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Warhammer Online Preview: WAR, What is it Good For? Is it Worth Your Money?
MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood has been playing the head start for Mythic's Warhammer Online and today offers his opinions of the game.
advertisement While the title of this article might be a little bit clichéd and obvious, the spirit behind it is perfectly legitimate. With the full launch of Mythic Entertainment’s Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning only a few hours away, I thought it might be helpful for those of you out there who haven’t rushed out and bought the Collector’s Edition or pre-ordered a box to hear my impressions of the game and whether or not you should go out and spend your hard earned money on this new RvR offering.
The answer to the question ,”Is it worth my money?” isn’t as easy or black and white as you might think. Like most MMOs, your enjoyment of Warhammer Online is going to depend on your own personal likes and dislikes when it comes to MMOs. I’m going to address a number of questions that you may or may not have about the game:
Looking for something totally blow-me-away revolutionary?
So, right out of the gate, I’m going to say that if you’re hoping for an MMO that is going to turn the post-WoW industry on its ear and blow us away with sandboxy content and totally outside the box systems, you shouldn’t spend your money on this one. I’m also inclined to say though that if this is what you were expecting Warhammer Online to be, then you probably should have looked at any of the material put out by Mythic over the last few years. WAR was never meant to be that kind of game.It's cool to be dissapointed about that fact, but it shouldn't be a surprise.
What I thought that WAR did do well was to bring exciting elements out of existing MMOs and integrating them into WAR’s mechanics. The systems so far as I can tell are pretty solid and when put together make for a really entertaining game.
What about PvP?
I’m also going to say that if you absolutely, 100% can’t stand the idea of PvP, you probably shouldn’t spend your money on Warhammer Online. It’s an RvR game at its core, and while it does offer PvE elements, I found that they really serve to compliment the many other RvR-based systems that the developers have put into place. If you jump into this game and only do the PvE portions, you’re probably going to be disappointed. I mean, they're solid enough I guess, but for the most part this isn't where the meat or innovation of the game shines.
That all being said, the way that PvP is being presented in WAR has the potential to move people who are on the fence about PvP, or enjoy the occasional tussle, over to the dark side. The scenarios, battlefield objectives and other RvR elements don’t really bash you over the head with the “my e-peen is bigger than yours, my uber-lewt will ends you” elements that many non-PvPers try to avoid. Instead offering shorter term “bursts” of PvP (or RvR) combat that leave even a player who gets his butt handed to him more often than not (ahem *cough* I suck *cough*) wanting to participate more and more (and I’m actually improving).
One thing to note though… If you’re a novice at PvP, don’t jump into the Open RvR servers. There is plenty of RvR action on the Core servers, and you don’t run the risk of getting ganked again and again by some high level clown looking for some kicks at your expense. On the other hand, if you’re one of those players who loves the thrill of being in danger at all times and enjoy the realism of not being artificially separated and restricted by level, the Open RvR servers are probably right up your alley. Who needs those carebears anyway?
Are the graphics good?
There are a couple of ways to take this particular question. I should start by saying that pound for pound, I really like the graphics in WAR. I like the way that the world looks and enjoy my time there. I find that the art style does capture the feeling of the Warhammer Universe and that while the art style as a whole is reminiscent of the style in World of Warcraft (I’ll let you argue about which came first on your own time), the implementation of the graphics is such that they look modern (especially at the highest settings… seriously and no pun intended, wow) and really enhance the overall feel of the game. I personally think that people who call the graphics outdated are confusing modernity with art style.
So, knowing that, if you’re the kind of person who likes their games to have graphics as photo-realistic as possible, don’t buy WAR. Nothing about WAR looks photo-realistic and it wasn’t meant to, but if that’s your bag (and I know it’s just a preference for some people), you might to find that WAR feels a bit “cartoony” and “WoW-like”.
Do I have to group / guild up?
This is another question that often hits close to home for me. Maybe I’m just an anti-social player, but I’ve never been a big fan of making sure that I find a group. It’s almost always a hassle and my personal experience has been that finding a group has been more trouble than it’s worth.
So, after that long-winded introduction, I should say that you don’t have to group in WAR, at least not at the early stages. Still though, I’ve found that I’ve done it more often in WAR than ever before in an MMO. It seems like every time I jump into a public quest, or even engage in RvR, I get at least one invite to join a group. Normally, I ignore these, but on a whim decided that I’d try and it’s made a world of difference. Not only am I enjoying those PQs more this way, but I’m also finding that I’m making a number of “friends” along the way, familiar faces that I see even days later in another area. It really adds to the team spirit of the game.
If you’re worried about getting “stuck” with a group though, don’t. I usually jump into a group to get whatever we’re all doing together completed and then leave again. It hasn’t seemed to be a problem. So, in the end, while you don’t have to group, I urge you to give it a try at least in PQ and RvR situations. I haven’t regretted it and I don’t think you will either.
Which side should I play?
There’s no right answer to this question. Destruction has had more population recently, but it’s totally a question of choice for you. I have found that the two sides are balanced (I win as often as I lose in scenarios and RvR) and both are fun to play.
Now, the selfish answer. Play Order. We will destroy the unruly denizens of destruction!
Is there a grind?
Ok, this is a fair question, and one that comes up whenever a new MMO is launched. When I hear people talk about the grind, I find that they’re usually talking about moving through boring aspects of the game to get to the “good stuff” at the end. The grind to me is pointless repetition, so I’ll answer this question accordingly:
While this game is indeed level based, in that I suppose you could grind away until you reach the end, I don’t think that’s the point. Warhammer Online does a fantastic job of giving you so many different things to do so often that you never really feel like things are getting overly repetitive.
For me, there have been four different forms of play so far and they’ve all intermingled well enough that I don’t get tired of any of them. They are: PvE (quests and the like), Scenarios (capture the flag deals in Tier 1) RvR Battlefield Objectives (real world RvR) and Public Quests (big ol’ group quests without the hassle of groups).
The way that Warhammer is laid out is that one invariably leads to another (though doesn’t require it). For example, you will start the game most likely doing PvE. Like in most MMOs, you pick up a bunch of quests in your starting area. Those quests though, will invariably (and pretty invisibly) lead you to an area where a public quest is happening (you don’t have to participate, but I almost always found it a nice distraction). Then, when that’s done, you carry about on your merry way. The culmination of all of this at least in the opening zone is that you eventually make your way to where the battlefield objectives are being fought over, so it’s all pretty organic. Throughout all of this, you have the option of jumping into a scenario by clicking the scenario button on your mini-map. Getting bored of PvE and PQs? Jump into a scenario or two.
So, in the end I suppose that you could say that there is a grind. You’re gaining a couple of different forms of XP and improving your gear and gaining cash along the way. The thing is that Mythic almost manages to mask it by giving you so much to do (and I didn’t even touch on crafting or tome unlocks, which add even more). Levelling up for me hasn’t felt like a chore at all. In fact, I feel like I’m contributing to the overall WAR (the premise of the game) in everything I do, so I don’t see a point to rushing to “endgame”. That may just be me.
Are there still bugs in the game?
