With the start of a new year comes more answers for those curious about the upcoming Warhammer: Odyssey Mobile MMORPG. In round 2 of our developer interview James York, co-founder of Virtual Realms, provides some further details about enemies, character development, gameplay footage, and more.
With a second chance to ask the developer questions about the upcoming Warhammer MMORPG I looked to the comments from our last round of questions and the notes I had previously taken. While some of the answers only lead me to yet more questions, I am looking forward to the upcoming gameplay footage and beta test.
MMORPG: Warhammer is a beloved IP, what sort of challenges have you encountered so far that you didn't expect while working in the Warhammer Fantasy universe?
James York: As fans ourselves when we set out to create Warhammer: Odyssey, we knew right away that we wanted to create something rich with lore and faithful to the world beloved by so many. We also want to add our own personality and creativity, so we’ve worked closely with Games Workshop to further enrich the world in ways that do not feel out of place.
MMORPG: Any iconic Warhammer characters that players will meet/interact with in the game?
James York: Absolutely! But we don’t want to spoil of that just yet.
MMORPG: In the previous interview you mentioned quite a few different enemy types that the players will encounter, one of my favorite threats from Warhammer Fantasy has always been the undead, any chance they may be making an appearance as well?
James York: The influence of the Vampire Counts spreads far and wide! Players will most certainly encounter undead creatures at various points during their adventures.
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MMORPG: How heavily will the game focus on storyline and narrative quests vs grinding?
James York: I’d like to say that there is a healthy balance and players will have lots of opportunities to do both.
MMORPG: Are there further character development systems outside of leveling and loot to make the game stand out as a Warhammer RPG? (Example – Skill or Talent Trees)
James York: Each class will allow you to focus on 1 of 2 specialization trees and you will be able to further augment your abilities like granting additional boons or to deal more damage giving you hundreds of ways to tweak your character.
MMORPG: What will WO have for social systems in the game? For example, will the game have a fully featured guild system, housing and/or other social systems to engage the community?
James York: You can expect the standard systems at launch like friends list and player guilds, but we plan to implement additional ones in the future.
MMORPG: Will there be a crafting system at release? Can you give us some details on what that system includes? How will crafted gear compare to other loot in the game?
James York: We won’t have crafting initially at launch, however giving players a variety of content in Warhammer: Odyssey is a top priority for us over the coming years.
MMORPG: The teaser trailer from earlier this year looked really good, when can players hope to see a gameplay video?
James York: We will reveal gameplay footage soon.
MMORPG: Any ETA on the first beta test for the game so that players who are registered can try it out?
James York: The development team is working very hard to prepare for the first arrival of players and it is important to us that the game is at a level of quality that we hold ourselves too, which is why we haven’t announced a date for the beta just yet.
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MMORPG: Is there anything cool you get to do with the title because it has Warhammer in the name, and are there any real restrictions on the type of content you can create for the game because of the name as well?
James York: The coolest thing by far is being able to bring places to life that until now we’ve only had a chance to read about and put together in our imaginations. As for restrictions I don’t think we feel restricted at all, whilst yes, we need to remain faithful to the Warhammer world that’s exactly why we wanted to work with it in the first place, with some 30 plus years of lore to work with we have plenty of room to be creative.
MMORPG: Why mobile? Was there anything specific about that space that drew you to it? And what can you say for fans who are disappointed that Odyssey is on mobile versus a full-fledged PC MMO?
James York: We are first and foremost, a mobile game studio. Our leaderships first title is still successful after 8 years and we are taking that knowledge and experience to create something extraordinary. The technological advances of smart phones and tablets allows us to really push the boundaries of what mobile games are able to accomplish. All we’d say is don’t make assumptions about mobile stereotypes and give it a try.
Thank you to James and the folks at Virtual Realms for taking the time to answer our questions. If you would like to know more make sure to check out https://warhammerodyssey.com/
