MMORPG.com: Our guests will do their best to answer as many questions as possible, but due to limited time and a high volume of inquiries, they may not be able to answer every single one. Users are limited to one question at a time, and you will be notified if your question is rejected or discarded.

MMORPG.com: Feel free to start sending your questions to DevBot while our guests introduce themselves!

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Hey all.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Evening

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Josh Drescher, he of video podcast fame, here.

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: Hello

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Excuse our late arrival.

[WAR]EAMythic_James: Hi all! I'm James Nichols Community Coordinator for WAR over at EA Mythic - I'm the guy who brings your input to development and also help to keep everyone informed.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: The Mothership's network thwarted our connection attempts for a bit.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Quick request:

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Anything Justin types should be read out loud - by you - why an English accent.

[WAR]EAMythic_Jordan: Hello (o_o)/ I'm Jordan Rosenbaum...part of the evil marketing department...

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: snicker

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Jordan has a mohawk he refuses to maintain properly.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: It's shameful.

[WAR]EAMythic_James: Agreed - it should be fluorescent in color and fully taught

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: <--- Adam Gershowitz, Associate Art Director & Combat/Careers Lead, be gentle!

[WAR]EAMythic_Jordan: bleh..it'll black soon!

MMORPG.com: Heresy-Darnewl :asks: Hi! what will the crafting system in war comprise of?

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: The crafting system will be awesome, but unfortunately I can't go into any details about it right now. Sorry :(

MMORPG.com: :asks: Have you planned a system to balance Order/Destruction ratio on a given server?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Ah, balance.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: One of the ways you cope with (inevitable) population imbalances is to recognize that you can't avoid them.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: And then plan around that.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: We've done that from the beginning, especially in RvR areas.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: One of the main reasons we chose to do instanced, controllable scenarios was to help mitigate the impact of that imbalance on any given server.

MMORPG.com: Sinkael :asks: My question is this, when DAoC came out and for some time afterward, there was a feeling of realm pride that slowly faded as time went on and people started realm hopping between realms. This realm pride was one of my favorite "features" of DAoC and I want to know what you are doing to folster this, if anything at all.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: So an underpopulated realm will always have a good chance at defending and attacking in RvR due to the balancing that scenarios can offer.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Eek. Another question!

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Okay. My slow reading skills have now caught up.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: And, to be honest, not necessarily a bad thing in all cases.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: But one of the major ways we intend to foster that sense of pride and place and belonging is via the guild system.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: We're aiming to build into the guild experience a sense of purpose and direction that will make it worthwhile to stick with a guild long-term.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: That said, we certainly hope people try lots of things out in-game.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Since... well... we love the whole thing and want people to see what we've been building. MMORPG.com: Godban :asks: how big will the groups/party/raids will be

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Looks like I'm up

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Groups currently at 6 people, we are supporting larger raid or "battlegroups" for RvR scenerios etc however the final size is YTB

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: We'll be locking that down after we get a good feel for the needs of a large scale event

MMORPG.com: Reminder: to submit questions, please /msg DevBot <> :) you may have 1 question in queue at a time.

MMORPG.com: malfeasin :asks: Are instances only going to be used in RVR, or are there PVE instances as well, and more importantly, will there be an emphasis on open world dungeon adventuring in PVE? Yay open world dungeons!

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: The VAST majority of instances will be RvR-related. However, in dungeons you'll have single-group boss encounters as well as "final" multi-group instances to tackle.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: but those are limited to the bosses

MMORPG.com: RWP :asks: Character Customization is a BIG thing for me in MMOs, what are you doing to make sure players can give their characters unique looks to their characters and make them match their personal feel? Not just in faces etc but in armor as well. No one likes looking the same as every other bugger out there!

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: We're putting in several ways to make player's stand out ...

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: one way is to allow players to attach trophies to their armor

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: another is to allow dyeing of armor

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: with those and the alrhe number of armor sets we have planeed...

