The question is simple.  Would you like to play as a squad of nids or necrons in place of a single character from another race?  Just curious

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/542/view/forums/thread/326732/page/3

Check out my thoughts on how they could implement necrons and nids. 

Every MMO is about story, and I don't see much potential for a quest-driven adventure provided by NPCs with their walls of text in either of these races.  They have always been about the extinction of every other race possible, and I for one feel that Games Workshop would be doing the fans a disservice by trying to pigeonhole them into a kind of adventure they wouldn't normally partake in.  Unlike the Imperium of Man or even Chaos, these two races do not have civilian worlds or reasons to get revenge, they have nothing driving them but destruction, and honestly, you can't put that kind of thing into an MMO format and expect much longevity.

I think they would be best served as enemies to all factions in-game, similar to Aion's Balaur, who pretty much attack anything that moves.  Hopefully the Necron/Nid histories and lore would somehow fit into other races' storylines, but as for playing them in a traditional MMO setting, it wouldn't work very well.  Either the devs will have to alter the format significantly, or just make them cheesy playable races that 40K fans don't fully recognize or accept.

I love both of those armies. I picked Necrons though cause they're back story and TT gameplay elements would provide for a better (more structured) mmorpg experience imo. Plus they fight inline with the system that Vigil has announced thus far. The Nids are "hive mind", and just too abstract for me in an mmorpg.

Plus if there was a "floating pyramid of lightning death" as a vehicle I might wet myself with excitment.

Originally posted by Eir_S

Every MMO is about story, and I don't see much potential for a quest-driven adventure provided by NPCs with their walls of text in either of these races.  They have always been about the extinction of every other race possible, and I for one feel that Games Workshop would be doing the fans a disservice by trying to pigeonhole them into a kind of adventure they wouldn't normally partake in.  Unlike the Imperium of Man or even Chaos, these two races do not have civilian worlds or reasons to get revenge, they have nothing driving them but destruction, and honestly, you can't put that kind of thing into an MMO format and expect much longevity.

I think they would be best served as enemies to all factions in-game, similar to Aion's Balaur, who pretty much attack anything that moves.  Hopefully the Necron/Nid histories and lore would somehow fit into other races' storylines, but as for playing them in a traditional MMO setting, it wouldn't work very well.  Either the devs will have to alter the format significantly, or just make them cheesy playable races that 40K fans don't fully recognize or accept.

I hadn't considered how difficult it might be to fit nids/necrons into a quest driven rpg format.  Yes, it could be a problem playing as a nid/necron and getting a mission like the other races.

But I don't think it's impossible.  I think it's a matter of thinking outside the box.  All MMOs to date rely on pretty much the same quest format.  Could they not modify it to fit the role?  Your basic nid is essentially a mindless machine (at first glance).  However, the guiding intelligence seems to be significantly more advanced than that.  I don't think it would be out of the realm of believeability to have a nid with a specific quest to go kill X, infiltrate Y, disable the communications array at Z base.  The novels have shown the nids capable of targeting specific locations and people.  The guiding intelligence could easily adapt it's individual units for more independant action.  Look at the Lictor and the genestealers.  Could not imagine other units operating in a similar fashion of independance?  Perhaps instead of getting our quests from another nid it gets delivered to us via the synaps?

Of course it might also be preferable to just play a killing machine with quests/tasks that reflect that. 

Also, most people at some point WANT to play the villain.  So what if you're not going on quests to kill X bears for the gall bladders.  Would you find no entertainment walking in a necron hord as it decends on some hapless settlement?  Are you not just a little bit interested in joining in a nid rush as you and you fellows chew your way through a hive's defenders?

Being a huge 40k fan, I would love to play as either of those races, but I was thinking more along the lines of the "inside" of the box that most MMOs typically follow and the fact that it's already in development - in addition to the company making it not having any previous MMO experience (I think?  I know they made Darksiders).  Heck, maybe the new viewpoint would be a benefit, but that's only if they didn't follow companies like Trion into mediocrity by saying "Hey, what worked for other companies?  Let's do that but give them guns and skull probes."

I'm not entirely sure about the tyranids, because giving players an individual questline seems to go against everything the race is about - then again, like you said, more "alpha" units are capable of blazing their own path while still connected to the hive mind, as seen in the literature and DoW 2.  It makes me think of a necromancer or warlock type class, where you might command smaller drones into battle.  Now that could work.  I hadn't considered a "minion master" specialization (I know you listed "squads" as a poll option but I completely forgot while replying because frankly, most MMOs just don't do that kind of thing).  Otherwise, I don't see much sense in playing as the smallest, meekest units.

As for the Necrons, I think they would be more likely to fit as a playable race.  As seen in Dark Crusade, the pariahs still have the ability to communicate and even emote to an extent and that could lead to a bare-bones storyline centering around how they used to be human but are embracing the will of the C'tan, further exploring the origins of what is said to be arguably the oldest race in the 40K universe.

Those are some thoughts I had from a non-NPC perspective of the races, but either way I can't wait to see what they have cooking.  I haven't been following the news since I wasn't sure there actually was any new information, but didn't they say there would be a 2 faction system?  If they stuck to that idea, then the Necs and Nids would never fit into either unless they wanted to cause some continuity issues for fans.

