initially started out with over 750,000 subscribers, EA revealed that the number had dropped to around 300,000 subscribers by the end of May.

Last year, Frank gave us a detailed look at how Warhammer Online held his interest for two months; his verdict was that the game was great, even in spite of some rough spots. Now, thanks to the Endless Trial, you can check this out for yourself (even if you're a Mac user) for as long as you want. The Endless Trial can be downloaded from Warhammer Online's official website.

News source: Ars Technica

[SMELTN]

Don't know why they call it an "Endless Trial". It really needs to be called Level 10 trial.

While I agree with not being able to access most in game things, like AH, Bank, and even "some" capital cities, I do think they should remove the level limitation.

[dead.cell]

Oh, just die already, Warhammer!

You were very fun to play, but I've got to let you go now... just go quietly so I can get over you. :(

[trag3dy]

More like a limited trial? Not exactly endless....in any case the game was fun but not much could convince me go play it again.

[Minifig]

Warhammer, The MMO that just refuses to die.

[cabron]

I hate to do it because most of the time, these "freeware" option always ask you for credit card when you sign up.

[trag3dy]

At the most you'll just need an email I would guess. In any event it's not worth it for that, you're restricted to one area and only levels 1-10. It might be entertaining for a week or so.

[Neoauld]

Wow, this game isnt dead yet. Did they ever add any content to actually KEEP players.

[JimMask]

ah! for a sec I thought I'll play it! lv10 cap? geeze! never!

I'll stick to SUN.