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Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online

#1

rac3r_x

rac3r_x

Warhammer

I yam intrigued...


#2

Officer_Charon

Officer_Charon

Intrigued, hell! I'm over here feeling moderately aroused. EEEEEEE!


#3

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Yeah, a bunch of my friends and I are waiting with baited breath for this.


#4

Telephius

Telephius

I am excited but I am also weary hehe.


#5

figmentPez

figmentPez

AshburnerX said:
Yeah, a bunch of my friends and I are waiting with baited breath for this.
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Just don't hold that baited breath. I don't think you'd make it to 2013.


#6

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

figmentPez;411064][QUOTE=AshburnerX said:
Yeah, a bunch of my friends and I are waiting with baited breath for this.
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Just don't hold that baited breath. I don't think you'd make it to 2013.[/QUOTE]

It's aiming for Christmas 2012, I think. But we may get it sooner.


#7

Baerdog

Baerdog

There's precious little information on that website to get me riled up about this game.


#8

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

I'm cautiously optimistic?

I don't know... I don't think the Warhammer 40k world will translate well into an MMO. I really want to be excited over this... but I just have a bad feeling it won't be very good.

I'll still try it of course :).


#9

Krisken

Krisken

Azurephoenix said:
I'm cautiously optimistic?

I don't know... I don't think the Warhammer 40k world will translate well into an MMO. I really want to be excited over this... but I just have a bad feeling it won't be very good.

I'll still try it of course :).
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I am cautiously optimistic. I don't think it will have trouble translating, though.

Excited about that Great Unclean One :)


#10

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

I'm just worried about game balance... and how they're going to handle a player who's a space marine fighting against a lowly guardsman or equivalent.

You would be excited about Papa Nurgle... ;)


#11

figmentPez

figmentPez

AshburnerX;411073][QUOTE=figmentPez;411064][QUOTE=AshburnerX said:
Yeah, a bunch of my friends and I are waiting with baited breath for this.
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Just don't hold that baited breath. I don't think you'd make it to 2013.[/QUOTE]

It's aiming for Christmas 2012, I think. But we may get it sooner.[/QUOTE]

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

"So what about a time frame for release?

"Mark: I should qualify this by saying our primary goal is getting the game right. THQ fully supports us in this regard, and isn't breathing down our necks saying, "You must ship by a certain date!" They are nurturing this project and we are true to this project so that when we deliver it, it will be everything we want it to be and the community wants it to be.

"With that in mind, we're shooting for right now to have the game shipped by the end of Quarter 1 of 2013. "

That's what they were saying at E3, I first heard 2013 quoted on the Weekend Confirmed podcast.


#12



Soliloquy



#13

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

Haha... I forgot about that Penny Arcade comic. That sums up the issues with the factions perfectly... :D


#14

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Yeah, I'm not sure that either the Tyrannids or the Necrons, to say the least, would fit much into the Order vs Chaos faction set up that they stuck with for WAR. The Necrons are looking to exterminate Life itself as an existential concept, and th Tyrannids are just looking for dinner.

---------- Post added at 03:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 PM ----------

Keep in mind that they may be talking in fiscal years, which isn't necessarily the same as calenday years. A lot of game companies count the holiday season as Q1 or Q2 of the next fiscal year.


#15

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

If this is PVE based, count me in.


#16

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

Shegokigo said:
If this is PVE based, count me in.
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It will have both PVE and PVP in it from what we can tell so far.


From the trailer videos and interviews it looks like playable races include Imperials, Eldar, Orks and Chaos.

Here's some bullet points from a THQ press release:

-Focus both on Melee 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
- Tyranids as full fighting PvE-Faction

Again... I'm cautiously optimistic. We will see how the actual implementation goes.


#17



Oddbot

Have they announced how many playable factions there will be yet? If it's two, then the game may fall into many of the same pitfalls of Warhammer Online where one faction will inevitably dominate the other 90% of the time, creating a pretty shitty experience for the losing team. Conversely, if there's three than the game will hopefully recapture the awesomeness of DAOC's RvR where the three sides went a long towards balancing themselves out, and large scale battles were much more interesting and dynamic, due to having three sides instead of just two.