Originally posted by Eir_S

 I hadn't considered a "minion master" specialization (I know you listed "squads" as a poll option but I completely forgot while replying because frankly, most MMOs just don't do that kind of thing).  Otherwise, I don't see much sense in playing as the smallest, meekest units.

Since the nid units are recyclable and easily changeable (in my propose suggestion) You'd start as the smallest nid and as you "leveled up" you'd go take a dip in a digestion pool to (advance your character) and come out as whatever the next unit(s).

From the lore, nids eat and then jump into a digestion pool to pass along the bio-mass they've consumed.  Then new units are created from that bio mass.  That's why nids are so scary.  Unless you destroy a nids body (i.e. burn it to ash) the nids will just consume the dead nid and that dead nid gets turned into a live nid (and then some if he'd eaten anything).

I understand they're going with the 2 factions system, but that's not to say that a future expansion couldn't include rogue 3rd faction hell bent on killing the other 2 factions (ala necron OR nid).  By themselves I would thnk that nids OR necrons would be a great solo faction.  but that's just me and my wishful thinking. :)

Originally posted by Eir_S

  Heck, maybe the new viewpoint would be a benefit, but that's only if they didn't follow companies like Trion into mediocrity by saying "Hey, what worked for other companies?  Let's do that but give them guns and skull probes."

God I hope they don't think that.  How can anyone look at 90% of the mmos out there and think "that worked for other companies!".  That's like a bunch of ppl running across a busy free way and one person makes it, then someone else thinking...hey it worked for them!  lol.  

I truely hope they don't think that.

Originally posted by cheshyrecat

Originally posted by Eir_S

 I hadn't considered a "minion master" specialization (I know you listed "squads" as a poll option but I completely forgot while replying because frankly, most MMOs just don't do that kind of thing).  Otherwise, I don't see much sense in playing as the smallest, meekest units.

Since the nid units are recyclable and easily changeable (in my propose suggestion) You'd start as the smallest nid and as you "leveled up" you'd go take a dip in a digestion pool to (advance your character) and come out as whatever the next unit(s).

From the lore, nids eat and then jump into a digestion pool to pass along the bio-mass they've consumed.  Then new units are created from that bio mass.  That's why nids are so scary.  Unless you destroy a nids body (i.e. burn it to ash) the nids will just consume the dead nid and that dead nid gets turned into a live nid (and then some if he'd eaten anything).

 

I understand they're going with the 2 factions system, but that's not to say that a future expansion couldn't include rogue 3rd faction hell bent on killing the other 2 factions (ala necron OR nid).  By themselves I would thnk that nids OR necrons would be a great solo faction.  but that's just me and my wishful thinking. :)

That could actually be a ton of fun. I know it's not an MMO, but Natural Selection works similar to this. There's a certain trill with starting out as a lower lifeform and constantly evolving into newer and better things. However, besides the 2faction limit, another reason why they might not do this, is because it would be difficult to keep it interesting witout changing the playstyle with evolves. Players might enjoy how one lifeform plays and then evolve out of it, to a large lifeform they don't enjoy. Seem minor, but I know there are people who would find this an issue.

I play as nid's on TT, and to say that I am dissapointed that I will not be able to play them in DMO is a vast understatement.

THQ, why did you not learn your lesson!?! Dawn of War II was so much more awesome with the addittion of nids as a playable race in multiplayer!!!

Honestly, Tyranids are too good as PvE fodder to become a playable race. Sorry, but they present a very interesting (and threatening) common enemy. Necrons would be more fun to play in my opinion, though I hope their lore gets expanded sometime soon.

Besides, gauss weaponry? How could you say no?

Unfortunately nids just dont work in an MMO format, and im a nid player on the tt game. Necrons are more then plausible. The only thing is the devs are trying to make this a 2 faction game and that just does not make any sense inside of the 40k world. Every race (besides nids) should be its own faction and the universe should be nothing but a giant bloody world (as the lore has it) and the Tyranids can play their role as PvE enemies, and they are great at fulfilling this role as they can make for epic PvE content. who better to control a hive mind then a computer? lol Dont make retarded alliances just for the sake of using a faction system no one wants anyway. Let us all kill eachother and battle back hordes of nids all day! It makes for great fun!

Originally posted by aesperus

That could actually be a ton of fun. I know it's not an MMO, but Natural Selection works similar to this. There's a certain trill with starting out as a lower lifeform and constantly evolving into newer and better things. However, besides the 2faction limit, another reason why they might not do this, is because it would be difficult to keep it interesting witout changing the playstyle with evolves. Players might enjoy how one lifeform plays and then evolve out of it, to a large lifeform they don't enjoy. Seem minor, but I know there are people who would find this an issue.

But that's just it.  Nothing says you have stop playing as a gaunt if you like that.  Play as a warrior with a small swarm of gaunts as backup.  Same play style...just bigger nasty.

