Post by Gilvan Blight on Nov 29, 2008 14:27:17 GMT -5
Quickly - a fine MMO, to me a mix of WoW and Guild Wars. I quit WoW for it so have others.
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary: [/glow]This relatively new MMO from Mythic Entertainment and EA is based on the universe of Warhammer. Most well known through the Warhammer Fantasy Battle miniature game and the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rpg and the Black Library series of Warhammer Novels.
The setting is at a future date compared to the current game world from the current games. There is a three fronted, all out war going on between the forces of Order and the Forces of Destruction. On one front Men battle Chaos in the Northern Old World. A second front is in the Worlds Edge Mountains where Orcs and Goblins face of vs. Dwarfs. The last front is the Elven Isles where High Elves face off against Dark Elves. This backdrop sets the entire tone of the game, which is much darker then any other MMO I have seen thus far. Everywhere is constant battles, and the quests and missions are all related to the War. So you won't be running errands for shopkeepers looking for rare goods or playing cupid for love-lost friends, you will more likely be looking for Lost Brothers, raiding enemy camps for food and battling your way through waves of enemy raiders.
WAR has some rather interesting things that set it apart from other MMOs currently on the Market. The first is this RvR or Realm vs Realm system. This is the main impetus of the game and lets players take part in the main War that is the backdrop for the game. There are 4 Tiers of battle from local skirmishes to raiding the enemies capitals and as a player you can choose to take part at any time. The Tier you enter depends on your location in the game world, how well your side is doing in the war and what level (Rank) you have obtained. This is done like Guild Wars instants, where you just sign up to fight a battle and then jump in when it's ready. Though you can do this from anywhere at any time. In addition to this there are open RvR areas of every map where there are strategic objectives that can be taken by either side. Here PvP is always aloud and you can contribute to the war effort at any time without having to join an instanced battle. The instances themselves are all mini scenarios that will be familiar to players of Guild Wars, Instances in WoW and any FPS players, with things like Objective capturing, Zone control and capture the flag rules.
Another innovation in WAR is the idea of public quests. These are large things happening in the world that you just walk in on while exploring. They can be done by any number of players at once and generate influence and xp for your character as well as advancing the WAR story (tracked in a journal you can access any time). These range form a Farmhouse being assaulted by chaos cultists to saving a Troll Slayer from a pack of hungry Trolls. Each has multiple tiers and usually require a large group to finish the 'boss' battle at the end. Partaking in a Public Quest gives everyone involved a roll at the 'loot chest' at the end that usually contains high powered items unavailable in other ways.
An interesting addition is the Lore-book. In addition to being your quest tracker, the book also works like the Xbox 360 achievement system, where you can get rewards for doing all kinds of different things in game. These range from clicking on yourself 1 million times, to killing 25 snotlings. Each reward unlocks a page in the book, gives some xp, becomes a bragging right and may unlock a new title for your character. There are guaranteed 10 Lore unlocks on each map in the game and then there are a ton related to each monster type (Meet one, Kill one, get killed by one, kill 25, kill 100, find a liar, etc).
Character creation is simple, you first choose if you want to play Order or Chaos and then choose a race and class. Right now the classes and races are very well balanced and reflect a good cross section of the Warhammer universe. On the Oder side you have Dwarfs (Iron breakers, Rune smiths, etc), Elves (Shadow Warriors, Blademasterds, etc) or Humans (Warrior Priests, Witch hunters etc). On the Destruction side you have Chaos (Champions, Marauders, etc.), Dark Elves (Witch Elves, Assassins, etc), or Orcs/Goblins (Big Un, Squig Herder, etc). Interestingly they have already announced two new classes coming free in December.
The actual controls are like most MMOs, with your usual mouse-look and wasd movement and quick use bars for 1 through =, and you can have up to 4 of those. Included are extra bars for pets etc. Pretty much MMO standard there. Leveling up requires you to see a trainer where you usually get one or two new abilities that fill one of those slots. There is mastery training that lets you personalize your character similar to the Talents in WoW. Equipment is class specific which is a bit limiting, but it's definatly not the focus of this game. Sure some items are better then other but it's how you use your skills that will make or break you before your gear. Along with Ranks which is your level you also earn Renown for participating in the big War, this unlocks military ranks which unlock rather nice exclusive equipment and trophies. There is also influence this is gained by doing public quests in each chapter and again unlocks rather nice specialty gear.
