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Warhammer 40,000 MOBA coming early next year

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, New Titles, Mobile, MOBA

Still waiting for Warhammer 40,000 to break into the MMO space? Well, how about a MOBA instead? European developer Eutechnyx is hard at work on Storm of Vengeance for an early 2014 release.

Storm of Vengeance pits the Dark Angel Space Marines against Orks in classic lane strategy. It looks to be based on the Games Workshop campaign of the same name. The MOBA will be coming to both PC and mobile platforms.

Eutechnyx is a UK developer with a history of mostly creating racing games such as Auto Club Revolution and NASCAR The Game 2011.

Warhammer 40,000 MOBA coming early next year originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Dec 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2013: Behaviour announces Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade

Mike Foster — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:45:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New Titles, News Items, Roleplaying, Dungeons, MMORPG

"In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." These are the ominous words that greet visitors of the brand-new website for Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade. The game, announced today and in development at Behaviour Interactive (with the support of Games Workshop, of course), is a third-person action MMORPG set in a persistent world.

Details are scant as the title's unveiling has just begun, currently sitting at phase one of nine. The only clear information available on the official site is a targeted release window of late 2015.

We'll have more for you tomorrow after we sit down with Behaviour's head of online games, Miguel Caron, at E3, but for now, here's the press release blurby:

Montreal, 10th June, 2013 - Behaviour Interactive and Games Workshop(R) proudly announce a new online game in the Warhammer(R) 40,000(R) universe: Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. Behaviour Interactive has obtained the rights to create a wholly new MMORPG persistent war experience for PC, PS4 and Xbox One set in Games Workshop's universe of the 41st Millennium. In the game, players choose a Warhammer 40,000(R) race and fight directly as one of their warriors in massive conflicts for territory. It will be up to each faction's community to determine their own destiny as they vie for control of an entire planet.

Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 10-13, bringing you all the best news from E3 2013. We're covering everything from WildStar and Elder Scrolls Online and ArcheAge to FFXIV's inbound revamp and TERA's latest update, so stay tuned!

E3 2013: Behaviour announces Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The MMO Report: Shut up, that's why edition

Brianna Royce — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, MMO Industry, Opinion, Humor, The MMO Report, Miscellaneous

Why does The MMO Report cover Minecraft? "Shut up, that's why," says Casey with a smile. In addition to chronicling Minecraft's newest FarmVille-esque update, the Beard meanders through the Dark Millennium Online cancellation rumors, The Secret World's Illuminati trailer, and TERA's upcoming May release date ("your cue to start claiming it's better than WoW, internet"). Finally, Casey touches on the patch delays suffered by Star Wars: The Old Republic, excusing the tardiness by suggesting the promised dates are more like guidelines, and besides, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."

All this and a quick dip into Uncle Casey's Mailbag can be found in the full HD video behind the cut.

Continue reading The MMO Report: Shut up, that's why edition

The MMO Report: Shut up, that's why edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Climax's Warhammer Online

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Warhammer Online, The Game Archaeologist

Let's begin with a little personal history. Back in 2008, I decided to get into the blogging scene by jumping on board the latest MMO hotness -- in this case, Warhammer Online. As I was growing increasingly tired of World of Warcraft, WAR seemed to offer a refreshing alternative: a darker world full of brutal PvP and awesome new ideas. So I joined the elite ranks of bloggers (hey, stop laughing so hard) and spent the better part of two years jawing about Mythic's latest fantasy project.

And while Warhammer Online was, in my opinion, a solid product, it certainly failed to live up to the extremely high expectations held by both the development team and the players. No matter how it turned out, I really enjoyed talking about WAR, especially in the days leading up to its launch.

One of the first articles I ever wrote for my blog WAAAGH! dealt with the first attempt to bring Warhammer Online into the MMO genre (as a fun aside, it was one of the first times I got my name on Massively!). It's a "what if?" tale that's tantalizing to consider -- an entirely different studio, Climax Online, creating a much darker version of Warhammer than we've ever seen online. The tale of the game's rise and fall (and subsequent rise and fall again) captivated me, and I wanted to expand my old article as part of our recent series into exploring MMOs canceled before their launch.

