Originally posted by finnmacool1

A fair review for the most part. I will say i ran into a ton of bugs during my time in open beta, none of which were fixed before the early start hit. It also seems some races areas were "cleaner" than others. The chaos pve areas were horrible for stuck mobs,though i didnt run into many stuck mobs with elves or empire. Perhaps the various starting areas explain why some people run into very few bugs yet others found a ton.

My impression at the end of open beta was that it was yet another game  being rushed out the door before it was ready. In my opinion its a less polished,buggier rehash of daoc with a warhammer skin tacked on.

You might enjoy the game if you havent played daoc and dont mind buggy, rushed products. If you enjoyed daoc and are johnsing so hard for pre toa RvR that you can overlook it being inferior to what they released 7 years ago, you may like WAR.

Sorry but this is the most misleading post I have read about the state of WAR.  Firstly it most certainly was not rushed out the door as evidenced by all the pushbacks.  In fact WAR has released in a solid and functioning state with no game breaking bugs, which is remarkable by todays standards.  Not only that but everything that Mythic said would be in at release is there, it's all in the game, unlike titles like AoC which released with only half a game, or titles like Vanguard which were frankly unplayable.  What you seem not to understand is that MMO's are organic in their nature in that they grow and advance over time.  I see a lot of people comparing this game to WoW which is inevitable I suppose, but they are comparing it to a WoW that is four years down the line with it's bug fixes and changes.  Compare WAR now to WoW on it's release day four years ago and WAR comes out on top, WoW database bug and 2 hour server queues anyone?

For those posters with concerns about the community you need not worry, at least on the core servers, I can't speak for the open-RvR ones.  WAR has a different dynamic to most MMO's in that for the most part Order & Destruction don't often bump into each other except for in scenarios and RvR areas, as well as a few PQ's that are shared because of their location.  In PvP there is no trash talking, stupid emotes or dancing on your corpse etc.  because frankly, the guy who killed you doesn't have time for that as there is usually some other guy from your side trying to cut him a new arsehole.  What's more is that the two sides don't understand each other which is a throwback to DAoC and this is good as it helps to build realm pride.  Among developers Mythic's communication and open ear to the playerbase is unprecidented and it shows, WAR is a brilliant game as it is now, four years from now it will be stupendous.

By far the best article i have read on this site.Fantastic job of protraying how the game really IS.

p.s. not saying there are bad articles here , just that this one was the best of the ones ive read

Originally posted by Stradden

MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood has been playing the head start for Mythic's Warhammer Online and today offers his opinions of the game.

While the title of this article might be a little bit clichéd and obvious, the spirit behind it is perfectly legitimate. With the full launch of Mythic Entertainment’s Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning only a few hours away, I thought it might be helpful for those of you out there who haven’t rushed out and bought the Collector’s Edition or pre-ordered a box to hear my impressions of the game and whether or not you should go out and spend your hard earned money on this new RvR offering.

The answer to the question ,”Is it worth my money?” isn’t as easy or black and white as you might think. Like most MMOs, your enjoyment of Warhammer Online is going to depend on your own personal likes and dislikes when it comes to MMOs. I’m going to address a number of questions that you may or may not have about the game:

Read the preview here.

Excellently written.

2 points I would like to point out though:

* One can get stuck in grind, esp. in public quests, if there is noone around to do them. At launch this won't be a problem, but at early morning hours, or when people have advanced, you really got to "think" if you want to make that PQ or not. Killing 100 thieves goes fast with 20 players, but sucks with 3 or 4. And the heroics are impossible then. So you can not even finish a PQ right away.  There is enough else to do o/c, but if feels frutrating to move on imho,

* You mention the group "problem" , Jon. A typical example (I am myself the same) of how grouping attitude has changed over the years. Nice to see you "admit" to it, because usually comments like those get bashed as "carebear, go away, shut up, etc etc" so many people don't mention it at all. I wonder though if the hardcore group player is a dying breed due to changes in the MMOs (we will never know since they "shout loudest"). I wonder even more if WAR is going to change it even further - jump in group, exit group, don't even say hi. That would be even worse than not grouping.

