Warhammer Online

[Catseye_Agate]

It's a little off topic but...
I wanted to share my excitement with you folks.

Warhammer Online

I used to play the table top back in the day. If they remain true to the framework this is going to be one badass game.

thoughts?

[Iannis]

poor horsie. hehe

[Froofy-D]

Checked the FAQ and it seems pretty cool. I played the table top once or twice a LONG time ago. Should be worth a look if they implement it right.

[trunll]

hope they do a 40k version.

[Benren]

They should definately do a 40k version. As a matter of fact, they should've done the 40k version first. Warhammer Fantasy is just the same old, same old. It was miniature battles as opposed to standard roleplaying, though, so it moved. But all anyone cared about was the actual game. The setting is just generic fantasy. If you take Warhammer Fantasy and turn it into an MMORPG, it's just another fantasy game. There'll be no real reason to play, unless the game has all these new, innovative things, which is unlikely. I doubt we'll ever see another jump in quality akin to the transition from M59 to Ultima, or Ultima to Everquest. Most of these games coming out are just more of the same, just with some additional mechanics here or there, some cosmetic changes.

But 40k could blow the doors off of MMORPGs if it were done right. The setting is awesome. Grim, dark fantasy space opera with religious overtones. Completely unlike any of the other game settings out there. I mean, if there were one setting where you could draw in new players that aren't that interested in fantasy and still attract fantasy lovers, this would be it. 40k is like the perfect blend of sci-fi and fantasy.

[Clericnon2boxed]

I dont know WH40k, but I know that Shadowrun would make a nice setting with huge depth if needed in any area.

[Jimmee]

Completely unlike any of the other game settings out there

Neocron

[Heylel Teomim]

Neocron is nothing like 40k.

Heylel

[Oakman]

40k would make a very badass game. The setting is wholey unique to itself and has many really great ideas that would be awesome to see in a video game.

Judicator titan>*

[Wrathcaster]

At first reading about this, it seemed kind of like the same ol' same ol' fantasy mmorpg, but then i kept reading.

It's like they removed alot of the bad parts of eq, added realism, improved upon many concepts, and added their own flavor.

This really caught my eye:

"For monsters like Orcs, we wanted something much more entertaining… In certain areas of the world, individual Orcs will spawn and then begin to patrol that area. If two Orc meet up, then they will begin to move together and if they run across a third, they will set up a camp. This will then alter the spawn tables for that area so that we can begin to spawn Boss Orcs, Orc Shaman, Snotlings, Squigs and Trolls etc. "

Fucking badass!

[Catseye_Agate]

I played both W40K and WFRP.

Personally, I'm more of fan of the Fantasy realm.

I would guess 40K will be in the works, deepending on the success of WO.

Both would kick EQ in the nuts.

[DJk_zero]

Unfortunately Micro$hit owns the fasa game liscences now, including anything shadowrun related... and we all know how AC2 turned out. Tho a correctly done mmog set in the shadowrun universe would fucking rock.

[Iannis]

40k would be a big endeavor. It would have to combine space with land. They probably picked the easier one to do first.

A gradual shifting into 40k could be pulled off though, considering the only thing that cut off the fantasy world from the rest of the universe was the fact the Slaan gate at the pole(s?) were enveloped/destroyed by Chaos matter stuff. Heckuva lot better way to phase into a new MMO tha EQ..."w00t ur in teh future! nuthin you did in eq matters AT ALL!1!"

Imagine having to slap EQ and EnB together...yikes.

[Zorg]

I'll be impressed if they make it live with 25% of their planned features.

Has ANY MMORPG gone live with all the features they promised in development?

[Ukerric]

Originally posted by Wrathcaster
"For monsters like Orcs, we wanted something much more entertaining… In certain areas of the world, individual Orcs will spawn and then begin to patrol that area. If two Orc meet up, then they will begin to move together and if they run across a third, they will set up a camp. This will then alter the spawn tables for that area so that we can begin to spawn Boss Orcs, Orc Shaman, Snotlings, Squigs and Trolls etc. "

Ahhh, another poor misguided soul. A believer in ecology simulations.

Unfortunately, ecology simulations don't work. Ask the UO guys. They did believe in that. And it worked.

Until they introduced players. Players are a nightmare. In an ecology, they're worse than goats. They have ravenous, insatiable appetites. They kill everything. The only way to keep them in check is to put predators badass enough (bosses), and then, the players mostly stop coming. And your nice ecology lives... for nothing (because players don't come).

But even if you manage to make the above work...

Realize that this works, of course, only if there are no players around at that moment. Otherwise, they'd kill orcs for XP and phat loot. So the orcs wander around randomly, meet by happenstance, and found a camp, which develops into a small village. Then players arrive, and start killing the orcs.

From the perspective of the players (the ones who are there to enjoy the area), what is the difference between the orcs wandering around and setting camp and waiting for the players... and randomly spawning up a full-blown orcs tent village when there's no player around? The answer is: none. You won't see the difference.

The only thing the early wander/camp mechanism adds is that it makes possible for people to prevent the camp from spawning, i.e. reducing the opportunities for latecomers to find an orc camp or village. The orcs will be killed all night long, and only during the off-peak hours will they manage to make camps. Or they meet often enough that it's irrelevant if players are there to kill them, villages still pop up... and the entire mechanism is unnecessary complex for what's essentially the same results: an orc base popping up at some random place.


Not that it wouldn't be fun to track one of the spawning orcs around, and cultivate, and wait until the interesting orcs finally appear. A couple of times, that is. Then you'd pester about the fact that it's almost impossible on the west coast to find any orc village, because the orc areas have been camped for 6 hours already.