Well things changed a bit already. We've set up Kill Frenzy on the Destruction faction, which means we've got a guild on both factions. However, we have no intention of being dirty cross-realming buggers... Quite the opposite really, as the plan was we'll switch to play on the underdogs faction if other people are being lame and switching to the overpopulated side to do RvPVE zerg crap. We will bring balance, or at least a 6 man wanting a fight. :P
Of course that went slightly out the window this week because we all really enjoyed playing our destruction characters again. So we've only played destro the last few days... I'm back on a Chosen as my main. I still love the class, far more to it that the ravage spam than some like to think. And most importantly, it looks badass.
As for Return of Reckoning overall... I'm really impressed with the work the guys running this server have done over the last month. Massive stability and performance improvements and they're really responsive to problems requiring a restart, etc. So a big thank you to everyone who's working on this server, your time and effort is most appreciated.
It's been a real eye opener and a pleasant surprise to see that WAR is still able to draw myself and my bunch of PvP obsessed mates in. Anyway, will talk some more about the game soon. :)
Showing posts with label WAR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WAR. Show all posts
Saturday, 12 December 2015
Thursday, 3 December 2015
Playing WAR again...
Yup, after all these years... Back playing WAR on the www.returnofreckoning.com server. My KF friends and I are messing about on Order as the Two Man Army guild. There's more than 2 of us, but we are doing small scale stuff, as before. Might write more, dunno yet.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Hello again
Sooooo, Guild Wars 2 is about to launch. It will be a huge deal at launch, obviously, and I think it will do well after for a good while too. Not exactly a shocking statement I know, since no sub fee should by default ensure so. Of course like most of ya'll, also I know plenty of folks getting all excited about it. However I'm well and truly back to not bothering with it at all. I just don't have the time, I'm in 3 betas that I'm very keen on and I tend to dabble with those when I have time for gaming. So little point in spending £50 on a game I won't play at all.
Situation remains as it was... Only games on my eventual horizon are free to play anyway, Planetside 2 and Mechwarrior Online. There's still nothing else inspiring me, that I can talk about yet anyway ;) Well I say that, I will dabble with others, but don't let that count as me giving two turds about them. For example.......
Star Wars (SWTOR) is going free to play. Yeah, good move. I enjoyed it whilst I leveled through it and thought it was pretty good, as a single player game... It lacked interest and most importantly motivation to continue as a multiplayer game, so a sub fee was always going to become an annoyance. When it turns F2P then I will reinstall and dabble a bit, but can't see me spending any money on it. Sure plenty of folks will though, at least if BioWare are clever with their cash shop and don't make it too aggressive a sell, if you get what I mean.
Oh and Vanguard has gone F2P I believe. I've never played it, but I might try it out of curiosity. I'm not expecting much.
All this prompts a question... Why the fuck is WAR not going F2P? Seriously.
Situation remains as it was... Only games on my eventual horizon are free to play anyway, Planetside 2 and Mechwarrior Online. There's still nothing else inspiring me, that I can talk about yet anyway ;) Well I say that, I will dabble with others, but don't let that count as me giving two turds about them. For example.......
Star Wars (SWTOR) is going free to play. Yeah, good move. I enjoyed it whilst I leveled through it and thought it was pretty good, as a single player game... It lacked interest and most importantly motivation to continue as a multiplayer game, so a sub fee was always going to become an annoyance. When it turns F2P then I will reinstall and dabble a bit, but can't see me spending any money on it. Sure plenty of folks will though, at least if BioWare are clever with their cash shop and don't make it too aggressive a sell, if you get what I mean.
Oh and Vanguard has gone F2P I believe. I've never played it, but I might try it out of curiosity. I'm not expecting much.
All this prompts a question... Why the fuck is WAR not going F2P? Seriously.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
Stuff I've been doing
OK sorry for slow posting, it was D Day in the whole epic life changing malarkey so had other priorities :P For now here's just a brief catch up on gaming stuff...
I went on to Warhammer Online again a little bit. Credit where credits due, it was better than that first night from my recent post. Yet everything I said still stands true. It was better because I stayed grouped all night, remained in the one zone that had fighting in, didn't do many scenarios and crucially because I stayed on my highest RR character all night. Don't get me wrong, I maybe banging on about the gear/RR issues (and they are pivotal to gaining/retaining new subscribers), but the list of issues with WAR is very long.
Yet despite me knowing it's probably beyond salvage, for some strange reason I still hold an inkling of hope for WAR's future. I honestly can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe I'm should drink less.
In other news... I've just got into a very interesting Alpha test, though not sure about the NDA yet. Will confirm and comment if possible ASAP. The big surprise however has been Neverwinter Nights 2. I'm not sure who had the idea, but a bunch of my KF cronies and I have been playing multiplayer campaigns on NWN2 and it's been great fun. Pure PvE, yet a pleasant distraction.
On the PvP front other than a little WAR, it's just been Tribes: Ascend for me lately. Still enjoying that. Plus I'm going to be trying out a persistent world PvP mod for Mount & Blade: Warband. I'm hearing very good things about the mod in question. Info on that once I've actually played it of course.
Oh and I forgot to say, since I had a few comments on this blog and some interesting messages sent to me elsewhere... I will expand on that idea from my previous post about how to make stats and progression work in a competitive MMO. Soon.
I went on to Warhammer Online again a little bit. Credit where credits due, it was better than that first night from my recent post. Yet everything I said still stands true. It was better because I stayed grouped all night, remained in the one zone that had fighting in, didn't do many scenarios and crucially because I stayed on my highest RR character all night. Don't get me wrong, I maybe banging on about the gear/RR issues (and they are pivotal to gaining/retaining new subscribers), but the list of issues with WAR is very long.
Yet despite me knowing it's probably beyond salvage, for some strange reason I still hold an inkling of hope for WAR's future. I honestly can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe I'm should drink less.
In other news... I've just got into a very interesting Alpha test, though not sure about the NDA yet. Will confirm and comment if possible ASAP. The big surprise however has been Neverwinter Nights 2. I'm not sure who had the idea, but a bunch of my KF cronies and I have been playing multiplayer campaigns on NWN2 and it's been great fun. Pure PvE, yet a pleasant distraction.
On the PvP front other than a little WAR, it's just been Tribes: Ascend for me lately. Still enjoying that. Plus I'm going to be trying out a persistent world PvP mod for Mount & Blade: Warband. I'm hearing very good things about the mod in question. Info on that once I've actually played it of course.
Oh and I forgot to say, since I had a few comments on this blog and some interesting messages sent to me elsewhere... I will expand on that idea from my previous post about how to make stats and progression work in a competitive MMO. Soon.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Return to WAR no.3
Earlier this week I activated my 2 weeks free return to WAR. I was bored and a little curious to see how things were these days. First impressions were not great….
