The White Tower Speaks: Things We Did Not Want to Hear

The WAR fansite community is abuzz today over Mark Jacob's earlier announcements. You can find those in an MMORPG.com interview here. I'm sure you've already seen it. I'm sure you have an opinion about it, and I'm sure it's not super-duper positive (if it is, you may need a reality check).

I'm going to skip the crap, and get to the part I'm upset over: the cutting of classes.

I have to admit I had to read the passage three or four times to make sure I'd gotten it right. I'm not going to lie, it seems like publicity suicide. I'm pissed and I really didn't have any intention of playing those classes. If they'd cut Swordmaster, I would probably have thrown a hissy fit right there at my computer, logged into my Amazon account, and canceled my pre-order on the spot, and I'm not usually prone to rash decision making, or lording my "customer rights" over the developer.

My group got lucky, we had one guy who was thinking he might go Hammerer, but that's it. I can only imagine the people who had their heart set on one of the cut classes, or guilds who had several people affected by the cuts.

I have to assume that Mythic had an excellent reason for cutting these classes, they said the classes cut were not distinctive or strong enough. This tells me there was a problem with the classes' mechanics. Does this bode ill for the Ironbreaker, who shares a mechanic with the recently cut Blackguard, or the Chosen who shares a mechanic with KotBS?

What exactly wasn't working with the melee DPS (hammerer, choppa)? Were they having problems getting kited, or was it too difficult to balance their survivability (medium armor) with their damage? Why were the stealth (Witch Elves and Hunters) and pet classes (White Lion) not having similar problems? What about the Marauder?

Were the hammerer and choppa's mechanics giving them class specific problems? Did their momentum mechanic make them early and frequent targets for focus fire? Did they not have adequate mitigation or escape mechanisms?

Is it possible that the melee dps were so fragile they couldn't make it to their targets without stealth or a built in tank (aka pet)? Or that they had to resort to running in well after the fight had already commenced to avoid focus fire?

Of course, we do have to salute Mythic for doing what they think is best. Cutting classes must have been very difficult for them to do, and I'm sure they knew the response would be widely negative. Mythic's commitment to excellence is admirable, let's hope it doesn't bite them in the ass.

Look for more on this later,
Stormcrow

The Greenskin: Bo's Balancing Act II

Check out this article by Bo over at the Greenskin! His Balancing Act articles are top notch! You can find it: here!

In this article he tackles the delicate art of class balance, don't miss it!

Stormcrow

Warhammer Info: Class Abilities and More!

Tons of great information in this post, ranging from class specific abilities to general game play mechanics. I don't know if this information is all that new, but I certainly hadn't heard much of it. So please go over to Warhammer Info and take a look if you haven't already!

You can find the post: here!

Stormcrow

The White Tower Speaks: Collision Detection Part I

Collision detection, yes please. To me, one of WAR's main selling points. Collision detection is awesome, it creates a more tactical game where positioning is key, adding a new layer of depth and strategy to game play. Not only this, but it creates a less cluttered game space because people can't pile on top of each other so it becomes near impossible to target them (talk about frustrating).

Collision detection allows you to clog a choke point, and hold off, and perhaps even help you defeat, a larger enemy force. Not only this, but you can keep your healers, support, and ranged DPS out of harm's reach! So why don't all games have collision detection?

Unfortunately, collision detection is difficult to properly implement because of the potential for same-side griefing. Yeah, those jerks who block off the bank or auction house all day just to be douches, ruin an otherwise fantastic feature.

So the question becomes, how do we implement collision detection, but limit the players' ability to grief his own faction?

WAR has one answer, turn collision detection on only against enemies.

I have to admit, when I hard WAR was only going to feature enemy collision detection, I was a little disappointed. I already hear you clamoring, "WAR BASHING? Not on my watch!". Just hear me out.

I think the greatest thing about (full) collision detection is that it allows a smaller force in the right position (say a hallway, or a bridge), to engage larger forces on more equal terms. Tight spaces don't allow your enemies' numbers to work for him.

So what is this really? A zerg counter. Numbers don't matter quite so much when they can only bring a few of them to bear. Eventually, they will probably overwhelm your position. Your tanks will run out of hit points and your healers will run out of mana (or should I say action points!). Hopefully, however, you've managed to take out a few of the enemy and slow their advance without losing too many of your own.

