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Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning News - Land of the Dead Hands-On Preview
Posted by Dana Massey on May 12, 2009 | 47 comments in our forums
It's coming. In Patch 1.3, Mythic plans to unleash an epic new zone called Land of the Dead, modeled after the Darkness Falls contested dungeon in Dark Age of Camelot. But that is not what is most interesting about this quasi-expansion pack to Warhammer Online.
The new quests all take on a distinctly new style, one that is a massive departure for not only Warhammer Online, but also MMOs in general. It represents a new direction for their game, as they introduce more console-like gameplay elements into an MMORPG. Find out the details in our Hands-On Preview from Baltimore Games Day.
The vast desert/Egyptian inspired area is littered with 18 Public Quests, combinations of which must be completed by groups of players in order to gain access to a final epic pyramid.
In a move that is likely to thrill some, and exasperate others, each of these quests is not just the typical staged open kill quest from the regular lands of Warhammer Online. Each has its own unique “console-like” element to it. That’s not to say WAR has become an FPS game, but clearly the designers have done their homework and crafted challenges that test not only the level of the character, but also the abilities of the person behind the keyboard.
;)
Read it all here.
Beyond my wildest dreams.
So much more then i expected, cheers mythic finally some decent PvE content side by side with RvR. Good for the whole family.
good luck mythic, hope you can pull back some subs.
Think i might have another look... let me know how you get on.
I was looking forward to this patch when I first heard about Lotd. Unfortunately, it will just be another lag fest because their engine blows chunks.
I won't be handing over any money until these basic issues are resolved. I don't expect to be playing the game again, if I'm honest.
if the area is large enough i dont think there will be too big a problem.
Sounds like a great addition. Is there a free trial by chance?
There is a free trial. You are restricted to Tier1 which means you will get to see the horribly boring PvE 99% of the game has to offer and see the BEST that the RvR has to offer. After T1 the RvR loses ALOT. Alot of work needs to be done to the rest of the game before they add in new gimmicks to try and pull people back. I would concider it possibly, maybe, if they would get rid of 80% of the CC. I hated WoW pvp because of all the CC and WAR is worse imo. Not only does every single class have some kind of CC or snare (and in most cases multiples ones) the immunity timers arent shared and in some cases broken.
So yea it sounds neat and all but I wont be going back till they fix the CORE of the game.
Good grief... Mario platform hopping... timed quests... how much more childish can this game get?
Holy crap that is alot of content for free. Definately not the same smash and bash. I'm very impressed. It all sounds like lots of fun and I may need to resub for this.
Glad to see some good stuff from Mythic. Got to say this just adds to an already great game. Probable the best Fantasy Game out there right now.
I always welcome new game play.
This looks like very fun
I agree, I love how people talk bad about a game they've never played.
Sounds like a massive expansion that totally fails to address the ridiculuously small number of core class/race combos, tedious pve, linear zones or any of the other pre-40th problems with WAR.
Maybe I'd go back if they just handed everyone 40ths on character creation...
This is not an expansion. Just one of the major patches they roll out with content every couple of months just like WoW does. It's Warhammer lore - what are you expecting? KotBS who are dwarves or elves so they can have more race/class combos? Lol. They'll be adding new races/classes when their first expansion comes out.
This is a pve addition - how does it not address that? This changes the outlook on the generic pve crap from most every mmo these days. It's something new actually.
And lastly - yep.. linear zones.. it's a linear game.. as is WoW and just about every mmo out there right now with the exception of a few. What did you expect? And none of this talked about their plans for bug fixes or even much of their plans for RvR improvements/updates... it was specifically for LotD stuff - they're still doing much more in 1.3 than just this.
Aw - how cute. How long have timed quests been in mmorpgs? Quite some time actually - last time I checked the PQs already had timers. Mario is a fun game.
Okay, first off - disagree with me and defend the game all you like, but "warhammer lore" my aching arse. Warhammer "lore" has like a dozen intelligent races and a much wider variety of characters than Mythic put in...please get a clue.
