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General: Blog: Warhammer 40K MMO
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller has updated his Staff Blog, this week discussing his desire for new information on the announced Warhammer 40K MMO.
So I have been trying to spend a little more time away from my computer in recent weeks. That is not easy to do when you have the jobs that I do. However, I have started up a new Warhammer 40K Army for tabletop and have been painting away for the last week. Khorne Chaos Marines if you must know. I have never done a Khorne army and despite seeing them everywhere I decided it would be the most fun to paint. Plus I love skulls.
So during the long hours it takes to paint minis. I have been constantly thinking of the Warhammer 40K MMO that is secretly being developed over at THQ. Now for those who may not know THQ are the folks behind Dawn of War...that is a good sign. I am a huge fan of the Dawn of War games.
Read Warhammer 40K MMO.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I wished I still lived in an area where people played 40K
I really miss my Tyranid and Nurgle armies.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
This game does sound interesting to me, however I've said that about games published from promising IP's in the past and felt let down. I'll be following this one closely, that's for sure. Would love if this game lived up to what I'm sure will be a great deal of hype in the coming year. Here's to hoping that at least 1 Games Workshop IP isn't wasted.
I think 40K could work as an MMO if your character had a point value. No levels, just upgrades to armour and weapons which have very definite strengths and weaknesses along with a wide assortment of skills. Battles be set for a certain amount of points per side and you have a commander on each side picking different units that make up his team. The commander then gives orders. Following through on orders could give the unit bonus xp points for the use of skills or other upgrades.
Beats me, just brain storming...but I love the 40K universe.
Vigil Games did good job with Darksiders for consoles, I really loved that game and there you can also see some 40k aspects which is really nice
I have very high hopes for the 40k mmo, we'll just have to wait and see if there is that dedication that 40k universe deserves.
This comic sums up my feelings about Darksiders pretty well, lol.
In any case, I think that seeing a 40k MMO turn out something like WWII Online or Planetside wouldn't disappoint me at all. That and it could answer any questions about player progression.
We don't need another WAR is all I'm saying. xD
Check out the MUD I'm making!
As long Mythic doesn't develope it, bring it on, we don't want another Games Workshop IP ruined by those inepts.
But how well would it compare to a Starcraft MMO?
Anyway I believe 40k MMO is going to fail for the same reason as WAR. Because of Style of gameplay alone
You could also go with the similar direction of Dark Heresy, I suggest reading Ian Watson's Inquisitor trilogy to get a feeling about the 40k universe outside the army perspective.
I hope that direction is not to play with the different armies tbh. Instead players would be a part of the Imperium of Man. And not starting out as Astartes, aka Space Marines. Albeit that might be one career path. You also have lots of other interesting factions in the human Imperium. And of course there could be potential to fall in pray to forces of Chaos and thus joining them.
Dunno. Playing as a Space Marine would be more approriate in MMOFPS, which in turn could be tons of fun. There you could fight other sides like orcs, Chaos, Eldars etc., but starting as the most powerful soldier is not a good starting point for a MMORPG.
"The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in."
So long as it isn't all cartoony/bright and colourful like WAR was and is all dark/gloomy as Warhammer (40k) should be then i honestly don't care how crap the gameplay is, i will still give it a shot.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Being a WH fan (both fantasy and 40K) I am as escited to here about the prospect of a WH40K MMO as the next guy, but also a bit worried too. I would want anything else but to see THQ pulling out something great and unique with this project.
But I think that if they go donw the route of catering for the MMO crowd first and the IP fans second it is going to be another failed chance. I always say that if you going to use an existing IP to make an MMO you need to brutal and with no compromise go after the existing fan base, in this case the many loyal 40k fans around the world. Have a stable and loyal fan base (and target audience) to start with, they are going to be your most effective marketing tool in the long run
a 40k MMO while great sounding is going to be a pain to pull off. as you cant do it as pure marine, simply because the fluff related to 40k is just as huge as warhammer's is. that being said most marines are recruited at young ages like 10-15 being the youngest for most chapters as well as all but a few chapters list the shortest marine at 7' tall.... so i dont really see much customization if we have a marine based mmo... granted they have the best armor and weapons of the human race BUT i dont know i would rather be a gaurdsmen and have the option to customize my kit and actual toon rather then be limited on being an ultra marine or some other preset chapter (if you dont do ultra marine the premadona chapter then you will have to include the chapter traits to each marine... some are better or worse then others....)