ORvR lakes were far quieter than when I used to play. Sure there was some action and I did have a little fun and got a few kills, but the lower population was pretty evident. It’s a shame it took so long for the forts to get sorted out, because today there are quite simply not enough players for them to be of any interest. WAR is most certainly not everywhere.
Also obvious was the gear gap. The relation between Renown Rank differences and time to kill is absolutely horrific and unchanged from when most of us quit before. As an occasional WAR forum lurker, it is amusing to see people constantly bragging of player skill when they are all so carried by gear. Though I guess it’s hard for people to be objective when they’re so close to something, especially when it’s giving them huge bonuses. Anyway, I tried out a few of my characters that have a range of renown ranks and the difference between them is frankly ridiculous.
I will log on at least a few more times to get a more complete picture of the state of ORvR on Karak Norn and perhaps it will prove to have just been an off night.
Scenarios were horrible. I knew it would be bad, I’d seen people talking about it being nothing but RR90-100 premades these days and yeah, they were right. This is of course fine when it’s premade vs premade and if gear is less relevant, but alas WAR is neither of those things. As such the scenario scene will be an unpleasant experience for the majority of returning or new players in Tier 4. Epeen bollocks about L2P and people deserving their power because of time played is just naïve nonsense, that kind of thinking does nothing to retain (let alone gain) subscribers. Which is evidenced by the situation WAR finds itself in.
So far this 3rd return to WAR hasn’t done much to change my opinion of where the game is right now. There are things in the pipeline to address the balance problems, but I’m not convinced they will be enough and even if they are I doubt they will arrive soon enough to do much. The fundamental issues with WAR (aside from the factions) is that it is no longer a competitive game. An RvR game has to be competitive or it will alienate new potential subscribers.
If I could have my way with WAR I would:
This is of course too brave and probably impossible to do anyway because of effectively redesigning so much stuff. It would however work and would result in a competitive game where player skill and organisation would be the defining factor in your results.
ORvR lakes were far quieter than when I used to play. Sure there was some action and I did have a little fun and got a few kills, but the lower population was pretty evident. It’s a shame it took so long for the forts to get sorted out, because today there are quite simply not enough players for them to be of any interest. WAR is most certainly not everywhere.
Also obvious was the gear gap. The relation between Renown Rank differences and time to kill is absolutely horrific and unchanged from when most of us quit before. As an occasional WAR forum lurker, it is amusing to see people constantly bragging of player skill when they are all so carried by gear. Though I guess it’s hard for people to be objective when they’re so close to something, especially when it’s giving them huge bonuses. Anyway, I tried out a few of my characters that have a range of renown ranks and the difference between them is frankly ridiculous.
I will log on at least a few more times to get a more complete picture of the state of ORvR on Karak Norn and perhaps it will prove to have just been an off night.
Scenarios were horrible. I knew it would be bad, I’d seen people talking about it being nothing but RR90-100 premades these days and yeah, they were right. This is of course fine when it’s premade vs premade and if gear is less relevant, but alas WAR is neither of those things. As such the scenario scene will be an unpleasant experience for the majority of returning or new players in Tier 4. Epeen bollocks about L2P and people deserving their power because of time played is just naïve nonsense, that kind of thinking does nothing to retain (let alone gain) subscribers. Which is evidenced by the situation WAR finds itself in.
So far this 3rd return to WAR hasn’t done much to change my opinion of where the game is right now. There are things in the pipeline to address the balance problems, but I’m not convinced they will be enough and even if they are I doubt they will arrive soon enough to do much. The fundamental issues with WAR (aside from the factions) is that it is no longer a competitive game. An RvR game has to be competitive or it will alienate new potential subscribers.
If I could have my way with WAR I would:
- Remove all stats gains from items and make armour cosmetic only.
- Give characters a stat pool to distribute amongst their various stats, so players can still customise their play style, but wouldn’t gain more stats through farming gear or playing more than others.
- Renown rank would unlock the armour options and would also have new abilities linked to it. Sideways progression giving options, not stat power gain.
This is of course too brave and probably impossible to do anyway because of effectively redesigning so much stuff. It would however work and would result in a competitive game where player skill and organisation would be the defining factor in your results.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
New Warhammer Online website is live
Took a while, but it's finally here and looks fairly good. Most importantly it's actually up to date! Hopefully Mythic will keep on their toes with it and that will help stem off some of the "dropped game" perception within the general MMO community. A little bit anyway. Hopefully 1.4.6 can arrive sooner than the normal patch cycle and we might get a little bit of positivity going. Maybe anyway :P
http://ageofreckoning.warhammeronline.com/
http://ageofreckoning.warhammeronline.com/
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
A mixture of hope and apathy
At the moment I’m kind of adrift on an uninspiring sea of MMORPGs. There’s no siren call strong enough to tempt me into paying a subscription fee, I’m just not finding anything particularly alluring. Too much of the same old same old I suppose. So instead I’m just fiddling about with single player and F2P stuff, whilst I wait for one of the more interesting online games on the horizon.
As always I am tempted to return to EVE, but also as always, it’s just not life style friendly enough for me and my regular AFKing. Alas, I can’t see me being able to play EVE the way I would like to anytime soon. Though it’s probably a positive thing that real life prevents me from doing so, as I know EVE can devour you like a Sarlacc with the munchies. For now I’m mainly playing Star Trek Online. Just nipping on for an hour here and there to play through episodes or missions and set my next batch of Duty Officer assignments running. It’s free to play, quite engaging and I’ve always had a soft spot for STO. That said, the game won’t ever be my long term MMO love affair, but is more of a regular casual flirtation, perhaps with the occasional tongue. Flashing eyes across the office, the odd late night drinking session, but not quite worth a divorce.
Oh, I've downloaded RIFT again and will dick about the free 1-20 bit. Not logged in yet.
The only other online game I’m playing at the moment is Tribes: Ascend. It’s free to play, the cash shop is not essential and most importantly, it’s fun. This reimagining of the classic Tribes 1 and 2 is getting better and better and I recommend people try it out. Just be warned that it is not like your normal online shooters. It’s MUCH faster and you have to learn to lead your shots a lot more than normal. It’s all about predicting people’s movement and it can take some getting used to. Anyway, it’s a good game and recommended.
At some point soon I will be making use of my 2 weeks free in both WAR and DAoC, but I doubt very much I would subscribe to either in the near future. Obviously I’m a fan of both games, or at least what they once were, it’s just that WAR would really need to do quite a lot to make up for the Wrath of Heroes disappointment. The less said about that the better. Actually, as I write this I’m changing my mind slightly regarding DAoC. There is a bit more chance that DAoC could persuade me to take up a month’s subscription. It did grab me last year, surprising me how well so many things still played and looked. I swear if that game had a decent UI update it could see a reasonable resurgence.
