Orks Orks Orks Orks Orks Orks

Lets talk green skins!
In my hope for version of the upcoming Warhammer MMO - Orks would be truely unique. It would be easy give them the same mechanics as Marines, slap some green paint on them, give them a bit of Orky dialog and call it good, but that would really be a disservice to one of the most intersting factions in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Similar to the tabletop game, playing orks is not going to work for everyone. If your the type of player that can laugh just as hard when your kustom grenade explodes for a bazillion points of damage in the middle of squad of Eldar as when you kustom rokkit launcher explodes in your face, killing you and half your raid party, then you're an ork.

Orks will all start out as Newbs (if we can have Nob's, why not Newbs?) which, by the time the basic tutorial is done, should have graduated to basic entry level Boyz. Orks will advance for a while, moving up the basic troop types (Slugga to Shoota) before looking into serious specialization. For specialization, Orks can choose to becoming Doc's, or Meks, or can just focus on becoming a Nob.

Becoming a Nob is what it's all about for an ork. Well except for the fightin and looting and what not. Orks are always working to become the biggest and the baddest. Advancement among Orks comes as a cost to someone else. In the fluff, Orks are always challenging for the right to lead, even in the heat of battle orks will turn on each other in fights for dominance. The game shouldn't be too different.

I think this can be done a couple of different ways. For example, the number of Nobs could be capped and to advance, one player must beat a higher level player in PvP combat. If a player declines a challenge or too, maybe there are no consequences, but if a superior player declines to many rivals challenges, he just might find his position usurped anyway. If there aren't enough Ork players of sufficient level available, there could be reasonable NPC's available for all but the highest levels.

Orks are unique in the 40k universe in that the number of Orks in a mob directly impacts their physiology. The more orks there are, the stronger they get, the bigger, braver they are. And usually with a corresponding decrease in accuracy. It'd be a shame not to introduce some game mechanics to incorporate bonuses for larger Ork groups.

When it comes to vehicles, only the orks rival the guard for deploying vast numbers of machines. Our ork faction would begin by introducing bikes early, and add War trucks, Killer Kans shortly after, eventually working up to da big stuff, like Dreads, Looted Tanks, and Battle Wagonz.

I've mentioned before that there is almost no place for Loot in this game. My son started playing Tabula Rasa again last weekend and watching him play, it just grates on me seeing a military sim where supposed soldiers have to collect enemy faceplates to sell to their requisition officer so they can get ammo for their weapons. I mean, come on, really! What the heck is a guy in the middle of a war zone going to do with alien body parts and what does that have to do with equipment needed to prosecute the enemy?

Of course, among orks, Loot has a role. The traditional MMO mechanic of collecting something off of defeated enemies in order to replace / purchase supplies works well for Orks. Orks collect teeth and other loot to trade with other orks in order to get stuff they need. Sometimes a looted bolter might be just the thing a Shooter Boy is looking for - with a bit of kustomizin of course.

Before closing out - a poster over at Warhammer 40K Online (Warhammer 40K Tabletop online, not an MMO site. I still haven't found much operating yet for the MMO) pointed out a problem with faction play. Everyone has a favorite faction and everyone has that one friend that insists on playing something else. As much as I really belive that the primary thrust of this game has to be faction vs faction, I do think that there should be a number of experience appropriate zones, a handful that are PvP and and maybe even some PvE. While the puriest in me really thinks that a combat team made up of two orks, a space marine, and 3 eldar is counter to the basic premise of the Warhammer 40k universe, players are going to really want the chance to occasionally mix it up without repercussion.

Next up - Eldar