So what if Climax had brought Warhammer Online to bear? Would it have eclipsed Mythic's vision or been its own animal? Hit the jump and let's dive into the pages of ancient history!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Climax's Warhammer Online

The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Climax's Warhammer Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rise and Shiny recap: Dofus

Beau Hindman — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Dofus, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Mac, Casual, Rise and Shiny, Livestream

Years ago I had to find a job in my new home state of Texas. Luckily for me, my wife hooked me up with a friend who helped me get hired at Starbucks. At first, I hung my head in shame. Later, though, I enjoyed dealing with customers and the free coffee. I had a co-worker, a real chin-scratching, coffee house wanna-be intellectual who would often spend more time dreaming about some game than about getting people on their breaks. He even brought his Macbook to work to sneak in time in the game.

I glanced over his shoulder one day and was delighted to see an odd-looking, cartoony, turn-based game on his screen. It turned out that the game was Dofus. I tried it immediately and fell in love with it, but that was years ago. I still found time to revisit the game, but once I started working at Massively, most of my time became dedicated to every other game in the world.

Well, it's time to visit it again. During the first part of this week, though, I thought this was going to be a disaster. I stayed strong and battled my way through bot after bot, spam message after spam message, and eventually found the great game I remember. Click past the cut to see exactly what I found!

Continue reading Rise and Shiny recap: Dofus

Rise and Shiny recap: Dofus originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Waging WAR: On the distant horizon

Greg Waller — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Waging WAR

It's that time again! Yes, Greg's imagination has escaped its tiny 3x3 cell and is off spreading ruination and ruffling feathers across the countryside, armed with absurd notions and a not-so-surprising lack of reason and logic. This week's Waging WAR attempts to follow along in its wake as we take another look at the potential future of Warhammer Online: The Age of Reckoning.

WAR released with an impressive lineup of playable armies and careers, setting the stage for the Age of Reckoning with a 3v3, two-sided RvR layout. In the summer following the official release of WAR, we got our first free content expansion featuring the Tomb Kings in the Land of the Dead. Just recently, we finally, at long last, got our Skaven wishes granted. In the spirit of the holiday season coming up, I've decided to look ahead at what may come in the future as we approach new horizons in WAR. Even if we discount Brettonia as another flavor of civilized human (akin in many ways to the Empire), the Daemons of Chaos as being already represented in some form or another as a part of Tzeentch's Warhost, and the Ogre Kingdoms (and other assorted Dogs of War) as being more-or-less an NPC army, we're still left with some excellent offerings from Warhammer lore as far as where WAR can go in the foreseeable future.

Follow along after the break as I take another look at what's left on the table to play with for future packs and expansions for WAR.

Continue reading Waging WAR: On the distant horizon

Waging WAR: On the distant horizon originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Waging WAR: RvR packs, the "wait and see" edition

Greg Waller — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, PvP, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Waging WAR

This week Waging WAR rides the double rainbow of gameplay customization via downloadable content and takes a cursory glance at the RvR packs being teased by the folks behind the development of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Let's follow along and see what Greg can unleash this time.

It is difficult to talk about the future of WAR right now. Not because it doesn't have a future, but because the availability of information regarding it is not exactly easy to find. Actually, information on the future of WAR is all but non-existent, surrounded by controversy on all sides, and steeped in rumor, speculation, assumption and misinformation. The best I can put together is that we, as players, can look forward to some sort of set of three different "RvR Packs" allowing us to "customize" our gameplay experience moving forward. The packs have been called "Power," "Progression," and "Personality." What exactly each contains is a mystery, although the few talking points I was able to find regarding these RvR packs are speculatively disappointing at best. Although Carrie, Andy, and anyone else involved with the Mythic development team have said time and time again that they are not discussing moving toward the free-to-play business model, what they're proposing with these customization packs looks suspiciously like the item shop established by Turbine, implemented in Dungeons & Dragons Online and soon in Lord of the Rings Online as well. V.I.P. membership, anyone?

Although concrete information is scarce and difficult to find, let's take a look at the most commonly referenced points of interest after the break.

Continue reading Waging WAR: RvR packs, the "wait and see" edition

Waging WAR: RvR packs, the "wait and see" edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2010: Interview with Warhammer 40K's Mark Downie

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Interviews, New Titles, Warhammer 40k

Let's face it: At E3, every studio, game and gadget struggles to be the talk of the show, but there's just so much going on that most exhibits and demos get lost in the noise. Therefore, when buzz erupts to eclipse the noise, it behooves the gamer to sit up and take notice. Warhammer 40k: Dark Millennium Online is buzzing strong right now, like thousands of armored, heretic-hunting space bees, especially after revealing the trailer earlier this week. With the previously secretive MMO out in the open, fans are hungry for any and all details about this entry in the beloved 40k franchise.

