40k MMO to be unveiled at 2010 E3

[Bigred]

via Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/warhammer-40k-mmo-to-be-unveiled-at-e3)


THQ has promised to "fully unveil" the new Warhammer 40K MMO at this summer's E3 2010.

Boss Brian Farrell told investors this IP could run for several years, and therefore represents the "highest ranking revenue opportunity" the publisher has.

Farrell added that in Warhammer 40K, THQ has a "very competitive MMO".

So far we know little about the game. Darksiders' Vigil Games will develop under the creative lead of Joe Madureira - presumably alongside the Darksiders sequel due out before April next year.

Madureira's said combat will take place on a larger scale than Mythic's Warhammer Online and that there will be "tons" of customisation and the "coolest looking characters of any MMO, ever".

E3 takes place on 15th-17th June 2010. We'll be there.

Some type of movement at long last. Also note that unveiled and shipped are two very different things.

[Cryl]

Lets hope this actually has some PvE endgame options in there unlike the PvP / RvR nonsense that dominated WAR Online... also I'm really interested to see how they balance the classes especially if people can play as Marines

[Melissia]

Agreed. And if MArines are all you can play, they deserve to be stabbed, shot, stepped on, kicked in the face, set on fire, stomped, and then shot again to put them out of their misery, as that would be unbelievably boring and badly designed.

Actually, IIRC Relic has found that Marines aren't as popular in games as they are in the tabletop, with Marines not being played near as much as people thought they would be...

[Sangre]

A quid says that the sisters won't be in it.

[Madness]

Dude there's too less girl appeal, the sob most def. have a shot at it.

[Melissia]

Right, the Sisters have a bigger chance of being in it as playable than most of the races. I can just imagine the Necrontyr, the Tyranids, etc... just lol.

[Madness]

Well, you still need enemy races...

[Melissia]

True, but they don't work too well as player characters. And an MMO needs a decent variety of player characters.

[Absolutionis]

If old claims hold true, this will actually be a MMORPG and not the MMOFPS that some are guessing.

Why does every thread on BOLS get derailed into a conversation about Sisters of Battle?

[Duke]

One of the great things about BoLS lounge (and one of the worst things too) is that almost every conversation has some blurb about sisters... Its a long time running joke that started many moons ago.

That said.... All I can say is WOOT! I know my wife is going to hate me when this finally ships. This has a lot of potential and I hope it is more MMORPG than MMOFPS.

Duke

[Absolutionis]

Anarchy Online pulled off the SciFi MMORPG-with-guns concept rather okay. I wonder what sort of gimmick 40k online will have.

[Melissia]

It is practically my mission on the forums, but that's mostly because I keep most of my Guard talk on the IGMB and I don't talk much about my Orks except as far as fluff goes. And strangely enough I've actually convinced people to get into Sisters armies with some of my rants... apparently I do better marketing for the Sisters than GW does, but then GW does zero marketing so I guess it isn't hard.

Regardless, I think the Sisters of Battle would do just fine.

It could even be divided into something like...

Imperium:
Marine
Sister
Sergeant of some sort? (Could eventually become a psyker, an officer, etc)

Orks:
Sluggaboy
Shootaboy
Grot

Eldar:
Guardian
Warlock trainee of some sort
Harlequin trainee of some sort

Chaos:
Mutant Cultist
Initiate Marine
Initiate Sorcerer



etc etc etc. Three "classes" per group essentially. Given that it's much easier for them to make one group of allied races fight another alliance of races, it probably will end up being Imperium, Eldar, and Tau... versus Chaos, Orks, and Dark Eldar, given that the Necrons and Tyranids don't really lend themselves to player characters. Of course, this is all speculation, but I'm basing mostly it off how they did WAR. WAR did the best compromise they could manage, but that compromise doesn't entirely work in 40k... still, for the sake of gameplay they can stretch the fluff a bit. If they don't, it'll be rather difficult to have an organized player base.

[Sangre]

If old claims hold true, this will actually be a MMORPG and not the MMOFPS that some are guessing.

Why does every thread on BOLS get derailed into a conversation about Sisters of Battle?

