Some selected comments:

Our RvR experiences were somewhat limited, but intriguing nonetheless. Developer Spyke Alexander explained to us that as you're adventuring in the game world, you'll see RvR battles breaking out nearby or even around you. This was exactly as described. While simply exploring as a witch hunter, we noticed some neophyte warrior priests (our allies on the side of Order) attempting to drive off some Chaos invaders. We felt compelled to help them, and rather quickly found ourselves drawn into an RvR fight. The game has the kind of edgy feeling that only player-vs-player competition can provide. It's the kind of thing that keeps tension -- the good kind -- in the game.

The game will have lots of "extras". Ok, ok, we didn't get to see this part, exactly. But the inclusion of these "extras", we were told, was the primary benefit of bringing EA into the mix. Mythic was getting pretty close to releasing WAR when EA bought the company. The influx of cash allowed Mythic to extend the development time of Warhammer and include a whole range of features that otherwise would have been left out. What are these features, you ask? Well, they remain a secret at this time, but we were assured they upgrade the game from "just another MMO" to "a grade-A MMO."

The graphics are beautiful. In fact, this is an understatement. Allow me, first, to say that we saw WAR at ComicCon several months ago. I hate to say this, but we were not impressed. The graphics were choppy, the scenery didn't look very impressive, and we left with something of a disapointed impression of the game.

That's all changed now, and in a big, big way. This game looks great. The towns, forests, and countryside look simply fabulous. The characters, too, look really great. A developer told us that the build they brought to E for All is quite recent, and quite upgraded from the build we saw at ComicCon. Of course, he explained, the game isn't finished, and the graphics will become even more impressive as the game nears release.

The art style is not cartoonish, like WoW. I wouldn't really say it leans toward photo-realism, like Vanguard or EQII, either. It's a unique-looking style that isn't really like other MMOs. I'd say that the characters have a CGI quality to them; they have realistic looking textures, even though the character models often have an exaggerated look. The goblins and orks, for example, certainly don't look like creatures in the real world, but they have a realistic look to them nonetheless. Oh, don't listen to me; just look at the pretty pictures.

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You can read the whole article here:  www.wanderinggoblin.com/literaturedetail.php

 (Psst.  I added a little colored text.  Don't sue me.)

Not anything we have not heard before... although the warpriest info made me happy in the pants...

Man I need to get some War in my life... (and no I don't wanna join the army!)

Anyone else notice that the writer kept mentioning an "acolyte"? I wonder what exactly he/she meant by this. A group word to refer to all casters? Although his/her tone suggested that it was a certain thing, saying "the shaman is not a parallel of the acolyte". Hmm..probably nothing  but enough to raise my brow a bit.

ya like the above poster said nothing new but i do like what the dev said about random RVR breaking out between NPC allies thats cool. =))

I think the acolyte he is referring to is the dwarven rune priest thing. Because he mentions it when talking about opposing side's classes and he says shaman and acolyte. Green skins are opposite dwarves.....thats my logic =P

Originally posted by TedDanson

I think the acolyte he is referring to is the dwarven rune priest thing. Because he mentions it when talking about opposing side's classes and he says shaman and acolyte. Green skins are opposite dwarves.....thats my logic =P

I think they could have at least checked the main site before writing the preview.  I hate when previewers/reviewers seem to know next to nothing about the game they're previewing/reviewing.

Still good to see info in any form.

Looks great!

I can't wait...

I think by Acolyte he's talking about the Dwarf Rune Priest, because he was making comparisons between Shaman (Greenskin) and the Acolyte... so probably was Dwarf Rune priest because both are the support/healer archetype.

I would say the Alcolyte is the Zealot. Same short one-word names, described as creepy:

"the magus and the acolyte -- both seemed somewhat creepy."

Comparing the Zealot and the Shaman makes sense in context, as they are both healer archetypes but don't share identical spells:

"Acolytes and shaman are not now, nor will they ever be, merely parallels of one another. The spells aren't basically the same, just with different names. They are different. We felt this added a lot to the game, and for this bold stand on class differences, we applaud the EA Mythic developers."

If you can read this and not get excited... bravo, Mr. Zombie, bravo:

"There are very few "peaceful" zones in the game (though they do exist for you peaceniks and hippies out there) since Warhammer is a game about warfare."

"Developer Spyke Alexander explained to us that as you're adventuring in the game world, you'll see RvR battles breaking out nearby or even around you. This was exactly as described. While simply exploring as a witch hunter, we noticed some neophyte warrior priests (our allies on the side of Order) attempting to drive off some Chaos invaders. We felt compelled to help them, and rather quickly found ourselves drawn into an RvR fight. The game has the kind of edgy feeling that only player-vs-player competition can provide. It's the kind of thing that keeps tension -- the good kind -- in the game."

That second paragraph sounds like marketing spin.  If you don't see it, don't believe it, and shame on the reviewers for giving them the benefit of the doubt.  If the company wants something listed as a feature, it needs to be, you know, actually identifiable.  The rest of it sounds quite promising.

quoted from the article:

"One thing to note, as it will cause endless debate among overly knowledgable fanboys forever and ever -- the classes on the side of Order, and of Chaos, are not merely parallels of each other. Will this cause imbalance? Of course it will; no game is every perfectly balanced. Most MMOs, however, attempt to resolve this issue by making one side's "rogues" almost identical to the other side's "assassins", if you follow my meaning. WAR does not appear to even be considering this approach. Acolytes and shaman are not now, nor will they ever be, merely parallels of one another. The spells aren't basically the same, just with different names. They are different. We felt this added a lot to the game, and for this bold stand on class differences, we applaud the EA Mythic developers. "

If this stays true through live, then I will applaud them, too.  That constitutes a real step forward.  It'll be interesting to see how they'll handle the inevitable imbalances, though.  If they follow standard Dev reactions, it'll be with nerf stick.  Let's hope their solutions will be as innovative as their implementation.

I agree with The KRaken.  It is nice to see a game where they simply did not go, well make Class A for Good side and Class A for the bad side, same abilities etc.  24 unique classes is what I am looking forward to!  And the graphics descriptions are very promising.  I still dont see how people can compare the graphics to WoW.

Because its easy and requires no real effort.  People compare any game's every feature to WoW's.