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Warhammer Online Resurrection?

Posted by Zonk on from the rez-plz-k-thx dept.

Thanks to TerraNova for the heads up about the possible resurrection of Warhammer Online. The game was cancelled back in June, after several years of work on the project and rumors that it was close to completion. GamesIndustry.biz has the story as well: "Cancelled massively multiplayer title Warhammer Online is back in development, according to comments attributed to Karl Jeffery, CEO of developer Climax, and could be released in around 18 months time."

12 comments

  1. due to Dawn of War's sucess? by Paolomania · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if this is a reaction to the success that the Warhammer 40K game, Dawn of War, is seeing. If so, I still think a Warhammer Fantasy Battle RTS would be more appropriate than a MMOG.

    ASIDE: As much as I love Blizzard's Warcraft and Starcraft, I've always felt that they are highly derivative of the WH tabletop games. The addition of hero character to WC3 only increases this similarity. Although we should all thank Blizzard for beating Games Workshop to the punch in delivering a video game in the spirit of fantasy and sci-fi warfare, and hammering out and perfecting modes of RTS interaction, I hope that the youngin's out there appreciate the origins of the genre. Warhammer* computer games are no johnny-come-latelies - they are the games that should have come out before *craft, but for the lack of vision on the part of GW to expand out of their book & miniatures driven buisness model. Praise to the old Blizzard for having the vision to take the spirit of Warhammer and project it though Westwood's Dune 2.

    1. Re:due to Dawn of War's sucess? by Chi+Hsuan+Men · · Score: 5, Interesting

      [i]I wonder if this is a reaction to the success that the Warhammer 40K game, Dawn of War, is seeing. If so, I still think a Warhammer Fantasy Battle RTS would be more appropriate than a MMOG.[/i]

      Agreed. The first two things I thought about when I started playing Dawn of War (DoW) was:

      1.) When is the expansion coming out that features the Tyranids and Imperial Guard?

      2.) When will they take the engine and build an RTS around the Warhammer Fantasy World.

      With the success of DoW, I am suprised to see Games Workshop putting funds back into the MMOG, rather than aggressively furthering the RTS franchise that could be extremely successful. Reason being, Warhammer Fantasy is based upon titanic clashes between two armies. The MMOG world, as is, does not lend itself well to such scale. To re-create such battles, it would take an unprecedented amount of coordination between PCs in terms of tactics and unit diversity.

      Granted, the MMOG could take the path of other established MMOGs; however, that would not really do justice to the grandiose vision that Warhammer Fantasy Battle creates in its tabletop game.

      I think the only feasible way to achieve that vision is through an RTS.

      --
      Respect It.
    2. Re:due to Dawn of War's sucess? by bad_fx · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Perhaps nothing more than a rumour, but I read somewhere that Blizzard originally wanted to make a warhammer game, couldn't get the rights from Games Workshop, and thus was born the whole *craft series.

      A quick google reveals almost nothing on this, so no link to back this up - perhaps it was bollocks, but I definitely remember reading it somewhere... *shrug* Perhaps someone else knows more?

  2. Not with David Nicholson at the helm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I find this unlikely with David Nicholson being made MD recently at Climax Nottingham.
    Mr Nicholson was brought onboard at Rage Games Sheffield to handle the closure of the studio (which seems to be his role in the industry), and has also been part of management during a number of studio closures, including Inforgrammes/Atari/Gremlin and Yeti-Studios
    It certainly seems like a bad omen for the Nottingham studio where Warhammer Online is being developed, but perhaps there's a chance they'll move production to another studio?

  3. Yes, but... by MMaestro · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Lets say the game is back in production. How do they plan on maintaining expectations after Warhammer 40k Dawn of War was released? If you played Dawn of War, you got the basic idea was big army + big battles - micromanagement = fun. Now expand that do the MMO level. How do you create a MMO-Warhammer world without shrinking the world into the Final Fantasy XI size (you could walk across the ENTIRE world in less than 2 hours) nor making it insanely huge like World War II Online or Planetside (where you could spend 2 hours simply trying finding to find a battle)?

