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[WAR] Warhammer Online - Paul Barnett: Chaos God of Shades
Morskittar
Lord Warlock EngineerSeattleRegistered User regular
Lord Warlock EngineerSeattleRegistered User regular
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
The Six Mouths have a beta invite!
PA's first WAR guild, the Six Mouths, has received a beta invite for about ten percent of our 200 members. Apps are shut down for the moment, but don't hesitate to swing by, say hi, and sign up.
What's Warhammer?
Warhammer is an intellectual property held, developed, and exploited by Games Workshop Group, PLC of Nottingham, England. Originally conceived as a set of rules for roleplaying gamers to use their vast miniatures collections all at once, Warhammer was born in 1983. In those early days the game and setting were highly derivative… which both still are, but have created a uniquely woven set of references and imagery that have inspired an entire generation of traditional and electronic games.
Warhammer's imagery and style are influenced heavily by, gritty, classic fantasy authors, such as Michael Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, and H.P. Lovecraft, as well as real-world history and a bit of Tolkien. Designers also list influences such as Terry Gilliam, Black Adder, and Monty Python. The Warhammer world is a playground-like amalgam of everything from Napoleonic gun lines, to sanity-blasting tentacle horrors, to halflings and their giant cocks (depictions of a large rooster that serves as a provincial symbol for the little folk).
The Warhammer story, or background, is vast. It begins tens of thousands of years before the current day with the Old Ones: beings of vast power who sailed between worlds on a sea of infinite potential (known as the Warp, Aethyr, or Realm of Chaos). Armed with incomprehensible techno-magicks and knowledge, the Old Ones raised the races of the Warhammer World from barbarism, teaching elf and dwarf how to draw upon the Realm of Chaos to form magic, and bestowing upon them the joys of enlightened civilization. This golden age ended too soon, however, as the Old Ones were exterminated or driven away by things from the Aethyr: the daemons of Chaos and Ruinous Powers native to that Realm. Given form and purpose by the Warp-reflected flaws of mortals, these daemons invaded the Warhammer World, ending the age of Law and advancement brought about by the Old Ones.
Fast forward seventeen millennia: the elves have driven back the daemons of Chaos and splintered in an ongoing war of successsion. The Old Ones and their works are all but forgotten, fleeting fragments of legend glimpsed in the overgrown corners of the world. Dwarfs, ogres, and other beings touched by the Old Ones fight amongst themselves and the orcs, vying for land, glory, and simple survival. All the while, Chaos works at the seams of reality, daemons and mutant horrors worrying at the fringes of sanity and life. Mankind, left unfinished by the Old Ones, holds the future in its hands; bastions such as the Empire advance science, magic, and philosophy, even as Chaos cults rot from within, embracing the lust in mortal souls for fleeting power.
Morskittar, You Ass, That Text is Reused. Tell Us Something New About Warhammer Online!
The guiding design mechanic for WAR is (semi)officially; FUN, YOU FUCKERS.
Features and Gameplay
First what we know for sure:
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (or WAR) will be an RvR game. Like Dark Age of Camelot before it, Mythic is creating a game with the ultimate goal of bringing large groups of players together in battlefield-style combat. WAR takes this concept further, expanding the warfare into PvE content as well; just about everything your character will do is going to be based around war with opposing realms. In a disappointing but pragmatic move, Mythic has based the game off of six classic Warhammer armies, divided into two general alliances. Racial tensions and stunties making fun of elves have been promised.
Each army will have a major city (or "Tier 4") zone as well as descendingly less controlled or safe zones around. The ultimate goal for each side will be to siege, invade, and sack their arch-enemy's capital
From the WAR website:
The Goods
Intro Cinematic
Official Screenshots
My thoughts of Alpha gameplay from PAX 2006:
The Six Mouths have a beta invite!
PA's first WAR guild, the Six Mouths, has received a beta invite for about ten percent of our 200 members. Apps are shut down for the moment, but don't hesitate to swing by, say hi, and sign up.
What's Warhammer?
