All Posts by Pynda

In my opinion you're missing out on the best gear in the game if you don't do the PQ's. And the experience isn't too bad either as long as you make sure you are fighting mobs of equal level or above.

I use WarDB to look at the PQ rewards for each realm and chapter, then I go to where the loot will be something I can really use. And this also lets me travel around and see the world. I'll also pick up quests at the local hub while I'm there, but I don't dwell on them. Because the quest rewards really are second rate. When I finish a chapter, but am still a little low in level for the next one - then I do scenarios, and RvR based out of the war camp if anything is cooking at the time.

This may not be the fastest way to level, but screw it. I play these games to have fun, not to compete with anyone else except myself.

Some important updates on experience rewards:

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/206934

WARDB:

http://www.wardb.com/

From my perspective (as a mid level player) the biggest problem with RvR is that all the rewards uniformly suck when compared to doing scenarios. You're almost forced to do scenarios if you want progress along with your peers (I have the misfortune to have joined a hardcore guild that may soon boot me for being too low level). Scenarios are fun for a time, but they are repetitive and they don't help with immersion. They are akin to the experience you might have playing a first person shooter - doing the same map over and over again. Not my cup of tea...

PQ's - You need to do them for the gear because PvP gear sucks nad. But everyone seems to just park themselves at the first PQ in the chapter (closest to the relevant village), and then grind it out till the end. I've seen 60+ people at one of these initial PQ's. And after having got my bag yelled out I'm going to the next one two minutes down the road, anyone want to come along? And nobody follows. They're all like zombies. So I've pretty much just given up and now do the same. Finish the chapter in one place, and then move on. Because as I said, my guild are mostly on to tier 4 now.

PvE (questing) - Next to useless for experience and gear. Do it if you want to try and get more out of the game, but expect to be thought of as a chump for making that choice. Everything about WAR PvE reminds me of WoW, even down to the ding sound it makes when you complete a quest. In fact, everything in WAR - classes, graphics, generic gear, linear world design, etc. - feels like WoW to me except the PvP. And I've already played WoW. But then again, I've always been more of a free form AC1, SWG type dude to begin with. So I do think WAR is a game many other people might well enjoy. There is definitely a spark at work here.

There are some pluses to being a Rune Priest. It's a rare occasion that I'm not in the top 3 for both experience and realm points for my side in scenarios. And I absolutely top the chart quite frequently. I also do very well in PQ's. As for survivability, I'd say I die less than most other classes. Last night my scenario team got backed up against our own cliff, and I was the last one to go down. I think I actually held off upwards of eight or ten Destruction beating on me for twenty seconds or so.

But yes, Witch Elves are a particular bane. I had two of them (working as a team) come out of stealth behind the lines and start spanking me a couple of nights ago. And it was lights out in mere seconds. And your tanks are not usually going to do you much good in these situations because they can't see you - they are up on the front line. And even with guildies and Ventrilo, they are probably still not going to have the time to save your ass. But one thing to remember about these ambushes - the WE or Marauders who try it are almost certainly dead themselves shortly afterwards. I stand in front of my BW's, SW's and Engies for a good reason. Because they WILL see the attack, and they will exact retribution.

As for enemy tanks, they don't scare me much. I find it very easy to keep myself healed, and still be able to heal other people at the same time with a single tank doing his worst to me.

Soloing with a RP? Granted, it's slow, slow, slow. And I have trouble with Champions even three levels below me.

Just make sure you pick a good casual guild. My guild was advertised as being for both casual & hardcore players before release, underwent a leadership change the day after release, and has now become the hardest of hardcore. I saw 27 people booted just the night before last. The total given the axe or pressured to quit is now around 200, and rumor has it that anyone under level 20 is going to be cut today. I'm 19, so I suppose I could make it if I really wanted to. But it's a drag having your play style being dictated to you by fanatics.

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There needs to be, at the very least, server forums. As I anticipated, it has led to varying problems.

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Warhammer Alliance is for all practical purposes 'the official site'. And the server boards there are very active.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=86

Are you sure you are not having a firewall problem? The WAR .exe changes almost every day, so you have to give new persmissions accordingly.