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: players will be able to cultivate some very exiting looks

MMORPG.com: Farlin :asks: What elements of WAR online will keep the casual player engrossed, especially at the end game, besides the public raids?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Because scenarios are something that you can plan to participate in for a set and definite amount of time, they're PERFECT for casual gamers. Have half an hour while dinner is cooking? Hop in and hit a couple of quick scenarios.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: To add to Justin's comments, Please keep in mind that we're looking for a very unique shilloute to each character, that also means you'll get a number of unique options at character creation as well specifically geared toward you're career =)

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: And since they're all over the world, from beginning to end, there's never a time when you WON'T have something to contribute there.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Of course, all of the standard content is still "casual-friendly" - especially things like Public Quests.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: No need to run around LFG'ing all night long.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Run on into the PQ, participate as little or as much as you like, and leave.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: You get rewarded for what you give to the effort, but don't have to stick around all night to do so.

MMORPG.com: Adessi :asks: How will communcation work between factions?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Via rude hand signals.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: "Verbal" communication won't work cross-faction.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Which is a good thing, in our experience.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: People can get... salty in the thick of battle.

MMORPG.com: asdasd :asks: One of the big motivationfactors in DAoC was that one group (8 ppl) of well played characters was able to kill 30+ players at once if they knew exactly what they were doing. Do you have such things in mind when developing WAR? Is skill as important in WAR as it was in DAoC?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: WAR is a bit diffrent from DAOC in terms of quantity of players a really good group can take down.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: In general we're limiting AoE type abilities

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: And playing with the style of them

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: In general outside of morale you won't be able to hit more then 9 or so targtes

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: and in alot of cases we've done diffrent types of ranges and AoE shapes, Cone AoEs, Long Line AoEs, Hits 2 + nearby targets etc

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: So in WAR a well planned group could roll through a number of opponents

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: but they won't Be able to roll up and Mez 30 people then nuke them all down Aka DAOC

MMORPG.com: Feigro :asks: <Is renown only gained the PvP, i.e. killing players?>

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: Yeah, you get renown only from RvR activities.

MMORPG.com: rhilir :asks: so when are you going to tell us the last 2 elf races for each side

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Short answer: "Later." Long answer: As with all of our goodies and secrets, EVIL MARKETING has a grand scheme in place for the delivery of all major revelations of content, features, details, etc.

[WAR]EAMythic_Jordan: ((whip crack))

MMORPG.com: Reminder: to submit questions, please /msg DevBot <> :) you may have 1 question in queue at a time.

MMORPG.com: Chiram :asks: Little has been said about the Guild/Regiment system and how players will be able to ally. Is there a limit to how many other guilds you can ally with? can you name a few of the features, if any that the regiment system will obtain.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: I'm taking this out of a sense of human decency.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Guilds are a major feature that we intend to unveil in detail later this year.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: As we announced earlier this week, in preparation for the Guild Beta, we've shut down the beta server for a while.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Running up to the re-opening of beta (and Guild Beta phase one) we'll start to announce details on the system.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: So, rest your fingers regarding guild stuff for now. We're keeping that under our hats for a bit longer.

MMORPG.com: Daphtendreik :asks: Will there be something similar to most other MMO's in the category of Mounts?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Ahh the mount question

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: So there are a few things I can say and alot I can say (Big suprise there)

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: CAN'T say

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: shhhh

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: I am Adam's translator.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: editor person like

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Anyhow

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: WAR will have mounts as a form of transportation, just like many other MMO's

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: said mounts will be player owned. In addition we have a stack of additional neat features in store for player mounts

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: however like guilds we're holding that close to our chest to be released in future updates

MORPG.com: Jaide :asks: This is kind of two questions in one - but are there any details on the customizable addons and UI mods? If so do you have any information on what language they will be written in?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: DISCLAIMER: Carrie is the Mistress of all things UI-ish and will pull my lips off if I get this wrong. With that said, yes. There will be a fully customizable UI in place. It's all LUA-based, as per the standard UI such and such, so anyone who's working on mods for "OTHER GAMES" will be right at home modding for WAR.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: <--- Currently Mod's his UI at work and he's not even a programmer =)

MMORPG.com: Osyshnir :asks: Will there be a /anon feature?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Yes.

