6pounder

  Here we come: Warhammer Online

Yes, soon, than I can enjoy the amazing world of Warhammer Online. All subscriber of the collectors edition have the chance to play Warhammer Online some days before the official release. I’m really excited to play this game and really think about to buy the collectors edition. But because of the last news, that the Open beta phase isn’t really long and the Chars get deleted by start of the official servers, it don’t looks very profitable. So let’s have a look to the features of the game and looking forward whats await me.

Sure, Warhammer Online will not be able to catch up with World Of Warcraft. But it don’t have to do that. It’s the World Of Warcraft for Warhammer Fans (in my mind). But sure I don’t hope it will be the same boring shit like World Of Warcraft. I want have a Story, I want have a central theme not like WoW, which will lose the thread short time after starting the game.

After my playing time in World of Warcraft I started searching native games. I started playing Lord Of The Rings Online which is a great game, but isn’t something for me as a great PVP user. The Story isn’t new also.

So parallel to Lord of The Rings Online I searched another new game with this amazing fantasy touch and found Warhammer Online. It have this graphical thing which WoW have, but it isn’t a WoW 2 because of this.

In Warhammer Online you can choose between 6 races. But every Race have his one classes. I like this feature. One thing which is not similar to the real Warhammer Universe is the fact, that you can choose between fractions. In real, there aren’t fractions in the Warhammer Universe. But this point is necessary to build an atractive Open PVP.

One class I really like since first time is the Marauder. It have some aspects which have my Druid in World Of Warcraft.

As a Marauder, your only goal is to unleash the pure, destructive might of Change into the world. Feel the power of Chaos course through your body, changing you from a fearsome warrior into something much, much more horrible – and deadly. Once mutated, you will have access to numerous powerful abilities that will enable you to smash, slice, rend and crush your enemies. Each mutation that is granted to you by the Raven God will also bring with it some added benefit. Learn to use these wisely and you will become even more devastating on the battlefield.

I lovin’ it. But let’s have a look to the other Features of this game.

Characters

It was originally stated that the characters in the game and other players in Warhammer Online would change as they progressed in level and fought more battles. However, in an interview given during the WAR presentation in Paris, WAR Senior Producer Jeff Hickman stated that physical changes such as Dwarf beards growing or Orcs changing in size would most likely not be in the game at the time of launch.

Players will be able to decorate themselves in trophies, such as the heads of their fallen enemies. Other forms of customization include Tactics: bonuses players can select before a battle, as well as Morales: abilities that become available as the player participates in battle. Customizable armor and a visual guild system allow a player to make their character as visually unique as possible.

Collision detection

Warhammer Online features collision detection, a feature that is meant to stop players from moving through other player characters. It was shown in the open preview weekend, August 22nd through August 25th 2008, that the collision detection feature works on both enemy units and friendly ones, but only when flagged for RvR combat. This feature enhances the role played by heavily armored characters known as “tanks“, as it helps them become far more efficient at holding choke points and protecting weaker players in their group such as healers and casters.

Realm vs. Realm

WAR features Mythic’s Realm vs. Realm (RvR) combat. This takes place within three different racial pairings: Dwarfs vs. Greenskins, Empire vs. Chaos, and High Elves vs. Dark Elves. Although there are only 2 races per pairing, players may travel to either of the other two pairings to help fight with their friends and allies. There are four types of RvR combat: Skirmishes (random world PvP), Battlefields (object-driven battles in RvR-specific areas), Scenarios (instanced, point-based battles against the opposing faction), and Campaigns (invading enemy lands and capital cities). RvR contribution includes both Player vs. Player (PvP) combat and (to a lesser extent) Player vs. Environment (PvE) quests so that you can assist your realm in their victory.

All activities in WAR contribute to the campaign, as it is the primary focus of the game. Each of the aforementioned activities generate victory points (VP) which measure a realm’s progress in capturing a zone. When one realm reaches a designated amount of victory points in a particular zone, that zone falls under their control and the war pushes deeper into enemy territory. This back and forth struggle for zone control continues until the war eventually reaches one of the capital cities where the attacking side may sack, loot, and pillage that capital city. The capture of a capital city is the pinnacle objective of the campaign. To prevent the invaders from maintaining control of an enemy’s capital city, the defeated players will passively grow stronger and stronger until they are able to force the attackers out of their city and close the gates, regathering their forces. It is at this point where the campaign then begins anew, restarting the cycle.

Keeps and Keep Sieges were recently introduced into WAR’s Realm vs Realm combat system. Keeps can be captured for victory points towards your realm and can be claimed by the capturing guild. NPCs will be stationed at all keeps (claimed or unclaimed) to ensure a certain level of difficulty is maintained and that at least 1-2 full groups are required to capture. Should players decide to defend it, the difficulty in capturing the keep will increase greatly. The game design decorates each keep according to the race that controls it; however, the basic layout will stay the same. Siege warfare includes four types of weapons: rams for keep doors and other targets, ballistae for enemy players or siege weapons, cannons, catapults, and trebuchets for AoE splash damage, and boiling oil to use from keep walls. Strategically located near keeps, siege pads can be destroyed by players of the defending realm, inhibiting the siege process.

Tome of Knowledge

WAR features a “Tome of Knowledge” (ToK) that is an extension upon similar mechanisms in many other MMOs. The ToK is a multi-purpose reference tool that is designed to provide the player with a great deal of information about the game world. It is also meant to serve as a reduction in the need for players to feel like they have to rely upon third-party sources of information pertaining to the game.

The Tome of Knowledge keeps track of all information pertaining to an individual character and their progress through the game. This progress unlocks lore-related information about quests, the gameworld itself, NPCs, and defeated mobs. For example, upon first encountering a mob within the game, a basic entry is added for that creature in the Bestiary chapter of the ToK. However, with increasing contact, kills, and associated activities involving any specific creature, the information available about those encounters will be added to the Tome of Knowledge. Likewise, the ToK keeps track of the story and progression of the character through the gameworld as they complete quests, explore the map, and otherwise accomplish activities within the game.

War is coming September, 18

Few days left and we can enjoy playing of the next fantasy universe. I am now curious!