Warhammer is an intellectual property held, developed, and exploited by Games Workshop Group, PLC of Nottingham, England. Originally conceived as a set of rules for roleplaying gamers to use their vast miniatures collections all at once, Warhammer was born in 1983. In those early days the game and setting were highly derivative… which both still are, but have created a uniquely woven set of references and imagery that have inspired an entire generation of traditional and electronic games.
Warhammer's imagery and style are influenced heavily by, gritty, classic fantasy authors, such as Michael Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, and H.P. Lovecraft, as well as real-world history and a bit of Tolkien. Designers also list influences such as Terry Gilliam, Black Adder, and Monty Python. The Warhammer world is a playground-like amalgam of everything from Napoleonic gun lines, to sanity-blasting tentacle horrors, to halflings and their giant cocks (depictions of a large rooster that serves as a provincial symbol for the little folk).
The Warhammer story, or background, is vast. It begins tens of thousands of years before the current day with the Old Ones: beings of vast power who sailed between worlds on a sea of infinite potential (known as the Warp, Aethyr, or Realm of Chaos). Armed with incomprehensible techno-magicks and knowledge, the Old Ones raised the races of the Warhammer World from barbarism, teaching elf and dwarf how to draw upon the Realm of Chaos to form magic, and bestowing upon them the joys of enlightened civilization. This golden age ended too soon, however, as the Old Ones were exterminated or driven away by things from the Aethyr: the daemons of Chaos and Ruinous Powers native to that Realm. Given form and purpose by the Warp-reflected flaws of mortals, these daemons invaded the Warhammer World, ending the age of Law and advancement brought about by the Old Ones.
Fast forward seventeen millennia: the elves have driven back the daemons of Chaos and splintered in an ongoing war of successsion. The Old Ones and their works are all but forgotten, fleeting fragments of legend glimpsed in the overgrown corners of the world. Dwarfs, ogres, and other beings touched by the Old Ones fight amongst themselves and the orcs, vying for land, glory, and simple survival. All the while, Chaos works at the seams of reality, daemons and mutant horrors worrying at the fringes of sanity and life. Mankind, left unfinished by the Old Ones, holds the future in its hands; bastions such as the Empire advance science, magic, and philosophy, even as Chaos cults rot from within, embracing the lust in mortal souls for fleeting power.
Morskittar, You Ass, That Text is Reused. Tell Us Something New About Warhammer Online!
The guiding design mechanic for WAR is (semi)officially; FUN, YOU FUCKERS.
Features and Gameplay
First what we know for sure:
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (or WAR) will be an RvR game. Like Dark Age of Camelot before it, Mythic is creating a game with the ultimate goal of bringing large groups of players together in battlefield-style combat. WAR takes this concept further, expanding the warfare into PvE content as well; just about everything your character will do is going to be based around war with opposing realms. In a disappointing but pragmatic move, Mythic has based the game off of six classic Warhammer armies, divided into two general alliances. Racial tensions and stunties making fun of elves have been promised.
Each army will have a major city (or "Tier 4") zone as well as descendingly less controlled or safe zones around. The ultimate goal for each side will be to siege, invade, and sack their arch-enemy's capital
From the WAR website:
# Engage in four levels of RvR combat:
- Skirmishes: Incidental PvP combat
- Battlefields: Objective-based battles in the game world
- Scenarios: Instanced, point-based battles balanced with NPC Dogs of War
- Campaigns: The invasion of enemy lands culminating in the assault on their capital city
# Undertake a wide variety of PvE quest types related to an army's war efforts, including:
- Public quests that benefit from the participation of the entire army
- Conflict quests that pit players against an enemy with opposing goals
- Branching quests that let you choose the outcome of the quest and your reward
- Xmas quests that reward exploration with high value loot
# A robust combat system introduces Player Tactics (earned powers you equip prior to battle) and
Morale Skills (combat options that increase in power when the momentum of battle is in your favor).
# Player models that change to reflect the relative power of a character (i.e., Orcs grow in size and
Dwarfs' beards get longer). Customizable armor and a visual guild system allow a player to make their
character truly unique.