Death: it happens and it happens often. Unlike other MMOs if you are playing in any of the RvR elements you are going to die, and die often. This is more like dieing in a FPS then another game, you wait a certain amount of time and then re-pop at a spawn point. In in an instance that's it no penalty, if in the PvE world then you have a stat modifier for about 20 minutes that can be quickly and easily removed by any healer conveniently found right by all the spawn points. Death isn't an issue in this game, it's a reality that you just have to pay for.
I'm sure there's a million other things I could mention. If there is an aspect of gameplay I missed please ask, and I will be sure to share my input.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Great job on the Warhammer World. I'm a big Warhammer Fan and out of all the fantasy worlds out there I have DM'd Warhammer the most and probably know the most about that world then any other, and Mythic didn't mess it up. I spent hours in game just exploring Altdorf (before stumbling into a secret society meeting and getting smoked in a few seconds). I was extremely happy to see they kept the Warhammer humor. Playing a Squig Herder for the first couple levels I was laughing out loud on many occasions. The classes in this are just fun, badass and cool. Combat and the skills follow the same. The instanced RvR combat really reminds me of Guild Wars and I think this is a very good thing. The non-instanced is even a lot of fun. I didn't think I would enjoy such a heavy PvP based game but I do. What's worth noting is you don't have to do any of it. If you really want to just solo and PvE your way through the game you can. Though I sincerely think you are missing out and may want to stick with WoW or another MMO if that's the style of play you prefer. The RvR and Public Quests are what make this game more fun than any other MMO I have yet played. They are just fun to do. Great graphics just top off everything perfectly, plus it runs great on my system which while upper end isn't top of the line or anything. One nice touch not mentioned above is that if you have an order character on a server you can't make a destruction character. This is a nice touch and prevents a lot of the 'spies' I have seen in WoW
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]More active combat then most MMOs. The auto attack is very very slow and pretty much useless in this game, this means that all of your attacks need to be manually entered. Now this isn't a problem if you are used to Guild Wars but can be if you are used to WoW or say Final Fantasy where you character does a lot of the work for you. I find there are too many public quests around and not enough people doing them. It seems like every 4 minutes of walking you can find another public quest. Which may be cool, but you can never seem to find enough people interested in actually doing them. I think they are so common that people don't care, I think a few less of them would make them more special and encourage more people to try them. Plus with the number there are now, you can finish one or two in a chapter and max out your influence, meaning you don't have much of a reason other then story to complete the third or fourth in an area. They are also poorly balanced, in one area there could be one that can be done solo, one that needs a party and one that needs a war band with no indicator which is which. This can lead to some frustration as you have to keep trying to find the right mix of people.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]Due to the popularity of the RvR instances there are some really long wait times to get into some of the scenarios. Thankfully you can queue up anywhere and just continue to PvE or whatever you are up to but it can be frustrating and annoying. Plus they always seem to pop up as ready right when something else fun or distracting is going on (mine always seem to pop right when dinner is ready). Now I haven't experienced this but people complain of crashes and memory leaks. My game runs great and has never crashed on me, but I have guild mates that swear the game needs to be fixed ASAP. I have experienced LAG though. Especially if you get into a large PQ (Public Quest) with over 20 players playing and lots of mobs around. The instances are designed to handle something like 40 players a side, but the main PvE area doesn't seem to handle that many people in one place at once well.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow] Mythic and EA actually managed to capture the look feel and flavor of the Warhammer world and turn it into an MMO. What's even more surprising is that it's a damn good MMO. To me it's a perfect mix of the instanced battles of Guild Wars with the PvE quests of WoW, with a bunch of cool stuff like public quests added into the mix for spice. I am really enjoying this one and having the most fun playing online since I first got hooked on MMOs with Final Fantasy Online years ago. I strongly recommend trying this one out. I haven't seen a 15 day trail or anything of the sort out yet, but I'm sure one will show up soon enough. In the mean time if you want to try my copy, give me a call and maybe you can borrow my Squig Herder for an afternoon?