See:


[Any post]

[Duke]

Personally I would like to see this game be more like Lineage 2 than WAR. What I mean by that is: In Lineage 2 any race could attack anyother race at any time, it was all free game. yes, that means imperials PKing iimperials. Yes, there were downsides to just killing at random (You name would turn red and if you were killed while red then you had a chance to drop your gear!) But it gave this feeling of "Oh crap," which I would think would be great in a 40kMMO.

That said Im going to have to disagree with M's classes a bit and substitute my own reality ;)

Imperium:
Distance: Guardsman progresses to Storm Trooper(Male and Female)
Close Combat: Marine progresses to 1st company veteran(NO FSM! lol)
Misc: Commisar/ Battle psyker or other progresses to Lord Commisar/ Primaris Psyker(Male and Female)

Orks:
Distance: Shootaboy progresses to shooty Nob
Close: Sluggaboy Progresses to CC Nob
Misc: Mekboy Progresses to a smudge on the wall because his head exploded at lvl 20, lol

Eldar:
Shooty: Guardian who progresses to Firedragon or Dark Reaper
Close: Storm Guardian progresses to Banshee, Scorpion, Harlie
Misc: Warlock progress to Farseer

Chaos:
Shooty: marine Progresses to 'chosen'
Combat: Cultist progresses to Possessed cultist
Misc: Sorc. progresses to Sorc. Lord.


I would also think that some of the other races like Tau and Dark Eldar could be later expansions cause we know THQ loves to do that.

What does everyone else think about classes/ races?

Duke

[Faultie]

I really hope that there are Arbites in this. That would be fantastic!

We'll just have to wait, though.

[Melissia]

Sangre: Shutup.

Faultie: Agreed! I just don't know how they CAN be included in an interesting way if we have Marines as player characters...

Duke: If we have to have Marines which are male-only, then we might as well have Sisters, whom are female-only. And Sisters fulfill a decent support role, similar to the Warrior Priest of WAR-- a durable team buffer with short-ranged combat abilities.

But more importantly, what's good about WAR is that all classes are combat classes. That's something that should be copied over to 40k for sure, as 40k has that even moreso.

[Duke]

I could see a SoB fitting into the "Misc," role. Maybe she is good at short range shooting/ buffing. But to be honest, I don't think that they will bring in Sisters till later (though I think they could fit nicely.)

Duke

[Melissia]

But the thing is, if it's all Marines, it's GOING to be a failure, inevitably dying off. Marines are far too generic for an MMO to be based entirelly off of, both visually and when you think of capabilities, and such a game wouldn't survive as an MMO.

Sisters, Guardsmen, etc, present great gameplay opportunities which Marines cannot repreoduce.

[Aenir]

As there are tons of leveling opportunities, SMs start as a scout and move up?

I wonder how they will tinker with chapters

[Madness]

Gh, 12 roles would be quite reductive, I hope they go down a more final fantasy XI path, 40k has more to offer than "marines = tank".

[Melissia]

I would imagine that they would do that through advanced classes. Like a Marine starts out as a scout and when they hit a certain level they can develope into a Devastator, Assaulter, Tactical, Librarian, etc.

Similarly, a Sister could develope into a Celestian, Seraphim, Retributor, etc, and a Guard could become an officer, stormtrooper, psyker, and so on. A slugga could develope into a nob or stormboy, a shoota could become a loota or flash git, and both types could become mekboyz or weirdboyz. Not sure on grots, but they can come up with things.

The "roles" aren't so much roles as starting classes, similar to Lineage 2's classes.

[Duke]

I would love the game if it was like Lineage 2! I loved how people of the same races could kill eachother... Think about how cool it would be to see imperials killing eachother!

As far as marines being "boring," to play I have to disagree with you. Perhaps if every single person was a marine then it would be boring... But I think we overstimate how many people will play a marine character. I think marines would be fun if they did something like this:

Lvl 1-20 Scout
(balanced CC and ranged DPS)

lvl 20-50 Choose between
assault marine- CC DPS
tactical marine- ranged DPS

50+
- Assa. Marine can become: Vanguard veteran (highCC DPS) or Assault termie (Lower CC DPS +tank)
- Tactical Marine: Sternguard Veteran (high Ranged DPS) or Shooty Termie (lower DPS + buffing?)