#18

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Azurephoenix said:
I'm just worried about game balance... and how they're going to handle a player who's a space marine fighting against a lowly guardsman or equivalent.

You would be excited about Papa Nurgle... ;)
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This is simple... I see the Class breakdown as follows: (Probably won't be all of these)

- Space Marine: Tank (Can take a beating and do decent damage)
- Daemonhunter/Grey Knight/Inquistor: Melee DPS (Get better melee options, but aren't as tough as Marines)
- Guardsmen: Ranged DPS with AOEs (Dies if you sneeze on him, but brings to bear nice weapons and can call in support)
- Adeptus: Buffer/Debuffer with Pets/Off Ranged DPS (Uses his prayers to bolster the effectiveness of your hardware. Brings fun toys to the party)
- Sister of Battle/Ecclesiarchy Warpriest: Healer, with some single target buffs (Faith protects the faithful)
- Commissar: Off Melee DPS with nice Group buffs (Increases fighting ability through fear and Leadership)
- Sanctioned Psyker: Single Target DPS with control (Uses Warp to control battlefield and fry minds)

Those are just some suggestions... Also, yo can already fight a Great Unclean One in Warhammer Online. It's a pretty fun fight, as he actually eats you at one point and you have to cut your way out before he digests you.


#19

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

I'm hoping the actual gameplay will be more actiony, like Global Agenda, than command-based like WoW.


#20

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

@ Oddbot: I would think that having more than two factions would make the population imbalances even worse than just two factions. Besides... you already know that whichever side gets Space Marines will suffer from a dispproportionate amount of people playing on it.

@ AshburnerX: The problem is that a normal human, however well trained and equipped would almost never pose even a remote threat one on one with a space marine. I'm not worried about the balance for PVE... that's easy to do... I'm worried about maintaining the Warhammer 40k flavour and still having balanced fights in PVP.

If I'm a space marine and you're a guardsman... you're going to need like 5-6 other dudes backing you up to have a chance. Maybe they will let certain races/classes have minions (kind of like in City of Villains?) to make up for this? Who knows. All I know is... if I'm playing a Khorne berserker... I should be able to kick the living shit out of puny humans and they need to have numbers to bring me down. If they have it so an Imperial guardsman can beat a marine one on one (equal level and gear)... then there's no way I'm playing this game.


#21

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Azurephoenix said:
@ AshburnerX: The problem is that a normal human, however well trained and equipped would almost never pose even a remote threat one on one with a space marine. I'm not worried about the balance for PVE... that's easy to do... I'm worried about maintaining the Warhammer 40k flavour and still having balanced fights in PVP.

If I'm a space marine and you're a guardsman... you're going to need like 5-6 other dudes backing you up to have a chance. Maybe they will let certain races/classes have minions (kind of like in City of Villains?) to make up for this? Who knows. All I know is... if I'm playing a Khorne berserker... I should be able to kick the living shit out of puny humans and they need to have numbers to bring me down. If they have it so an Imperial guardsman can beat a marine one on one (equal level and gear)... then there's no way I'm playing this game.
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First off, it's completely canon for exceptional Guardsmen to be able to compete with Space Marines. If Ciaphis Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!), Yarrick, and Ibram Gaunt can go mono-a-mono with an Ork Warboss, Daemons, and other such awful things and win (something even Space Marines have trouble with) then it's within the realm of possibility for a Guardsmen to take out a Marine. Secondly, a Guardsmen COULD potentially have things like Meltas or Plasma to even the odds in a fight, even if it's not likely. Thirdly, your not accounting for the influence of the Emperor, who just LOVES to help out guys like the Guard.

What you need to remember is that in an MMO, you are generally playing as an exceptional member of your kind. If your a Space Marine, you are already exceptional by fact of being one, but if your a Guardsmen, it likely means you have notice of the Emperor himself and he's helping you even the odds.


#22

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Warhammer 40,000: The MMO We Should Have Made In The First Place.