I think this would almost be a silly question if it hadn’t been such an issue in the past. Are there bugs? Yeah, I’ve noticed one or two little things. Last night, my map went blank for a minute or two and I had I think one instance of a bullet animation getting hung up, but that’s it and for all I know these won’t even exist tomorrow (little things like that crop up from time to time, but seem easy for devs to squish). Did I see any game breaking bugs? No. In fact, not a single thing that impeded my gameplay in the slightest.
Looking for Free 2 Play?
Believe it or not, I have had a number of people ask me if WAR is F2P. First off, it isn’t and it shouldn’t be. It’s not how the game was designed, it’s not how the game was advertised… Don’t even ask.
When are you going to tell me if I should buy the game?
I’m not and I suppose that the title was a bit misleading. In the end, I can’t tell you to run out and buy this game one way or the other. All I can do is offer you the information provided above.
If you’re looking for my personal opinion, I would be more than happy to tell you:
If you’re an MMO fan, you’re probably going to get your money’s worth out of your initial purchase (unless you fall into one of the categories above). I have been really enjoying my time in-game and honestly find it hard to put down at the end of the night. My Witch Hunter is now level 11 (very close to level 12) and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. Am I saying that the game is flawless? No. That would be silly. Am I saying that I’m having a blast playing. Yes, I like it and I think you might enjoy it too.
Where's mah link?
Edit: NM, there it is... I just posted too fast...
nm :)
i shall read it
The "it "and the "is" are in the wrong order. And there's this strange question mark at the end of it...
I wanted to add one thing to the article though. I'm generally the one who, in a PQ, starts up a group and sends out random invites to anyone else in the PQ area. Why?
Because WAR actually REWARDS you for grouping. There is no "dividing" of XP/INF... everyone gets the same as they would if soloing, but now there are six of you all earning XP/INF... so you get six times the amount as you would normally. I also enjoy "grinding" (though it doesn't feel like a bad grind to me) each PQ area until I max out the rep for that area. In a group, it's not uncommon for people to stay around for 3+ rounds of the PQ before leaving, so you all get a feel for each other. And, like Jon said, it's a great place to make friends.
Being in these groups also gives me a chance to get a feel for how tanking works (being a tanking class and all). In other games, I wouldn't get this experience very often, and what little I'd get before the end-game would be a LOT more stressful and not give me a chance to play around and see what skills I like and which ones work the best.
Good unbiased preview. I agree with everything you said, including: Play Order. We will destroy the unruly denizens of destruction!
You Rock Jon. That was one of the most honest articles i have ever read. Bull S**T free.
fantastic review Jon
I agree with 2 great points you made yes its cartoony but it has enough oooomph at full settings with AA and AF on to give it that polish that wow just doesnt have I couldnt play wow because of the graphics.
Grinding what grind as you say there is just so much to do that it isnt a chore I hadnt pulled 9 hrs on a MMO since the days of pre-cu SWG yet have found myself doing exactly that in the last 2 days.
Ignore Jon dont join Order they are pansy elves and bridget the midgets get your squigs out and rain death on the stunties.
I was a MMORPG fan when I first started playing DAoC in 2001 and then switched to SWG in 2005. I can't say for sure if I am a MMORPG fan anymore though, because community is just as much a feature of a MMORPG as PvP or Raiding. The community since WoW came out in almost every MMORPG I've played has been rude, anti-social, and disrespectful with small pockets of mature people. This is the exact opposite of how the community was before WoW. Your last paragraph said that you would recommend the game to fans of MMORPGs, but I cannot say for sure if I am a fan of MMORPGs anymore. I love the idea of building a character over a long period of time with other people online, but I absolutely hate what the MMORPG community has devolved to.
I guess the question is: Is the WAR community like the DAoC and SWG community before WoW brought several million people into our games, or is the WAR community like WoW's?
very well balanced review in the article. i appreciate that because i wouldn't have been able to do it. i would have been warning people to make sure to roll a class that could actually build enough moral to use its top talents. but i'm kinda mr. negator on this one, i admit it.
Thanks for the comments guys. Like I said in the preview, it's not a "perfect game" without issues, but with that said, I'm online right now playing in my "free time" after a very long day at work. *shrug*
I don't see how you could have missed all the bugs because in 1 week I reported over 40
Excellent article, Jon.
Balanced, honest and not blatantly leaning either way; you were very clear that your personal opinions were entirely your personal opinions and not fact (something some posters on these forums could learn a thing or two about).
Also, I agree with your take about not racing to end-game. Heh, from your fingers to the players' eyes. I'm sure it'll happen, though. Dollars to donuts, there will be players who - despite the setup of the game and how it provides challenges and meaningful content at all levels - will still insist the "real game" is at level cap, will fly through all the levels and "necessary content" as fast as possible in a race to get there. I fully expect threads of "this game fails, it doesn't have enough endgame content!" to start popping up in about 2 weeks or less.
But there I go getting cynical.. :-p
Also, the "confusing modernity with art style" statement is probably the most eloquent description of the constant arguments over whether a game's graphics suck or not that I've ever seen.
In all... very good article!
getting to level cap fast is a power thing in general and an actual goal in WAR with rewards. the power comes from having access to resources and money making opportunities before the rest of a server population. this is true in any mmo.
WAR in particular rewards higher levels by tieing your guild rank to the levels of the players in the guild.
just thought it would be good to point out these things.
Couldn't have said it better myself. :)
Good, straight-forward article.
It explains why someone would like the game and why they might not like the game and most importantly tells the reader to make up their OWN mind. Often you see people posting others to tell them whether a game is 'good' when they should be looking at it themselves and decide. This article encourages them to do this by presenting WAR's strengths and weaknesses in one easy read.
I did like how the article points out how painless grouping is in WAR. I've done more average grouping/hour than any other game I've played. The PQs and open RvR encourage it and the excellent Open Group system makes it easy.
It's not immersive for me like SWG was, where you have a complex social structure. It's basically just combat, and as long as that is fun the game is fun.
The game looks solid. It does add some things that I have not seen in other games, like the open groups where you can just add yourself, or the PQ's. Being able to jump into a scenario is a lot of fun.
I rolled Order/healer on one of the open RVR servers. I have never rolled a toon on an open pvp server, but so far I find it kind of fun. Yesterday some guy was about ready to kill another guy and I jumped down from a hill, gave a couple quick heals and the two of us were able to take him down. The whole time I was looking out of the corner of my eye for the gank squad.
I've never rolled a healer before and actually seriously wanted to play one. This is the first time. So I guess this game has gotten me to try some new things and that is good.
Its $50, just go out and get it and give it a try. 1 Month free anyways, so thats a good thing.
Jon, I loved your review. But I have one thing to point out about the way you represent it. You used the word "carebear". I don't hate the word but I think its very unprofessional to use words that put down other players playstyle that doesn't fit yours. You are a representation of MMORPG.com so therefore you shouldn't be using words that are used as what we call flamebait. This goes for "fanboi, failcom" and whatever other words people have used to put down something or someone. I suggest you think about this next time before making another review. To me, it's not that huge of a problem. But it could come off as being amaturish and very immature to belittle the other crowd. This site is for rpg gamers as a whole, wether you like PvE, PvP, RvR, or w/e is out there. Let's try to keep things that way.
Great review. I had been testing the game for quite some time before any OB announcements, and I find it to be entertaining, but also repeating common MMO mistakes.