From the article: One thing to note though… If you’re a novice at PvP, don’t jump into the Open RvR servers. There is plenty of RvR action on the Core servers, and you don’t run the risk of getting ganked again and again by some high level clown looking for some kicks at your expense. On the other hand, if you’re one of those players who loves the thrill of being in danger at all times and enjoy the realism of not being artificially separated and restricted by level, the Open RvR servers are probably right up your alley. Who needs those carebears anyway?

That info is a bit misleading. If a player goes into 2 tiers lower then him, they turn into a chicken with 1 hitpoint which is actually pretty funny. So you won't be getting ganked by a tier 3 or 4 character while your in tier 1 (starting areas) so the Open RvR servers do not have the typical max level players ganking newbies like most MMOs with open pvp.

Nice article, the launch has been very smooth and the only issue (queue times on a few of the servers) has been swiftly rectified with free transfers to other servers. I have picked up WAR after playing in Open Beta and the Preview Weekends and have been playing a Chaos Chosen (tank class). I started a toon on Badlands server during the Collectors Edition headstart but now that server has crazy queue times so they cloned toons from the 5 most popular servers onto new servers for free. This allows you to play on a server with no queue times if you'd like which was a very nice gesture from Mythic. I enjoy the game so far and look forward to doing RVR in the higher tiers. I have enjoyed doing the Public Quests as well, I have won a few green loot bags which was nice. I like how you get a bonus to your roll in the next PQ if you do not win any loot the first time. Each time you do the PQ and do not win loot, your bonus keeps going up. Your guaranteed to get a bag eventually which is nice. I have never been a big PVPer when playing MMOs but I am hooked on WAR, I enjoy the scenarios and I thought maybe as a tank I Would never get to kill anyone, only absorb damage. I am happy to see I was wrong and do get to partake in the killing as well.

I am playing on the Mordheim server, anyone else playing on that server?

Cant belive I have the same playstyle as Jon Wood :)

I have never grouped so much or so easily in any other game, even in rvr scenarios I have a kind of a mate healer who I look out for when we get together, it is an easy fun game.

nice review and well worth the read.

Originally posted by red_cruiser

If you didn't like the way World of Warcraft played, you probably won't like this one.

If you liked World of Warcraft, but wish it had more PvP, than this is the game for you.  It seems like WAR was made to siphon this particular part of the WoW fanbase away from Blizzard.

It's definately not as polished as World of Warcraft, and PvP combat is more about stacking effects and focus fire than using control and reacting to the enemy.

If two years ago Blizzard had decided to focus on World PvP instead of Arenas, we'd probably be all going "Warhammer who?" right about now.

This game is kind of lacking a certain MMORPG feel to it... probably because the PvE content is pretty much just filler for Scenario pops.  Their World PvP solution in the low level tiers hasn't been very successful.

Their siege weapons in this game are just mega retarded too. Lol, definately not an idea that you should implement just to say "omg, siege weapons!".

The game is fun, and it's nice that it's not WoW; I just want a little more Action Jackson in my game.  TCOS and CO, now there's a stew!

Nice post.

Re Jon's article, it seems a standard review, he reported what he saw and thought, but the adulation being displayed for what he wrote seems a bit over the top. Sycophants.

99% true. The game is presented exactly as you said and advertised by EA Mythic. So far, I am indeed getting my money's worth. Bugs are to be expected but the bugs that I have seen are quite insignificant and easily addressed.

WAR is not "Ground Breaking" but it is certainly not boring; It combines the necessary elements to make the game interesting and fun. As for graphics and art, I agree with you that people are really confusing modernity with art style.

 Oh 1% that I don't agree with is to play Order, heh heh, but then again ... DO play order, we of the destruction need people to kill.

This guy in a moron sounds like someone has not played..THIS GAME IS THE SHIT GO OUT AND BUY IT I SWEAR ITS NOT A WASTE OF MONEY THIS IS THE NEW WOW  ALOT OF POEPLE HAVE LEFT WOW FOR WARJHAMMER    as for john hey man get off your ass  go out side see the light and buy the game if u are a turnn mmo player u will love this game  this is a sure thing and this game will go places

Thanks for the great article but I still think this one is a pass for me .. maybe in a month or 2 OK.

The one comment I wanted to make was the title. "WAR, What is it good for?"

All I could think of after reading that was the 80's band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. "WAR, What is it good for ... Absolutely nothing .. Say it again." After reading the article I can say that that is not the case. But thanks for the memmories I may have to go and listen to a little Frankie a bit later today.

