40k MMO

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**Melissia**

I think the best way of implementing it would be something along that line-- everyone is a soldier, but with differing special abilities.

So you start off with a basic soldier, your basic rifle weapon, pistol, close combat weapon, etc. Fully capable of ownage. Then you add medical abilities to that. Or you add assault abilities to that. Or you add special/heavy weapon specialization. Or you add command ability. Or psychic powers. And so on. So everyone is capable of basic combat, and everyone participates in basic combat. And then on top of that, they have their specialization, too.

**DemetriDominov**

Fantastic Q&A Mad.

No cartoons, Grimdark. Sounds good to me.

Not just the Dark Angels.

Healers are exactly what Mel and I just described.

Vehicles, customization, Planetside scale conflict.

I'm ok with this so far. At the very least they aren't trying to disappoint.

**mattyrm**

Melissia wrote:
AWesker1976 wrote:
An ork by himself would be easy pickings, and is such represented in the 5:1 ratio
An Ork by himself is fully capable of killing a Space Marine in close combat. And that's a regular Ork boy. A nob is more than capable of slaughtering Space Marines. A Kommando is capable of ambushing them and killing them off in stealth . And so on and so forth.

I don't know about that, have you read Brotherhood of the Snake? A company of Marines resoundingly gakkers thousands of them without a casualty.

I dont think its right to put them even close to parity, the whole thing with Orks is that Nobs are rare, and warbosses are even rarer, sure Orks are "capable" of it, but generally Orks are thick as gak.

And that makes sense doesn't it? They are as strong, but dumb as gak. In the same way that I might be as strong as a 155lb professional boxer, he would absolutely take me apart in the ring, I think that people really underestimate how important training and discipline is. I dont care how strong and touch you are, if I train loads for something and you do nothing, then you lose. The reason it makes sense is because some mad Space Marine from some really backwards chapter like the BT spends literally all day training, and if not training, doing.

If you spend all day in the practice cage, or sparring, or doing exercise, as the astartes do, not only do they have superhuman bodies, they have insane superhuman psyches that allows them to train and train and train and train, while orks just, you know.. Krump stuff!

Except the special ones obviously.

Its why I like Gulliman so much, he strikes me as being the bloke who is first onto the training ground and last off, and in real life, thems the guys you have to watch. I doubt the Orks know much about weight lifting or fencing.

**AWesker1976**

Matt don't take the writings of glorified fanfiction as canon of how strong the Orks can be.

However he articulated my point better than I did. The training and discipline of the Space Marine will always beat the primitive and chaotic nature of the Ork.

That's not to say that marines cannot be killed by Orks, they just have to be more brutally cunning/cunningly brutal to compensate for the differences in training/experience.

**MadMuzza**

DemetriDominov wrote:
Fantastic Q&A Mad.

No cartoons, Grimdark. Sounds good to me.

Not just the Dark Angels.

Healers are exactly what Mel and I just described.

Vehicles, customization, Planetside scale conflict.

I'm ok with this so far. At the very least they aren't trying to disappoint.

Thanks mate, it cleared a lot of stuff up for us

Again if anyone wants to read then visit my site:

http://battle-brothers.net/home/m/1897695/article/1584062

**DemetriDominov**

Even glory lore can be represented in the game... there's plenty of room for these type of instances that echo the one sided carnage of Exterminatus Mode in SM...

**Melissia**

mattyrm wrote:
I don't know about that, have you read Brotherhood of the Snake?

I'm disinterested in trashy bolter porn.

If you want to go that route, though, I'd like to point out that there are numerous instances of humans taking out Space Marines in one on one combat in Black Library lore. Orks are tougher, stronger, and have better combat instincts than humans do.

**Enigwolf**

MadMuzza wrote:
DemetriDominov wrote:
Fantastic Q&A Mad.

No cartoons, Grimdark. Sounds good to me.

Not just the Dark Angels.

Healers are exactly what Mel and I just described.

Vehicles, customization, Planetside scale conflict.

I'm ok with this so far. At the very least they aren't trying to disappoint.

