Besides, this is much cooler than a typical boring FAQ!!
Enjoy!!!

A Soldier's Story:
The first two weeks were, we thought at the time, the most difficult. While nearly all of us were used to being up with the sun and working quite early, the repetitive nature of the drills and training wore on us. Every night after supper many of us could do little more than collapse in our tents. Every day it seems as though we walked more than we had ever before in our lives. How to march, marching in step, how to turn while marching and much more. I had lived my entire life up to this point not realizing that there were so many ways to walk!

At the end of the third week we finally got our first chance to hold real weapons. Some of our group were taken away then, when it was found they were good shots with a bow. The rest of us were tested to see if we had any ability at all with sword, axe, crossbow or spear. Swinging an axe to chop at a living opponent, I quickly found, was nothing at all like chopping wood for the fire or felling a tree. There was also very little of the wild swinging of weapons from what I had always imagined from the great stories of adventure and war.

It was in the fourth week that I first saw the Priest. He rode into the camp atop a great warhorse, at the head of a small train of wagons and men. Though I had always thought myself rather tall, my head barely came up to the back of that great beast. The ornate armor of the Warrior Priest shone brilliantly in the sun, adorned with holy scripture and other blessed symbols of Sigmar. From that day forward we were attended to by several anointed priests who had been escorted up from Altdorf. Used to taking service in the temple, it was quite a different experience to be assembled with the rest of the army, hearing the passionate words delivered by a man who had apparently seen so much.

As the fifth week began I too was finally taken aside from the rest. While a poor shot with a bow, I had demonstrated great skill with the crossbow and had a keen eye. It was back to the encampment of the Dwarfs I was lead, along with many others so assembled and we were given our first instruction on how to fire a gun. I was the first one chosen to try taking a practice shot and after a few words of instruction I aimed the rife at the target and pulled back on the trigger.

The great roar of the weapon and the force of its blast startled me, knocking me to the ground in my surprise. The laughter of my fellows and of the Dwarfs brought color to my face and when it was my turn again to try another shot, I was better prepared. Of all those brought that day to try their hand at the rifles, I was one of those kept, given a new coat to wear and assigned as one of the first of the new gunners.



Design Concepts
The Design Team at Mythic is pursuing certain guidelines and goals in their work. First, they are firmly basing WAR on the existing Warhammer universe, weaving the online world from a multitude of Warhammer resources. When they log in, the design team wants fans of the setting to recognize structures, weapons, armor and banners from the games and books they're already familiar with.

Warhammer has an exremely varied line of products, and not all of them exactly alike - the Warhammer license has adjusted to fit each new medium (and each has taken certain liberties with the property to make it work). There is, however, a core of ideas that never change. In the world of Warhammer, the battle between the races is unending and the armies are numerous. It's this sense of an "epic, heroic struggle" that's most essential to maintaining the accuracy of the franchise. Mythic is working hard to preserve what they identify as the eight essential elements of the franchise - battles, grudges, empire, magic, chaos, humor, monsters and war.

To create the best possible MMO, Mythic is laboring to draw from the overall Warhammer IP (much of which lives only in the minds of the creative talent at Games Workshop) and adapt it for a digital, interactive media. When adapting Warhammer to the online MMO environment and dealing with elements that have no precedent in existing GW sources, Mythic is adding to the Warhammer tapestry in close cooperation with Games Workshop. There will be differences between WAR and the miniatures game, and there will be differences between WAR and the Roleplaying game. Mythic is not trying to make either of those games online. They're using the entire Warhammer property and lifting all the great decades of creative value that exists there and using it wherever it makes sense. The Age of Reckoning is being set in the "modern" Warhammer world - the world in which Karl Franz is the Emperor in Altdorf, Finubar sits upon the Phoenix Throne, and the High King of the Dwarfs is Thorgrim Grudgebearer - but removed from the existing Warhammer timeline to allow EA Mythic to pull from 25 years of material, of characters, of battles and things they want in the game - a sort of greatest hits of the Warhammer world.



Warhammer Online’s next design goal and most fundamental design philosophy is “War is everywhere” - this is a world at war and the effects of the conflict should be visible. When they log in, the players shouldn't wonder where the "War" is - the world is built around the idea of epic conflict, and that should be immediately obvious to anyone who plays. Everywhere they look, the land should be battle-ravaged and blood-soaked. Everything the players do should have something to do with the war - those who aren't on the front lines battling against other players should be moving around disrupting supply lines, not collecting lizard heads. There is a war going on and the player characters are caught up in it, not quietly weaving shirts and hunting rats in the safety of a distant town.

