All Posts by Wyluli

Originally posted by Shard101

I don't believe a damn thing Blizzard says about its inflated subscription numbers. I seriously doubt Mythic even believes it.

 

CCP and EVE Online are the same way about their over inflated subscription numbers.

 

WoW barely has 5mil real subscriptions and that is pushing it.

How fascinating... And upon what have you based your estimate? I was just being silly when I mentioned reported subscription numbers. No doubt you infiltrated Blizzard's headquarters where, with great stealth and guile, you pilfered the true subscription numbers and made away with their nasty little secret. That'll show 'em! 

Originally posted by Shard101

"Upon playing Warhammer, I understood immediately what the game was intended to accomplish. First, I got a sense of WoW in terms of art and gameplay  "

 

 

I stopped reading right there.

 

WoW's art isn't original.

I never said that it was... If you had read my entire post, you would know that I make reference to WoW because its overwhelming subscriber base means that the majority of MMO gamers, both old and new and still increasing in number, are still in Blizzard's court, and that the people at Mythic realize this and are focusing their efforts on those players.

For starters, I'd like to say that I'm a member of the skeptic's camp. I used to look at any upcoming MMO with bright eyed hope and anticipation, but the industry sort of... beat that out of me... repeatedly... with increasingly bigger sticks.

That being said, I played Warhammer during the preview weekend, and I wasn't surprised at all to find lots of things about this game disappointing. Maybe I was being too harsh, but I think I'm still sore from AoC.    But that's not what my post is about right? The title is "Why Warhammer will succeed brilliantly," so let's get to it.

Upon playing Warhammer, I understood immediately what the game was intended to accomplish. First, I got a sense of WoW in terms of art and gameplay (just a sense of it mind you). Second, I got a large helping of PVP, a blending of WoW and DAoC would  be a rough description. And  third, I got a sense, both from my own experience with the IP and from the impressions of other gamers that this is really Warhammer, and that the name itself would sell  - more often than not to WoW subscribers.

Essentially I get the feeling that Mythic's objective was to pick out one popular aspect of World of Warcraft (PvP), make it the centerpiece of their game, and attempt to do it as well or better than their competitor has (though pre-release, "better" is still arguable).

Now, many games have released since WoW reared it's ugly head (or pretty, depending on how you look at it), and most of them have tried in one way or another to draw new people into the genre with their "revolutionary new features." But where are these new players? They're playing WoW of course (at least 9 million of them, since the rest are us old veteran MMO gamers). At this point, it's fair to say that the "gamer pie" IS WoW, and that anyone looking to create a hugely successful game needs a huge helping from the WoW pie. And I'm not sure whether I'm happy to say this or not, but based on what I've seen and heard and played, I predict that  Warhammer Online will do this.

As I played, I increasingly gained the feeling that if I'd been playing endgame World of Warcraft for any considerable length of time, and even had an inkling of boredom or that I'd like to try something else, then all I would need is a big name, heavily hyped on the horizon, and some good old WoW familiarity and I would jump right onto the bandwagon (assuming I still played WoW, that is ).

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not calling Warhammer a "WoW-Killer." Frankly I don't think any such thing will ever exist. History has taught us that successful games just fade away into quiet oblivion as the years go by. They don't die in cataclysmic explosions * and I'm talking the successful ones here, Vanguard and Shadowbane don't count  * What I am saying, is that to get more than a million subscribers, Mythic has to go after WoW players... Gung Ho... without a shred of shame, which is, as I said above, exactly what they are doing. And I think a lot of WoW players are ready for something else.

Originally posted by Bleanienia

I've been playing on Set(US Server), for the past 1 full day of EA, So far no ones really been talkative, and there is a massive "leveling rush" so everyone keeps to themselves, But from what I've seen happening, is that people are sticking to the "Unofficial" server classifications Set(PvE PvP) Wicciana (PvE RP) mite re roll on Wicciana, Set seems alright, but I didnt get enough of a "headstart" to warent trying to grind out the rest of my time on a server that seems to have no community.

