Warhammer

[Xzin]

I have been following this game for a little while now. It is not scheduled for release until 2008 (hopefully) but it is being made by the same company that made DAoC and is being closely watched.

So was Shadowbane and Vanguard and look where they wound up.

But - it has promise but little details abound just yet. Not sure this will be a "WoW killer" or not but it might wind up pulling in a few million subs if they do a good job.

Anybody in beta have any word on if PvP can be multiboxed?

[Wilbur]

The team behind it looks sound - with one exception - The "Creative Director" Paul Barnett.

Back in early 2000, Paul - a successful MUD designer - was commissioned by Games Workshop to create a Warhammer MUD (Multi-User-Dungeon). Initially it proved a success. It went live in Feb 2001, in what many of the Beta players considered to be an "Alpha" state.

It peaked at around 200-250 Subscribers, with around 60-100 on at any given time of day. As far as MUD's went, it was really incomplete and lacked the attention that the Dev's gave to the sister Games (Legends of Terris, Legends of Cosrin) This neglect of the game continued for quite some time, the occasional update, etc. The one thing that really set it apart from the other MUD's at the time was the quality of the Roleplay, and the depth of the Warhammer World.

Few years down the line, and Online games company (Paul's company) lose the Games Workshop Licence, so the game underwent several changes. Rename and a new "history" with all the gods & etc being given new names. Then the slump came, most people unregistered (It cost £9.99 a month) and thus the Dev's gave it even less attention. Now, its just a few dedicated players, maybe 10? Most of the time, you login and are the only person there.

To cut a long story short, I don't have great confidence in Paul, some of his ideas might be sound, but I really don't think that it will be "as quality" a product as it could be.

MMORPG's aren't really noted for their roleplay, and I feel that a Warhammer MMO should be extremely roleplay focused, given the amazing depth and history of the Warhammer world.

If any of you are interested in seeing how games were before graphics - http://www.kingdomofheroes.com My Main's name is Tharick - Multiboxing is strictly forbidden ;-)

[Xzin]

I feel that Warhammer as it will be will be successful not for its rpg quality but its casual gaming appeal. Just like WoW.

Don't get me wrong - I loved UO and EQ and all of the challenges it had. I was also one of the players who drove the other customers away - so it was a mixed bag. Most people don't encounter a game that they lose at time and time again and decide to get better at it. Most say screw this and cancel.

If War will be successful, it will be easy for an average person to get into and play and if they want enough subs, they already know this and are designing the early game accordingly.

Not to say hardcore sink or swim games can't be successful (hi 2 u Eve Online) but a true mass market MMORPG will find it VERY hard to support full on rpg/lore/hardcore/open PvP gaming with a player base (in the USA and likely elsewhere) that is willing to keep playing to lose.

[zachwlewis]

I'm signed up to get a beta key.

Who knows if that'll happen.

I'll give more details if I get in.

[wougoose]

I've been anticipating this game for quite some time now. Huge PVP potential = I'm there. Hopefully multiboxing will be a possibility as well...we shall see :)

[Kyosakana]

I feel that Warhammer as it will be will be successful not for its rpg quality but its casual gaming appeal. Just like WoW.

Don't get me wrong - I loved UO and EQ and all of the challenges it had. I was also one of the players who drove the other customers away - so it was a mixed bag. Most people don't encounter a game that they lose at time and time again and decide to get better at it. Most say screw this and cancel.



I imagine WAR is going to be an evil, mirror universe version of WoW (complete with Goatee) if WoW had developed more PvP objectives, battlegrounds, and mechanics instead of focusing on PvE.

[Jayk]

This game will kill WoW, and I know why. Most of the games subscribers come from Asia, this being said, everyone knows they prefer PvP to PvE. So when WAR comes out and there's another major MMO on the market that offers MUCH BETTER PvP, they wont stay around in WoW to do PvP. At the same time you'll be getting the western players who either enjoy PvP or want a fresh and and something new. All these players will be leaving WoW, that's going to be atleast half of their playerbase. The only ones left will be the people who don't have money and or are enjoying the PvE provided by WoW.

[hapiguy314]

We shall see :) There has been so many games that claim to end WoW's reign, but failed miserably.

I'm all for any good games out there - best of the best after all. However, I won't predict a game killer till it's there. Until then - all of this is just hype.

[Runiat]

We shall see :) There has been so many games that claim to end WoW's reign, but failed miserably.

I'm all for any good games out there - best of the best after all. However, I won't predict a game killer till it's there. Until then - all of this is just hype.
Problem is, all the failed WoW-killers were published by either minor companies who had to launch before debugging, or SOE. Neither is to be trusted.

Mythic, on the other hand.. well.. I actually believe Blizzard mentioned DAoC as being what they were competing with when comparing the amount of bugs and gameplay, and now that EA is putting in the money for further tuning pre-release (or so I've heard) WoW is in trouble. Mind you, it wont cost the full 8 million players on launch day, but given some time I wouldn't be surprised if it cut the population in halves.

