Thursday 9 June 2011

WAR Dare to dream poll results

The latest poll here at BBB posed the question: Dare to dream! What would you most like to see in WAR?

I decided against making the poll multiple-choice as I figured people would just pick all of them and really I wanted to see what would be everyone’s single pick. The results are now in and came out as follows:
  1. 3rd faction 39%
  2. Expand the existing RvR areas 20%
  3. New zones 12%
  4. New races & careers 9%
  5. Missing Cities 8%
  6. DAoC style relic fortress raids 8%

Not a shock result by any means. We all know that a third faction should have been included from launch, it was a total no brainer, but one that for some strange reason Mythic decided against. If any one thing could transform the fortunes of WAR it would be the introduction of a third faction, that and some bloody advertising... Unfortunately, whilst it’s not impossible to introduce a third faction this late in the game, it’s a big task and I would imagine extremely expensive to do. Still, I did say “dare to dream”, so a glorious pipe dream wins and I must say that I 100% agree with everyone that voted for it. I would love to see a third faction introduced and as I’ve said in previous posts I’d really like to see one themed around either Nature or Disease.

What is interesting to see is the second placed choice of expanding the RvR areas. I say this not just because I’ve mentioned it many times before, but because this is one where instead of voting for new content, people are actually voting for Mythic to simply make the most of the content they’ve already got. It’s also an option that s completely viable and Mythic could actually do this, if they’re brave enough. Also as Epikk recently mentioned in a comment on a recent post I made, it’s a little surprising that they haven’t done so when you consider that with the level and renown bracket changes, people are now staying in tier 3 until they hit level 40 and are able to acquire renown items that are FAR superior to any PvE items outside of Tier 4’s LV and TotVL dungeons. So the entire Tier 4 PvE landscape is now not just unpopulated and unused, but is now completely and utterly useless. LOL it’s not PVE anymore, it’s UUUU! Unpopulated, Unused & Utterly Useless.

One of the most entertaining battles I’ve been in recently was one where it spilled out into the landscape to the west of Southern Garrison in Praag. It started with Destruction being pushed well away from the keep and turned into this huge battle that for the first time in, oh 2 years, was taking place in somewhere that was effectively entirely new surroundings… Turn some of the PQs into battle objectives, make some of the castle type buildings into DAoC style towers (mini keeps basically) simply by adding doors and TADA! A revolutionised game that has suddenly got a LOT bigger (about 3x bigger) and in effect has masses of new content, since not that many people have even looked at all the PvE landscape anyway! Yes, I know I’m going on about this a bit lately. But people keep mentioning it to me and I just can’t help but think it’s just so damn obvious to do and the effect would be a truly magnificent change.

Yet, from this poll the first choice would be the best, I have no doubt at all about that, but it’s not very likely unless Mythic really do have something awesome in the pipeline that would be a shock to almost everyone. I say almost everyone… You maybe hearing some interesting theories about WAR’s future soon from other sources… I’ll just leave that cryptic statement for you there. Anyways, if we can’t have the first choice, I’ll gladly settle for the second.

Be bold Mythic, be brave, be the company that turns their long suffering game round with an unexpected move and show your players some sodding aplomb.

7 comments:

  1. Only problem I can forsee with expanding rvr into the pve zones and removing the mobs would be the effect it has on Tome unlocks and all that jazz.

    Personally wouldn't bother me but I imagine its one of the things holding them back (or being used as an excuse)

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  2. Time unlocks is important content yo :p

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  3. As you say "dare to dream", so fair enough the third faction coming out on top. I don't think this is in any way feasible though. It would effectively mean re-writing the game.

    So, as you say, onto more attainable dreams. Couldn't agree more about expanding the zones. Would be a great move by Mythic and would totally re-energize the game. There is some beautiful scenery out there just rotting away. I'm pretty sure it's not a simple thing to do, but it does feel within reach. The development versus reward ratio just feels too good to ignore.

    On the subject of great content rotting away... the city dungeons, Lost Vale and ToVL are now pretty redundant due to the armour changes (will new jewellry set in lastest patch make ToVL completely redundant? It's a worry). These could be easily made relevant again by adjusting: a) the entry level (make them say lvl30 across the board) and b) adjusting the stats on each armour set. So:

    Sentinel becomes stat equivalent to Invader
    Darkpromise becomes stat equivalent to Warlord
    Tyrant becomes stat equivalent to Worn Sov

    This would get all three areas populated again in no time. Why would anyone grind Sentinel pieces? They are Conqueror equivalent which most people are wearing in tier 3 at lvl30. By the time most players are reaching lvl40 these days they are in Warlord at least.

    Anyway, I could ramble on away on various tangents but I'll leave it there for now. Nice poll :)

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  4. That's a really good idea for the dungeon loot. It would make them relevant again and also give the new level 40s other routes to getting competitive quickly, and therefore enjoy the game more.

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  5. With Perfect hindsight they should have focused on getting the most out of the story for as many peeps as possible and have three factions.
    Empire (plus allies), Chaos inc Beasts, Then a third faction of DE and Skaven.

    Unfortunately WAR is a classic and grand example of scope shift in a project. It was conceived as PVE game - look at the detail given to the quests and the Tome but shifted towards being an RVR focused game. 2 realms are fine for PvE but not for RVR. They shift the scope of the project but didn't have the means or the time to deliver it.

    I am surprised that my VC discovery didn't get you more interested Bootae. It must be a later development, Mark Jacobs said that he loved them but no work had been done (in 2008) yet. Also on the porfolio it said the work had been partially done by another guy - a quick check of his Linked in site showed that that quy quit Mythic earlier that year.

    VonPP

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  6. sorry I meant this year at the end.

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  7. I looked into it mate. Apparently they did a bunch of work on VC stuff a while back apparently, but it didn't go anywhere as of yet. Now that could lead anywhere in future, or not. However... Mykiel has some stuff he thinks he had uncovered that he will talking about soon, which may or may not be related to that. So I'm not posting any thoughts myself yet, as I don't want to steal his thunder.

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