[glow=blue,2,300]Summary: [/glow]This relatively new MMO from Mythic Entertainment and EA is based on the universe of Warhammer. Most well known through the Warhammer Fantasy Battle miniature game and the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rpg and the Black Library series of Warhammer Novels.
The setting is at a future date compared to the current game world from the current games. There is a three fronted, all out war going on between the forces of Order and the Forces of Destruction. On one front Men battle Chaos in the Northern Old World. A second front is in the Worlds Edge Mountains where Orcs and Goblins face of vs. Dwarfs. The last front is the Elven Isles where High Elves face off against Dark Elves. This backdrop sets the entire tone of the game, which is much darker then any other MMO I have seen thus far. Everywhere is constant battles, and the quests and missions are all related to the War. So you won't be running errands for shopkeepers looking for rare goods or playing cupid for love-lost friends, you will more likely be looking for Lost Brothers, raiding enemy camps for food and battling your way through waves of enemy raiders.
WAR has some rather interesting things that set it apart from other MMOs currently on the Market. The first is this RvR or Realm vs Realm system. This is the main impetus of the game and lets players take part in the main War that is the backdrop for the game. There are 4 Tiers of battle from local skirmishes to raiding the enemies capitals and as a player you can choose to take part at any time. The Tier you enter depends on your location in the game world, how well your side is doing in the war and what level (Rank) you have obtained. This is done like Guild Wars instants, where you just sign up to fight a battle and then jump in when it's ready. Though you can do this from anywhere at any time. In addition to this there are open RvR areas of every map where there are strategic objectives that can be taken by either side. Here PvP is always aloud and you can contribute to the war effort at any time without having to join an instanced battle. The instances themselves are all mini scenarios that will be familiar to players of Guild Wars, Instances in WoW and any FPS players, with things like Objective capturing, Zone control and capture the flag rules.
Another innovation in WAR is the idea of public quests. These are large things happening in the world that you just walk in on while exploring. They can be done by any number of players at once and generate influence and xp for your character as well as advancing the WAR story (tracked in a journal you can access any time). These range form a Farmhouse being assaulted by chaos cultists to saving a Troll Slayer from a pack of hungry Trolls. Each has multiple tiers and usually require a large group to finish the 'boss' battle at the end. Partaking in a Public Quest gives everyone involved a roll at the 'loot chest' at the end that usually contains high powered items unavailable in other ways.
An interesting addition is the Lore-book. In addition to being your quest tracker, the book also works like the Xbox 360 achievement system, where you can get rewards for doing all kinds of different things in game. These range from clicking on yourself 1 million times, to killing 25 snotlings. Each reward unlocks a page in the book, gives some xp, becomes a bragging right and may unlock a new title for your character. There are guaranteed 10 Lore unlocks on each map in the game and then there are a ton related to each monster type (Meet one, Kill one, get killed by one, kill 25, kill 100, find a liar, etc).
Character creation is simple, you first choose if you want to play Order or Chaos and then choose a race and class. Right now the classes and races are very well balanced and reflect a good cross section of the Warhammer universe. On the Oder side you have Dwarfs (Iron breakers, Rune smiths, etc), Elves (Shadow Warriors, Blademasterds, etc) or Humans (Warrior Priests, Witch hunters etc). On the Destruction side you have Chaos (Champions, Marauders, etc.), Dark Elves (Witch Elves, Assassins, etc), or Orcs/Goblins (Big Un, Squig Herder, etc). Interestingly they have already announced two new classes coming free in December.
The actual controls are like most MMOs, with your usual mouse-look and wasd movement and quick use bars for 1 through =, and you can have up to 4 of those. Included are extra bars for pets etc. Pretty much MMO standard there. Leveling up requires you to see a trainer where you usually get one or two new abilities that fill one of those slots. There is mastery training that lets you personalize your character similar to the Talents in WoW. Equipment is class specific which is a bit limiting, but it's definatly not the focus of this game. Sure some items are better then other but it's how you use your skills that will make or break you before your gear. Along with Ranks which is your level you also earn Renown for participating in the big War, this unlocks military ranks which unlock rather nice exclusive equipment and trophies. There is also influence this is gained by doing public quests in each chapter and again unlocks rather nice specialty gear.