A PvE addition, that adds a PvP zone as its main feature - or did you not read/understand that whole "Darkness Falls Clone" thing? Access to the zone is controlled by PvP and PvP with other players in it is one of the main features.
Yep most games are linear, WAR took that to an absurd new height, there might as well be a little glowing path about 10 paces wide throughout the entire game.
Very nice to see some more pve aspects coming from mythic. I admit Ive been missing this game. I might have to wait till they finish the aoe situation though.. My bright wizard cant handle any more dramatic changes in gameplay. That aside, this seems very intresting and its a good step in getting my sub back. Mythic seems to be understanding some of its lackluster qualities and making steps to fix a particular problem.
Just as I started to enjoy the game. I guess I am a purist when it comes to games. I do not want a drastic departure for the game I purchased. I know I will not get my money back so all I can do is not renew my subscription. Too many MMOs change their formulas and make drastic changes all the time.
I would rather they fix their original ideas.
My free month + trial ends next week and I was in two minds whether to pay for another month; this settles it.
I will not be subscribing and WAR will be off my list of MMOs to follow. I gave up playing platform games in about 1986 and I have no wish to revisit that part of my youth.
"Instead, the invading realm will need to purge them through a series of missions."
What a crock of bull. Is this supposed to be an RvR PvP game?
Im an original DAOC'r DF was all about getting the instance aligned to your faction and then you yourself run through it and purge the opposite team.
Looking good!
I think it's time for me to resub and give WAR another go. =)
I can't see why people would bitch and moan over a free content patch that adds more to the game. Sure, there's things that needs to be addressed. But overall I think it's a fun game that are getting better and this will just add to that.
Hell, if you don't like it, don't play it. It's a no brainer.
Cheers.
yeah? it's the same you know... kill them all, they can't respawn if they release.
I was quite disapointed with how Warhammer turned out after following it's development from the beginning but this news makes me want to have another look at it. Some of the newer stuff sounds quite fun and it does seem that Mythic have taken some feedback and tried to offer a bit more to the PVE side of the game.
Time will tell of course :P
Great addition of new content, even htough it's more raid focused than ever. I still won't come back. I hate the class system they have and will continue to do so until they completely revamp it. I don't know why today's developers continue to think that dying in mere seconds in PvP is somehow fun. That constantly running back into battle from your spawn point or as a weak ass rezzed free kill is enjoyable. Maybe that's why the game has such a large PvE following, they're too irritated to PvP at all. Of course, the the same could be said of WoW, it's PvP is just as retatardedly done wtth nothing but constant respawns. Sometimes I think these MMO companies are COMPLETELY clueless.
I have to agree, there is alot of stuff in this upcomming patch that is going to be alot of fun, such as being dropped off at the top of the mountain and getting back down asap, will certainly make for many funny scenes I'm sure =).
Good to see an MMO picking up and using ideas from outside the genre, rather than your mundane go out and whack a few mobs they are trying to give it some more depth.
Change to how PQ's work in general is a welcome change aswell, and it's good to know that they realise that the system needed changing.
All in all I'm very impressed aswell with the details of the patch.
Okay, first off - disagree with me and defend the game all you like, but "warhammer lore" my aching arse. Warhammer "lore" has like a dozen intelligent races and a much wider variety of characters than Mythic put in...please get a clue.
A PvE addition, that adds a PvP zone as its main feature - or did you not read/understand that whole "Darkness Falls Clone" thing? Access to the zone is controlled by PvP and PvP with other players in it is one of the main features.
Yep most games are linear, WAR took that to an absurd new height, there might as well be a little glowing path about 10 paces wide throughout the entire game.
Firstly whys your bum aching?
Secondly please give everyone hear your definative list of the current top MMO's out on the market right now that do not have a linear path, there is only 2 games that spring to mind and in truth they still have a degree of linearity, EVE and DFO.
No game out there is truly free form, you have to complete A to get B and so on, WAR follows the same tried and tested formulae, but it certainly does not take it to new heights in my opinion.