Fortunately, Massively made fast friends with Vigil's Mark Downie, who was more than happy to spill the space beans about the look of the game, faithfulness to the IP and Warhammer 40k's release window. Buckle up, engage thrusters and hit the jump for the full conversation.

Continue reading E3 2010: Interview with Warhammer 40K's Mark Downie

E3 2010: Interview with Warhammer 40K's Mark Downie originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Curse.com sued by Games Workshop over Warhammer Alliance's name

Rubi Bayer — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:15:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News Items, Legal

Members of Warhammer Online fansite WarhammerAlliance.com found a startling announcement posted on the site today: "We wanted to inform our community here on WarhammerAlliance.com that Games Workshop has filed lawsuit against Curse for operating and maintaining WarhammerAlliance.com."

A look at the official complaint revealed a litany of allegations including cybersquatting, unfair competition, dilution (of the IP), and more. Part of Games Workshop's problem with all of this, according to the complaint is that Curse's use of the Warhammer name and trademarks "literally states and implies that Defendant and their business are in an "alliance" with Plaintiff and its products and services offered under the WARHAMMER Marks," and that this "conduct as aforesaid has caused great and irreparable injury to Plaintiff, and unless such conduct is enjoined, it will continue and Plaintiff will continue to suffer great and irreparable injury."

Not much is known at this point beyond the complaint document from Games Workshop and the forum announcement on the WarhammerAlliance site, but we will certainly keep our eyes open for new information as it comes.

[Thanks to everyone who sent us emails on this!]

Curse.com sued by Games Workshop over Warhammer Alliance's name originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 May 2010 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get squig caked on August 27th with the Ace of Cakes

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Culture, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, Warhammer Online, Humor

You! What are you doing next Thursday? Playing games? Well stop doing that and go watch some TV! It will be a rewarding experience, I promise.

If you were in tune with our coverage of Games Workshop's Games Day 2009, then you probably remember us going nuts over a certain cake of a certain large red squig. The cake was produced by the illustrious Charm City Cakes, the company better known as the "Ace of Cakes" on Food Network.

Well it's time for the story behind the squig to come out as the Ace of Cakes episode, "Big Red Squig" will be airing next week on Thursday at 10 PM. You'll get to see just how they made that awesome cake and you'll get to travel with Chef Duff to Games Day and meet Paul Barnett. Warhammer Online, meet cake. Mmmmm... cake....

Get squig caked on August 27th with the Ace of Cakes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What audiences should Mythic have targeted with Warhammer Online?

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, Warhammer Online, Opinion

This is an original opinion piece written by someone who has been following Warhammer Online since November 2007. Comments are open on page three.

Many people claim WAR is a total fail-whale of an MMO. I can see sides of their argument, but I don't believe it's completely true. The "fail" perception mostly comes down to the expectations that were set by Mythic and EA and then never fully delivered upon. It's no secret they were aiming for 500k+ subs and then missed the mark (by about 200k), but it got me wondering... Who is/was WAR's target audience? Was their potential audience actually big enough to support their aspirations?

Let's go back. Waaaaaaaaaaay back. Let's pretend we were a fly on the wall in a Mythic/EA/Games Workshop boardroom as they were discussing the original vision and design direction for WAR. One of the first steps you take before developing any product is to define your target audience or demographic. Knowing your audience gives you better direction and allows you to focus your efforts and design decisions more clearly.

Continue reading What audiences should Mythic have targeted with Warhammer Online?

What audiences should Mythic have targeted with Warhammer Online? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The dead rise as Warhammer Online patch 1.3 goes live

Kyle Horner — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Patches, Warhammer Online, News Items

Today is patch day for Warhammer Online players -- huzzah! Bug and balance fixes are of course in full swing, but the big news is the Land of the Dead live event launch. Of course, before getting to any of those juicy new content areas, players will have to participate in the brand new live event: Rise of the Tomb Kings.

This event is the final chapter for Mythic's Call to Arms content expansion and functions as a good intermediary between those initial massive updates and these new ones. So while plenty of content is indeed being added today, there's a lot more on the way in the coming months, too.

We'll be giving you plenty of coverage on the ins and outs of patch 1.3, so keep your eyes peeled for more.

The dead rise as Warhammer Online patch 1.3 goes live originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online, Interviews (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage)

RvR is a carefully titrated, expansive system, and no one knows that better than Mythic Entertainment's Jeff Skalski. Jeff is the RvR team lead on Warhammer Online, and we recently had the chance to sit down with him at Games Day and pick his brain about many different aspects of WAR's RvR combat.