where as gaurdsmen are cannon fodder so your high powered flash light is the best you have until you rank up to sarg and get a bolter... still the options as a gaurdsmen are more endless then a marine
i still dont see how they plan to pull this off tho i mean DoW 1 and DoW 2 kind of cheapened out on the race traits they made all marines share the same trait (ultra marine) but included all chapter colours and the army painter (but your still ultra marine for traits) Still the RTS elements allowed you to ignore that fluff removal.. tha added some unqueness to each chapter or unit..
a mmo is a tad diffrent cause your leveling up a toon from WHAT class?? warhammer you can use the PnP RPG tools to make stuff up.. but how do you do it for 40k?? marines are youngsters that over the course of years get modified and get bigger and stronger then get armor and junk... lowest rank besides scout is chapter serf... which really isnt a rank but a failing to become anything better...
gaurdsmen you have random joe blow who begs for money on the street.. and what about the other races in 40k??? chaos... nids... necrons... retard elfs and tau? or the orks? will they add them as PC or npc?? can you go from loyal marine...whatnot to chaos?? can you be human and become a necron paria??? (yes i spelt it wrong memory sucks) or what about a tau turncoat?? or genestealer cult member ect??
if they make a 40k mmo it better damn well be better then that horrible joke EA played on us called firewarrior... that thing should be burned and purged from all record... >>
(i have playd TT of both 40k and fantasy for years...i have marines some chaos ect.. tho i still like gaurd as being underdogs)
WAR failed on so many fronts. Had nothing to do with the IP.
Cryptic made some core design flaws with their game. Not to mention that their game engine was very problematic.
As long as THQ uses a good game engine that can handle largescale fights without people constantly lagging and Disconnecting. Then they are already a large step ahead of Mythic's WAR.
Next to that, if they manage to create both an enganging PVE and PVP experience. Wich Mythic also failed misserably in. Then they already have a winner.
Cheers
Personally, this is what I'm hoping for out of a 40k MMO:
Take DoW 2's squad setup, then make that an MMO. Classes and squad sizes are roughly based off current 5th ed.
Advancement through levels/ranks, building up experience for the core squad leader character (char you make) and your squad (npcs you recruit etc) and then dole out the Wargear, get special command abilities in time, all that good stuff. Even take a lot of the DoW 2 statistic framework and expand it a few more tiers.
Gameplay could be almost the same, giving tradiitonal controls as well as comprehensive clicktomove/DoW2 style control scheme. Add in all the basic cover controls/modifiers. Class structures broken down into what deployment role a unit would be (troop/heavy/etc) which also determines their squads size potentials. HQ units are still all alone, but could also be something to use as unlockable squad classes.
Playable races I'd say Marines, IG, Ork, Eldar, D.Eldar, Chaos, Tau, and if any get cut it'd be best to ditch IG, because there'd already be one 'zergy' army by way of the Orks. Nids and Necron would be non-playable because they're both just hive-mind control, via the creeping darkness or a c'tan god.
World PvP would be the tricky part just to keep things in a sense of balance. Most workably, X planets available for conquest, each playable race has a homeworld/class world that remain safe spots. (Terra and Macragge type setups, one pure safe, one combat-zone but still opt-in PvP)
Skirmish based PvP would just follow deployment rules. You queue up as your squad type and get filled in as needed to the match to mechanically disallow things like stacking FoTM builds/single classes that may be currently OP. Much smaller scale (1v1/2v2) type games could just use Infiltrator rulesets as a basis.
PvE could be split between 3 main fronts: Stop the Nids, Stop the Cron, Kill Everyone Else. Have persistent battle planets, probably even use the same ones for the world-pvp to always have a shifting border of control and power in the galaxy. Then also have guided story sets split up between the races depending on whats going to be the bigger threats to the race.
IE: Marines, Chaos and Eldar would all share the 'super-arc' of stopping the Necron threat, because I'll argue till I'm out cold that there's a sleeping god inside of Mars (the machine god =/= god emp. of man), which could make for a massive combat flash point close to home, which would also draw Chaos into things. Eldar would be pulled just because the Necron hate them the most.
