SLUniverse Forums

Cristiano · 09-21-2008, 11:04 PM

I am going to start a thread specifcally about Warhammer Age of Reckoning (WAR), since most of the discussion right now is buried in other threads.

I just bought the game on Friday, and I've never played any of the games in the series and did not play the tabletop version either. I came to WAR with only my expectations from other games. I've spent the past several years playing WoW on and off, and trying nearly every other game that has come out to find another MMO that would keep my interest.

I really wanted to like EQ2, but the zoning kills it for me. Vanguard was amazing in some ways, but it failed on a technical level, and they dumbed it down too much to remain complelling. I resisted Conan, tried Pirates of the Burning Sea, Lord of the Rings Online, and also D&D Online. I went back to City of Heroes for a nanosecond, and then gave up hope I would find another game I liked as much as WoW (which I had become bored with).

In the two days that I have been playing WAR, after an initial period where I only noticed its similarities to WoW, I have had the most fun with an MMO since the beta of WoW. While WAR is every bit as polished as WoW and has borrowed heavily from its game mechanics, it is very much its own game already.

The three areas it stands apart so far to me is the RVR combat (WAR's version of PVP), Public Quests (PQs), and the achievements system. RVR combat is incredibly fun. I can't really explain it, but I am not a fan of PVP and I enjoy it and have done well in it. I've only done one RVR scenario, though I have retried the same one 3 or 4 times so far and have more fun each time.

Achievements are a small but very interesting part of WAR. I am already a huge fan of achievements coming from an XBOX 360 background. WAR adapts them to the MMO format in a very cool way. As you do certain things, unlock certain things, find certain things, whatever, you sometimes get an achievement - which comes with some XP and some other type of reward. The reward may be small, like a new title for your character to choose from, but it is still fun. As Merovigan mentioned in another thread, I got an achievement for dying 10 times and a title to go with it (I think it is The Pincushion or something like that. Achievements just add a little extra incentive to do things, and a sense of acocmplishment.

Finally, Public Quests are the most interesting part to me so far. They are basically a spontaenous timed quest that is happening in a particular area that you can take part in. You get experience and influence for your role in the quests. I tried one that was a three part quest involving killing rifleman, opening graves, and then killing a gigantic demon thing. Based upon how you do, you also win prizes. As someone who does not like to party up generally, this spontaneous group activity is a lot of fun without the hassle for me.

Anyway, this is long - but in the midst of my supreme disappointment about Spore, it is nice to have a game surprise me in a good way.

My character is a Chaos Magus and I am on the Ostermark server - name Dimitrios:

Mythic Entertainment | Warhammer Realm War

Edav Nomad · 09-22-2008, 12:37 AM

The Public Quests is the thing that I like the most about the game. I haven't tried the RvR yet in the retail version mainly because I've been having more fun in the PQs. I did try RvR a few times in beta and did enjoy it but not as much as the PQs.

At first it looks like just another WoW clone, but the more I've played it shows its differences and just has a different feel to it than WoW does.

The Tome of Knowledge is great as it is a multi-purpose reference tool that has a lot of info about the game world that gets unlocked over time as you do things.

Tome of Knowledge

My WAR characters:
Vandaul - Chaos Marauder - Ostermark server
Dargothe - Chaos Chosen - Ostermark server
Cistoris - Empire Witch Hunter - Tor Elyr Server

Ikte Tones · 09-22-2008, 09:58 AM

Absolutely loving this game at the minute, never finding myself without anything to do be it PQ's, quests, exploring or RvR. My main is currently a Dwarf Rune Priest on the Karak-Hirn Server (EU).

I was in a bit of a slump MMO wise before this launched, couldn't settle into anything, but I think this will be one I can play for a good long while!

Beau Perkins · 09-22-2008, 10:07 AM

You people are going to make me go broke! Stop talking about good games. I spent my new game budget for the month already. I have to wait to get this

Ikte Tones · 09-22-2008, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beau Perkins

You people are going to make me go broke! Stop talking about good games. I spent my new game budget for the month already. I have to wait to get this

I know how that feels, was a toss up between this and The Force Unleashed for me this month...