#23

Telephius

Telephius

Azurephoenix said:
@ Oddbot: I would think that having more than two factions would make the population imbalances even worse than just two factions. Besides... you already know that whichever side gets Space Marines will suffer from a dispproportionate amount of people playing on it.
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While multi factions won't with certainty guarentee population balance, IMO, it adds more soltuins for the populace to use to address the problem. By having more factions that have different flavours you can possibly split the playerbase into more pie sections. So that 60/40 split could more readily become 40/30/15/15 lets say which means 2-3 factions could in theory gang up on the bug fish who is picking on them(Happened in DaoC on occasion.) Even in a worst case scenario such as a 60/14/13/13 where the big fish still outman all the small guys combined, the small guys depending on the PvP zonage could opt to avoidn the big fish as much as possible and fight other similar sized factions.


#24

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Shegokigo said:
Warhammer 40,000: The MMO We Should Have Made In The First Place.
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My thoughts exactly. It'll never compete with TOR, as it's coming out much sooner, but it's compelling enough that it should last awhile.


#25

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

AshburnerX said:
First off, it's completely canon for exceptional Guardsmen to be able to compete with Space Marines. If Ciaphis Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!), Yarrick, and Ibram Gaunt can go mono-a-mono with an Ork Warboss, Daemons, and other such awful things and win (something even Space Marines have trouble with) then it's within the realm of possibility for a Guardsmen to take out a Marine. Secondly, a Guardsmen COULD potentially have things like Meltas or Plasma to even the odds in a fight, even if it's not likely. Thirdly, your not accounting for the influence of the Emperor, who just LOVES to help out guys like the Guard.

What you need to remember is that in an MMO, you are generally playing as an exceptional member of your kind. If your a Space Marine, you are already exceptional by fact of being one, but if your a Guardsmen, it likely means you have notice of the Emperor himself and he's helping you even the odds.
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Well, you're right of course... but playing devil's advocate... if you're playing a heroic guardsman... what do you think a heroic space marine character would be like? Off the charts by my calculations (like Yarrick versus Marneus Calgar? Yarrick has almost no chance). Also, space marines have access to the same exotic weapons that the guard have and often many more.

I'm basing abilities more off of the Dark Heresey and Inquisitor role playing lines where a terminator armoured chaos lord is an absolute juggernaut of destruction (he can take on a few standard space marines by himself and countless guardsmen/inquisitors).


#26

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Azurephoenix;411451][QUOTE=AshburnerX said:
First off, it's completely canon for exceptional Guardsmen to be able to compete with Space Marines. If Ciaphis Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!), Yarrick, and Ibram Gaunt can go mono-a-mono with an Ork Warboss, Daemons, and other such awful things and win (something even Space Marines have trouble with) then it's within the realm of possibility for a Guardsmen to take out a Marine. Secondly, a Guardsmen COULD potentially have things like Meltas or Plasma to even the odds in a fight, even if it's not likely. Thirdly, your not accounting for the influence of the Emperor, who just LOVES to help out guys like the Guard.

What you need to remember is that in an MMO, you are generally playing as an exceptional member of your kind. If your a Space Marine, you are already exceptional by fact of being one, but if your a Guardsmen, it likely means you have notice of the Emperor himself and he's helping you even the odds.
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Well, you're right of course... but playing devil's advocate... if you're playing a heroic guardsman... what do you think a heroic space marine character would be like? Off the charts by my calculations (like Yarrick versus Marneus Calgar? Yarrick has almost no chance). Also, space marines have access to the same exotic weapons that the guard have and often many more.

I'm basing abilities more off of the Dark Heresey and Inquisitor role playing lines where a terminator armoured chaos lord is an absolute juggernaut of destruction (he can take on a few standard space marines by himself and countless guardsmen/inquisitors).[/QUOTE]

Space Marines don't have the same kinds of stores that the Guard does. Space Marine chapters are roughly a 1000 fighting members strong, with enough weapons for them all to be equipped with SOMETHING. This is compared to the average Regiment of Guardsmen, which is usually more like 2-10k and which has weapons coming out the wazoo (mainly because they expect to lose the majority on the battlefield when a Guardsmen dies), especially if it's a Heavy Infantry Regiment (in which case everyone has Hellguns, Carapace, and every Squad will have AT LEAST one Plasma weapon, if not many more).


