The Rumour Thread

[HollowHills]

I'm sure they will do aos media eventually. Given this is a new venture it makes sense to use their most established IP at the beginning and then branch out later.

AoS as a tabletop game has become extremely successful, but outside of that medium it has very little appeal.

A lot of people who play the 40k video games, read the books and watch the media may never have played a game of tabletop 40k.

[KingBrodd]

I just recently watched 300 again and if anything I really want a Broken Realms or Expansion featuring Disspossed Duardin defending their Hold against an in numberless horde of Skaven. 

[Beastmaster]

1 hour ago, HollowHills said:

AoS as a tabletop game has become extremely successful, but outside of that medium it has very little appeal.

It’s been 6 years now, and it still hasn’t. No notable PC game, a few books, one RPG that’s all but unknown to anyone without a tabletop background. I’m beginning to think AoS will never get much traction outside the TT game before Oldworld comes around again.

[Enoby]

2 minutes ago, Beastmaster said:

It’s been 6 years now, and it still hasn’t. No notable PC game, a few books, one RPG that’s all but unknown to anyone without a tabletop background. I’m beginning to think AoS will never get much traction outside the TT game before Oldworld comes around again.

You could well be right, but I hope not. 

I think, unfortunately, unlike WHFB and 40k, AoS looks quite bland on the outside. That's not to say it is bland when you look into it, but it doesn't have anywhere near as strong thematics as 40k or WHFB on the surface. 

40k has the iconic grim look of the Imperium, and while it borrows heavily from many other bits of media, the creative direction is very unique to 40k. The universe of 40k has a feel to it that isn't captured in many other series. It's got a lot of character, even if the 'story' is a mess the character is what matters in the eye of the non-wargaming public.

WHFB is in a similar boat. The gritty skulls, missing teeth, and grim witch hunters means it's very easy to recognise WHFB from generic fantasy art. The WHFRPG books oozes character, with small stories from Old Hobb the farmer and a zealous witch hunter..

AoS on the other hand feels more generic on the outside, almost because it's too high fantasy and so difficult to convey the character of the setting. I think AoS has a much better story than 40k, but from an outsider's perspective AoS can end up looking like a generic DnD world compared to hyperstylised 40k and WHFB. It's very hard to put into words, but even though I have no connection to WHFB I think their small stories and characters are much more themed than AoS's and so a lot easier to translate to the non-wargaming public. 

I think AoS not having a strong theme is fine, but it does make it less easy to get non-wargamers excited for it. That said, I think the lack of strong theme does help in other ways with creative storytelling. 

[Grim Beasties]

There are a few AoS video games in development, Stormground, Tempest fall, and one yet unnamed one by the developers of Elite Dangerous.

[Scurvydog]

Considering the development time of an entire project it is not so strange we are not seeing that much of AoS yet. It is only recently that AoS has really gained momentum and we will soon begin to see that pay of.

There are titles coming like Storm Ground

And also a VR title as well.

We also got the underworlds game and some minor things, Stormground is the first "real" bigger title though.

I got no way to back up this claim, but I do think the popularity of Total War Warhammer is "hurting" AoS a bit, by being so popular and hammering home what Warhammer is supposed to be, even for many who experience this universe for the first time. This will even continue in the upcoming 3rd game.

I do hope to see more media coverage of the AoS setting, it has so much potential untapped. I'd love to see something like the new tabletop RPG brought to videogame format, as either a 3rd person game or isometric party RPG, with greater focus on the living breathing world.

No doubt the total war games has been the most prominent warhammer video games to date, most other games are more like "fast food" just being reskins of other titles without much substance. The Vermintide games have been great though and with a 40k version coming, maybe we will see an AoS one as well in the future.

Basically anything with a bit of substance that shows us the realms and people living there is very much welcome, be it mythological scale epics or just small stories set in a specific town, it would be great to experience.

[Neverchosen]

1 hour ago, KingBrodd said:

I just recently watched 300 again and if anything I really want a Broken Realms or Expansion featuring Disspossed Duardin defending their Hold against an in numberless horde of Skaven. 

Skaven to the left of me Goblins to right, stuck in the middle with Grugni.