# Embark on an epic quest to complete the Tome of Knowledge and unlock Warhammer lore, detailed
monster information, and major story plotlines.
The Goods
Intro Cinematic
Official Screenshots
My thoughts of Alpha gameplay from PAX 2006:
I’m back from PAX.
I had a bit short of two hours total demo time and a bit of discussion. Then my wife and one of the booth guys jointly decided that I should politely be kicked off to allow others a chance. Then the stunties killed me again, so I complied.
In short, my expectations were exceeded. I wasn’t able to grab pictures or take notes, but here are my impressions and the bits I can remember.
UI, Movement, and Controls
WAR feels clean and responsive. It’s similar to things like WoW and CoH, but has a much more “solid” feel than both. Solid as in weight; it feels like your character has some momentum and heft. Although the controls respond on a dime, your character doesn’t have the flippy-circle-strafe-jumpy freedom of a WoW character… in fact, I watched some guy try to circle strafe, and he kept failing to attack. There were two reasons for this; the first has been reported. You don’t move very fast when turning or running sideways. Backwards is slow as well. When you turn there’s a slight delay on the character, making for a forced wider arc of strafing, which in turn forces your character to stop and realign. The second reason is targeting; you’ve got an extremely narrow range/width matrix for attacks… maybe a few “feet” of range in front of your character for special attacks (headbutt or taunts, for example) and your arc of attack is maybe 45 to 90 degrees (?). This is countered by a slight align function: if a target is in front of you and you’re not moving, you’ll turn so it’s in that small arc. The final effect is that it plays just like most MMORPGs, allows for reasonable combat movement, but kills the shit out of circle strafing. It actually felt more intuitive than WoW or CoH… you might make small adjustments and sidesteps while fighting, but you’d always be facing your opponent (unless trying to run past or flee).
All characters have endurance. There is no mana and endurance functions rather like a mix of rage and rogue endurance in WoW.
Also of note, is the sprint ability. Dunno if this has been reported, but every character has an endurance-draining sprint… it looks like about 1.5 to 2 times the speed, and had a countdown of about 120 seconds… endurance would run out after, maybe, 10-20 seconds of running. This was a great tool to catch those Gobbo Shamans who kept trying to kite. They could do it, but kiting felt like less of a rock-paper-scissors binary win or lose tactic, and more like just another method of fighting. Sprint added quite a bit of dynamics to fights, and made overland travel easier (I think the cooldown was no more than that 120 seconds). In theory, you might be able to sprint almost constantly at higher levels.
The UI is simple, feels like everything else out there, and is easy to read. All windows were movable that I found.
Classes
I played a Black Orc twice, a Shaman, an Ironclaw, and an Ironbreaker. The Black Orcs were slightly more advanced than the others. Abilities I remember:
Black Orcs
Attack
Sprint
Headbutt (no End, light damage, minor debuff?)
A heavy Choppa attack
A crit boost self buff
A melee Taunt attack (debuffs the enemy for everything but you)
Something else (a buff?)
Ironclaw Orc
Attack
Sprint
A strong attack with a chance for an immediate second one
Long duration crit/dam buff (or something like that)
Tactic: Increased melee reach.
Shaman
Attack
Sprint
Ranged attack/dot
Feel Better (or some funny name… a small heal. Very small.)
Ironbreaker
Attack
Sprint
Slightly bigger attack
Defense-increasing attack
Self armor buff
Melee Taunt attack (just like the Black Orc)
Hamstring (just like WoW, although lasted only a few seconds… enough to get a few shots)
The classes were very distinct feeling in both PvE and PvP. Ironbreakers didn’t really do shit, but this Engineer and I made a kickass team… they’d run past me to get him, but with the debuff we’d kill two people before they could take him down. The Black Orcs were a lot of fun… similar but unsiprisingly, more dps/aggressive. I didn’t PvP with the shaman or Ironclaw, but the shaman was pretty slow to kill things, while the Ironclaw could two or three shot Squigs with his big attack.
All of the classes felt fairly distinct, even the melee ones at such a low level.