#27

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

AshburnerX said:
Space Marines don't have the same kinds of stores that the Guard does. Space Marine chapters are roughly a 1000 fighting members strong, with enough weapons for them all to be equipped with SOMETHING. This is compared to the average Regiment of Guardsmen, which is usually more like 2-10k and which has weapons coming out the wazoo (mainly because they expect to lose the majority on the battlefield when a Guardsmen dies), especially if it's a Heavy Infantry Regiment (in which case everyone has Hellguns, Carapace, and every Squad will have AT LEAST one Plasma weapon, if not many more).
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What are you basing this on? You make it sound like the space marines are a poor man's fighting force that barely has enough weaponry to equip their companies. I highly doubt that's the case. As far as I know they have armouries full to the brim with ammunition and weaponry including master crafted items and artificer armour.

I can tell you're a big Imperial Guard buff which is cool... but nearly all sources including most black library books (with precious few exceptions) show that space marines can wade through hordes of lesser troops with near impunity and deal out death on an unprecedented level. That is why an Imperial regiment has 10,000 men to a space marine chapter's 1000. They typically win engagements with superior numbers (and hopefully sound tactics)... no individual skill. That's why the balance issue is sticky for me and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

That said... THQ can mitigate such things by starting space marine players out as neophytes with armour no better than front line infantry. The progression through initiate and eventually promotion to a scout will keep their power level down but I'm not sure what to do once their black carapace is fully mature and they earn themselves power armour (and God forbid... terminator armour).


#28



Iaculus

Problem: Space Marines causing balance issues.

Solution: especially badass members of other factions.

I'm expecting Inquisitors and high-level rogue psykers as PCs, not Guardsmen and cultists. Marines are tough, but not invincible.


#29

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Iaculus said:
Problem: Space Marines causing balance issues.

Solution: especially badass members of other factions.

I'm expecting Inquisitors and high-level rogue psykers as PCs, not Guardsmen and cultists. Marines are tough, but not invincible.
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I'm fairly certain we'll be getting Guardsmen, if only because of how important they really are to the Imperium in the lore. It would be stupid to keep them out, especially considering how popular they and the Commissars are.

It definitely looks like we're getting Adeptus Mechanicus PCs at least: The rust red and white robes signify members of it, and at least two people in the gameplay parts of the video (not counting the one with the book in opening) where wearing them.


#30

GasBandit

GasBandit

I'm following this one very closely. I'll probably be playing it. I hope to be a commissar, and I hope they're basically a multipet class, like the Mastermind from City of Villains.


#31

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

GasBandit said:
I'm following this one very closely. I'll probably be playing it. I hope to be a commissar, and I hope they're basically a multipet class, like the Mastermind from City of Villains.
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That's exactly the class that I can picture you as. The multipet thing is how I'm hoping they handle the perceived power differences between normal humans and superhumans.


#32

rac3r_x

rac3r_x

Really hoping they break some new ground with this property, the one way to handle Space Marines and it will probably piss folks off is as a type of Hero Class, maybe along the lines of the WoW Death Knight. I want to try a Tech-Priest, hail the Omnissiah!


#33

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

GasBandit said:
I'm following this one very closely. I'll probably be playing it. I hope to be a commissar, and I hope they're basically a multipet class, like the Mastermind from City of Villains.
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That'd be pretty fun and I'd be all for it. Toss in the ability to call in Artillery strikes and supply drops and it'd be perfect.


#34

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

I would give the Guardsman extra grouping bonuses/buffs.

Or if you wanted to get crazy, let players control a fire-team of guardsmen in real-time tactical fashion with the option to switch between individuals in combat for precision placement shooting. Then instead of a Space Marine just needing to give one guy a love-tap, he's actually fighting 5 guys at once at once who are able to hit him from much farther away and need to be killed in increments.

