Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Preview

EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is due for release towards the end this year, but a few months can be a long time to wait when you're desperate to get your hands on the next big fantasy MMO. To tide you over we'll be publishing exclusive monthly developer diaries, giving you an insight into various aspects of the game's development. First up is an entry from Age of Reckoning's Community Manager David Petit where he dishes the dirt on WAR's guilds.

THE GUILDS

Hi everyone.

My name is David Petit, Head Community Manager for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in Europe. This month, I have the pleasure of introducing our guild system.

By immersing in the Old World you will be able to live epic adventures with hundreds of other players. Whether out of empathy or simply because you go online at the same times, there are plenty of opportunities for you to meet people and create ties with other adventurers who will become your favourite comrades.

It is at this time that guilds are extremely important.

In Warhammer Online, thanks to the many tools at your disposal, guilds not only allow you to reach targets that are impossible to reach alone, but also, in advancing your guild's level, you get to have renown and power, you can also share an emblem and a banner, as well as a whole host of communication tools reserved for members.

In addition to the chat channels reserved for your guild, there are many management opportunities and other advantages of being in a guild; for instance, guilds have a calendar that their members can use whenever they want to organise events amongst themselves - daring raids on enemy territories or even battles in keeps. Guild leaders can also place announcements for their members, add personal notes or just simply send around important information to all guild players.

Together, the members of a guild will choose their colours to be displayed with pride on the tabards or on the guild banner. These emblems, for guilds only, display one's loyalty to a particular group and help foster it with a collective visual identity. The banner represents more than just an aesthetic advantage. It will also bestow real in-game bonuses to all the guild members close to it, which could include Morale bonuses, special abilities such as faster movement or even tactics selected by the standard-bearer; the options are endless.

Together, players will be able to advance their guild, and just like a character, a guild can advance up to level 40, giving new bonuses to its members. Moreover, some game content will only be accessible to guild members, at the heart of RvR! For example, only the guilds may claim ownership of a keep or battlefield objective. Just imagine, after hours and hours of fierce fighting, hoisting up your colours on one of the keeps in front of everyone! And imagine yourself showing off the enemy guild's banners that you have just captured during the heat of battle.

Having a guild is about giving yourself the chance to further advance in the game. An MMORPG is by definition a game where you are confronted by many other players and the guilds are at the very heart of this.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is due out late 2008.