It has been discussed a number of times recently… how do you bridge the gap between the hardcore PvPer and the non PvPer in Warhammer Online, how can you gain WAR gold? What can EA Mythic do to attract the average player versus player pacifist to a game fundamentally about realm versus realm combat?

Spinks from Book of Grudges just noticed something that hadn’t really crossed my mind, but has been known since the early history of WAR’s development: the ability to participate in meaningful RvR as early as level 1.

Why is this important? What affect will it have on the less homicidal-minded WAR player?

Primarily, it removes a lot of boundaries. At level 1, an orc is an orc is an orc, so to speak. You only have a handful of common skills and your methods of attack and defense are quite limited. This is perfect for someone new to PvP-combat because it evens the playing field with the more hardcore gamers. Short of twitch play, you really only have 1-3 buttons to worry about, so Warhammer power leveling of strategy required to compete is low.

Even group play is more simplified because the roles of each character are likely to be fairly narrow/defined during the early levels.

Think about how many people buy characters, buy Warhammer gold on eBay, end up sucking terribly, and usually ditch them shortly afterward. It's pretty common knowledge that you’ll be much more effective with a character if you’ve raised in from infancy, practicing all the new skills, like Warhammer gold farming skills and abilities as your character learned them. Jumping onto a new class with dozens of unique, complicated, and highly situational skills is no easy task.

Hop on over and have a read. The full scope is larger than what I’m reporting here, but this is what stood out the most to me.