MMORPG.com: Thunder :asks: Are there any plans for releasing more beta codes in the near future?

[WAR]EAMythic_James: As we just announced we're taking a couple of months to focus on improving the game. But in december you can bet we'll be welcoming a lot of new people once things start rolling again :)

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: As a side note some of us will be out in Baltimore for the Grand Tournement again.. those of you who read the newsletter know what happened in Vegas (hint hint)

MMORPG.com: NHB-Kromlech :asks: Where are you guys planning on taking open-world RvR (read: pvp) with the 2 months?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Why, TO THE EXTREEEEME, of course. Seriously, we're just sitting down to start responding to the TREMENDOUS response and feedback we received via the beta up to this point.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: RvR - open field and otherwise - will be getting a significant amount of attention.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: We're listening - openly and with a good heart - to what our testers told us and responding accordingly. Beyond that, unfortunately, I can't provide details.

MMORPG.com: Atrax :asks: Do you think, the world we're playing in, is large enough? Comparing to DAOC?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: It depends on what year you're comparing us to

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: WAR is going to be a pretty large game, with alot of content and places to vist. In general our Zones are larger and more intresting than DAOC

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Admitedly in terms of sheer landmass WAR is not going to launch larger then a veteran MMO with multiple expansions =)

MMORPG.com: repo :asks: will u be able to point and click aswell as use tghe aswd keys for pve?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: You can use the mouse to move around, but it won't be a "ckick on the ground -> move to that spot" set-up.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: er

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: click, rather

MMORPG.com: Thank you for all your questions! We are going to continue answering queued questions in the chatroom, but we are no longer accepting new questions. MMORPG.com: Desetes :asks: Will WAR have a PVE end-game? For example, raiding?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: There's plenty of high end PvE content. Dungeons, massive sewers (I wonder who migth be down there?), high-end PQs, etc.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: That said, we fully expect people to be drawn into the RvR campaign rather organically as well.

MMORPG.com: Zvyr :asks: Will the game incorporate universal cooldowns or will you opt for a different system like DAoC?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Universal Cooldowns are pretty critical to good presentation and balance. We will in general have a shared cooldown for 90% of the actions in the game

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: This is to protect against crazy animation clobbering and FX bloat, as well as give people a chance to think and react to things in the world

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: that being said we are working dilligently on diffrent types of pacing for each career. Some of this will come from additional cooldown times but alot of it will come from resorurce managment

MMORPG.com: Project :asks: Will there be an incentive to group with other players to complete quests or explore pve content, aside from the obvious benefit of an added sword as it were. I.E. XP bonus or some such addition

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: No. The benefits of grouping are sufficient in and of themselves and we certainly don't want to "penalize" players who prefer to solo by making things inordinately harder for them, even one on one.

MMORPG.com: dreamsensei :asks: My fiance and I are considering rolling dwarves, but she's curious about the equivalent of the "bigger beard" that the female dwarf would get for becoming more powerful. What is the female equivalent for dwarves in that regard?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Hrmm

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: So dwarven ladies have things to look foward to as well

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Like dwarf males they'll have better endowed.. err how do I put this

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: starts with a B

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: errr

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Braids!

MMORPG.com: [Scorn]Anom :asks: Will the Chosen class get a 'Builder' such as Black Guard's Hatred and Ironbreaker's Grudge?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: The Chosen is a battlefield commander. He places himsefl strategically on the battlefield and uses auras (pulsing AOE spells) to debuff opponents. If you're familiar with "twisting," skilled players will be able to twist multiple spells at once.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: The Chosen represents a diffrent type of playstyle

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: in general we may have 2 or 3 Tank Archetype careers

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: However each of those offerings represents a diffrent style of play

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Some may rely on stances, other twisting auras or commands, or combo chains

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: so that being said No builders for the Chosen =)

MMORPG.com: zekeode :asks: <Is there going to be any sort of treasury? (chests,boxes,crates etc.)>

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: There will be lots of chest-style things for players to plunder. All the loot from a PQ ends up in a chest, for example.

