When Armies Collide

In the morning mist, two armies square off. The mass of greenskins is barely held in check by the threats of the warboss. Across the field, the dwarfen forces prepare to charge. A furious cry splits the air as the greenskin Waaagh! is unleashed. The dwarfen army immediately charges forth. The support lines of each army press forward behind their front ranks eager to unleash devastation on the opposing army and keep their allies on their feet. The cry intensifies as the two forces meet…

…or rather run right through each other and begin to slaughter the support lines of the opposing army.

Generally, when people think of large scale warfare or even small skirmishes this is not what pops into their minds. What do the heavily armored juggernauts in your front lines do you if your opponent can ignore and run right through them? How do you defend a “choke point” if a mounted person can simply run through it? EA Mythic has decided enough is enough. It’s time for armies to collide.

Characters in WAR will actually be able to run into each other. You will hopefully be able to actually have a “front line” in group combat or hold a doorway against an enemy by filling the gap with your allies. This should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with the available WAR information. In fact, if you are active in the pre-WAR community you have probably either read or participated in the debate about collision. There are many people who think collision is a bad thing in an MMORPG. The argument can be made that it is yet another weapon in the griefing arsenal. Your enemies might be dangerous but in many cases your allies can be even worse. However, EA Mythic has stated that the collision won’t exactly be like slamming into a permanent brick wall. Instead the experience will be more like running headfirst into a door and fumbling with the door knob for a bit before you finally get the door open and walk through it. This means that after a certain amount of time you will be able to move through the person you ran into. This should help to keep your allies from trapping you inside a room or other fun things collision might allow.

Also, this lends some insight into what EA Mythic might want collision to be used for. If you’ve played another current MMORPGs you might notice it’s kind of hard to stop a player from running by you. If you’re a class gifted with a ranged snare, root, or stun its not always that bad but if you happen to only have a melee version of those abilities it can be a nightmare. Now imagine if you stood in front of them they actually stopped. Sure they are probably going to attempt to run around you and I’ve already stated that eventually they are going to be able to run through you. However, this is a perfect chance for you to force them to engage you or at least try to walk away while you beat on them. Hit them with a snare (which if you put any faith in the outdated unofficial skill lists most classes have) and at least they aren’t flying full speed away from you anymore.

In my opinion, player collision is a good concept to be reintroduced to MMORPGs. It might cause some additional problems but I feel the tactics it adds to RvR combat are worth the headaches. I’m eagerly looking forward to the days when armies collide.

~Bo

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