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The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Climax's Warhammer Online
Let's begin with a little personal history. Back in 2008, I decided to get into the blogging scene by jumping on board the latest MMO hotness -- in this case, Warhammer Online. As I was growing increasingly tired of World of Warcraft, WAR seemed to offer a refreshing alternative: a darker world full of brutal PvP and awesome new ideas. So I joined the elite ranks of bloggers (hey, stop laughing so hard) and spent the better part of two years jawing about Mythic's latest fantasy project. And while Warhammer Online was, in my opinion, a solid product, it certainly failed to live up to the extremely high expectations held by both the development team and the players. No matter how it turned out, I really enjoyed talking about WAR, especially in the days leading up to its launch. One of the first articles I ever wrote for my blog WAAAGH! dealt with the first attempt to bring Warhammer Online into the MMO genre (as a fun aside, it was one of the first times I got my name on Massively!). It's a "what if?" tale that's tantalizing to consider -- an entirely different studio, Climax Online, creating a much darker version of Warhammer than we've ever seen online. The tale of the game's rise and fall (and subsequent rise and fall again) captivated me, and I wanted to expand my old article as part of our recent series into exploring MMOs canceled before their launch. So what if Climax had brought Warhammer Online to bear? Would it have eclipsed Mythic's vision or been its own animal? Hit the jump and let's dive into the pages of ancient history!
Choose My Adventure: I da popular ork
Klurgind may not be the smartest ork in Warhammer Online nor the strongest one, but he's certainly a popular greenskin. What is it about him? That beady, penetrating stare? The way he eulogizes Squig Herders on the fields of Nordland? His sharply alluring green-blue skin and bright orange tattoos? Or just the fact that everyone knew he was my character, thus ensuring that every regular reader went out of the way to shower him with praise, advice, and adulation? I don't know. But I do know that special thanks go out to Tsavonglah for some excellent in-game advice and a veritable wall of information in the comments, Daswagga for a large pile of Strength talismans, and the many people who gave me a wave or cheer for bring a touch of Massively WAAAAGH to the game. So read on past the break for talk about my adventures in the twilight of Tier 1, the dawn of Tier 2, scenarios, open RvR, and the general stages of the Choppocalypse.
One Shots: A face only a mother could love
Believe it or not, not every Warhammer Online image we get has a glitch in it. It just seems like more people snap screenshots of funny glitches than normal life. We figure they're too busy trying to kill each other for that. That's why even if this guy's face is scary-looking, we're glad to see it today on One Shots - and glitch-free! Without further ado, here's today's contributor: This is my Warrior Priest, Serathor, from the Phoenix Throne server of Warhammer Online. As I [was] waiting for me and my warband to finish defending a battlefield objective in the Shadowlands, I turned around to capture an amazing lightning strike hitting one of the spires.When you're out and about in your favorite MMO, why not snap some screenshots and send them our way? It's always appreciated as we love to have lots of different worlds to show off. Just email them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and the game the image is from. Be sure to add in your name, the name the game is from and a brief description so we can credit you properly.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Orcy woofness
We have to admit it - we've got some RP fanatics on staff here at Massively (surprise) so when we get in-character information on screenshots for One Shots, we're pretty thrilled. We've been lucky to get a few regular contributors who RP a bit, like today's Warhammer Online contribution from regular, Dab! He writes in of this great image: Dabliss, the cunning and sneaky Goblin Shaman, rides proudly through the conquered countryside of Barak Varr on his new mount, DaWoof. Crafty as ever, he managed to persuade some of the Orcs in his all-Greenskin guild, Soylent Greenskins, to clear the road ahead of him. With an evil cackle, he proclaims, "Oi you git faces! Make dem stoopid Stunties pay for wot dey done to us! Now I know you kan answer me dis: Who iz da greenest Greenies out der?!? We iz, of kourse! WAAAGH!!!"If we've got any more RPers who want to send in some in-character screenshots, we'd gladly post them. Sure, you don't have to, but we definitely have a soft spot for those who remember the RPG in MMORPG. Just email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, server, and whatever story you want to tell us - we'll post them and give you the shout out. %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: How do you own (dis)order
Late night, somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep, many players are still out embracing the battles in Warhammer Online. This particular One Shot comes in to us from Deadcatt of the Greenskins who was apparently having so much fun that he snapped this and sent it in at 2 AM! Of course, judging from a lot of the late nights going on around the Massively virtual offices lately, we know Deadcatt is not the only one who has been burning the midnight oil in heated battle.Are you enjoying smashing the forces of Order or Destruction in Warhammer Online? Have you run across a cool area we haven't shown off here yet on One Shots? Do you just want to show the world how awesome your character is? Whatever your reason, and whatever your MMO, we want your screenshots! Send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and a brief description of what's going on. Then you can show off your screenshots to everyone.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: WAR is here!