Then again, a good argument to not make the Guardsmen playable is that it makes wargear-progession balance difficult. They simply don't have the kind of bad-ass gear available to them on an individual-ish basis that the other classes might as they progress- no force-weapons, no storm-bolters, no Terminator armor, no daemon-weapons.

You'd have to let Guardsmen level up to driving battle-tanks...this game is going to be awesome!


#35

LordRendar

LordRendar

Im really looking forward to this.Now if only one could play a Tau.


#36

GasBandit

GasBandit

SpecialKO said:
I would give the Guardsman extra grouping bonuses/buffs.

Or if you wanted to get crazy, let players control a fire-team of guardsmen in real-time tactical fashion with the option to switch between individuals in combat for precision placement shooting. Then instead of a Space Marine just needing to give one guy a love-tap, he's actually fighting 5 guys at once at once who are able to hit him from much farther away and need to be killed in increments.

Then again, a good argument to not make the Guardsmen playable is that it makes wargear-progession balance difficult. They simply don't have the kind of bad-ass gear available to them on an individual-ish basis that the other classes might as they progress- no force-weapons, no storm-bolters, no Terminator armor, no daemon-weapons.

You'd have to let Guardsmen level up to driving battle-tanks...this game is going to be awesome!
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Some of the footage has shown vehicles, so that might be a possibility...

My thoughts on how to handle the IG is simple - make the commissar the only "playable" character, but make any damage he takes divide evenly among all the guardsmen "pets" under his command (though any damage dealt to an individual guardsman fully affects that single guardsman). The Commissar can have access to laspistols and bolt pistols, as well as chainswords and 1 handed power weapons. Have the number of guardsmen under the commissar scale with level, have the kit of the individual guardsmen become more diverse as you level (start with just basic guardsmen with lasguns, as you level up have options to have grenadiers, plasma weapons, or meltas in limited numbers). Have a "morale" bar attached to the squad that depletes as it takes damage, but can be increased by getting kills or by the commissar using the "execute squad member for cowardice" ability. Basically, a union between an IG squad in DOW1 and the Mastermind class from City of Villains.

Other Non-Space Marine character class ideas for the imperium - Inquisitor (close range melee DPS), Vindicare (long range DPS/sniper), Sister of Battle, Enginseer, Psyker.

I'm also pretty pumped that they've confirmed (and even got engine footage of) titans being player-controllable and used in combat.


#37

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

SpecialKO said:
Then again, a good argument to not make the Guardsmen playable is that it makes wargear-progession balance difficult. They simply don't have the kind of bad-ass gear available to them on an individual-ish basis that the other classes might as they progress- no force-weapons, no storm-bolters, no Terminator armor, no daemon-weapons.
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Actually, this is untrue. Guard DO get some spiffy items. From Dawn of War, Dark Heresy, and the novels I've seen Guardsmen with...

- Armors: Flak, Mesh, Carapace. Probably Xenohides but those are rare.
- Ranged Weapons: Lasguns, Hellguns (better Lasguns), Flamers, Grenade Launchers, Bolters, Meltas, Plasma, and Sniper Rifles. Grenades too.
- Melee Weapons: Chainswords and Eviscerators (Usually on War Priests, Officers, and Commissars), Power Weapons (Officers and Commissars), Hunting Lances, and all manner of specially designed Close Combat Weapons that are native to their world.

That being said, yeah, I'd probably make Guardsmen group-oriented members of the team and make them more effective at using Vehicles and Artillery than other classes. There also needs to be a VERY clear distinction between what a Space Marine should be doing and what a Guardsmen should be doing. I'd probably give Marines weaker ranged weapons and attacks (mainly to emphasize the Guardsmen role) and make Guardsmen drop like paper under concentrated fire.

GasBandit said:
Other Non-Space Marine character class ideas for the imperium - Inquisitor (close range melee DPS), Vindicare (long range DPS/sniper), Sister of Battle, Enginseer, Psyker.
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If you look in the video, you can clearly see some Adeptus Mechanicus folks helping a Space Marine take out an enemy. It's pretty clear they are putting them in the game as a playable class.