After "War is Everywhere", the most important thing to understand about the design principles of the game is that Mythic doesn't consider any MMO player 'casual' - all MMO players are, by their definition, hardcore: they are people who keep coming back, keep playing, keep paying money for that privilege every month for years. The casual gamers are the one's who want to play and put it away, who think paying money every month for an interactive gaming experience is too much to ask.



Mythic is not treating this MMO design like they would game design. They aren't creating something that they expect the players to buy, play for 40 or 50 hours, then put on a shelf. An MMO should not be designed like a packaged game experience, it should be designed like a hobby experience - something which the players are committed to mastering, something that occupies their minds, something that draws them back month after month, year after year. They don't want it to be rewarding based simply on hanging around for 15 hours a day. It should be something that takes skill and inspires imagination.

To that end, Mythic's design is focused on the endgame - what the players will do with their character once they have finished climbing through the advancement and customization process. They believe firmly that competing with characters controlled by living and breathing humans, rather than facing AI-driven opponents and static content, provides the most variable and repeatable endgame. The end game should be an epic, heroic, perpetual struggle between the hobbyists that draws them back again and again, to compete and dominate.


A Soldier's Story:
Tragedy struck the encampment one night, just a few weeks before we were scheduled to mobilize and join the rest of the army. Every day I had gotten a little better at handling the rifle and had also received some training as well with a pistol given to me by one of the Dwarfs. The rest of their artillery equipment and assistant had finally arrived, bringing with them some of the great guns from the foundries in Nuln.

I will remember that night well, it was a clear evening and quite cool. Summer was long over and the forest all around still had most of its green. A great cry of alarm had gone out from nearby in the encampment and myself and a few of the other men of our group rushed over to see what the commotion was about. We came upon a scene of horror, finding some strange twisted creature feasting upon the flesh of the Priest's face. A few of those who had come running at the first scream vomited upon themselves at seeing such a horror.

My eyes came into contact with several of those from the creature and I knew that I would be its next meal. With the grace of a cat the hideous thing leapt out towards me. From the belt at my waist I drew my gun, barely bringing it in line with the creature before it was upon me. There was a great crack as the weapon discharged and the flash of smoke and light. The creatures claws and fangs snapped and tore at me as I was knocked to the ground, but after a moment its body jerked and stopped.

Those who still had their wits about them pulled the carcass from me before too long, its foul blood had stained my coat and part of my shirt a hideous shade of purple. Elsewhere in the encampment there were cries and shouts, as the denizens of the dark forest came forth to strike against us.

Hideous creatures, mutants and even a scattering of beastmen came at us that night, but all of them met their end at our hands. Their attack had taken the encampment by surprise, but our numbers were far greater. In the morning, those sentries who were found to have deserted their posts were hanged as traitors, their bodies fit for a crows feast and little more. A great pyre was also built, to burn the bodies of our enemy. The thick black smoke that rose from them bore a terrible stench and the oily smoke seemed to cling to anything it touched.



Graphic Design
When some people think of Warhammer, they think of a dark, depressing and evil world where dreary overcast skies dominate and rain is continuous. The world described to us in Warhammer fiction or roleplaying resources, however, isn't like that. It is a vibrant world - a vast and fertile place full of living forests, fertile river valleys, beautiful mountain vistas, glittering seas and broad agricultural lands.



The corruption, the hatred, and the darkness lie just beneath the surface, in the minds of people who have fallen to the creeping influences of chaos or the desperation created from the never-ending struggle for survival. Beneath the beautiful exterior is a dark and dangerous land where nightmares come true, where malignant entities stalk the dark places, where there are no happy endings, and where war is never won. It is a world full of racial animosity, greedy self interest, and immoral (or self-justifying) extremists who will take any measure to defeat their foes. The elements of the gritty reality, the grim gothic cities, the blood and gore and violence, all sit on top of that vibrant world, marring its beauty like great open sores, bleeding their puss into the environment in a way that shocks the viewer by its very contrast with the surrounding environment.

True to the Warhammer IP, the creative team at Mythic is using a bright palette of colors to deliver a vibrant, highly stylized world with elements that are deliberately exaggerated in size. They are spending a significant amount of time in creating vast environments - full of floating ironclad ships, aerodromes, hovels, spooky old towers, ruins, statues, little castles and towns - as well as detailed character models and NPCs. They are using extremely high resolution textures that, like the art of the IP itself, are full of small details. In an unprecedented advancement for the genre, all avatars, NPCs, and monsters are being modeled with fully boned faces and a variety of facial animation that convey a range of moods (anger, sadness, happy, and fear), breathing a little more life into the virtual reality.