Abilities and Advancement
The Career Advancement pane has two axes; Tiers and Priority (or something; Core, Specialization, or Secondary). The four Tiers are like your “levels”, and each contained your branching abilities. There were, maybe 20 or so on the Tier 1 level, which increased quite a bit as you went up; the Mythic guy there was saying that the lower Tiers you’d take pretty much everything to unlock the next, with this decreasing as you advanced. Whenever you get a “level” (the xp bar fills) you receive a “Core” point, a “Secondary” point or a “Specialization” point. This point can then be used to buy a single ability (1 for all the Tier 1 stuff I saw, more for later). The individual boxes aren’t divided up, some are Abilities (action bar activated stuff), some are Tactics (like WoW talents, but you can respec at will… starting characters have one slot, but I saw a few different abilities as well as an extra slot at Tier 1), others are Morale (your uber special abilities). Some Abilities were passive, like “Hardness”.
There was some interesting stuff in there, many of which play with core combat mechanics, like range and timers. Ironclaws have a Tactic that increases the range of their melee attacks (making it easier to attack someone who’s running). They also an opportunity attack that would do extra damage while the enemy was using Buildup (a casting timer). There were some that gave you an interrupt of Buildup. It looks like you don’t gain stats inherently while “leveling”… they’re bought (or ignored) as skill packages here (as passive Abilities).
To access these, you have an Abilities pane, with Abilities, Tactics, and Morale tabs. These are all modular, so you can switch Abilities, Tactics, and Morale (in four ranks) on the fly (or, at least, out of combat… not sure there).
Mechanics and Combat
Combat felt decently fast, and was pretty varied. Hamstring was key against Goblin Shamans, while useless against Black Orcs (as strafing only hurt them if they bothered to try). When using debuff taunts, you really have to focus on tanks… I kept winning 2 on 2 fights ‘cause the other side was ignoring me as an Ironbreaker or Black Orc. Abilities had clear uses (except Headbutt… ) and animations/graphics supported them.
As you can tell from some of the abilities above, casting bars, or Buildup, are not interruptable, but rather a mechanic to be played with by abilities. I couldn’t tell if movement interrupted it or not; sometimes it seemed to, others it didn’t. This was somewhat annoying, but like some other glitches (like buttons not pressing sometimes) is part of it being in an early Alpha stage.
Collision detection works! Sometimes. It’s still being worked on, but it’s not actually full CD. When you hit a character you “stick” in them, and can push through very, very slowly. Usually by then, they can back up or just sit there and whack on you. It actually works really, really well (when it works!). Because it’s not a full wall, it feels natural so you can kind of feel your enemy out. It makes it impossible to run through people, and you can’t jump past them… they’ll catch you.
PvE felt like every other game out there. PvP, though, was more dynamic and tactical than any other MMORPG I’ve played.
Graphics and Feel
The game is stylized like both WoW and CoH. But unlike other games (especially WoW), it doesn’t feel like a miniature “toy” world. It’s big. Really big. It doesn’t actually look like WoW in “person”… there’s so much more detail and things feel to scale. There were no goofy terrain changes, and the hills were truly large. I think the zones are much larger than WoW, and like CoH’s buildings, the terrain is huge! I can’t describe the difference very quantifiably, but the increased size and detail make it look real, as opposed to computer-gamey… despite being stylized. It’s pretty, especially the backgrounds… instead of fading into a grey mass like WoW, it almost looks like the bloom/distance effects blend into a “painted” backdrop. I’m not sure if this is a design thing or the machines they were running, but the world felt more open.
Morskittar on
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Posts
Dark Elves
Ever wanted to play a wargame with Elric’s Melnibonean kin? Drugs, pointy ears, slaves, and the least fruity elves since medieval myth, these guys have little to do with Tolkien’s fairies.
Dark Elves have no announced classes, though speculaton includes:
- Cold One Knight: Heavily armored knight mounted on a subterranean stunted dragon ancestor.
- Witch Elf: Shown in the cinematic, Witch Elves are the "Brides of Khaine" sadistic zealous priestesses devoted to the elven god of murder and strength.
