Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

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Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning

Developer(s)	EA Mythic
Publisher(s)	EA Games
Release date(s)	2007
Genre(s)	Fantasy MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Rating Pending (RP)
Platform(s)	Windows (confirmed) PS3, Xbox 360 (speculated)
Input	Keyboard, Mouse

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is a forthcoming MMORPG based on the Warhammer Fantasy universe. It is currently under development by Mythic Entertainment, the studio behind the popular MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot, and is slated for release in autumn 2007. The game's official acronym is WAR, standing for Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning.

The central theme of the game revolves around the continual worldwide conflict most Warhammer settings are well known for, and almost every aspect of the game will be geared towards omnipresent, constant war. Mythic will be using their trademark Realm vs. Realm PvP system in WAR, which is the same system used in Dark Age of Camelot. The two alliances, Order and Destruction, will each be divided into 3 armies, and each army will consist of four playable careers (classes).

The three armies of Order are the Empire, Dwarfs, and High Elves, and the three Destruction armies are Dark Elves, Greenskins (Orcs and Goblins), and Chaos. While each army is usually composed of one race, the Greenskins are composed of two, Orcs and Goblins; giving WAR seven playable races. However each army will still only have four careers from which to choose. The Greenskins army will divide its four careers, giving two to the Orcs and two to the Goblins.

1 History
2 Armies
- 2.1 Order
- 2.2 Destruction
3 Community
4 Development
5 Features
- 5.1 Characters
- 5.2 Realm Vs Realm
6 Collision detection
7 Beta test
8 Screenshots
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] History

The first iteration of Warhammer Online began development under Climax Online (formerly Climax Nottingham), but was canceled in June 2004 towards the end of its development after Games Workshop decided the roll out costs were too high. Work on the game never actually stopped though as Climax Online continued the project using its own funding. Climax Online reported in late 2004 that it was closed due to difficulty securing a publishing agreement.

With the license once again available, Games Workshop was approached by Mythic Entertainment, which was interested in acquiring the license and developing a new project from scratch. The long standing relationship between several Games Workshop managers and Mythic CEO Mark Jacobs ensured that a deal was quickly reached.

As of May 18 2005, the Warhammer Online license had been acquired by Mythic Entertainment. Unlike the Climax Online project, the current iteration is not a joint venture with Games Workshop and will not be using rules from either Warhammer Fantasy Battles nor Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (Although decisions on new content must be agreed to by Games Workshop e.g. The Orc War Tower). Despite these facts, Mythic's development has seen support from Games Workshop notables such as Rick Priestley and Alan Merrett.

[edit] Armies

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning contains two separate alliances, Order & Destruction. Each alliance consists of three racial armies. Each racial army is further broken down into four specific career choices.

[edit] Order

The Armies of Order consist of the Empire (Humans), the Dwarfs and the High Elves.

Dwarfs: The Dwarfs are a dying race, their heyday long since past. The Dwarfs are a hardy and industrious folk, considered to be amongst the greatest craftsmen of the Old World. In WAR the Dwarfs are paired against their long-time racial enemies, the Orcs and Goblins, known collectively as the Greenskins.

Careers announced:

Ironbreaker
Hammerer
Rune Priest
Engineer

Empire: The Empire is the largest human civilization in the Old World. Founded by its patron saint, Sigmar, the Empire has stood for thousands of years. Although not as skilled in craftsmanship as the Dwarfs or in magic as the Elves, the Empire is not held back by tradition to the extent of the Dwarfs or Elves and has yet to succumb to any threat, external or internal. At the start of WAR the Empire faces off against the destructive forces of Chaos.

Careers announced:

Warrior Priest
Bright Wizard
Knight of the Blazing Sun
Witch Hunter

High Elves: Skilled in the arts of magic, the ancient Elven race has taken up arms against the forces of disorder, coming to the Empire's aid, and grudgingly fighting alongside the Dwarfs, as the two races put aside their long-standing animosity to combat the greater threat. In WAR the High Elves are pitted against their dark kin, the Dark Elves.

[edit] Destruction

The Armies of Destruction consist of Greenskins (Orc and Goblin), Dark Elves, and Chaos (Human, Daemon, and mutants).