Oh as for lore, who gives a fig about lore, 99% of ppl don't even read the quest dialogue in an MMO anyway, it's all fluff and deters from what ppl really want to do, kill,collect loot and kill some more.
Heh I was reading this and straight away I thought of the Rog's stunlock in WoW when I was unfortunate enough to get jumped by one without anything to pop to get me out of it, a few seconds later I was buzzard bait, or when my Resto druid met up with a Ret Pally, again I could throw everything I had at the guy and not make a single bloody dent, again I was buzzard bait.
I hated the win win classes in WoW, well for that particular month anyway, all change the following patch as we all know with Blizzard they always favoured one class each patch to Op them.
The WAR classes also need alot of attention aswell, but tbh Mythic has done a similar job as every other MMO game I've ever played, a few OP classes mixed in with the rest.
Im sorry to say but so far this smells of huge PR campaign that is aimed for reporters to talk about "the new" stuff coming. PPL always seem to forget the footnote that says "so far we havn't played much of it ourselfs but we saw fotage of some cool stuff".
Some of this sounds promising but again - it has endless "gray areas" that isn't talked about. PVE zone that still has PVP elements ? How is that PVE then ? If you have to watch your back forother faction when playing PVE - then its not PVE.
Why is WAR a game of only 300k ppl ? My opinion - because it has weak PVE content and considering the lore around Warhammer francies its increadible how bad job Mythic has done to transfer solid QUALITY lore based PVE content into the game. They have managed to turn it all into PVP - something that only small portion of the entire gaming comunity is intresting in. Atm it looks like Vanguard will be the only option for PVE players - even tho there are litterally - MILLIONS of players looking for a new PVE MMO game.
Last but not least. The PQs are in many ways good thing. But in some ways they are terrible. Having to compete with fellow ALLIED players for rewards is calling for grief and ill feelings. Now... thats not PVE content. Good PVE content calls for "TEAMWORK" where EVERYONE benefits. If not in terms of loot then in terms of beeing a part of a group that works as a unit - counting on you to do your job for the good of the whole. Thats not what PQs are about. So far I have not logged on for WAR PQs without seeing comments like "Piss off" - "we dont want you into our group" and "haha" when someone dies instead of beeing helped to survife. Now... thats not teamwork... Thats exactly NOT what PVE should be about.
The ruleset build around PQs is bad - it has been that from day one and Mythic is doing very little to improve it. One way of improofing it is to give "everyone" some rewards (not just zone rewards) for taking part. Now .. with everone - I mean ofc everyone that is actually taking part in the PQs. Its easy to create a ruleset that prevevents AFKers from beneftitting. For example its easy to limit the rewards given out based on how you did compared to the top contributor. For example - you have to contribute at least 1/10th of what the top person did. Easy but is still rewarding. Im not calling out for a token system like in WOW but it would fit very well to the PQs. 1 token for everyone for example. 1 extra token if noone dies (in those kinda PQs). That will increase the NEED to teamwork instead of just killing things and hope others die so they dont get the loot.
My bet is that this new area will be "rough around the edges" in many ways. Some things will probably work well - but Im also pretty sure that much of it will be "bugged" and not really thought out from the player perspective - only from the developer perspective. Thats the thing that is jumping out after first months of WAR. Good ideas in the eyes of the developers. Not so good when actually in the game and beeing played by the players.
In my opinion a game can only be great at either PvE or PvP .. not both. Look at WoW it use to be a great PvE game with PvP tacked on for something to do on the side. Now it is a mediocre PvE game with horrible PvP as it's main feature. Look at Warhammer it's PvP needs some work but overall it is decent PvP, with PvE tacked on to the side. Now when they try to start putting some focus on PvE you have the same thing. You can't be good at both. Classes have to balanced for one or the other.
If you balance for PvE then PvP is going to be no good, if you have PvP designed classes the PvE is always going to be mediocre.
In my opinion a game can only be great at either PvE or PvP .. not both. Look at WoW it use to be a great PvE game with PvP tacked on for something to do on the side. Now it is a mediocre PvE game with horrible PvP as it's main feature. Look at Warhammer it's PvP needs some work but overall it is decent PvP, with PvE tacked on to the side. Now when they try to start putting some focus on PvE you have the same thing. You can't be good at both. Classes have to balanced for one or the other.
