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Massively goes to WAR round-up
Our long-running Massively goes to WAR series comes to an end with the lifting of the NDA. Our visit to Mythic Entertainment's offices back in May, along with additional information we've picked up along the way, has all been wrapped comfortably under this banner for your enjoyment. We'll have loads to talk about in the coming weeks, but for now enjoy this look back on our pre-NDA lift exploration of Warhammer's world. E308: Warhammer Online is pretty much doneWe had a chance to chat today with Josh Drescher and Adam Gershowitz, two of the leading lights behind EA Mythic's Warhammer Online. Even just two months after our huge Massively goes to WAR series, there were new elements to view and discuss. Comic-Con 08: Hands-on with Warhammer OnlineLast week at Comic-Con in San Diego, I sat down with Warhammer Online producer Jeff Skalski and got my hands on the beta for the first time. I could go in-depth on all the new features and functions of the game, but our own Michael Zenke beat me to the punch on that one. Instead I want to give my impressions of the game from the perspective of a long-time MMOG player with little time to play these days and even less interest in PvP. E308: Exploring an improved Inevitable City in Warhammer OnlineLast week we got the chance to see an updated version of the capital, and learned about what the extra time removing the other capitals has netted the Mythic Entertainment development team. Read on to hear Adam Gershowitz talk about city improvements, the endgame reward cycle, and how the two-cities structure has focused the player experience. E308: Warhammer's designers explain the career/city removalCareers lead Adam Gershowitz and Associate Producer Josh Drescher were instrumental in making our Massively goes to WAR series a success. Our lengthy discussion with the two Warhammer Online designers resulted in our in-depth analysis of (at that point) every class slated for the game. 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!
The Elves of WAR: Dark Elf Chapter I Public Quest, Spires of Narthain
The first Public Quest (PQ) we came across while playing our Dark Elves was a very cool experience, especially considering that this is only the first of many PQs. We suppose it's in Mythic's best interest to -- pardon the term -- wow players early and often and the Spires of Narthain PQ does exactly that. Around level four or five, you'll be headed to the area your map has conveniently indicated for you to complete some quests. Suddenly, an objective indicator will show up in the upper-right portion of your screen. What's this? Well, you've arrived at the Spires of Narthain, the last bastion of High Elf defense in this area. Get ready for some action.
The Elves of WAR: Level 1-5 quests for High Elves
Massively's exclusive coverage of the Elves of WAR continues with a look at the first five levels in the Warhammer Online for High Elves. Whether you roll an Archmage, Shadow Warrior, Swordmaster or White Lion, your High Elf will follow the same quest line, unless you fly to one of the other racial starting areas. Either way, prepare to have it out with Dark Elves from the get go.Upon creating your High Elf you start the game in the outpost of Moonrise on the Blighted Isle. You'll have some basic abilities/spells already slotted in your hotbar. There is only one quest giver in the outpost, Silvshara Greywind. She gives a kill quest for six Dark Sprites in the forest, then five Dark Elf Infiltrators.After completing the kill quests, your High Elf will be level two and be able to train in a new spell/ability by talking to the NPC with the bullseye over their head. If you don't have enough cash, you can kill a few more Dark Elves in the forest for coin and loot you can sell to the vendor.Your next quest sends you to the quest hub in Calumel to the southeast. On the way there, you'll find an Elf who will give you the quest to shoot Harpies with the Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower next to him. This uses none of your spells/abilities, but puts you in shooter mode where you take control of the launcher and aim the crosshairs at the Harpies. This is just training for RvR use of harpoons and other siege equipment later in the game. But don't pass this up as it's easy exp and he will send you on to the same place you were heading anyway.
Anti-Aliased: Do you actually want to play the game anymore?
I was kicking around Silvermoon City of World of Warcraft a few nights ago, working on a new Blood Elf warlock as a way to relax and just forget about the long day, when I saw an extremely peculiar conversation in my chat window. What it boiled down to was a guy who was trying to get help with the warlock Voidwalker quest because he couldn't figure out where to go to find the void crystals specified in the quest log.Now, instead of someone responding with a generalized location as to where you could find these crystals, the response, "Get QuestHelper and it will tell you where to go," was made. Needless to say, this guy was new to the game, and he was pretty baffled.With the advent of custom interfaces, it seems that many people would rather have the game play itself than take the time to actually work things out. At the worst, people would rather pay to be able to "skip" through the game; thank you RMT. So, the key question around here remains: "Does anyone actually want to play anymore?"
The Digital Continuum: Diet WAR
Diet Warhammer Online: same great taste, less content. Is it bad that the recently re-branded Mythic Entertainment just cut out a large portion of our Warhammer Online pie and put it in the deep freeze? Well it's certainly not good when a developer cuts content they've been talking about publicly for so long, especially when launch is only three or four months away. I've already written about why this MMO ode to classic tabletop trappings shouldn't be shoved onto shelves half-baked and I still feel like I'd rather see a delay than see so much content cut. While there have been plenty of delays already, that doesn't mean more would have been intolerable. I'm going to try and take an honest look at what the removal of four capital cities and four classes means for Warhammer Online. I will admit that when the news first hit, a vile and seemingly ancient sort of anger began to boil up inside my lungs. It was the onset of some form of draconian rage at the removal of so much content that I'd been personally invested in as a future player. I never really got into Chaos and planned on playing Dark Elves, but now a large part of that content is gone. At first I felt anger and confusion towards Mythic. It wasn't until after that initial knee-jerk anger passed that I was able to give some real thought to their choice and was able to consider the varied consequences.
