Warhammer Info - Articles - Warhammer Online at GamesDay Chicago
I was extremely excited for WAR prior to this trip, but afterwards I'm almost depressed that I can't play again. It was insanely fun to play.
The Chicago setup was quite a bit different than what they had in Columbus at the Origins convention. It was pretty much all RvR all day long. There were 16 computers setup for 8v8 scenario battles and they just cycled people through in two lines (much what I imagine they did at GamesDay Baltimore). Also, the lines to play were massive here as opposed to just walking up and playing immediately at Columbus. Ah well - for RvR, it was worth it.
I met up with phantom (from the forums) and crew, who made the epic journey from Alabama to play. Phantom did a write-up of the event as well, here. While we waited in line, one of the Mythic reps, Adam, (all I got was a first name - I am an awesome journalist!) walked over and gave us our own little Q&A session which was fantastic. More on that below. When it was finally my turn to play, I of course jumped for the awesomest class in the universe - the Zealot. The Witch Hunter, Knight of the Blazing Sun, Chosen, and Marauder were all still not playable yet.
The scenario loaded up and a Mythic rep pointed out that there were 3 major capture points - one near each spawn point (Lighthouse for Order, Barracks for Destruction) and one atop a massive hill (the Fortress). Each capture was worth 50 points, a kill was worth 1 point, and any objective you held continually gave your side 1 point every couple of seconds. The winner was declared when one side hit 500 points or 15 minutes was up - whichever happened first.
Our small little army of Destruction quickly scrambled to capture the Barracks near our spawn, a mere couple of seconds later it was announced that Order had done the same at the Lighthouse. As our group raced up the hill to the Fortress, we looked over and saw Order doing the same off in the distance. I arrived first at the top of the hill and I immediately set down a ritual around the capture point, knowing that the peons of Order would soon be standing right there. Unfortunately for us, a few of our 8 got lost while heading up the hill and we got pulverized. There was a large castle rampart over looking that objective where I hid and healed myself up. With me shivering in fear like a coward up in the ramparts, I watched as Order captured the Fortress and charged down to the Barracks, unaware of my presence the entire time.
Capture points work pretty much exactly like Battlefield 2. It is an automatic process - you just need to be nearby and the more allied players around the objective, the faster you capture it. If an enemy player is near the objective, he or she cancels out one of your players.
We were now losing by about 60 points and things were looking pretty grim. I popped out of my hiding spot and started capturing the Fortress without any opposition. Meanwhile, 2 of our group pulled a ninja tactic and ran over to the Order spawn area and quickly captured the Lighthouse while our remaining 5 fended off their rampaging horde at the Barracks. After initially kicking our collective ass, Order was suddenly falling far behind. Once it was announced that the Fortress was now neutral, a solo dwarf Ironbreaker found his way up the hill and we had a nice 2 minute 1v1 battle. The zealot has an insta cast heal over time spell which is just incredible. That ability alone kept me alive. Another thing that I quickly learned - heavy tanks are absolute beasts. Despite pouring nukes and DOTs into the guy over and over, he was still at about 50% life and I was starting to lose AP faster than I was regaining it. My ace in the hole was the morale abilities, though. I built up for the 80% morale ability and let if fly, dealing around 300 immediate damage (more or less 6x a normal nuke) to the Ironbreaker. Seeing a huge chunk of his life suddenly dissapear, he tried to escape but I finished him off with an insta cast DOT. As he fell, 3 of my allies walked up the hill. Now they show up. Thanks guys. The 4 of us quickly finished capturing the Fortress.
We eventually lost the Lighthouse, but were able to defend the Barracks and the Fortress and held on for the victory. We were awarded a trophy and hot chicks in bikinis posed with us as the press took our pictures for the Sunday edition. After signing like, one thousand autographs, our group finally met up and talked about how awesome the whole experience was. Conclusion: Mythic, let us into beta now! We need to play more.
Proof of our most triumphant victory. I was Fray. I of course forgot to turn off the flash.Some observations while playing - healers gain Renown when they heal allies under attack, which I thought was extremely cool and further solidifies me into playing a healer once this game finally rolls out. A standard heal earned me +4 Renown every cast. My insta cast HOT spell continually popped up "+1 Renown" over my head every time it ticked. Standard kills were worth about 45 Renown points and we were awarded 400 Renown for winning the Scenario.
There was a bit of an interrupt system in game this time around too. Some enemies would outright resist spells (said Disrupt). When getting hit, my cast time bar would be continually reduced and sometimes interrupted completely altogether.
Alright, enough babbling - on to the testing and the Q&A. First the things I tested in game (for the love of Gork, remember that this stuff will probably change. It probably already has changed even):
/follow, /stick, /face, /assist - are they in game?
/assist was the only command that worked and it seemed to operate exactly like DAOC. The rest of the commands were not recognized by the interface.
Can you shoot weapons while moving?
I didn't get a chance to test this with the Engineer and Squig Herder, but "throw weapon" type abilities can be used while on the run. It slightly slows down your run speed, however.