So what can we expect from city sieges in the future? What's the current priority for the RvR team? What's their plans for open RvR and keep sieges? What's it like designing a zone that includes a heavy emphasis on RvR and RvE working in tandem? These questions and more are answered inside this Games Day interview.

Continue reading Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski

Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online, Interviews (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage)

On top of that, we are aggressively looking at city sieges. On the RvR team, that's where the big focus is. The last big improvement in the open RvR arena was adding a second ramp to the keeps, but now our focus is on the city. We want to make sure that players know what's going on, like with the stages of the city. It's really three stages -- contested when you enter in, then the attackers can push it to pillaged so the warlord PQs open up, then it goes to captured and you unlock the king's instance for a set amount of time.

"Our goal is to make the city siege RvR, not RvE."

Our goal is to make the city siege RvR, not RvE. We want to put more focus on killing players, capturing and holding objectives, and we want that to be the front from beginning to end so there's always RvR in the game. So that's what we're looking at right now, working with those concepts and fleshing out those ideas.

Any previews or details on that yet?

It's really too early to say. We just started meeting with our core testers and explaining to them the ideas we have, and we're throwing things out there while finalizing what we want to do. I can say that for the players out there who are saying, "Oh, make it more epic, make it more epic," well that's what we're focusing on. We're trying to bring the quality of epic up, but at the same time we have many other things going on too. There's always bug fixing and things to work on, so we have to be careful. We want to react quickly and get it done now rather work on it for 10 months and fix it next year.

What would you say to a player who holds the opinion that something like Warcraft's PvP is superior to Warhammer's RvR?

This is my opinion, but I find when I talk to players who have that opinion that it's about convenience as to why they prefer the WoW model of PvP over the WAR model. We're really seeing a change. So, for you and I, we've been playing MMOs for a while. But there are people out there who have never touched any other MMO except for WoW. That game is all they know. They don't know what EQ was like, they don't know what UO was like, they don't know what MUDs are, so they don't have this broad concept. They just want stuff now and they want to get out quickly. They want instant gratification and they want to be constantly patted on the back with an enthusiastic, "Good job, good job!"

"Then we added in the token system because we understand that at the end of the day you just may not get that loot roll."

So when WAR was launched, we didn't have anything like the token system. We just took the approach of, "Well, you're just going to have to work for it. I'm sorry, but you have to go out, fight enemies, get through their keeps, and go for it." What ended up happening was the players began taking the path of least resistance. Players even went to lengths to avoid one another, and that really confused us. We thought they had bought our game to RvR, but they're avoiding enemies! Then we had things like keep trading and round robin keeps going on, so that's why we went to zone domination. It's why we took the rewards off of flipping a keep and put it on flipping the zone. That way you're not just hopping from pairing to pairing and going around, and around, and around. Now they want to capture and fight for that zone.

Then we added in the token system because we understand that at the end of the day you just may not get that loot roll. I, honestly, have horrible luck. I rarely, if ever, get the gold bag. Now for participating you get this token. Sure, you need a lot of them, but you know you're getting somewhere.

We're learning a lot about the player base. We hear all of the feedback from the players and hear what they're complaining about. When I come into work in the morning I have, from multiple sources, the top five issues of the game. And that helps me and the other producers determine exactly what we need to put our teams on. What needs to be hotfixed before the weekend, what needs to be put into the next patch, or whatever.

So they game is getting better. The game is better today than it was at launch in terms of stability, performance, and how the systems are working. We have teams dedicated to it and we just keep pushing it.

The sands of the Tomb Kings are coming as the final release in the Call to Arms live expansion, the Land of the Dead approaches! Massively has your back with coverage from Mythic Entertainment at Games Day '09, so get your WAAGGGHHH ready for RvR mayhem as Massively re-arms for WAR!

Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer's 1.3 (Land of the Dead) public test has begun

Brooke Pilley — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Warhammer Online, News Items

Mythic just began rolling out phase one of their highly anticipated 1.3 patch (Land of the Dead) for Warhammer Online. This phase will focus primarily on combat and careers and the new expedition mechanic, so players won't actually be able to enter the new Tomb Kings zones just yet.

What's that saying; "Good things come to those who wait?" Keep telling yourself that - it will get you through the long and chilly desert nights.