Enemy only collision detection negates this strategic advantage altogether. It doesn't matter if there's only room for four people in the hallway if 1,000 people can stack on top of them, and their archers and spell casters can fling their full arsenal at you despite their teammates being in the way (a separate gripe for another day).

Stay tuned for Part II, coming later, for other ideas on Collision Detection Implementation.

Thanks,
Stormcrow

The White Tower Speaks: Gear vs. Skill Part II

This article is a continuation of Gear vs. Skill Part I, which you can find: Here! So here's our problem. We need to balance gear so that it provides something for players to keep striving for, but at the same time, we need to keep it from over-powering those who attain it.

Now that's a quandary if I've ever seen one, but there are a few possibilities:

1. Don't make gear upgrades the reason people want to keep playing. This one seems pretty obvious. WAR looks like it's making a step in the right direction here. People will probably play just because the campaign is dynamic and fun, incorporating the best elements of RvR, PvE, and Realm Pride/Socialization.

2. Make gear about customization, not power. Have items be similar to your Masteries/Tactics, and allow them to further differentiate and customize your character. If you really hate casters, for example, maybe you can sacrifice some armor for spell resistances, and so you seek out a set with higher spell resistances bonus. Or maybe if you feel too squishy as a caster, maybe you can sacrifice some spell damage for hit points. This allows you to customize your gear to your play style, while allowing you to embrace your class role as well.

3. Have gear reduce your weaknesses, instead of increase your strengths. In a rock, paper, scissors environment, or indeed any environment where balance is desired, it's not always possible to achieve. Let's say you're a Tank, and you're usually pretty good against Melee DPS, but weaker against ranged DPS. Having better gear should mitigate your weaknesses in match-ups that are not usually favorable for you (ranged dps), instead of giving you even more advantages over classes you already do well against (melee dps).

There you have it folks, a few ideas on how to make gear desirable without being overpowering. If you have something to contribute, please do!

Stormcrow

The White Tower Speaks: Gear vs. Skill Part I

Before you read this, make sure to pop on over to the The Greenskin! and read Bo's article. It's all sorts of amazing, and provides a suitable base for what I'm about to talk about.

The eternal debate, Gear vs. Skill: the truth is, there's not much of a debate, as Bo mentioned, there are very few people who are going to say "I don't want to beat people because I'm 'better' than them. I want to beat them because I have better gear."

Does anyone really say that? To me, that statement makes no sense. When I beat someone, I want it to be because of my deeper understanding of game mechanics, proper use and timing of skills, solid team work, and generally just being faster or smarter than my opponent.

Does this always happen? Of course not. There is always someone out there smarter or faster than you. There will always be people who are capable of beating you, no matter how good you (think you?) are. That's a given. But what about the people who beat you, not because they out thought you, or outmaneuvered you, but simply because their gear allows them an unfair advantage over you.

That's what gets me. I can play a match-up perfectly: anticipating CC, interrupting heals, maximizing burst damage etc. While my opponent makes numerous mistakes: forgetting about diminishing returns, letting a heal get counter-spelled, and still win, simply because his gear allows him to take 3 or 4 times more punishment than me, or deal out twice as much damage.

No one (at least not me) wants to lose that way, and I really hope no one wants to win that way either.

But let's face it, gear is a large part of MMO's, it always will be. People have to have something to strive for, a reason to keep playing. Who's going to keep playing for an item that makes one stat .001 percent better? A few, maybe, but what's the point?

That's the problem, there's got to be a balance. How can we balance gear so that it provides a means for players to keep having something to strive for while keeping the gear differential in check?

Come back for the next installment of The White Tower Speaks: Gear vs. Skill Part II

White Tower of Hoeth: Week in Review

Hey guys, I hope you've enjoyed what's been written here so far. This first week has been pretty hectic. I had a lot of stuff I wanted to put out there for you guys to read, and a lot of sites I wanted you to visit! But now after the opening week rush here at the White Tower, we'll be settling back to a normal pace. Don't worry, plenty of great articles to come, and even a few guest speakers!

For those who don't have time to read everything here at the White Tower, be sure and take time to read these two feature articles!

Order vs. Overpowered Demi-Gods of Untouchable Awesome (Destruction)

and

Several Pretty Good Reasons Why Warhammer Looks Like it Might Be Awesome (Most Likely)

Take a look, read 'em over (yeah I know they're long, my B), and let me know what you think! More to come here at White Tower of Hoeth!

