Crow's No-Nonsense Guide to Guardian Leveling (v 2.0)
"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.
-Sun Tzu "The Art of...

GENERAL
Basic Riding Skill price changed to 25s. Advanced Riding Skill changed to 50g. /guild should now always work after zoning. Assassin Epic Tier 3 chest piece no longer hides arm pieces, and texture clipping on shoulders has been fixed. COMBAT
Cannot charge a player/npc that is already charging someone else. The charge gameaction will now check if you are already charging, and will not start another charge until the...

FAIRFAX, Va. - August 26, 2008 - GET READY FOR THE WORLDWIDE WAAAGH! Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Mythic Entertainment today announced that the highly-anticipated MMORPG, Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR), has gone gold and will open its servers on September 18, 2008 at an MSRP of $49.99 in North America.

"We've done our best to create the next great MMORPG experience, but it's the fans that will bring our world to life," said Mark...

The great marketing folks over at EA have released a new full sized cinematic trailer for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.  If this doesn't entice you into wanting to play, I do not know what will folks.!

http://mythicmktg.fileburst.com/war/us/ ... ic_08.html

A great intro to the game and the concept...

I was sorting through my old game boxes earlier today, you know..tossing out the ones I'll never play again due to boredom level or overall suck factor.  I ran across one though that made ma pause.  I stared at it for a moment and the memories came flooding back.  Good memories, fun times shared with online friends.  Challenges that I faced alone or with others in this particular MMO.  A smile began to cross my face but then was suddenly halted as I began to...

In response to this weekends preview beta play that many players were able to partake of, EA released the following brief statement to say thanks and to let us all know the status of the servers post preview.

"We're going to be taking the servers down at 10:45 AM ET this morning to end the Preview Weekend. Thanks to everyone who participated! This weekend has been a huge success and it never would have been possible without the enthusiasm of everyone who got out there and...

The folks over at voodoo extreme got their hands on a bunch of screenshots of upcoming content for Age of Conan, content anticipated in the recently announced expansion slated for early 2009 if rumors are true.  I'd have to see the locations / zones personally to comment on them, having a ridiculously detailed play area that is so graphic intense that it grinds yoru system down to a chugging crawl isn't considered by many to be worth the extra...

Funcom attended the Games Convention in Leipzig Germany recently and unveiled their DirectX 10 move!  Although many expected Age of Conan to have been shipped with these DX10 features already present, the unexpectedly long wait is almost over. 

Now Age of Conan is arguably one of if not the best looking game graphically as it stands.  Could those development hours not have been better spent in fixing real game issues...

In anticipation of the upcoming Sep 18th release of EA's new MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, they have created a play online style game where players from all over can login to the site, create their character for this game and then compete with thousands of others to take over states and score points.  The highest ranked players are shown in a top 10 style board and EA has promised to give special rings in game to those players who score the highest in this Warhammer pass...

Runepriest

Runepriest Summary
Dwarf runes bind and hold magic, solidifying and stabilizing the power through the knowledge and craftsmanship practiced by Runepriests through the centuries. A skilled Runepriest can tap into this rune-etched power to call forth all manner of spectacular effects, from restoring...

Engineer

Engineer Summary
The Dwarfs first discovered the secrets of black powder, and no one can rival them when it comes to putting it to good use. Armed with guns, grenades, and gadgets, the Engineers often prepare traps and ambushes throughout the battlefield before the fight begins, and then quickly...

Ironbreaker

Ironbreaker Summary
When most people describe someone as "stubborn", they're probably talking about a Dwarf - but when a Dwarf describes someone as "stubborn as a bloody mountain", they're probably talking about an Ironbreaker. Clad in their legendary gromril armor, they...

The Dwarfs are an ancient and industrious race that is long past its prime. Their once-great empire of Karak Ankor now lies in ruins and many of the Dwarfs' mighty mountain holds have been abandoned or conquered by Orcs and Goblins, with whom the Dwarfs have warred for centuries. It is not uncommon to hear a Dwarf wistfully recall the great glories of the past, observing bitterly that nothing the Dwarfs do in this day and age can compare to the majesty of what...