#38

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

With this new info, I'm going to finally get into the Warhammer 40k universe novels.... now where to start.... I could have sworn I started a thread about this a while back.


#39

GasBandit

GasBandit

Shegokigo said:
With this new info, I'm going to finally get into the Warhammer 40k universe novels.... now where to start.... I could have sworn I started a thread about this a while back.
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My favorite series is Commisar Cain: Hero of the Imperium.


#40

Shegokigo

Shegokigo

Favorite series or best series to start with to get a grasp of the universe and it's workings?


#41

GasBandit

GasBandit

Shegokigo said:
Favorite series or best series to start with to get a grasp of the universe and it's workings?
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Favorite, it's actually a little off-kilter for the genre, which is why I like it so much... it's like the Blackadder of 40k. Space Wolves is a good place to get a good feel for 40k, I think.


#42

Denbrought

Denbrought

To get a grasp of the universe you might enjoy Eisenhorn and Ravenor, two omnibuses about inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos, they explores a lot of the imperium's landscape and workings. If you like intrigue with a background of action, they're good reads.

The Gaunt's Ghosts book series explains nicely how the Imperium fights war, although the main characters are part of a recon regiment, so they deal with unusual stuff (if the book was about normal guardsmen, we'd be losing 80% of the characters every book). If you like soldiering books, these are nice. 3 omnibuses so far.

Anything by Dan Abnett is a good bet, really.

If I were you I'd avoid Spesh Mareens books, all the ones I've read had a pretty boring plot.


#43

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Yeah, I'd read Space Wolves or Gaunt's Ghosts if you want a "proper" introduction to the universe. The Ciaphis Cain series is great too, with it being very funny and entertaining compared to some of the dryer, more serious novels. That said, no matter WHAT you get, try to get one of the Omnibus versions as they are pretty cheap and you get more bang for your buck.

Ciaphis Cain: Hero of the Imperium ($10.20) (First three Books: Hero of the Imperium, Caves of Ice, and The Traitor's Hand. Also the first 3 short stories)

Ciaphis Cain: Defender of the Imperium (Death or Glory, Duty Calls and Cain's Last Stand, plus the short story Traitor's Gambit and a new introduction from author Sandy Mitchell.)

Space Wolf Omnibus: Spacewolf / Ragnar's Claw / Grey Hunter (Warhammer 40,000)

Space Wolf: The Second Omnibus (Not sure what's in this one)

Gaunt's Ghosts: The Founding (First three Gaunt's Ghosts books)


#44

Officer_Charon

Officer_Charon

Shego: I'd definitely recommend the Eisenhorn omnibus to you, so you can get a solid feel for the universe, it's grimdarkness, and the general feel of the despondency that the average schlub feels in this setting.

That said, Caiphas Cain was the first book that I picked up, and I have never regretted it. As stated, it's so very much NOT the norm for the series, but the characters are fantastic. The same author has also written a couple Dark Heresy-based novels, which retain the same type of humor, but are closer to the "norm" in the Black Library.

It's nice to have an alternative to "ALL GRIMDARK, ALL THE TIME," though.


#45

GasBandit

GasBandit

But in the grim darkness of the Grimdark, there is only grim and dark.


#46

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

MOAR GRIMDARK!!!!

MOAR SKULLS!!!!


#47

Denbrought

Denbrought

.


#48

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

AshburnerX said:
Actually, this is untrue. Guard DO get some spiffy items. From Dawn of War, Dark Heresy, and the novels I've seen Guardsmen with...