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: And players will be able to find chests to open in cities. plus, there will be banks to hold stuff in too.

MMORPG.com: The_Dispsoed :asks: Will there be lots of skills for each class in the game?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Short Answer is Yes

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: We've got a number of choices both active and passive for players to choose from. Right now for example each career has over 30 tactics to pull from

MMORPG.com: Gobblox :asks: Will there be a mutiplayer?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Yes. It is written that there shall one day come a hero. A warrior of untold strength and wisdom. At they shall be the one. They shall be... THE MULTIPLAYER.

MMORPG.com: Feldron :asks: The pod casts shows greenskins vs dwarfs, order vs chaos, high elves vs dark elves, But will there be any fights with like Dwarves vs High Elves or any other combination

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: There will never, ever be large scale RvR battles between allied factions.

MMORPG.com: TanK_ :asks: will there be any high-res texture packs sometime after release?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Alot of the artwork in WAR is built to scale. That being said we are working at higher resolutions for alot of game art. We haven't yet decided the final res assets that will be shipped with the game

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: however as usual expect improvments as we go along

MMORPG.com: [Scorn]Arkane :asks: Will any classes have a mini-map 'tracking' style ability, or can you actually plan stealth into your tactics by sneaking around or waiting to ambush.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: In short we've given players ways to keep track of targets in a battle

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Alot of these options aren't linked to a single career

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: for example EVERYONE has the option of pulling up the targeting ring HUD

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: which places arrows at the player's feet that point out direction of a number of diffrent targets

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: both friendly and fow

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: foe even

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: with that in mind you still need to be able to select you're target to track their location so you will be able to sneak around and catch people off guard

MMORPG.com: Medwynd :asks: After seeing some of the large scale pve zones I am wondering if they will need to be progressed through all at once or else they will reset or if you can do them in parts

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: PvE content is divided into Chapters. The Chapters are set up to be level-appropriate for players who progress through them in a linear fashion. You CAN move ahead if you wish, but the content in those areas will (obviously) be very difficult for you if you do.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: With that said, you can jump back and forth between pairings, so you may do a few chapters in one pairing, then hop over and do comparable chapters in another pairing.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: You'll be able to pick and choose as you see fit. Or do it all.

MMORPG.com: Wrenn :asks: This is Wrenn from warhammerconflict.com. My question is about death penalties. Will there be any kind of penalty for death to NPC's and/or human players? In addiction, will there be any kind of lingering weapon/armor damage?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: There will be a death penalty in WAR, however we're still playing with what we want it to be and how significant it will be

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: our goal with death is to not make it horrible for the player and ruin their play session. But also to keep Zerg tactics to a minimum

MMORPG.com: LoS-Auku :asks: From The Legion of Steel's guild member Auku: How is it going with the devlopment of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Splendidilicious.

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: Swimmingly!

[WAR]EAMythic_James: swimmingly!

[WAR]EAMythic_James: What

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: WHAT?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: NOOOO!!!!

[WAR]EAMythic_James: Waaaagh?!?!

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: I've only had 2 fatalities on the team.. So I'd say we're doin pretty good

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: CHAOS QUESTION!!! RUUUNN!!!!!

[WAR]EAMythic_Jordan: wow

[WAR]EAMythic_Justin: stop pretending to be British James!

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: ohh wait err

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: up everything is just fine

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: *ahem*

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: nothing to see here

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Development is a party. All day, every day.

MMORPG.com: Stingray :asks: Ok could you give us some details on the Magus 2019 201cFeed My god 201d Ability which from I hear turns dying enemy players into Horrors/Spawns. If this is a real ability is the Horror a NPC that just attacks whatever it feels like or can the Magus control it and tell it what to attack? PS Game looks good keep up the good work.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Sometimes its a SLUMBER PARTY!

