Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online

[Morfiend]

#2. Where's my weaboo Tau?

If they leave out Tau and Necrons, thats like +5 in my book.

[Arthur_Parker]

http://www.darkmillenniumonline.com/  Website with news signup.

On the very edge of the galaxy lies the Sargos Sector. For centuries it was rendered uninhabitable and isolated by volatile Warp Storms. Even now, deep within the sector the very fabric of reality is unraveling. Only the ancient Sentinel Devices hold the Warp at bay.

But the ravages of time and meddling of humanity have weakened the Sentinel Devices-and now, the battle for these ost worlds is at hand. Drawn to the conflict, the great races of the galaxy descend upon the Sargos Sector, seeking to preserve reality-or to tear it asunder.

Side with the forces of Order, or the vile hosts of Destruction, in a war that will unlock ancient secrets, reveal dark purposes, and determine the fate of the Sargos Sector. For in this dark millennium, there is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter.

[eldaec]

So RvR with the wrong number of realms... order v destruction... this is sounding familiar.

[Arthur_Parker]

this is sounding familiar.

If they do everything WAR did, we at least get the enjoyment of watching the resulting train derailment.

From back in May. THQ: Warhammer 40K MMO Doesn't Need A Million Subscribers

"One of the reasons that we think our costs are under control here is because we think we're building this game right," Farrell explained. The exec said that the game will initially cost on the high-end of a non-MMO triple-A retail game.

"We started with a very small and experienced MMO team who gave us the very wise advice to prove out all the technology and world-building tools before you start adding to the team and really ramping up all of the content that an MMO requires. That's why we think our budget is going to be very competitive."

The WAR engine couldn't handle what the players wanted to do, I think that's part of the reason there were hundreds of bland pve quests at launch, they didn't know what else to churn out.  But from the Dark Millennium video gui glimpse (assuming it's accurate), it's not a good sign that there's at least 30 levels, I'd be a lot happier with 4, gained quickly, maybe reset back to 1 on death.

[Kageh]

I liked that trailer actually, and approaching it from the angle of "No good 40k games aside from DoW1/2 in ages", with low expectations, I'm looking forward to see more from the game. Character models were well done! Just wish it wouldn't look that much like a mod for WoW  

A game that "doesn't suck" and keeps me a few months would be great.

[5150]

Whut!?  NO SQUATS ZOMG.   

Squats got written out a while back when they revamped 40k (2 edition ago IIRC), they just 'count as' Guard now (same rules different models), offhand I think the only abhuman loyalist unit left is the Ogyrn (perhaps the ratling too, I dont have the latest Guard codex yet)

I too want it not to suck, but I suspect it'll be more WAR than Planetside :-(

That walker is indeed a Warhound scout titan and is only a baby titan (and probably the biggest thing they can stick in game without HUGE balancing issues if they are PC controlled, but it's supposed to need a crew of 3, driver & 2 gunners anyway)

[Shatter]

Was kind of ignoring this one but after that trailer this is now in my top 5 interested-in-list

[Mrbloodworth]

Hay thanks pal!

Admittedly it did come out worse then I thought it would, but I still like it. Yes my standards for analogies are low, so what!

No worries. I got a giggle.

[angry.bob]

I'm glad to see that it sticks t the source material very closely in that all these spacefaring cultures with laser weapons, titans, and orbital bombardment think that the most effective way of defeating your enemy is for the both of you to run at each other in large groups and hit each other with chainsaws and axes. 40k is the best matchlock era combat game out there.

[Arthur_Parker]

[Pezzle]

Please don't suck, please don't suck.

[Murgos]

Please don't suck, please don't suck.

Ditto.

[tazelbain]

They are first time MMO company using a license that needs revolutionizes MMOs to be done correctly. Let's just say the odds are against them.

[Arrrgh]

Please don't suck, please don't suck.

Ditto.

Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

[Arthur_Parker]

So RvR with the wrong number of realms... order v destruction... this is sounding familiar.

Um, about that.

E3 2010: W40k MMO to 'shake up Blizzard' at E3 - THQ

HQ's Warhammer 40,000 MMO E3 demo is intended to "shake up Blizzard," says core games VP, Danny Bilson. That's fightin' talk.

Speaking at an E3 analyst meeting last night, Bilson said that he wanted to show the WoW house that Warhammer 40k's doing a lot of stuff it's currently not.

"Some people thought 'wow, did we show too much?' I don't think so," he said at the meeting, after showing the first footage.

