The Warhammer Online Herald posted the Minimum System Requirements for Warhammer Online today! Another data point for the masses! You can find them here, but in a nutshell they are:
- CPU: Intel Pentium IV
- CPU Speed: 2.5 GHz
- RAM: 1 GB
- Video Card: 128 MB + Shader 2.0 support
- HD Space: 15 GB
But what do those specs really mean?
For a lot of companies, the minimum system requirements they list are like a kiss from your sister; they don’t mean a whole lot and can even be embarrassing.
Some times the minimum system requirements seem like some sort of cruel hoax to spur more box sales to the unsuspecting. Who else is thinking “Vanguard” right about now? Go on, raise your hands.
With other games, the minimum system requirements are technically correct, you can play the game and even do well, but your enjoyment would be greatly enhanced (and your frustration would be greatly reduced) if you had treated the “recommended” system requirements as the minimum. EverQuest II and Lord of the Rings Online come to mind for me here. Even EVE Online, which has a pretty light client, is pushing credibility a bit with their minimum requirements, as I have noted, at least since the Trinity expansion came out.
A few companies seem to make sure that their minimum recommended specification actually delivers decent game play. Yes, you knew I was going to write World of Warcraft at this point, but what can I do? It runs better on my cheap company issued laptop than any other game I have mentioned and at least one I have not, which is EverQuest. It doesn’t just run better, it is playable. I could run our weekly instance group run on it, while I wouldn’t attempt running a level 3 EVE Online mission.
So that brings us to two questions. First, what kind of company is Mythic when it comes to minimum requirements?
In digging through their DOAC site and remembering what friends have told me about playing other titles from Mythic, they seem to be more conservative and/or more realistic when it comes system specs, so I am going to predict that WAR will be pretty playable at the minimum spec. Not that they have set the bar startlingly low, but that is at least a four year old game system they have listed there.
The second question is the recommended system requirements. What will they be?
My guess, since they say they want WAR everywhere, is:
- CPU: Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo
- CPU Speed: 2.0 GHz
- RAM: 1.5 GB
- Video Card: 256 MB + Shader 3.0 support
What do you think?
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
I really hope that the minimums are “for reals” with WAR. However at this point there is no way of knowing.
With MMOs (and PC games in general to some extent) I very rarely buy one without doing a demo/ open beta. The last game I broke that rule withy wwas TR, and it managed simultaneously to run like butt and look like butt on my machine. Nice trick that.
LikeLike
Did it sound like butt for the trifecta though? As long as it didn’t smell like butt.
LikeLike
Well, the sound FX were fine (pretty good actually) :-P
LikeLike
I can’t tell you what I think :(
I am only allowed to tell you there is in fact a Warhammer beta, and that I am a part of it. When I can tell you about it I most surely will back on this page.
LikeLike
It took a few years, but I remember the expansions for DAOC really adding a graphics overhaul and prompting upgrades. The original specs were pretty fair. You could get a lesser machine to run it, but the performance was a bit choppy. Playable PvE, but somewhat painful for RvR. Forget about those field combat effects.
Original DAOC requirements:
(min)
Pentium III 1.4GHz or AMD equivalent
384MB RAM
3D compatible acceleration card with 32MB video RAM
Directx 9.0 or later
Internet Connection required
(recommended)
Pentium 4 2.4GHz or AMD equivalent
512MB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti Series 3D video card with 64MB video RAM
Directx 9.0 or later
Internet Connection required
The Minotaur expansion (which might be their latest retail):
Minimum*: Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or equivalent – 512 MB RAM – 3.5 GB free hard drive space – Compatible 3D acceleration card with 64 MB video RAM – Directx 9.0c or later – Shader 1.1 or higher – Internet Connection Required
Preferred: Pentium 4 3.0 GHz or equivalent – 1 GB RAM – 256 MB ATI X800 or Nvidia GeForce 6800 series or higher – Direct X 9.0c or later – Shader 2.X or greater support
They recommend increasing performance in this order: video card, ram, cpu. Some of this is to be expected over a time of what 6-7 years. I think I was more put off by the software changes rather than hardware.
LikeLike
The interesting part will be the DirectX 9 requirements. Part of the problem with computer gaming is that a lot of built-in video cards (especially for laptops) can’t handle that. This is mostly Intel’s fault, but still, it’s an issue.
LikeLike
I played AoC after having checked their minimum specs. My machine matched those and a little bit over (I thought). But playing it, even with settings on lowest and viewing distance as long as my nose, the gaming experience was awful.
Should I be worried for WAR (a game I am really looking forward to as the first MMORPG I played and fell in ‘love’ with was DAoC)???
My machine is Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21M (a laptop)
CPU: Inter Core 2 DUO
Processor T7250
2.00GHZ
Memory: 2GB/Go DD2 SDRAM
NVIDIA Geforce 8400M GT GPU 256MB
Thoughs are very much welcome.
Thanks
P.s. My machine played WOW and still plays EVE very well (Trinity patch make graphics soo much nicer, however laptop has bit more problems running it).
P.s.s. Wilhelm, love your blog. On my reader list it ranks above Tobold, the (self!?) proclaimed (WOW) blogging champ. You’re diversity, personal flair, peeks in your private life make it a pleasure to read.
LikeLike