Witch Elf

Witch Elf Summary
The Witch Elves are the sanctified brides of Khaine, the Lord of Murder, and they serve their patron deity with savage pleasure. Wielding long daggers and prowling across the battlefield, the Witch Elves will sacrifice anyone and anything in their path as an offering to please the...

Disciple of Khaine

Disciple of Khaine Summary
Dark priests of the Bloody Handed god, The Disciples of Khaine can be found on the frontline of any Druchii assault. In combat, the Disciple is a master of shifting the balance of a fight, for what they reap from their enemies they give to their allies - what was...

Sorceress

Sorceress Summary
The Sorceresses of the Druchii are the true power of the Dark Elven armies. Blades may be turned aside and shields may be crushed, but what soldier can stop a flow of living shadow and darkness? Tearing the Winds Of Magic asunder, the Sorceresses bring forth devastation on an...

Long ago, when Chaos was first unleashed upon the world, the Elven champion Aenarion drew the dread Sword of Khaine from its altar and used its terrible power to save his people from annihilation. When Aenarion died, his son Malekith was deemed unsuitable for the throne. Although he was a mighty warrior, a great sorcerer , a brilliant general and the rightful heir, many Elves opposed his coronation. They feared he was too focused on war, and potentially a de-stabilizing influence on the High...

Shaman

Shaman Summary
Any time the Greenskins declare a WAAAGH! and go to war (which is to say, any time they go anywhere), their endless thirst for battle produces an almost-palpable energy in the air. Over time, clever Goblins learned to harness the power of the WAAAGH!, and Shaman take advantage of this to...

Squig Herder

Squig Herder Summary
Goblins aren't exactly known for their fortitude or strength, so the clever Squig Herder uses a pack of squigs to do the hard work for him while he stands safely away and unleashes a rain of deadly arrows.

Squig Herder...

Black Orc

Black Orc Summary
Black Orcs love a good brawl, and are always the first ones to charge into the hectic chaos of combat. Over enough generations, this has ensured that the only surviving Black Orcs are the toughest of the tough and the meanest of the mean, resulting in a group known for their...

So named because of the color of their waxy skin, the greenskins are savagery personified. They are ill-tempered, primitive, and live only to fight. In the absence of another foe, greenskins will eventually turn on one another for want of violence. In their culture, might makes right and the weakest members of society are one false step away from being dinner.

The greenskins have no homeland to speak of. They capture other race's settlements and...

Warrior Priest

Warrior Priest Summary
The Warrior Priests worship Sigmar, the now-deified warrior who united the tribes of man and formed the Empire long ago. In honor of their legendary patron, the Warrior Priests seek to follow in Sigmar's warrior path by purifying the Empire with equal measures of...

Witch Hunter

Witch Hunter Summary
The Empire is not just under overt assault from the forces of Chaos, but is also fighting a constant war against the creeping incursions of darkness and heresy within its own borders, and no one is more aware of this than the Witch Hunter. Tasked with digging out the taint of...

Bright Wizard

Bright Wizard Summary
Master of the Lore of Fire, the Bright Wizard is the most destructive battle wizard in all of the Empire. The Bright wizard is renown for his ability to incinerate anything, ranging from individual soldiers to an entire hillside. However, destructive fire is not the only...

The greatest nation of men in the Old World, the Empire is composed of the human descendants of Sigmar, who united the tribes of men at the Battle of Black Fire Pass. Sigmar was deified after the battle and his promise of eternal aid to the kingdom of Dwarfs still stands today. This action solidified the relationship between men and Dwarfs and planted the seeds for the burgeoning Empire through trade. Today, the Empire is led by Emperor Karl Franz, who rules from...

Swordmaster

Swordmaster Summary
The Swordmaster fights with magical enchantments to bolster the strength of his attacks, and is a deadly front-line warrior. Surprisingly agile with his finely crafted Elven Greatsword, the Swordmaster is the vanguard of any Elf army.

...

Archmage

Archmage Summary
The High Elves are known far and wide as the most powerful mages in the world, and the Archmages are the best even among their own kin. Capable of weaving all of the Winds
of Magic together in complex and subtle ways, the Archmages can easily turn the tide of battle in their...