- Shades: Tribal clansmen of the hills of Naggaroth; rumored cannibals and worse.
Dwarfs
Like every other dwafs ever, except more obsessed with gold, drunker, and a lot more sullen. If Gimli were a Warhammer dwaf, he would’ve spent three weeks checking a giant gold-lined book, found the time one of Aragorn’s ancestors scuffed his new boot, then cut the man’s head off as payment.
Dwarfs will have:
- Hammerers: A dwarf with a big hammer. Potentially the most straightforward class in the game.
- Ironbreakers: Elite dwarfish guards, these guys will utilize WAR's PvP taunts; abilities that reduce a target's damage against everyone but the Ironbreaker.
- Engineer: Exactly what it sounds like, though they will be able to brew a variety of beers.
- Runepriest: A priest that doesn't cast spells (as dwarfs can't), but binds beneficial powers into runes to bestow upon his friends.
The Empire
The point-of-view for most of the Warhammer World (and setting for WFRP), the Empire is an especially mad take on the 16th century, pre-Protestant Holy Roman Empire. Empire armies have it all, from state-licensed battle wizards to experimental steam and gunpowder cannons. Also, codpieces, tights, and jaunty caps. The Empire is the most stylish fantasy realm ever.
Imperial classes include:
- Knight of the Blazing Sun: Devotees of the tactical war goddess Myrmidia, these guys are great strategists.
- Bright Wizard: A student of the College of Aqshy, their spells revolve around fire, obsession, and heat... with the obvious results.
- Warrior Priest of Sigmar: Zealous follower of the Empire's patron god, these guys will be melee tanks.
- Witch Hunter: Exactly what you'd expect. Will use torture and confessions to reduce enemy morale and build damage over time.
High Elves
Yeah, they’re somewhat like Tolkien’s elves. Except how they’re a bit less “fade into the West” and more “exert control over everything like some facist hyper-Roman/British empire grasping at the last vestiges of divine right”. So they’re more like Tolkien’s elves, with balls.
More unknowns, though their troops tend to be a more defensive mirror of Dark Elves. Possibilities include:
- Silver Helm: An elven knight.
- Swordmaster of Hoeth: A warrior-scholar, trained in the use of the giant two-handed elven sword.
- High Mage: Surprise, high elves are the second best mages in the Warhammer world. The best aren't in WAR.
Hordes of Chaos
Willing servants of Chaos, most of this army is super elite, close combat units. If the Dark Side wasn’t a bunch of whiny bitches and old guys… it’d still be half as apocalyptically badass as Chaos. Except they still always lose… until next time they march to destroy the world for sure.
We know three of four classes:
- Magus: An individual who has gazed into warp, and gained power through insanity. Will supposedly have flying (or hovering) daemonic mounts.
- Chosen of Tzeentch: The badass of badasses, a dread Chaos Knight devoted to the Architect of Fate, cunning Tzeentch himself.
- Zealot: Something new... some sort of shamanistic barbarian infused with the powers of the God of Magic.
Greenskins
WAAAGH!!!
Being awesome, Greenskins need no more explanation. The classes:
- Black Orc: A dirty brawler, all combo attacks and damage.
- Shaman: A dirty goblin who channels Waaagh energy from nearby greenskins to cast spells.
- Choppa: Another dirty brawler, coz dats ow dem boyz get fings dun.
- Squig Herder: A dirty goblin who spends his time with giant, toothy, fungus monsters.
TL;DR
Warhammer is awesome and the MMO is shaping up well.
Arbitrary I'd have pre-ordered by now if it was 40k.
Also, I do believe they renamed the Sorcerer of Tzeentch to Magus, and the Ironclaw to Choppa.
Anyways, this game looks like it's shaping up to be a blast - i'm most likely going to choose a chaos character as a main, though squig hearders do sound like ever so much fun.
Seriously, the main thing keeping me from reactivating my WOW account (especially with new Drainei hotness) is the coming of WAR. The only concern that I have is that my suck-ass computer won't be able to handle it, which I guess I'll find out when beta comes.