Thanks mate, it cleared a lot of stuff up for us

Again if anyone wants to read then visit my site:

http://battle-brothers.net/home/m/1897695/article/1584062

Or you could just post it here like this for the lazy people like me...

We have received our answers back from our Chapter Q&A, I want to thank Brent and Miguel for all their hard work and taking the time out of their day to work with us and answer our questions!

Guild Questions:

Q: There was mention that multiple players could band together to form a strike cruiser-like "guild hall" Is there a limit to how many players can collaborate in this fashion? For instance, if a gaming group has 100+ members, would their vessel be more akin to a battle barge, or would the smaller vessel accommodate enough personal quarters to facilitate the entire group? Would there be a "disbanding" mechanism if a player chose to leave the ship/chapter?

The plan at the moment is that small groups of players can form Battle Squads with their own space, but Battle Squads can join Strike Forces made up of many Battle Squads. In addition to keeping their own space, the Battle Squad have access to the Strike Force’s space. As in the lore, Strike Forces have their own Strike Cruiser. These spaces have customization elements and trophy display options, as well as potentially other things.

It’s still a bit early for us to nail down size details and other mechanics for managing these structures, but we’re currently thinking 2-10 players in a Battle Squad and ~10 Battle Squads in a Strike Force. As with most community features, however, this is all pending actual player testing and feedback.

Q: You've mentioned squad sizes of 10 players, could we please get some clarification on how this will work with large player guilds , will it be a set up similar to Planetside 2 where multiple Guild squads are linked together so they can communicate and take objectives?

Oops, I kind of addressed this above, but yes, it’s our intention. We want Strike Forces to have some way to form even larger structures as well.

Q: Do you plan to have any guild features in game such as custom banners, custom symbols etc?

Yes – and we are aiming to get details sorted about this feature well before beta so people can start making them!

Army Questions:

Q: Are Dark Angels the confirmed Chapter for the Space Marine faction?

They are A confirmed chapter, but there will be more than one at launch!

Q: In a few of the interviews, Orks were mentioned specifically in regards to their funny mannerisms; their humiliating executions being the main example used. My question is: Will orks be portrayed (once again) as just a joke race? Or will they be brutal, visceral and sometimes scary as they should be, with humorous stuff on the side?

They’re not a joke race at all - our goal is to make them fun for the people playing them and terrifying for everyone else. We want players to identify with their characters and form communities so we’re doing everything we can to make Ork players proud to fight for the Waaagh!

Q. Do you have any plans to add the 4 factions walkers ( Drednought,Wraith knight etc..) and if so would they be player controlled or NPC.s that may be called in by high ranking players ?

We want to have them – but it’s a bit too early to confirm them for launch.

Q: The 40k universe is full of unique and amazing vehicles. Do you plan to have player controlled vehicles in the game? Such as Predator tanks and Thunderhawks?

There will definitely be vehicles – they’re a required part of the Warhammer 40,000 experience. We’re still in the evaluation phase on flyers though.

Q: How will you be representing the different Eldar Aspect Warriors, are they each seperate classes, or will your character be able to "spec" into a specific Aspect?

The most iconic Aspect Warriors will be there but (and sorry to say this again) it’s too early to say too much about the Eldar class design – trust that we’ll be making every effort to allow Eldar players to be the iconic characters they want though!

Q: Will there be healing/support classes in the game?

Yes, but our classes are based more on multiplayer action/FPS classes than the usual MMORPG trinity. Healing & support actions are tools for these classes to make tactical decisions or recover from dangerous situations rather than the only thing they do – expect them to spend most of their time shooting and fighting like the rest!

Customization Questions:

Q: How far will customization and the general fleshing out of a character go? You said that there would be an enormous amount of customization, but as far as chapters, warbands, and craftworlds go how will that work? Will a player be able to have a Goff Ork, Biel-tan Eldar, or Black Legion Choas Marine, or will it be one specific union of each race? ON that note, what Hive Fleet will the Tyranids be, a pre-established one, or something new?