I keep saying it but I think that Grugni's close friendship with Sigmar, his return to old Holds and construction of the walls of Azyr all hint towards the Disspossed becoming key narrative players in the next edition. I think they may become one of the main frontline forces in the war against destruction, fighting them on two fronts protecting the underground and manning the walls of Azyr.  I also think that the Aelven story is building to a possible climax with the reveal (not necessarily the release) of Malerion and that they will less directly involved in the Destruction/Order battle... probably they will be focused on Slaanesh and fighting amongst themselves.

I also think that they are not going to wait for the next edition to get into Destruction. I think that like Necrons in Psychic Awakening the final Broken Realms title will be focused on Gordrakk. Maybe the final Broken Realm title will end with Gordrakk and co breaching the gate...

Edited March 11, 2021 by Neverchosen

[robinlvalentine]

You really need to keep in mind how long these licensed projects take. A video game for example could be in development for three years or even longer. That's why we're only now seeing AoS games start to come about - it's only in the last few years that AoS has started to grow into something more appealing to developers vs just sticking with Warhammer Fantasy. 

I think the answer to all of this is 'give it time', really. Warhammer Fantasy and 40k had decades to build up a fanbase and brand recognition. AoS has barely gotten started. It's going to take time for it to find its audience. Especially given how rough it launched - there's a lot of people out there who still hate it on the basis of stuff around its initial launch that isn't even the case anymore, or because of the way the End Times was handled. I mean, I was even in that boat myself at one point, I thought for a long time that AoS was just that game with no points where you got bonuses for doing a little dance before your attack roll or whatever. 

As long as GW hold the line, it'll grow in popularity year on year and gradually become more and more of a presence outside of the tabletop sphere.

The only thing that gives me pause is The Old World. I can't help but think that project will serve to rile up all the anti-AoS people and stoke the fires of resentment about the end of WHFB. Whereas I think the best thing for AoS is for GW to fully commit to it as their fantasy game. 

[Grim Beasties]

New Cursed City articlehttps://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/03/11/this-warhammer-quest-cursed-city-hero-is-so-old-he-probably-calls-you-whippersnapper/

[zilberfrid]

1 hour ago, Beastmaster said:

It’s been 6 years now, and it still hasn’t. No notable PC game, a few books, one RPG that’s all but unknown to anyone without a tabletop background. I’m beginning to think AoS will never get much traction outside the TT game before Oldworld comes around again.

A few pages back there was a notion of a Warhammer LARP. The LARP I play in has a world 30 years old. Changing that to a new one would bankrupt the organisation in new props, weapons, costumes, let alone losing players that were invested in that world. A LARP can't take the risk GW took.

AA game development is about 5-7 years. If I were a game designer, I would not have been all that interested in the first few years of AoS to even start something. Lore was bad, many factions hollow and fan following wasn't nearly what it now is. Say they started in 2017-2018 when things started to look up a bit. That gives them 3-4 years at this moment.

Soulbound is gaining some traction, but hasn't had enough time to really shine. Campaigns also take a while to wrap up, even when everyone is onboard to play in that new weird and wonderful world, you'll first want to start the previous one. Haven't played it, but watched some on Dicebreaker and it seems good enough.

Then, for fan created content we have the loss of the human scale. I've seen people in Empire warpriest gear, Witch Hunter outfits, Sisters of Battle outfits etcetera. Sure, there are a few sporadic squig or space marine costumes, but most of the cosplays are fit around humans. Because they are worn by humans. Until Warcry, we did not have that many humans that would not also (or better) fit the still thriving Fantasy community.

Why be a Warpriest of a minor subfaction that has had no love from the mothership (back before GW dumped all of them, that is) when you can be a Warpriest from the mighty Empire? DoK isn't al that interesting a cosplay to do, and the cosplays you could actually wear, apart from Morathi herself, also fit Fantasy. Chaos Warriors had an uncertain future for the longest time, and if you situate a chaos warrior in Fantasy, you were one of those that broke the world. Same with Marauders. Stormcast are described as too tall to be a useful costume. Orruks are even bigger, goblins still too short, which also goes for Fyreslayers and Kharadron. Though the latter would make an interesting cosplay to craft.

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by zilberfrid

[KingBrodd]

38 minutes ago, Neverchosen said:

Skaven to the left of me Goblins to right, stuck in the middle with Grugni.