Aside from those retro distractions, for me it’s all about the upcoming games; Planetside 2 and Mechwarrior Online. There’s a load more Planetside 2 news appeared in the last couple of days, which I’ll gather up and post about soon. Mechwarrior is continuing to drip feed news at a slow steady rate, though we’re still waiting to see some in-game footage. I hear we may see something soon however. Mechwarrior isn’t a MMO of course, but this blog is about stuff that interest me, so meh whatever. Oh and Hawken looks great. Me like mechs.
Elsewhere, I’m not totally writing off Funcom’s “The Secret World”, yet I don’t find myself particularly caring about it either way. To be honest I’m not quite sure why. Despite my many misgivings regarding Funcom, I do like what they try to do and certainly TSW has many features that tick my boxes. My apathy confuses me slightly. If I don’t get on the beta then I doubt I will try it until well after launch.
And on the subject of apathy… If for a moment I take off my Hat of Trolling+3, yes Guild Wars 2 has much potential and does look like some serious PvP goodness. That doesn’t change the fact that it will never be a game I get excited about and I still find it hard to motivate myself to write about it, but it’s certainly one I would like to see realise its PvP potential. Obviously Kill Frenzy and I will try it out.
Hopefully sometime soon we’ll start to get more news on Dark Millennium Online and World of Darkness. Both games are perceived as being on rather rough seas, what with the challenges faced by THQ and CCP, but I guess we just have to wait and see what news arrives. I still have high hopes for both games, purely due to their settings. Actually that’s not true. I have some confidence in CCP to deliver something interesting and hopefully sandboxy. Plus THQ have some excellent 40k games in their stable, so we know they’ll do the 40k universe credit when it comes to atmosphere at least.
I think that’s it for major MMOs of interest to me, can’t think of anything else. There are a few small games I have an eye on, but they’ll get posts of their own at some point. Oh and for the record, Diablo 3 I’m indifferent to and World of Warcraft Panda bear stuff just doesn’t work for me. Sorry Blizzard, as if you care lol :D
As always I am tempted to return to EVE, but also as always, it’s just not life style friendly enough for me and my regular AFKing. Alas, I can’t see me being able to play EVE the way I would like to anytime soon. Though it’s probably a positive thing that real life prevents me from doing so, as I know EVE can devour you like a Sarlacc with the munchies. For now I’m mainly playing Star Trek Online. Just nipping on for an hour here and there to play through episodes or missions and set my next batch of Duty Officer assignments running. It’s free to play, quite engaging and I’ve always had a soft spot for STO. That said, the game won’t ever be my long term MMO love affair, but is more of a regular casual flirtation, perhaps with the occasional tongue. Flashing eyes across the office, the odd late night drinking session, but not quite worth a divorce.
Oh, I've downloaded RIFT again and will dick about the free 1-20 bit. Not logged in yet.
The only other online game I’m playing at the moment is Tribes: Ascend. It’s free to play, the cash shop is not essential and most importantly, it’s fun. This reimagining of the classic Tribes 1 and 2 is getting better and better and I recommend people try it out. Just be warned that it is not like your normal online shooters. It’s MUCH faster and you have to learn to lead your shots a lot more than normal. It’s all about predicting people’s movement and it can take some getting used to. Anyway, it’s a good game and recommended.
At some point soon I will be making use of my 2 weeks free in both WAR and DAoC, but I doubt very much I would subscribe to either in the near future. Obviously I’m a fan of both games, or at least what they once were, it’s just that WAR would really need to do quite a lot to make up for the Wrath of Heroes disappointment. The less said about that the better. Actually, as I write this I’m changing my mind slightly regarding DAoC. There is a bit more chance that DAoC could persuade me to take up a month’s subscription. It did grab me last year, surprising me how well so many things still played and looked. I swear if that game had a decent UI update it could see a reasonable resurgence.
Aside from those retro distractions, for me it’s all about the upcoming games; Planetside 2 and Mechwarrior Online. There’s a load more Planetside 2 news appeared in the last couple of days, which I’ll gather up and post about soon. Mechwarrior is continuing to drip feed news at a slow steady rate, though we’re still waiting to see some in-game footage. I hear we may see something soon however. Mechwarrior isn’t a MMO of course, but this blog is about stuff that interest me, so meh whatever. Oh and Hawken looks great. Me like mechs.
Elsewhere, I’m not totally writing off Funcom’s “The Secret World”, yet I don’t find myself particularly caring about it either way. To be honest I’m not quite sure why. Despite my many misgivings regarding Funcom, I do like what they try to do and certainly TSW has many features that tick my boxes. My apathy confuses me slightly. If I don’t get on the beta then I doubt I will try it until well after launch.
And on the subject of apathy… If for a moment I take off my Hat of Trolling+3, yes Guild Wars 2 has much potential and does look like some serious PvP goodness. That doesn’t change the fact that it will never be a game I get excited about and I still find it hard to motivate myself to write about it, but it’s certainly one I would like to see realise its PvP potential. Obviously Kill Frenzy and I will try it out.
Hopefully sometime soon we’ll start to get more news on Dark Millennium Online and World of Darkness. Both games are perceived as being on rather rough seas, what with the challenges faced by THQ and CCP, but I guess we just have to wait and see what news arrives. I still have high hopes for both games, purely due to their settings. Actually that’s not true. I have some confidence in CCP to deliver something interesting and hopefully sandboxy. Plus THQ have some excellent 40k games in their stable, so we know they’ll do the 40k universe credit when it comes to atmosphere at least.
I think that’s it for major MMOs of interest to me, can’t think of anything else. There are a few small games I have an eye on, but they’ll get posts of their own at some point. Oh and for the record, Diablo 3 I’m indifferent to and World of Warcraft Panda bear stuff just doesn’t work for me. Sorry Blizzard, as if you care lol :D
Thursday, 1 March 2012
WAR dev on a right question roll
Keaven is on a mission it seems. Another dev discussion post and this one has yet more sensible ideas to suggest.
+++
Wanted to start a new thread to consolidate discussions on gameplay enhancements/updates for things not necessarily part of the campaign, and not dealing with scenarios. Some things that fall into this category are...
This won’t necessarily be for any one patch in particular, but will help focus our efforts over the next few patch cycles.
+++
Uhm wow? Potentially more gear gap fixes, making PvE content relevant again and a change to the bugged yet flawed concept of talisman charges.
2 days in a row with talk from Mythic that I am liking. Keep it up chaps!
+++
Wanted to start a new thread to consolidate discussions on gameplay enhancements/updates for things not necessarily part of the campaign, and not dealing with scenarios. Some things that fall into this category are...
- PvE Gear Revitalization
- Addition of new gear pieces to close RvR Gear Gap
- PQ / Lair / Dungeon Revitalization
- Talisman Charges/Refill mechanic
This won’t necessarily be for any one patch in particular, but will help focus our efforts over the next few patch cycles.