Extreme lvls:
- Vanguard vets become Chaplains (Extreme CC DPS)
- Assault Termies become Close combat Force Commanders (Lower CC DPS + buffing + tank)
- Sternguard vets become Librarians (Extreme ranged DPS)
- Shooty Termies become Shooty Force Commanders (lower rangedDPS + buffing + tank)


That would be a lot like Lineage 2 and as long as they could fix the slow leveling problem then the game would be awesome!

Duke

[Madness]

I just hope they shift away from the tank/healer/dps paradigm, 40k won't work on such a healer-based system.

[Duke]

I would like them to get away from that same thing... Though I have an aching feeling that they won't. Most people know what class they like to play and generally stick to that (at least the people I know do).

Duke

[Melissia]

They could use a "healer" type similar to the minstrel in Lord of the Rings Online, IE, instead of HP they have morale, and can continue fighting until they run out of it, at which point they are defeated.

[Madness]

Sort of what I thought too, I liked how morale worked in DoW too. If they can use that approach AND make fights look less like a "I hit you, you hit me" endless loop and more like a dynamic system, I'd be super happy.

Rakion comes to mind as something out of the box that kinda sorta works.

[Razorx1970]

IF they had half a brain, they'd look long and hard at StarWars Galaxies. They could easily do ALL of the good races as one faction, and all of the bad races as another IF they did what SOE did in SWG.

Overall, how SWG is presented, how crafting and economy are integrated, how one can own houses, create player cities, and overall the entire community feel of SWG is what a new MMO needs as well. It's also a sandbox environment, with large wide open spaces to explore.

It's why every MMO since SWG has failed, they all lacked what was found alive and well in SWG. Sure SWG might not be as popular as WOW, but I bet you anything it's prob the #2 or #3 most popular one still running today.

[Duke]

IF they had half a brain, they'd look long and hard at StarWars Galaxies. They could easily do ALL of the good races as one faction, and all of the bad races as another IF they did what SOE did in SWG.

Overall, how SWG is presented, how crafting and economy are integrated, how one can own houses, create player cities, and overall the entire community feel of SWG is what a new MMO needs as well. It's also a sandbox environment, with large wide open spaces to explore.

It's why every MMO since SWG has failed, they all lacked what was found alive and well in SWG. Sure SWG might not be as popular as WOW, but I bet you anything it's prob the #2 or #3 most popular one still running today.

I played SWG for a bit and have to say that there are some great things about the game, but all in all it needs to be more KILLY! I didn't like the lack of PVP in SWG (At least when I played it). a good 40k MMO has to be all about PVP, much like Lineage 2. But I hated the economy of Lineage 2, SWG could be a better economic system.

Duke

[Duke]

Sort of what I thought too, I liked how morale worked in DoW too. If they can use that approach AND make fights look less like a "I hit you, you hit me" endless loop and more like a dynamic system, I'd be super happy.

Rakion comes to mind as something out of the box that kinda sorta works.

Here is what I was thinking for a more 'dynamic,' combat system.

Firefights are all about cover, more like Mass Effect 2 and DOW 2 than Halo or WoW. If your shooting a guy who is 'in cover,' from your angel then you do less damage. If you can outflank him and shoot him so that he is not in cover from your angel (imagine a guy behined a wall that provides cover from one direction.) then you would get a small bonus to experience and damage. Lets say 1 pt of xp for ever shot you hit with when outflanking. This would encourage a dynamic, move/ counter move firefight. If you are in a squad then the extra experience is put into a pool and split between the squad members so your ventrilo conversation would be like this:

"You and I stay here in cover to draw his fire, The other two guys/gals will go around each flank and ignore his cover and take him out."

The point of giving xp for 'outflanking,' is that if there is not real benefit to doing it then people won't even try and will simply have a firefight between two pieces of cover. Even something as simple as enhanced damage for outflanking would be enough IMHO to encourage a dynamic fight.