I keep saying it but I think that Grugni's close friendship with Sigmar, his return to old Holds and construction of the walls of Azyr all hint towards the Disspossed becoming key narrative players in the next edition. I think they may become one of the main frontline forces in the war against destruction, fighting them on two fronts protecting the underground and manning the walls of Azyr.  I also think that the Aelven story is building to a possible climax with the reveal (not necessarily the release) of Malerion and that they will less directly involved in the Destruction/Order battle... probably they will be focused on Slaanesh and fighting amongst themselves.

I also think that they are not going to wait for the next edition to get into Destruction. I think that like Necrons in Psychic Awakening the final Broken Realms title will be focused on Gordrakk. Maybe the final Broken Realm title will end with Gordrakk and co breaching the gate...

Oh mate if Gordrakk is a Broken Realms book I'll be so damned happy!! But I agree I believe Duardin, specifically Disspossessed will be one of the key players in defeating Destruction.

28 minutes ago, robinlvalentine said:

You really need to keep in mind how long these licensed projects take. A video game for example could be in development for three years or even longer. That's why we're only now seeing AoS games start to come about - it's only in the last few years that AoS has started to grow into something more appealing to developers vs just sticking with Warhammer Fantasy. 

I think the answer to all of this is 'give it time', really. Warhammer Fantasy and 40k had decades to build up a fanbase and brand recognition. AoS has barely gotten started. It's going to take time for it to find its audience. Especially given how rough it launched - there's a lot of people out there who still hate it on the basis of stuff around its initial launch that isn't even the case anymore, or because of the way the End Times was handled. I mean, I was even in that boat myself at one point, I thought for a long time that AoS was just that game with no points where you got bonuses for doing a little dance before your attack roll or whatever. 

As long as GW hold the line, it'll grow in popularity year on year and gradually become more and more of a presence outside of the tabletop sphere.

The only thing that gives me pause is The Old World. I can't help but think that project will serve to rile up all the anti-AoS people and stoke the fires of resentment about the end of WHFB. Whereas I think the best thing for AoS is for GW to fully commit to it as their fantasy game. 

AOS is growing as you say, from Christmas 2019 to Christmas 2020 the AOS Sub on Reddit grew from 35,000 to 70,000 subs!!

Edited March 11, 2021 by KingBrodd

[Neverchosen]

41 minutes ago, KingBrodd said:

Oh mate if Gordrakk is a Broken Realms book I'll be so damned happy!! But I agree I believe Duardin, specifically Disspossessed will be one of the key players in defeating Destruction.

I am interested in how the Seraphon will play into this event. I like though that they are not particularly loyal to a notion of Order and if Azyr's compromise could lead to Chaotic Incursions I could see the Seraphon becoming a major threat to the realm they seek to protect.

[MitGas]

1 hour ago, Enoby said:

You could well be right, but I hope not. 

I think, unfortunately, unlike WHFB and 40k, AoS looks quite bland on the outside. That's not to say it is bland when you look into it, but it doesn't have anywhere near as strong thematics as 40k or WHFB on the surface. 

40k has the iconic grim look of the Imperium, and while it borrows heavily from many other bits of media, the creative direction is very unique to 40k. The universe of 40k has a feel to it that isn't captured in many other series. It's got a lot of character, even if the 'story' is a mess the character is what matters in the eye of the non-wargaming public.

WHFB is in a similar boat. The gritty skulls, missing teeth, and grim witch hunters means it's very easy to recognise WHFB from generic fantasy art. The WHFRPG books oozes character, with small stories from Old Hobb the farmer and a zealous witch hunter..

AoS on the other hand feels more generic on the outside, almost because it's too high fantasy and so difficult to convey the character of the setting. I think AoS has a much better story than 40k, but from an outsider's perspective AoS can end up looking like a generic DnD world compared to hyperstylised 40k and WHFB. It's very hard to put into words, but even though I have no connection to WHFB I think their small stories and characters are much more themed than AoS's and so a lot easier to translate to the non-wargaming public. 

I think AoS not having a strong theme is fine, but it does make it less easy to get non-wargamers excited for it. That said, I think the lack of strong theme does help in other ways with creative storytelling. 