Or perhaps (taking a page from secret world) you have the ability to go take a voluntary dip in the digestion pool and pick a different build by redistributing your build points.  So one week you're rocking a trio of warriors with a 6 gaunts and next week you switch to a single Lictor, and the week after that you decide to play one huge swarm of Termagants because you wanna backup your friends who are going full on melee with warrior builds.....that to me sounds fun as hell and would fit with the lore.

The only tough part I think would be fitting the nids into a "playable" setup.  Obviously, you're not going to go talk to another nid who'll give you a quest to go kill X bunnies for their ears.  But honestly, I think that's just a matter of thinking outside the box.  I think it could be done....and should be.  Either that or necrons.  I would LOVE to play necrons.

Originally posted by cheshyrecat

Originally posted by aesperus

That could actually be a ton of fun. I know it's not an MMO, but Natural Selection works similar to this. There's a certain trill with starting out as a lower lifeform and constantly evolving into newer and better things. However, besides the 2faction limit, another reason why they might not do this, is because it would be difficult to keep it interesting witout changing the playstyle with evolves. Players might enjoy how one lifeform plays and then evolve out of it, to a large lifeform they don't enjoy. Seem minor, but I know there are people who would find this an issue.

 

But that's just it.  Nothing says you have stop playing as a gaunt if you like that.  Play as a warrior with a small swarm of gaunts as backup.  Same play style...just bigger nasty.

Or perhaps (taking a page from secret world) you have the ability to go take a voluntary dip in the digestion pool and pick a different build by redistributing your build points.  So one week you're rocking a trio of warriors with a 6 gaunts and next week you switch to a single Lictor, and the week after that you decide to play one huge swarm of Termagants because you wanna backup your friends who are going full on melee with warrior builds.....that to me sounds fun as hell and would fit with the lore.

 

The only tough part I think would be fitting the nids into a "playable" setup.  Obviously, you're not going to go talk to another nid who'll give you a quest to go kill X bunnies for their ears.  But honestly, I think that's just a matter of thinking outside the box.  I think it could be done....and should be.  Either that or necrons.  I would LOVE to play necrons.

 

I could see this being possible through a talent tree system. I personally would play both Nids or Necron. Of course that would be after my initial Chaos character.

I am not sure how you could play a nid.  With a few exceptions they are all  controlled by the hive mind, or at the very least a hive mentatality.  I would find it hard to belive in a geanstealer PC, or even a gaunt (in any form).  By the time you get to truly solo-style characters (figures?) you are at the monstorous creature stage and we better not be able to play them.

And necrons suffer a similar problem.  I don't recall the exact unit names but basic shooter/melee units are designed to be in medium to large squads.  Sure, most units have the "return" ability but I know I sure do not want to spend too much of my time lying there waiting for my systems to reassemble/reboot.

To answer your question....

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I have to say I agree with the majority of what I have seen here.  'Nids are just too alien to really be a playable race, hell necrons would be pushing it.  They did give one example of them (necrons) being able to think somewhat individually with the dawn of war games, but how far do they want to push that....

That being said, I could almost see them being just as popular as the marines come game time.

Originally posted by Erolat

I am not sure how you could play a nid.  With a few exceptions they are all  controlled by the hive mind, or at the very least a hive mentatality.  I would find it hard to belive in a geanstealer PC, or even a gaunt (in any form).  By the time you get to truly solo-style characters (figures?) you are at the monstorous creature stage and we better not be able to play them.

And necrons suffer a similar problem.  I don't recall the exact unit names but basic shooter/melee units are designed to be in medium to large squads.  Sure, most units have the "return" ability but I know I sure do not want to spend too much of my time lying there waiting for my systems to reassemble/reboot.

I understand the concept is a bit left field, but I don't think it's an insurmountable issue.

Yes nids and necrons seem to be controlled by a hive/collective mind.  So in theory they have no self will.  Gotcha, no problem, I understand.  But, on the surface are any of the other the races any different?  IG, SM, eldar....with a few exceptions (much like the nids/necrons) they're ordered to a location, given orders to follow, and if they don't they get executed.

Yet we all KNOW without any shadow of any doubt, that we'll all be running around willy nilly without any concept of order or concequece for not following orders.  So why would it be any different for nids or necrons?  Why hold them to a standard that you don't hold the other races to?  We can't do it.  Who wants to play a game that someone tells them how to play the game and restricts their game play?  It would be an epic fail if they tried.

None of them, they are not conciousness so in the end you cant play as a tiranid or necron, both of them follow orders/instinct mindlessly so in the end there will be no need to create one of those if you are suposed to have no brain to think "unless they want to destroy the lore a little bit more" well anyways... im getting an eldar so im ok with everithing else/i dont really care.

Originally posted by Blasphim

I have to say I agree with the majority of what I have seen here.  'Nids are just too alien to really be a playable race, hell necrons would be pushing it.  They did give one example of them (necrons) being able to think somewhat individually with the dawn of war games, but how far do they want to push that....

 

That being said, I could almost see them being just as popular as the marines come game time.

IIRC in Dawn of War the only necrons able to "think" were the Necron Lords, and a pariah or two. Which would actually make sense.