I think it would be nice to get a good comparison of two MMO's that I am looking to get into, WITHOUT any reference to the usual suspects of performance issues or class imbalance. For example:

Immersion: Which game has the most immersive PVE quests, music, graphics, and lore? FORGET about whether you like zoning or not.

PVP: Which game has PVP that IN PRACTICE provides the most fun?

Combat: Which has the most tolerable combat?

Population: Is it possible to find at least one well populated and playable server in each game?

Zones: Which game has the most entertaining zones?

Short answer is WAR.

Aoc was released unfininshed and will need time to get better, abbut a year if you ask me(they recently change the director as well).

Got to the AoC section of the forums and see all the complaints of how bad the game is etc.

Here you will find a few moaners, but nothing major.

I have both and did re-sub AoC after the free month.

Whereas in WAR i have already 3 chars and want to roll at least another 3!

I wrote an article on  WaR Vs AoC

WAR Vs AoC: The Comparison

I also wrote reviews for both

AoC Review

Warhammer Review

Hope this helps

If you decide to get AOC over WAR you will find why pretty quick why you picked the wrong one. Like the first time you post a question on Funcom's forums and get banned.

Well all I can say is AoC just was not fun at all and people say the first 20 levels were great then it went downhill from there.  I hated AoC's combat, I thought I would like the change from the old auto attack but I just wasn't feeling AoC's combat. Graphics were great in AoC and Zoning I dont care about its just the they instanced each zone thats the problem.

War, its pretty much your good old MMO with some new features but its hella fun. Graphics are prettty decent I say, I like the style and Mythic had to go with this style because thats the way Warhammer is.   RvR is so much fun the PQ's are fun as well.  There is nobody chatting in world chat which I like. It saves me from turning off all the bullshit.   I just chat in parties and groups.

Originally posted by Czzarre

I wrote an article on  WaR Vs AoC

WAR Vs AoC: The Comparison

I also wrote reviews for both

AoC Review

Warhammer Review

Hope this helps

wow, thanks!

Originally posted by MMORPDEATH

I think it would be nice to get a good comparison of two MMO's that I am looking to get into, WITHOUT any reference to the usual suspects of performance issues or class imbalance. For example:

Immersion: Which game has the most immersive PVE quests, music, graphics, and lore? FORGET about whether you like zoning or not.

I think War wins.  The Knowledge book and the vast lore of warhammer really is nice.  Also there is very much a feeling of being at war and in conflict that makes it very nice.

AoC on the other hand has more realistic looking graphics and animation and the scenery is very nice.  At first glance it feels immersive but falls appart when you realize the world isn't alive and is kinda static.

PVP: Which game has PVP that IN PRACTICE provides the most fun?

I like the PvP in war much better.  I hated the long combo chains and the lag in the chains.  The scenarios in war are also a lot of fun with various different ones in each tier and even more as you level up.  So there is a lot of variety.

Combat: Which has the most tolerable combat?

War in my opinion

Population: Is it possible to find at least one well populated and playable server in each game?

War servers have good populations of players.  On a high pop server I can pop into scenarios usually in less then 5 minutes when playing really late at night PST.

Zones: Which game has the most entertaining zones?

I think that AoC had the best zone lvl 1-20 but after that I'd say it is pretty even.  I give AoC marks for the graphics and the pve in the zones I felt was better.  While I like the interactivity or the aliveness feel in war zones. 

Itemization in both games tends to suck.  AoC feels really incomplete as you level up.  War feels more complete and as I'm leveling I find the game expanding rather then contracting.  AoC and War both have sucky crafting although I'd say AoC is better then war although both are poor.

 

Originally posted by MMORPDEATH

I think it would be nice to get a good comparison of two MMO's that I am looking to get into, WITHOUT any reference to the usual suspects of performance issues or class imbalance. For example:

Immersion: Which game has the most immersive PVE quests, music, graphics, and lore? FORGET about whether you like zoning or not.  I have to say WAR got AoC beat in quests and lore  AoC got WAR beat in Music and Graphics.

PVP: Which game has PVP that IN PRACTICE provides the most fun?  Easily WAR!

Combat: Which has the most tolerable combat?  I actually have to say I liked AoC combo system better.

Population: Is it possible to find at least one well populated and playable server in each game?  In WAR yes.  I played the first month and have heard horror stories from people who resubbed on AoC.

Zones: Which game has the most entertaining zones?  WAR easily wins out on this.

 

WAR brings alot to the table. Granted it needs some more pollishing but outta the box opening day it was alot better than AOC. AOC only brought a new combat system that got old after 15 min and alot, emphasis on alot, of graphics. For gods sake i DL'ed a patch for AOC that was 6GB and all it did was add more textures.

Wait, when did AoC become a team based RvR game?

