If I Had a Hammer...

With Warhammer Online almost ready to go live, we get the skinny on this next-level MMORPG.
8/27/2008 8:40 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 4

Crispy Gamer: So an event might start at the top of the hour, end at a quarter past, and then start again at 20 minutes past?

Barnett: Right. And you can join in at any stage.

Crispy Gamer: What is there to stop someone from just doing that one quest over and over?

Barnett: Nothing. Some people do that.

Crispy Gamer: Got it. Now explain the RvR system, please.

Barnett: RvR is Realm vs. Realm. Our game is about lots of people fighting lots of other people, about laying siege to a city, killing the king, and gloating. It's basically a game of gloating. So our RvR system is everywhere. You can play it from the moment you hit the ground, in campaigns, in scenarios, everywhere.

Crispy Gamer: Oh, so you can join in on some big Good versus Evil battles, then? Does what you do in them count as much, or more, than individual quests?

Barnett: It's different. When you fight non-player characters, it contributes to your standard level, or what we called Rank. When you fight other people, it contributes to your RvR Rank, and you can, if you want, play our game without ever fighting another person, or you can play it and only fight other people.

Crispy Gamer: Well, you can do that in other MMOs, too, but usually that means you're just running around, killing wolves and whatnot. I assume that's not what you mean.

Barnett: No, I'm talking about being able to go down into enormous dungeons where you'll kill demons, take on kings, end the careers of champions -- we've created a rich, vibrant world.

Crispy Gamer: Have you set caps for these levels yet?

Barnett: Yeah, the standard Rank cap is 40, and the RvR Rank cap is 80.

Crispy Gamer: I assume each of them have their own rewards?

Barnett: Absolutely.

Crispy Gamer: How many people can be in a battle at the same time?

Barnett: It's 200 vs. 200 when you're outside a city, and 100 vs. 100 when you're inside a city. It would be insane, but you could do it.

Crispy Gamer: Is there a command structure built into these armies, or is it going to be just a free-for-all with no strategy?

Barnett: People form up into battle groups and guilds, and we've found that the most successful versions of them use the chat system to control who goes where.

Crispy Gamer: That's something they do on their own, that's not built into the game, right?

Barnett: Right. In fact, giving that control to the players is the number-one way to ensure that it's done properly. If you impose a command structure, people will pretty much ignore it.