"I kind of wanted to shake up Blizzard a little bit and show that, because there's a lot of stuff they have to do to do some of the things we're doing there."

"They are awesome - don't get me wrong - but we're in the game."

Because this clearly went well last time.

[kildorn]

Do any of their devs have a suspiciously douchey number of sunglasses on them? 

[slog]

Sadly, whenever I read of an MMO that first thought that comes to mind is:

Oh look a new MMO not being made by Blizzard. How much it will suck?

[Morfiend]

So RvR with the wrong number of realms... order v destruction... this is sounding familiar.

Um, about that.

E3 2010: W40k MMO to 'shake up Blizzard' at E3 - THQ

HQ's Warhammer 40,000 MMO E3 demo is intended to "shake up Blizzard," says core games VP, Danny Bilson. That's fightin' talk.

Speaking at an E3 analyst meeting last night, Bilson said that he wanted to show the WoW house that Warhammer 40k's doing a lot of stuff it's currently not.

"Some people thought 'wow, did we show too much?' I don't think so," he said at the meeting, after showing the first footage.

"I kind of wanted to shake up Blizzard a little bit and show that, because there's a lot of stuff they have to do to do some of the things we're doing there."

"They are awesome - don't get me wrong - but we're in the game."

Because this clearly went well last time.

Is he trying to say that in WoW you cant run away from large sized mobs, have a flying mount, or engage in auto-attack combat?

[kildorn]

I like the "some are wondering did we show too much" bit

Seriously? Who is wondering that? Did you show a feature you're likely going to cut? No? Then you probably didn't show too much unless you showed snape's corpse in the trailer.

[Sky]

Can it be the Planetside/WW2O design we asked for??

I want to live in your land of make-believe. While I think the chances are exceedingly slim, how completely amazing would that be? Planetside style open world combat with those graphics and that lore? /drool

[kildorn]

Can it be the Planetside/WW2O design we asked for??

I want to live in your land of make-believe. While I think the chances are exceedingly slim, how completely amazing would that be? Planetside style open world combat with those graphics and that lore? /drool

Vanu flashlights would be in theme, too.

[Draegan]

I like the "some are wondering did we show too much" bit

Seriously? Who is wondering that? Did you show a feature you're likely going to cut? No? Then you probably didn't show too much unless you showed snape's corpse in the trailer.

Seriously.  I didn't see anything in that video that is new.  I rolled my eyes in the trailer part where it said "Next Generation MMO".  Yeah ok.

[Ollie]

Watching that video, I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of grit and bite in their art direction. They made 40K look like a PG-13 setting, which is pretty far from how I perceive it – though I'm by no means an expert.

The screenshots look nice enough, but then again, if you can't manage nice screenies, your game is in trouble. Wait and see I suppose.

[Hutch]

Is there a projected release date for this thing? Or is it a being of hype and vapor, fit only for display on the summer convention tour?

Calling out Blizzard seems dumb. Maybe if there hadn't been WAR and/or AoC, (or if either of those games had delivered on their promises), there might be some WoW players who'd still fall for that trick.

The trailer was verrrry pretty. They did that part right.

[Arthur_Parker]

Found an interview with Danny Bilson from THQ from a couple of days ago.  Not quoting the whole thing.

Danny Bilson is THQ's executive vice president of Core Games. He joined the publisher in 2008 after several years at EA, where he worked on projects including The Sims, Medal of Honor and Harry Potter. Prior to that he worked in Hollywood, as a writer, director, producer and occasional comic book author. The outspoken 53-year-old has been instrumental in THQ's dramatic and promising 2009 restructuring, following a potentially disastrous fiscal year that led to 600 lay-offs.
...
We're going to show our MMO, our Warhammer 40,000 MMO. It's fantastic. I'm an MMO geek; there's a bunch of MMO geeks building this thing. It's glorious. Especially if you like the IP, but even if you don't, it's so fresh, it's not a bunch of men in tights and dwarves. It's Space Marines... How about a Titan? The Titan's are so big it's like "a foot! Oh my god!" You'll see a movie at E3, all gameplay capture, not a CG movie.
...
I don't ask 16 teenagers in Encino what they think, because I don't really care - I know what I think, I'm a hardcore gamer too, actually I'm a hardcore gamer for 30 years. All I do is play videogames. I don't watch any television, I occasionally see a movie, every spare hour I have I love videogames. That's why I'm in this business, that's why I took this job.