I think the question that should be asked (its a good question too) is that: which do you prefer...team based RvR or 1vs1 pvp?

since your asking in the war forums, im guessing people are going to like the strategy and teamwork required in warhammers RvR...just a guess though.

Only game you can compare to current AoC is at-release Vanguard.

lol.....AoC.......OP, there isn't even a comparison.    Don't give that piece of crap company Funcom a dime, if you care anything for the MMO genre.   WAR is a lot of fun if you enjoy PvP (and truth be told the PvE is a lot of fun too).   AoC is terrible whether you like PvE or PvP - both suck horribly as well as the game stability and support.

Both games pretty much suck for different reasons but if i had to pick one I'd pick WaR. It's alot like asking if you would rather be punched in the head or the gut though; neither is a very good experience.

Go ahead and throw your money at Failcom for AoC.  Throw your money to a company that has utterly failed to improve their product after what?... 5 or 6 months of release now?  We've argued it's gotten worse with a number of their clumsy patches.

Not to mention heavy handed, overzealous Nerfing techniques without fixing ANYTHING with the classes.

WAR has content.

AoC has a combat system.

I'd prefer AoC honestly. WAR barely lasted me 2-weeks before I felt suicidal.

 Only fanboys are really sticking with AoC.  The game sucks and I couldn't stand to play it one more minute.  Hell, I'd choose Hello Kitty - Island Adventure over AoC.  That game blows.

AoC looks better and have a melee combat system there is different from most MMOs but otherwise its an extremely traditional MMO with your typical wow style lvling via quests and quest and quest and an endgame which is raiding and some pvp.

WaR is a RvR game where the focus is on fighting other players from lvl 1. The PvE is not very detailed but the PvP is amazing. Player skill is also based on  your ability to work in a group and combine with other players rather than being cool alone.

Both games are zone based but WaR is much much larger. The gameworld is around 4 to 5 times larger. But the way mythic split up the zones in friendly and enemy teritory can make some areas feel small, this is particulary the case in the elf lands.

AoCs interface is very uninformative only giving vauge information about what is what so no one really know what is good or bad when making choices about gear or advancement, and with many game elements so minimal in effects that it looks like they are broken there is no way of knowing if they are or not because of the lack of information in the UI.

WaRs interface contains detailed information about every game element when you mouseover them. There are still questions about combination of game stats and what they do together but you will always know what you can and cant do.

Both games are heavily guild based. But in AoC you run into a wall at high lvls if you are not in a huge guild where you cant craft, cant do endgame content what so ever and cant do serious pvp only random ganking. WaR otoh you can have lots of fun outside a guild and there is no content off limit but it all just get more fun in a guild.

WaR is generally using carrots to make people do things where AoC mostly use sticks.

For me AOC bar none.  Stories, lore combat , graphics,  animations you name it.  WAR was utter boredom to me.  The animations, spells and graphics are dated.  The PVP is what the game was built around and that got boring for me real quick.  Everything else including the PVE in the game was added just to say it was there.  WAR also has no sense of community for me so it was lonely.  Chat other than guild chat may as well be removed from the game.  Getting a group together for an instance was near impossible, in fact I was never able to do it.  The seiges and all are a nice idea but I rarely saw other players and never saw a seige actually take place.

AOC offers so much more but I'm fortunate enough to have a PC to run it very well on it's highest settings and it is stunning.  I'm also on SET so there are no population issues, groups are readily available to do things and I'm in an active guild.  Been playing since release and many major issues have been fixed.  There are also a ton of new features about to be added.

In all fairnes I am not a fast leveler and graphics, animations, the environment and lore are important to me in a game.  Especially in an MMO because I need to be totaly immersed to invest that kind of time.  I do take my time going through content and I become very familiar with the stories going on through the quests so I stay behind the development curve.  If you're one of those that get to the max level playing 12 hours a day it may not be as fun. The end game is still being fleshed out.

The dungeons up to that point are simply amazing however.

I have not tested WAR. I have to be honest, but I have seen a ton of videos on it nad it just really shocks me that people buy that stuff. It just look so outdated (no offece). When it comes to AoC I really like it. It still has a few issues, but I think FC mean business with this game. It is getting better by the day. My verdict is AoC.

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Originally posted by OrionMan
When it comes to AoC I really like it. It still has a few issues, but I think FC mean business with this game. It is getting better by the day. My verdict is AoC.

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WAR is also improving every day.

Mythic actually listen to their player base (unlike Funcom) and WAR is starting from a much stronger starting position in terms of stability & bugs & content than AOC (although there are people having issues with WAR).

War was delayed several times to have a better release, AOC was rushed out the door with the starting area polished and the rest of the game unfinished.

Mythic have been upfront about content cuts, showing off the game. Funcom hid the horrible state of AOC until it was released.

But all that aside - you should be able to get a buddy pass to try AOC and read a few reviews on WAR to get some idea.

Tried both and the verdict is: Guild Wars.