In the realm of Warhammer Online, you find yourself thrown into a world torn apart by warfare where two allied forces battle to gain the upper hand over their foes and conquer the realm one corpse at a time.  When you first create your character you will be given the choice of either being on the side of Order  and creating a character from one of their three member armies or join the side of Destruction and be born into one of their evil armies instead.  The two factions are...

Magus

Magus Summary
A Magus of Tzeentch is a devoted follower of the Raven God, and spends his entire lifetime studying pure sorcery with a fevered intensity. Desperate for even a bare glimpse of Tzeentch’s great plan, the Magus has learned through his research that Tzeentch’s...

Shadow Warrior

Shadow Warrior Summary
When civil war tore the Elven land of Nagarythe apart, the majority of the Elves there chose to follow Malekith into foulness and chaos, becoming Dark Elves. However, there were still those who remained faithful to the true Phoenix King, and those few remaining loyalists...

Chosen

Chosen Summary
Do not be mislead by appearances, for they are the first weapon of the Chosen. Covered from head to toe in unholy armor, wielding massive weapons capable of rending enemies limb from limb, the Chosens are hulking figures of dread and terror on the battlefield - but woe to the enemy who...

White Lion

White Lion Summary
The proud and fierce White Lions have their roots in the lands of Chrace, where they have been know for centuries as woodsmen of great skill. While long ago, circumstance and necessity forced them to turn to the path of the warrior; they never neglected their roots, and today...

Zealot

The Zealot is a fanatical orator, intent on spreading the glory of the Raven God throughout the land and serving the will of the Great Changer. Draped with ritual vestments and tools of sacrifice, the Zealot can imbue various talismans and potions with the primordeal power of Chaos. These items become potent magical conduits though which he can...

Marauder

Marauder Summary
The Marauder is Tzeentch's favored agent of destruction, and has been granted the simplest and purest gift that the Raven Lord can give: change. The Marauder changes his very blood, bone, and body to reshape himself into a perfect warrior, capable of wreaking havoc and mayhem upon...

In the icy wastes north of Kislev dwell nomadic tribes of barbarians known throughout the Empire as the Northmen. Sometimes a powerful leader will arise among these savage humans, uniting the tribes into a great warhost that marches south toward Kislev and the Empire. At such times as this, the Northmen seek only bloodshed and conquest, for they are willing servants of the inscrutable Chaos gods.

The gods of Chaos are much more active...

The High Elves are an ancient people with a history that spans millennia. While the ancestors of man were little more than cave-dwelling primitives, the Elves built magnificent cities of glittering silver and white marble on their island home of Ulthuan. Elven scholars and explorers were the first to chart the stars and sail the world's oceans. The Elves were also the first race to mount an organized defense against the invading hordes of Chaos, beginning a war that continues to the...

The realms of Order and Chaos in WAR have managed to secure total solidarity among their ranks. The result: Players can focus on their goals of enemy-realm conquest without having to worry about being stabbed in the back. This is an important aspect of WAR’s Player vs. Player combat system, which we call, “RvR”.

Looking at the map, you will notice areas enclosed by red borders. These are RvR areas where you and your enemies can converge in total warfare. Each...

Keeps
Keeps are a focal point of pride for your Realm and worth the battle to defend or capture them.

Keep Basics
There is at least one keep per realm, per zone in all Tier pairings except for Tier One. Tier Two zones have one keep each (two per pairing). Tier Four zones have two keeps each for a total of six keeps. Keeps are the most important objectives in open field RvR, and can swing the tide...

Skills and Abilities

You have three kinds of abilities: Actions, Morale and Tactics.
Actions are your "go-to" abilities; the ones you will use most often.

Morale skills are your super duper charge-up abilities; these can make or break a fight.

Tactics are beneficial effects that are always on and can affect almost anything you might do.

Please Note: Grayed out icons denote that some...

Chat Channels

Chat Channels make it easy to communicate with your party, your guild, nearby people, as well as everyone on the battlefield. With them, you can send messages to a targeted group of people to plan your strategies, talk to your group, warband, local area, or simply reminisce about old conquests and classic kills

Chat Channels are accessed via slash commands. So, if you want to talk to...