If you balance for PvE then PvP is going to be no good, if you have PvP designed classes the PvE is always going to be mediocre.
While I am sure Mythic would disagree with your core point, something they said that I didn't sneak into the article was that while obviously they try and balance for both as much as possible, they understand and believe RvR is the main focus of their game and keep that in mind when it comes to these decisions.
Okay, first off - disagree with me and defend the game all you like, but "warhammer lore" my aching arse. Warhammer "lore" has like a dozen intelligent races and a much wider variety of characters than Mythic put in...please get a clue.
A PvE addition, that adds a PvP zone as its main feature - or did you not read/understand that whole "Darkness Falls Clone" thing? Access to the zone is controlled by PvP and PvP with other players in it is one of the main features.
Yep most games are linear, WAR took that to an absurd new height, there might as well be a little glowing path about 10 paces wide throughout the entire game.
First off - get a clue - maybe reword your sentences better. "Class/race combos" - fail - do you not see it? Different class race combos? And I'll repeat again since you choose to only respond to parts of my posts - THIS IS NOT AN EXPANSION. Mythic will be adding in new races and classes in their expansion - which i'll say again - this is not their expansion.
Next - it's an effin PvP game. The main feature of the zone is PvE. Deal with it. I spent many hours in DF - and guess what I did 85% of the time in there? PvE - that's right. Yeah - you have to PvP to get control of the zone - so what? You've gotta freakin' kidding me if you're whining about that.
wow.... it looks like a game.... in a game.... PQs should have been like that ( with a bit of challenge) from the beginning
Wow.... content like this doesn't come free very often in MMOs. The devs have been doing what they've promissed for a while now, and yet people are still bashing content before it's even released? It raises the question of whether or not some people can be pleased by anything?
I'm not saying this content will be good, or bad, but it's a lot of free content coming our way. At least give it a chance to leave the production floor before you start chalking it up as a lost cause. It's not meant to be an end-all savior for the game, but it is supposed to help maintain interest. At least give it a chance to do so.
Dark age of camelot has the Trials of Atlantis ... which is a expansion that some claim was the downfall of Dark Age. Now Mythic flops on their model that they know has success .. and trys to make a retarded 2 realm model of dark age with wow style graphics and gamneplay. Its a epic failure.
Now to try and correct the mistake they make graphics that should really be Dark Age of Camelot II ... but have none of the classes because they are still crappy wow toons ... now trapped in a kick ass envirnoment. The 2 styles do not even resemble each other .. and to see character models like WOW in trailers for Land of the Dead almost makes me cry.
All I can say is ... craptastic!
I have to say I have been patiently waiting for the DF expansion, hoping to god that some fix would come through that would make me enjoy WAR. I loved DAOC for almost 4 years, but WAR, it just seemed to take all of what I enjoyed from DAOC and either water it down or remove it.
I had hoped DF would change that, and while I plan on activating for a month just to be sure, the following line really bums me out.
Naturally, at the time of any switch, players are likely to be in the middle of an instance. They’re told that their realm has lost control, but they are not booted out. Instead, it just means that if anyone hits the respawn button, they must start back in their own realm, although resurrection is still allowed.
So basically, this isnt DF at all like we are used to. Its an instance... there wont be any epic fights here, there wont be any sneaky stealther games, its going to be 60+ enemy instances, that get cleared out one at a time instead of a realm war. Part of that does sound interesting, but the giant standoffs that were the norm in the old school DF, the stealthing as the 50man army of the enemy realm walks by and then picking off the stragglers wont work.
Instead, its going to be an instance clearing fest, that doesnt sound like its going to be to much fun
Ah but thats the thing isn't it? They aren't keeping RvR in mind when it comes to making decisions. They are just trying to pull another WoW and shove instanced raiding/ bgs into the game. The REAL solution to the problem is to remove Scenarios. Seriosuly, I like scenarios as much as the next guy but its really killing some of the numbers needed for opvp. Then they need to focus on more content for opvp, the pve stuff will come in due time... sadly though they are chosing a path that many gamers are not going to want to go down.