Duke

[Madness]

Duke, try Rakion, it's an extremely Korean freemium game (yes, korean games have a peculiar feeling to them) that kinda works in both the close quarter and the ranged aspects of the game, it's an action/fighting rather than *click*wait*click*wait* but it works wonderfully.

For instance if someone blocks a blow you don't just see the same animation with "block" where usually you see "numbers", not to mention that blocking is something you learn to time right as opposed as a random chance based on a skill. But I trust such a thing could be translated into a less frantic style.

Razorx, sadly it's not in the top 3, not even in the top 5.

[Melissia]

Korean freemium game (yes, korean games have a peculiar feeling to them)

Oh god, you got that right... *mutters at all the crappy korean "free to play" games that try and force you to pay if you want to enjoy anything more than the barest shell of a husk of a game...*

[Duke]

That was a big problem with Lineage 2. They made you pay the monthly subscription and the economy was so bad that if you didn't ebay ingame money you couldn't afford any gear!

Duke

[Madness]

Hopeless grind stories aside, I'd like you people to try it and tell me if you feel if there's something good there or if I'm just batpoop crazy.

[Duke]

By 'something good there,' do you mean Lineage 2? or just Korean free games?

Duke

[Madness]

I meant rakion's fighting system. I think it has potential.

[Duke]

Im not familiar with it... What is it like?

Duke

[Madness]

Dude, it's free, try it?

[Duke]

Trust me, it isn't the cost that keeps me from playing MMO's... I will, however, make time for 40k MMO

Duke

[Madness]

It's not an MMO, and I'd refrain from buying a game I know nothing about, but if it's free and someone recommended it... again, tho, what's relevant is the game design elements.

[Duke]

Maybe one day I will get around to trying it... I still think that the Mass effect 2 style of combat would be great!

Duke

[Madness]

Two things about that, they stated it's not going to be fps-y and they have a point, I want to play up close and personal, with a power sword splitting enemy atoms.

[Duke]

Yea, I don't want it to be a FPS either... ME2 is more third person shooter. But Im not saying I want it to be a "shooter," at all. Simply that I want cover to make a difference and to move from cover to cover as I move in to kill the opponent with that atom splitting power weapon.

I don't want it to be like "WoW," where you run around in the open 'casting powers,' until one of you dies or gets off a great combo.

Know what i mean?

Duke

[eldargal]

I'm rather disillusioned with mmos since Dragon Age: Origins created such a compelling single player experience. As much as I would like a 40k mmo to be successful, I have trouble seeing how such a depth of fluff in such a vast galaxy is going to be translated into mmo form without some very nasty compromises.

[Cryl]

I'm rather disillusioned with mmos since Dragon Age: Origins created such a compelling single player experience. As much as I would like a 40k mmo to be successful, I have trouble seeing how such a depth of fluff in such a vast galaxy is going to be translated into mmo form without some very nasty compromises.

I agree with all of that. I want the 40k MMOs to be brilliant but I suspect it won't be because the background will need to be heavily cut to fit, not to mention that grinding just doesn't seem to fit too well in the way that I think of 40k... perhaps a Dark Heresy Online equivalent would be a better way to go

also Dragon Age was amazing, on my second playthrough now :)

[Dark_Templar]

Personally I think I am one of the few people who thought WoW was overrated.

I look forward to this, provided they can pull off the progression and make it worthwhile. If I start as a Scout for example, I would definitely want to push to be a Marine, if I start as a pointy eared little humanoid, I would be looking forward to choosing between the various Aspects at some point.

Honestly, despite needing "bad guys", I cannot imagine the NPC conversations between Necrons, Tyranids, or Daemons would be overly stimulating.

I am guessing those races would be non-playable, kill the crap out of them, type races.

So that leaves DE, Orks, CSM.

It has potential, and I hope it is great, but I am not holding my breath.

