Just put a new piece up about my take on the preview weekend.  It's too long to post here, but feel free to leave me your thoughts HERE.  Go easy on me, it's my first review :)

Awesome guild review.  Anyone planning on being an active part of a guild should read this.

Added to compilation at: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/197008

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote Paragus, except for maybe the part on scenarios. I know that not everyone is going to like them, but as you started to point out, scenarios were implemented for exactly one purpose. That purpose being to help alleviate some of the stress imbalanced server populations might bring.

Scenarios will play an important role in helping to balance the control of Tiers. Mythic learned from DAoC what a large zerg from one realm could accomplish. So while I'm not a huge fan of scenarios either, I am actually glad they were implemented, specifically for the purpose of server population's affect on overall Tier control.

Thanks for your post Protus. You views are always fair and never show any disdain for games you think are below AOC.

Cough(Sarscasm)Cough.

P.S - I did play AOC and no AOC supporters should talk about how bad another game being released is. Glad your enjoying the rain in AOC, thats what I enjoyed the most in AOC also. 

Very excellent review Paragus and very honest.

Originally posted by Rhoklaw

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote Paragus, except for maybe the part on scenarios. I know that not everyone is going to like them, but as you started to point out, scenarios were implemented for exactly one purpose. That purpose being to help alleviate some of the stress imbalanced server populations might bring.

Scenarios will play an important role in helping to balance the control of Tiers. Mythic learned from DAoC what a large zerg from one realm could accomplish. So while I'm not a huge fan of scenarios either, I am actually glad they were implemented, specifically for the purpose of server population's affect on overall Tier control.

Ya, I don't disagree with you on this really.  I can understand in some situations where they would be useful, especially at low levels to get right into the action.   I would like to know the impact they have on zone control.  Like i said though, at least they are somewhat interesting from what I have seen so far, which is limited.

Good review, ignore the idiot.

Paragus great review you did a good job.

{ Mod Edit }

Great review Paragus, I really enjoyed it.

I saw you were playing at least a bit as a Shadow Warrior. How did you like the class?

I haven't heard as much about it as some of the others and am quite interested in playing it.

I've heard in RvR they they can deal out decent dps but not enough to be seen as a real threat. Did you find you could make an impact in RvR? Also any thoughts on the different stances? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Kdawwg29

Originally posted by Paragus1

Originally posted by Rhoklaw

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote Paragus, except for maybe the part on scenarios. I know that not everyone is going to like them, but as you started to point out, scenarios were implemented for exactly one purpose. That purpose being to help alleviate some of the stress imbalanced server populations might bring.

Scenarios will play an important role in helping to balance the control of Tiers. Mythic learned from DAoC what a large zerg from one realm could accomplish. So while I'm not a huge fan of scenarios either, I am actually glad they were implemented, specifically for the purpose of server population's affect on overall Tier control.

 

Ya, I don't disagree with you on this really.  I can understand in some situations where they would be useful, especially at low levels to get right into the action.   I would like to know the impact they have on zone control.  Like i said though, at least they are somewhat interesting from what I have seen so far, which is limited.

I think Tier Control breaks down like this...

#1 - World PvP, such as Keeps and Objective control. Actual percentage is unknown, but it's pretty high. In fact I'd say it's atleast 50-70% of Tier Control.

#2 - Scenarios, so if the underpopulated server can manage to win 7-8 out of every 10 scenarios, they will atleast get by, barely.

#3 - PvE, which ranges from completing quests and public quests to random PvE bosses that appear in capital cities and possibly elsewhere.

#4 - PvP Kills, not sure if this includes scenarios, but every enemy player you kill adds to the overall Tier Control as well.

So, essentially you can see that the underdogs have to fight teeth and nail just to stay competitive. While higher populated factions can easily choose to do PvE or RvR.

Originally posted by kdawwg29

Great review Paragus, I really enjoyed it.

I saw you were playing at least a bit as a Shadow Warrior. How did you like the class?

I haven't heard as much about it as some of the others and am quite interested in playing it.

I've heard in RvR they they can deal out decent dps but not enough to be seen as a real threat. Did you find you could make an impact in RvR? Also any thoughts on the different stances? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Kdawwg29

I played both a Bright Wizard and Shadow Warrior as my ranged DPS classes. I started out with the Bright Wizard and was extremely impressed and thought, yep, this is definately the ranged DPS class I'm going to play. After playing the Shadow Warrior, that all changed.

Shadow Warriors aren't as heavy on the damage as Bright Wizards, but SW's can switch from ranged to close range DPS and can definately take more punches than a BW.

Shadow Warriors are the shiznit of ranged DPS, unless your in a large enough zerg to allow your Bright Wizard the ability to survive long enough to lay the smack down.

Originally posted by kdawwg29

Great review Paragus, I really enjoyed it.

I saw you were playing at least a bit as a Shadow Warrior. How did you like the class?

I haven't heard as much about it as some of the others and am quite interested in playing it.

I've heard in RvR they they can deal out decent dps but not enough to be seen as a real threat. Did you find you could make an impact in RvR? Also any thoughts on the different stances? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Kdawwg29

I enjoyed the Shadow Warrior.  One reason you probably haven't heard a lot about them is because they are pretty much where they need to be.   I only got mine up to around Level 15, but it is an interesting dynamic to have the different stances on a range class.  You need to be ready to juggle between them when need be.  The one minor pain in the ass is that you need to have seperate hotbars for each stance.  Since some of the shots can be used in 2 of the 3, you need to make sure you go over all 3 setups everytime you get a new ability.  DPS wise though, they are decent and fun in keep battles.