This will be the fifth massive patch for WAR subscribers in 2009 and its contents rival any of the others. Just to name a few highlights, patch 1.3 will introduce The Land of the Dead, a new sigil system that replaces wards, additional keep upgrades, and additional career balance focusing on AoE and crowd control abilities.

Land of the Dead information came pouring out of Baltimore this week as Mythic was participating in Games Workshop's annual Games Day event. Our very own Colin Brennan was there and got plenty of juicy details, including a zone overview, hands on impressions, and interviews with Mark Davis, Josh Drescher, and Paul Barnett. He hasn't even posted everything yet, so keep checking in! The 1.3 patch is set to launch mid-June.

Warhammer's 1.3 (Land of the Dead) public test has begun originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: All about Warhammer Online's live events with Mark Davis

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Events (In-Game), Game Mechanics, Warhammer Online, Interviews (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage)

Mark Davis knows Warhammer Online's live events well. He should, because he's the man behind them! During Games Day '09, we had the chance to catch up with the live events lead and discuss some shop talk with him -- including a look at the newest live event, "Rise of the Tomb Kings," and a little about what goes on behind the scenes.

How long does it take for a live event to be produced? What are some of Mark's favorite moments? What can we expect in the live events to come? And, most importantly, what are we going to find in the Rise of the Tomb Kings? All of these questions, and more, are answered within!

Continue reading Games Day '09: All about Warhammer Online's live events with Mark Davis

Games Day '09: All about Warhammer Online's live events with Mark Davis originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Expansions, New Titles, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online, PvE, Opinion, Hands-On (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage)

So we've been over the cold, unfeeling facts about Land of the Dead. It's big, it's a throwback zone to action RPGs, it has RvR and PvE, and it's filled with mummies. But you don't want the facts, right? You want to know how it plays and you want to know if it's worth your time to pick up Warhammer or resubscribe to the game.

During my time at Games Day, I got the chance to participate in a bunch of the PQs in the new zone and try out a few areas of the Tomb of the Vulture Lord, the capstone dungeon of the whole experience. I got to be shanked by swinging blades, pierced by surprise dart traps, and I even got to wear the Sovereign armor set, the pinnacle armor of the game. (Yes, it looks completely badass.)

Continue reading Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead

Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Expansions, New Titles, Patches, PvP, Warhammer Online, PvE, Opinion, Hands-On (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage)

Get caught in one of the clouds and you'll find yourself teleported to the bottom of one of the nearby tombs, stuck in a sarcophagus, and taking damage from the curse. Your friends can't get into the tombs due to barriers that are placed over the doors, turning this into a race to get out of the tomb before you die. These moments were filled with frantic cheers and laughter as we all danced around trying to avoid the dust clouds, accompanied by laughs of anguish as people would get caught and stuck inside of the tomb.

Overall, the PQs are really enjoyable and a nice step away from "kill, rinse, repeat." Even if they involve killing monsters, there's usually some sort of trick to the PQ that makes it into a very active experience, rather than a strict button mashing period. Plus if that last boss battle sounded crazy, think of how it could go when the zone flips sides and the enemy begins running in. Now you have a boss, enemy players, and dust clouds. Fights in the tombs while curse is in effect, anyone? Luring enemies to stand in the way of dust clouds?

Eventually though, we were taken away from the PQs and had the chance to step into the Tomb of the Vulure Lord itself -- testing our mettle against the various traps. The first one that stood in our way was a hallway filled with swinging pendulum blades.

These blades were stacked very close together, with little room between them to stand without getting yourself sliced in half. One hit kills you, so don't try running through aimlessly because it's not going to end well. This trap is all about timing, placement, and pattern recognition -- a classic console adventure trap. What I liked the most about these traps was that they don't require the whole party to make it. Three people is all you need out of your group of six, and dying in the dungeon will just respawn you at the entrance (as long as you maintain control, of course.)

"It's very different, and it's alot of fun."

Eventually making it past that trap gave us access to the Terracotta Army hall -- a room filled with terracotta statues of soldiers and chariots. The whole room could be categorized under "things that never end well" because, as you would expect, walking next to some statues causes them to come to life. This whole encounter is a hybrid PQ/boss battle, as killing enough soldiers will awaken the final boss of the room, an angry skeleton who switches between different stances while you do battle with him.