How fast does Morale go up? Are there diminishing returns past 20%?
Pretty much 1% every second. I didn't notice any diminishing returns at all, but there may have been some up around the 80% mark.
How fast does Morale drop out of combat.
While I was standing at the top of the hill capturing the Fortress by myself, Morale didn't drop at all. This could be the current implementation, or it could be because my group was constantly engaged in a battle somewhere, even though I wasn't very close by.
How does the inventory work? Do items and equipment have weight?
It looks like you have one big bag of about 50 slots to put items into. Unless there is some secret way to delve items for more information, the few items I started out with had no weight.
Does equipment have durability scores? Do you need to repair equipment?
Again, unless there is some secret way to delve items for more information, the equipment I started off with did not have any durability scores. The mouseover simply showed the equipment's stats.
/bagel - does it do anything?
Nope.
Were groupmates visible on the mini map? Were enemies visible on the mini map?
Neither were.
How big are Scenarios?
I'm sure they vary in size depending on how many players are intended to play it, but the Scenario we played in wasn't too massive. I could probably walk to any point on the map within about 3 minutes. It felt about perfect for a 12v12 battle.
How does one get to an instance?
It seemed to work pretty similar to Warcraft - there is an NPC that you talk to and say "put me in the queue". When you can join a Scenario, a window pops up asking if you are ready. You may have to cross PvP enables areas to reach this NPC. When we logged in, we were standing directly in front of him, but it appeared as if we were at some kind of outpost as it was very small and there were NPC guards patrolling the immediate area. There wasn't enough time for me to be sure, however.
How potent is falling damage?
I jumped from a height at one point that would probably cause around 25% damage in DAOC and took no damage from falling in WAR.
The giant inflatable space marine, which I submit to the court as evidence that I'm not making all of this up. I was actually there, dammit!The Q&A with Adam - some of this is paraphrased. Like a moron, I didn't sound record or video tape the Q&A, I just scribbled down what he was saying as fast as I possibly could. Again, go-go gadget journalism skills. Much thanks to him for putting up with us.
Do Bright Wizards explode when they die?
Only if they are using the correct Tactic ability.
What kind of weapons can Black Orcs use?
Black Orcs can use 2-handed weapons or go the sword and board route.
Can you explain the WAAAAGH! system a bit?
This is actually changing right now. Previously, WAAAGH gave you access to stronger and stronger heals. Now, it gives you faster and free heals.
Will there be a dungeon like Darkness Falls in DAOC?
I don't know or can't say.
So that Skills tab... Is that for RvR rewards like Realm Abilities in DAOC?
Can't say anything about that yet - but the advancement system you see in game today is constantly changing. It has already changed for Beta 2.
Can you turn your experience gain off?
No.
How do the Dogs of War work? Do they just run around on their own, or do they follow players around and actively help them?
Can't say yet.
What prevents high level players from rampaging through the low level open field RvR areas?
High rank players cannot enter low rank Scenarios. The system prevents that from happening. If they enter a lower teired Battlefield (open field), though, they instantly turn into a giant chicken and can't do anything except for run around and peck people for 1 point of damage.
When is guild beta going to happen?
Soon.
Can you leave a Scenario before it has ended, and if so, are there penalties for doing so (like the Unmentionable Game)?
You can leave Scenarios early if you want. You are unable to rejoin that same Scenario for a period of time, however.
Auction houses or consignment merchants?
I'm not a part of that team, so I honestly don't know the answer to that one yet.
What will the wait time on instances be?
Very short. We're going to expirement with cross-server queuing to reduce wait times.
Will there be guild alliances like in DAOC?
I can for sure say that there will be large Scenarios intended for Battlegroups. As for more permanent alliances, its still in the works.
Can you ressurect allied players in the midst of combat like DAOC? Or is death much harder to recover from?
In combat ressurection abilities are all morale abilities. Out of combat ressurection abilities simply cost AP.
Looks like we can swap out morale abilities?
Yes, you can customize the morale abilities to your liking. Some morale abilities scale in strength according to which slot you load them into. (I noticed this in game. My Zealot's 20% ability debuffed opponents resists and armor by 35% for 6 seconds. The 60% ability did the exact same thing, only for 24 seconds instead of 6 seconds.)
We promise we won't tell anyone - what are the Dark Elf classes?
All will be revealed in August!
What is your favorite class?
Warrior Priest... but we haven't seen elves yet...
Pretty much the coolest grandmother ever. She was wiping the floor with all those whipper-snappers all day long.That's pretty much it... the whole event was a blast. They didn't hold a drawing for beta passes - they simply gave one to everyone that played, like in Baltimore. Afterwards, I went to China Town where I wrestled a giant panda bear. True story*. During the drive back, I hit a bird with my car. I swear it was an accident PETA, plese don't burn my house down!
* Except for the panda bear wrestling part.
Warhammer Online is going to rock even more than previously thought.