Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning: Skaven Update
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In his latest article, MMORPG.com Industry Relations Manager Garrett Fuller takes a look at the Skaven playable PvP race. The Skaven are soon to be released in an update for Warhammer Online. Garrett looks at why the team chose the Skaven to include and what it means for PvP overall. Check it out then let us know your thoughts.
When Warhammer Online was first announced, many players hung on every word for classes and races. With an IP as rich as Games Workshop it was exciting to see which armies and units would make it to the battlefield. Skaven were left off the initial list as an afterthought. Who would want to play giant rats right? Well for the last two years players have been asking for Skaven. This patch they finally got their wish.
Read more Warhammer Online: The Skaven Update.
Comments
No, it means that just like every other IP-based MMORPG, they choose / are forced to bend and break the existing lore of the IP in order to make a system compatible with the existing structure and technology of the game.
AFAIK, the Skaven aren't actually fighting "on the side" of Order - they're being controlled by Order forces in their battle against a united Chaos front. It's bending the lore yes, but hardly the most outrageous thing they could have come up with.
Why is it sad?
Not to say your wrong but surely isn't it better to have this addition than not? if IP's did stick so rigidly to their lore perhaps we would get better games but perhaps we would see something so constrained that any deviation from the lore book would be put in the bin and ignored, even if it meant improving the game, talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face.
Warhammer needs something fresh, this is as good and as close as your going to get to a 3rd faction, I certainly would not want to throw up obstacles just in the name of lore, but I doubt those who stick to the lore of games so religously will agree.
I agree that it is sad.
The reason, I believe this is, because they took an intellectual property that many of us love and are changing the lore to suit their game. A lot of us were interested in playing this game, because it was Warhammer and that we wanted to be able to play in that world with the things we know and love about it.
The Skaven fighting along side Dwarves, Humans, and Elves is just really strange and not something that would happen in the real lore.
It's dissappointing enough that the game didn't become a huge success.
I understand why they did it, but it doesn't make me happy. That's just the way it goes though.
I started off agreeing with you. In guild chat, i questioned why they couldn't make the Skaven Destro only and give Order some other comparable mercs, say Dwarven contraptions, planes, etc. The consensus there was that there would be endless QQ about half the population not being able to play the rats, which apparently, they love more than other options.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
Sad? The only thing sad here is the way Mythic was forced to implement the IP because of the lore! Games-Workshop lore is all centered around board games, about time they came into the 21st century and altered their lore a bit allow a decent MMO type setting. BTW lore is exactly why Warhammer 40k will also be a disaster. 2 faction pvp games always fail because one faction always dominates. With 3 or more the lessor can always gang up on the greater.
If you have to have the lore remain as it was I suggest you go back to playing the board game it was intended for!
IMO They took a great and awesome game and squashed it with overpowered order classes. All the gm's play order so I removed my sub and never looking at this game again until they even the playing fields. Then I might think about resubbing.
the company's first mistake was thinking, come launch, players did not want Skaven. They clearly did not know their userbase or what Warhammer was all about.
I really don't understand what point you are making here about Warhammer 40k. The board game and the lore DEFINITELY does not support 2 faction system. The developer has chosen to ignore the lore and group the factions into two sides that generally the lore would disallow.
And again we can see how badly the game have been designed in the first place since they have to bend the lore so it can fit into their game. From the very beguinning, there should have been any ''alliance'' or w/e. It should have been every races for themselves just like the tabletop game. But then again, it would have been a totally different game, and hopefully not the linear and spamfest of AOE/stunts that it is now...(now being when I played, dunno if that changed)
-------------------------------------
Before: developers loved games and made money.
Now: developers love money and make games.
I understand where you're coming from on this, but there have been many warhammer novels that go into quite a bit of lore and really tell some great stories.
This lore isn't reflected in the MMO and that of course upsets some of the fans of the world and the game.
At the sametime they're trying to appeal to more than just the hardcore fans.
All of it didn't really work out that well.
I'm glad they're adding this feature; I hope it helps the game and gives the current players something fresh, and those who might subscribe again something to try (me).
I don't know alot about Warhammer lore, so I'm relatively detatched concering which side Skaven fight for.
I really dont know why people blame Games workshops Lore and Way of doing things. Their Game franchise is over... 25 years old now ? And is the most lucrative TableTop gaming Industry... So you guys are either lil nerd haters ... or you dont check your Facts really well...
as for "WAR" , Its Failure was signed the day Mystic was bought by Mega Corp EA ...
Argue as much as you want but they are among the worst Publishers to be under.. Forced timeline, They Fiddle in your projects if they dont feel like they enjoy a part of it. I dunno why anyone would try to play GamesWorkshop over Mystic's and EA's errors and greed.
Like alot of IP games , they are made to "wow" people initially, so they can re-pay and profit from the Box / digital Sales to repay production.. The rest seems rather mout most of the time.
Umm, as the article pointed out (kinda)
Skaven on the side of ''order'' together with the empire, dwarves and high elves=?