I think it's a good game, but I've been playing WoW already. I really don't want to leave the spin-off of warhammer (WC1 was originally intended to be a Warhammer PC Game) for the real deal. Especially since there's alot of issues that Mythic representatives act like children about to the press. Perhaps later on, but as it stands, no thanks.
I think it's bad form to put a question into the title, if you're not going to answer it outright ... even if you do call yourself out on that. Problem is, you don't call yourself out on it until the last section.
i think you may have missed him playing around. the entire section was from the point of view that he usually prefers pve, which traditionally is "carebear," but he was pleased to be enjoying pvp more than usual due to how it was delivered in WAR.
I love this game.
Sometimes you are too busy having fun to report bugs. Or even look at something and think thats a bug.
In 8 hours of play - the server and client have been rock solid for me. No crashes, no graphic glitches, no frame rates dropping so low you cant move.
So I havent encountered a single game breaking bug.
The two bugs I have noticed were an NPC air walking and being unable to target a NPC that was standing right on me. So I had to run away before I could fight them.
I am playing on a Core 2 Duo 6600, 2 Gigs RAM and a 512M 3870 graphics card using Windows XP SP3.
It really depends on how you look at the article. While I suppose I don't come right out and say yes or no (though if you look closely at the end, you might be surirpised) the article is ripe with, you shouldn't buy it ifs...
i think you may have missed him playing around. the entire section was from the point of view that he usually prefers pve, which traditionally is "carebear," but he was pleased to be enjoying pvp more than usual due to how it was delivered in WAR.
Yuppers. If you look at that section, which the magic of Control - C lets me paste below:
One thing to note though… If you’re a novice at PvP, don’t jump into the Open RvR servers. There is plenty of RvR action on the Core servers, and you don’t run the risk of getting ganked again and again by some high level clown looking for some kicks at your expense. On the other hand, if you’re one of those players who loves the thrill of being in danger at all times and enjoy the realism of not being artificially separated and restricted by level, the Open RvR servers are probably right up your alley. Who needs those carebears anyway?
You will see that I also called PvPers clowns looking for some kicks at your expense. It was kinda a little play on the way that both sides tend to see the other and was meant to highlight the fact that there were two different server types that might suit each case better.
I agree, temrs like "carebear" and "ganker" get thrown around a lot. That's really the point :) In the context of the paragraph (or even the whole article), I wasn't putting anyone down. I'm not a PvPer and I thought I was clear on that. I just think that the emotion pent up in those two terms is worth poking a bit of good natured fun at. Not unprofessional at all.
I am soooo on the wall with this game. I have tried SO many mmo's and most of the time end up playing through just the free month(or not even that) and then canceling. They just dont end up holding up to pre cu SWG how fun that was or how good WoW is(and yes WoW has it's own problems too but that's another post). I've googled for videos of WAR and and quite frankly the game looks pretty ugly to me. Not much better than WoW which is 4 years old(yes I'm a graphics whore but I will overlook it somewhat if the game is compelling enough). I just dont want to spend the 50.00 AGAIN for another mmo like I just did with AOC that I only played a couple of weeks before getting bored with it and quitting. However there are so many good things being said about WAR and I LOVE the enthusiasim of Mark Jacobs every time he talks about WAR(there's a guy who REALLY loves his job!) that I also DO want to run out and get it tomorrow.
I just dont know /shrug
If you didn't like the way World of Warcraft played, you probably won't like this one.
If you liked World of Warcraft, but wish it had more PvP, than this is the game for you. It seems like WAR was made to siphon this particular part of the WoW fanbase away from Blizzard.
It's definately not as polished as World of Warcraft, and PvP combat is more about stacking effects and focus fire than using control and reacting to the enemy.
If two years ago Blizzard had decided to focus on World PvP instead of Arenas, we'd probably be all going "Warhammer who?" right about now.
This game is kind of lacking a certain MMORPG feel to it... probably because the PvE content is pretty much just filler for Scenario pops. Their World PvP solution in the low level tiers hasn't been very successful.
Their siege weapons in this game are just mega retarded too. Lol, definately not an idea that you should implement just to say "omg, siege weapons!".
The game is fun, and it's nice that it's not WoW; I just want a little more Action Jackson in my game. TCOS and CO, now there's a stew!
Yuppers. If you look at that section, which the magic of Control - C lets me paste below:
One thing to note though… If you’re a novice at PvP, don’t jump into the Open RvR servers. There is plenty of RvR action on the Core servers, and you don’t run the risk of getting ganked again and again by some high level clown looking for some kicks at your expense. On the other hand, if you’re one of those players who loves the thrill of being in danger at all times and enjoy the realism of not being artificially separated and restricted by level, the Open RvR servers are probably right up your alley. Who needs those carebears anyway?
You will see that I also called PvPers clowns looking for some kicks at your expense. It was kinda a little play on the way that both sides tend to see the other and was meant to highlight the fact that there were two different server types that might suit each case better.
I agree, temrs like "carebear" and "ganker" get thrown around a lot. That's really the point :) In the context of the paragraph (or even the whole article), I wasn't putting anyone down. I'm not a PvPer and I thought I was clear on that. I just think that the emotion pent up in those two terms is worth poking a bit of good natured fun at. Not unprofessional at all.
That's fine and dandy, but the use of the words is what I was getting at. It's about the same as making a review and using a word such as failcom in it, even if its out of good nature.
"I just think that the emotion pent up in those two terms is worth poking a bit of good natured fun at. Not unprofessional at all."
And this just proves what I mean. 'Good natured fun' to you, could very well mean the exact opposite for someone else. And since it's one of those things that's on the fence, as an "employee" of mmorpg.com, it should stay out of reviews. Put it this way, would you let any of your editors use the word Fanboi and make puns towards it in a review? I hope you wouldn't. Like I stated your review was great, but you really could of left that word out. Pun, poke or prod, you know it's not needed. Let the rest of your community do that.
I think the easiest thing to say about warhammer is:
You will either immediately like it, or immediately be turned off by it. There really isn't a middle ground. And while I think your article was unbiased, you failed to touch on the MOST important aspect of any PVP game...and that is the pace and enjoyment of the combat.
Combat in Warhammer is exceptionally slow, not just it takes more then 4 seconds to kill someone slow. We are talking that 6 people can be on a tank for over 45 seconds and it will generally not die. There is also a severe lack of CC, which makes running away and getting back to healers very easy.
I wish you had touched on the pace of the combat, as I think it is single handedly Warhammers biggest downfall. Another issue being the 1.2-1.3 second GLOBAL Cooldown that leaves you sitting there mashing the same button over and over again while a lame auto-attack hits for you during the downtime between casting abilitys.
I got to 20 in Warhammer, PvP'd a lot early/late levels and realized that the only good thing about the game was the PVP, and the PvP was so slow it almost took skill and reaction time completely out of the equation.
Those looking for fast paced skill based PVP should avoid this game. This is NOT the successor of DAoC.
I have also encountered an incredibly low number of bugs. Especially since beta ended and Early Access began. The level of polish on WAR is unprecedented when compared to other MMO's that I've played. WoW wasn't even this smooth at launch, and don't get me started on AoC!