The game already boasts great looking fire, smoke, haze, water, grass, and shadows to show off the detailed and exaggerated personality of the Warhammer license. They are designing environments that are rich, vibrant, funny and more than a little bit evil, where heads hang from trees while birds feast on the corpses left by recent battles and the ruined evidence of war - rusting cannon, broken weapons, and vast ruins - lie scattered over the countryside.

Warhammer fans will find a world filled with elements they are familiar with from tabletop wargaming and roleplaying - banner and flags with familiar symbols, structures described in the fiction or available for purchase as part of the miniatures collection. The creature modeling very closely resembles the pewter miniatures found in the board game and the attention to detail in the textures would make any miniature painter wish they could put that much detail into their models. They’ve brought in a number of the iconic locations of the Warhammer universe. If you’re familiar with the world, you’ll finally get to see up close and personal many of the locations you’ve only read about or seen modeled. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s your chance to delve deep into the world, knowing that what you’re looking at has a history and a shadow, much past what you see.




A Soldier's Story:
All too soon the encampment was broken down, tents were stored and equipment placed on carts and we marched away from his lordship's estate. Back south along the road to Altdorf did we turn, the feet of thousands of men pounding the road flat from the wheel ruts that had been carved into its surface.

Though the weather had been growing steadily cooler, winter was not yet upon us. Already the morning's sun had melted the frost from the trees and though we could not hear it thanks to the general clamor, any who cared to look beneath the shadows of the trees could see the drips from their branches. The brilliant colors of the leaves reminded us all that soon they would fall and with that would come the snows. We all hoped that wherever we were going, that we would reach our destination before the snows grew too heavy.

As we approached Altdorf, we saw that there was a great encampment on the outskirts of the city. At first I thought that it may perhaps be another force that was congregating upon the city, but as we drew closer all could plainly see the dilapidated nature of the camp. Poorly made lean-to buildings, crude tents and desperate people filled that camp, victims of the plague and refugees who had fled to the capital. We marched on, though I am sure I was not the only one to be stricken by the pleading looks in their eyes as they watched us march past.

Altdorf was as beautiful a city as I had remembered and we gathered with great fanfare and the bang of drum and the call of horn near the center of the city. Our hearts were raised as the Emperor himself came out upon a balcony to address us and we learned, for the first time, why this host had been assembled. From the north our enemies were come yet again to deprive us of peace and life, and we marched to meet that force and to move to aid our allies in Kislev.

It was not by road that we were to travel, but instead by river. Great barges, rafts and ships had been prepared to carry us as far as Talabheim. Our unit helped the Dwarfs we traveled with load their cannons carefully onto the ships. We had seen these great weapons fire in practice back at the estate and none in the army wished to have some mistake send the metal sinking deep into the river. Despite the preparations, it took us two whole days to load the entire army and all of its supplies, horses and miscellanea onto the waiting craft.

Finally, to the cheering of the crowds we disembarked, moving slowly upriver against the mighty stream. At that time none of us were afraid of the distant warhost from the north, as we all thought of the attack upon the encampment. Surely nothing more terrible could we face that the might of our guns, cannon, pikes and swords could not defeat?



Summary of Planned Features
Based on Games Workshop's popular Warhammer fantasy world. Dominated by force of arms and magic, this world provides a rich setting for hundreds of thousands of players to experience the epic nature of war and the glory of battle.

Online play will require a subscription and Internet connection

Pause to take a look and see how your faction is doing before you log in and jump into the action.

Play on either RP or non-RP. The RP servers will be more strictly enforced for RP behaviors.

The game world is divided into two realms, three battlefronts, six armies, and twenty-four character careers. Fight for the Armies of Order (Dwarf, High Elf and Empire) or the Armies of Destruction (Greenskin, Dark Elf, or Chaos). Travel and wage war across three unique battlefronts.

Choose from among 4 Race Specific Careers per Army
-Each career is based on either Arms or Magic
-Each career is Iconic, what you see is what you get, every Career gets a gimmick.
-Progress through 4 Tiers of 10 ranks each.

Purchase skill packages to customize your character
-Primary Career Skills
-Secondary Career skills
-Specialization Skills

Enjoy player models that change to reflect the relative power of a character (i.e., Orcs grow in size and Dwarfs' beards get longer). A mixed item system where Dwarfs armor looks nothing like goblin armor, and a customizable armor and a visual guild system that allows a player to make their character truly unique.

Customize and configure your UI from within the game, reorganizing and applying custom skins.

Enjoy day and night cycles and weather effects.

Take part in a next generation Realm vs. Realm system that integrates both PvP combat and PvE quests on the same map in support of the greater war.