<p>nice read and a very honest review, thanks for your time.</p>

Great review/write up Paragus!

Originally posted by Rhoklaw

Originally posted by kdawwg29

Great review Paragus, I really enjoyed it.

I saw you were playing at least a bit as a Shadow Warrior. How did you like the class?

I haven't heard as much about it as some of the others and am quite interested in playing it.

I've heard in RvR they they can deal out decent dps but not enough to be seen as a real threat. Did you find you could make an impact in RvR? Also any thoughts on the different stances? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Kdawwg29

 

I played both a Bright Wizard and Shadow Warrior as my ranged DPS classes. I started out with the Bright Wizard and was extremely impressed and thought, yep, this is definately the ranged DPS class I'm going to play. After playing the Shadow Warrior, that all changed.

Shadow Warriors aren't as heavy on the damage as Bright Wizards, but SW's can switch from ranged to close range DPS and can definately take more punches than a BW.

Shadow Warriors are the shiznit of ranged DPS, unless your in a large enough zerg to allow your Bright Wizard the ability to survive long enough to lay the smack down.

They both have their pros and cons.  The bright Wizard can really do a lot of AE damage.  here is a scren I have from one of my guildies shooting an AE into the bottom floor of a keep right after the door got broken down.

Seems like a fair review however you referenced it several times to a dissapointing AOC.  I know that game left a bad taste for alot of people.  That brings to question if your WAR review was based on WAR's merrits alone or if it only appeared good in comparison to how you felt leaving AOC.

In any event your view is consistant to many others which is why It seems fair to me at least.

On question though.  The screenshots look washed out a bit.  Are they that drab in game or is the color and art style more vibrant?  Similar to WoW.....  Also, I've heard their was a higher rez client that wasn't being used yet.  Can you confirm/deny that.  Can we expect better graphics at release?

betetr graphics will be implemented the week before launch.

and to adress to review. i thought it was welldone alth i want to add that the current character creation customization is not what it will be at launch

Originally posted by Sebali

betetr graphics will be implemented the week before launch.

 

and to adress to review. i thought it was welldone alth i want to add that the current character creation customization is not what it will be at launch

I have heard the rumor about the graphics, the character creation thing is new to me though.  I hope that is true, but like i said, my guys was completely covered very early on so it wasn't something that mattered.  maybe another class with a different armor style would feel differently.

I'm torn on the character creation.  The problem for me isn't a lack of faces or anything like that.  Frankly, there are more face texture options than WoW has, as well as DDO and some others.  Ultimately, how much of that even gets seen?  A game can have 20 different facial sliders, but nobody except the player really sees the results.  Beyond a distance of two or three feet, the differences are impossible to detect.

What I wish the game had is more options for the body itself.  Height and build kind of stuff.  These are things that really make a difference from a distance.  More hairstyles would be nice, too.  But the rest is just really unnecessary.

Excellent review.  Spot on.

Also, for the question about the art style - the game was reminiscent of WoW's art style (as Blizzard said they were inspired by the Warhammer Universe), but taken much further.  Compared to the screenshots shown the colors are more vibrant at times and more ominous at other times.  The environment sets a marvelous stage imho.

Originally posted by aurick

I'm torn on the character creation.  The problem for me isn't a lack of faces or anything like that.  Frankly, there are more face texture options than WoW has, as well as DDO and some others.  Ultimately, how much of that even gets seen?  A game can have 20 different facial sliders, but nobody except the player really sees the results.  Beyond a distance of two or three feet, the differences are impossible to detect.

What I wish the game had is more options for the body itself.  Height and build kind of stuff.  These are things that really make a difference from a distance.  More hairstyles would be nice, too.  But the rest is just really unnecessary.

More options are always better.  There has been a long running debate on whether or not less customization somehow makes for less lag in big gatherings.   I don't know if there is any merit to that, but the game did run good for me.  But you are right, usually once you get a helmet on a lot of that goes right down the drain.

Originally posted by jusagamfrek

Excellent review.  Spot on.

Also, for the question about the art style - the game was reminiscent of WoW's art style (as Blizzard said they were inspired by the Warhammer Universe), but taken much further.  Compared to the screenshots shown the colors are more vibrant at times and more ominous at other times.  The environment sets a marvelous stage imho.

I am not sure how vibrant the game is overall.  My experiences were limited to pretty much the Elvan area. I have a screenshot somewhere of a Keep defense in the shadowlands, which is like the tier 2 zone I think.   The atmosphere there was quite drab, but as the name implies it is supposed to be run down looking.  I do like how in the PvP areas there are zero monsters.  It was annoying in DAOC to have roaming mobs to interfere with fights sometimes.

I found this in my folder as well.   This is a picture of the Bright Wizard Academy I think its called in the capital city for order.  I was able to go inside and the place was very interesting.  I wish I had spent more time in the main city, maybe in open beta I will go dabble more there.

Yes, the Bright Wizard College is awesome. There's a podcast somewhere of a guy spending hours and hours making the concept art for it, and it looks exactly like that in-game. Good job!

Solid info, thanks

Found this buried in my forums from a guildie, it shows a keep battle from the defenders viewpoint.  You can see in the distance some of the siege weapons the attacks are using to weaken the defenses.