Alt + Tab out of the loading screen to your desktop, and see if your firewall is asking you to approve a new connection.

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The game looks great, offers compelling new experiences and freedom players don't often see with some of the most widely played MMOs. - Derek Wise, founder and CTO of GNi, Inc.

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If Darkfall is nothing more than a scam, then this guy has to be lying through his teeth. No two ways about it. So I'll take this as another small, but encouraging sign.

C'mon, everyone has to begin with pc's sometime. Why don't you guys cut the OP some slack.

To be a little clearer, usually when you install a program you will be asked whether you want to create a desktop shortcut. Just answer yes. If you are not asked, or you do not have a shortcut after installing use the big 'Start' button on your bottom bar (taskbar) > go to 'Programs' > and you should be able to find the program start button you are looking for.

To actually create a desktop shortcut use 'My Computer' (look that up in 'Help and Support' - also on your main Start button if you have to) and navigate through the directory tree to the folder where you believe the program is residing. For example like C:\Program Files\Warhammer. Open the desired folder (double left click on it) and look for the executable file. These files always end with an .exe extension. So for example if you see 'Warhammer.exe' that's almost certainly it. And if you see another file like wardb13data.exe that's almost certainly not it. Right click the correct .exe file and select 'create shortcut' > and you'll see a new icon or file title created in the folder named 'Shortcut to Warhammer.exe'. Left click on that icon, hold down the left mouse, and 'drag' the icon out of the folder to your desktop > release the left mouse button > and that's it.

*Note - when you are in (any) folder in 'My Computer', select 'Tools' on the top menu bar > 'Folder Options' > the 'View' tab > and scroll down until you find "Hide extensions for known file types". UNCHECK IT! Then hit the 'Apply to all folders' button at the top of the box. Hiding file extensions in 'My Computer' displays is one of the most idiotic default settings ever conceived. I just explained how you are looking for a key .exe file so you can create a shortcut. And many other files can be understood when you begin to recognize file extension types (i.e. .pdf are Adobe Acrobat text files, .rtf (rich text format) are Windows Word files, .html are web browser files etc.). Having these extensions hidden by default from users is tantamount to calling them all too stupid to live.

GL

Edit: Sometimes filenames in 'My Computer' are partially obscured (even if you have switched off 'hide file extensions'). Just hover your mouse cursor over a file, wait a second or two, and a tooltip should pop up with its complete name.

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Originally posted by 4Renziks
WAR is a well formulated game like WoW

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I think you hit the nail on the head right there. It's like WoW and it's formulaic. It is WoW, except with better PvP and worse crafting. It's WoW v1.3.

Not a bad game really (I'll probably play until level cap just like I did in WoW), but I won't be spending years here. I'll be in Darkfall or Pre-CU SWG (again) as soon as they are released.

Has anyone seen a decent map posted anywhere yet? If so would you give us a link.

Graphics:

Cities and Countryside: Excellent (certainly better than Vanguard, say)

Characters: Very Good

Battle Animation: Very Good (blood only on crits please, a peeve)

Mount Animation: Very Good (mounted fighting, you don't see that in Warhammer etc.)

Char Running Animation: Granted, could use some work.
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So WTF are you graphics whiners complaining about? You've still got WoW. If this game only has 75% of the features Adventurine has talked about, it's going to be a real winner for a lot of us here. And the rest of you can still go play Hello Kitty or whatever other dumbed down, linear grindfest gets your rocks off.

There's still a lot Darkfall has left to prove to me (Darkfall & Light II?), but I wish you mutts would get a grip. This is good news, not bad. Be happy.

Note: I also don't like seeing cannons/guns/gunpowder in fantasy settings. But that's another peeve of mine. And I'd be willing to overlook it if the game was good.

Not being an outlaw site, I think mmorpg.com is in a tough place. Trying to retain friendly relations with both the industry, and with its own subscribers. But I have a certain distaste for the Boy Scouts, as you call them, too. Let the mods do their job. In my opinion NDAs are not in the interest of the forum members here. They are now largely being used, in the last couple of weeks before a release anyway, as a tool to try and rip us off with.