Quoted for emphasis. Seriously. It's like they don't see the problems they are creating. Its kinda like nordenwatch... the people with the most higher level people are going to win that match. But that is just an example of a much bigger issue.
Another thing, this garbage doesn't fit in the character design for the game. Bouncing on platforms have nothing to do with class skill sets or character build. This isn't mario for godsake. I liked Mario because that was what the game was designed for bouncing around, that was the game. Mario didn't have 45 skills and different classes, all he did was bounce around. That WAS THE GAME.
Bouncing around on platforms has nothign to do with Warhammer character design. Why have all thes skills and class trees .. classes etc if this is the stupid crap they are going to have us doing? Remove all classes and abilities and give us mushrooms to increase our size and flowers for fire power too. MMOs are getting worse every day. Content should be in this game designed around killing other players in a team. There is the strategy, and the design of the game.
This is just gimicky and cheesy.
I concur with most that is said in here, Mythic is just making their game watered down even more and trying to turn it into something it's not and never was supposed to be
this LOtD DF clone will be an epic fail, while it has some pretty cool and interesting ideas it's still an instance (it shouldn't be) and it won't be anything like DF
I remember when DF first came out getting that feeling of excitement when I go into anpother realms area to pick off people pve'ing, this won't be anything like that
Mythic isn't even the same Mythic anymore :(
Sounds fun to me. Looking forward to it.
And just to note to all those complaining this isn't anything like DF, it sounds like it is. Many of you seem to be focusing on just the instanced pyramid part, but you still have the purge the uninstanced zone as well, which seems pretty similar to DF. Its just that they added an additional instance pyramid part as well.
If some of you watched the videos on WHA regarding this zone you'll see alot of the stuff you claim is going to happen or think is going to happen, is so far from the truth. This is exactly like DF. I love how someone calls a game with 300k a failure, a failure would be 20k and a subsequent shutdown. An MMO is only a failure if it dies. If you do not even play the game or never have, why are you even here QQing? When I do not like a game with such vigor as some of you trolls do, I would steer clear of it's forums, news stories and ect.
You need to take in account that there are ppl who respond on this website who are within the gaming industry and work for other companies who own MMO's, as such it is inevitable that responses on games that are in direct competition will recieve quite vocal hostility.
You need to buy yourself a BS gauge from any good Hardware store or DIY store, they will be able to detect those that spout out total crap and need to be ignored when it comes to gaming, they are the ones that take things far too seriously and forget we are all hear to have FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
You need to take in account that there are ppl who respond on this website who are within the gaming industry and work for other companies who own MMO's, as such it is inevitable that responses on games that are in direct competition will recieve quite vocal hostility.
You need to buy yourself a BS gauge from any good Hardware store or DIY store, they will be able to detect those that spout out total crap and need to be ignored when it comes to gaming, they are the ones that take things far too seriously and forget we are all hear to have FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Ahh yes that could definitely be the case, hadn't thought of that. I agree, games are for fun and I do not know why some take them so personally.
I'm glad WAR is giving more to its members. I don't play anymore - wasn't my taste - but it's good to see that some people are still enjoying it. Personally, I wished their MMO was DAOC 2...but wishes often aren't fulfilled =).
Always nice to see some more live events :)
Dont play anymore but hopefully if this kind of content continues they will draw some more people back.
Shame about the lack of rag-doll mind.
WAR is on the right track, and LotD is the perfect expansion, last week I had so much fun in WAR that it almost came close to DAoC SI.
Greetings
WAR is alot closer to a "DAoC 2" now then it was at launch, LotD will make it even more so.
Oh right, that was deep. And I suppose that is why WoW sports 11 million subs at the moment, because none of them have played most Warcraft games and know the characters. And fyi what you describe is certainly not enough to keep most Western gamers playing. Might work in Asia, but not here (as much).