[hapiguy314]

but given some time I wouldn't be surprised if it cut the population in halves.

Sure, I wouldn't be surprised either. But I, for one, cannot boldly say that it's THE WoW killer unless that time happens.

Other than the "minor companies who had to launch before debugging, or SOE," you pretty much knocked out 90% of the companies who "can" produce a playable game that requires subscription.

I'd be much more swayed by Starcraft 2 being the WOW killer rather than any game out there at the moment. It's guaranteed a few things: it's free online, it's great, and damn it's a lot of fun.

[Xzin]

SC 2 is targeting a different demographic.

[hapiguy314]

SC 2 is targeting a different demographic.

Agreed. But I'm pretty sure that more than half of the WoW population are into games such as SC and WC1-3. I'd say if those people end up playing SC2 instead, it'd kill WOW by a huge margin.

[Shogun]

SC 2 is targeting a different demographic.

Agreed. But I'm pretty sure that more than half of the WoW population are into games such as SC and WC1-3. I'd say if those people end up playing SC2 instead, it'd kill WOW by a huge margin.

I think it's more likely SC2 is something that WoW players will play as well as WoW, you don't get your MMO fix from an RTS :)

[m1tal1k]

I think I will stick with WoW...especially if I want to get into Dual-Boxing because...WoW doesn't require a lot of neat stuff to run. Just a thought.

[Buddywarrior]

I won't predict a game killer till it's there.

I’ll have to agree with this.

As much as I like City of Heros, EQ2, WoW, LOTRO; I have to compare them to a girl I might have a one night stand with. Sure, it’s pretty and fun for a while, but they lack depth and are fairly linier. I’m hoping (but not holding my breath) that the Warhammer apple doesn’t fall too far from the DAoC tree.



The one night stand thing is fictional, I couldn't get a one night stand if I read O'Reillys "How To Be A Player - In A Nutshell"

[MrLonghair]

I am so looking forward to beta-testing it, and being one of the first to dual-box it. Hope they've got the old /stick command from DaoC in there, to make melee multiplaying possible.

[Runiat]

I am so looking forward to beta-testing it, and being one of the first to dual-box it. Hope they've got the old /stick command from DaoC in there, to make melee multiplaying possible.
Yeah.. that and strafing around your target was sweet..

Uuh! And /face for casters! Brilliant!

First game I ever multi-boxed in, that was.. mostly buffbot+main, but still dualboxing.

[Bradster]

I'm going to have to talk to my friend and borrow his account info if the beta is still going on.

I'm ready to move on away from wow. To define what I would really like in a game I would need to combine both wow and EQ2.

I like WOW pvp system. No system is perfect but thus far it’s the closest balanced pvp compared to the others I’ve done. The experience curve is also pretty generous. Stability of the game is pretty much unmatched compared to most.

EQ2 the look and feel I always enjoyed. Voice overs for the npcs is freaking amazing! I enjoyed the crafting system as well. Gather, make mats 1,2,3,4 to make item x. I surprised myself on how good I figuring out the demand and supply the market with mats and how much coin I could make.

If there was a way to combine the 2, then I would be happy. I only wish they would fix the PVP system in EQ2, I’d run back in a heart beat.

[MrLonghair]

Have you given DaoC a shot? It's fairly unpopulated but you can still get some action in the 20-24 battleground range, free trial for just $14, need a CC# for verification. I think it'll be a good indicator of WARs PvP.

If you do get in, remember that the placeholder voiceovers are made hilariously bad on purpose.

[Djarid]

personally I am pinning my hopes on Conan... never liked any Games Workshop pen and paper games... can't see me liking their MMORPG either... despite Mythics involvement

[Picticon]

I loved DAoC, my favorite mmorpg to date (I played it for 5+ years). That said, it's PvP is far from perfect.

Mythic did improve it over the years, but it's still flawed. Caster damage is too high. Crowd control is too long (especially aoe mez). Too many issues with line-of-sight (jump casting for instance). And finally, giving stun to a nuke class.

Items and skills were added to try and counter these, but the basic game mechanics are still flawed.

That said, the whole idea of capturing keeps and towers is tons more fun than timed objectives. It's like a never ending Alterac Valley. And being able to sack and pillage an enemy's town is gonna be a blast. (If they can get the population balancing right... another DAoC issue)

[Bradster]

So I had the opportunity to play war hammer beta using my friends account. This is my write up on it. It’s hard to write about a game in beta. This one is so early on in development that a lot of this will change live, unless of course it’s operated by SOE then you can guarantee it will be exactly the same live.

Sound
Sound effects thus far seemed pretty decent, voice over’s when clicking on an npcs like other mmos. Nothing that stands out. If I would list one game that would stand out in this area I would award Linage II. The music in that game was pretty amazing and still unmatched.