- Armors: Flak, Mesh, Carapace. Probably Xenohides but those are rare.
- Ranged Weapons: Lasguns, Hellguns (better Lasguns), Flamers, Grenade Launchers, Bolters, Meltas, Plasma, and Sniper Rifles. Grenades too.
- Melee Weapons: Chainswords and Eviscerators (Usually on War Priests, Officers, and Commissars), Power Weapons (Officers and Commissars), Hunting Lances, and all manner of specially designed Close Combat Weapons that are native to their world.
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Yes, but the point is that none of those really put them on anything close to parity in terms of what they can acquire and wield in individual combat versus a Space Marine, or an Ork, or an Eldar, etc. The whole point of the Guardsmen is that there are trillions of them and they have billions of vehicles. That's fine in DoW or regular play when it's Army on Army, because you can just give the IG a much bigger Army, but that's much harder in an MMO when every player is a single character, even if the IG are the only ones with heavy artillery (or "summon Baneblade" :p)

---------- Post added at 09:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 PM ----------

@Shego: I'll fourth the Ciaphas Cain series. Huge, huge fun, and actually provides a very good view of how the rest of the Imperium functions on a day-to-day level when you're not a Space Marine, Inquisitor, or hip deep in the entrails of your friends. Space Wolves is okay, Eisenhorn/Ravenor are pretty solid, and the Gaunt's Ghosts books are probably the best "setting" books I have ever read as far as the constantly-at-war aspect is concerned. I would avoid most of the other Space Marine books though, they're written a little too much like videogame fanfiction.

If you're interested in some deep background, and Space Marine stories that are actually pretty good, read the first three books of the Horus Heresy series. They depict the events that gave rise to the current state of affairs. If you like them, read the next two, and if you like them feel free to try out the rest of the series, but the quality is a bit inconsistent after that, and less focused on the main events of the overplot. Most of them deal with different events and characters, so you're not missing anything but a little additional fluff, really, if you stop at the fifth book.


#49

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

SpecialKO said:
Yes, but the point is that none of those really put them on anything close to parity in terms of what they can acquire and wield in individual combat versus a Space Marine, or an Ork, or an Eldar, etc. The whole point of the Guardsmen is that there are trillions of them and they have billions of vehicles. That's fine in DoW or regular play when it's Army on Army, because you can just give the IG a much bigger Army, but that's much harder in an MMO when every player is a single character, even if the IG are the only ones with heavy artillery (or "summon Baneblade" :p)
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It's really going to depend on the type of trooper they have us play it seems. A normal Trooper isn't going to have the bite to compete with those guys, but something like a Kasrkin, Cadian Shock Troop, or Inquisitorial Storm Trooper (especially if they get Hotshot Lasguns) would at least have a HOPE of living and would likely have the weapons needed to compete. A Commissar would DEFINITELY be able to stand their own (if only because of how they are portrayed in the novels).


#50

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

It actually depends on how exemplary the "exceptional exemplars" argument allows Commissars to be. Gaunt, Yarrick, and Cain are main characters, so they get ridiculous plot-powers, like every main character in the lore, when every other character gets mowed down around them. Its noted several times in the various series/backgrounds that these three are notable exceptions among Commissars in actual physical martial ability, Cain and Yarrick especially.


#51

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Damn, I gotta pick up that Cain big book.


#52

Telephius

Telephius

Yeah once I get done with the Horus Heresy I am probably going to read the Cain ones.


#53

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

SpecialKO said:
It actually depends on how exemplary the "exceptional exemplars" argument allows Commissars to be. Gaunt, Yarrick, and Cain are main characters, so they get ridiculous plot-powers, like every main character in the lore, when every other character gets mowed down around them. Its noted several times in the various series/backgrounds that these three are notable exceptions among Commissars in actual physical martial ability, Cain and Yarrick especially.
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I was always under the impression that Yarrick's power came from the fact that he's BATSHIT CRAZY. I mean, he picked up a Power Claw... and used it to rip people in half. And then decided he liked it so much that he would KEEP IT.


#54

Baerdog

Baerdog

Don't forget how the Orks eventually started rumors about how he could kill with a mere glance, so he got a laser eye implanted to PROVE THEM RIGHT.

Yarrik is pretty badass for a puny humie.


#55

LordRendar

LordRendar

I really hope that they will keep adding Races over time like they do in WoW.


#56

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

LordRendar said:
I really hope that they will keep adding Races over time like they do in WoW.
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I have no freakin' clue how they would balance the Necrons for individual play, but the Tau or the 'Nids would be cool.


#57

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

I'm pretty sure necrons will be another PVE faction when the time comes (either content update or expansion). Tyranids have already been named as the main PVE enemy.