Im no warhammer expert, i dont play the tabletop games, i just enjoyed the mmo,,
BUT EVEN I think thats kinda wierd, i mean, i always clearly thought that skaven were NOT JUST EVIL, but so damned evil that even for long term (political gains) THEY WOULD STILL BE INCOMPATIBLE with the side of order.....
i mean how can a witch hunter (inquisitor) of the empire work together with a spawn of gutter hell? (skaven)
....
lo and behold! i was wroooooong!!
As if it all wasn't bastardized and broken enough
((
Just more bad news on the War front, wonder how long till it goes f2p. They are moving that direction I'd say with their little cash shop area and things like these Skaven that they intend to charge for as opposed to give for free to the few people still playing. Which I will admit I am one of the few still around Warhammer, lol. Not by my own choice really though, I am just there because a couple friends still play it and for some reason don't want to quit it till Tera or Rift or something new is out *sigh*.
I'm eargerly awaitng this update but considering how difficult it seems for Mythic to properly balance classes 2 years or so after release, I am dreading the amount off unbalancing that will come with it.
So so SO very wrong, never in a million years would that happen. If I played the game, and was a fan, I would go ballistic. Luckily the game never appealed to me. How they can take such freedom is disgraceful imo.
That said, they kinda ruined it all in the beginning with the two sides, greenskins, chaos and dark elves on the same side. I just don't know where to start. I think they have gone too far now, way way to far. But for people who are not familiar with warhammer or care about such stuff, I'm sure this will be a great addon. I am all for keeping even small mmorpgs alive so I hope it boosts the game.
Krelain it wouldn't work, no matter how you twist and turn it, not even if his family(inquisitorwitch-hunter) would die if he didn't fight with them. So there is no reason to even try to justify it, you just have to accept the lore doesn't matter at all.
too bad they did followed the lore and came out with 2 faction, but now game is dead so its ok not to follow by coming up with bogus excuse.
very sad to see skaven allied with high elves and dwarfs. on the other hand, I'd love to play some skaven classes, they are an amazing race. Would have been better if they had been in launch so they could have their own zones, I can see them just being shoved into empire/chaos.
Everything creates huge amounts of negativity on the internet, that's what the internet is for: Negativity, porn and lolcats.
To me the sad thing is that they are a monster race only. Its hard to know exactly how they will balance it out and just what equipment and armour your skaven will have opposed to your character and how Renown points will be given out.
But Bioware-mythic had a chance to add Skaven, clearly a very popular choice into the game and sadly they have opted for the option that makes them more of a gimic than really getting to play them. You can't take your skaven on a raid or into the guild hall. Now I suspect this is a result of EA's lay offs that they just don't have the staff to present a full expansion and had to resort to the RvR pack.
Which is perhaps the most worrying thing of all, the game is being given up for dead and rather than see the investment and expansion that it needs it is being given a quick (hopeful) fix. Rather than the introduction of the children of the horned rat that could have added a whole new level of grim and dark fantasy to the game.
Why this whole thing of skaven looks rushed in an attempt to keep the few ppl playing, still playing?
They could have made a free xpac with 2 new races, but they just did 1 which you can play in both factions (meh mechanic imo)
"It has potential"
-Second most used phrase on existence
"It sucks"
-Most used phrase on existence
Where are the STORM VERMIN!?!? Or Grey Seer? Bah.
I find it somewhat amusing that people get so up in arms about the lore, as if the lorebooks were a sort of bible and the devs ripped out the pages and wiped their @$$es with them. Like has been said, the lore is already F'ed up, normally it's every race for itself. It's a game, you play it, you have fun. What part of endlessly slaughtering people does lore factor into heavily? Log in, hack, slash, shoot, cast, get cool loot, chit chat.
If you want lore read the tome of knowledge while waiting for an SC to pop. People get some cool new content and complain, pshhh get over it, you never cared about the lore before. Go back to killing people and stop whining.
Or quit and play Bloodline Champions
Ranid Assasin FTW
Sorry but Skaven only side with Skaven's in the end. This game is so FUBAR'd lore wise it's not even funny. Also a better choice would of been to use Orges instead for a mercenary race or dogs of war companies.
Games I've played/tried out:WAR, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, AoC, EQ1, EQ2, WoW, Vangaurd, FFXI, D&DO, Lineage 2, Saga Of Ryzom, EvE Online, DAoC, Guild Wars,Star Wars Galaxies, Hell Gate London, Auto Assault, Grando Espada ( AKA SoTNW ), Archlord, CoV/H, Star Trek Online, APB, Champions Online, FFXIV, Rift Online, GW2.
Game(s) I Am Currently Playing:
GW2 (+LoL and BF3)
It's been known that the game is in an alternate timeline before the game even released. I personally think its much worse to have a king that is nothing more than a Tzeentchian champion for Destruction side. Engra Deathsword is alive in this timeline and he isn't the one leading the warband... let alone writing Archaon out of the storyline. I won't even get into how absurd it is for orcs to be sided with dark elves and chaos. I think that is far more ridiculous than the sides the Skaven will choose.
Mythic screws up yet again...
If they had given the skaven to Destruktion then Order would have got what? "Woodelfs"? Skaven are to popular to just be playable by one side imho.