Warhammer Online: Capital Cities FAQ

Tags : Warhammer Online News, Warhammer News, Age of Reckonling News

With the recent news of axing four cities and classes when Warhammer Online goes live, Mythic Entertainment has posted a Capital Cities FAQ where they answer most common questions about their recent announcement.

How will the RvR endgame work now with only 2 capital cities?

Actually, it works out even better than we had originally designed. Our game still has complete tier 4 RvR content for all three racial themed pairings. At the end of each of these tiers is a heavily fortified fortress for that race, which must be taken in order for one realm to claim victory for that pairing. Imagine a giant wall cutting across the horizon line that separates you from you enemies and their fortress. Players prepare their siege weapons, casters and archers line up on the ramparts and hill sides, as your realm clashes against the foreboding gates wielding a mighty battering ram and dodge scalding oil spilling from the turrets above.

These fortresses can only be assaulted once a realm has pushed their enemies’ resistance back to the fortress itself. This requires them to capture two zones in the Tier 4 Campaign for that pairing. Players must then capture the fortress to lock down the pairing and seize control. Once one realm claims victory over any two of the three pairings, their enemy’s capital city becomes vulnerable to attack. Players can then rally and unite to focus their efforts on taking their enemy’s city. This keeps the action intense and helps funnel the players together for the “battle of all battles” as players clash in the streets of the capital cities to claim victory for their Realm.

Does Empire vs Chaos have an advantage because the 2 capital cities fall in their pairing?

Not at all. Like I mentioned above, you must capture two pairings first before gaining access to the capital city. This means that each Tier 4 RvR territory is just as valuable as the next to the culmination of the final battle. For example, as a destruction player, capturing both the Dwarven fortress Stonewatch and the High Elf fortress Shining Way will open the opportunity to knock down the gates of Altdorf.

So you cut 4 of the 6 cities, does this mean I will be enjoying WAR with only 1/3 of its original content?

We did not cut 2/3 of our content; far from it. Before, when our goal was to do six of them, WAR cities were the typical places to go for player services and to just hang out. By focusing all of our energy and effort into two capitals, we have managed to add so much more content than we would have if we had continued pushing to launch all six. Our capital cities are now packed with content and places to explore including: Guild taverns, dungeons, quests, PQs, King encounters, player services, and the most exciting thing of all--now they act as battlegrounds to fight over and protect when under attack. Beyond this, the list goes on and on. WAR now has more content than ever before, and by focusing our efforts we have been able to create a unique experience far beyond our plans when we first set out to make a great game.

Won’t I get tired of the RvR endgame by fighting over the same city every time?

If pushing through 3 separate dynamic campaigns scattered across 3 racially themed pairings, capturing battlefield objectives, claiming keeps for your guild, slaughtering your enemies in an open field, making a name for yourself by dominating in any one of our many scenarios, or helping to take a fortress for your realm to only then flood into the streets of your enemies’ city is your definition of getting tired, then maybe.

Once you get access to each city, so many new challenges await. The RvR game doesn’t end at the city gates, it really just begins. Outsmart your enemies as you take the fight to the streets, capture battlefield objectives within the city, partake in invader or defender-based quests, challenge any of the 3 massive city dungeons, join in on the city scenario and finally burn and pillage through a city wide PQ event.

After all of that, should you capture the city (remember--you can get kicked out!), then prepare yourself for two of the most challenging PQs yet! Conquering them will lead you to your enemy’s throne room itself, and their king within!

How often are you planning for a capital city to be under attack?

That’s completely in the hands of the players and how well they unite and work together with their realm. We expect that as players get used to the game and their careers, we’ll see a city coming under siege every two weeks with a capture maybe once a month.

Do you think you’ll ever revisit the other four capital cities?

Of course! One of the most exciting things about WAR is that while creating a great game for launch, we have also built a solid foundation to expand on for years to come. This foundation has provided us with a perfect canvas for future live content and expansions just as we did for Dark Age of Camelot. We want to see how players handle our first two capital cities worth of content and iterate on that feedback for future cities.

What about my king?

Your king has not been lost. You can visit him in your Realm’s capital city within the war planning room, strategizing the next plan of attack on the battlefield. New opportunities arise to crush your enemies once you gain his respect and attention.

What was gained by making this decision?

By having the development team focus on 2 capital cities we were able to grow them into something so much more than a transportation hub with an auction house. These cities are what we call Living Cities. Cities will prosper and flourish from actions you and your Realm-mates accomplish. Each city has 5 Ranks and at each Rank the cities economy changes. Not only does the economy adjust, but also various quests, events and PQs become available. Each city now has almost 100 quests tied to it, 3 massive dungeons, 12 unique PQs and a scenario to challenge you unlike any other. And the fun thing is we’re just getting started. There are plenty of other surprises waiting for you to unfold!

I love cities in MMORPGs, so to me it's a big disappointment that they had to do this. I see where they are coming from though. It's good that they have the courage to announce their plans and make it very clear. We'll be seeing more of the four "lost" cities in the future according to Mythic so all is not lost.