Stormcrow

Defense of the Ancients: Why aren't these guys getting paid?

What is DoTA:

For those of you who have never played this little gem, I suggest you look it up. DoTA, or Defense of the Ancients is a custom map for Warcraft III: Frozen Throne. You play as a single, unique, hero (either randomly generated, picked by you, or chosen via draft variant), and you and your team (up to four other players) attempt to take on an enemy team of equal number. There are three lanes that constantly spawn NPC "Creeps" for each team, as well as neutral creeps placed around the map. There is also one "Super" Creep placed roughly halfway between both teams. His name is Roshan, and he drops an item that pretty much gives you a free life.

The objective of the game is to drive your forces into the enemy base and ultimately destroy their "Ancient", killing enemy heroes, buildings, and creeps along the way. Overcoming these obstacles awards you with experience and higher levels (and thus more and better abilities) as well as gold which you use to purchase a wide variety of items to customize your character, and make him/her especially powerful.

I can honestly say no other "mod" has kept me entertained for so long, far longer, in fact, than Warcraft III itself did. All I can say is, wow... if you've never played, and have a copy of Warcraft III: Frozen Throne, go download it: here.

Why is DoTA so Amazing:

First of all, it's incredibly fun, and it's reminicent of of MMO PvP without the hassle of leveling a character over several weeks/months. So if you've only got 30-60 minutes, you can play a game of DoTA, and get out the door.

Secondly, for a custom map (indeed for most any game) it is incredibly well balanced. Some people might disagree with me here and that's fine. I've been playing a long time, but I don't play in the Pro Leagues (Yeah... they have those. Heck DoTA even has its own song), so, by all means, take what I say with a grain of salt.

Yes, there are some bad match-ups, but when you're playing 5v5 a lot of those discrepancies disappear. Yeah sometimes your team is lucky and you have characters that do well against your enemies, but if the other team is better than you, chances are they're going to win.

Why, you ask? Because skill (or should I say knowledge?) in this game is huge, and there's a lot to know and understand before you become truly skilled (please don't think I'm calling myself "truly skilled", really, there are some nasty players lurking out in cyberspace). First of all, every character has some means to overcome any enemy strategy. For example if your opponent is spamming you pretty hard with nukes and dots (generally being annoying as crap), you can level up stats instead of one of your core abilities (which increases your HP, amongst other things), or buy HP regeneration items to counter them.

That's something that's very interesting about DoTA. Items are, all at once, the great equalizer and the great divide. If you're going up against a lot of magic users, you can buy an item that reduces magic damage on you by 30% (That's huge!), and their magic attacks will be much less effective. If you're going up against a melee dps (High dmg, low hp) you can get an item which reflects melee damage back at the attacker. There are literally items for every situation. There's always something good to get, either to make you better, or to make your enemies less effective. VERY COOL!

The other side to items is, if a character is getting lots of money and his opponents aren't, he can become very broken, very quickly. A character can literally never take part in a huge fight the whole game, but just be killing neutral creeps in the woods, and come out a monstrous powerhouse towards the middle of the game. It's just something else to keep in mind. If a player is doing really well, you should try to kill him to slow his flow of money, it's a trade-off. Do I level in the woods and try to get broken, hoping my team can fend them off 4v5 or do I go and help out. It's all part of the strategy, and all part of what makes it fun.

Teamwork in DoTA is huge, another reason why I love to play. My roommates and I play together as often as we can, and you'd be amazed what even two co-ordinated people can do to the randos (legitimate word, I swear) on Battle.net. Get five of us in a game, on the same side, you'd better hope the other team is in vent together...

In my opinion, DoTA should be looked at as a model for all future PvP MMO's. Take whatever you can from this incredible game and turn it into something we all want to see. So far, I can see a pretty interesting correlation between DoTA and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and I use it a lot to explain to people how I think (and hope) WAR will be. Every time I use the DoTA example people seem to nod their heads and say, "Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun."

I can't help but agree.

Stormcrow

Several Pretty Good Reasons Why Warhammer Looks Like it Might Be Awesome (Most Likely):

Hello everyone, this is Stormcrow here at The White Tower of Hoeth! Today I'm going to talk to you about a few factors that I think will make Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning a success. First, let's look at a few things that go into making a great game (MMO).

1. Show me the MONEY! Let's face it folks, if you want to make a great game, you've got to have the capital to make it happen, captain. At first I was a little worried about how much money would be going into Age of Reckoning, but once I learned EA had teamed up with Mythic, I knew the money would be in the bag.