+++
Uhm wow? Potentially more gear gap fixes, making PvE content relevant again and a change to the bugged yet flawed concept of talisman charges.
2 days in a row with talk from Mythic that I am liking. Keep it up chaps!
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Mythic show some promise for patch 1.4.6
Whilst I'm not currently playing WAR and haven't for quite some time, I do still keep an eye on the game. Most often with a touch of frustration and gamer depression, but today that changes a little bit with Keaven Freeman's post about plans for the 1.6 patch. It is essentially a bug fix patch, which in itself isn't very exciting and of course I would love to see a big content patch, yet there are a few tweaks being considered for 1.4.6 plans that have the potential to make WAR a better and more balanced game.
Change Tier 4 lakes to bolster to 45
It may seem that WAR has a max character level of 40, but actually there are "hidden levels" that a character goes up as they hit certain high renown ranks. I've never bothered to properly learn the maths of why, but basically it's to do with making high end equipment stat increases scale correctly. Unfortunately it was just another part of making WAR become less about player ability and shifting the emphasis too far towards renown rank and gear. Of course if people look at it selfishly (and naively if they want the game to succeed) they'll think they should one shot everyone because they put the time in to get renown rank 100 and all the associated gear, but actually this model of progression is very harmful for a PvP focused game. It does nothing to entice new players to stick around (or old players to return), when they know it will be a frustrating experience as most current players have a massive advantage. So any steps towards making WAR more balanced and, crucially, more enjoyable for new players hitting Tier 4 is in my book a very good move.
Change scenarios to bracket by RR (renown rank) rather than CR (character rank; or level)
Same again really. It stops people getting auto facerolled by other players equipment, but it also stops people (at times justifiably) complain that they lost because it was so and so and he's RR100 and uber. AND it stops people (also, at times justifiably) blaming their losses on the lowbies they were stuck with. It should make for a much more competitive scenario scene.
Player-damagable Keep/Fortress doors
Hmmm. Everyone hitting the doors wasn't always great. However it was sodding worse when 1.4 arrived and all too often we ended up not having anything to do at keep sieges. Mixed in with possible changes to oil damage and this could get quite interesting.
There's loads of other things they're looking at fixing or tweaking in 1.4.6, but for me these are the things that have actually managed to catch my attention. Not big flashy changes, but changes that could make the WAR a bit more competitive again and improve the game as an experience.
Its looking like I will save my 2 weeks free return until 1.4.6 arrives.
Change Tier 4 lakes to bolster to 45
It may seem that WAR has a max character level of 40, but actually there are "hidden levels" that a character goes up as they hit certain high renown ranks. I've never bothered to properly learn the maths of why, but basically it's to do with making high end equipment stat increases scale correctly. Unfortunately it was just another part of making WAR become less about player ability and shifting the emphasis too far towards renown rank and gear. Of course if people look at it selfishly (and naively if they want the game to succeed) they'll think they should one shot everyone because they put the time in to get renown rank 100 and all the associated gear, but actually this model of progression is very harmful for a PvP focused game. It does nothing to entice new players to stick around (or old players to return), when they know it will be a frustrating experience as most current players have a massive advantage. So any steps towards making WAR more balanced and, crucially, more enjoyable for new players hitting Tier 4 is in my book a very good move.
Change scenarios to bracket by RR (renown rank) rather than CR (character rank; or level)
Same again really. It stops people getting auto facerolled by other players equipment, but it also stops people (at times justifiably) complain that they lost because it was so and so and he's RR100 and uber. AND it stops people (also, at times justifiably) blaming their losses on the lowbies they were stuck with. It should make for a much more competitive scenario scene.
Player-damagable Keep/Fortress doors
Hmmm. Everyone hitting the doors wasn't always great. However it was sodding worse when 1.4 arrived and all too often we ended up not having anything to do at keep sieges. Mixed in with possible changes to oil damage and this could get quite interesting.
There's loads of other things they're looking at fixing or tweaking in 1.4.6, but for me these are the things that have actually managed to catch my attention. Not big flashy changes, but changes that could make the WAR a bit more competitive again and improve the game as an experience.
Its looking like I will save my 2 weeks free return until 1.4.6 arrives.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
SWTOR - Level 50 done and done
Yup, that's my Sith Assassin at max level in SWTOR. I've immediately started doing a lot more PvP, which basically means Warzones (scenarios/battlegrounds) because bugger all PvP is happening in Ilum yet. Having said that, last night I was kinda half afk and as such was not PvPing, but the guys were telling me it had actually started to kick off a bit in Ilum. So there's some hope at least on that front. Plus once the patch arrives (it's been delayed again) it will change the Ilum daily/weekly quests to require player kills, which should in theory spark things up dramatically. As long as there's not too much of a faction balance problem...
The first thing I did at 50 was go and check out Ilum, which as mentioned before is just point swapping crap at the moment, but that's a real shame because the design of the zone itself is brilliant. It's got lots of routes for travel, loads of ambush points and a mixture of wide open and more funneled areas. The basic concept of the campaign system is good, it's basically like a RvR lake from WAR with keep at each end and the objectives between, but it has been completely let down by the lack of any incentive to kill the enemy players. Once (or if...) Bioware get that sorted out, then in theory it should make for an excellent RvR/PvP zone and I can see it being exactly the sort of thing that would keep me subbed.
In fact if Bioware were to sort out the incentives so that all the materialistic purple pixel obsessed lame arsed humans playing the game actually started fighting and combined this with adding further RvR themed planets, then SWTOR could actually be both a WoW and WAR replacement. That is a very big IF though... We shall see.
In other news, I've rolled my first proper alt. Gone for an Agent with the Sniper advanced class. Interesting so far, but more on that another time.
The first thing I did at 50 was go and check out Ilum, which as mentioned before is just point swapping crap at the moment, but that's a real shame because the design of the zone itself is brilliant. It's got lots of routes for travel, loads of ambush points and a mixture of wide open and more funneled areas. The basic concept of the campaign system is good, it's basically like a RvR lake from WAR with keep at each end and the objectives between, but it has been completely let down by the lack of any incentive to kill the enemy players. Once (or if...) Bioware get that sorted out, then in theory it should make for an excellent RvR/PvP zone and I can see it being exactly the sort of thing that would keep me subbed.
In fact if Bioware were to sort out the incentives so that all the materialistic purple pixel obsessed lame arsed humans playing the game actually started fighting and combined this with adding further RvR themed planets, then SWTOR could actually be both a WoW and WAR replacement. That is a very big IF though... We shall see.