Graphics
Right now I’d have to say it’s a bit bland. The sky looks pretty nice, terrain is ok. But characters I feel look washed out and plan. This isn’t a game where you login and go whoa. That’s what I was expecting. I remember when EQ2 came out and I logged in for the first time, my reaction wasn’t whoa, it was holy shit! This game invoked no aw out of me at all visually. Needs a lot of work, they still have time.

Quests
Pretty neat actually. I didn’t get to play it for very long (I got bored) but the quests I found I like the thought put in to them. Over all some fresh ideas for quest story/lore and also what you do for them. Fire cannon; launch your ass up a hill with cannon to kill a few goblins or something. Something you can’t find in another MMO right now, which is a good thing. This has potential.

Navigation
I struggled with this. This is something I normally pick up right away with most games. But not this one. I’d finish a quest and want to turn it in. Never could. I would get lost and could never find my quest giver again. One guy I got so lost that I gave up and created a new toon. I need a map, compass something with cords or something to find my way. I’m sure they will have that in there by now or before release of the game. It’s really a must.


UI
Seems to do the job, the game has a Global cool down, when pressing abilities it seems it was very laggy and unresponsive. Most likely the nature of a beta game.

Combat
Very disappointing so far. But they have plenty of time to work on it. I found this the most boring of all. I tried a bunch of classes. No matter which one I tried I was bored to death with only 2 fighting animations and 1-2 abilities to use. Also a tad slow combat, reminded me of Vanguard combat. Grandpa gaming hehe. I found one class to be some what entertaining, only because what I was doing with it. Basically this class is the WOW hunter equivalent I think its called sprit hunter or something, totally forget. Anyway I’d kite mobs with it. Just the fact I wasn’t staring at the very very boring fighting animation made it more appealing to play.

I honestly was excepting a more of a World of warcraft look but amped on crack and looking good. Comparing the current popular MMO games in full swing right now against the upcoming Warhammer you would never think warhammer just came out. Infact you would most likely think it came before most of the mmos were already playing. Vanguard taking the crown on graphics with EQ2 nipping at its heals.

After what I saw I’m not going to go run out and get this game. I will however keep a watch on it once it’s live and seem where it goes. Although my write up may sound negative even I have to be open-minded on all the time they have to work on it. If this company actually listens to the consumer then it may turn in to a great game.

[Slats]

Very very interesting write up dude. Gives me hope to stick to WoW. :)

[MrLonghair]

One of the many things that I'm looking forward to with WAR is that it doesn't knee you in the groin if you play in a group. That's right, if you get 100 xp for killing something solo you'll get it with your multiboxing group.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

One of the many things that I'm looking forward to with WAR is that it doesn't knee you in the groin if you play in a group. That's right, if you get 100 xp for killing something solo you'll get it with your multiboxing group.
Hmm...interesting. In DAoC, you did take a split in xp but you got a group bonus. If they really do leave it full xp per kill then multibox groups would be sick xp.

[Picticon]

Oh, DAoC got even better near the end (a patch about a year ago iirc). You could turn xp off after 50, and your share would go to the others. That, plus camp bonus, SI zone's 200% bonus, and party bonus, I leveled my Mauler from 1 to 50 in 4 hours. My group was a cleric, friar, necro, 4 wizards and the mauler. Turn xp off on the 7, and the mauler was getting capped xp every kill. I was pulling about 10 grapes at the insta-spawn slime pit nonstop. Man I wish WoW was like that. I'd have 70 of everything. :)

[Bradster]

BTW I fraped a bit of warhammer. I'll make a beta video here some time during the weekend for you guys to see it.

[MrLonghair]

The group bonus in daoc was rosie o'donnell, the group bonus in wow is kiera knightly.

Not in looks, but in size and weight.



Judging from newer videos, dead enemy players in WAR drop loot - this has to be dualboxed/multiboxed, because you can get great stuff that way, as evident from GamesDay/GamesCon testimonials.

[daddyd302]

This game will kill WoW, and I know why. Most of the games subscribers come from Asia, this being said, everyone knows they prefer PvP to PvE. So when WAR comes out and there's another major MMO on the market that offers MUCH BETTER PvP, they wont stay around in WoW to do PvP. At the same time you'll be getting the western players who either enjoy PvP or want a fresh and and something new. All these players will be leaving WoW, that's going to be atleast half of their playerbase. The only ones left will be the people who don't have money and or are enjoying the PvE provided by WoW.

EA is all I gotta say, look at their game and tell me how great they are. By the way, Vangaurd, LotR, Guild Wars, and so all all claimed by their fanboys to be WoW killers yet all failed. Reason, because WoW does everything right and it's a PVE game, which is preferred by 80% of the players and they could care less for PvP games. Look at Age of Conan and how it's trying to copy WoW after proclaiming it's gonna be nothing like WoW. You want to beat WoW? Copy them and make the game better.