We’re still testing how far we can push customization – at the moment we have to juggle three things:

· How many players we want to be able to display onscreen at once

· Readability of enemy players

· Adherence to chapter color schemes & other features

All of these affect the extent to which a player can customize their appearance. Of course, in the spirit of the game we want to have lots of options – we just don’t have the final details on how it will work yet and to what extent it should be tied to specific upgrades.

As for the Tyranid Hive Fleet – we can’t say just yet!

Q: Will we be able to customize our characters besides their armor? As in facial features and such. Planetside 2 was extremely disappointing in that regard.

We’re aiming to include facial customization so you can stride around with your helmet off, but it’s not finalized yet.

Q: Most MMO's these days depend on item rarity to determine things such as damage and stats. Which in turn ends up to separate new players from more veteran ones. Can we expect Eternal Crusade to keep to the mainstream design in terms of itemization, or will there be other things in place to differentiate my bolter from yours?

Since Eternal Crusade is a PvP-focused game, our goal is to have progression (both from XP and itemization) be as horizontal as possible. Thus you’ll be getting more tactical capability and increasing specialization rather than pure power gain whenever possible. Anything that is clearly more powerful will be limited in some other regard.

Customization of your builds is a key part of this game, so expect to be able to heavily tweak both your player capabilities and your weapons to suit the situation.

Game Atmosphere:

Q: Probably the most important aspect to many fans of the 40k universe is the dark dystopian setting, where as most MMO's out there on the market are somewhat cartooney and whimsical. In Eternal Crusade will you be utilising the very grim dark theme or will you be opening up the game somewhat to a more casual and perhaps younger audience?

As far as we’re concerned, the 40k universe deserves the full grim & dark treatment! This is a game for the fans, so expect things to be gritty and bloody all the way.

General Questions:

Q: Will you be attending any game events soon such as Gamescom, Warhammer Gamesday etc?

Yes – expect details closer to the dates of upcoming events.

Q: Is the ammo infinite, or will there be a set amount of ammo to force melee and tense low ammunition moments?

Ammo will definitely be a factor in the game. Running out and having to rely on your chainsword or combat knife is a key emotional experience!

-Brent, Lead Designer

**mattyrm**

Melissia wrote:
mattyrm wrote:
I don't know about that, have you read Brotherhood of the Snake?
I'm disinterested in trashy bolter porn.

If you want to go that route, though, I'd like to point out that there are numerous instances of humans taking out Space Marines in one on one combat in Black Library lore. Orks are tougher, stronger, and have better combat instincts than humans do.

Dan Abnett is a fine writer, nothing he writes is trashy.

What route are you talking about exactly? Either tabletop or fluff is all we have to go off Mel, and Its all fiction, thats why there is no right or wrong answer, unless you manage to make a particularly stirring job of it.

Regards humans, indeed there are. Gaunt and 11 of his man take out 5 Chaos Space Marines for example, but thats my point, exceptional humans, exceptional orks.. can kill Space Marines.

Therein lies the crux of the argument. My regiment was better than run of the mill ones, and there was still an occasional pretty sucky guy (in my humble opinion) the difference was, it was maybe one in fifty. In regular army, its probably 1 in 2, in the SEALs it will be 1 in 100, thats how training works and thats why we do it.

There is absolutely nothing normal or run of the mill about Space Marines by definition of their job!

**angel of ecstasy**

Melissia wrote:
mattyrm wrote:
I don't know about that, have you read Brotherhood of the Snake?
I'm disinterested in trashy bolter porn.

If you want to go that route, though, I'd like to point out that there are numerous instances of humans taking out Space Marines in one on one combat in Black Library lore. Orks are tougher, stronger, and have better combat instincts than humans do.

This gon' be good.

**Enigwolf**

mattyrm wrote:
Melissia wrote:
mattyrm wrote:
I don't know about that, have you read Brotherhood of the Snake?
I'm disinterested in trashy bolter porn.

If you want to go that route, though, I'd like to point out that there are numerous instances of humans taking out Space Marines in one on one combat in Black Library lore. Orks are tougher, stronger, and have better combat instincts than humans do.

Dan Abnett is a fine writer, nothing he writes is trashy.