Death: it happens and it happens often. Unlike other MMOs if you are playing in any of the RvR elements you are going to die, and die often. This is more like dieing in a FPS then another game, you wait a certain amount of time and then re-pop at a spawn point. In in an instance that's it no penalty, if in the PvE world then you have a stat modifier for about 20 minutes that can be quickly and easily removed by any healer conveniently found right by all the spawn points. Death isn't an issue in this game, it's a reality that you just have to pay for.
I'm sure there's a million other things I could mention. If there is an aspect of gameplay I missed please ask, and I will be sure to share my input.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Great job on the Warhammer World. I'm a big Warhammer Fan and out of all the fantasy worlds out there I have DM'd Warhammer the most and probably know the most about that world then any other, and Mythic didn't mess it up. I spent hours in game just exploring Altdorf (before stumbling into a secret society meeting and getting smoked in a few seconds). I was extremely happy to see they kept the Warhammer humor. Playing a Squig Herder for the first couple levels I was laughing out loud on many occasions. The classes in this are just fun, badass and cool. Combat and the skills follow the same. The instanced RvR combat really reminds me of Guild Wars and I think this is a very good thing. The non-instanced is even a lot of fun. I didn't think I would enjoy such a heavy PvP based game but I do. What's worth noting is you don't have to do any of it. If you really want to just solo and PvE your way through the game you can. Though I sincerely think you are missing out and may want to stick with WoW or another MMO if that's the style of play you prefer. The RvR and Public Quests are what make this game more fun than any other MMO I have yet played. They are just fun to do. Great graphics just top off everything perfectly, plus it runs great on my system which while upper end isn't top of the line or anything. One nice touch not mentioned above is that if you have an order character on a server you can't make a destruction character. This is a nice touch and prevents a lot of the 'spies' I have seen in WoW
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]More active combat then most MMOs. The auto attack is very very slow and pretty much useless in this game, this means that all of your attacks need to be manually entered. Now this isn't a problem if you are used to Guild Wars but can be if you are used to WoW or say Final Fantasy where you character does a lot of the work for you. I find there are too many public quests around and not enough people doing them. It seems like every 4 minutes of walking you can find another public quest. Which may be cool, but you can never seem to find enough people interested in actually doing them. I think they are so common that people don't care, I think a few less of them would make them more special and encourage more people to try them. Plus with the number there are now, you can finish one or two in a chapter and max out your influence, meaning you don't have much of a reason other then story to complete the third or fourth in an area. They are also poorly balanced, in one area there could be one that can be done solo, one that needs a party and one that needs a war band with no indicator which is which. This can lead to some frustration as you have to keep trying to find the right mix of people.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]Due to the popularity of the RvR instances there are some really long wait times to get into some of the scenarios. Thankfully you can queue up anywhere and just continue to PvE or whatever you are up to but it can be frustrating and annoying. Plus they always seem to pop up as ready right when something else fun or distracting is going on (mine always seem to pop right when dinner is ready). Now I haven't experienced this but people complain of crashes and memory leaks. My game runs great and has never crashed on me, but I have guild mates that swear the game needs to be fixed ASAP. I have experienced LAG though. Especially if you get into a large PQ (Public Quest) with over 20 players playing and lots of mobs around. The instances are designed to handle something like 40 players a side, but the main PvE area doesn't seem to handle that many people in one place at once well.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow] Mythic and EA actually managed to capture the look feel and flavor of the Warhammer world and turn it into an MMO. What's even more surprising is that it's a damn good MMO. To me it's a perfect mix of the instanced battles of Guild Wars with the PvE quests of WoW, with a bunch of cool stuff like public quests added into the mix for spice. I am really enjoying this one and having the most fun playing online since I first got hooked on MMOs with Final Fantasy Online years ago. I strongly recommend trying this one out. I haven't seen a 15 day trail or anything of the sort out yet, but I'm sure one will show up soon enough. In the mean time if you want to try my copy, give me a call and maybe you can borrow my Squig Herder for an afternoon?