Orks, Dark Eldar and Tau would all be trying to stop the Tyranid, since they each hold a bit more fringe space where the hive fleets are coming from, and it would just be cool as hell to see a sea of green rushing a see of purple/carapace. Dark Eldar get pulled in due to psycher interference we'll say, and the Tau for whatever reason they have, but I'm shakiest on their lore...
Either way, thats my 2c, and I whole-heartedly believe that this game will fail if it uses modern-standard MMO gameplay. Warhammer is about big wars, and scaling us down to single units doesn't help things. If server tech only can handle 25 User-Accounts worth of traffic engaged with minimal latency, what would be cooler:
25 Single characters, or 25 squads numbering closer to 60-80 total units battling it out. I'd take the squads. Unless you know who's made a server that can actually handle the massive data load of trying to cross-communicate 100+ players worth of info/locations/projectile effects and accuracy/etc etc, and even if you could do that, you've just made the video-requirements so demanding that the game is now hardware-excluding a massive playerbase.
Lets Push Things Forward
I knew I would live to design games at age 7, issue 5 of Nintendo Power.
Support games with subs when you believe in their potential, even in spite of their flaws.
To create a Warhammer 40k MMO is to walk a fine line. There are so many elements that do not fit well into an MMO environment (namely a squad based system). It worked well for an RTS game (Dawn of War) but I am somewhat skeptical of how it will work out in an MMO. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited and was blown away by the announcement. For me, there just needs to be more information before I'm reeled in.
I love 40k fluff. Games Workshop has done well, more so since the Black Library has jumped on board, to create a rick world of war and heresy. Can Vigil and THQ pull it off? I believe what they have done with Dawn of War and Dawn of War II shoudl give us the impression that they at least come close. What THQ did with the story line in Dawn of War 2 was fantastic! If they can match clean gameplay with such a story then I'd probably play it for years. Only time will tell.
Its going to be epic, the squad system will be the major inovation comparing with others mmos!!! Making an Warhammer 40k MMO is a great responsability and will take lots of time thats for shure...
Wrong. It was more EA then Mythics fault. Nice assumption though. Typical of someone who just glances quickly at the problems instead of seeking the real problem and solution.
Mythic is a great developer and thats why they still have made the #1 PVP game.
Who in their right mind wouldn't want to play what this guy described? Seriously, Relic already laid the groundwork for RPG elements in the WAR40K world. They're even taking it one step further and making a pure RPG, Space Marine. If that works out well, then it could serve as a nice base for a WAR40K MMO.
Let me offer you a nightmare scenario, for the fun of it, of how an upcoming 40K MMO will turn out to be.
Huge Tyranid force is on the prowl, big, mean and awfully hungry. ... we are taking galaxy in danger proportions.
Eldar farseers foresee the danger the run to warn the good guy, humans and Tau, and lo! an alliance is formed.
For the humans, step up the Space Wolves (Just because is the newest GW release in the marine line
),
Long fangs, scouts, grey hunters and blood claws as player character options!
For the Eldar, let's say the Biel Tan craftworld: Ranger/pathfinder, Howling Banshee, Dark Reaper, Farseer/warlock as options!
For the Tau... dunno some cadre or another: Stealthsuits, crisis suits, Vespid and.... Kroot? as options!
The bad guys though are watching all these and try to capitalise on this opportunity although they have to band together cause the 'nids ain't biased of course... they like a bit of variety in their menu
So chaos marines, orks and dark eldar join forces for Chaos! the Waaagh! and for the chance to torture, pillage and gather more slaves!
Chaos Marines options include: Khorne berserkers, plague marines, noise marines, and some tzeentch sorcerer type
Orks bring the Shoota boy, storm boy, Burna boy and Loota
Dark Eldar with, Incubi, Mandrakes, Scourges and Wytches.
Release date is set for Q2 2011, but the team is struggling to meet the deadline. Sony entertainment comes to the rescue with lots of big bags with money and buy most of THQ. Release date is pushed back to Q4 aiming for a christmas release. But it seems that the date needs to be pushed back to early 2012.... however disaster strikes! WoW is releasing its new expansion with an all new hero class early 2012. WH40K MMO is rushed for a december 2011 release, but with 2 classes missing and with only a couple of planets in 2 different planetary systems as potential battlefields. The rest are to be added in content patches and expansions.
Great times!