What route are you talking about exactly? Either tabletop or fluff is all we have to go off Mel, and Its all fiction, thats why there is no right or wrong answer, unless you manage to make a particularly stirring job of it.

Regards humans, indeed there are. Gaunt and 11 of his man take out 5 Chaos Space Marines for example, but thats my point, exceptional humans, exceptional orks.. can kill Space Marines.

Therein lies the crux of the argument. My regiment was better than run of the mill ones, and there was still an occasional pretty sucky guy (in my humble opinion) the difference was, it was maybe one in fifty. In regular army, its probably 1 in 2, in the SEALs it will be 1 in 100, thats how training works and thats why we do it.

There is absolutely nothing normal or run of the mill about Space Marines by definition of their job!

Of course, then you have those games of 40k which defy this when your IG roll all 5/6's to hit and wound, while the SM/CSM roll 1/2s to hit, wound, and save...

**Lynata**

AWesker1976 wrote:Matt don't take the writings of glorified fanfiction as canon of how strong the Orks can be.

Indeed. It'd certainly be somewhat different if BL would ever release an Ork novel. Remember: there is no truth, only perspectives.
For a different point of view, look how the Orks absolutely slaughtered the Celestial Lions on Armageddon. An entire Chapter of Space Marines reduced to half a company.
True, the Astartes were given faulty intelligence and thus ran right into a series of traps, but you could still say they wouldn't be about to go extinct if each of them would be capable to take on a million Orks all by himself, as I remember was claimed for the Space Marine video game.

Coincidentally, this is why I like and prefer the TT stats before some weird novels -> The tabletop doesn't make a distinction between protagonists and antagonists. Just like this MMO. There will be no "plot armour" for anyone.

Sigvatr wrote:They said that a Space Marine is 5x as strong as an Ork.

I know - which also means 5 Boyz should be able to beat a Space Marine. In addition to the P2P Nobz etc who will surely be more dangerous. In fact, given that the Ork faction receives F2P Boyz as a bonus, I'm more concerned that the Eldar are the ones who will struggle in this conflict ... but then again, let's see what kind of abilities they get.
We don't even know how exactly the Space Marine will be "5x as strong" as an Ork Boy. Will he do more damage in melee/range/everywhere? Or will he be more robust? Both? There's a lot of things affecting the outcome of a potential engagement to consider here. Take my previous example of the IG plasmagunner, for instance. Sure he could be killed quickly, yet in terms of damage output he'll be just as dangerous as a Space Marine, given that he uses the same gun.

tl;dr = it's too early to tell, so we shouldn't be this excessively negative.

Also, nice Q&A!

**mattyrm**

I have long thought that they should make an Ork novel, they are one of the most appealing races. I figure that really looking into their feudal society would be most amusing as well.

**Enigwolf**

mattyrm wrote:
I have long thought that they should make an Ork novel, they are one of the most appealing races. I figure that really looking into their feudal society would be most amusing as well.

I feel sorry for the author, who would have to write everything in Ork-speak. LOL.

**Melissia**

mattyrm wrote:
Dan Abnett is a fine writer, nothing he writes is trashy.

Dan Abnett is not a god amongst writers. His fiction has its own issues, and Borthers of the Snake is stupid and dumb and the worst kind of bolter porn novel.

mattyrm wrote:
There is absolutely nothing normal or run of the mill about Space Marines by definition of their job!

Yes, there is. There are plenty of examples of nameless, faceless Space Marines being killed off. You named several of them yourself.

**Deathklaat**

Firstly i have to say that this game is so far out in the release time line that bickering over speculation is stupid. Secondly i would like to say that if you want to do 40k ANY justice and make a game that makes you feel as if you have your boots FIRMLY planted in the grim dark universe that is 40k then you should take a good hard look at Planetside 1 and 2. Go try them out and you will not be dissapointed.

They already created an environment that can suport and sustain large-scale battles. The maps are massive with different bases and outposts to capture and control, each territory you take on the map feeds you resources which lets you spawn more heavy infantry, vehicles or aircraft. The territories are linked together which creates some strategic opportunities where you can cut off supplies to a section of a faction's territories making it harder for them to defend and easier to defeat.