Great post! Thing is, as soon as AoS goes smaller in scope (e.g. the new Quest), people quickly start to like it way more than the endless "blah blah blah" realms with the abstract size of armies (and how futile a single victory is). Truth is, the basic premise is shoddy work by the authors.... they'll fix it for sure but it'll take time. I do hope we'll see more grimdark like in Quest again though.... it's basically what makes all things Warhammer unique! 

[Beastmaster]

A timeline for comparison: WFB was introduced in 1983. First edition Wfrp came in 1986. Literally the first Wfrp campaign was Enemy Within, which came out 1986-1989, and was (still is) widely acclaimed as a milestone in RPG campaign writing. 
So, at least in RPG circles, the Warhammer world pretty much was an instant and lasting success. It didn’t take decades of world building to be acclaimed.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Beastmaster

[KingBrodd]

2 hours ago, Neverchosen said:

I am interested in how the Seraphon will play into this event. I like though that they are not particularly loyal to a notion of Order and if Azyr's compromise could lead to Chaotic Incursions I could see the Seraphon becoming a major threat to the realm they seek to protect.

There are so many Factions that deserve their time in BR or the narrative as a whole. KO, Fyreslayers, Disspossessed, Seraphon, Skaven and all of Destruction need love.

[Noserenda]

I think the problem is, even on a surface reading the Old World is quite different whereas AoS feels painfully generic until you dig around a bit and work out whats going on there. Unfortunately its getting people through that first look thats the problem i think. 

I suspect thats why Elves are getting such a focus recently, to give Order an actual face for example.

[Neverchosen]

24 minutes ago, Noserenda said:

I think the problem is, even on a surface reading the Old World is quite different whereas AoS feels painfully generic until you dig around a bit and work out whats going on there. Unfortunately its getting people through that first look thats the problem i think. 

I suspect thats why Elves are getting such a focus recently, to give Order an actual face for example.

I feel like the odd one out on this discussion as I find the aesthetic of Age of Sigmar more unique and interesting than the same dark fantasy that has become so prevalent in recent years particularly in film, television and video games that was abundant in WHFB. I particularly find the Aelven factions to be unique and I am glad you singled them out. But I can see where people are coming from in arguing that it has a less cohesive overall theme than WHFB. But in all honesty I think the generic CG style art that was so prevalent in the early releases of fantasy was a huge impediment to the visual design of the game. I really mis the monochromatic art style of Fantasy but I think that AOS' art style is becoming less homogenized and looks much better in recent releases. But of course this is all highly subjective. 

I think giving each faction or at least Grand Alliance an aesthetic theme could help make AOS more cohesive and freindly to new players while also making the art less homogenous. The fairytale aesthetic of Gargants in particular stands out and contrasts wonderfully with the Video Game concept art I personally associate strongly with Stormcast. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Neverchosen

[novakai]

i guess, if you want some Stormground news they just went into closed beta testing. Focus Home Interactive has been closed lip on most information, it suppose to release this year but who knows

it heavily implied to have three factions at launch (SCE, Nighthaunt, and a third currently unknown one) judging by the exclusive weapons

Edited March 11, 2021 by novakai

[amysrevenge]

1 hour ago, Noserenda said:

I think the problem is, even on a surface reading the Old World is quite different whereas AoS feels painfully generic until you dig around a bit and work out whats going on there. Unfortunately its getting people through that first look thats the problem i think. 

I suspect thats why Elves are getting such a focus recently, to give Order an actual face for example.

It's funny to me that this is such a common sentiment.  The Old World is literally Europe with Elves and Wizards.  AoS is so weird you can't even describe it with words or pictures in a concise way that makes sense.

[willange]

WHFB is cool and I like the total war incarnation of it, but I ignored Warhammer for years based on how generic and uncreative it seemed.  My brother tried to get me into it many times, but I just didn't dig "regular ol' elves" or "regular ol' goblins".  In 2018 though I took another (probably 20th) look into it and found that there were these cool "sea elves" and airships filled with steampunk dwarves and so forth.  It really caught my eye! 

Funnily enough, my first AOS faction was Beasts of Chaos which is basically just WHFB, but I never even looked into them because I was so turned off by some of the other things I had seen.   Over time, I've even come to like some of the things I found off-putting for so long (I actually love Cities of Sigmar nowadays).  I guess what I mean with all this is that AOS did a way better job of selling the idea of Warhammer to me than WHFB ever did, so there's something to be said for its aesthetics and cool ideas.