Today I did encounter my only "game breaking" bug so far. I was level 12 and went into a cave under Blighted Isle to interact with something in there. I knew I'd get chickened, but didn't care. Unfortunately, some bug prevented me from being able to exit the cave. I couldn't use by Book of Recall because I was a chicken. Using /stuck failed because where it returned me to the game was deeper in the cave with only 1 second of countdown time remaining before I got chickened (and stuck) again. Not fun.
The reason I'm bringing this up is I realized that short of pure luck having a Destruction player happen upon me in that out of the way place and killing me, I'd have to petition a GM. At launch? Good luck! Even the best GM teams are overworked to the point of insanity at an MMO's launch, and this was prime time as well. But I had no choice. You can imagine my shock when I got a tell from a GM less than 5 minutes later! I have never, ever had a GM response so quickly.
Maybe they just have a huge number of GM's ready to help right now. Maybe it's a measure of how few serious bugs the game has, eliminating the need for GM's to provide damage control. Whatever the reason, this bodes very well for the game's future reputation and future.
I wasnt able to get into the "open beta" but from the vids i've seen on the net your absolutely right on the pace of combat. I've seen a LOT of mashing 1 button every 2 seconds for a fireball in the vids.
Mess of a 'review'.
I don't get it how some people find combat "slow".
I play a Swordmaster (rank 11) and I can tell you I got my hands full with all the situational skill choices (parry buff for me or 40% speed debuff to target at 2nd combo stage i.e.) and all the while dealing with that pesky collision detection - either blocking a gazzilion of them from coming at my squishies or trying to land that killing blow on the goblin hiding behind the tanks.
PvP combat is mighty fine in this game. Way better than anything else I've tried out so far. It might seem slow paced because toons have more HP relative to damage than what is usual, but it gives combat a nice "chunky" and solid feel. I can almost taste the smell of burned metal as I block someone's attack with my shield.
In addition this more HP/damage thing gives much more leeway for group strategies since you won't get 1-2 shotted (unless you run into a BW at full combustion loking to burn it off somehow
). Usually you have enough time to react and adapt to a situation.
I find PvE combat a bit "meh" in comparison, probably because there is no CD there (i suppose it would be just asking for trouble with AI pathing), however there is nothing really wrong with it... it is just that the feel of PvP is so awesome.
I couldn't agree with you more. This is the main reason I'm not bothering with WAR, or a lot of other MMO's now for that matter anymore. They're full of the young teens born in the late 1980's and early 1990's, or the Beavis and Butthead generation as I like to call them. Not all in that generation are bad I know, but a majority of them do have issues on how to act socially in a MMO.
I have to disagree with you on the CC bit. Yes, there is CC, no, not every class has it.
One really neat thing about WAR is the class dynamic. How every class needs to work together, to be efficient. No, you cannot have a whole group of shamans like WoW and win. You just can't.
The CC in WAR comes from the "ranged DPS" classes, who's role it is to support the tanks, protect the healers, and guard things in general. Therefore, they are equipped with a lot of immobilizing abilities, as well as physical knockbacks, in order to keep players away from the healers, and push them back into the battle.
The CC in WAR isn't as you would see in WoW, where you can completely cyclone chain a player because you suck. You actually have to use your abilities wisely, because if you don't, and your CD is up, your healer dies, and well... there goes the great team you had setup to protect your keep.
Again, it's a subtle balance in WAR, and once you really get it, every aspect is there, it's just spread out in a careful way to make everyone a necessity, and no one useless in any situation.
hmmm how about instance grinding in war ?
wow was fun for me till lvl 40 or so. i don't like raiding pve instances over and over again.
and i'm not a big fan of the bg's in wow.
however i still remember the good times in daoc (bg1 and the open rvr are some of my best mmorpg's memories of all time)
do you think i can have fun in war?
i don't mind slow combat
Game is mega fun! Buy it
Interesting review from Jon, although I'm guessing that degree of 'fence-sitting' is required to prevent accusations from some of the more paranoid forum users regarding favouritism or even accepting cash to promote some titles!! (I'm not suggesting or condoning either! :) ).
I, like many I would guess have preordered, and reading this has helped build the excitement while waiting for it to turn up on my doorstep - and I didn't have the benefit of beta to give me a taste of the game before now.
quite honestly, the community in any online game is what you make it... if you're looking for a bunch of spoiled brats, that IS what you'll see. but, there are quite a number of mature guilds in every mmo i've played.
stay away from the "silliness" in official forums, and play with your guild.
I couldn't agree with you more. This is the main reason I'm not bothering with WAR, or a lot of other MMO's now for that matter anymore. They're full of the young teens born in the late 1980's and early 1990's, or the Beavis and Butthead generation as I like to call them. Not all in that generation are bad I know, but a majority of them do have issues on how to act socially in a MMO.
this forum is full of teens. yet, you post here and your name is "IAmMmo"...
again, any game's community is what you make it and will probably be filled with what you're looking for.
the problem is that gaming companies want to make money with quick fixes vs. content.
the quick fix is to make the game to where you really do end up needing to do AT LEAST occasional teaming. then you get that social-interaction thing going on, that will get people to continue playing "after the game becomes boring and repetitive".
problem with that is you have a lot of people who already have friends and family and aren't really interested in making 100+ new *friends* in an online game JUST to be capable of playing thru all the content.
having said that... there are mature communities in pretty much every game. heck, there's all types in all games. i know this one guy who plays guild wars -- pvE exclusively, he never pvps.
the old timers guild is in most all games, they're a mature multi-game guild.
I don't think there was any fence-sitting at all. I was pretty clear in which direction I personally come down on. For my money, I'm a fan of the game. I play it on my off hours. I really like it. It IS, however, possible to really like the game, but also recognize that there are elements of it that some gamers aren't going to like. I'm not a big fan of presenting previews (people calling it a review are just... wrong) as a "you must share my opinion or you will die a horrible death".
Warhammer isn't a perfect game by any means. There's lots about it that isn't going to appeal to some people. Some people just aren't me.
Excellent. It's great to have a nice chunk of questions answered in one, very informative, and clear-headed article. Finally someone who sees the game for what it is ment to be, not a pretty pony ride in the fantasy forest, but a blood ridden war between destruction and order.
I have been following this game for a long time now, and have sifted through peoples posts about how good it is, how horrible it is, and just plain how neutral it is. It all really depends on your own personal experience, your own perception on the game.
People are waiting for that perfect game to release (myself included), but really, what is a perfect game? One without grind, one that will offer a constant flow of content (expansions?), a large amount of jobs to pick from, tons of skills, I mean your really only asking for -more- of what is already there, so it's not exactly anything new.
And gind is slowly buy surely disappearing from MMORPGS. Games now offer many quests that offer a large EXP reward. FFXI for example (played for 4 years) has just turned the table, and released a nice update to allow the EXP experience to be more fufilling, and quests no longer offer stingy items that end up on the AH for 1k gil anyway.
From what I read, WAR will be an exciting game. Its going to launch in a couple of hours, and the servers will begin to fill up. With more people on the servers, there will be more chatting. More people asking questions, and more people helping. It will be a race to the level cap, and the majority of players in that race will more than likely have everything to gripe about, for they probably flew by a nice chunk of content.
