WAR (Warhammer Online) Forum » General Discussion » WAR returner trial: returning is not worth it

Originally posted by Synthetick

I believe they added new content in an effort to give something to the players who stuck around, add on to the content they've been playing since launch. And an effort to bring back a lot of the players who quit due to lack of end-game.

I didn't mean that content was WAR's biggest issue. WAR has a whole heap of problems, but slowly they've been fixing them, and at the same time adding new content for the current playerbase. If you ask me, they're doing what they need to do in the situation they're in as far as active subscribers go.

Realm imbalance is an issue within any game with multiple player factions/realms. Transfers and everything help smooth that out a little bit, but in the end, it's the player's choice to pick a server and realm, and you could always have the possibility that one side is significantly larger in number than the other. But eventually, after time, it tends to settle down and even out. They have the population to support the type of gameplay they offer, it was just to spread out. Now they cut down the amount of servers and there's a lot more activity.

The game's not perfect and never will be, but it is fairly entertaining now and playable. I rerolled recently and have found hours upon hours of RVR tiers 1-3 with no complaints. The numbers are generally even, and if not, they get there soon enough. But T1-T3 are going to be what the new players experience first, and right now they're in pretty good shape.

As a person who came back for a second time, I can tell you that something changed for me. I really can't put my finger on it, but I'm having the time of my life now. Maybe its the class balance or the addition of the new classes.

When I originally rated WAR, I said that the community will kill this game. I couldn't have been more wrong. Sure, there are lots of immature kiddies in region chat, but I noticed that the higher the tier, the less of that there is. Seems those morons can't seem to get past level 10.

Whatever it is, WAR has me back and I haven't seen any game in development that has me interested enough to jump ship.

That's your opinion. Respect.

On the other hand I play WAR and enjoy it immensely.

I never play PvE because it does not interest me. I can jump in a PUG scenario and have a light-hearted fun n kill time or I can make a killer premade to own certain scenarios where each win is crucial for a zone lock. I just came in from 6 hours of intense open RvR in Etaine where 3+ warbands coordinated to take over and hold different open RvR objectives. I spent my time assaulting an undefended keep, sweating that we're not going to get to the keep lord before their defense force arrives to catch us with our pants down. Later I was a part of a feint action where a few of us assaulted a keep to draw their forces from the real objective of our main attack. I defended a few battlefield objectives in the face of massive zergs, lost one and then retook it with another warband that came to our assistence. I had a hour of casual entertainment (and dinner in front of the PC) patrolling the exit from destro warcampt to slow down their reinforcements into the zone. In addition I went to 2 local scenarios in that zone that we had to win somehow but destros placed a killer premade so despite all our efforts it took us ages to lock it - no VPs from scens today. To let off the steam I went for a several non-crucial scens and had lots of fun, have no idea who won more but it was great.

The hidden joy of WAR for me is the strategic component that the game has. You are a part of a larger struggle and you are a cog in the machine (tho you can always play leader if you're able). I find even "loosing" enjoyable. When my group gets wiped by a zerg that we managed to fool and draw away from the real objective of our coordinated server effort we feel like heroes. And when we hear that that keep on the other side of the map was taken by our boys because the defense was divided (due to us making noise) we all feel that we played a part in that victory.

I play an engineer who is a ranged dps of somewhat stationary nature - traps, turrets etc. If a melee dps even so much as look at me I'm dead. And this is fun for me. I play with my mates. I watch their backs and they watch mine. We all watch the enemy. Teamplay is the word and I wouldn't have it any other way.

IMO the greatest flaw in the WAR at this moment is the T4 campaign. Instead of creating new (PvE in disguise) content with LotD Mythic should have concentrated on improving the original stuff - most importantly redesigning keep sieges, adding more varied content in rvr lakes and fixing the fortress and capital endgames. I hope bioware will have more sense and finally start listening to the real playerbase of WAR - PVP-ers. At any given moment I'm certain that at least 90% of players are PvP-ing - so the decision to concentrate all that time and resources into what is basically a PvE expansion is puzzling to say the least. However despite the flaws, for me it is the best world PvP game out there and I enjoy it immensely. When ans if they finally make the tactical component of the open RvR as fun and varied as the strategic one and especially the scenarios it'll be perfect for me.

Basically if Mythic completely kicked PvE out of the game (except the bits in RvR lakes) none would be happier than me. PvP is what WAR is all about and this PvE crap is standing in the way, occupying huge amounts of game areas (mostly empty of players) while RvR lakes seem small, stifled and empty of content. Imo, Mythics gratest mistake was trying to cater to both crowds which made them both unhappy. They should have picked one and stuck with it - and that should have been PvP, both because of the IP and the fact that there already is a very popular game with great PvE out there that was going to be hard to beat while the PvP corner of the market is pretty much empty.

That's my opinion.

Oh and 2 groups can't take a keep, especially in lower tiers. Forget it. Unless they are a well trained guild premade. For a PUG keep taking you do need a warband (4 groups, 24 people). And yes, keep taking is not a fair fight and nor it should be. Keeps are well known force multipliers, you realize that? A good group can beat off a pug warband easily. That's why you have to think strategic, pick your fights and outthink your enemy on the campaign level - watch a good warband leader work and you'll see what I mean. If that's not appealing to you then play scenarios with a premade of friends. That's pretty cool, intense and you'll contribute to your realm.

Well, I tried it for a couple more weeks and really liked the population improvements. I think this game has potential, but it still felt dull and underwhelming. The PvP was pretty good, but became monotonous after a while and I still couldn't see a lot of the content (like Public Quests) because no one was doing them. I finally canceled my subscription again when I realized I hadn't played for a week and didn't feel like it. I will probably give it a try in 6 months after they've had some more time to update content and do some more polish.