(I spent level's 15-19 in the Multiplayer sections and didnt get anything as much as a "Hello" from anyone in any of the Tortage areas (thier names all escape me currently))

Hey say hello if you come to Wiccana

Doh! we made our posts like 1 minute apart lol. Guess I'll put my name here too :P

Davoren, atm lvl 20 Aquilonian Assassin on Wiccana server.

So far, great community  :)

For those of you that choose the Wiccana server,  look me up and drop a hello!

Feel free to use this Thread to list your character names and servers so we can find each other come game time.

Originally posted by admriker4

 

Originally posted by Wyluli

Yknow what?

At least the devs at Funcom never forgot that they were making a game.

Because lots of companies thought they could make a quick buck in the MMO market by producing gigantic visual chat servers that they hoped their subscribers would somehow turn into a game.

See Shadowbane and Acheron's call 2 and Lineage 2 and EQ2 for example.

So many companies try to take a quick road, build servers, build pretty graphics, and bam, insta-game right? NO. Glorified chat server is what (and one that takes up a lot more system resources than IRC :P)

The bottom line is this: Funcom aimed to create a story-driven world that would pay homage to Robert Howard's Conan short stories; to put US into those stories and let us live that adventure. And they meant to make a game first and foremost, both immersive and fun. (WoW actually did this too, if you need a success to compare it against). And frankly, the fact that it's an online world should come secondary to making sure the game is F U N. Because if it isn't, nobody is going to stick around to make a "community".

So, since the original poster is enjoying his "ride," I'd say he's in fact having fun, and therefore the game is exactly what it should be. (which is good)

edit: Lineage 2 is really only successful because Korean players seem to have way lower standards than the rest of us have regarding our games.

 

 

in other words, funcom wrote a book. books can only be read so many times before they get boring. Wouldnt it have been better if Funcom had created a Virtual World (sandbox MMO) where we could write our own books ?

Certainly. And they can hire you to take care of the whole sandbox thing for them I'm sure. Anyway, as with WoW, the book ends and the personal story begins with the endgame (which I will quickly agree can also become boring)

But let me put it to you this way... if something is skill based, then I grind my skills up to max, at which point I am... well... maxed

Then what? Well, then we start fighting big monsters in raids and... collecting loot... and... wait, that sounds like end game WoW... Which also becomes boring.

In fact, if you want to take it to its furthest extreme, EVERYTHING becomes boring with time. Damn human need for novelty. Alas.

edit: and personally, I've always felt that a Game and a Virtual World were two distinct and separate things... and if a company aims to make one or the other, well then that's what they do. Perhaps we need to clamor for a Virtual World to be made for us... /shrug

so is "skill based" now synonymous with "sandbox"?

Just trying to get my Jargon straight 

Yknow what?

At least the devs at Funcom never forgot that they were making a game.

Because lots of companies thought they could make a quick buck in the MMO market by producing gigantic visual chat servers that they hoped their subscribers would somehow turn into a game.

See Shadowbane and Acheron's call 2 and Lineage 2 and EQ2 for example.

So many companies try to take a quick road, build servers, build pretty graphics, and bam, insta-game right? NO. Glorified chat server is what (and one that takes up a lot more system resources than IRC :P)

The bottom line is this: Funcom aimed to create a story-driven world that would pay homage to Robert Howard's Conan short stories; to put US into those stories and let us live that adventure. And they meant to make a game first and foremost, both immersive and fun. (WoW actually did this too, if you need a success to compare it against). And frankly, the fact that it's an online world should come secondary to making sure the game is F U N. Because if it isn't, nobody is going to stick around to make a "community".

So, since the original poster is enjoying his "ride," I'd say he's in fact having fun, and therefore the game is exactly what it should be. (which is good)

edit: Lineage 2 is really only successful because Korean players seem to have way lower standards than the rest of us have regarding our games.

There are many differences between AoC and EQ2 but foremost in my mind is that EQ2 was a bland, completely uninspired game, filled with large landscapes of absolutely nothing... Even the main plot of EQ 2 was a hackneyed piece of crap.