2. Experience: If you want to make a great game, you've gotta have experience. Some things you just simply can't get right the first time. There are just some things you can't see coming. Luckily for us, Mythic has already produced an excellent RvR game, and can overcome many of the pitfalls from Dark Age of Camelot, meanwhile lending their otherwise excellent features to WAR (read: keeps).

3. Time Spent: It's said you can't rush greatness. Hopefully this is the case for WAR. A lot of people are upset about the delays, and it is true that delay doesn't necessarily mean a better game. I think we need only look at the Dev Team to see how dedicated they are to Warhammer Online. Jeff Hickman has said on many occasions, "If it's not done, it's not getting released." Despite all the Blizzard hate running amok on forums and blogs, I think it's good Mythic has taken a page from Blizzard's play book in this case.

4. Devoted Developers: Never have I felt more in touch with a development team, and never have I seen such diversity among the "faces" of any game. On the one hand you have the boisterous Paul Barnett whose excitement and fervor seems to know no bounds. What I really like about Paul is that he seems to draw in those new to MMO's without scaring them away with overly technical language. On the other hand you have the (moderately?) more serious Jeff Hickman who really hits those technical nails on the head (when he can!) and really seems to answer questions as forthrightly and honestly as possible. And then, somewhere in the middle, taking the best from both worlds, is Josh Drescher.

There are other faces, of course, Mark Jacobs won my respect when he responded to some forum posts bashing his people (Go Mark). And I've never heard someone so excited about their job than Carrie, the creator of the ToK (Tome of Knowledge). When you have people who care that much about what they do, they moderate themselves. They know what they're making is going to be quality.

5. Rich Intellectual Property: Warcraft.... Star Wars.... Lord of the Rings... Warhammer. It's difficult (impossible?) to make a beautiful, rich, world from scratch. Thank goodness the developers in these games didn't have to. The lore practically writes itself, ancient battlefields and vicious blood feuds are common place in the Warhammer Universe.

So there you have it folks. If you ever start to get down, wondering if this game is going to make it, stop focusing on details, those come with Open Beta, and the dropping of the NDA. Understand that there are many elements that go into making a game, and Warhammer is poised in a market that is desperately looking for something new, exciting, and provocative. If Warhammer releases, and is a solid, polished, and fun game at launch, I think we can safely say that it will be around for a long time to come.

Thanks for reading,
Stormcrow

Collector's Edition Pre-Order Problems and Fixes

I hear a lot of people are having some problems entering their Pre-Order codes for Open Beta, so I decided to share my somewhat troublesome experiences and how I fixed them! First off, I ordered my CE from Amazon, so this may be specific to them only. I ordered the CE no problem, and went looking for my codes. I didn't get anything in my e-mail, so I went looking around the website for my codes.

They were locked away in the "Downloads" section... why they were there, I may never know. But I found them. One was for Open Beta, One for the head start, and One for the in game Items. Much to my dismay I saw the Open Beat code was set to expire on the 10th of June. This happened to be about 4-5 minutes away from when I ordered. So I was like, "Crap, better get this in."

I copied and pasted my code. Invalid. I was like, wtf is going on. Eventually I realized the code was being cut off on the edge of the screen. I had to open the same page in Internet Explorer (I use Firefox), and once I did that I was able to get all the letter/numbers.

I was relieved. At least I got my beta code in. So I tried the other two. Those were giving me invalid code as well. I was perplexed to say the least, but I ultimately figured out I couldn't input those codes until I got my actual Warhammer Online Account Information.

As it turns out, the dates were bogus anyway. Whew!

Hope this helps,
Stormcrow

An Introduction to Warhammer Online

Hi there, everyone, I'm Stormcrow, one of the staff here at the Tower of Hoeth, and I'm here today to talk to you about Warhammer Online. Big surprise right? The Warhammer Online in big bold letters at the top of the page along with iconic pictures and phrases generously borrowed (read: stolen) from EAMythic (the Developer) and Games Workshop (the IP) probably gave it away, huh?

This is just a little introduction to players who may have heard about Warhammer Online and aren't really sure what it's about, and don't want to spend hours sifting through several years worth of information. Or you may be a "Waiting on Warhammer" veteran who is trying to remember all the truly awesome things that are going into the game. Either way, here we go!