Force Unleashed is the first game I'm buying next month!

Cristiano · 09-22-2008, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beau Perkins

You people are going to make me go broke! Stop talking about good games. I spent my new game budget for the month already. I have to wait to get this

* gloat gloat gloat *

Vertigo Paris · 09-22-2008, 10:31 AM

Okay so hopefully this will make up for Spore, at least for me. Although I spent my allowance for this payperiod, have to wait until next. Darnit!

Dnate Mars · 09-22-2008, 11:05 AM

I must resist!

Vertigo Paris · 09-22-2008, 11:06 AM

You need to move first, buddy!

Dnate Mars · 09-22-2008, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vertigo Paris

You need to move first, buddy!

I am working on it!

But then what will stop me?

Vertigo Paris · 09-22-2008, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dnate Mars

I am working on it!

But then what will stop me?

Me! mwhahah!

Merovigan · 09-22-2008, 12:01 PM

FYI - Merovigan on Ostermark in case anyone wants to send me money or curses.

Lianne Marten · 09-22-2008, 07:49 PM

Nerisa on Ulthuan. Chaos Magus.

Edav Nomad · 09-22-2008, 10:25 PM

Mythic is already putting the beat down on Gold Farmers since 400 have already been banned:

I hate gold sellers/spammers. No, that’s not strong enough, let me try again. I HATE GOLD SELLERS WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. Ah, that’s better. Now, why do I hate them you may ask? I hate them for a number of reasons, most of which have been detailed in various interviews I’ve done over the years. And now that they have taken their obnoxiousness to new levels with gold service spamming, I HATE GOLD SPAMMERS EVEN MORE NOW THAN EVER BEFORE. For years, lowlifes like IGE have told us, in defense of their behavior, that they a) are just providing a service; b) don’t interfere with players enjoyment of the game. Well, I can’t argue with (a), they are providing a service, just like maggots I suppose but I’ve always argued that (b) is totally and complete BS. Now, those old arguments aside, I can’t see how this new generation of pond scum (new and improved, with 25% more scummy action!) can argue that their constant spamming of chat channels doesn’t interfere with players enjoyment of the game (I’m waiting for the whole “Oh, you can always just turn off chat” argument). I hated seeing their messages when I played WoW or any other MMO and I’ve been waiting for the day that WAR launched so I could have the absolute pleasure of instituting policies to make their lives more difficult so we could drive them out of WAR.

A banning we will go, a banning we will go. Heave ho off the servers yo, a banning we will go! « Online Games Are a Niche Market

Lianne Marten · 09-22-2008, 11:30 PM

The rest of my guild and I got our first gold spam last night, so that's good to hear

Edav Nomad · 09-23-2008, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lianne Marten

The rest of my guild and I got our first gold spam last night, so that's good to hear

I was just playing WAR and about 30 minutes ago the pop-up came on and it said there were six dozen bans.

Jackal Ennui · 09-26-2008, 06:11 AM

Been playing WAR for a week now, and I've been quite positively surprised by it! I decided to give it a try as a few friends from WoW were migrating over, and it's really been a blast so far. I'm playing a witch elf - got her to level 17 last night - and it's so fun to wtfpwn people in PVP. A good change from my WoW druid.

Stuff I like:

- outstanding environmental graphics
- no waiting for the char to drink / eat, all classes have an "action point" mechanic (like rogue energy in WoW), and health and AP regenerate pretty fast out of combat.
- public quests! It's like instancing without the hassle of finding a group
- open groups, so convenient!
- destruction is truly evil
- what I've seen of open pvp (taking keeps and other objectives) seems really fun, the map tracks recent pvp encounters so you see where the skirmirshes are; and there's objectives all over the map so it's not a ghost town like Halaa
- Tome of Knowledge; which is a big book which tracks everything one's char has ever done, open quests, achievement, the lore etc.
- the standard UI is pretty good, you can see it in the left screenshot (I just enabled all 4 action bars instead of one) - no addons

