Regular readers might recall the love/hate relationship I have with Warhammer Online; I was a fan of the IP since my junior high days, back in the early 90s. When it was finally confirmed that Mythic would be developing the long-awaited Warhammer Fantasy MMO, I was more excited for its release than any other game in production, at the time. But as we all know, things didn't turn out quite the way many of us predicted; check out this editorial I wrote back in July if you'd like to know why.

WAR just turned one year old a few days ago; Mythic celebrated its one-year anniversery on Aug. 31 and is currently hosting an in-game event to commemorate its birthday, called "The Wild Hunt." Ironically, I also stumbled upon this Warhammer Alliance thread (via Massivley) from one year ago, in which players created a virtual "Warhammer Online Time Capsule," making predictions about the state of WAR one year into the future (e.g., this month). Needless to say, some of the more...ambitious predictions didn't come true.

But if you're one of the thousands of players like myself, who loved the MMO and had high hopes for it, but left last spring (or during the "November Exodus"), you might be curious to find out whether or not the game is worth playing nowadays. Has Land of the Dead and the other recent patches fixed the most extreme gameplay problems and annoyances we faced? Is Teir 4 finally worth playing, and are classes more balanced than they were six months ago?

It's something I'd like to find out first-hand, and I need your help!

Last night I was at my local game store, placing my pre-order for Left 4 Dead 2, when I noticed one of those bright-red Warhammer Online game-time cards out of the corner of my eye. I've been tempted to get back into WAR ever since last spring, when I decided I'd had it, and didn't want to keep paying for a game I wasn't enjoying at the time. So I gave in to the impulse and bought a 30-day game card.

Before I jump back in to see if the new patches have truly fixed the problems that inspired me to quit, I'd like to hear from all of you Warhammer fans who left the game. Why did you quit? What would it take for you to come back? Out of everything that's changed throughout the past three-to-six months, which would be most important to you? Just post a comment below, and let us know what the most defining aspects of your Warhammer experience were. Feel free to share your thoughts if you're a current subscriber, whether you've recently come back or you've been along the entire time.

Throughout the course of this month and early October, I'll be re-joining the ranks of Warhammer Online subscribers to find out how much of a difference there is between "then" and "now." I'll document the experience and share my findings with the ZAM community, hopefully answering many of the questions asked by our readers.

Until then, I'll have to find a new home for my characters, since my original server (Monolith) was merged, from the last I heard. I'll also be looking for a new guild, so if anyone belongs to a high-level Destro guild that would allow me to experience the "new and reworked" PvE and guild rank mechanics, go ahead and send me a PM!