In other news, I've rolled my first proper alt. Gone for an Agent with the Sniper advanced class. Interesting so far, but more on that another time.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
WAR Producer update
Whilst most of us are SWTORing away, there's still life in the old WAR dog and James Casey has posted a Producer update over on the official WAR forums. Should be some more developer discussion posts going up soon too. Whilst we may bemoan delays with 1.4.5, it is a sensible reason to delay putting the patch on the PTS for sure and I'm sure people would prefer to test something not totally FUBAR.
Now I shall return to sticking lightsabers up Jawa arse.
For those averse to link clicking, I've copy pasted the info below:
Greetings all
With the holidays looming, I wanted to give you a quick update on where we stand for our latest patch and what to expect over the next few weeks.
The goal going towards the holidays was to finalize the1.4.5 patch enough to get it on PTS for testing purposes before we left for break. We wanted to have a week or so and then leave it up.
Unfortunately, we had some technical issues on our internal test server that serves as the testing environment between our development servers and the live environment where PTS resides. Given the amount of time that it took to resolve those issues, it pushed back on the testing that is required there before we can push it up to PTS.
With time running out before the holidays are upon us, I’d rather not just cram in that testing and throw it untested to the wolves with no one here over the break we have next week. I’d rather be able to respond and get fixes up in a timely manner to your testing.
That’s the ‘bad news’. The ‘good news’ is that we’re still going to give you something for the break. Actually we’ll be doing three things.
First, we’ll post a dev discussion with the bulk of the Relic/Fortress information from the patch notes in a digest format for you guys to give some feedback over our break so we can respond to it immediately when we get back.
Second, we’ll be pushing up our scenario changes (minus Grovod Caverns) for the next patch early, as in this week! That means you’ll get fresh new scenarios as well as the much anticipated 6v6 Gates of Ekrund and Caledor Woods.
Finally, even though we have Keg End running until the new year, I’m going to throw up some holiday bonuses through the new year as well.
I know it’s not getting to play with the latest and greatest on PTS, but it does mean you can get some great rewards, try out a new rotation of scenarios, and get to chime in on the new changes so that when we get back from break we’ll have tons of feedback and then you can see it in action.
I apologize that it was delayed some, but we want it to be a great PTS and patch.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
James Casey
The new scenario rotation and bonuses will go up tomorrow! The dev discussion will go up soon as well.
Now I shall return to sticking lightsabers up Jawa arse.
For those averse to link clicking, I've copy pasted the info below:
Greetings all
With the holidays looming, I wanted to give you a quick update on where we stand for our latest patch and what to expect over the next few weeks.
The goal going towards the holidays was to finalize the1.4.5 patch enough to get it on PTS for testing purposes before we left for break. We wanted to have a week or so and then leave it up.
Unfortunately, we had some technical issues on our internal test server that serves as the testing environment between our development servers and the live environment where PTS resides. Given the amount of time that it took to resolve those issues, it pushed back on the testing that is required there before we can push it up to PTS.
With time running out before the holidays are upon us, I’d rather not just cram in that testing and throw it untested to the wolves with no one here over the break we have next week. I’d rather be able to respond and get fixes up in a timely manner to your testing.
That’s the ‘bad news’. The ‘good news’ is that we’re still going to give you something for the break. Actually we’ll be doing three things.
First, we’ll post a dev discussion with the bulk of the Relic/Fortress information from the patch notes in a digest format for you guys to give some feedback over our break so we can respond to it immediately when we get back.
Second, we’ll be pushing up our scenario changes (minus Grovod Caverns) for the next patch early, as in this week! That means you’ll get fresh new scenarios as well as the much anticipated 6v6 Gates of Ekrund and Caledor Woods.
Finally, even though we have Keg End running until the new year, I’m going to throw up some holiday bonuses through the new year as well.
I know it’s not getting to play with the latest and greatest on PTS, but it does mean you can get some great rewards, try out a new rotation of scenarios, and get to chime in on the new changes so that when we get back from break we’ll have tons of feedback and then you can see it in action.
I apologize that it was delayed some, but we want it to be a great PTS and patch.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
James Casey
The new scenario rotation and bonuses will go up tomorrow! The dev discussion will go up soon as well.
Friday, 25 November 2011
Well spank my arse and call me Charlie! WAR stuff
OK there's not much here that is actually new news, it's just confirmation of rough dates and things we knew were being considered for the forts, but there are confirmations of patch content and regardless it's good to finally see Mythic talking about something other than WoH.
So if you want some WAR stuff to read check out the interviews with Mykiel at Stratics and Werit at his blog.
So if you want some WAR stuff to read check out the interviews with Mykiel at Stratics and Werit at his blog.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Skyrim, MMOs and dead eyes.
This is a really good post I saw linked on G+ today: I do not wish for an Elder Scrolls MMO. Go have a read, once you're done here. ;)
I compared the atmosphere and sense of place that Skyrim has with MMOs recently, but I too wouldn't want to see Bethseda make the next Elder Scrolls game as an MMO, they're too good at making single player games and we still need to have quality single player games. What I would like to see is some MMO developers be a bit more influenced by games like Skyrim and less by the long standing traditions of firmly rooted spawn camps merely existing to service questing and/or grinding. As really all we get in the vast majority of games are worlds that quickly start to feel sterile and lifeless with their soulless automaton mobs and overall static nature. I'd just like something that wee bit more alive. Which is considerably easier for me to type than for some poor sod to make reality of course, but there you go.
One of the reasons I was quite enamored with RIFT was it almost did this, well, ok "almost" is a bit much... lets just say it at least it tried a little bit. The rifts added a nice random and chaotic element to things, but unfortunately that was still overlayed on the standard essentially static game world and actually the impact of the rifts was lacking at level 50. I know when SWTOR arrives it will also be the same and once the nice new glow from all those sabers wears off I'll probably notice the game staring at me with sinister dead eyes.
Though as I've said many times before regarding SWTOR, I am looking forward to it, but thanks to my slightly jaded/tired (or perhaps experienced?) state I'm not super hyped or anything. It will be the same again and that's no bad thing, it just is what it is.
To be honest though whilst I'm a bit tired of the status quo, that doesn't mean developers should do much different to the WoW winning forumla. It still sells after all. Perhaps I'm just experiencing the symptoms of having played too many MMOs since Ultima. It's no coincidence that the true faction based RvR games (DAoC & WAR) were the ones that held my attention the longest, as I think that higher level and complexity of player interaction in those games distracts from how sterile I often find the PvE side of MMOs to be.