Stuff I don't like:

- looooooong scenario (BG) queues .. like, an hour or more. I hope this will get better with higher server pop
- some really cheesy mob graphics (Friderax boss mob in Sacellum for instance .. not very impressive)
- a few annoying combat bugs
- everyone looks the same .. my char has picked up quite a few armor upgrades over the last ten levels and without exception, her body armor had the same friggin model every. single. time.
- bad localisation, half the stuff is in english, has cut off text or is plain unintelligible

Screenshots .. who doesn't like screenshots! A bit dark, sorry for that. (Yes, the left one is a couple of outhouses next to a small village!)

Dancien Graves · 09-26-2008, 09:50 AM

Will probably grab this near the 1st. So far I am looking at a Dwarf Engineer, Black Orc, Squig Herder and maybe one of the chosen. Not sure yet

Edav Nomad · 09-26-2008, 10:26 PM

Here is an interesting comparison of Warhammer Online to World of Warcraft from Warhammer Online senior designer Josh Drescher:

"When we say we're not competing with World of Warcraft we really do mean that. ... World of Warcraft is basically The Beatles, and if you set out to try and be The Beatles, you wind up as The Monkees. So, we really do just try and be a different

09-22-2008, 12:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
Edav Nomad King Edav I Nomadicstan or bust!! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: L.A. (Lower Alabama) Posts: 2,569 SL Join Date: June 12, 2003 XBOX Leaderboard: 3^rd My Mood:	The Public Quests is the thing that I like the most about the game. I haven't tried the RvR yet in the retail version mainly because I've been having more fun in the PQs. I did try RvR a few times in beta and did enjoy it but not as much as the PQs. At first it looks like just another WoW clone, but the more I've played it shows its differences and just has a different feel to it than WoW does. The Tome of Knowledge is great as it is a multi-purpose reference tool that has a lot of info about the game world that gets unlocked over time as you do things. Tome of Knowledge My WAR characters: Vandaul - Chaos Marauder - Ostermark server Dargothe - Chaos Chosen - Ostermark server Cistoris - Empire Witch Hunter - Tor Elyr Server __________________ "Please do not nuzzle the instrument of my vengeance." - Rok'tar

09-22-2008, 10:07 AM	#4 (permalink)
Beau Perkins Is a sickly peach color I'm a heretical Jew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: CT Posts: 5,895 SL Join Date: 12/24/2003 My Mood:	You people are going to make me go broke! Stop talking about good games. I spent my new game budget for the month already. I have to wait to get this __________________ Living is easy with eyes closed Misunderstanding all you see It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out It doesn't matter much to me -John Lennon.

09-22-2008, 10:31 AM	#7 (permalink)
Vertigo Paris The Chaotic RadioRadio DJ Now Hiring Minions Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Displaced Bostonian living in hotter than Hades Texas! Posts: 3,944 SL Join Date: 11/22/2006 Blog Entries: 1 XBOX Leaderboard: 22^nd SLShopper Ads: 2 My Mood:	Okay so hopefully this will make up for Spore, at least for me. Although I spent my allowance for this payperiod, have to wait until next. Darnit! __________________ SLU Clubhouse - Open 24/7 Vist at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tan/138/25/25 All human actions have one or more of these 7 causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire. ~Aristotle RadioRadio: Stupid Name, Great Music! DJ Vertigo Paris Friday 6 - 9 pm SLT

09-22-2008, 12:01 PM	#12 (permalink)
Merovigan Hard-Hitting Cornerback who doesn't like to see people baited into getting banned Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 2,045 Blog Entries: 6 My Mood: Awards: 1	FYI - Merovigan on Ostermark in case anyone wants to send me money or curses. __________________ I don't hate libertarians, and I pity the fool who does! Oh yeah, bitch, I broke out the Mr. T reference!