The first couple of months will be a little rocky, no doubt. Though this is the best time for the developers to sort out any bugs that they didn't catch in beta, improve on the balance of the game, improve on the fun-factor, and thus releasing patches, and expansions.
It certainly helped me make my decision even clearer, I for one will give it a try being a Warhammer fan.
Thanks again for the mature article :)
I echo AlienShirt, except the "Play Order." Destruction is more fun, come on you know its fun to be the bad guy.
I couldn't agree with you more. This is the main reason I'm not bothering with WAR, or a lot of other MMO's now for that matter anymore. They're full of the young teens born in the late 1980's and early 1990's, or the Beavis and Butthead generation as I like to call them. Not all in that generation are bad I know, but a majority of them do have issues on how to act socially in a MMO.
Yeah, I know I am over-generalizing here, but there is a lot of truth in what I am saying. It's weird how MMORPG "seem" to attract the same type of people in every game. There could have been mostly teenagers playing MMORPGs before WoW came out, but you'd never know by talking to them. I felt like I was around people just like me.
Jon a pretty good review and it is refreshing to see an opinion from your point of view. So many professional writers for game reviews these days over hype games.
I wrote my first blog on this site about warhammer and with some of the same points.
I would recommend the game to players that have never really got into the PVP thing. It is not as fast as WOW which to me is a good thing. Collision detection is a great thing.
During my time in many PVP games, nothing pisses me off more then seeing folks one shotted. That makes no sense to me. To be honest I do not think Mythic made this game to directly compete and kill WOW. The game is a blast and well worth my money.
For you game players that never tried PVP come on down and try it. In this game you probably like it. There are no overpowered classes. Some will disagree but, even the tanks can be dropped fairly quickly with focuse fire. If you intend to try a zerg fest against an organized group of players you will loose.
But thats what make Warhammer great is even solo you can click on your avatar and get into groups including guild groups. I have never been booted from a guild group. When your done you leave with your spoils and continue to do your own thing on the PVE side.
quite honestly, the community in any online game is what you make it... if you're looking for a bunch of spoiled brats, that IS what you'll see. but, there are quite a number of mature guilds in every mmo i've played.
stay away from the "silliness" in official forums, and play with your guild.
That isn't entirely true. That is true if the game doesn't have a general chat channel, that people can abuse and it is true if you pluck out your eyes, so you cannot see the naked elves and stupid emotes people do towards you to piss you off. I've had the same attitude since I started playing MMORPGs 7 years ago. I go in the game hoping for the best; I reach out to people, trying to get them involved in groups and good conversation; and I try to keep things mature.
Sure I can turn off general chat, emotes, and just ignore the immature members of the community. Sure I can join a guild earlier than I would normally, with a bunch of people I haven't even played with yet. However, my point is that before WoW brought milllions of players into the genre, I didn't have to turn off general chat or join a guild. Developers also didn't have to make people group to stop being anti-social, because there were plenty of people who liked to group. Don't try to tell me that grouping up for an objective and then leaving the group immediately after isn't the norm now, or I'd have to call you blind.
The genre is just different now and I have adapted, as it sounds like you have. But there comes a time when you wonder why you adapt to immaturity, instead of just leaving the genre completely. Especially when your a person who is approaching 30, is married, and has a child in 1st grade. How many people do you know in real life, that are adults, who say they hang out with 12-15 year olds? Well, that is essentially what you are doing in MMORPGs and it kind of makes me feel dirty, lol.
I'm buying WAR today, and I will do my best to ignore the bad crowd. Hopefully the gameplay is good enough to hook me, so that I can start reaching out to the mature crowd and join a guild.
Oh, for heaven's sake. The article was aptly titled as both a Preview (NOT a REVIEW) and was informative for prospective players. The author proceeded to do exactly what he intended to do: ask the sorts of questions any one of us might ask before buying this (or any) game.
I thought the article was just fine; it made it very clear to me (as a PvE-loving "carebear", I guess -- lol) that Warhammer is definitely not the game for me.
I'm impressed.
That's probably one of the most un-biased and truthful reviews/previews of a MMO that I've ever read.
WAR isn't the MMO for everyone. Look at the feature list on the box, if that looks appealing to you, you will probably enjoy this game.
If the feature list on the box doesn't appeal to you, don't buy the game.
And please don't write 198,237,192,739,812,713 threads on forums like MMORPG.com saying how much WAR sucks etc. etc.
Mythic themselves said they were not designing this game for everyone.
If you aren't included, quietly let this pass you by and wait for X game in peace.
Yuppers. If you look at that section, which the magic of Control - C lets me paste below:
One thing to note though… If you’re a novice at PvP, don’t jump into the Open RvR servers. There is plenty of RvR action on the Core servers, and you don’t run the risk of getting ganked again and again by some high level clown looking for some kicks at your expense. On the other hand, if you’re one of those players who loves the thrill of being in danger at all times and enjoy the realism of not being artificially separated and restricted by level, the Open RvR servers are probably right up your alley. Who needs those carebears anyway?
You will see that I also called PvPers clowns looking for some kicks at your expense. It was kinda a little play on the way that both sides tend to see the other and was meant to highlight the fact that there were two different server types that might suit each case better.
I agree, temrs like "carebear" and "ganker" get thrown around a lot. That's really the point :) In the context of the paragraph (or even the whole article), I wasn't putting anyone down. I'm not a PvPer and I thought I was clear on that. I just think that the emotion pent up in those two terms is worth poking a bit of good natured fun at. Not unprofessional at all.
I thought you using those terms was a bit out of order (he didnt just say order, did he) but seeing your resonse, I see your point. Never the less, those terms need to go away. Only noobs say noob anymore.
Only one thign to do I guess, go to an internet cafe or games store and ask someone there if you can try it for a bit.
I have to agree, a very well done article.
I don't intend to play War, just not my style. I like pvp, but Mythic's version of pvp just bores me to death, after you retake a town or castle for the nth time it becomes meaningless as far as I am concerned and there is nothing else to do at end game. The game is just too Wow like without the end game raiding.
I hope those that play enjoy it.
Damn! Now I have to buy it!!
Yeah, I know I am over-generalizing here, but there is a lot of truth in what I am saying. It's weird how MMORPG "seem" to attract the same type of people in every game. There could have been mostly teenagers playing MMORPGs before WoW came out, but you'd never know by talking to them. I felt like I was around people just like me.
TBH guys Im not finding that the WOW crowd has jumped ship, or they have grown up and not brought there childish antics with them TBH on my server the majority are 30 something brits who grew up on Warhammer and we are having a blast without a omfg i pwnt u anywhere to be seen.
Excellent viewpoint Jon! Like others have mentioned, its good you gave a "no bullcrap" review (if game magazines would do this, some game might not have been reduced to hard core players left). I share a wide view of your opinions on the game, Im a fan of PVP, but dont mind one bit if I get owned in combat so long as my team wins in the end :D
As to the age crowd, I have seen alot of twenty somthings on up into 50s playing (couple in my guild whove played several games with our crew for years) and I must say they are enjoying it, even though most of the older guys didnt like PVP, they sure do now. Community on my server seems to be fairly good so far (Ironfist) Hope the same for other servers.