Engage in four levels of RvR combat:
- Skirmishes: Incidental PvP combat
- Battlefields: Objective-based battles in the game world
- Scenarios: Instanced, point-based battles balanced with NPC Dogs of War
- Campaigns: The invasion of enemy lands culminating in the assault on their capital city

Undertake a wide variety of PvE and PvP quest types related to an army's war efforts, including:
- Public quests that benefit from the participation of the entire army
- Conflict quests that pit players against an enemy with opposing goals
- Branching quests that let you choose the outcome of the quest and your reward
- Xmas quests that reward exploration with high value loot

Master a robust combat system that introduces Player Tactics (earned powers you equip prior to battle) and Morale Skills (combat options that increase in power when the momentum of battle is in your favor).

Advance through your chosen career in PvP, PvE, or a combination of the two.

Collect loot from dropped from enemy players and npc opponents equally, without the dreaded Bind on Pickup limitations to cripple player economic activity.

Sort the contents of your backpack by item type (so that you can browse only the potions you're carrying, or only the weapons). Store all quest-related items separately so that you'll never find yourself in the ridiculous position of being unable to take on an interesting new quest because you had only two slots left in your bag.

Embark on an epic quest to complete the Tome of Knowledge and unlock Warhammer lore, detailed monster information, and major story plotlines.


A Soldier's Story:
During the day we traveled upriver and at night we camped partially upon the barges and upon the riverbanks. Great watch fires were set before dark could fall and skirmish lines set to keep the beasts of the woods from making another attempt upon our lives. During this trip I got to see my friends from the village again and to learn that a few had already fallen in service. Not through sword or gun, or even ravening beast had they died, but as victims of the new plague that was spreading throughout the Empire. Their bodies had been burned long ago.

As we drew ever further east, we began to draw closer to the Middle Mountains, looming like great giants in the distant mists to our north. However it was the sight of the Taalbaston that drew our eyes each and every day as we approached. Soon enough we were unloading our supplies and equipment in Talagaad. Signs we could see and the tales of the workers at the docks let us know that several other regiments had already assembled in the area.

Just before the rising of the sun one morning, our entire force began to march up the Wizard's Way, our forces drawn out like a long snake, winding its way up the side of the crater towards the gates high above. Our arrival in Talabheim was met with little fanfare, just the weary looks of the locals. Other soldiers lined the streets already and it seemed that the army we had come to join had already encamped nearby.

As we marched through the city, our path led us past the Heldenhammer Temple, a great monument to Holy Sigmar and one of the most beautiful temples in all of the Empire. Though many of us had hoped to catch a glimpse within, the doors of the temple were fast shut and we had to be content to look upon the templars who guarded the great doors.

Out within the great bowl, beyond the actual sprawl of the city, did we make camp. A great force had been assembled here by the walls of Talabheim, a force in the tens of thousands I would have to guess. The pennants and banners showed that the men assembled here came from many parts of the Empire. Once our own tents had been set up, I found that our unit had received some visitors, sharp shooters from Hochland. Men with long rifles and a bit of a wild look about them, they looked with little favor upon the weapons we were armed with, disparaging the work of the Dwarfs.

The brawl that ensued had to be broken up by officers and brutes with heavy clubs and I got to spend the rest of my day nursing more than my share of bruises. We were all surprised when, later that day, several of the Dwarfs came by our tents to share a barrel of beer they had brought with them. They had heard about the scuffle and we all ended up sitting around the fires, chatting and laughing, hearing some great stories from our friends from the mountains. That night we saw the first snow of the year and it would have been a pleasant night for all, save for the leering face of Morrsleib hanging overhead.


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Next Time: We'll take a look at the RvR system, the battlefronts, zone layout, racial pairings, careers, advancement and more.


A Soldier's Story:
Less than a week did we remain near Talabheim, though we were lucky enough to be able to get passes to go into the city in small groups. Even so, it seemed all the soldiers, officers and others from the army had filled the city to its bursting point. We heard from the locals, those who were willing to speak to us that is, that a great many others, refugees from further north and east, had already flooded the city before even the first coming of the army.

The Heldenhammer temple was beautiful, a grand place to worship Sigmar in all his glory. The wealth of the temple was obvious for all to see, with gold and precious stones adorning the walls, reliefs and even the great symbol of the twin-tailed comet upon the great floor. I was blessed enough to have been able to attend service one day when it was given by the Arch-Lector himself!

However, pleasant times pass all to swiftly and soon enough our great force was marching back down along the Wizard's Way. The entire army, now marshaled and resupplied was heading further north to Wolfenburg. Outriders from the greater warhost had been joined by the beasts and mutants of the forest and were ravaging the towns and threatening the city. Our first engagement would be to drive these filthy minions of the ruinous powers from the land and then turn our efforts upon the more pressing enemy further afield.

And so we marched north, our boots crushing the fallen snow beneath us, wondering what fate awaited us.

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