Hi all,

A real old-timer here. Been playing all types of PC games for years and have come to LOVE the good ol' MMORPGs! Here's my  MMORPG background (please feel free to skip to my comments on WAR if ya wish): 

World Of Warcraft - This game just got it RIGHT and I loved it! Played as alliance on PvP server and horde PvE server. Got both to lvl 60. Stopped playing cos felt I reached peak and had tried 95% of the game content. Didn't get Burning Crusade.

Guild Wars - Bought this soon after WoW and just felt it to be lightweight and empty in comparison. Got 2 characters to Lvl 12 but my heart wasn't in it.

City Of Heroes/Villians - Great for a blast for about 2 or 3 months! Ok game but gameplay does get mundane and mechanical after a while. The inclusion of repetitive tilesets is not good in a game.

Hellgate: London - Very similar to City of Heroes. Good for a blast. It's free.

Lord Of The Rings Online - My personal favourite! Can't get enough of this one!! 4 characters (man-Loremaster, hobbit-minstrel, elf-hunter, dwarf-guardian - All at Lvl 32) and all crafting skills spread between them so every crafting item can be sent to an alt if need be.  Grouping up, population, Auction House, Banks and the community is all top notch. With the deeds, there is ALWAYS something to do. Lifetime Subscription purchased and I haven't even bought a house yet! This is one to be enjoyed and savoured slowly, with a glass of red wine.

Everquest 2 - This is one for me laptop when I'm not playing WAR or LOTRO. Jury is out on this one, for me, as I haven't really got stuck in. Also, playing it on a laptop does not do it full justice.

Age Of Conan - This seemed very promising while playing on the opening island. Loved the pirate island, adventure-playground like theme. BUT, excessive loadscreens are cumbersome and not conducive to having an enjoyable gameplaying experience. Stats on loot was wildly inconsistent and confusing. The Age of Conan world map was also confusing. The gamebreaker for me, though, was the loadscreens.

Which brings me to:

Warhammer Online

Ok, I plan to roll 4 Order characters on one server and 4 Destruction characters on another - to experience all 6 races and all starting areas; and covering all 4 crafting skills.  As you can probably tell, I like to experience as much game content as possible. (Yes, I have no life.)

All I have played thus far, is a dwarf Ironbreaker up to Level 7. Here is my initial reaction from what I have experienced so far:

1. The landscape and overall design of the world is great! A little taken aback that opposing camps are close together but it's a PvP war-related game so that's fine. Love the caves and forts etc.

2. Combat and movement of character is good and the interface is great. I like the cartoony/WoW style graphics.

3.  Quest content is yer bog-standard, nay, industry-standard "Go kill X amount of X" type of thing. (Don't like it? Don't play MMORPGs. It really is that simple. Ed. Actually, in this case, I believe you can eschew with the PvE route and just do PvP!!) Achievements and stuff are similar to deeds in LOTRO. Grind if ya want but ya don't have to. All fine as far as I'm concerned.

4. Tome of Knowledge is a good idea but it takes quite a bit of time to understand how to navigate its pages. I still haven't got the hang of it fully but I am getting better and know I'll understand it eventually. 

5. Gripes: A) Why is WoW virtually the only game that had the "clunk", "thud" and "ting" sound of items when moving them around in the inventory? I loved this touch, but am annoyed that no other game bothers to have sound files for inventory movement. It, surely, must be such an easy thing to program in?

B) General chat seems to be non-existant. No one talks!

C) Very quiet on the PvP front for me at present. Indeed, very quiet overall. Almost like I am playing a single-player game! I'm expecting it to get busy later.

D) Lack of bag space. I've chosen to be a cultivator but almost all my boxes are taken up with piddly seeds! I want to skill up so I need them there, but space is running out fast!

ANYWAY,

I am really enjoying this game so far and hope that my short review has been useful.

About the lack of bad space: Come on, in EQ2 i have 8 wooden crates on me with ransions, armour and weapons for an army. That is far from logical whatever the sound is when you move the item if any.

In MMO you can carry far to much junk and it drops far to much junk. Logically you would steal the coins, gems and maybe rings of  the ones you kill, not a lot of junk that you vendortrash. It's one thing that a boss drops a good sword but every one and hes grandma drops junk.

