I may not be the biggest 40K nerd around, but I do love the series and the lore that surrounds it. I have played most of the board game iterations (Space Hulk, Space Crusade etc) as well as all of the PC iterations (Dawn of War series, Space Marine, Space Hulk etc). So when I first heard about Eternal Crusade, I was pretty happy as well as hoping it would be different to how WAR (Warhammer Online) was (and not to be like WoW or any other current MMO out there).
A new video was released yesterday, showing a concise look at the Pre-Alpha ‘Prototype Footage’ (the stuff they create in order to show off a proof-of-concept to Staff, Publishers etc). Later that day, a 13.5 minute Pre-Alpha Gameplay video was released, showing off how combat will work etc. Now keep in mind this is pre-alpha so there is a LOT more polish to come, but just for the basic stuff shown? I am super keen.
For relevant details, Eternal Crusade is being developed by Behaviour Interactive as a Free to Play (with paid options) MMORPG and slated for release at the end of 2014. While very little information has been revealed, so far we do know that at launch there will be four playable races/factions, these being the battle brothers of the Adeptus Astartes (or Space Marines as they are colloquially known), the Legions of the Dark Gods (Chaos Space Marines, corrupted by the Warp, The Eldar (an ancient dying race with a mastery of psychic powers) and the Warriors of Waaagh! (the beloved Ork clans with their terrible spelling and English).
Other information (as known to mmorpg.com) is that the game will be played in a third person, over the shoulder perspective (similar to Space Marine) and that some of the factions will have Free to Play options. To play as everything, however, you would need a monthly sub. All I know is that I am SUPER keen on playing the hell out of this and can’t wait for more information to be released!