Overall, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this. I was expecting an area and a dungeon filled with standard MMO trappings of trash mob pulls, boring grindfests, and RvR mixed in with all of that. What I got was a very carefully crafted zone that caters to all types of MMO players and merges PvP content with PvE content in a really inventive fashion. Even the Tomb of the Vulture Lord doesn't feel like a traditional MMO dungeon. It's an adventure through a tomb rather than a series of trash pulls with scary bosses. It tells a story and immerses you rather than just throwing themed encounters at you. Sure, this mystique will wear off over time, but I don't see this dungeon becoming something like other MMO dungeons. It's very different, and it's alot of fun. Land of the Dead is totally something you need to experience.

Games Day '09: Our impressions of Warhammer's Land of the Dead pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The cake of WAGGGGHHHH!!!

Seraphina Brennan — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, Warhammer Online, News Items, Humor, Events (Massively's Coverage)

This last Saturday was Games Workshop's Games Day celebration, and Massively.com was on site to get you the latest Warhammer Online coverage straight from Mythic Entertainment. Want to know more about Ultima Online's Stygian Abyss expansion? Curious about Land of the Dead? Interested as to the future direction of Warhammer Online? Do your favorite devs play on order or destruction? Find all of these answers and more in our full coverage of the event starting tomorrow, including our hands-on impressions of the new mega-dungeon, Land of the Dead!

In the meantime, if you're hungry for coverage, let your eyes feast on this awesome squig herder cake, made by Charm City Cakes. You know, Chef Duff from Food Network's Ace of Cakes? Yeah, he would be the guy who cooked this bad boy up. The cake lasted for the entire show, but we think there might have been some squig pieces shared amongst staff once the event's doors closed.

Excited? Come back tomorrow and check out all of the tasty coverage. The squig is only the icing on the cake! Ok, we're done with the bad puns now, we promise.

The cake of WAGGGGHHHH!!! originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 10 May 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer's Beyond the Sands event now live

Kyle Horner — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Warhammer Online, News Items

Starting yesterday and continuing on through Monday, April 27th, Warhammer Online players have access to the next phase of Mythic's Call to Arms live expansion, Beyond the Sands. The event focuses on both factions competing over artifacts of the Nehekharan Kings and to defeat their undeathly Liche Priests. According to Mythic, this particular event focuses primarily on RvR but does contain a dash of PvE as well.

Although those looking for more PvE content won't be waiting too much longer, as this is all leading up to the Land of the Dead update which is purportedly bringing new instanced dungeons. Then again, it's also bring a large new RvR zone as well, so all things in balance we suppose.

The content just keeps on coming for Warhammer Online players, and that's never a bad thing. With the biggest content still yet to come, there seems to be plenty about this game to remain excited about.

Warhammer's Beyond the Sands event now live originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic's Carrie Gouskos on Warhammer's ToK and hints of patch 1.3

Kyle Horner — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Patches, Warhammer Online, News Items, Rumors

The 1.2 patch for Warhammer Online is barely a week old, but Chaos Moon managed to speak with Mythic's Carrie Gouskos about many a things -- including some hints for the 1.3 patch. There was also some general discussion of future updates to the Tome of Knowledge and much love from Carrie concerning the Book of Grudges mod. We're pretty excited to hear stat tracking for Scenarios and oRvR battles are on their way.

Of course the big news concerns clues of what to expect in the next big patch. Following some of Carrie's comments, it sounds as though the Tome of Knowledge could be getting a new feature or two in the 1.3. update. Additionally, some further UI information and visual improvements are on the was as well -- although Carrie mentions the visual boost will be minor.

What sorts of UI improvements could be on the way? The added layer of information to the open party and world map systems in 1.2 have been very well received, but going from Carrie's comments it seems as though something much more exciting is on the way. Given the size of the first two live events, something tells us Mythic will be showing off whatever it is they're working on next in a big way.

Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Mythic's Carrie Gouskos on Warhammer's ToK and hints of patch 1.3 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively re-arms for WAR: Slayer

Kyle Horner — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Hands-On (Massively's)

Dwarf Slayers are just about ready to start hitting the live Warhammer Online servers for all their worth. With the orange tide imminent, I've been running around the test server for the past several days, looking to learn all I could about these wonders of Dwarven kind. Including -- but not limited to -- the underlying cogs of their special mechanic, how they handle PvP and PvE, and most importantly where they hide their booze -- here's a hint: it's underneath something.

Now, with many honorable deaths under my massive beard, I've come here to present you, our dear readers, with a neatly packed bundle of information.