Ah well, bring on Planetside 2 :)
I compared the atmosphere and sense of place that Skyrim has with MMOs recently, but I too wouldn't want to see Bethseda make the next Elder Scrolls game as an MMO, they're too good at making single player games and we still need to have quality single player games. What I would like to see is some MMO developers be a bit more influenced by games like Skyrim and less by the long standing traditions of firmly rooted spawn camps merely existing to service questing and/or grinding. As really all we get in the vast majority of games are worlds that quickly start to feel sterile and lifeless with their soulless automaton mobs and overall static nature. I'd just like something that wee bit more alive. Which is considerably easier for me to type than for some poor sod to make reality of course, but there you go.
 |
| OK this screenie is not an example of anything except pretty, but meh, I like pretty. |
One of the reasons I was quite enamored with RIFT was it almost did this, well, ok "almost" is a bit much... lets just say it at least it tried a little bit. The rifts added a nice random and chaotic element to things, but unfortunately that was still overlayed on the standard essentially static game world and actually the impact of the rifts was lacking at level 50. I know when SWTOR arrives it will also be the same and once the nice new glow from all those sabers wears off I'll probably notice the game staring at me with sinister dead eyes.
 |
| Lots of undead eyes in Skyrim. |
Though as I've said many times before regarding SWTOR, I am looking forward to it, but thanks to my slightly jaded/tired (or perhaps experienced?) state I'm not super hyped or anything. It will be the same again and that's no bad thing, it just is what it is.
To be honest though whilst I'm a bit tired of the status quo, that doesn't mean developers should do much different to the WoW winning forumla. It still sells after all. Perhaps I'm just experiencing the symptoms of having played too many MMOs since Ultima. It's no coincidence that the true faction based RvR games (DAoC & WAR) were the ones that held my attention the longest, as I think that higher level and complexity of player interaction in those games distracts from how sterile I often find the PvE side of MMOs to be.
Ah well, bring on Planetside 2 :)
Monday, 21 November 2011
No WAR Boots?
A few folks have asked me now that I've quit WAR and not returned for a while, am I now done with blogging about it?
The answer is a mixed yes and no. I can only write stuff about WAR if there are things to talk about, but unfortunately right now there is nothing but negatives to say. Despite the forts supposedly being imminent, there's no news, no talk of the future and barely any sign of Mythic. The forums have descended to an all time low and are now quite probably the most depressing MMO forums I have ever had the misfortune to read. And with no attempts at damage control from Mythic, well... I don't know if Bioware Mythic realise this, but for an outsider things with WAR look beyond terrible. It looks like WAR has been dropped for WoH, which at the blogger meeting where we were first shown WoH is exactly what I said to Carrie would be everyone's concern if they didn't play it right and give WAR players reasons to feel otherwise.
They didn't play it right. Far from it in fact and now WAR looks totally fucked. It might not be, they might have stuff up their sleeves, but it looks and is perceived as being totally FUBAR. This is not me as someone that's quit having a whinge, this is the reality of the hugely negative light WAR is now seen in by almost everyone.
To change that Bioware Mythic need to actually do something. Unfortunately for WAR I think they believe Wrath of Heroes is the answer to everything, however as anyone not too close to the two games can see, it really isn't.
Since I have no interest in WoH, that leaves me with precious little to talk about regarding WAR. :(
The answer is a mixed yes and no. I can only write stuff about WAR if there are things to talk about, but unfortunately right now there is nothing but negatives to say. Despite the forts supposedly being imminent, there's no news, no talk of the future and barely any sign of Mythic. The forums have descended to an all time low and are now quite probably the most depressing MMO forums I have ever had the misfortune to read. And with no attempts at damage control from Mythic, well... I don't know if Bioware Mythic realise this, but for an outsider things with WAR look beyond terrible. It looks like WAR has been dropped for WoH, which at the blogger meeting where we were first shown WoH is exactly what I said to Carrie would be everyone's concern if they didn't play it right and give WAR players reasons to feel otherwise.
They didn't play it right. Far from it in fact and now WAR looks totally fucked. It might not be, they might have stuff up their sleeves, but it looks and is perceived as being totally FUBAR. This is not me as someone that's quit having a whinge, this is the reality of the hugely negative light WAR is now seen in by almost everyone.
To change that Bioware Mythic need to actually do something. Unfortunately for WAR I think they believe Wrath of Heroes is the answer to everything, however as anyone not too close to the two games can see, it really isn't.
Since I have no interest in WoH, that leaves me with precious little to talk about regarding WAR. :(
Friday, 28 October 2011
Wrath of Heroes - NDA gone, so some words
OK here's my take on Wrath of Heroes...
It's exactly as Mythic said: fast, furious and fun. But what they didn't say is it's not aimed at a gamer like me or probably you if you're reading my blog. It's a shallow game that requires no real thought or planning, as there is no real depth or character development in WoH, it's just a drop straight in and play thing with barely anything else to care about. That's not necessarily a bad thing, many folks will see that as a huge benefit, but for me after the initial new toys phase wore off it became a little dull as an overall experience and I have no motivation to log back in. Which meant I just couldn't be arsed with the last few beta events, so I've not tried out the latest heroes and maps added and as such can't pass judgement on those fine details and the current state of balance between the heroes.
The core game itself is just instanced scenarios, which according to Bioware Mythic are "the best bit of WAR", which is obviously complete bollocks as WAR's scenarios are nothing but the standard instanced stuff from PvE MMOs with bolted on PvP. Wrath of Heroes has no relation to WAR's real character and defining feature; open world RvR. So a better statement would be "we took the best bit of WoW".
Harsh? Maybe. True? Definitely.
They have however made the excellent improvement of having 3 teams and that does make for much more dynamic and interesting gameplay, particularly when in a match with multiple premade groups. Apparently this was learnt from DAoC, though really we know this was learnt from WAR and almost everyone that played it over the last few years saying why the hell did you not learn from DAoC? :P
However Warhammer lore fans should note that it is 3 teams and NOT 3 factions, so you will get Chaos, Orcs, Elves and Dwarves all on the same team. A bit shite, but really I don't think they had much choice, as restricting it into proper factions would make it harder to balance and would present problems for a game that requires 3 equalled numbered teams for it to function. Whilst ORvR campaigns work very well with 3 factions of varying population, alas instanced PvP is not very flexible in that regard. So gameplay wins over style, theme and atmosphere. If that's a good or bad thing is totally down to individual preference.
Visually the game looks better than some screenshots suggest and it runs extremely well, though I do think some of the characters are a bit dull and they look like the most basic of their WAR equivalents. That is possibly contributing to the excellent performance, which was impressive and if so is certainly justified.
The heroes only have 5 abilities, which does make gameplay rather shallow, but I think the key here is it's 5 per character and with so many characters to play you can mix it up to keep things fresh. I personally enjoyed playing the Skaven Gutter Runner the most, closely followed by the Black Orc and Marauder.
So we have a fun game, that runs very well, but is just not ticking my boxes. I quite liked it, I just don't care about it. It is NOT an MMO in any way or form and I like MMOs, arena games leave me a little cold. WoH is an ok game and will do reasonably well, but it is not good enough to stop me being disappointed, disenchanted and irritated by the whole situation with this and WAR. If as suggested it will benefit WAR, with more than just jpegs on Facebook teasing people, then I wish it well.