There are two types of quests in Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Personal and Public Quests.

Personal Quests can take any form but often involve killing things (sometimes other players), going places, or delivering items or messages to other NPC’s. They pay well in items and experience, so get out your traveling gear, and get a leg on.

When you are playing Warhammer, any NPC with a little circle...

EA had the following summary on hwo advancement works in Warhammer: Age of Reckoning.  If you are an avid experienced MMO Player, none of this is really anything new, but always good to confirm that the rules haven't really changed.

Advancing Your Character

Everyone starts out at Rank 1. As you do quests and kill things, you gain...

Crafting

Three gathering skills are available for this beta: Butchering, Scavenging, and Cultivating. One crafting skill is available: Apothecary. Players can choose just one gathering skill and one crafting skill.

Apothecary
This crafting skill allows players to...

Gathering Skills

Butchering
This is a gathering skill that allows players to extract resources from non-sentient monsters throughout the world (Non-Sentient is a fancy way of saying dumb monsters). Players can learn this skill from trainers throughout the world. There is a...

A Guild is a collection of allied players who work cooperatively to enjoy adventures, fight mammoth monsters, and accomplish fantastic feats all throughout the Warhammer Online world. Guilds also act as a social hub, allowing you to build a network of friends and allies as you play through the game. Additionally, Guilds are an ever-growing, ever-changing part of Warhammer Online.

As you and your Guild mates fight your way through the world, facing perilous danger and achieving...

There has been some information released about Mounts in Warhammer: Age of Reckoning.  There have even been sightings of horses and even the gyrocopter gizmos used by the dwarves if you watched the ORDER PVP VIDEO closely.  For now though, EA has given us the following basic Mount information.

...

Here is a very basic guide to the Keys and Commands most commonly used in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.


Movement
W Move Forward.
A Turn Left.
S Move Backward.
D Turn Right.
Q Strafe Left.
E Strafe Right.

Actions
1-0, =, - QuickBar Commands....

FAIRFAX, Va. - August 5, 2008 - Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) studio, today announced that the open beta for their highly anticipated MMORPG, Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR), will begin on September 7th, 2008. This means that hundreds of thousands of fans will be able to enter the gritty fantasy world of WAR to experience the thrill of Realm vs. Realm™ (RvR) combat before the game goes live on...

The big patch tomorrow is rumored to be the following... although not confirmed:

GENERAL

* Removed the Miss Chance from Shield of the Risen.
* You will no longer be zoned after speaking to a Feat Fixer.
* Several combat related animation issues - such as sheathing and unsheathing spears, holding swords - have been tweaked.
* Added a male animation for the dance_sexy_f emote, and renamed it to dance_sexy.
* Many typos corrected in...

EA has an aggressive pre-order program in place to get all the MMO players out there on board their new MMO Train.  They are offering some nice benefits and little perks for pre-ordering as is typical but the game itself seems destined to sell just fine without the need for so many carrots to be used to lure us in.  In game items, early starts, and a battle deck.. Oo yay, yet another online card game.... oh for the simpler days of Magic the Gathering.

check out the official...

Mythic Entertainment Declares September 18, 2008 a "Day of Reckoning"
FAIRFAX, Va. - August 5, 2008 - Hot on the heels of spectacular showings at E3 and Comic-Con, Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) studio, today announced that fans will be able to enter the gritty fantasy world of Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR) on...

Okay this sounds so damned stupid, yet sadly funny. I read a few posts about it on other sites and even a thread with images. You can check that out here.

I've copied over the transcribed text in case it gets deleted. Read below and note, I am not editing it so it is exactly as it was written (Just say no to censorship):

...

As announced, today's update is a small maintenance that fixes some issues. The update which is currently available on the test server needs some more testing and is planned to be ready for the live servers soon.

The update today includes the following:
Resolved several issues with the Arena access quest, hopefully it should work correctly this time, and this time we really mean it! (or poor Aquilus might meet with a very unfortunate end if he insists on being so...