A good while back I called for the removal of scenarios from WAR, they were detracting from oRvR and to me felt like they were only put in to catch gamers that needed some World of Warcraft familiarity.
Ok, so this is me eating my words. :P I’ve actually been enjoying scenarios immensely over the last few months. I think this is down to several factors.
1) I almost exclusively play in guild groups.
I can’t stress how much better scenarios are if you play with guild groups. If you end up stuck with a bunch of clueless buggers with Internet Twat Bully Syndrome™, well… at least there are 6 of you in there that can try and make a difference. Hell, if you’re lucky with your timed sign ups then you can get a couple of guild groups in at once, which makes for a much more satisfying experience (possibly not for your enemy muhahaha).
Also, just like skirmish oRvR, when you are in a scenario communication and reliability are key. A good bunch of mates and a ventrilo server can make all the difference. Win or lose, it’s more fun when you can have a coordinated attempt at victory.
2) Its not just Serpents bloody Passage anymore.
Variety is the spice of life. Previously when I did a lot of scenarios it was back when all you got was Serpents Passage. Thankfully those days have gone and we get a decent mix of scenarios to fight in.
3) WAR’s scenarios are mostly rather good.
There’s a lot of scenarios in WAR I like; Logrin’s Forge, Battle for Praag, Maw of Madness, Grovod Caverns and Gromril’s Crossing to name just a few. Most of WAR’s scenarios are variants on capture the flag or king of the hill, but they’re nicely mixed up and well made.
4) No Zerg.
Zergs aren’t my cup of tea. I’ll follow them about for ease now and again, but I much prefer more of the small skirmish type fights. Big fights can be fun for sure, particularly when the sides are fairly even. A 4 warband pile up entertaining, but unfortunately all too often its big zerg vs small zerg. With zone layout and the zone locking campaign promoting the zerg, it’s important to have alternatives.
Of course scenarios can also be unbalanced and they are very good at putting emphasis on the overpowered elements in an MMO. I imagine every WAR player, both Order and Destruction, has experienced the pain of facing multiple professional bomb groups. *shudders* I suppose the more you reduce the size of a fight; the more you highlight the abilities of the individuals in it. That said, I think often people forget that this is not just highlighting advantages of different classes, but also the skill of the player.
The only thing I personally find frustrating with scenarios is when people leave early. Short of a RL emergency I never quit scenarios and I encourage my guild members not to either, it’s just not the Kill Frenzy way. It’s all about the waaagh man… That does however mean we sometimes get stuck in impossible situations. A night or two ago I was in a guild group doing Battle for Praag. On joining we quickly realised the other Destruction were randoms and we were facing at least 2 premades of decent Order. After one wipe the other Destruction just buggered off. Leaving us all alone... More destro queueing solo would join, see the score and then leave as well. We of course stayed to the end and tried to put a fight up, but when there are 6 of you taking on 18 coordinated enemies camping your spawn, well… that’s only going to go one way. :P
That’s not so much WAR’s fault as it is many players lacking any sense of honour and only playing for the renown gain. People can say what’s the point of fighting in an obvious loss, but then if everyone had that attitude and simply quit at the first sign of a loss, then there wouldn’t be any PvP at all. If you can’t cope with losing now and again, go PvE. Plus there’s nothing like turning a losing scenario around for a win, which I guess some folks will just never experience.
Scenarios are more fun to me at lower levels. On Dark crag we were pushing zones all the time you were lucky to have 2-4 to pick from like Thunder valley, and Logrins Forge. We know how fun those are. In lower tiers I find most pretty fun except Stone troll crossing, and bloodfire basin or whatever its called.
ReplyDeleteScenarios and their layout are up to T4 good. In T4 itself I think, that they drop in qualtiy *shrug*
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I do with a char reaching rank40 is to stop playing scenarios solo, just guild/alliance groups and that's way more fun.
And on leaving the scenario early.. I even saw people leave the scenario a) before it began b) if they disliked the group-setup *eyeroll*
My motto there is "never surrender".. From time to time you are able to counter those bomb groups and that's just a fine reward... better than any renown for me.
The lower tier scens are cool that's for sure. I solo those when leveling too, but yeah tier 4 I very rarely do anything other than guild groups. Makes all the difference.
ReplyDeleteI like Logrins myself, but Thunder Valley... ugh. Not enough fighting in that.
It's good to see you are enjoying the scenarios. I really didn't understand peoples beef with them, bar the very early days, the 1st 3 months.
ReplyDeleteThe still provide the most opportunity for balanced fights.
I still intensely dislike Grovod Caverns though. With the poor collision detection/sliding around objects it's a pain in the ass.