Continue reading Massively re-arms for WAR: Slayer

Massively re-arms for WAR: Slayer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Has Warhammer Online dragged you away from the tabletop?

Tateru Nino — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New Titles, Warhammer Online, The Daily Grind, Warhammer 40k

This last week, I had occasion to wander past the local Games Workshop store, longtime home of Warhammer Fantasy Battle/Warhammer 40K merchandise and related goods. I can't be said to venture within with any great frequency, but something particular caught my eye, and I was intrigued enough to duck in and talk to the staff. You see, uncharacteristically, the store was devoid of customers for the first time I had seen since it had opened.

I spoke with Todd, the store manager, who told me that it had been like that for a couple of weeks. Customers and sales had suddenly dropped off, leaving the store empty for hours at a time. Previously there were customers passing the time, discussing products and their collective hobby for extended periods, as well as making purchases. Without warning it had all dried up. Todd and I toyed with the speculation that perhaps his regular customers for miniatures and related paraphernalia had simply chosen to join the epic battle between Order and Chaos online instead of offline, but came to no real conclusion.

So, what about it, enlightened readers -- has Warhammer Online curbed your time with the tabletop and face-to-face versions of this popular game, or are you still the loyal grognards and figure-fans you always were?

The Daily Grind: Has Warhammer Online dragged you away from the tabletop? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GamerDNA rolls out their guild roster API

Kyle Horner — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News Items

Remember that super nifty Warhammer Online signature API we showed you a little while back? Well, GamerDNA is back but this time with a guild roster tool that throws together a pretty nice website with little effort. They have a quick and dirty example for guild leaders to check out, but emphasis that more could be done with a larger portion of time. GamerDNA seems more than able when it comes to making use of all this data, in fact we're inclined to say they're data-masters to some degree -- mostly because it sounds kinda cool.

We're sure there'll be more cool code coming from the guys 'n gals over at GamerDNA as Mines of Moria and Wrath of the Lich King see their release dates roll up.

GamerDNA rolls out their guild roster API originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK Games Expo 2008 announces new artist for charity event

Shawn Schuster — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, Contests, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry

If you've been following NCsoft Europe around lately, you'll notice they've been attending a ton of conferences and keeping fairly busy with charitable events as well. This coming weekend is no exception, as they'll be participating in the UK Games Expo 2008 event in Birmingham, after just returning from Bristol's Comicexpo. Also, with them once again are the artists from Draw the World Together, a charity formed to help children in developing third-world countries.

During this coming event, NCsoft will be joined by Games Workshop artist Karl Kopinski. You may have seen Karl's amazing work if you're a Warhammer fan, or if you've checked out his personal site itself. He will be appearing at the UK Games Expo 2008 on Saturday only, so if you'd like to have your character drawn by him, you better get there early!

UK Games Expo 2008 announces new artist for charity event originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 May 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Germans show undying love for Warhammer Online

Kyle Horner — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: New Titles, Warhammer Online, News Items

We've always known that Europe -- and Germany in particular -- were big Warhammer fans. This fandom apparently loses no potency when applied to MMO versions of the franchise, as the German version of the Warhammer Online Collector's Edition has apparently sold out on Amazon. As of right now, there's no word on whether or not more copies of the CE will be produced to meet further demand, but it would be silly for Electronic Arts not to do so.

Surprised? Well you probably shouldn't be, as Games Workshop has legions of thronging fans throughout Europe and usually experiences the Hasselhoff effect in Germany. If this kind of trend continues throughout the rest of Europe, we suppose that Warhammer Online's success in North America could become a bit of a moot point.

Whatever happens throughout the rest of Europe, It looks like Germany is hooked on a feeling when it comes to WAR.

Germans show undying love for Warhammer Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer Online tours America, unites people

Akela Talamasca — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Previews, Warhammer Online, News Items

It's not stating the situation too excessively to remark that people are excited about this game. Many are anticipating it with the same fervor mustered by religious zealots. Some use the phrase 'WoW Killer'. And all of this without even having played the thing at all.

Well, there's news that might mitigate that last little bit: If you can't wait for the eventual open beta download, you can play WAR at a few events across the country! The list of events, with locations and dates, after the jump!

Continue reading Warhammer Online tours America, unites people

Warhammer Online tours America, unites people originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Footloose in WAR

Shawn Schuster — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, New Titles, Warhammer Online

When you and your family move from big-city Chicago to a small town out west, you're in for a real case of culture shock. You try hard to fit in, but you can't quite believe you're living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. There is a glimmer of hope, however: a troubled but lovely blonde with an exceedingly strict father, who is responsible for keeping the town dance-free. You and your classmates want to do away with this ordinance, especially since the senior prom is around the corner. Only YOU have the courage to initiate a battle to abolish the ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople!