As you've no doubt surmised from our heavy coverage of it, today is the launch of Warhammer Online! Many players are enjoying exploring this new and dangerous world, and we're pretty sure Mythic is probably throwing the mother of all parties in the middle of dealing with a bunch of first-day-floodgate issues. We're also enjoying a great day in the game, and today bring you this One Shot from Rollins showing off a relatively quiet High Elf starting area. (Of course, it no longer looks this peaceful!)If you're one of the folks who are stepping into the world of Warhammer Online today, grab some screenshots and send them to us. We'd love to know how your first day in WAR went! Alternately, if you're sick to death of hearing about WAR, grab some screenshots in your favorite MMO and tell us what you did today that wasn't WAR. We're an equal-opportunity column, welcoming all games! Just mail them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and a little bit about what you're doing. It really can't get much easier to contribute.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Inevitable City aurora
For all the awesome screenshots that are beginning to come in from the front lines of Warhammer Online, this is probably one of our favorites that we've seen so far. Today's One Shots comes in to us from David, who said that he took this particular screenshot while he was walking around near the Inevitable City. The aurora in the background is absolutely breathtaking on its own, but when coupled with dark and sinister-looking towers, that's a fantastic bit of in-game art design. Are you currently running around in Warhammer Online, enjoying the pre-launch festivities? If so, we want to see some screenshots from your adventures! Just send those to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and a brief description of the scene. We'll take it from there and you'll get the credit for showing off such a cool spot.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Overlooking a WAR ravaged land
The rumbles echo. The cries for more are voiced. The struggle for good and evil begins in just one week.... Are you ready for the coming of WAR? We here at Massively know we are, and judging from the Warhammer Online screens starting to come in from our readers, many of you certainly seem to be! Today's One Shots is just such a dark and forboding image, picked seemingly from the maws of destruction and sent to us by godlyhalo. He attached the following note: This is one of the starting public quests in Warhammer Online. It gives you a glimpse into the kind of environments that Warhammer has to offer. I seem to like this picture above all because of the black fortress in the back. The smoke along with the fire makes it seem like your really in an area where war has ravaged the land.If you are loving the WAR-torn ravages of this strange new land, we want your screenshots! Show us landscapes, action, spells, you name it. Alternately if your heart is in another game, worry not; we want to see screenshots from you too. Any MMO, big or small, is welcome. Just send those screenshots to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with a quick description and your name. %Gallery-9798%
The Daily Grind: Is WoW changing due to WAR?
With Blizzard's announcement yesterday that they were opening up PvP realms in World of Warcraft to accept character transfers from PvE realms, many feel that the move was purely out of concern for losing PvP players to the upcoming launch of Mythic's Warhammer Online. WAR is definitely geared more towards PvP fans, offering the ability to level up via PvP without having to touch regular "kill-x" type questing content. Of course, with a shiny new world based on the Warhammer pen & paper legacy, many people are choosing to do those quests anyway simply for the sake of exploring this strange and deadly new world. Sure, World of Warcraft has Wrath of the Lich King coming, but many are feeling burned out in the face of their raiding and PvP epics getting replaced by greens again shortly after starting in Northrend. So this morning we thought we'd ask you; do you think that this is an attempt to keep their PvP players, as many believe? Is this simply Blizzard trying to offer more value to their current subscribers? If you opted to leave WoW to head for Warhammer Online, does their PvE to PvP transfer announcement do anything at all to make you reconsider your decision?