AoC on the other hand, takes some techniques used in EQ2, including instancing and talking NPCs, and then both visually and with intricate storyline, re-creates the scope and feel of Robert Howards original Conan short stories. I strongly recommend everyone read a few of them, it really enhances the appreciation of the game and how the designers presented it.

After all, it isn't about doing everything uniquely, it's about doing everything right.

I'm on a pve server myself so I haven't had to deal with it, but I understand what you're saying...

the way the system works, if I zone from A to B, then I will always appear in the same spot in zone B... And when you zone in, your view kinda "fades in," and someone can theoretically already be killing you by the time you can see where you are. (in fact, this happens in one of the quests I did, where I "appeared" too close to the mobs, and they saw me first :P)

To answer your question, some major zones have multiple entry points, and at the very least, the "Tortage" pre-20 area is made up of lots of instances, so you're not likely to appear in the same instance (and therefore not be ganked by the same PK twice) Not sure how much consolation that is though lol

edit: Also there's a recall ability so there's always the option of gating back to town (which is safe)

Originally posted by anwar

Well, for one thing solo (night play) is solo , you can't group up to like level 15-or 20 and the instances adapt to your level, so if you are playing a group centric charactor like ranger, you can't complete early instances if you are an average player because you can't out-level the hard ones to complete them.

 

This is the reason I am not buying the game... too much frustration.

Yknow it's funny, I tried a demonologist first and I kept dying and couldn't seem to get past a certain part, so I re-rolled an assassin and I suddenly kicked major butt...

Meanwhile I heard people ripping on assassins and claiming they couldn't survive with them... And later I saw demonologists that totally looked like they were rocking... I don't think the classes are the issue, I think the game is just different than a lot of people expect, and that a lot of people will find that they now lean towards classes they never used to play before. If it's true, I think it's a good thing.

I think you may be referring to zoning, not instancing... correct me if im mistaken though...

Most zones that i have encountered are click-to-zone... On only one occasion ive been able to "run into" the zone.

Items are not generated Diablo-style, they are specifically defined.

No leather hats of the monkey here :P lol

edit: yknow I take that back, I have seen some things with random sounding modifiers on them, different varieties of stilettos for example... maybe a mix of both types?

The zones are big, and there's a lot to do in them, and there is really no feeling of confinement or smallness whatsoever.

Originally posted by howardb

How do you like the game so far?

I was in beta for the last month also, so I knew I would like the game. Personally I think it's awesome, best thing that's come along in a looong time. Having lots of fun

edit: If you're interested in a slightly more thorough review than "it's good!" I posted this review during open beta:

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/178052

Yea I got in after a friend of mine told me that he already couldn't... He bought from gamestop, the pre-order with the mammoth mount, and I bought from bestbuy, the preorder with the rhino mount...

Makes you wonder if they didn't allocate a specific number of slots for one type and a specific number for the other... Since everyone rushed to gamestop like lemmings, I guess those sold out first eh?

Originally posted by orangekat

 

Originally posted by LordZon

I have a wife and kids how much nudity is there and can I turn it off?

I want to play but I can't hide my game.  And an mmo you can only play late at night does me no good.

 

  I believe he said he wanted to block the material so his mom wont reconsidering taking the game back. "wife and kids" who puts that into a forums? You play the game in secret and inst inst inst all over it if you wanted to play it for its mature rating :P

AND!!!!!! WTB More pixilated boobs! 20Copper pieces min, Max ill go is 5gold pieces. PST

You know I hadn't thought about it before but you're right Orangekat, this is probably some kid that doesnt want to admit he's too young...

Gathering what? resources? As I understand it tradeskills can't be chosen until level 40... Not even sure if there is anything to gather...

I'm on Wiccana, havent seen a bare boob so far... Who's reporting this stuff?

Still, as a beta tester, I felt it was my obligation to see what could get past the name filter... When my friend and I created a female character we tried Slutia, Slutteria... no go.

We did get Hussy and Skank and Trollop though... beware Funcom!