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The Elves of WAR: Lore unlocks
The Tome of Knowledge is one of the most unique elements of Warhammer Online. Though it builds on the work of games like City of Heroes and Lord of the Rings Online (and obviously inspired similar mechanics in other games), the sense of 'completeness' the Tome offers is comprehensive. High Elves have it pretty good: they can start filling up one of the most fun parts of the Tome mere seconds after character creation. The Compendium section is basically your sight-seeing guide to Warhammer Online. The Bestiary section tracks every kill you make, rewarding you regularly for ridding the world of everything from elves to orcs. The Notable Persons area tracks important NPCs you interact with. Though the big kahunas like the racial leaders are tracked in this area, there are numerous important background lore characters recorded here as well. Finally, the Compendium tracks History and Lore unlocks – hidden easter eggs of lore that everyone and anyone can enjoy searching out as they travel the game's chapters. It is your first History and Lore unlock which you can accomplish mere moments after making your High Elf character. 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!
Comic-Con 08: Hands-on with Warhammer Online
Last 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.You may be asking yourself why I would be drawn to yet another MMOG, much less one largely centered on PvP given my statement above. The answer is simple: revirginization. In a discussion I had with 38 Studios at Comic-Con, I questioned them about how they thought yet another fantasy-based MMOG could succeed in an already heavily saturated market. The answer they gave me was simple and true: gamers have had wonderful experiences when they've first played other fantasy-based titles, but the thrill has been lost by repetitive gameplay. Now, many of us are looking to recapture that newbie experience again with a new title. Warhammer Online may be that game for me, not for its PvE content, but for its Realm vs Realm PvP set-up.
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.
Is Blizzard stealing ideas from WAR?
Waaagh! is a blog about Warhammer Online (there are a few of them springing up lately, and our sister site Massively is doing a great job of covering news about the upcoming MMO), and Syp, who writes over there, says his blood pressure rose just a little bit when reading the news that achievements might be coming to the World of Warcraft. When news first broke about WAR, which is made by a company called Mythic (the original creators of Dark Age of Camelot, now working with EA), they got a lot of flak for making a game that looked a lot like WoW. But now that details are coming out about Warhammer, including this really interesting achievements-style feature called the Tome of Knowledge (which basically tracks what your character does around the game and gives you rewards for what you do), the allegations of imitation are going the other way. Is Blizzard ripping off Warhammer now?In point of fact, yes. Blizzard didn't start from scratch with World of Warcraft (in fact, many of their designers were actually players of other games, including Everquest and Dark Age of Camelot) -- instead, they (as they've always done with their games) took a formula and tweaked it close to perfection. And of course, since Warhammer is (if you listen to the hype) supposed to be WoW's biggest competitor going forward, it's not surprising at all that the ideas coming out of WAR are also making waves around the Blizzard offices.That said, give WAR a chance.
Massively goes to WAR: Wrap-up
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/The_latest_on_Warhammer_Online_from_Massively_s_Mythic_visit'; All week long, Massively.com has been offering up feature after feature on EA Mythic's in-development MMO, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. The Massively goes to WAR feature series has taken you front to back through almost every moment of our time at Mythic's Virginia headquarters. To wrap it all up, we've got a handy-dandy clickable guide to the series. Whether you're into hardcore PvP, dungeon delving, crafting, or are a total MMO newb, we've got you covered. Click on through, and explore the world of Warhammer. %Gallery-21881%
Massively goes to WAR: Emotions behind the Tome of Knowledge
In the same way that everyone on the Warhammer team seems to be suffused with passion for the game, Tome of Knowledge lead Carrie Gouskos couldn't help but pass on information about one of the game's most innovative features. Equal parts achievement system, quest log, faction-tracker and storybook, the Tome of Knowledge is unlike anything seen in other MMO titles but will be immediately familiar to players of games like Lord of the Rings Online ... or even Xbox Live fans. If you're unfamiliar with the Tome, Carrie has a lengthy explanation on the official website. We also discussed, just about two months back, a fantastic writeup on the book by Syp of the Waagh blog. Those resources should be able to fill in your need for information and (of course) we'll have more context for you on the concept later. For today, Carrie offers up a fascinating insight into the emotional connection that the Tome can create between player and avatar. She also explains (vociferously) why Xbox Live achievements lead directly into the Tome's development. Gamerscore junkies and lore hounds, read on for your fix.
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!
The Digital Continuum: MMO features in the year 2013
If you were to look back five years ago at the year 2003, the feature lists on the MMOs of that year look quite a bit different from the games of this year. Everything from graphical advancements to new in-game concepts like Warhammer Online's Tome of Knowledge. A lot of new features have cropped up through natural evolution and forcefulness as well. A lot of these improvements were obvious, but many of them have also been unexpected.So what kinds of advancements will the massively genre have made in another fives years? Maybe we'll all be playing MMOs on the newest consoles, or maybe not. There are a lot of variables in this considerably young genre we all love, so looking five years into the future can lead to scary places. Although that won't stop me from trying to peer towards the future in an attempt see what sorts of virtual worlds await us all.
Get informed on Warhammer's Tome of Knowledge
Waaagh is not only a great orcish outcry, it's the name of a new blog aiming to talk about EA Mythic's in-development Warhammer Online. The succinctly named Syp has done a service for everyone interested in one of the most unique features coming in the gritty fantasy title. He's gone through just about every interview, discussion, or FAQ about Warhammer's Tome of Knowledge, with the goal of triangulating the scope and depth of this hypertextual book.Even for folks who have been following this title for some time, there's probably a lot of information you may not have picked up on. For example, did you know that the Tome will unlock the lore story for all three races in your faction (Order or Chaos)? Did you know that as of late last year there were already over 12,000 'unlocks' for the book and some 5,000 tracked achievements? Head over to waaagh to get the low-down on learning.
