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Ask the Warhammer Online Team
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue Oct 17, 2006 01:11 PM
from the damn-skaven dept.
from the damn-skaven dept.
In my recap of 2006's GenCon event, I was somewhat unkind to Warhammer Online. They are far better people than I am, thankfully, and the folks from Mythic Entertainment are extending a hand to the members of the Slashdot community. We have the chance to ask them any questions we'd like about Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We'll look through your questions, and pass on the best to the development team at Mythic. We've gotten assurances that responses will be attributed, too, so you'll know who is answering what. Whether you're a Massive game fan or an old-school wargamer Warhammer Online has to have something to interest you, so ask away. One question per post, please, and we'll post the answers as soon as we get them.
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The Warhammer Online Team Responds 220 comments
Last month we asked you for questions for the makers of Warhammer Online. The tone of the response made it obvious that many readers were concerned about where the company was taking the Warhammer world. Their responses should, at least somewhat, put those of you frustrated by what you've seen so far at ease. The makers of the upcoming MMOG from Mythic have responded with detail and good humour to the insightful queries you put to them. They were also considerate enough to label their responses, so you know exactly who has answered each question. So, please, read on for the responses from Mythic's Warhammer Online team.
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What makes you special? (Score:5, Interesting)
Put slightly more bluntly, tell me why I should chose Warhammer Online over World of Warcraft.
Fantasy done to death (Score:5, Insightful)
I was wondering this myself. There are already more fantasy MMORPGs than I can shake a Dextrous Fiery Stick of Warding +8 at. I know, the polls show that Fantasy seems to have more uptake than any other genre of MMORPG, but I really think it's more the marketing and gameplay rather than the actual genre itself. Perhaps the statistics are skewed because there are way more Fantasy MMORPGs than other genres and we simply ignore the ones that have already failed.
For novelty, why not a Warhammer 40K MMORPG? (That's the Sci-Fi version of Warhammer, for those of you who didn't know.) Sure, you'd still have battles planetside (I can't think of a MMORPG where fighting *doesn't* occur on the ground), but I have long envisioned space battles between capital ships/space hulks/craftworlds that may as well be cities (thriving trade, virtual real estate, etc), where entire decks can disappear without a moment's notice in a well-placed shot of heavy weapons fire. I envision subscribers also being able to play the role of individual pilots who are able to customize their fighter craft in accordance to their funds (or military rank). If Twitch Combat isn't your thing, that would be fine - you need not lead that kind of life if you don't want to.
I'd see a 40K MMORPG offering both kinds of combat: one where you rely on skills defined in raw numbers which you can develop through tradtional means (ground combat), and one which relies almost solely on your real-life reaction time (a la Wing Commander).
Solomon Chang
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Re:What makes you special? (Score:4, Informative)
Why go for the cheap knockoff (WoW) when you can go directly to the game that they got their inspiration from?
You know how Orcs are green and go Waaaagh? You wouldn't, except that Warhammer did them that way decades before Warcraft. The only thing they're missing is a british soccer fan accent.
You know how Terran Marines have Power Armor that looks like platemail bellbottoms? Yeah, Space Marines from 40k first.
Zerg? Much scarier when they were called the Tyranids. Protoss? Wake me when they start calling theselves the Eldar -- and Dark Eldar -- again.
Pretty much everything in Warcraft/Starcraft up to Warcraft 3 (where it diverged) was inspired heavily from the original Warhammer/Warhammer 40k universes.
I know this is a bit of a harsh response, but for Warhammer fans this is a bit of a sore spot. 6 Mouths, and all that.
Parent
Re:What makes you special? (Score:4, Insightful)
So are you saying that Warhammer will offer a Genuine Treadmill(TM) instead of just a normal Treadmill?
Don't get me wrong, I like the Warhammer setting as much as anyone, but that doesn't change the fact that another shitty MMORPG with a different setting is still just a shitty MMORPG with a different setting.