A fair review for the most part. I will say i ran into a ton of bugs during my time in open beta, none of which were fixed before the early start hit. It also seems some races areas were "cleaner" than others. The chaos pve areas were horrible for stuck mobs,though i didnt run into many stuck mobs with elves or empire. Perhaps the various starting areas explain why some people run into very few bugs yet others found a ton.
My impression at the end of open beta was that it was yet another game being rushed out the door before it was ready. In my opinion its a less polished,buggier rehash of daoc with a warhammer skin tacked on.
You might enjoy the game if you havent played daoc and dont mind buggy, rushed products. If you enjoyed daoc and are johnsing so hard for pre toa RvR that you can overlook it being inferior to what they released 7 years ago, you may like WAR.
Summary:
WAR is the best MMORPG ever. Come join us.
try The Older Gamers you have to be over 25 to join the guild. They play in a lot of games - not just MMOs and have a large U.S, Australian and European membership.
Only issue i have with this artical is the carebear remark honestly. There is alot more reasons why people are going core then open and its more then just they want to be ganked. Figre the server types should of been touched on and why.
Pardon me
How to post a new thread ? Must I pay in this site in order to post ?
How was that a remark? I've explained the context of what was said and I stand by it. As a non-PvPer myself, I just don't see the harm.
Of course there are a lot of different reasons why people choose a ruleset server type. That just makes sense. I could have written an entire article on that topic alone. The purpose of that section wasn't to review the nitty-gritty of the server rulesets. The purpose of the article was actually to give a general overview of the game as a whole... The point I was pretty obviously trying to make was that there are different rulesets for different play styles.
Sorry but this is the most misleading post I have read about the state of WAR. Firstly it most certainly was not rushed out the door as evidenced by all the pushbacks. In fact WAR has released in a solid and functioning state with no game breaking bugs, which is remarkable by todays standards. Not only that but everything that Mythic said would be in at release is there, it's all in the game, unlike titles like AoC which released with only half a game, or titles like Vanguard which were frankly unplayable. What you seem not to understand is that MMO's are organic in their nature in that they grow and advance over time. I see a lot of people comparing this game to WoW which is inevitable I suppose, but they are comparing it to a WoW that is four years down the line with it's bug fixes and changes. Compare WAR now to WoW on it's release day four years ago and WAR comes out on top, WoW database bug and 2 hour server queues anyone?
For those posters with concerns about the community you need not worry, at least on the core servers, I can't speak for the open-RvR ones. WAR has a different dynamic to most MMO's in that for the most part Order & Destruction don't often bump into each other except for in scenarios and RvR areas, as well as a few PQ's that are shared because of their location. In PvP there is no trash talking, stupid emotes or dancing on your corpse etc. because frankly, the guy who killed you doesn't have time for that as there is usually some other guy from your side trying to cut him a new arsehole. What's more is that the two sides don't understand each other which is a throwback to DAoC and this is good as it helps to build realm pride. Among developers Mythic's communication and open ear to the playerbase is unprecidented and it shows, WAR is a brilliant game as it is now, four years from now it will be stupendous.
By far the best article i have read on this site.Fantastic job of protraying how the game really IS.
p.s. not saying there are bad articles here , just that this one was the best of the ones ive read
Excellently written.
2 points I would like to point out though:
* One can get stuck in grind, esp. in public quests, if there is noone around to do them. At launch this won't be a problem, but at early morning hours, or when people have advanced, you really got to "think" if you want to make that PQ or not. Killing 100 thieves goes fast with 20 players, but sucks with 3 or 4. And the heroics are impossible then. So you can not even finish a PQ right away. There is enough else to do o/c, but if feels frutrating to move on imho,
* You mention the group "problem" , Jon. A typical example (I am myself the same) of how grouping attitude has changed over the years. Nice to see you "admit" to it, because usually comments like those get bashed as "carebear, go away, shut up, etc etc" so many people don't mention it at all. I wonder though if the hardcore group player is a dying breed due to changes in the MMOs (we will never know since they "shout loudest"). I wonder even more if WAR is going to change it even further - jump in group, exit group, don't even say hi. That would be even worse than not grouping.
From the article: One thing to note though… If you’re a novice at PvP, don’t jump into the Open RvR servers. There is plenty of RvR action on the Core servers, and you don’t run the risk of getting ganked again and again by some high level clown looking for some kicks at your expense. On the other hand, if you’re one of those players who loves the thrill of being in danger at all times and enjoy the realism of not being artificially separated and restricted by level, the Open RvR servers are probably right up your alley. Who needs those carebears anyway?
That info is a bit misleading. If a player goes into 2 tiers lower then him, they turn into a chicken with 1 hitpoint which is actually pretty funny. So you won't be getting ganked by a tier 3 or 4 character while your in tier 1 (starting areas) so the Open RvR servers do not have the typical max level players ganking newbies like most MMOs with open pvp.
Nice article, the launch has been very smooth and the only issue (queue times on a few of the servers) has been swiftly rectified with free transfers to other servers. I have picked up WAR after playing in Open Beta and the Preview Weekends and have been playing a Chaos Chosen (tank class). I started a toon on Badlands server during the Collectors Edition headstart but now that server has crazy queue times so they cloned toons from the 5 most popular servers onto new servers for free. This allows you to play on a server with no queue times if you'd like which was a very nice gesture from Mythic. I enjoy the game so far and look forward to doing RVR in the higher tiers. I have enjoyed doing the Public Quests as well, I have won a few green loot bags which was nice. I like how you get a bonus to your roll in the next PQ if you do not win any loot the first time. Each time you do the PQ and do not win loot, your bonus keeps going up. Your guaranteed to get a bag eventually which is nice. I have never been a big PVPer when playing MMOs but I am hooked on WAR, I enjoy the scenarios and I thought maybe as a tank I Would never get to kill anyone, only absorb damage. I am happy to see I was wrong and do get to partake in the killing as well.
I am playing on the Mordheim server, anyone else playing on that server?
Cant belive I have the same playstyle as Jon Wood :)
I have never grouped so much or so easily in any other game, even in rvr scenarios I have a kind of a mate healer who I look out for when we get together, it is an easy fun game.
nice review and well worth the read.
Nice post.
Re Jon's article, it seems a standard review, he reported what he saw and thought, but the adulation being displayed for what he wrote seems a bit over the top. Sycophants.
99% true. The game is presented exactly as you said and advertised by EA Mythic. So far, I am indeed getting my money's worth. Bugs are to be expected but the bugs that I have seen are quite insignificant and easily addressed.
WAR is not "Ground Breaking" but it is certainly not boring; It combines the necessary elements to make the game interesting and fun. As for graphics and art, I agree with you that people are really confusing modernity with art style.
Oh 1% that I don't agree with is to play Order, heh heh, but then again ... DO play order, we of the destruction need people to kill.
This guy in a moron sounds like someone has not played..THIS GAME IS THE SHIT GO OUT AND BUY IT I SWEAR ITS NOT A WASTE OF MONEY THIS IS THE NEW WOW ALOT OF POEPLE HAVE LEFT WOW FOR WARJHAMMER as for john hey man get off your ass go out side see the light and buy the game if u are a turnn mmo player u will love this game this is a sure thing and this game will go places
Thanks for the great article but I still think this one is a pass for me .. maybe in a month or 2 OK.
The one comment I wanted to make was the title. "WAR, What is it good for?"
