What is Gods and Heroes?
by Charabis
Many people I talk to are confused about how Gods and Heroes is supposed to be different from the other MMOs out there. Today, we'll be examining this very question, and hopefully we'll all learn a few things we didn't know before. This article is designed as a brief overview to showcase the highlights of the game and contrast them with other MMOs, as well as introduce people to the site layout here at Ten Ton Hammer's Gods and Heroes community.
Gods and Heroes is being produced by a company called Perpetual Entertainment, a new player in the MMO field. With Sony Online Entertainment as a publisher, there have been a
number of concerns and questions people have expressed. Many believe SOE's involvement will somehow make the game worse, often citing the "downfall" of Star Wars Galaxies and Vanguard. SOE's greatest fans want to know if it will be on
their Station Pass. To answer these questions, Chris Launius, known on the official forums as Binky, told us this:
SOE is our Marketing partner and Publisher. They handle all of the marketing and getting the game in a box and onto the shelves.
Perpetual is responsible for everything else. We run the servers, provide the support, and handle account and billing management. For this reason G&H will not be part of the
Station Pass.
Love SOE or hate it, but clearly you can't judge Perpetual's product on what you think of SOE. It's Perpetual's ball, and they're keeping it!
Many people are also curious about the races there are in the game. Everyone will be human, and Roman, at least to start with. For more details, follow the "Races" link in the
sidebar.
Next we come to the classes. Many people are used to games with a dozen or more classes to play. Those games have always depended on the number of classes to provide variety.
For Gods and Heroes, Perpetual is taking a different approach, and will be releasing with 6 classes.
The six classes scheduled for launch are the Gladiator, Soldier, Mystic, Priest, Scout, and Nomad. The Nomad was recently added to replace the Rogue class. The Rogue was
removed for launch, but will be back later. Each one has a unique Feat Tree, which is the primary way in which you'll be able to customize your character.
The Feat Trees offer three separate branches; core and two others that depend on the class chosen. The player gets to spend Feat Points to get and improve the abilities on
their class' Feat Tree. Currently, the maximum number of Feat Points a player can spend on a single feat is 3, and many of the abilties can be upgraded at a certain level.
Exactly what effects upgrading has is still an unknown at this time. To keep up on the latest information, just follow the "Classes" link in the sidebar.
Gods are another way to customize your character. Each class will have a choice between two gods to follow, and that choice will affect the godly powers a character can
access, as well as a few special minions that will be tied to a particular god's followers.
With 6 classes, it shoud be no surprise that there are 12 gods planned for release. Those gods are Apollo, Bacchus, Diana, Fortuna, Juno, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Minerva,
Nemesis, Pluto, and Trevia. For more on these gods, you can hit the "Gods" link in the sidebar for all the latest information.
A few games out there allowed you to take hirelings and pets along. Guild Wars is well known for it's hireable minions. They worked well to fill out a party, but were
typically dumb as a stone and just as likely to get you killed as save you. Enter Perpetual's take on minions...
Perpetual's minions aren't hireable in the same sense. Hirelings can be earned in a variety of ways. Once earned, you can do with them as you wish, including trading them off
to another player! In that respect, minion collecting almost becomes a side-game. As they say in Pokemon, gotta catch 'em all! The only exceptions will be certain special
minions, such as those granted by your chosen god. The special minions will not be tradeable.
No matter how many minions you collect, you will see a number of differences over what you're likely used to. Minions in Gods and Heroes not only have actual names (No more
hirelings named "Fighter" or "Necromancer"), but they have their own personalities! The AI is highly refined, which leads to computer-controlled minions that actually do
intelligent things! No longer will your mages charge into combat to smack the enemy with their staff when they have perfectly good spells that are more effective. Perpetual
has managed to bring minions alive and make them feel more like players.
Many times, you can see the famous acronyms LFG (looking for Group) or LFM (Looking for More), as people try to form up full groups. It's not uncommon for certain classes to
spend an hour or more looking for a group to adventure with. With Perpetual's minion system, you have more options. Let's face it, if you have two hours to play, you don't
want to spend half of it just trying to find a group! With Gods and Heroes, you just choose which of your minions is going with you and go! Perfect for the more casual players
who can't spend 8 hours a day online. There's going to be much more information on minions tucked away in the "Minions" link in the sidebar.
Where are the minions when not adventuring? You'll find them at your very own camp! There will also be some non-player characters there that, while not capable of being part
of your party, will help you. Probably the most notable one that will be in for launch is the Blacksmith.
Blacksmiths will be able to upgrade your minions' equipment! Of course he will need supplies to do so.... All the latest and greatest on player camps can be found under the
"Camps" link in the sidebar.
Combat is also being made unique. How many times has this happened to you? You use an attack that makes you charge the enemy, you rush towards them, they move aside, and you
strike air inflicting damage on your opponent despite never touching him! Perpetual is avoiding that, and adding reactions to attacks. It's going to be a whole new strategic
element, that will keep players more active during combat.
Some of the animations for the attacks are impressive as well. Some of the monsters will not only impale you with their spear, but will lift you off your feet with it! There's
no need to worry though; player moves can be just as impressive. For those who don't like to play nice, there's been mention of a move called "Groin Kick". The opponent's
reaction to that one should be a real treat.
With all these things going into the game, there are bound to be a few things missing. There are two, in fact, that will not be in at lauch, but are planned for the future.
These are Player versus Player combat, and crafting.
For PvP, there may be a limited form of it in the arenas for launch. If it doesn't make launch, we should be seeing it shortly after. Nothing has yet been announced about PvP
servers or possible rulesets.
Crafting is also not going to make launch, but has been brought up many times. Perpetual has said it will be in some time after launch, but no estimate has been made yet.
We'll all have to wait and see.
It's easy to see that Perpetual is creating a game that will be truly unique among the surging numbers of cookie-cutter MMOs hitting the market. With quality minions, character
variety, and the powers of the gods themselves making an appearance, Gods and Heroes is shaping up to be a real winner! Here at Ten Ton Hammer, we'll be covering the latest
news, so be sure to stop by often and watch all the links fill up with all the information the informed gamer wants to know!
Come discuss Gods and Heroes on our forums! Also remember to keep an eye on the "Developer FAQs" link for answers to
some of the most commonly asked questions about Gods and Heroes!