I don't know about anyone else, but back in the days of Doom when computer games started to really become multiplayer I had dreams of logging into a massive online world one day. If me of the future had gone back in time and showed me of the Doom era the crap that they were passing off as MMORPGs in the future, people would be dead. I would have hunted down the first asshat that thought that killing 10^12 monsters for exp and l00t so that you can kill some more monsters was "massive multiplayer online gameplay". In hunting down that first idiot, I would hope to prevent the current crop of shit for game play MMORPGs out there.
The MMORPGs out there today are absolute crap. They are glorified mouse experiments where the stupid mouse keeps pressing a lever for a shot of dopamine until it forgets to eat and dies of starvation. If the best vision of a massive online world is an online world where the gameplay consists of mindlessly killing tens of thousands of NPCs to kill more NPCs with the occasional sub-game play distraction, the human race needs to be shot in the face.
Personally, I don't believe that this levelfest crap gameplay that we see today is the pinnacle of game design. So, my question is this:
Is Warhammer going to offer up some new game play that would not send me of 1993 into a homicidal rage seeking to prevent the creation of the first crappy MMORPGs, or is Warhammer going to offer up gameplay that transcends the brain damage causing "killing NPCs 4 l00t and 3xp" game play?
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Why Is It For Me? (Score:5, Insightful)
Casual or Hardcore Gaming? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Casual or Hardcore Gaming? (Score:4, Insightful)
How about the question - what will there be in end game that doesn't require commitment to a raiding guild?
I think most of the people who complain about a lack of casual content aren't actually that "casual." I realized that most of the people I meet who would label themselves casual still play probably 8 hours a week, at least, maybe even more like 16-20. What they mean is that they can't or won't commit to the specific times or effort required to be in a raiding guild. Even without the time issue, I know quite a few people who don't want to leave their small, homey guilds to go raid with people who are taking the game much more seriously.
It does not take long in wow to reach a point where you cannot advance your character without the help of 39 other people all meeting on a specific night, whether you call them hardcore or not. Wow has (finally) addressed this somewhat with the Dungeon Set 2 quests, but it took them a while, and they're still just a creative rehash of existing content, not a new dungeon. There is no reason they can't implement a 5-man dungeon with epic loot that has bosses undefeatable by five new level sixties, that could take several days for a small group of friends to complete. In fact, they seem to be doing just that in the expansion.
So what is going to be offered in terms of advancement for someone who would rather get a group of five friends together to go do something challenging than have to find 39 people he can put up with?
Parent
Player base (Score:5, Interesting)
User introduced art? (Score:5, Interesting)
Are there currently any plans to have a simlar system that would allow for the introduction of player contributed art to the game? Banners, skins, asorted textures, and the like? Such a system would allow players to not only take pride in their victories, but also in their craftsmanship.
-Rick
EA asshatery (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:EA asshatery (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
What's in for the crafters? (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, only one question. Ok: Is being a crafter a choice that can keep you entertained and sustained by itself?
How customizable is the interface? (Score:5, Interesting)
Mac/Linux versions (Score:5, Interesting)
Removing the grind (Score:5, Interesting)
At higher levels, will your game require a massive investment of time into raiding the same dungeon over and over, in order to stay competitive with other players ?
Questions from an Ex-Workshoper (Score:5, Insightful)
1) How difficult do you find it to work with the studio ? Aside from the time differences, Having spent a little time there, I know how possesive the studio is of their IP, and overall mythos. In the past they [I almost said we] have been very difficult to work with from the vantage of software companies in this regard. [Even going so far as to turn down a brand new software company in the early 90's when they pitched a Humans vs Orcs fantasy game
2) What kind of visuals do you work with ? Again, the paper files in the old Notts. studio were EXTENSIVE, I know that mythic has their internal art department. [A place I once applied to after being encouraged by friends who work there, oddly enough , I would have been perfect on this project, but thats neither here nor there
3) Has GW taken you folks to play paint-ball in Nottingham forest yet ?
4) Do you like the pub in the new head office ?
