Today I unearthed the Tome of Knowledge and let me tell you, it was an incredible discovery. I've been reading blogs for months now gaining small bits of information about WAR, just to see if I would really be interested in it. I've learned about all the different careers, the different races and even the different ways RvR will be implemented in the game. But nothing compares to what this small object can do to entice people to play WAR.
The Tome of Knowledge in short keeps track of EVERYTHING. Everything you click, every mob you kill, how many times you die, how many times you've used a spell, and much, much, more. It is a repository of all knowledge your character gains throughout the game. This knowledge is displayed as flavor enriched text which helps tell the story of your character in the Age of Reckoning, which is the backdrop for the game.
I view the concept as a hybrid of different ideas, like the collection quests in EQ2, the title system in Lotro and even the achievement rewards from Microsoft's Xbox live system. When you unlock a certain piece of knowledge, you'll gain some extra experience for the discovery and then the book may provide you with clues to other objectives that will help you earn even more experience or point you in the direction of more unlock-able items.
It's a game in and of itself.
I can see myself becoming obsessed with unlocking tons of stuff. But as you do it, you learn not only about your character's background history thru the flavored text, but also how you play the game. It keeps track of all the things you do with the keyboard, how you click, and how you move your character and you can open up achievements or titles just from that alone. This to me is the most innovative part of WAR and I'm just now hearing about it? This is a gem of an idea and more people should know about it. lol
Well, I'm just glad I discovered it today and will do all I can to get as much information to my readers about this awesome aspect of WAR.
cant wait to try it out :)
ReplyDeleteYa know, I haven't had the ToK "Ah ha!" moment yet. I keep waiting for it, but it hasn't hit me.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because Closed Beta wipes my characters so frequently, and I don't feel any real attachment to them yet. I suspect when the game goes live, I'll appreciate the ToK more in terms of character tracking.
I do like the way it keeps track of quests, Renown status, etc.
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ReplyDeleteCheck out #4 of Chaos Cast, they interviewed Carrie Gouskos (Producer of the Tome of Knowledge) of Mythic Entertainment.
ReplyDeleteVery insightful. I was a big fan of the collection quests of EQ2 and I thought that the Title system in Lotro, for the short time I was there, was pretty fun, but kind of grindy.
I think this will provide a different experience for most people. I'm also and Xbox 360 player and have slowly turned into an achievement junkie so this works right in with my addictions.