Massively goes to WAR: How to get your Public Quest loot
Over the last week or so we've already talked about some of the most innovative features of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We've covered the Tome of Knowledge, the game's one-of-a-kind crafting system, and today we had a lengthy look at their approach to classes and races. Friday will be our last day of hands-on WAR coverage (for the time being), and between now and then we'll talk about RvR scenarios, keeps, and siege gameplay. But we're missing something in all this, one of the most unique elements to the game. That element is the Public Quest. There's a great explanation of what Public Quests are over at the official Warhammer site, but there aren't a lot of gorey details. What's it like to complete one, for example? How long does it take to fill up your influence bar, and how do you get loot after the PQ finishes? We had the chance to play through two early-level Public Quests during our time at EA Mythic, and we're here to report back. Read on below for details on all of the above, plus a reflection on the question "Why Public Quests?"
The Daily Grind: What do you want to know about Warhammer Online?
So ... guess where Massively is today? That's right, we've ventured outside the labyrinth of tunnels and warrens that makes up our headquarters, and are spending some time today and tomorrow with the fine folks at EA Mythic. Our hands-on time with Warhammer Online means tons of information for you, the greenskin fanatic or Chaos cheerleader. But we're only human, after all, and there's only so many hours in the day.We want to know, then: What do you want to hear about? Does the game's unique Tome of Knowledge system make you sit up and take notice? Are you really looking forward to those innovative Public Quests? Or do you just want a bunch of footage of dudes killing each other hardcore in RvR? Whatever you're in the mood for, we'll try to keep our eyes and ears open. Don't expect to see much on the site just yet, but your two cents today could make you a very happy MMO player next week. Leave a comment below!
Catching up with WAR: An update on Warhammer Online's closed beta
The men and women behind Warhammer Online love their job. It's not hard to see, or hear, and yesterday we had the opportunity to listen in as Warhammer's leading lights chatted about their favorite subject. EA Mythic participated in a conference call aiming to update fans and press alike with the latest news of their much-anticipated title. The team went through a slew of general questions, fleshing out our understanding of the features coming with the game's fall release. Sitting in on the call were Adam Gershowitz (Combat and Careers lead), Josh Drescher (Associate Producer), Paul Barnett (mouth-full-of-pizza), Jeff Hickman (Senior Producer), and Destin Bales (Content Director).Join us as we walk through the often-humorous commentary from the WAR boys. We'll learn about RvR, keeps and siege, cooperative gameplay, the makeup of the endgame, the viability of PvE, and what you have to do to end up on Paul Barnett's whiteboard. Read on to find out, and to see some exclusive screenshots of the game in action.%Gallery-21882%
IGN and Gamespy preview WAR's Elven starting areas
Partners-in-crime IGN and Gamespy recently visited Mythic to get some hands-on time with a couple of the starting areas in Warhammer Online. IGN ended up with the High Elves, taking Swordmaster as their class, and Gamespy chose the Dark Elves and picked Sorceress. One of the things that Gamespy commented on was the close proximity of the High Elf and Dark Elf starting areas to each other. They also noted that some of the newbie quests deliberately brought the two races together, within striking distance, giving players the choice to either scowl menacingly, or jump straight into PvP. There was unfortunately no mention of a meet-up and subsequent rumble with their noble High Elven counterparts though. Both teams ended their playtime by participating in a public quest, and you can read all about it from either IGN's or Gamespy's perspective.
WAR boss prologue: Lorkoth and Scornlash
Those looking to read some interesting lore concerning a PQ boss that Order players will face in the Dark Elf lands look no further. Well, we're sure that there aren't many of you who have been specifically looking to read something like that, but maybe you just haven't realized you want to. In fact, if you look around the Warhammer Online website you'll find quite a few little pockets of knowledge that you might have never realized you wanted to know.
On the topic of sheep in Warhammer Online
Over on West Karana you can find a very good post about her take on PvP in Warhammer Online. Whether or not you agree with it is beside the fact, because the read is just so absorbing. Of course we here at Massively have discussed the PvP subject once or twice. Still, Tipa's take is a very evocative way of expressing concern for people who may be going into WAR expecting an experience more akin to World of Warcraft -- only to complain later. There is something EA Mythic can do about this problem of sheep and wolves, but it won't be easy.
The Digital Continuum: Solo(ly) killing social
People! That's right, I'm talking to you people about, well, you people. To be more clear, what I'm talking about is the social interaction people experience (or don't) in massively games and the discussion that's been going on about it. Ethic at Kill Ten Rats has a very good write-up about his thoughts on the matter, as does Tobold in response to Ethic's post. After reading both of them and the comments within, I can't help but throw my hat into the ring of discourse. Part of the problem is player attitude, but we all know John Gabriel's Greater Internet F@$!wad Theory. There isn't much that can be done about that issue, so the best solution is to find the core of the problem within the games themselves.At the core, the issue is about soloing and how it has become the de facto design focus for most developers. One of the few development teams who seem to be focusing on new group experiences and powerful guild tools is EA Mythic. A point Ethic makes in his post is that developers should be focusing on giving people reasons to really want to group together. I fully agree with that sentiment, but don't get me wrong when it comes to solo play. The solo experience is important as well, but it is not the essence of a massively multiplayer game.