All I could think of after reading that was the 80's band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. "WAR, What is it good for ... Absolutely nothing .. Say it again." After reading the article I can say that that is not the case. But thanks for the memmories I may have to go and listen to a little Frankie a bit later today.
Man am I old ... SIGH
Yeah, I know I am over-generalizing here, but there is a lot of truth in what I am saying. It's weird how MMORPG "seem" to attract the same type of people in every game. There could have been mostly teenagers playing MMORPGs before WoW came out, but you'd never know by talking to them. I felt like I was around people just like me.
TBH guys Im not finding that the WOW crowd has jumped ship, or they have grown up and not brought there childish antics with them TBH on my server the majority are 30 something brits who grew up on Warhammer and we are having a blast without a omfg i pwnt u anywhere to be seen.
After playing all day yesterday, I think I got lucky too. I didn't run across any people acting immature and everyone had normal sounding names. I think I misjudged how the community in this game would turn out. People aren't very talkative, but they do tend to help you out when in need.
*pats knightaudit on the back* don't worry, many here are :D
Dead on review. Thank you!
/sign
Yepp SWG did have a great community, UO hade the same. But as you say, since WoW launch or SWG (messed up by $OE) died. I havent seen any MMORPG:s that has a good community.
quite honestly, the community in any online game is what you make it... if you're looking for a bunch of spoiled brats, that IS what you'll see. but, there are quite a number of mature guilds in every mmo i've played.
stay away from the "silliness" in official forums, and play with your guild.
Well, I had a run-in last night with a few "wonderful people" who decided to come into a chapter 2 PQ in the Dark Elf area (the one with the 75 Spites, etc...)
We were doing just fine as a group, had to work together - especially on Part II and III of the PQ - and the rewards were evenly spread all around.
Out of nowhwere comes these 3 or 4 players, at least 4 levels higher than any of us, with glowing weapons... they're 2-3 shotting everything, a sorceress was AOE'ing multiple targets.. Basically, they were sapping all our influence... instead of 60-90 per kill on average, I was getting 20 if I was lucky. One person mentioned how since they showed up they'd managed to get close enough to even *hit* maybe 4.
They showed up half-way through a PQ and managed to pull the top 3 spots. And then did so for the next PQ as well. Someone said something, and one of them made a typically ass-hat "loln00b lrn2ply kthx" type comment.
Then they vanished.
I'm not sure what happened... I didn't see them run out, didn't see them port out... they just disappeared, all at once. Wondering if maybe a GM caught on to it and decided to remove them from the area. They were clearly too high/powerful to be farming influence in that spot.
So yeah, idiots have already taken up residence in WAR. Not like I'm surprised though.
/sign
Yepp SWG did have a great community, UO hade the same. But as you say, since WoW launch or SWG (messed up by $OE) died. I havent seen any MMORPG:s that has a good community.
Speak on it people! Wow, being the McDonald's of MMOs, has severely diminished the quality of player you get in today's mmo because when you can do everything solo and there's no penalty for being a jerk like not being able to group easily you get the asshat convention that so many of us older players despise. ESPECIALLY when they revel in their asshattedness like when they're higher lvl, twinked and ganking you after you just fought some mob and declaring you a "n00b" and themselves "l33t". R34d a b00k.
BTW coh has a really nice community, very friendly and helpful.
Mr. Wood makes some good points about this game.
The fact is, this is not a deep game like say EQ2 Vanguard or LOTRO where you have alot of aspects to the game that are not combat based. Such as housing, in depth crafting, serious roleplaying possibilities (playable instruments, faction based costume gear etc..). I know in EQ2, alot of the players that are left don't even participate in any combat at all, but just hang out in the taverns or travel around Norrath RPing with folks. This is not a game you are going to get lost in for hours wandering through pretty forests RPing with the local elves without fighting anything.
However, what WAR is, is a very good RVR/PVP game with some good PVE questing elements. It is first and foremost a combat game, and that's really about all it is. It does this very well. I'm having a grand ol time of it, when I get sick of button mashing and pwnin n00bs, I can always hop back over to LOTRO for some good ol fantasy RPing and immersion.
War is a niche game, as it is totally focused on one aspect of what we traditionaly think of MMORPGs, at least how they were before WoW. This niche however seems to be the biggest niche out there, which is hardcore combat based pvp.
Thank you, Jon. I love your style.
Interesting to reads Jon's points on the PVP in WAR , I have never ever enjoyed PVP in any game until now that is. ! The Scenario's and Open RVR areas are a brilliant idea and if like me me you've always been scared of PVP well now their is no need as with WAR it gradually draws you in and before you know it your having a blast !
At first I was getting killed alot but a few Renown points and a trip to the renown gear seller started to change all that, I actually started to hold my own and even started getting a few solo Kills.
I have to say the first time I saw Destruction players actually running away from my Swordmasters onslaught was amazing !!
anyway Jon thanks for the great read and I think most of your points were spot on the mark !
right off to go find a better Sword !!
Great review. I love your approach.
I am having a blast with this game! I have been it since late beta and early head starts.
I knew RvR would be great but the three total shockers for me about this game are:
1. PvE is very well done!
Not to LOTRO level of depth, but as good as if not better than WoW. As far as questing goes though, I haven't seen much tight 6 man content grouping mechanics yet. But all other PvE aspects and content are very good, this was my big shocker.
2. PQ's are fun and bring something new to the mmo scene!
They are great from many perspectives, and yes they do have some inherent flaws, some of which can be worked out. Doing PQ's and how they work them into the game gives the game great fun and additional addiction factor.
3. Tome of Knowledge (Tok)
This may be a hit or miss for some but to me it is a great addition to the mmo world (yes LOTRO sort of did it first and WoW is sort of copying it). It adds a lot of different types of content to the game, not to mention the depth and ties to PvE and lore it helps build on to. Very well done and at times I find myself reading the ToK, my unlocks, and fun titles I have gained.
I don't need to mention the RvR and scenarios, they were the feature attraction and have lived up to it.
This game so far offers a great deal of FUN things to do that can be done in short time blocks. I think this will be one of its greatest "features".
Enjoy!
First I want to really say that I enjoyed the article. I'm in the catagory that's having fun and having a hard time turning the game off when it's time to go to bed... and the fun thing is that it's not becuase I'll 'ruin' the group if I leave or let some one down or anything, it's just becuase I don't want the fun times to stop.
that said, one thing in your article... I'm confused... I mean I think perhaps I 'get' you on a certain level but you said:
"...you might to find that WAR feels a bit “cartoony” and “WoW-like”. -Jon wood.
now, other than the odd sentance construction, which leads me to believe that perhaps you had re-written that sentance and perhaps it's not saying what I think it means at all... but if I get the 'gist' of it, your saying that the Styling looks a lot like WoW.
so, on the level that they both have green Orcs, ... ok, on the level that they both use Pixels to show a picture, ya, ok, I get that too... but on the level that when I played WoW I went "oh my, this is different." I have to disagree.
so, since we agreed on so many things in your article, I thought I'd 'toss' this out there and see if it makes sense.
If you were to lump, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Asherons Call, and oh lets just say Earth and Beyond just for some flavor into one graphic styling for an MMO, and World of WarCraft, into another, into which group would you say that Warhammer Online more closely fits?