#58

SpecialKO

SpecialKO

Hmmm, will the playable races also be available as PvE content for the other faction? I'm assuming as much, but I haven't seen an announcement.


#59

Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

Probably... but I can almost guarantee you will not get to play as a Tyranid... not for a long time anyway.


#60

AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Yeah, Tyranids would have been impossible to make playable without completely changing their loot drops. I suspect we'll get Tau and probably Dark Eldar if the game does well, but it's too far into the future to predict.


#61

D

Dubyamn

AshburnerX said:
I was always under the impression that Yarrick's power came from the fact that he's BATSHIT CRAZY. I mean, he picked up a Power Claw... and used it to rip people in half. And then decided he liked it so much that he would KEEP IT.
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No he had his arm ripped off by the power claw, he then killed the ork weilding it and fought on until the day was won did he allow himself to pass out. He had the claw grafted onto him afterwards as a trophy and as a replacement arm..


#62

Denbrought

Denbrought

THQ - THQ TV - Warhammer® 40,000® Dark Millennium Online - Gamescom Trailer

Gatdamn teases.


#63

Necronic

Necronic

My brother and I spent a long time figuring out how you could make this game and actually have it work. Some of the bullet points have me generally impressed (tyranids as fully PvE), but I still wish I could have designed this game. Here was my wish:

The biggest problem with this game is the "jedi issue" that SWO got, basically that Space Marines should be godlike compared to most other units, especially guardsmen, and the only way you could have them run as individuals side by side would require unrealistic abilities focused around exagerated concepts (like a guardsman calling in an orbital bombardment.)

The strength of a guardsman is the men around them, which made us decide that the only way a guardsman unit could work was if he didn't level up by gaining health, but by gaining men. You start off as a seargeant and have 5-10 men that would use an AI that combined with your actions/orders would operate as a single unit. From there, you gain 'requisition' and 'command' that you can use to expand your force and its gear. If any of yall remember the aborted MMO Gods and Monsters or whatever it was (cancelled for STO, good call....) it would be a similar concept.

Here's where it gets interesting. When you get to the level of a major or a colonel you are marshalling hundreds of troops. At this point your scale turns into more of a strategic deployment. You would still have the ability to hand control specific units, but for the most part you would be issuing global orders to your AI troops like "go take this facility". By issuing this order you create an AI battlefield that will slowly resolve based on math and whatever special requisition you bring in, but you also plant a flag which will attract other lower ranked commanders and specialists. People that show up at a flagged battlefield get command points (for following orders) and will add to the overall chance of winning a battle. Depending on your rank you can set specific targeted orders (like a Major could issue an order to focus on a specific section of the battlefield, while a lord commander could issue an order to take a region.)

If you consistently disobey orders, you get a commisar in your squad.

I forgot how we decided how people would advance. In a game like this not everyone gets to be awesome. You could develop your squad/troop as a more specialist group like a sapper squad or a sniper unit. Also, I can't remember how we figured out how dying works. I think our attitude was that when you die, you die. I mean, this is the cold dark future of the 40th millenia. Your unit maintains its level of command and requisition, but your character dies.

For space marines I think we decided that the best you could ever get was a squad of guys. Space marines really are the terminators of the future. Anything short of overwhelming force will get slaughtered by them.

For the different factions, you had Order (Space Marines/Guard/Tau), Chaos (Chaos/Daemons/Orks) and the Spoiler factions (Eldar/Necrons). Like in Planetside each side had strategic goals that it could get which would allow it to give out requisition to its troops, and eventually achieve a win condition, at which point the world resets (shouldn't happen more than once a year). For Eldar and Necrons they would have much more ephemeral goals than conquest, as they would probably have a much smaller player count, and honestly that fits their factions better. Sometimes they may help the imperium/chaos, sometimes not.

Of course, this is all completely ridiculous and would never work, but I still like the idea.


#64

Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

Right :p. Ridiculous.

As for the teaser: I am shocked. That is really the last race I thought would appear in the game as playable. Hot damn.


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