This is where I tell you what I really liked about the WAR since getting to finally play it over the Preview weekend, there is just one hitch. All the great things I wanted to say, have been echoed all over the blog-o-sphere today, so anything I said at this point would be anticlimactic. So I thought I would talk about things others haven't spoken about.
QUESTING:
WAR has a built in quest helper. Every time you collect a quest, a circle will appear on your map, highlighting the area in which that quest can be completed. If you forget what circled are is for what quest, all you do is place your cursor over that area on the map and it tells you all the information you need to know. This is awesome. No need to get an additional MOD to help with quests.
Another great thing, is that quest items don't take up space in your inventory. There is a separate tab area in your bag that holds all the current quest items, so your not forced to destroy loot you plan to sell just so you can complete a quest. A very nice simple feature that can make a large difference to any one's game.
Some of the quests you can do correspond directly to the world's RvR. There was a quest in Tier 2, where you had to kill 5 players. I grabbed it, then head into one of the many open RvR areas, join a warband, kill the 5 I needed and turn in the quest. I actually got half a level doing just by doing that and nothing else because it was a repeatable quest which there are several of in WAR. There are also quests that have to capture objectives or complete senarios, which are instanced RvR similar to WoW's Battlegrounds. It wasn't over powering and no one career had an advantage over another, except the over powered Bright Wizard which I hope get the nerf bat before release.
As a bonus for completing these types of quests you not only get experience towards PvE leveling but also towards PvP or as its referred to in WAR as your Renown Rank. This gets you renown points, which you can spend on tactics at level 10 and gives you the ability to purchase renown ranked gear, which is far superior to most quest items you will get. Again, you can level up your character doing things other than questing. There are many options to leveling your character which makes WAR a bit more versitile than WoW.
Character Models:
Many have complained that there is a lack of options when creating your character's looks. I think this is on purpose. Your suppose to be fighting in a war and as such, most armies tend to look a like. There is no room for individuality. Which is why all of the renown rank armor looks the same with the ability to dye it the color you want. Which is also a throw back from the days of the Warhammer table top game. Who didn't spend hours painting their greenskin armies? I don't think of this as a poor feature but as one that represents the heart of the Warhammer mythology. Besides, once it's painted it looks really great.
Total Experience:
The Preview weekend was awesome. I spent most of it playing a Chaos Chosen or in gaming terms your basic MMO Tank. It was fun. There were some issues, as many have discussed already, concerning Mob/Pet pathing , but nothing that made me want to stop playing or run back to WoW.
I would say that it ran better than AoC did at Launch and this isn't even the final version. I did crash to desk top a few times, but nothing that made me write off the game as flawed and terrible. It was a beta, so I don't expect it to be perfect. As you have read in my blogs, I won't criticize till the game is on the shelf waiting for me to buy it. Then it better be 98% working. I'm use to the fact that most games come out incomplete, so I'm not expecting it to be 100% and if they need to release a patch on day one to stabilize things, I'm ok with that. As long as they fix the issues and don't release a patch every 10 hours I'll be good to go.
I can see myself playing this game for a very long time. I don't think it will bore me as LOTRO or CoH did. This game has potential and I'm sure that the guys at Mythic have lots more in store once the game gets out the door.
On that note, I will post a few more snap shots I took this morning at 4am. I woke up and decided to try my hand at the Disciple of Khane. Enjoy!
Oh, forgot to add one final thing. Bags! You don't have to buy larger bags. As you level up, the game automatically gives you more bag space. I don't know when or at what levels you get the space increase I just know that at level 10 I had tons of room.
In the sort of game that WAR aspires to be, I think that the design philosophy for character models was to make each readily identifiable as members of their resopective classs, and that's why there seem to be relatively few options for character customization. Personally, I can live with that as long as I get options that look cool.
ReplyDeleteAoC ran great for me at launch and if WAR runs just as well I will be very pleased.
Exactly! All members of any military organization need to look similar so you can pick out which branch they belong too. I think thats a great concept, and it ties in to the lore of WAR. Besides, you can customize with trophies and talismans, as long as they are visual on the character models. I didn't see any of that while playing, but I only had one trophy, which was an Axe but I never saw it on my characters belt.
ReplyDeleteWhen I refer to the game playing better than AOC I mean I had more fun and there wasn't any game bugs that kept me from playing. I had issues with AoC and bugs, especially the demologist which had a pet that did nothing. It was just there as a scenery element to the game. I thought that was stupid. You also had to waste a spell to make the pet fit into most places without obstructing your view.