Man am I old ... SIGH

Originally posted by thamighty213

Originally posted by JK-Kanosi

Originally posted by IAmMMO

Originally posted by JK-Kanosi

I was a MMORPG fan when I first started playing DAoC in 2001 and then switched to SWG in 2005. I can't say for sure if I am a MMORPG fan anymore though, because community is just as much a feature of a MMORPG as PvP or Raiding. The community since WoW came out in almost every MMORPG I've played has been rude, anti-social, and disrespectful with small pockets of mature people. This is the exact opposite of how the community was before WoW. Your last paragraph said that you would recommend the game to fans of MMORPGs, but I cannot say for sure if I am a fan of MMORPGs anymore. I love the idea of building a character over a long period of time with other people online, but I absolutely hate what the MMORPG community has devolved to.

I guess the question is: Is the WAR community like the DAoC and SWG community before WoW brought several million people into our games, or is the WAR community like WoW's?

 

  I couldn't agree with you more. This is the main reason I'm not bothering with WAR, or a lot of other MMO's now for that matter anymore. They're full of the young teens born in the late 1980's and early 1990's, or the Beavis and Butthead generation as I like to call them. Not all in that generation are bad I know, but a majority of them do have issues on how to act socially in a MMO.

 

 

Yeah, I know I am over-generalizing here, but there is a lot of truth in what I am saying. It's weird how MMORPG "seem" to attract the same type of people in every game. There could have been mostly teenagers playing MMORPGs before WoW came out, but you'd never know by talking to them. I felt like I was around people just like me.

 

TBH guys Im not finding that the WOW crowd has jumped ship, or they have grown up and not brought there childish antics with them TBH on my server the majority are 30 something brits who grew up on Warhammer and we are having a blast without a omfg i pwnt u anywhere to be seen.

After playing all day yesterday, I think I got lucky too. I didn't run across any people acting immature and everyone had normal sounding names. I think I misjudged how the community in this game would turn out. People aren't very talkative, but they do tend to help you out when in need.

Originally posted by knightaudit

 

 

Man am I old ... SIGH

*pats knightaudit on the back* don't worry, many here are :D

Dead on review. Thank you!

Originally posted by JK-Kanosi

I was a MMORPG fan when I first started playing DAoC in 2001 and then switched to SWG in 2005. I can't say for sure if I am a MMORPG fan anymore though, because community is just as much a feature of a MMORPG as PvP or Raiding. The community since WoW came out in almost every MMORPG I've played has been rude, anti-social, and disrespectful with small pockets of mature people. This is the exact opposite of how the community was before WoW. Your last paragraph said that you would recommend the game to fans of MMORPGs, but I cannot say for sure if I am a fan of MMORPGs anymore. I love the idea of building a character over a long period of time with other people online, but I absolutely hate what the MMORPG community has devolved to.

I guess the question is: Is the WAR community like the DAoC and SWG community before WoW brought several million people into our games, or is the WAR community like WoW's?

/sign
Yepp SWG did have a great community, UO hade the same. But as you say, since WoW launch or SWG (messed up by $OE) died. I havent seen any MMORPG:s that has a good community.

Originally posted by damian7

Originally posted by JK-Kanosi

I was a MMORPG fan when I first started playing DAoC in 2001 and then switched to SWG in 2005. I can't say for sure if I am a MMORPG fan anymore though, because community is just as much a feature of a MMORPG as PvP or Raiding. The community since WoW came out in almost every MMORPG I've played has been rude, anti-social, and disrespectful with small pockets of mature people. This is the exact opposite of how the community was before WoW. Your last paragraph said that you would recommend the game to fans of MMORPGs, but I cannot say for sure if I am a fan of MMORPGs anymore. I love the idea of building a character over a long period of time with other people online, but I absolutely hate what the MMORPG community has devolved to.

I guess the question is: Is the WAR community like the DAoC and SWG community before WoW brought several million people into our games, or is the WAR community like WoW's?

 

quite honestly, the community in any online game is what you make it...  if you're looking for a bunch of spoiled brats, that IS what you'll see.  but, there are quite a number of mature guilds in every mmo i've played.

stay away from the "silliness" in official forums, and play with your guild.

Well, I had a run-in last night with a few "wonderful people" who decided to come into a chapter 2 PQ in the Dark Elf area (the one with the 75 Spites, etc...)