Sound familiar? If you're a child of the 80's you might recognize this as the plot for the rebellious teen drama Footloose, but recently Warhammer Online announced that it will not include a /dance emote in their game. Is this the decision of EA Mythic, Games Workshop or an overly restrictive minister who oddly resembles John Lithgow? More importantly, how drastically will this affect the economy if players can't /dance for gold in town?

Footloose in WAR originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WHA tellz you grots bout da' WAAAGH!

Chris Chester — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lore, New Titles, Warhammer Online, Races

One of the aspects about Warhammer Online's Greenskins that seems to endear them to players so much is that they present the opportunity to write in a hackneyed and entirely ungrammatically stunted form of english. Wut iz dees humies lookin' at dem shiny bits for? See, I slipped into character there. I bet you thought I was an Orc for a second. It's OK, you don't have to feel bad, I'm a pretty good actor.

For those not already well steeped in the Warhammer lore via the tabletop game and pen and paper RPG, the folks over at Warhammer Alliance have been going faction by faction putting up guides to the various races. By some strange fortune, we somehow missed the fact that they had posted a "Guide to the Waaagh" last week, replete with biological information, sociological observations, and of course a gracious dose of Orc-speak. It's a short run-down, but well worth soaking up for anybody at all interested in fielding a Black Orc or Shaman into battle in Q2 of this year.

Of course, if you really want to get serious about things, you should probably pick up the Orcs & Goblins Army book or bookmark the Warhammer Wiki for perusal at work.

WHA tellz you grots bout da' WAAAGH! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR vs WoW: Keen and Graev compare

Kyle Horner — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Dark Age of Camelot, Game Mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online

This is definitely a topic that will continue to come up throughout the year of 2008, so get used to seeing it. Keen and Graev attempt to get the first (and probably the biggest) part of this issue out of the way quick; it's not about which is the better game. They continue on with their topic comparing the two games' differences and similarities. One such similarity is posted above this text; the graphical appearance of the games. The argument here is that both games have a "cartoony" look to them, but that Warhammer Online's style is a bit more "grungy". We're not entirely sure if that picture above (not taken by Keen and Graev or us, mind you) illustrates much of a similarity, unless Blizzard is the only company allowed to use red in their MMOs now.

Aside from that, the article lines out the huge difference in PvP between the two games. The biggest difference of course is the Realm vs Realm combat where conquering your enemy has a real in-world cost; your land as well as your pride. Something that is very related to RvR that we happen to be very excited about is Keeps and Siege Weapons, which were originally in Dark Age of Camelot. A suggestion that Keen and Graev make that we think is a good idea is to check out the official podcasts made by the dev team. They explain many aspects of WAR in fun, informative and often entertaining ways (we're looking at your Mr Barnett).

WAR vs WoW: Keen and Graev compare originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What do SimCity Societies and Second Life have in common?

Tateru Nino — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Second Life

Over on Computeractive.co.uk, Anthony Dhanendran has a capsule review of SimCity Societies, where he calls Simcity Societies "the game's answer to virtual worlds such as Second Life."

You might wonder just how deep the similarities go. We've played SimCity Societies, even though it isn't actually an MMO of any description, and - of course - we're all over Second Life. So, what does Dhanendran base his comparison on, and is it really valid?

Continue reading What do SimCity Societies and Second Life have in common?

What do SimCity Societies and Second Life have in common? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer Online: an interview of massive miniatures

Louis McLaughlin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, New Titles, Warhammer Online

Tentonhammer have recently posted an interview with Erik Mogensen, Licensing Manager of Games Workshop, about the upcoming Warhammer Online. The interview focuses on the problems of turning a tabletop miniature game into a top-flight MMO, and whether EA Mythic have had difficulty adapting to the licensing requirements that Games Workshop need.

Licenses and MMOs are curious bedfellows, and it's a separate kind of balance that -- although Erik is very upbeat about the work that's been done by Mythic, it's usually much less flexible than the PvE and PvP side of things. On the one hand, it's instant market saturation -- you don't have to explain what a Klingon or a Lightsaber is to anyone. On the other hand, condensing a universe into a single game will never be easy.

Warhammer Online: an interview of massive miniatures originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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