5) Are Jon Stallard and Chris Harbour still Beardy-Ol-Gits ?
Why not a Table Top port? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd like to know, besides the Warhammer universe, why should this game appeal to a Warhammer battlegamer. And more importantly, why hasn't a serious online Table Top port been attempted.
Re:Why not a Table Top port? (Score:4, Insightful)
It will never happen. While the Board at GW is more understanding of video games now, they still see them only as a way to get boys interested in a 'real' hobby. That of model wargames.
They will never, and I say never with conviction, issue a licence to reproduce their table top game on a computer. To the folks running the show, that is just as alien thought as buying a computer to only check e-mail is to a computer programmer.
They simply don't understand how someone would want to play a video game of their hobby as opposed to actually playing with toy soldiers. The game is only part of the hobby to them [and me
So - you will never see a 'faithful' reproduction of their games, only games that add to the hobby - instead of replacing it.
10 years ago - you wouldn't even see that
Parent
I turned down my Beta invite - why? (Score:5, Insightful)
I have no issue with you making whatever game you want to make, and think you can make money on. However, I really am curious as to what influenced your decision to go with fantasy over 40k.
Re:uhm... (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:uhm... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:PvP End-Game (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:PvP End-Game (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Warhammer 40,000 Version? (Score:5, Funny)
Tyranid Players would be soooo profitable for Games Workshop:
Tyranid Player: "Woohoo! My Hive Tyrant just made level 40, and now has a retinue of three Carnifexes with Flesh Hooks, Crushing Claws, Regeneration, and Acid Maw! I singlehandedly put together a Guild of 350 other Tyranid players, and I am so pwning this planet!"
Online Gamemaster: "Well, it so happens that you *did* pwn the entire planet. Your Guild, Hive Fleet Fafnir, is almost done sucking up all its biomass. It's time for all of you to climb into the Reclamation Pool now."
TP: "The Recla-what? You mean the disolvvy-looking stuff we've been dumping everything we've conquered into?"
OG: "Of course. That's what Tyranids do. Don't you ever read the Codexes? Tyranids digest *all* biomatter on a planet they're consuming... even their combat units at the end of the process."
TP: "B-b-but that's to reclaim my character's DNA, right? My character will respawn back in the Hive Fleet, right?"
OG: "It is indeed to 'reclaim' your DNA. No, you will not respawn."
TP: "I'll respawn on the next planet we attack, right?"
OG: "No, I'm afraid climbing into a Reclamation Pool is instant, permanent death."
TP: "But I paid $50 for this game. Everyone in my guild paid $50 for their copy!"
OG: "Then you all get to pay another $50. We at Games Workshop hope you have enjoyed your online planet-consuming experience." [drops character into Reclamation Pool]
I should start buying GW stock the moment this game comes out.
Solomon
Parent
Re:How closely related is Warhammer to WoW?? (Score:5, Interesting)
In the several months following this, they slowly imploded until a few years later the company was finally sold to Hasbro.
Workshop
The company was also losing focus on its products. The imaginative minds at the studio were burning out. The company was starting to focus on profit, and bottom lines - and migrating away from the 'we hire hobbiests' motto they had previously.
We were expected to work longer hours, even to come in on weekend, for no additional money. Cries of 'you can be replaced tomorrow' were used by a lot of the managers who were simply in over their heads.
I was lucky, I had a degree in computer programming, and I left. Some of my friends and co-workers were not so lucky. [Some are still there
It was a big transition from an office that employed 60 people in the US were you would come in wearing a t-shirt and jeans, to an office employing 120 people, and most of you were expected to wear a full suit and tie.
Apparantly its a nicer place to work now, people are better compensated, the company actually has health insurance now. Following on a number of lawsuits where they mistreated former employees, GW US is now required to keep a HR attourney on staff as a consulting position due to these practices.
For a real wage, I would go back, even with all the crap we had to wade through, I made some great friends there [80% of which VANISHED as soon as I left the company, which should tell you about how close knit they are there.] I just don't think they could afford me now
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