We were doing just fine as a group, had to work together - especially on Part II and III of the PQ - and the rewards were evenly spread all around.

Out of nowhwere comes these 3 or 4 players, at least 4 levels higher than any of us, with glowing weapons... they're 2-3 shotting everything, a sorceress was AOE'ing multiple targets.. Basically, they were sapping all our influence... instead of 60-90 per kill on average, I was getting 20 if I was lucky. One person mentioned how since they showed up they'd managed to get close enough to even *hit* maybe 4. 

They showed up half-way through a PQ and managed to pull the top 3 spots. And then did so for the next PQ as well. Someone said something, and one of them made a typically ass-hat "loln00b lrn2ply kthx" type comment.

Then they vanished. 

I'm not sure what happened... I didn't see them run out, didn't see them port out... they just disappeared, all at once. Wondering if maybe a GM caught on to it and decided to remove them from the area. They were clearly too high/powerful to be farming influence in that spot.

So yeah, idiots have already taken up residence in WAR. Not like I'm surprised though.

Originally posted by MrRose

Originally posted by JK-Kanosi

I was a MMORPG fan when I first started playing DAoC in 2001 and then switched to SWG in 2005. I can't say for sure if I am a MMORPG fan anymore though, because community is just as much a feature of a MMORPG as PvP or Raiding. The community since WoW came out in almost every MMORPG I've played has been rude, anti-social, and disrespectful with small pockets of mature people. This is the exact opposite of how the community was before WoW. Your last paragraph said that you would recommend the game to fans of MMORPGs, but I cannot say for sure if I am a fan of MMORPGs anymore. I love the idea of building a character over a long period of time with other people online, but I absolutely hate what the MMORPG community has devolved to.

I guess the question is: Is the WAR community like the DAoC and SWG community before WoW brought several million people into our games, or is the WAR community like WoW's?

 

/sign
Yepp SWG did have a great community, UO hade the same. But as you say, since WoW launch or SWG (messed up by $OE) died. I havent seen any MMORPG:s that has a good community.

Speak on it people! Wow, being the McDonald's of MMOs, has severely diminished the quality of player you get in today's mmo because when you can do everything solo and there's no penalty for being a jerk like not being able to group easily you get the asshat convention that so many of us older players despise. ESPECIALLY when they revel in their asshattedness like when they're higher lvl, twinked and ganking you after you just fought some mob and declaring you a "n00b" and themselves "l33t". R34d a b00k.

BTW coh has a really nice community, very friendly and helpful.
 

Mr. Wood makes some good points about this game. 

The fact is, this is not a deep game like say EQ2 Vanguard or LOTRO where you have alot of aspects to the game that are not combat based.  Such as housing, in depth crafting, serious roleplaying possibilities (playable instruments, faction based costume gear etc..).  I know in EQ2, alot of the players that are left don't even participate in any combat at all, but just hang out in the taverns or travel around Norrath RPing with folks.  This is not a game you are going to get lost in for hours wandering through pretty forests RPing with the local elves without fighting anything.

However, what WAR is, is a very good RVR/PVP game with some good PVE questing elements.  It is first and foremost a combat game, and that's really about all it is.  It does this very well.  I'm having a grand ol time of it, when I get sick of button mashing and pwnin n00bs, I can always hop back over to LOTRO for some good ol fantasy RPing and immersion.

War is a niche game, as it is totally focused on one aspect of what we traditionaly think of MMORPGs, at least how they were before WoW.  This niche however seems to be the biggest niche out there, which is hardcore combat based pvp.

Thank you, Jon.  I love your style.

Interesting to reads Jon's points on the PVP in WAR , I have never ever enjoyed PVP in any game until now that is. !  The Scenario's and Open RVR areas are a brilliant idea and if like me me you've always been scared of PVP well now their is no need as with WAR it gradually draws you in and before you know it your having a blast !

At first I was getting killed alot but a few Renown points and a trip to the renown gear seller started to change all that, I actually started to hold my own and even started getting a few solo Kills.

I have to say the first time I saw Destruction players actually running away from my Swordmasters onslaught was amazing !!

anyway Jon thanks for the great read and I think most of your points were spot on the mark !

right off to go find a better Sword !!

 Great review. I love your approach.