Warhammer Online Interview: EA Mythic on UI, armor penetration and more

When you have questions about an MMORPG, the best people to direct your questions to would be the members of the development staff themselves. In a recent interview regarding Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, EA Mythic talked about the the game’s UI, the armor penetration system and more. You can read more about it in the full article after the jump.

There’s a time and a place for everything. Before, EA Mythic serenaded us with epic tales in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR). Recently, the developer talked more about the practical aspects of the game in a recent interview, namely stuff like UI, armor penetration, group play and what not.

EA Mythic acknowledged the challenge of building a UI system for WAR that accommodates various playing styles. Nevertheless, the developer admitted that its goal was to provide as many options for players as was humanly possible. That way, WAR players who prefer single hotkey bars or multiple ones onscreen at one time can use the system.

Another question that was thrown at EA Mythic had to do with tank vs. tank battles. If both parties have high HP and defense ratings, how do you keep the fight from dragging on for too long? The answer, according to EA Mythic, lies in armor penetration – all attacks tend to accomplish this at varying percentages. Characters with tough armor are particularly vulnerable to this.

Finally, EA Mythic mentioned that it has designed Warhammer Online “for players of all stripes to have the same basic opportunities to be effective.”  While solo players can still have a good time, there will come a point, however, when teamwork will prove most useful. As the developer put it:

There comes a point in all MMOs where players have to at least partially commit to the social, cooperative side of the game and work towards major goals as part of a group. Super high-level encounters will definitely require groups of players (although not necessarily super-hardcore groups).