They have a class system which is standard in most multiplayer FPS games and they tried to make these classes different for each race by making the weapons unique for each faction. Some might say these standard class options are stale but Planetside makes them their own by allowing each class to be VERY customizable for many roles. The classes also rely upon eachother to work together in their respective role and teamwork is rewarded with exp gains as well as immirsing the player deeper into the gameplay.

They kept it smart by keeping it simple yet allowing for it to be complex at the same time. many of the vehicles and some of the weapons are the same across all factions with each faction having their own unique weapons and vehicles. There are weapons that can be used by many of the classes and they can be customized to match your class and the role you are choosing to fill at that moment. You can also quickly and easily switch your gear loadouts using custom loadouts which really allows you to tailor your class and gear to your exact need.

I do think that each faction should have its own F2P class that would represent the masses of "grunts" you would find on the battlefield. these could be Boyz, Neophytes, Chaos Cultists or Eldar Guardians.

There are so many cool features in the Planetside games that really make it an enjoyable experience with little to no downtime. Each class has a role that is needed for squad tactics and for assaulting and defending bases. A squad with platoons equipped with the right mix of classes will find a synergy that is devistatingly effective on the battlefield.

**Melissia**

Enigwolf wrote:
mattyrm wrote:
I have long thought that they should make an Ork novel, they are one of the most appealing races. I figure that really looking into their feudal society would be most amusing as well.

I feel sorry for the author, who would have to write everything in Ork-speak. LOL.

Not everything. Take a look at the "Sneakiest Fing I Never Saw" link in my signature. While it's a short story, it's a great example of how you can write Orks without having it be all Ork-speak.

**Wolfnid420**

I think that the 5:1 ratio is not too far off, a single space marine shooting at 5 orks 24 inches away, then moving towards melee, has a pretty good chance to kill them all unless 2+ of them make it into melee because he misses.

On the subject of healers; Im curious to see how they implement them. He already mentioned that you go down on the ground and wait to be picked up or executed. Only medics can pick them up? Or maybe painboys n the like just pick people up instantly or much faster maybe? Or can everyone pick people up and (medkits?) are an item you can earn and equip to just pick people up faster?

**Melissia**

My guess is it'll be something like Blacklight: Retribution.

In that game, a person can only be picked up by a player carrying a revival kit, and when they use the revival kit the downed player can choose to be revived there or wait and respawn Other players cannot help those who are downed.

While this makes the revival kit very powerful, it is balanced out by the fact that hte revival kit takes up the backpack slot, which has some pretty powerful abilities attached to it, like the cloaking device, a device that makes hacking points easier, or a device that lets you repair damaged hardsuits (exosuits/walkers).

**The Dark Apostle**

Where did he say that when your down you have to be either revived or executed, that sounds dreadful

**Melissia**

It's more likely that if the enemy executes you instead of letting you bleed out, they get more xp or something.

Of course, I could just be giving the devs too much credit.

**DemetriDominov**

This is a fantastic article that sorts out a few more things:

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/954/feature/7528/Warhammer-40000-Eternal-Crusade-Making-a-Warhammer-40000-MMO-The-History.html

For those who don't want to read it, it goes into the history of challenges this MMO faces, why the others have failed, and what BE is doing to make this game successful. It does not address the F2P vs. P2P Achilles heel BE is setting upon itself other than players can upgrade to Nobs which is a MEQ. Not sure if that feature is also free (making Orks the free race), or if you have to pay for that too. Also apparently we can build fortresses, there will be no single chapter of Space Marines at launch, only that they have revealed DA and IW so far, combat will be very similar to SM, and they're trying to learn from Warhammer's past mistakes.

**Wolfnid420**

Oh n not a bad little short story Melissia

**Melissia**

Advancement to Nobz is not free. They specifically stated that free to play players will not be able to advance beyond "Orkboyz" within the Ork faction, and that pay to win... I mean... paying players will.