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: looks like I'm up again

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: The Magus does have the ability to summon Deamons

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: First of all, Adam ORIGINALLY called it "Feed my Gersh." And he insisted that we all had to buy him lunch once a week...

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: however the chaos gods are fickle so the magus has little to no control over them

MMORPG.com: Kother :asks: When buying tactics and morall skills will you be able to pay in game money to get your points back if you regret your decision?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Obviously, there will be a mechanism for respeccing in place. We're not offering final details on it at the moment, however.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: We want decisions to be meaningful, but bad decisions shouldn't be permanent

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: That said, the tactics system actually helps to mitigate the need for respeccing by offering flexibility and variation to players without requiring a full-blown respec.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Also, what Gersh said.

MMORPG.com: s0ull :asks: Is WAR planning on adopting a Rock, Paper, Scissors style of balance. Or are you trying for a different approach to PvP balance?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: We've decided to go for 'Hungry Hungry Hippos' balancing.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Rock< Scissor

[WAR]EAMythic_James: I tried to push parcheesi though :(

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Witchhunter > all

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: err

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: or somthing

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: DUDE. PUBLIC CHANNEL.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: hehe

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: ok real answer

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Every Career has a counter career on the other side

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: the basic balance always can be compared to Rock Paper Scissors

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: however imagine our task is to balance 5 games of rock paper sissors all at once

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: So many rocks to the head...

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: So many scissors... well, also to the head.

MMORPG.com: Zucker :asks: Will stuns/dissorients work on normal NPCs and bosses as well?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: And the paper... not as absorbant as you'd imagine.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Yes

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: :)

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: you will be able to stun, knockdown etc monsters

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: you cannot Knockback them however

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: But not knockback.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: some encounters will be immune to these things though =)

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Oh, hi Adam.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: I should stop watching my hands while I type.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: He is skilled typer!

MMORPG.com: HEYuSHOOSH :asks: What game would your recommend playing untill Warhammer Online is released?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Hellgate.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: OH WAIT, you probably can't yet.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Hellgate is so very good.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Also, hungry Hungry Hippos.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: shhh Josh NDA

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: I mean...

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: uh...

MMORPG.com: miber :asks: Would EAMythic be willing to host a TF2 server for their fans? Since, beta will be delayed when the Orange Box is released, and all..

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Depends on how many of you will play medics

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Heavy Gersh Need medic

MMORPG.com: Vash :asks: Can we expect ambience effects of war in RVR? Like fire raining upon the Battlefield and explotions and such?

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Thats the realm of our RvR Scenerios

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: the team is trying hard to make each one feel unique

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: for example the graveyard has low lying fog all around =)

MMORPG.com: Mandalore :asks: Do you think that there will be enough differences between players of the same class? Because in the Podcast it looks like all Player of the same class will have the same actions/skill.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: A player will have to make a number of choices in their gameplay experience

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: obviously the most important one is what career they want to play

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: The archetypes will stay fairly solid, in order to keep roles well defined

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: However that being said

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: there will be additional choices for a player to customize their career

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: on a per fight, per play session, and per lifetime level

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: more to come =)

MMORPG.com: Yaxa :asks: Do you have any suggestions for those of us who are less familiar with the Warhammer universe to get ourselves "prepared" before the game launches?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: If you're lucky enough to have a GW brick and mortar store nearby, stop in and I GUARANTEE people will be more than happy to tell you all you need to know.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Beyond that, honestly, look at everything on our website.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: It's PACKED with lore, background, general info, etc.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: If you're into Sci-fi / Fantasy I suggest reading Dan Abnett =P

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Finally, we've been really lucky with our fan base and the fan websites that cover us.

[WAR]EAMythic_Jordan: the GW website is also packed with info...and so is the WAR newsletter!

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Communities like MMORPG.com are loaded with knowledgable, fun people who love talking Warhammer.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: So support your local fansite today!

