Warhammer Online

So you've played WoW and have gotten sick of it because of the pvp imbalances, right? I'm sure at least 50% of you fall into that category. Well I've got some great news for you, Warhammer Online is shaping up to be your answer to PvP. In development by the studio EA Mythic, RvR (Realm vs Realm) as it's called in Warhammer Online (aka WAR Online) is set in the Warhammer Fantasy Universe created by Games Workshop decades ago. Similar to WoW there are two main factions, called Order and Destruction. Each faction has 3 races, each with 4 unique classes. How does this work you ask? Well each class falls under some sort of archetype.

The four archetypes are pretty much tank, melee dps, ranged dps, and support. Now, while each race may have a tank, the way the tanks play are quite different. For example, the Black Orc from the Greenskin army plays more defensively with cc abilities like knockdowns and slows, while something like the Chosen from the Chaos army is more damage and i believe buff orientated. Don't quote me on any of this guys, if you want hard details, go to their website. As for balance I'm sure you're thinking like "wtf, how u gonna balance teh 24 classes yo, omfg imba". Well, one of the main differences in my opinion is that WAR Online is being balanced around RvR. PvE is taking a backseat, while not being completely ignored. WoW on the other hand is a much more PvE orientated game, and gear contributes to a much larger "skill" level than many think it should be. EA Mythic has got some really great ideas from the Warhammer Universe that they're incorporating into the game.

Not only that, their RvR instanced and world scenarios seem pretty awesome. Considering these guys made DAoC, you can assume they have pretty solid experience in RvR. Some of the ideas they're putting in is sieges, keeps, changing environments, and even capturing opposing capital cities. There's also the fact they want to put some sort of collision detection between players into the game. As far as I know, no real details have been revealed, however this could create some pretty awesome strategies. Imagine, real defensive tanks are finally viable in PvP, being able to block doorways and possibly even set up formations. Now what about griefing? I think EA Mythic is planning to do something like have the collision detection last for about 3-5 seconds, after which players can move through other players. Kind of a bummer. Maybe they could do something where there is only collision detection between players of the opposite faction.

Now the entire Warhammer Online world will have pvp ongoing. Considering the fact that players will sort of level up together with opposing players set the scene up for pvp nonstop. Basically say the level 1-10 zones for the dwarves will be near the lvl 1-10 zones for the greenskins. A small portion of both the areas will be RvR enabled so they can already start PvPing. As you get to higher lvl areas, the amount of RvR areas will increase, and PvE areas will decrease.

Keeps are also a really sweet idea. Basically you can siege keeps (which are spread out between areas) and capture them. However only guilds can capture and claim keeps, but once you do the image and look of the keep will slowly change. For example, a Dwarven keep will be all majestic and stuff, but if Greenskins were to siege it and claim it, then the keep will slowly become all Waaagh!!!ed out with greenskin banners all over it.

Sieging capital cities will become available after you first take over the smaller zones I believe. The dungeons in an opposing faction's city will be come available to you with quests after you successfully take over the city. Also the hardest PvE encounter in the game is basically the kings of each city, which you get access to after you siege the city. That's sounds pretty frickin rad to me.

The RvR system that WAR Online will used is called Renown, kind of like the WAR Online equivalent to the Honor System in WoW (which mind you, is not the first MMO to have an honor system). You can gain Renown Ranks through RvR which will open up new gear and items for you. Also if you're one of the top 10 RvR players you will have a statue of your character erected in the capital city with your name under it, along with the statue of the overall RvR leader in the middle of the 10 statues. But that's not all, during your attacks on the opposing capital city you can also destroy the other faction's RvR statues.

Want more details? Check out the Warhammer Online video podcast put out by the EA Mythic guys, search for it in your iTunes podcast directory. Also you can check out the Warhammer Alliance forums, which is where I go to read up other people's opinions.

You can also already pre-order the game, along with the collector's edition. The CE is one of the better looking CE's out there in my opinion. You can check out what it contains here. As a former Warhammer 40k collector myself, the figurine is a pretty sweet thing to get. Also if you pre-order the CE, you can get access to the Open Beta when it comes out. Mind you, open beta for WAR Online isn't like most open betas - all it means is that the players who get into the Open Beta are allowed to talk about the game freely.

So that's my post on Warhammer Online. I'll probably talk about a few news items here and there in my posts, but you should definitely check it out. I know I've already pre-ordered the collector's edition (gg life).