By the way, you guys know about The Six Mouths, right? The PA guild for WAR?
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
I intend on picking this up when it comes out and playing with some friends from back home. I hope this game rules.
http://war.jeuxonline.info/actualites/13433.html
Oh it also has some videos right near the end of the article apparently.
Yarr. He says that compared to its first showing the engine has been greatly improved all around. Bright Wizards use a WoW-like Rogue energy bar for all their abilities, including spellcasting, with fast recharge. Spells can't be interrupted by melee hits but the Wizard must remain still (in contrast to Shamans). As for the Chaos Magus, he should technicaly always be floating on a disc past a certain point.
Good stuff.
It's like a very particular strain of ADD.
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
Warhammer has never used any of that mana hooey, so WAR wizards will be using the same "stamina" bar as every other character in the game. It appears that just about every class will have a secondary or tertiary mechanic as well, like a Black Orc's dirty trick combos, the Witch Hunter's confessions, or Goblins channeling Waaagh energy.
This game is going to destroy me with alts too, GoodOmens.
Wow. The new combat video is far better than the last one; much more subtle effects and sounds. And goddamn... that scenery video is pretty.
What I really need to do is get out of the habit of deleting characters once I start a new one. I don't know why, but I don't like having lots of character slots filled up.
Of course, this has also resulted in me levelling at least 3 WOW Shamans up through level 20.
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
Messing around w/ magic will do that to you.
I am also drooling over this one. DAoC was my first MMO and still holds a place in my heart. I was overjoyed to hear that Mythic was shelving Imperator and working on Warhammer instead. I can't wait.
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
http://medias.jeuxonline.info/war/presskit-eamythic/war/WAR_Bright-Wizard.wmv
http://medias.jeuxonline.info/war/presskit-eamythic/war/WAR_RvR.wmv
http://medias.jeuxonline.info/war/presskit-eamythic/war/WAR_Scenery.wmv
This game is giving me so much wood it hurts.
I am a freaking nerd.
Wikipedia actually has a nice bit of Warhammer info (though mostly 40K stuff), and there are often links to other sites. I'd start there.
Or you can invest a metric fuckton of money at your local Games Workshop store.
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
This game looks like it'll be pretty sweet. Anything more specific on how the realm vs. realm will work? Sorry if that's been covered, I only had time to skim the OP.
Check my attempt at a comprehensive guide to Warhammer background.
Sig images by FooB
If I remember correctly, the European servers will be done by the same company that does the DAoC European servers.
So do like some of us and buy the US version.
I don't know shit about DAoC, did they fuck up something particularly badly?
Sig images by FooB
Fucked up is an understatement. Patches months late, unstable servers and mediocre account management options just to name a few. GOA say they've learned from their experiences, but after playing Euro DAOC I can't see myself giving them more money riding on the fact that "we will do better, promise!".
How do you manage to corrupt the character files of an entire server? Ask GOA. They did succeed in restoring it all, kudos to them, but that doesn't detract from their faults.
Anyways, Orc choppa 4 lyfe.
I think it will be interesting to see if the evil races vastly outnumber the good race players in this one, opposite of WoW, because the evil races are so much more badass.
There's something infectious about that particular mix of history and dubious British humor.
No mention of The Enemy Within at all?
just making sure people know you are talking about Euro DAOC, because none of that shit is true about US DAOC.
I've tried to stick to somewhat easily available products. Note the Witch Hunter novels aren't on there either. Great books, but I'll probably hold them off until an Omnibus is released.
The RvR aspect is a little confusing. I'll use the Dwarves and Orcs as an example. The Dwarves have a Tier 1 area and the Orcs do as well. This Tier is at war. If one side is winning, their contributions will effect Tier 2, and if they are winning in Tier 2 it effects Tier 3. The final Tier, Tier 4, consists of a Dwarf area, an Orc area, capital cities for both armies and a contested zone. If the Orcs conquer the contested zone, they can attack the Dwarf area. If they conquer that zone, they can proceed to attack the city. It is possible to win the city, but eventually the original owners will drive out their enemies, and Tier 4 RvR is reset.