Warhammer – A different kind of PVE

I, like many others, have been enjoying Warhammer Online quite a bit. It is a fresh change in the MMO sphere after the major let downs that were involved with Age of Conan. I simply prefer the way Mark Jacobs does business. That is to say, honest, open and with the subscribers in mind. That said, I’ve come to a rather simple realization: War doesn’t really need your traditional guild dynamic.

Each week I cover a different aspect of guild management here. That might involve leadership, recruitment, or even loot systems. All of these things are based of my years of experience leading and living in an Everquest like environment. Most of those things don’t really apply to Warhammer Online, however, which is interesting.

Obviously leadership will apply. You always want the best possible people for positions. Many of the generalizations I’ve made will also be useful. When it comes down to brass tacks, however, a lot is lacking. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Highest on the list of things to throw out are loot systems. For better or for worst Warhammer online takes the guild, at least in part, out of the equation. Many of the “raid zones” or lairs are Public Quest chains. I have no way of dictating loot to my members there. The game decides. It makes my life easier but doesn’t necessarily mean the most deserving person gets the reward. It also means that even if I provide 95% of the force we’ll even get anything. Which brings me to my next point.

Diplomacy is at an all time high in Warhammer. I don’t have the option of leading a guild only excursion. I can try, yes, but thats all I can do. I’ve seen very insular guilds attempt this. All it really means is, “you can’t join our warband!” Of course that doesn’t matter. Anyone can tag along and get loot. You’re better served by including stragglers. Truly this is a different dynamic than what I am used to.

Ultimately it comes down to choice. We can choose to isolate ourselves from the rest of the server like we used to or we can choose to embrace others. This will mean we have to accept that others will not act as we might. I’ve already had a lot of this going on. Everyone does business differently but the goal now is to form a coalition and work together to achieve raids, city conquests and defeating the other side.

It is, after all, a brave new world! I wonder if this will be the norm or an exception.