Richard Duffek is the Community Manager for Warhammer Online and today once again submits to his regular barrage of questions from our own WAR Site Manager Matt Lowery. This week, Richard chats about customization, travel, public quests and more.
Answers by Richard Duffek
Questions by Matt Lowery
WarCry: We have seen videos with lots of big 2-handed swords, however we haven’t seen many shields. Will anyone have them? Only certain classes? Or will a Choppa be able to choose two swords, or sword and shield?
Richard Duffek: Select careers will definitely have access to shields. We’ve shown artwork of several different characters with shields – The Chosen, the Black Orc, the Ironbreaker, etc. Catching the Tank vibe here? As shields are primarily used for defensive purposes, it makes sense for these archtype careers to carry them. A career such as the Choppa is all about getting into the middle of the action and causing as much damage as possible. I wouldn’t expect to see him forgo a second weapon to strap a shield to his arm.
WarCry: In all the videos we have seen, the Empire seems to have a similar look. Can I make a dark skinned Empire character? Are there any color choices for the Orcs, Dwarves?
Richard Duffek: There will most definitely be various skin tone options for the different races. Some races will naturally have a wider range than others, but we realize how important customization is to our player base and we want to give you as many options as we can
That being said, we haven’t integrated ANY of the character customization elements yet. Everything you’re seeing at this time is effectively a placeholder/test model.
WarCry: How will fast travel between areas work? Will it be sitting on a horse for 10 minutes and watching, or instant travel?
Richard Duffek: We’re still working on the details of travel, but we certainly realize that sitting there watching your character bob along on a horse for 10+ minutes is in no way entertaining.
WarCry: In Public Quests everyone in the area can help complete the quest. What stops some high level character from coming to a low level area, and finishing the quests for everyone?
Richard Duffek: While there is nothing to prohibit a high level player from participating in low level Public Quests, there is no real benefit to doing so. If the gap between the monster level and character level is too large, the player will earn very little experience for the monsters they kill. A high level character will have likely maxed out their Influence in a given zone so there will be no additional rewards available to them. Plus, the loot from the boss will likely be of little value to them as it will be low level gear.
The great thing about Public Quests is that they are chock full of content and objectives. Should a high level character come messing around in a low level area, there a still plenty of content for everyone to enjoy. Though he may certainly help move the PQ along more quickly, the high level guy just won’t be able to do everything by himself instantaneously. And it might not be such a bad thing to have a high ranking character hanging around when that Chaos Giant comes stomping out of the woods!
WarCry: While it is too early to talk about elves yet, can you tell us if those in the beta have gotten to see and play them yet? If so, can you give us some of their impressions?
Richard Duffek: Elves are not implemented on the beta server yet. We’re taking a far more focused approach to beta than most games. Right now the beta testers are limited to Greenskins and Dwarfs, so we can get extremely focused feedback on that racial pairing from them. A little ways down the road we’ll switch out for Empire and Chaos. While the testers are hammering away at the E&C racial pairing, we’ll go through all of the feedback they’ve given us about Greenskins and Dwarfs.
Comments? We’d love to hear them on our forums.