[Gothmaug]

What I like about AoS is that the multi-realm approach connected by hundreds of magical gates makes for a rather unique fantasy setting. lots of storytelling potential, with armies and entire nations able to change locations rather efficiently and at a moments notice. Also, and more importantly, events in AoS actually seem to matter, advancing the story for the entire game. In Warhammer 40K, nothing has really happened since the Horus Heresy. The emperor of man has been on the throne for 10,000 years, and everything is stuck in stasis. Sure planets are won and lost, but 10,000 years is a reaaally long time (in a human-centric setting). It just feels stale and boring. In AOS , in the last 6 years we've had a necro-quake and its ramifications across the realms, and now we're seeing the results of that with the Broken Realms storyline. Daresay, if Gordraak wins, there will be a gate open to Azyr, allowing for an entire new story path as the forces of Destruction, Death, Chaos and even Order can now pass into that realm. Its like attacking Terra in 40K. The man in charge is now threatened, that's a cool story thread. 

 

Personally I think Gordraak will take Excelsius and reach the portal, just to see it open and be greeted by a host of men, stormcast and dwarves stretching as far as the eye can see., possibly led by Sigmar himself. Then we get to see if Gordraak really is an avatar of GorkaMorka. Considering the size of Gordraaks army, the level of Waaagh! energy is astronomical, probably enough to manifest Gorkamorka himself? With both Skaggrott and Gordraak present, I expect some sort of crazy gork/mork reveal. Perhaps the battle with Sigmar splits the two gods permanently? Or at least seperates their personalities for a while, leading to new fissions inthe destruction faction and some interesting new factions? 

[Deepkin]

12 minutes ago, amysrevenge said:

It's funny to me that this is such a common sentiment.  The Old World is literally Europe with Elves and Wizards.  AoS is so weird you can't even describe it with words or pictures in a concise way that makes sense.

AoS is like World of Warcraft, but with more coherent storytelling. 

Described.

[Talas]

You know, when I first saw WHFB, I was really turned off when the counterpart of the region of the world where I live was represented by lizardmen, generic savages and beastmen. It was like anything else that wasn't Europe, was just an afterthought.

I'm really really glad I waited and got into AoS right after 2.0 started. Now I have four armies and couldn't be happier with it.

[KingBrodd]

3 minutes ago, Gothmaug said:

What I like about AoS is that the multi-realm approach connected by hundreds of magical gates makes for a rather unique fantasy setting. lots of storytelling potential, with armies and entire nations able to change locations rather efficiently and at a moments notice. Also, and more importantly, events in AoS actually seem to matter, advancing the story for the entire game. In Warhammer 40K, nothing has really happened since the Horus Heresy. The emperor of man has been on the throne for 10,000 years, and everything is stuck in stasis. Sure planets are won and lost, but 10,000 years is a reaaally long time (in a human-centric setting). It just feels stale and boring. In AOS , in the last 6 years we've had a necro-quake and its ramifications across the realms, and now we're seeing the results of that with the Broken Realms storyline. Daresay, if Gordraak wins, there will be a gate open to Azyr, allowing for an entire new story path as the forces of Destruction, Death, Chaos and even Order can now pass into that realm. Its like attacking Terra in 40K. The man in charge is now threatened, that's a cool story thread. 

 

Personally I think Gordraak will take Excelsius and reach the portal, just to see it open and be greeted by a host of men, stormcast and dwarves stretching as far as the eye can see., possibly led by Sigmar himself. Then we get to see if Gordraak really is an avatar of GorkaMorka. Considering the size of Gordraaks army, the level of Waaagh! energy is astronomical, probably enough to manifest Gorkamorka himself? With both Skaggrott and Gordraak present, I expect some sort of crazy gork/mork reveal. Perhaps the battle with Sigmar splits the two gods permanently? Or at least seperates their personalities for a while, leading to new fissions inthe destruction faction and some interesting new factions? 

 

[novakai]

2 minutes ago, Deepkin said:

AoS is like World of Warcraft, but with more coherent storytelling. 

Described.

i always thought it was more like MTG but with Lore you actually care about.