What we do is we have a bunch of guys who love videogames wanting to make the games that they love the most, and if that's your mission I think we can make great games and succeed. The other thing is that you're not going to see us buying studios, you're going to see us acquiring talent - very different.

You're going to see an announcement next Friday of a new game with a developer, and hopefully the week after that you're going to see an announcement about a team that we have acquired to inhabit a studio of ours. And these are people you'll know.
...
Q: Will that involve less in the way of specialist titles, or even of PC-centric stuff like Dawn of War?

No, not at all. Dawn of War's great stuff, I won't stop making Dawn of War unless people stop buying it. If I thought it was bad or some kind of a lame IP or something we might be having a different discussion. But I personally think that that universe is fantastic, I think the WH40K universe... They've been breeding geeks since 1977. What used to be a few sci-fi nerds is now the mass. If you look at what makes the most money, it's Avatar, Star Wars. So the mass audience is the geek audience, so to speak. So back to 40K - I think that that universe is the next place where everybody needs to go.

Q: It's a property that's all of sci-fi in one place, every great idea that genre's ever had rolled into one IP...

Yeah, and it's one more level of sophistication, one more level of darkness. I personally love it, I wasn't really versed in it at all until I came to THQ two and half years ago, and I was like: "Wow - we have to get this to more people." And not only that but those guys in Nottingham, the Games Workshop guys, are fantastic partners, great people, love their stuff, understand we love their stuff... It's a really fun relationship.

Personally I don't think he should be bragging about Titans, unless players get to control one in some form, WAR had a giant in one of the first PQ's and nobody cared 5 minutes after seeing it the first time.

Is there a projected release date for this thing?

THQ E3 news page in the UK, has a pre-order link to a UK store called "game" here.  Which lists release as 02/2011, but I'd have thought 2012 was a lot more likely.

[HaemishM]

Oh my God. The amount of "setting oneself up to fail" in that little bit you quoted is staggering, especially combined with "We're going to show WoW how it's done!"

No, no one's ever said all that only for it to turn into a bowl of complete cow shit before they retire in infamy. Mark Jacobs would like a word with him.

[Arthur_Parker]

Yeah, it's funny considering we know sod all about the game so far.

Found a release schedule, which if accurate, puts Dark Millennium down for a mid 2012 release.

[Ingmar]

To be fair, that giant is one of like 3 positive memories I have of WAR.

[DLRiley]

won the thread.

[Arthur_Parker]

E3 2010 THQ Investor Meeting (Replay)

At about 38.40 in the webcast, the below is from Danny Bilson, reordered slightly, not exact for every single word, :effort:, but content should reflect what he said, bold parts are exact or damm near.

Dark Millennium has already spent 3 1/2 years in pre production, carefully built by people who have built mmos before in Austin and NC Soft, learned from those mistakes.

It has a 43 million dollars production budget
Cost savings by using Montreal studio & China for a lot of the content.

Model
Can go, subscription, micro transaction or free to play, hunch would be, guessing, combination of subscription/micro transaction, but ready for whatever suits the market at the time.

The experience has a different kind of combat, it has much more, many more vehicles in it, you and your buddies can get in a tank and roll out together.  It's got 4 races with more races coming, this is being built by people who just adore mmo's and I'm one of them.

[CEO steps in to speak] Aiming for a 5-7 year life, adding new content all the time.  Truly global market.

Then the shake up Blizzard quote bit follows from Danny.

He didn't say, but from the video, I guess races are :-

Space Marines & Imperial Guard vs Orcs & Chaos?

[Surlyboi]

Sadly, whenever I read of an MMO that first thought that comes to mind is:

Oh look a new MMO. How much it will suck?

FTFY

[kildorn]

To be fair, a 43 Million budget will buy you a starter space marine kit and an extra rhino.

[Arthur_Parker]

Or about half of Warhammer Online.

[Megrim]

To be fair, a 43 Million budget will buy you a starter space marine kit and an extra rhino.

Hahahahaha. Too easy.   

[eldaec]

Yeah, it's funny considering we know sod all about the game so far.

Found a release schedule, which if accurate, puts Dark Millennium down for a mid 2012 release.

There is more information in this release than you first realise.

1) We know gameplay is modelled on WoW/WAR.
2) We know the ip has been thrown down the toilet to account for (1) and to accomodate a bullshit 2 realm design.
3) We know the game will suck.
4) We know it'll be ready just about the time WAR will finally pull the plug.

I'm looking forward to this even less than SWTOR right now.