Warhammer Info (Beta NDA Lifted)

[Baron[CotC]]

For the last several months I have had the fortune of being selected to participate in the beta for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. This past week the non-disclosure agreement was lifted and so I thought I'd do a quick run-through of some of the more unique features of the game for any who are interested.

Overview
Warhammer is coming from the same developers who did the really successful PvP-oriented MMO Dark Age of Camelot. This isn't their first entry into the genre and they are bringing all their experience with them into Warhammer, and it shows.
Right now the game is going through the last phases of polishing before the launch on Sept 18.

Everything in this game is designed so you can get right into at level 1.
The only thing you can't participate in until you're toward the end-game is the city sieges, everything else can be done at level 1. You can PvP 100%, PvE 100%, or any mixture of that you desire.

Here are some of the things that I feel set this MMO apart from others like Warcraft or Conan:

Public Quests (PvE)
Warhammer PvE (people vs monsters/environment) has all the standard stuff you see in MMOs. It has normal quests where you go talk to some guy in some town who then wants you to go into a spooky cave and kill 6 spiders before coming back for a reward. It has this as an option for people who enjoy that type of gameplay.
However, the big draw for PvE is the public quests. Placed around the world are these public quest areas where a story is unfolding and its up to all the players in the area to come together to complete the objectives and save the day. Solo players / Pickup Groups / Guild Groups.. doesn't matter, everyone can participate and everyone gets a chance at the rewards.
Most Public Quests follow a standard format where the players start out having to weed through some basic guards, before moving on to a more difficult stage where bigger champion guards appear and try to spoil the party. Finally the big hero/lord/boss of the quest shows up and forces all the players to really come together to defeat him.
All these quests follow that similar format but they all have different stories. My favourite one so far might just be the royal horse and carriage being attacked and the players have to fight off waves and waves of progressively more difficult attackers.
When the boss dies everyone who participated is given a chance to roll for the loot. In addition each player is given a bonus to their roll based on their level of contribution. The people who do the most to gain victory have the largest chance to win the loot, but the bonus is relatively small and everyone still has a good chance at getting something.

Public Quests are going to be great areas for guilds to recruit from. Solo players flock to these areas looking for groups to join and they will be easy pickings for enlistment.

Open RvR (PvP)
Mythic (creators of Camelot and Warhammer) have always relied on "Realm vs Realm" combat as their trademark twist on MMOs. While most MMOs offer some sort of PvP, Mythic offers organized realm-based teamwork.
There are two sides in Warhammer, Order and Destruction, and they are pitting against eachother at every turn. There are numerous keeps/castles and objectives in strategic locations that are up for grabs. The side that owns these keeps gets the rewards as the only place to purchase some of the better gear is through vendors in keeps.
The Open RvR in Warhammer is very balanced and very fun. It is also separate from the PvE areas. Meaning if you dont want to get killed repeatedly you can stay in the safe areas. HOWEVER, as your character advances the safe areas get smaller and smaller. By the time you hit the game's level cap at 40 the majority of the gameplay is going to end up being in the RvR contested areas.
The ultimate goal of all this RvR is that the capitol city of each realm is ATTACKABLE. If your side owns enough of the keeps leading up to the city, then the city goes into contested status and the fight becomes order vs destruction in the streets of the city itself. This is crazy, intense, and tons of fun.
If the invaders manage to win and take over the city they get a set amount of time where the defenders can't get back in. During this time they can knock down doors to houses and pillage and burn to their hearts content. The best gear in the game is won by killing the City King/Lord and burning the city to the ground.

I call it PvP with a purpose.

Guilds are going to be the foundation for a realm's victory in this game. Its a great opportunity for guilds to form at launch and recruit and become a "household" name on the server, being a group of people that can be turned to when something needs to be defended or captured.

Scenarios (PvP)
Warhammer does have scenarios (WoW fans call them battlegrounds). Instanced PvP areas to keep the numbers equal. Open RvR keep captures are subject to realm participation -- so you can get outnumbered. Scenarios are controlled so its always 10 people on each side (or 15/20 whatever the setup is for that scenario).

There are somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15 scenarios in the game already, each being completely unique with its own landscape and objectives.

The scenarios aren't huge and generally seem to last 5-10 minutes so its a quick way to get into the action quickly without being locked down in front of the computer for hours.

Open Parties (PvE and PvP)

Warhammer doesn't have a Looking-For-Group system in the traditional sense. Instead they have gone and created "Open Parties". Which are just public self-invite style groups. All you have to do is pull up your group options and set "Open Party On" and people can invite themselves in without asking. This system works really well and applies to all areas of the game. Public Quests, RvR, normal PvE.. anything. it also applies to warbands (which WoW users call Raid Parties IIRC?) which are made up of several groups, i think Max 24 people but not 100% positive. its easy for solo players to find people to play with. They even allow groups to invite other groups which causes the two groups to merge without any disbanding or headaches.

The game is designed so you can jump on and immediately find something you want to do. Its a quick hard-hitting MMO that satisfies all sorts of different tastes.