09-22-2008, 07:49 PM	#13 (permalink)
Lianne Marten Cheese Baron It's a brand new day, the sun is high. Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: All the birds are singing that you're gonna die. Posts: 841 SL Join Date: 5/6/2004 My Mood:	Nerisa on Ulthuan. Chaos Magus. __________________ I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that even though I do not know you, even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you... I love you. With all my heart, I love you. -Valerie

09-22-2008, 09:58 AM	#3 (permalink)
Ikte Tones Is not hiding anymore Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: UK Posts: 166 SL Join Date: 12/01/06 XBOX Leaderboard: 10^th My Mood:	Absolutely loving this game at the minute, never finding myself without anything to do be it PQ's, quests, exploring or RvR. My main is currently a Dwarf Rune Priest on the Karak-Hirn Server (EU). I was in a bit of a slump MMO wise before this launched, couldn't settle into anything, but I think this will be one I can play for a good long while!

09-22-2008, 11:06 AM	#9 (permalink)
Vertigo Paris The Chaotic RadioRadio DJ Now Hiring Minions Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Displaced Bostonian living in hotter than Hades Texas! Posts: 3,944 SL Join Date: 11/22/2006 Blog Entries: 1 XBOX Leaderboard: 22^nd SLShopper Ads: 2 My Mood:	You need to move first, buddy!

09-22-2008, 10:25 PM	#14 (permalink)
Edav Nomad King Edav I Nomadicstan or bust!! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: L.A. (Lower Alabama) Posts: 2,569 SL Join Date: June 12, 2003 XBOX Leaderboard: 3^rd My Mood:	Mythic is already putting the beat down on Gold Farmers since 400 have already been banned: I hate gold sellers/spammers. No, that’s not strong enough, let me try again. I HATE GOLD SELLERS WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. Ah, that’s better. Now, why do I hate them you may ask? I hate them for a number of reasons, most of which have been detailed in various interviews I’ve done over the years. And now that they have taken their obnoxiousness to new levels with gold service spamming, I HATE GOLD SPAMMERS EVEN MORE NOW THAN EVER BEFORE. For years, lowlifes like IGE have told us, in defense of their behavior, that they a) are just providing a service; b) don’t interfere with players enjoyment of the game. Well, I can’t argue with (a), they are providing a service, just like maggots I suppose but I’ve always argued that (b) is totally and complete BS. Now, those old arguments aside, I can’t see how this new generation of pond scum (new and improved, with 25% more scummy action!) can argue that their constant spamming of chat channels doesn’t interfere with players enjoyment of the game (I’m waiting for the whole “Oh, you can always just turn off chat” argument). I hated seeing their messages when I played WoW or any other MMO and I’ve been waiting for the day that WAR launched so I could have the absolute pleasure of instituting policies to make their lives more difficult so we could drive them out of WAR. A banning we will go, a banning we will go. Heave ho off the servers yo, a banning we will go! « Online Games Are a Niche Market

09-22-2008, 11:30 PM	#15 (permalink)
Lianne Marten Cheese Baron It's a brand new day, the sun is high. Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: All the birds are singing that you're gonna die. Posts: 841 SL Join Date: 5/6/2004 My Mood:	The rest of my guild and I got our first gold spam last night, so that's good to hear

09-26-2008, 09:50 AM	#18 (permalink)
Dancien Graves No Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 5,030 SL Join Date: 12/2006 Business: Graves-Tek/Club Baby Seals Blog Entries: 1 SLShopper Ads: 1 My Mood: Awards: 1	Will probably grab this near the 1st. So far I am looking at a Dwarf Engineer, Black Orc, Squig Herder and maybe one of the chosen. Not sure yet __________________ BRUTAL

09-26-2008, 10:26 PM	#19 (permalink)
Edav Nomad King Edav I Nomadicstan or bust!! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: L.A. (Lower Alabama) Posts: 2,569 SL Join Date: June 12, 2003 XBOX Leaderboard: 3^rd My Mood:	Here is an interesting comparison of Warhammer Online to World of Warcraft from Warhammer Online senior designer Josh Drescher: "When we say we're not competing with World of Warcraft we really do mean that. ... World of Warcraft is basically The Beatles, and if you set out to try and be The Beatles, you wind up as The Monkees. So, we really do just try and be a different