[WAR]EAMythic_James: Puts his stamp of approval on the above

MMORPG.com: [Scorn]heldunder :asks: will pvp skill add to the amount of exp you get from a player, ex: a player is a very good pvper, will they be worth more EXP?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Yep. Players who have been run through a meat grinder and killed recently and/or repeatedly will be worth less renown than players who've been up and fighting for a long time.

MMORPG.com: SentinelSix6 :asks: Sound related: Did you add race specific sounds which accompany special moves, ie. if Orc does some sort of screaming move, you can hear him scream. As it stands most mmo's have sounds when your guy gets hurt, or dies, but none seem to have sound to the special moves, beyond "swishes", "squishes", "crushes", and etc.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: This is important for everyone to know

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Right now the artwork (sound included) on abilities is in a first pass stage

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: we're going to continue to crank it up as we get closer to launch

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: but we don't want to spend excessive time on it until we're happy with the game balance of the ability

MMORPG.com: sigismund :asks: why did you choose zeentch and not khorne?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Especially for an MMO, where customization and change and personal effort are so critical, Tzeentch was really the ONLY choice.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: We also wanted a very cohesive feel to the faction

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: It would be very hard fitting all of the archetypical roles into Khorne

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: since he's not fond of spell casting

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: healing

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: ranged combat

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: grouping

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: bunnies

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: and bunnies are important to Tzeentch

[WAR]EAMythic_James: Very important

MMORPG.com: Cayn :asks: Will 'tank' classes be able to use 2-handed weapons effectivly in RvR combat?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Hell yes.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Er... I mean... yes.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Yup

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Great Weapons are an offensive tanks best friend

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: And they look so damn cool.

MMORPG.com: Kyoruto :asks: How have you kept the uniqueness in skills and yet still retain a blance in overall PVP? Was it a difficult task?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: With an army of designers all beholden to Gersh's every whim.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: heh

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Thats a rough question

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: in general every career has some sort of parallel on the opposing side

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: sometimes they share similar abilities

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: sometimes they are counters

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: even in cases where we share abilities or mechanics we try to present them diffrently

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: to flavor them properly for the race and realm

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: For example all DPS classes can chase down opponents

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: It's part of why we've been holding such a long beta test as well.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: In the case of the Witch Elf She can sprint in combat

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: but the marauder... well here is a secret

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: You implement a full, playable version, test it, take feedback, respond and make adjustments.

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: two words

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Tentacle Grab

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: =)

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: * cool is now known as tentacle|grab

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Now THAT was funny.

MMORPG.com: Delve :asks: Will there be an experience curve for PvP?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: OOOH. Nick limit, James!

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Delve - There is a curve to renown advancement and XP.

MMORPG.com: Banditmage :asks: Is there any plan for a limited or collectors edition of the game to be released or should we start a 5000 signature petition now?

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Oh, will there EVER be.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Obviously, no details just yet, but I recommend that you start lifting weights now.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: The list of stuff Marketing is trying to cram in is absurd.

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: And awesome.

[WAR]EAMythic_James: We're really excited and can't wait to share the details :)

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: It'll be very limited edition, so make sure to pre-order ASAP once it's announced.

[WAR]EAMythic_James: And Josh isn't exagerating...it's the Mary Poppins Bag of Special Editions

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: Literally. It comes with an annoying British nanny wizard.

MMORPG.com: Thank you for joining the WAR Dev Chat with MMORPG.com! A big round of applause for our EA/Mythic developers, and irc.forthegamers.org, our hosts! Chat logs will be available on MMORPG.com asap!

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Authentic British flag for you're jeans maybe?

[WAR]EAMythic_James: Thanks all for having us :)

[WAR]EAMythic_Josh: To everyone we didn't get to - sorry, but we still love you.

[WAR]EAMythic_Jordan: and thanks to MMORPG.com!

[WAR]EAMythic_Gersh: Holy wall of text batman