The problem is I just don't believe it will. Mainly because the timing is all off, with 2012 being all about SWTOR, GW2 and even WoW's panda bear bollocks. WoH doesn't compete with those games, but WAR does and I simply can not see how it will find a time slot, let alone the content required, to force itself back in to people's gaming schedules. Unless of course something really drastic happens and unfortunately that is extremely unlikely.
Which I shall say again just doesn't matter for WoH, it's going for a whole other audience and I'm not included.
It's exactly as Mythic said: fast, furious and fun. But what they didn't say is it's not aimed at a gamer like me or probably you if you're reading my blog. It's a shallow game that requires no real thought or planning, as there is no real depth or character development in WoH, it's just a drop straight in and play thing with barely anything else to care about. That's not necessarily a bad thing, many folks will see that as a huge benefit, but for me after the initial new toys phase wore off it became a little dull as an overall experience and I have no motivation to log back in. Which meant I just couldn't be arsed with the last few beta events, so I've not tried out the latest heroes and maps added and as such can't pass judgement on those fine details and the current state of balance between the heroes.
The core game itself is just instanced scenarios, which according to Bioware Mythic are "the best bit of WAR", which is obviously complete bollocks as WAR's scenarios are nothing but the standard instanced stuff from PvE MMOs with bolted on PvP. Wrath of Heroes has no relation to WAR's real character and defining feature; open world RvR. So a better statement would be "we took the best bit of WoW".
Harsh? Maybe. True? Definitely.
They have however made the excellent improvement of having 3 teams and that does make for much more dynamic and interesting gameplay, particularly when in a match with multiple premade groups. Apparently this was learnt from DAoC, though really we know this was learnt from WAR and almost everyone that played it over the last few years saying why the hell did you not learn from DAoC? :P
However Warhammer lore fans should note that it is 3 teams and NOT 3 factions, so you will get Chaos, Orcs, Elves and Dwarves all on the same team. A bit shite, but really I don't think they had much choice, as restricting it into proper factions would make it harder to balance and would present problems for a game that requires 3 equalled numbered teams for it to function. Whilst ORvR campaigns work very well with 3 factions of varying population, alas instanced PvP is not very flexible in that regard. So gameplay wins over style, theme and atmosphere. If that's a good or bad thing is totally down to individual preference.
Visually the game looks better than some screenshots suggest and it runs extremely well, though I do think some of the characters are a bit dull and they look like the most basic of their WAR equivalents. That is possibly contributing to the excellent performance, which was impressive and if so is certainly justified.
The heroes only have 5 abilities, which does make gameplay rather shallow, but I think the key here is it's 5 per character and with so many characters to play you can mix it up to keep things fresh. I personally enjoyed playing the Skaven Gutter Runner the most, closely followed by the Black Orc and Marauder.
So we have a fun game, that runs very well, but is just not ticking my boxes. I quite liked it, I just don't care about it. It is NOT an MMO in any way or form and I like MMOs, arena games leave me a little cold. WoH is an ok game and will do reasonably well, but it is not good enough to stop me being disappointed, disenchanted and irritated by the whole situation with this and WAR. If as suggested it will benefit WAR, with more than just jpegs on Facebook teasing people, then I wish it well.
The problem is I just don't believe it will. Mainly because the timing is all off, with 2012 being all about SWTOR, GW2 and even WoW's panda bear bollocks. WoH doesn't compete with those games, but WAR does and I simply can not see how it will find a time slot, let alone the content required, to force itself back in to people's gaming schedules. Unless of course something really drastic happens and unfortunately that is extremely unlikely.
Which I shall say again just doesn't matter for WoH, it's going for a whole other audience and I'm not included.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Punching Ewoks in the prostate and an idea from WAR
OK so here’s a conundrum… I like playing on PvP servers in faction based MMO games. PvE servers annoy the turd outta me and I much prefer the tension a full PvP server provides, but I also loathe the retarded sub-humans from the “pwned u gay!!111 cult of twats that infest every PvP server. You know the ones, those mouthy pricks that bring 5 mates to gank lowbie soloers, but then get all shitty when we respond to help and wipe the floor with them since they can’t cope with even odds. Particularly rude and shitty it seems, if you retaliate by following them across the server and farming them in total silence non-stop for 2 hours as we used to do when helping people in RIFT. :D Anyway, it’s a medical fact that they’re all prize wankers in real life, every single one. They should all be dumped on Pitcairn Island and crossbred with syphilitic goats.
Now, because I tend to level quite fast and play with mates it’s not actually a big problem for me personally, but over the years of gaming I have regularly had to go help lower level people who’re getting shafted. I’ve known many good friends that for whatever reason level slower than most of us and because of that they end up being constantly ganked by high levels in lowbie zones. This has led to decent people quitting games because they just can’t be arsed with the hassle. So the whole thing does just irritate me, it’s a shitty situation created by lazy development when it comes to combining PvP with the levelling process. Plus, I don’t spend my time with Jeremy Kyle reject chav scum in real life and I’d rather not share my virtual oxygen with the internet equivalent either.
So you might think I would be better off on those rare beasts; the PvP/RP server, with theoretically a more stylish and classy atmosphere. Alas no. At the same time whilst I’ve got nothing against roleplayers, I can’t really be arsed with it and my characters will often have stupid names, so a PvP/RP server isn’t really an option. Plus I gather those servers generally are no better.
Where then should I play?
I honestly don’t know anymore. Of course I could do PvE, but seriously, PvE servers infuriate me. The moment I see a member of the opposing faction farming mobs next to me, but I don’t have the option of attacking them, pfffft, all immersion and atmosphere is killed instantly. I don’t necessarily want to always attack them, but I least what us to both have the option of doing so. Imagine playing SWTOR… you’re there with your big bad super evil Sith Warrior punching Ewoks in the prostate and generally being evil, but then you’re only able to watch as Loke Skyyywalker merrily kills Imperial soldiers right next to you and then skips off singing about unicorns and flowers. For me that situation would make the game feel very sterile. I don’t particularly want to be role-playing and so on, but I do want a bit of the sensation that puts the RPG in MMORPG.
And this is where I think WAR got it very, very right, yet a little bit wrong. WAR’s tier system splits the game-world into 4 level bandings. I’ve gone blank on what it is since it got updated but it’s roughly 1-12, 13-27, 28-39 and then 40, albeit with a little cross over between bandings where you can access both tiers. Now, if you enter a PvP flagged area of a zone that your character is too high for… BWOCK! The game turns you into a chicken, with all the power and survivability a chicken has. This is brilliant in that it allows players to do their XP thing without max level players turning up en mass to gank the poor lowbies, yet still allows for that tension and combat between people of relevant levels. So yes you can of course still be ganked by people within your level banding, but that’s fine, the only advantage they might have is numbers and that is something you can sort out just by grouping or calling for help. It stops a few pricks driving people away from the server and allows for a more competitive and fair PvP environment. It also allows for meaningful XP gain from PvP.
