I used to love MMORPGs. There was something about the exploration, the combat, the loot and that factor that's impossible to code: other gamers. I guess I still do love playing them in a way but nowadays that love is tempered with the expectation of disappointment. I've gotten to a point in my gaming where MMOs fail to deliver what I want from the amount of time spent. It's seems like a lot of them require work before you can play.
There's this idea that in order to get to the fun parts of MMOs you have to suffer through seemingly endless grinding of repetitive quests involving beating animals to death and possibly carrying back to your quest initiator some kind of blood-seeping trophy: a paw, a snout or even a head. At this point, I've seen it all before.
When Mythic - now known as EA Mythic - announced a Warhammer MMO, my first thought was that they were doing a Warhammer 40K MMO and I was somewhat giddy about another big sci-fi license getting its own massive game. You see, there are two variations of Warhammer: the fantasy setting called just Warhammer or Warhammer Fantasy Battle and the futuristic sci-fi setting called Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer 40K.
My experience with both series starts and ends with the computer games based on them, namely Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Warhammer: Mark of Chaos. I have been known to venture into the local Games Workshop store where the tabletop Warhammer is sold and played but my wife is keen enough to grab my wallet and bolt for the door before the salesmen get too far into their pitch. The tabletop game is the kind of thing I could lose myself in, which would cost me hundreds of dollars and untold amounts of time.
Anyway I digress. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is based on the classic, fantasy Warhammer setting. Mythic's previous most well-known game was the PvP heavy Dark Age of Camelot. I'm sure that EA Mythic is a good match for a Warhammer MMO but it's the setting that puts me to sleep. Do we really need another fantasy MMO? Haven't we fought and killed enough giant spiders, skeletons, goblins, zombies and orcs while playing everything from Ultima Online to Lord of the Rings Online?
That's a bit of a loaded question, actually. Couldn't you say the same about single-player fantasy RPGs, WWII shooters and Madden football games? Yes, but each time a new game is released in one of those genres there are a number of improvements. Perhaps Warhammer Online will do the same and improve on the fantasy MMO formula, but it's that very formula that bores me.
My immediate disappointment with Warhammer Online descended directly from the idea that an MMO in the Warhammer 40K universe would be a better game for no other reason than the setting. I held onto that belief - somehow forgetting about the slew of floundering sci-fi MMOs on the market - until very recently when I reviewed Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa. You can read the review here if you like, but the long and short of it is that it's a lot like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online but with aliens and lasers instead of orcs and swords. Tabula Rasa is good but does not ascend above WoW or LOTRO based only on the setting.
For some reason sci-fi settings are tricky even with a successful license - Star Wars Galaxies and The Matrix Online can attest to that. Why aren't more companies looking to science fiction settings for their MMOs? When a developer or publisher is contemplating years of effort, tens of millions of dollars needed to launch and carry a successful MMO and the inherent complexity of getting one of these games to work in the first place, the word "tricky" is not an ideal description of your setting. No, a setting will not break or save a game, but if handled correctly it can go a long way to making the universe interesting to explore.
Yep. That looks like a magic guy in a fantasy MMO.
The fantasy Warhammer MMO, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, will hit stores first but I'm still more excited about the 40K game. There's been some recent news released about the Warhammer 40K MMO that's being developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ, the most notable being that it's still about two years away from launch. There were some promises made by Vigil creative director Joe Madureira - the same "Joe Mad" who's currently drawing "Ultimates 3" for Marvel Comics - about the 40K MMO having "the coolest looking characters of any MMO ever," but those promises are easy to make this early in the development. The real reason I prefer the 40K universe is because I'd rather roll a space marine with a bolter than a dwarf with an axe. It may be a personal preference but the sci-fi setting feels more exotic.
So what will it take to get me excited about the fantasy-themed Warhammer Online that's currently schedule to launch in mid-October? There's no substitute for creating a character and playing for a few hours when it comes to an MMO. I played a little of Warhammer Online at E for All last year but that experience only served to further sour my outlook of the game. Playing with an unfamiliar character in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar mechanics for 10 minutes is not the best way to get introduced to an MMO.
Like any MMO it will be a combination of small details that add up to an enjoyable experience. Nothing about Warhammer Online excites me yet. It looks and feels very been-there-killed-that. It's the same way I feel about Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. What's that, a guy with an axe fighting a troll or something? Yawn. You just can't know about these games until they're up and running and you're sitting there with a few hours to really dive into them. It's all in the details.
I don't expect either Warhammer MMO or Age of Conan to make so much as a dent in Warcraft's domination of the MMO space, and neither should you. World of Warcraft is not a bar for success to be measured against. It's an aberration. It was the confluence of so many factors that made it a phenomenal success and it will never be duplicated. I sincerely wish the best for Warhammer Online and Age of Conan because I want the fantasy MMO model to evolve into something else. But the first time I'm asked to kill eight dire wolves and bring back their tails I'll at least let out a long, dramatic sigh of exasperation before fulfilling the wishes of my virtual master.
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