One Shots: Where's a Baby Ruth when you need one
Many people are now in the open pre-launch beta for Warhammer Online and by most accounts we're hearing, having an absolute blast! Of course, in traveling around this strange new land, there's lots of interesting... people... to meet. Today's One Shots comes to us from Oz, who has been in WAR, and sent along this screenshot of his Mage, as he was at the docks preparing to head for Nordland. We're just hoping that Mhurhg and Grug there didn't give Oz too much trouble. (Of course, we wonder if we're the only one having Goonies flashbacks looking at Sloth's twins with a boat as a backdrop.) Have you been playing in the WAR beta? How about Wrath? If you're in a beta with an NDA that's open and would like to show off all your grand adventures, send those screenshots our way at oneshots AT massively.com. We'll be glad to share them with all the Massively readers and give you the credit! %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Welcome to RVR
The Massively offices have been abuzz lately over Warhammer Online -- as I'm sure our coverage of it shows! With the recent preview weekend, many people are chomping at the bit to get back into the game. Today's One Shots comes to us courtesy of Oz, who played through quite a bit of RVR. Oz writes: This was taken outside Nordland where during preview weekend many braves have fallen. Waaaagh!Were you in the preview weekend? Did you get screenshots? Did you want to share? If so, send them to us here at oneshots AT massively.com along with a quick description. We'd love to see them. %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: WAR is bringing sexy back
We never thought we'd be saying that about a screenshot of Warhammer Online, but you have to admit, the gratuitous butt shot here really makes you wonder. We've seen all manner of screenshots, but this one that came to us from Oz who is participating in Warhammer Online's preview weekend is a new look at this game for us. Oz writes: Here is a shot from WAR preview weekend. My zealot and friend playing a witch elf. The building behind us is a checkpoint located on one of the RvR maps.Have you found a surprisingly skimpy set of armor in your favorite game? Does your gear look like it came from Trash & Vaudeville? Would your character be right at home at a Juggalo convention? If so, send those screenshots our way at oneshots AT massively DOT com. We're always on the lookout for something off the beaten path!%Gallery-9798% Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
MMO customer 'Bill of Rights'
Here comes the familiar discussion of player rights once again, but this time in a different form. Warhammer Online blog WAAAGH! has a post discussing the possible virtues of an MMO customer "Bill of Rights" as it were. Our immediate thoughts were of Richard Bartle's presentation discussing the good, bad and ugly futures of massively multiplayer online worlds. If you skim through Bartle's presentation, you'll come across the future involving player "rights" pretty quickly. Otherwise known as the lawyer future, possibly one of the scariest suggestions we've ever heard for our beloved MMOs.Granted, some of those predictions are quite out there. Paying income tax on the money you earn in-game is a pretty big leap, but it all starts out with players pointing to EULAs (End User License Agreements) as unfair. If we start demanding more rights within our online worlds we run the risk of having to walk a very thin tightrope that could lead to a lot of headaches later on. Don't get us wrong, we're all for companies treating their player-base better, but a virtual coup d'état is the last thing any of us should want.
50 Warhammer Online tidbits from Games Day 2008
Saturday the 14th, the Baltimore area was invaded by High Elf fanciers and waagh-lovers, as the 2008 Games Day season got underway. Warhammer Online was there to show off the most recent iterations to the game, and there's plenty of coverage online as a result. If you want to check out some fantastic videos of the Q&A sessions and live gameplay, the fans have got you covered. Likewise, the WAR forums are going crazy with enthusiastic discussions of the latest updates. Probably the best resource for folks interested in the past weekend's activities is over at the Waagh Blog, as Syp runs down the 50 most interesting things mentioned in coverage of Games Day. He did one of these for Massively's coverage a ways back as well, and it's well worth taking a look-see. Here are this blogger's top five favorite Warhammer tidbits from Syp's list: Servers will have population caps on each side to keep them balanced between Order and Destruction. Most MMOs have server population caps; WAR will have realm caps. EA Mythic is already planning the first two years of release, the first two big content patches, and is currently in pre-production into the first expansion pack. The top 10 renown PvP guilds get their heraldry displayed in or near the guild taverns. Mythic rep on system requirements: "Any PC within the past 3 years will more than likely run WAR without issues." A Station Pass option for all of EA's MMORPGs, a la SOE? "Under discussion."