    They should just sell the MMO code and work on a smaller scale Warhammer FPS instead. It'd be far easier and no doubt reach a much larger audience that way.

    1. Re:Yes, but... by spaeschke · · Score: 1

      Very, very simply. You build the game around the WH fantasy RPG, which is exactly what they're doing. It'd be different than any other MMOG set in a fantasy genre (with the exception of WH being a dark fantasy setting). I think you either have no idea of what the scope of current MMOG's are, or you're unaware of just how widespread the material behind the Warhammer universe is.

    2. Re:Yes, but... by spaeschke · · Score: 1

      Damn. Must learn to use preview. I meant to say, "It'd be NO different than any other MMOG".

  4. What i'd like by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
    What I'd REALLY like is a turn based strategy game that focuses on the detail of the Warhammer world. There are some EXTREMELY complex rules that I'd love to see implemented true to the books. I want to be able to have a ruler on screen to measure my movement, etc.

    The other feature I'd really like to have is the ability to customize my minis down to the smallest detail. Perhaps this might even require a seperate army painting program that lets you get in there with a tiny brush to get things as detailed as you would have them in real life.

    I mean, I like dawn of wars color scheme editor, but for anybody who's ever painstakingly painted in the eyes on every one of their models, it was seriously lacking in the detail department.

    I'd also like the game to use pre-assembled armies. None of this building crap. You decide with someone you play online how many points the game will be and build your army accordingly.

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  5. Screw the bugs... by Chmcginn · · Score: 1
    1.) When is the expansion coming out that features the Tyranids and Imperial Guard?

    We want the C'Tan and their soulless buddies!

    More to the point... I think they could make it be true to spirit of the games, and still have a role-playing element to it. Start off with a 200 or 300 point army and a basic lord. As you played PVP battles or completes PVC quests, your army gets bigger and your lord gets more powerful.

    My problem with the RTS genre is the "S" part - collecting resources at the scene of the battle only always seemed a bit unrealistic to me. Dune 2 was probably the only game in which that made a lot of sense, and that was because of the world.

    --
    Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
  6. Hopefully captures the brutality.. by Propagandhi · · Score: 1

    If this MMORPG fails to capture the brutality of the WH universe then it'll be a definite pass for me. I'm hoping for an MMORPG with actual evidence of combat, unlike much of what's on the market today.

    I know it seems shallow, but this is really a defining characteristic of the WH universe, and to not include it merely to maintain a T rating or whatever would be a travesty, IMHO...

  7. A hopefull w00t from me by Pinkoir · · Score: 1

    I'll admit right off the bat that I'm a hopeless GW fanboy so I have a biased opinion. I was very disappointed when I heard that this title was cancelled. From all the things I had seen online and at various Games Day presentations it had a ton of features unique in the fantasy MMORPG genre which would have given it good differentiation from the rest of the masses. On the other hand I wasn't too surprised at its demise either. The prospect of going toe to toe with both WoW and EQ2 at the same time must have been really frightening to the money-men.

    If this rumour is true then there's a good chance that it's because of the success of Dawn of War. Even though Warhammer is a pretty main-stream geek activity there are still millions of hard-core gamers who have never even heard of the franchise. With the increased exposure of PC gamers to GW's IP generated by the success of DoW maybe Nottingham feels that there there will be enough brand recognition at launch to allow the game to compete against the other players in the marketplace.

    They may also be hoping that by not having to compete directly with the Huge Two at launch they will be able to survive the inevitable shake-downs that occur after release. The flip side is that they will be launching against two established and less buggy competitors.

    The point is probably moot though as this is likely just some crazy fanboy rumour with no real substance at all...it would be too good if it were true.

    -Pinkoir