First and Second Impressions: Warhammer Online

A few hours later, when I had once again wandered back to the EA booth to try and get the taste of E for All out of my mouth, I decided that, perhaps, the Witch Hunter just wasn’t balanced for PvP yet. I’d give PvE a try, and attempt to reclaim my honor. Moments later, I found my character assuming the familiar position of face down in the dirt, soundly defeated once more… by a rat.

I just sat there in stunned silence for a moment, not quite believing my eyes. Then, the magnitude of what had just occurred washed over me, and I rushed to grab my camera.

It was such an auspicious occasion, I took several photos for posterity, and then turned to a Mythic staffer who was sitting at the next demo unit, thrust my hand out for a shake, and declared, “Congratulations! You have managed to create the first MMO in history in which I have ever been killed by a rat!”

She seemed to think I was genuinely upset about this, and rushed to offer to guide me to a nearby trainer because, surely, the character just hadn’t gotten all of its skills yet.

Having established that the character did, indeed, have all of its skills trained, she offered a noncommittal shrug that seemed to say, “I guess you just suck,” before returning to her duties.

So, being killed by a rat notwithstanding, was the PvE side worth paying $14.95 a month?

I can only speak for the very early game (levels 1-10) and there… not so much.

I’ll just come out and say this as plainly as I can: If you’ve played an MMO in the past ten years, you’ve probably already seen everything the early PvE game in WAR has to offer.

And beyond that, I couldn’t get a straight answer on any plans for PvE content in the end-game aside from, “Yes, we are planning on having some.”

Of course, a week is a lifetime in politics, and the same could be said of a couple months in MMO development.

The game’s beta stoppage (which I commend them for implementing, as it shows a willingness to correct any mistakes or shortcomings, rather than just plowing ahead with an attitude of “We know what’s best for you”), was in progress the last time I played, and, for all I know the early game in WAR is now the mythical Shangri-la of old, with not a rat killing quest in sight.

I doubt it. But, anything is possible.

All of that’s not to say that there weren’t some interesting additions to the usual MMO formula of “changing just enough from the last game so as to not get sued.”

For instance, taking the “I have a quest for you” icon from over NPC’s head (ala WoW) and the minimap (ala LOTRO) to the logical next step, by putting the “I have a quest for you icon” on the world map itself.

Though purists from the olden days who fondly hearken back to running from NPC to NPC hitting the Hail button until one talks back will undoubtedly decry this as “the further dumbing down of MMOs,” I found it very agreeable.

When I’m leveling up in a game, the first thing I generally do upon reaching a new town is run to all four corners of it collecting every quest I can find along the way, so this saves a lot of legwork.

As a writer, though, I do take umbrage at marking not only the quest NPC, but also the location of the objective they give you on the map. Players generally never read quest descriptions these days anyway, because they have a tendency to be boilerplate “The rats are attacking the town, go forth and slay them!” drivel, but now, players don’t even have to bother to skim the quest text until they get to the part about where they’re supposed to be going.

And that’s a shame, because from what I saw, the writers are doing a commendable job of bringing the Warhammer universe to life. When you talk to an ork, you can almost hear the Cockney accent in your head, along with them calling you a git and telling you to sod off.

Another place the writing really shines was in some of the item and skill names… Honestly, I think I’d be safe in saying that “Right In Da Jibblies” (with an accompanying icon to the same effect) is the greatest skill I’ve ever come across in MMO gaming history.

And about that interview…

I also had the chance to conduct another interview at E for All, this one with Josh Drescher, one of the game’s producers and senior designers. A very nice guy, much like everyone else I’d met from the WAR team.

They must leave all the jerks back at home in Fairfax when convention time rolls around.

In the interview I asked him two questions that I already knew the answers to, but wanted to hear the rationale behind them being the way they were. And, just so no one thinks I was being thick as a post by asking them in the first place, I’d like to add in a bit of context.

First, was my question about whether or not WAR would be better served by an M rating. Josh later went on to make a post on his blog regarding that very question. It would seem he gets asked it a lot. And, as he’s probably going to get a trackback on said blog from that link: Hi, Josh, been awhile.

In his denunciation of the M he brings up some entirely valid points (particularly with regards to the marketability angle), but, I think he also misses a larger issue here while attempting to dismiss the first one: Why does he keep getting asked this question in the first place? Is it that gaming journalists are so utterly bereft of ideas they just can’t think of anything better to ask?

Or, is there something else? Something inherent in the Warhammer DNA that lends itself to the sort of over-the-top violence which necessitates an M, to the point that we find ourselves asking incredulously, “Come on, a T? You guys are joking, right?”