[Artein]

From THQ private company conference of 20th january concerning E3 presentation plan:

Playable factions:
- Imperium
- Eldar
- Orks
- Chaos

Features:
- Focus both on Meele and Long range Combat
- covering system
- 29 Zones (21 claimable, 8 invadeable)
- Open-World
- PvP around resource gathering and taking strategic points
- center zone features a conquerable stronghold
- No playable Tanks or other Warmachines at release but implemented possibility for expansion
- Tyranids as full fighting PvE-Faction

Lore (being discussed concerning certain faction-plots at the moment but here are the things we determined with Games Workshop so far):
- Game takes place in the southern border-sectors of Segmentum Tempestus
- Factions fight over a destroyed imperial forge world called Tarelis and its hive-city Cerberus X (newly added to the lore!)
- The story of the game will NOT take place in a parallel universe! Just like the Planet Kronus (made by our colleagues at relic) Tarelis will be part of the lore!
- Tyranids will be main-antagonists
- Unfortunately Vigil-games was not allowed to use Relics Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter as Ork Warlord as he will make a final appearance in the second DoW2 expansion

Costs:
- 49.99$
Monthly fee:
- being discussed but most likely around 13$
Rating:
- targeted Teen/PEGI 16

Fully revealed at E3 2010.

Sounds really good.

[Madness]

The only bad thing I can spot is the rating, otherwise it looks acceptable.

[Cryl]

to be honest it sounds a bit too PvPcentric for me... whatever happened to good old PvE style 'dungeon' encounters?

[Madness]

PvP has more longevity and proves a better challenge. PvE overlaps with single player games.

[Aenir]

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blogPost.jsp?aId=8200022a


may I point you to the picture where he is playing computer

when enlarged, I notice soem Chaos Marine Art on the board, but I cant make out what he is playing

Early Alpha?

[Madness]

There's a Dow2 expansion feat. chaos due march too. Or it could be an enemy model for Space Marines.

[Duke]

Sounds like it is coming together failry well. I really liked the "covering system," Like I have said many times, I don't want it to be like a HALO combat where you just run around like a crazy man. Something more like Mass Effect 2 or Gears of War makes more sense IMHO.

I also hope that the Teen rating doesn't get rid of the "Grimdark," I want do want pretty forests and crud. It sounds like we are all on one world, so no space combat/travel? (yet?). I like the idea of sieging a fortress! In lineage 2 it was great fun!

Looking forward to the unveiling at E3.

Duke

P.S. on a different note, has anyone played/ seen M.A.G.? If so what are your thoughts?

[AirHorse]

So much promise from a 40k mmo, but i think its good to hear they arent being over ambitious to begin with. Keeping it to one planet at first means they get a chance to make the game work on an easy to manage scale. They can add spacecraft, other worlds, vehicles etc later IF it works.

I like the idea of using the dow cover system in an mmo setting, i like the idea of pvp areas feeling very much like a game of dawn of war, except each guy is a single player.

Im still gutted that its not a planetside style mmofps! My dream for a 40k mmo wouldve been planetside style scale and system using something akin to the resident evil control system. That way you would have epic battles between multiple factions while keeping the shooting third person allowing melee to be much easier to control and way more satisfying :D

[Melissia]

Let's hope "Imperium" includes the Sisters and Guard as well, rather than being a marinewank faction... Marines are not the Imperium, hell they don't even answer to any Imperial authorities.

[Madness]

If they have no chance but to pick one they will take SM, a sensible choice, but they worded it Imperium, so there's hope, plenty of -.

[Artein]

It's called Imperium, not Space Marines. There's still hope. :p

Imperium is so rich in units.... Guardsmen, Commissars, Psykers, Inquisitors (and retinue), Sisters, Tech-priests. And all those without even mentioning Space Marines.

[Artein]

meh.... double-post....

[Duke]

Like I have said before, I think "Imperium," Will include Marines as well as guard and Inquisitorial classes.

You know they have to do some marines, that alone will sell the fanboys who have always imagined being a supersoldier-monk while skulking in their basement, meanwhile the only thing superhuman about them is the huge stomach from all the chinese takeout.

Just like Star Wars including Jedi... 40k mmo has to include Astartes, even if they are 'watered down,' to be playable.

Duke