Greenskins:The Greenskins are a collection of Orcs and Goblins, making them unique in that they have two races, and each race has two careers. Orcs are a warlike humanoid species, living for battles, fights and the occasional brawl. Orcs live in tribal systems with the strongest Orc leading the tribe. Goblins are considerably smaller than Orcs, and are often bullied by the larger more intimidating Orcs. This has caused the Goblins to evolve into sneaky, insidious, and more intelligent creatures in order to defend themselves from their larger kin. Sometimes a particularly powerful Leader will gather many tribes together and form what is known as a "WAAAGH": a nearly unstoppable band of marauding greenskins. With the outset of WAR a new "WAAAGH" is forming and once again the Orcs seek to eradicate their ancestral enemies, the Dwarfs.

Careers announced:

Black Orc
Choppa
Goblin Shaman
Goblin Squig Herder

Chaos: The forces of Chaos simply wish to destroy. The followers of Chaos usually worship one of the four major Chaos gods, Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle and Slaanesh, although some follow Chaos as a whole and are generally referred to as 'Chaos Undivided'. The Human followers of Chaos generally live in the Northern Chaos wastes, and when the time comes for war they are sometimes followed by hideous daemons and mutants. In WAR the forces of Chaos follow the god Tzeentch and are pitted against the Empire.

Careers announced:

Chosen
Magus

Dark Elves: Dark Cousins of the High Elves, the Dark Elves have an ancient feud with the High Elves. Their king, Malekith, has his sights set on the throne of the Phoenix King, which he believes is rightly his. Whilst the Armies of the High Elves are away to fight the forces of Chaos, the Dark Elves have taken this opportunity to attack Ulthuan, the home of the High Elves. Because of this the Dark Elves racial pairing at the start of WAR is the High Elves.

[edit] Community

As with most other upcoming online games, Mythic Entertainment has an official monthly newsletter detailing the game's continued development to the public. The idea of holding forum contests on fan forums has been suggested/hinted at by the Mythic Community Team, who also go to considerable length to post on existing community fan-forums to mingle with their future market.

A fansite kit is also available for download from the official site. Mythic have a fondness towards fansites, as they have officially stated that they dislike having forums on their own site and fansites allow for them to get to know their community.

[edit] Development

Development of the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning game began in 2005.

On the official site for the game, Paul Barnett's Video Blog gives insight into the development screens and concepts behind them for the up-and-coming game. Development Diaries are also available, and a long introduction into the pre-production process, which estimates that around ten thousand, (10,000), pages of finalized documentation will be produced by the content team before the release of WAR.

[edit] Features

WAR contains many unique, new features. This includes the RvR combat system and large degree of character customization.

[edit] Characters

Characters and other players in WAR change and develop as they progress in level and fight more battles. For example, Dwarf beards grow longer, and Orcs become larger and darker skinned. Players can cover themselves in trophies, such as the heads of their fallen enemies. Other forms of customization include "Player Tactics": special powers players can select before a battle, and "Morale Skills": abilities that increase in power the greater the player performs in battle.

[edit] Realm Vs Realm

WAR features "next generation" Realm Vs Realm or RvR combat. This takes place on 3 different 'fronts': Dwarfs Vs Greenskins, Empire Vs Chaos and finally High Elves Vs Dark Elves. There are Four levels of RvR Combat, including Skirmishes (Random PvP), present Battlefields (Object driven battles in the game world), Scenarios (instanced, point based battles Vs NPCs) and Campaigns (Invading enemy lands and Capital Cities). RvR includes both PvP combat and PvE quests so that you can assist your side.

[edit] Collision detection

WAR will have collision detection turned on, but only against enemy targets. This means that you will be able to 'walk through' friendly players and NPCs but will be unable to walk through enemy targets. This feature will hopefully enhance the role played by heavily armored characters known as 'tanks', as it will help them become far more efficient at holding choke points and thus protect weaker players in their group such as healers and casters.

[edit] Beta test

As with most MMO games, a Beta test is planned. Currently the only way to receive a Beta Invite is by signing up for Mythic's monthly newsletter and being one of 5 people selected in the random draw. This is not country specific.