Warhammer Online is an MMORPG being released by EAMythic in the Fall of 2008. The game has been in production (in its current form) since mid 2005. The game focuses on RvR (PvP on a massive scale), and has several unique features that should keep players entertained for a long time to come. But enough with that, let's get to what really sets Warhammer apart from other MMO's.

Warhammer's Tagline is at once both simple and eloquent: "War is everywhere."

The game features the timeless battle between good and evil (Order vs. Destruction), and I'm not talking about Warcraft's "Noble Savages." I'm talking big, brutish, hulking death dealers that know niether pity nor remorse. Even the so-called "good guys" have an edgy, anti-hero, feel about them that literally screams awesome.

There are three races for each side. Order is represented by the Empire (semi-traditional human race), High Elves, and Dwarves. Evil is represented by Chaos (humans corrupted by dark and powerful energies), Dark Elves, and the Greenskins (a mix of Orcs and Goblins).

Ugh, another game with Elves, Dwarves and Orcs... what is this World of Warcraft 2.0? I think not! The Warhammer Fantasy IP (intellectual property) has been around since 1983! This world is ancient, deadly, and filled with incredible lore and bitter rivalries. An excellent setting for any MMO!

In fact, I think this is a great time to show you the Official Warhammer Online Cinematic Trailer. If you've never seen this video, I must say, you're in for a treat. Go ahead and watch it now!

Watch the Cinematic Trailer: Here!

Whoa... epic, right? I have to say, every time I watch that trailer I get shivers. It starts off pretty silly, showing the Greenskin Choppa getting catapulted into a fortress wall, but gets down to business quickly as it pans down to the conflict between the Greenskin Black Orc and the Dwarven Slayer (a class, that sadly, didn't make it into the game). The cinematic quickly jumps over to the elven conflict, showcasing a Dark Elven Witch Elf fighting a High Elven Arch-Mage, and finally comes to an epic conclusion as we watch the Chaos Chosen battle the Empire Warrior-Priest. I admit, every time I watch the video I keep hoping the ending changes. =)

If you're like me you're already starting to think about what race/character you're going to play.

Each race has four classes, that fit into four rough archetypes: Tank, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, and Healer/Support.

Again I hear you cry, ugh! Sounds like more of the same... but each race has four UNIQUE classes. None of the tanks are the same, some have similar mechanics, but all have their own unique feel and style.

Go here to view more information on: Character Classes

I'm sure this has given you plenty to think about, so take a break, visit the main site, and determine, if you haven't already, what faction, race, and class you'll play!

As always, keep checking back for more discussion of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Stormcrow

Welcome to White Tower of Hoeth

TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) Version:

Welcome to White Tower of Hoeth Warhammer blog. We're waiting, we're bored, and we like to talk Warhammer. We bring you all the stuff you want to know about, without all the crap. So you can just sit down, relax, and listen to a bunch of people talk about a game they've never played. We're not going to lie, we're pretty excited. Welcome to the White Tower!

OFBAWLTR (Only for Bad Asses Who Like to Read) Version:

You see, I can insult the TLDR people here because they didn't read this far. For the record, I am just kidding... mostly.

Hello everyone and welcome to the White Tower of Hoeth, a Warhammer Online Blog! I know what you're thinking... another blog, why do we need another one of those? But if you're like us, you're looking for any juicy morsels of information you can get on EAMythic's new MMORPG, Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning.

And really, what else are we going to do until release? Play Age of Conan? LoL. I'm only kidding, I just logged off my Priest of Mitra (oh the shame, right?). Since none of us have been lucky enough to get into the Warhammer Online Closed Beta, and have recently (after the last Arena Tournament) canceled our long standing World of Warcraft accounts, we find ourselves with a lot of time on our hands, time we've been using to research everything we can about Warhammer Online and searching for something that will keep our interest until Open Beta starts.

That's right! We sit online all day and scan through news and forum posts, 90% useless, mind-numbingly boring speculation about things we can't possibly know, and find interesting tidbits and discussions on the topics you actually care about: RvR, Tome of Knowledge, Public Quests, Release and Beta Dates... and, of course, chaos chickens.

We hope you'll all keep checking back in on us here at the White Tower of Hoeth. Later this week: An Introduction to Warhammer Online and Several Pretty Good Reasons Why Warhammer Looks Like It Might Be Awesome (Working Title).

But all joking aside, we hope you'll all visit us later!

White Tower of Hoeth Team