The new games seems to be making things at least a bit more logical (Why would I take a hekken tounge and why would any vendor buy it from me anyways?) at thats good but we don't need more bag space, we need less junk drops. Let them drop cash instead or at least gems and give us a small logical gem bag to put it in. I really don't want a game like Daggerfall when you even got a mule to carry the ton of junk you got from everything.

Nice post, and from one old timer to another old timer, I agree with many of your points.

The point you raised about the sound of items being shifted around bags, is a good one. Its funny how the little touches add to the polish of a game!

Originally posted by Loke666

About the lack of bad space: Come on, in EQ2 i have 8 wooden crates on me with ransions, armour and weapons for an army. That is far from logical whatever the sound is when you move the item if any.

In MMO you can carry far to much junk and it drops far to much junk. Logically you would steal the coins, gems and maybe rings of  the ones you kill, not a lot of junk that you vendortrash. It's one thing that a boss drops a good sword but every one and hes grandma drops junk.

The new games seems to be making things at least a bit more logical (Why would I take a hekken tounge and why would any vendor buy it from me anyways?) at thats good but we don't need more bag space, we need less junk drops. Let them drop cash instead or at least gems and give us a small logical gem bag to put it in. I really don't want a game like Daggerfall when you even got a mule to carry the ton of junk you got from everything.

In a game, logic can be suspended for the sake of fun. Many things exist in games contrary to logic, but they are transparent because we have been playing games for so long we take them for granted.

OK, I had another 3 hour session yesterday and this game is really growing on me now. Levelled up me Ironbreaker to Lvl 8 and I'm beginning to branch out and have fun. The thing is, I don't mind it being quiet while I'm doing me PvE... 

BUT, where are me comrades in the Public Quests? I LOVE the idea of public quests but there never seems to be anyone around to help out with the 2nd and 3rd stages? I haven't tried a "LFG" call in general chat but maybe I should. This doesn't bother me too much as I plan to go back and do them when I'm a higher level. Any comments?

You get a bag every ten levels, so 4 more in addition to initial 2.

Originally posted by MagicMush

Hi all,

A real old-timer here. Been playing all types of PC games for years and have come to LOVE the good ol' MMORPGs! Here's my  MMORPG background (please feel free to skip to my comments on WAR if ya wish): 

World Of Warcraft - This game just got it RIGHT and I loved it! Played as alliance on PvP server and horde PvE server. Got both to lvl 60. Stopped playing cos felt I reached peak and had tried 95% of the game content. Didn't get Burning Crusade.

Guild Wars - Bought this soon after WoW and just felt it to be lightweight and empty in comparison. Got 2 characters to Lvl 12 but my heart wasn't in it.

City Of Heroes/Villians - Great for a blast for about 2 or 3 months! Ok game but gameplay does get mundane and mechanical after a while. The inclusion of repetitive tilesets is not good in a game.

Hellgate: London - Very similar to City of Heroes. Good for a blast. It's free.

Lord Of The Rings Online - My personal favourite! Can't get enough of this one!! 4 characters (man-Loremaster, hobbit-minstrel, elf-hunter, dwarf-guardian - All at Lvl 32) and all crafting skills spread between them so every crafting item can be sent to an alt if need be.  Grouping up, population, Auction House, Banks and the community is all top notch. With the deeds, there is ALWAYS something to do. Lifetime Subscription purchased and I haven't even bought a house yet! This is one to be enjoyed and savoured slowly, with a glass of red wine.

Everquest 2 - This is one for me laptop when I'm not playing WAR or LOTRO. Jury is out on this one, for me, as I haven't really got stuck in. Also, playing it on a laptop does not do it full justice.

Age Of Conan - This seemed very promising while playing on the opening island. Loved the pirate island, adventure-playground like theme. BUT, excessive loadscreens are cumbersome and not conducive to having an enjoyable gameplaying experience. Stats on loot was wildly inconsistent and confusing. The Age of Conan world map was also confusing. The gamebreaker for me, though, was the loadscreens.

Which brings me to:

Warhammer Online

Ok, I plan to roll 4 Order characters on one server and 4 Destruction characters on another - to experience all 6 races and all starting areas; and covering all 4 crafting skills.  As you can probably tell, I like to experience as much game content as possible. (Yes, I have no life.)

