When it comes to MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games), there’s really only one name that counts for anything; World of Warcraft. Despite numerous attempts by developers to de-throne the current champion, no one has been able to create a game that even comes close to it. Until now that is.
Age of Reckoning (AOR) draws on a rich history and lore, having been developed as a pen- and paper-based MMO, as well as a tabletop game, in the late 1980s. The fantasy setting used in AOR was created by Games Workshop, who also created the Warhammer 40,000 and Lord of The Rings strategy battle games.
As with most MMORPGs, the player starts the game by selecting a career. In AOR you will choose between two realms; Order or Destruction, before choosing an army and finally a career. As an example, I ended up playing as a High Elf under the Order faction, and I chose the Swordmaster career, built on the Tank archetype. Tank is a heavily armoured character capable of large amounts of damage. AOR also allows players to customise the look of their characters throughout the game, be it a change in armour or collecting the heads of your victims.
To work your way up the ranks in AOR you collect experience (XP). This is done by completing missions or quests, as well as in PvP (player versus player) and RvR (realm versus realm) battles. The underlying point of all activities in AOR is the campaign between good (Order) and evil (Destruction), and all activities contribute to this fight.
It’s always been a bit daunting joining an online game like AOR as a newbie. Other people of considerably higher levels can easily beat you in a PvP fight, and there is a confusing amount of information to take in. AOR tackles this by artificially inflating a player’s ability in battle with others, as well as punishing those of a higher level who deliberately take on a beginner.