**mattyrm**

Melissia wrote:
mattyrm wrote:
Dan Abnett is a fine writer, nothing he writes is trashy.
Dan Abnett is not a god amongst writers. His fiction has its own issues, and Borthers of the Snake is stupid and dumb and the worst kind of bolter porn novel.

Oh absolutely, yes definitely the best BL writer though, by a country mile. Even if he seems to get to the last 20 pages and think "feth, ive got to fit another 100 in!"

Regards the novel istelf, I thought it was great fun. I suppose thats why the arts are so subjective, same with music, one mans Beatles are another mans Flock of Seagulls. I really think theres plenty of arts snobbery though, music and literature alike, each to their own surely? I like all kinds of books, I like Macbeth the most from Shakespeare, I loved American Psycho, I like Tolkien, Gemmell, I liked the Ravenor and Gaunts Ghosts books, I like a huge wide range of books and comics and I think its a bit rude to just write it off as "bolter porn" because It implies that anyone who liked it has gak for brains.

It was an enjoyable read despite itself, and I think thats an achievement considering he was obviously having to write something that really would appeal to 12 year olds!

mattyrm wrote:
There is absolutely nothing normal or run of the mill about Space Marines by definition of their job!

Yes, there is. There are plenty of examples of nameless, faceless Space Marines being killed off. You named several of them yourself.

**Melissia**

Just because someone likes porn, bolter or otherwise, doesn't mean that they have gak for brains.

I mean come on Matty, these days, everyone likes SOME variety of porn. For example, politicians often like the most bizarre kinds, as we would know from the various scandals.

**Deathklaat**

why? that is exactly how it is in Planetside 2 and it works great.

a player who is killed is down with a skull and crossbones over their head, this is an easy to see indication for a medic to run over and revive them either their revival tool or their revival grenade.
wounded players that need to be healed have a + above their name. names, class identifiers and killed/wounded markings for your faction are visible through walls, floors and terrain.

medics can also revive downed max suits (terminator armor) but not repair them.

each person you revive comes back to life with an amount of HP that depends on the level of your revival tool with level 6 being 100% hp.

you can opt to be revived or find your closest respawn point which could be a few hundred meters or more depending on the situation.

The medic gains exp for each person they revive and for hp they heal.

the medic still has a gun, pistol and knife with optional grenade and C4.

the medic also has an aoe passive healing ability and a self-heal stim-pack.

the medic should be behind the front lives darting forward into the thick of things to revive their fallen brothers, to protect themselves they have 2 types of armor for different types of battle. Flakk armor that protects against explosions from tanks, missles and grenades and nano weave armor that protects from bullets.

I am currently playing a medic in Planetside 2 and when my guild runs an operation i RARELY have downtime when i am runnng with 50-80 of my guildmates.

**DemetriDominov**

The Dark Apostle wrote:Where did he say that when your down you have to be either revived or executed, that sounds dreadful

They said it in the 30 min long interview at e3. Apperently you can T-Bag somebody if you're an Ork, or kick someone's head off like a soccer ball if you're a SM. Those were the examples... I'm hoping they can do better than that, even Naughty Bear had some better kills lol.

Melissia wrote:It's more likely that if the enemy executes you instead of letting you bleed out, they get more xp or something.

Of course, I could just be giving the devs too much credit.

You get the satisfaction of begrudging someone by putting their recorded humiliation on the interwebs. I'm only hoping you get more points when I crush someone's skull with my armored boot, I don't care about grudges or vengeance slayings other than to fulfill them.

**Melissia**

That's my hope as well. Just "execute them so they can't be revived, and you get more points"-- which is perfectly 40k. A quick, clean kill on a downed opponent-- an Ork stabbing the opponent's face, an Eldar slitting their throat, or a Sapce Marine stomping their head in, etc.

Whereas "durr humiliate them with yer teabaggin'z!" is immature douchebaggery and has no place in the setting.

**mattyrm**

Melissia wrote:
Just because someone likes porn, bolter or otherwise, doesn't mean that they have gak for brains.

I mean come on Matty, these days, everyone likes SOME variety of porn.

Have you been looking under my mattress!?