All I have played thus far, is a dwarf Ironbreaker up to Level 7. Here is my initial reaction from what I have experienced so far:

1. The landscape and overall design of the world is great! A little taken aback that opposing camps are close together but it's a PvP war-related game so that's fine. Love the caves and forts etc.

2. Combat and movement of character is good and the interface is great. I like the cartoony/WoW style graphics.

3.  Quest content is yer bog-standard, nay, industry-standard "Go kill X amount of X" type of thing. (Don't like it? Don't play MMORPGs. It really is that simple. Ed. Actually, in this case, I believe you can eschew with the PvE route and just do PvP!!) Achievements and stuff are similar to deeds in LOTRO. Grind if ya want but ya don't have to. All fine as far as I'm concerned.

4. Tome of Knowledge is a good idea but it takes quite a bit of time to understand how to navigate its pages. I still haven't got the hang of it fully but I am getting better and know I'll understand it eventually. 

5. Gripes: A) Why is WoW virtually the only game that had the "clunk", "thud" and "ting" sound of items when moving them around in the inventory? I loved this touch, but am annoyed that no other game bothers to have sound files for inventory movement. It, surely, must be such an easy thing to program in?

B) General chat seems to be non-existant. No one talks!

C) Very quiet on the PvP front for me at present. Indeed, very quiet overall. Almost like I am playing a single-player game! I'm expecting it to get busy later.

D) Lack of bag space. I've chosen to be a cultivator but almost all my boxes are taken up with piddly seeds! I want to skill up so I need them there, but space is running out fast!

 

ANYWAY,

I am really enjoying this game so far and hope that my short review has been useful.

Load screens killed AOC for you yet they never bugged you in LOTR, Hellgate, GW, or COH/COV ?

LOTRO is much more "open world" than AOC. You go from one area to another seamlessly, without a load screen.

With AOC there seemed to be more of a need to travel from one area to another, hence the need to endure one (long) loadscreen after another.

With Hellgate and CoH, the loadscreens took you to places where you often just cleared the area and moved on; in other words, the loadscreens at least took you to new places each time.

I don't know, I haven't played in Dwarf country. But, in empire vs chaos, where I play as a Warrior Priest, I only have to click on the RvR scenario button and I am on a scenario with 12+ players on each team and it is loads of fun. Not only that, if I goto the contested RvR area, there are always 10-20 players from each side constantly fighting. So, may be it is your server, or may be it is a dwarf thing.

Also, I have completed all the PQs in my area, at times over 10 people participating in the final stages. I cannot believe how come you can't find anyone to do the later stages. Again, may be it is specific to dwarf areas as I have heard it is the least favourite race.

Try rolling up a human.

Originally posted by MagicMush

LOTRO is much more "open world" than AOC. You go from one area to another seamlessly, without a load screen.

With AOC there seemed to be more of a need to travel from one area to another, hence the need to endure one (long) loadscreen after another.

With Hellgate and CoH, the loadscreens took you to places where you often just cleared the area and moved on; in other words, the loadscreens at least took you to new places each time.

Hmm I dont agree with you.

LOTRO has zones set up just like AOC with load times to each dugeon and most cities.

COH/COV exact same thing, load to zone in, load to zone to quest dugeon - repeat.

Sure maybe the loadtimes in AOC will be longer (depdnding on your pc) but the graphics can't be compared to any of those games.

I really dont want to make it seem like i'm bashing or anything, i just really never understood this point.  As for the sound in the INV, i think the sound in general is lacking.  I love music in games, EQ2, AOC,  LOTRO all did a really good job with sound.

Originally posted by MagicMush

OK, I had another 3 hour session yesterday and this game is really growing on me now. Levelled up me Ironbreaker to Lvl 8 and I'm beginning to branch out and have fun. The thing is, I don't mind it being quiet while I'm doing me PvE... 

BUT, where are me comrades in the Public Quests? I LOVE the idea of public quests but there never seems to be anyone around to help out with the 2nd and 3rd stages? I haven't tried a "LFG" call in general chat but maybe I should. This doesn't bother me too much as I plan to go back and do them when I'm a higher level. Any comments?

I always tend to find my PQ groups with open groups. Just find one, see how far away it is and if it's close and a warband, they are usually doing PQ's. I join em and we will usually hop around to all the PQ's. It's worked well for me, but I also play on a very high population server.