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Massively's Warhammer Online character creation guide

Michael Zenke — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, New titles, Warhammer Online

It's Warhammer launch day! The servers are open, and there's an entirely new virtual world to explore! But how are you going to explore it? Are you going to be a burly Chaos berserker, giant axe in-hand? Are you going to use your faith as your shield, serving the church of Sigmar? Will you scuttle through the underbrush as a goblin, or stealth through the trees as an elf? We've got you covered, with out wrap up of every character creation aide we've ginned together in the past few months. Below are some basics, and beyond the cut you'd find a raft of data to help you pick your specific, best class. Good luck and happy waaghing!

	Every Warhammer class explained Read below for crunchy game details on every single class in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. At the end of the piece, check out the designers' take on why the Skaven (among other races) aren't in the game. And, if you're a fan of the recently announced White Lion class, make doubly sure to look below, because we have a few great details that should make you very, very well pleased ...
	Character creation video for Order classes After the jump you'll find three videos, each covering one of the races of Order: Dwarves, Empire (Human) and High Elf. We recorded both male and female choices and a number of different random variations to give you an idea of what you can do.
	Character creation video for Destruction classes You'll notice that there are no female choices for any Goblin career, no female choices for the Chaos tank and melee dps career and no male option for the Dark Elf Witch Elf career. We guess Marilyn Manson in a bikini wasn't that appealing when it came down to it.

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Massively's Warhammer Online character creation guide originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Did you buy Warhammer Online?

Michael Zenke — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, New titles, Warhammer Online, The Daily Grind

Happy Waagh Day everybody! That's right, after three years, numerous setbacks, tons of information, and two head start launches, the real thing is finally here. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is going to retail, and we finally get to see what Mythic's megaton monster can do on the open road. Today we're going to have an epic slew of Warhammer news, features, insights, and content. If you're not in a WAR place right now, our apologies in advance; everybody is painted Goblin Green today.

Our question of the day today is simple: Did you buy Warhammer? Are you participating in the Waagh? If you did, let's hear a shoutout with what faction and class you're playing! This blogger is going Destruction, rolling a Goblin Shaman. Now you soldier. Are you for the Empire ... or an agent of Chaos? Maybe a Dark Elf temptress, or a Dwarven front-line stalwart? Whatever you're playing, let's hear it loud and proud!

Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

The Daily Grind: Did you buy Warhammer Online? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer launch day announcements, letter from Mark Jacobs

Michael Zenke — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, New titles, Warhammer Online, The Daily Grind

It's early on Warhammer Online's launch day, and we have a few last minutes tidbits of news to share with you on this auspicious morning. Mark Jacobs offered up a big, juicy community update just an hour before the game went live at midnight EST. Here are the highlights:

There's been a lot of community frustration with the dual-clickthroughs on every login. Every time a player logs into Warhammer, they're required to scroll down and click through both the game's Code of Conduct and End User License Agreement, something that the WAR bigwigs claimed was non-negotiable. It turns out that Jacobs was able to get that negotiated, and as a result players will 'only' have to click through the game's EULA when they log in.
The developers have been focusing heavily on client stability, in the wake of a Beta test marred a bit by crash-to-desktop issues. As the result of a recent patch, CTD issues have been "cut by 50%" according to the company head.
A small number of CE head start servers were just crushed by the number of people jumping onto them. The company is going to be dealing with these hard cases in a unique fashion: they're going to make complete copies of the server states to fresh hardware. Players and guilds can choose which of the two servers they want to play on, with their complete progress, guild names, and inventories intact.

Mr. Jacobs also put up a sort of touching letter to the community reflecting on the last three years of development. In his short piece he touches on some of the issues we discussed in our recent interview. Make sure to check out our conversation with Mark Jacobs for more reflection on the game's development.

Warhammer launch day announcements, letter from Mark Jacobs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's state of the game: Warhammer Online beta

Michael Zenke — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Culture, Launches, New titles, Warhammer Online, Opinion

During Age of Conan's launch, we took a final look at the game as it existed in Beta, a 'state of the game' that took in everything we knew about the title at that point. Today this blogger has attempted to do the same for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the fantasy MMO slated for release by EA and Mythic Entertainment on the 18th of September. If anything, Warhammer Online is a title with a more tightly-wound, highly anticipatory audience than Conan was. The long history of the Warhammer IP, the evocative nature of the tabletop roleplaying game, and a legion of wargaming followers across the globe has made this a must-play game across numerous demographics.

Adding on to that the game's lengthy development lifetime and very aggressive marketing campaign leads to a recipe for hype few MMO titles have seen before. Reading the blogosphere in the last few days might have lead you to the conclusion that Warhammer is the second coming. Or, alternatively, that it's an unfun grindfest that apes World of Warcraft poorly. As is so often the case, the truth falls somewhere in between.

In actuality, I believe Warhammer Online offers a fundamentally fun experience. It's a tried and true variation on the core fantasy MMO trope, with a few substantial departures from the 'norm' ... possibly enough to change the direction of this genre for years to come. Read on for this blogger's view on where the game is today - regardless of problems, pitfalls, and promise.

Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Continue reading Massively's state of the game: Warhammer Online beta

Massively's state of the game: Warhammer Online beta originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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