In a related vein, I'd also like to see the censorship lifted here on a certain Star Wars Galaxies project. Pre-CU SWG is abandonware, plain and simple. And free speech is free speech. But this is just a peeve. I do still enjoy this site with its current level of moderation (which is generally fairly lax).

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Originally posted by Teiman
A sport game is itself very simple, lack modability, etc... is something work better on a console.

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At least with football, that's just because they dumb down the games to be compatible with a console controller. And of course they also neuter them to be compatible with the intellectual capacity of your average console player.

There used to be a very fun franchise called 'Front Page Sports Football' for the PC that had - for one example - a complete play editor. You could design all your own plays from the ground up if you wanted to. But Madden drove them out of business years ago. So I broke down and bought a copy of Madden after that happened, and it was so boring and stupid it was in the trash an hour or so later. I haven't bought a sports game since.

I believe you guys when you say that there are some real gamer girls out there, but that's not been my experience at all. I've found that most of the women I know hate gaming in general, and absolutely detest their men spending any time whatsoever on the computer. Why? Well my theory is that they instinctively sense that computers are a lot more fun most of the time than they are - and so are a threat to their dominance over you. And they are probably right!

What would I do in your situation? Dump the girl and keep the computer. But that's just me...

Innovative Gameplay Element #1 - the random item stat generator of Asheron's Call 1. Great fun and mystery to keep you interested during the grind. And strangely, never picked up on by another mmorpg since.

Innovative Gameplay Element #2 - the crafting and resource system of Pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies. But too much thought and reading required here for todays brain dead mmorpg buyer I suppose.

Yep. AC1 is just too underpopulated for me (I have been back), and apparently there are some technical reasons why Turbine can't do server merges with it - or I'd be there. And like some other posters have already mentioned, the other MMORPG I'd go back to again in an instant if I could is Pre-NGE SWG. So screw the rules here at mmorpg.com, I'm going to admit I'm pulling for a Pre-NGE SWG emulator to be released.

As for the rest, in my book there's not another worthwhile mmorpg left to play. So I don't play them anymore. I just hang out here whining about the good old days instead.

Boobs, blood, an M rating, and consoles.

I think AoC is aimed squarely at the (low) teen market, and its release was timed to coincide with the beginning of summer break. Simple as that.

OP's Point 1 - Limited sense of progression in sandbox/skill based games? I'd say the exact opposite is true, and that it's the linear, class based, everyone is maxed out in 1 month games that fail so miserably to provide any continuing sense of progression or achievement.

UO and SWG have already been honorably mentioned by other posters, and I'll bring up another - AC1. I played the same character on AC1 for over three years and I was still working on my build (there effectively was no max level), still roaming the countryside looking for unique and kewl lewt (randomly generated items), and there were still quests, dungeons and other areas of the game I had yet to explore. And add to this that my character was only nerfed once during all those years - it was a minor and fair nerf - and that we used to get new content in AC1 free of charge every month.

OP's Point 2 - Sandbox games hard to make? Yes, but people here like me are saying it has been done before. IMHO what we are seeing now with modern MMORPGs is simply the meeting of the 'I don't want to read or think generation' - those who demand instant gratification - with publishers who are perfectly willing to design in simple mode and hopefully sell their slickly packaged watery gruel for even greater profits. But what I'm hoping is that even the common man is capable of discovering that steak tastes better than slop. And that these publishers will soon discover they are going to have to start giving us better as far as game design goes. At least if they want to keep retention rates high.

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Originally posted by markoraos
Your poll is going to be all screwy cause of all the people voting whatever just to see the score.

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Agreed, I've always felt people creating polls at this site should make sure to include a "No opinion, just show me the results" choice.

Participate in a few discussions here and earn yourself some credibility before you start originating threads like this one. People will just think you're a Funcom shill, and you'll do your cause more harm than good.

In fact, I think you you really are a shill. But you're so unconvincing I'm wondering if you are an anti. Working for SOE, etc..