If you didn't say the first group, then seriously, I just gotta say "you, be crazy mon!" one of the things that I liked the most about the grafics of this game was the fact that I felt that they made a concentrated effort to stay away from the 'WAY cartoony' look of WoW, and went back to the 'MMO Standard,' shall we say of the old school days, with the requisite fresh coat of paint of course, to make it work in today's world of grafical wonders.
I just had to put that out there, becaus I really liked how the graphics were done in the game, and one of the biggest 'reliefs' was that, "oh thank goodness they didn't go with the 'WoW' style."
and that my friend, is my 2 Cents.
-zWolf out.
(Wade Hone)
I couldn't agree with you more. This is the main reason I'm not bothering with WAR, or a lot of other MMO's now for that matter anymore. They're full of the young teens born in the late 1980's and early 1990's, or the Beavis and Butthead generation as I like to call them. Not all in that generation are bad I know, but a majority of them do have issues on how to act socially in a MMO.
Going out on a limb here, but I'm gonna bet that there's allot more to your 'withdrawl' from MMO's, perhaps life is getting more involved for you now that the 'salad years' of the old MMO's have gone? Sure, tiny boppers might add to the distaste, but for serious gamers, it's really not hard to find one of those "...small pockets of mature people,..." and get the same enjoyment that you got out of games back in the day.
Ok, had someone ask me what were my thoughts on Warhammer Online. Your now asking why listen to Jenner, when there is so many posters out there. Well, there is no real reason to listen to me, I do have 11 years of MMORPG experience and I will give an unbiased opinon the best I can (Yes, this coming from someone that believes The Death star was nothing more then an orphanage, only going where the Rebels caused death to save the children and all it's weapons were purely defensive).
Back to Warhammer Online. Anyone who has played wow will be fairly comfortable with Warhammer, in a alot of ways it is a Wow clone, but there is Several Major Differences. While you have your questing system in the game, It is geared for pvp and each Area (an area is Designed for every 10 levels) has it's own battleground, it's own Realm Vs Realm Area (you do not have to do either). When first entering the Battle ground, you will find that your Stats are bumped up to 3 levels below the area max (8, 18, I have not seen past that yet) While you do not have the specials or armor for that level, you can compete and was getting killing blows with a level 1 toon. The Battleground do give Experience points, so if you do not want to quest and just pvp, that path is open to you. The Battleground gives what is called renown and you can get armor and weapons with it (alot like the rep system in wow, except you can get pieces for your level starting at 1-11). Each area has what they call an Open Scenerio, it is like a open dungeon, The ones I have encountered has 3 waves, a normal mob for that area wave, easy to solo, a Champion Phase (they are kinda like trash mobs in an instance designed for your level in WOW, really hard to solo, but can be done) and a Hero Phase that sometimes has Champions Mixed in (Best way to describe a Hero is imagine having to fight Drake with only 8 60's) Depending on how hard the OC is, there are a Number of Loot at the end, the game ranks you on damage or healing you done during the 3 phases and depending where you place, you get a bonus to your roll of 1-999, First place gets a great loot bag, then there is bags below it. Now what happens if I do not win a prize. Well first you get a section type rep and if you stay and do it again, you get an additional bonus to your roll the next round called a persistence bonus. Graphicly it is a Beautiful game, I have been running it fine with a Amd 64x2 5800+ processor, 3+ gigs of DDR 3 ram and a nvidia 8600 GTS sli graphics card.
Overall I have not been this excited about a game since I saw the complexity of the Starwars Galaxies Crafting system at Launch. I am ultimately a Crafter first in MMORPG's and while WAR does not have a very good crafting system from what I have seen so far, The PVP/RvR systems has gotten me excited.
This is what I posted on my 2 wow guild forums on what I felt about the game.
WARNING!!!!!!
I fear that Mackdawg19 is an agent of Big Brother. oh man... oh MAN don't get me started on the idiotic nit picking requests for censorship and 'Politicaly Correct' word usage that seem to be cropping up here.
Mackdawg19, Go read 1984, (by Orwell here's a link) think about if you REALLY want the kind of Censorship you are requesting, and then hopefully mature a little bit.
You sound resonably intelligent, I'm just hoping that your young and havn't really thought out what your asking as far as censoring authors and curtailing their creative freedom. if you HAVE thought about it, and you really want to live in a world where words like 'fanboi' 'carebare' and 'ganker' are eliminated, you have to think of the hundreds and hundreds of words that would come before those ones to get 'edited' out of usage, and then who is making the decision on what is 'appropriate' and what's not? every one like you? do we all get to pick our lists of 'what offends?'
PLEASE don't go down that road. your asking an EDITOR to EDIT the Flavor right out of his writing style.
Grrrrrrrrraouuughrrrrr, I... I.. it's just, oh man. these kinds of things upset me.
BE FOR MORE FREEDOM OF SPEACH, man, not more Censorship and closed minded thinking.
and if you absolutly must get on some sort of 'book burning band wagon' then at least pick something to
CENSORthat is at least a TAD more Socialy upsetting, like things that make light of the Holocaust, or, perhaps true hate speach etc, but.. but to chose your banner to be the elimination of the word "carebare" from an editorial having to do with MMORPG's... it's LUDICRIS!I'll send this as a PM because I really want you to read it man, like I said, you seem smart, but the road you are starting to walk down is slippery, and the end of it is not the end that a sane, game playing fun loving, word reading man would want to end up in.
Wade Hone -out.
Great review Jon! You covered all the issues I look at when deciding if I should play a game. I don't see that very often and I appreciate the time you took to write that up.
I look forward to reading your articles in the future!
Cheers.
Hello! Jon I would like to thank you for giving an honest to God, GREAT Preview of this game. When i first looked at WAR I feared it might turn into a trivial "Cookie Cutter" MMO(massive Multi-Player Online Game) as my friends and I call it, But you showed me it may just be the game too bring me back.
From when i started MMO's almost 10 years ago with RuneScape's first beta test, I have seen great communities, and bad communities all over the place. From all of the comment people have left it seems that WAR is a relatively great community game. And from your review with common terms as "Care bears" heh it was easy too read and made me chuckle. ;). So Jon Great review I hope that WAR is everything you listed it would be for a player as my self...
And if your your wondering, I am a player who likes PvE, but loves PvP. I hate how some games show One-shot kills, because honestly without out beheading or a sniper rifle.. That's just not logical ;).
I have seen the good and the bad of PvP, from the ingenious system of areas where fighting risks everything you have on you, and where other times you just gain reputation. the thing that always lacked was a long and expansive fight that took some sort of skill over just luck, and binding one player immobile while you "thrash" him. So this long fight with more HP, seems to fit me just right. I also like how someone noted that you can level by fighting peopel instead of just questing and doing PvE. That my friends is Genius.
One last note to all of the haters of this post. Those whom found his word usage unprofessional or found him to have missed things. Well No ones perfect for one, And as many of you pointed out most gamers now Range as young as 12. So why should he write a review with terms that are boring and rather annoying, Instead of generalizing and adapting him self as a writer and person to what he thinks is best. Dissing him as a writer is stupid because it's HIS Preview not Yours! So shut it! If your a Nay-Sayer go somewhere else ;).
Sincerely,
Falleus Rowe