Where WAR got it wrong with the tiers is quite a big subject, but the main ones are that it was too restrictive on the overall content available at higher levels and it also meant at times certain tiers would be very quiet if the latest wave of players had moved past it, which in a population reliant game like WAR, that’s a problem. Yet regardless of those issues, the actual core concept of putting bandings onto zones to ensure fairer PvP is sound. It’s just the application of that concept that needs work, which I think is quite simple really…
Have the game’s zones split into bandings and if a player enters a zone they are too high for the game automatically scales their level and stats down to match the relevant level banding. Use preset stat levels for each class that are just under what would be the maximum amounts attainable for someone properly within that banding (a slight disadvantage to account for their wider range of abilities). Gear, etc would be irrelevant for a high level player in lower zones, so that if they want to go play with the lowbies then they can and the game automatically levels the playing field.
I think this adaption the Tier system from WAR could make for a much better PvP experience throughout the levelling experience and could reap further benefits at max level by extending the value and lifetime of earlier content. Sure, it won’t stop twats being twats, some folks will never take a fight on if the odds are even vaguely fair, but it would at least give people a bit more of a fighting chance. Which as these are games and meant to be fun, surely that’s no bad thing?
PS: This in could also benefit the PvE content in those zones as if done correctly it would stay relevant and not be something high levels just blast people through. Dungeons for example could actually be kept worthwhile through token rewards that scale to your natural level, giving them relevance no matter your level and who you choose to group with. As well as not having to gimp lowbies XP when grouping with their high level mates.
What do you reckon?
Now, because I tend to level quite fast and play with mates it’s not actually a big problem for me personally, but over the years of gaming I have regularly had to go help lower level people who’re getting shafted. I’ve known many good friends that for whatever reason level slower than most of us and because of that they end up being constantly ganked by high levels in lowbie zones. This has led to decent people quitting games because they just can’t be arsed with the hassle. So the whole thing does just irritate me, it’s a shitty situation created by lazy development when it comes to combining PvP with the levelling process. Plus, I don’t spend my time with Jeremy Kyle reject chav scum in real life and I’d rather not share my virtual oxygen with the internet equivalent either.
So you might think I would be better off on those rare beasts; the PvP/RP server, with theoretically a more stylish and classy atmosphere. Alas no. At the same time whilst I’ve got nothing against roleplayers, I can’t really be arsed with it and my characters will often have stupid names, so a PvP/RP server isn’t really an option. Plus I gather those servers generally are no better.
Where then should I play?
I honestly don’t know anymore. Of course I could do PvE, but seriously, PvE servers infuriate me. The moment I see a member of the opposing faction farming mobs next to me, but I don’t have the option of attacking them, pfffft, all immersion and atmosphere is killed instantly. I don’t necessarily want to always attack them, but I least what us to both have the option of doing so. Imagine playing SWTOR… you’re there with your big bad super evil Sith Warrior punching Ewoks in the prostate and generally being evil, but then you’re only able to watch as Loke Skyyywalker merrily kills Imperial soldiers right next to you and then skips off singing about unicorns and flowers. For me that situation would make the game feel very sterile. I don’t particularly want to be role-playing and so on, but I do want a bit of the sensation that puts the RPG in MMORPG.
And this is where I think WAR got it very, very right, yet a little bit wrong. WAR’s tier system splits the game-world into 4 level bandings. I’ve gone blank on what it is since it got updated but it’s roughly 1-12, 13-27, 28-39 and then 40, albeit with a little cross over between bandings where you can access both tiers. Now, if you enter a PvP flagged area of a zone that your character is too high for… BWOCK! The game turns you into a chicken, with all the power and survivability a chicken has. This is brilliant in that it allows players to do their XP thing without max level players turning up en mass to gank the poor lowbies, yet still allows for that tension and combat between people of relevant levels. So yes you can of course still be ganked by people within your level banding, but that’s fine, the only advantage they might have is numbers and that is something you can sort out just by grouping or calling for help. It stops a few pricks driving people away from the server and allows for a more competitive and fair PvP environment. It also allows for meaningful XP gain from PvP.
Where WAR got it wrong with the tiers is quite a big subject, but the main ones are that it was too restrictive on the overall content available at higher levels and it also meant at times certain tiers would be very quiet if the latest wave of players had moved past it, which in a population reliant game like WAR, that’s a problem. Yet regardless of those issues, the actual core concept of putting bandings onto zones to ensure fairer PvP is sound. It’s just the application of that concept that needs work, which I think is quite simple really…
Have the game’s zones split into bandings and if a player enters a zone they are too high for the game automatically scales their level and stats down to match the relevant level banding. Use preset stat levels for each class that are just under what would be the maximum amounts attainable for someone properly within that banding (a slight disadvantage to account for their wider range of abilities). Gear, etc would be irrelevant for a high level player in lower zones, so that if they want to go play with the lowbies then they can and the game automatically levels the playing field.
I think this adaption the Tier system from WAR could make for a much better PvP experience throughout the levelling experience and could reap further benefits at max level by extending the value and lifetime of earlier content. Sure, it won’t stop twats being twats, some folks will never take a fight on if the odds are even vaguely fair, but it would at least give people a bit more of a fighting chance. Which as these are games and meant to be fun, surely that’s no bad thing?
PS: This in could also benefit the PvE content in those zones as if done correctly it would stay relevant and not be something high levels just blast people through. Dungeons for example could actually be kept worthwhile through token rewards that scale to your natural level, giving them relevance no matter your level and who you choose to group with. As well as not having to gimp lowbies XP when grouping with their high level mates.
What do you reckon?
Monday, 26 September 2011
Bits and MMO bobs
Right now I'm in that slightly awkward phase between MMO obsessions, so my attention is leaping all over the place as I hawk around for news on something to inspire me. So since my head is all random, here's a few random bits and bobs of MMO news I've read lately and felt like commenting on...
World of Darkness, CCP's vampire MMO (same setting as the legendary Vampire The Masquerade RPG), is going to have perma-death. Interesting, bold and a little surprising, but then CCP do have slightly bigger balls than most developers. Though apparently you'll get plenty of warning and opportunity to prevent it, so I'm not sure quite how much of a risk it is, yet it will at least be a genuine possibility.
Also, and this I didn't see coming, in World of Darkness you'll be able to play as a human?! I'm not sure why anyone would want to with the range of different vampire types in that setting (from bestial mingers, to psycho killers, to kinky boot beasts). Presumably there's something fancy planned there. Very little info out there about this game at the moment, but it's one I'm very keen on hearing more about.
On the WAR front the only glimmer we have is the line "And next year we are about encounter bloodlust in an additional way.", which I expect to be the Sylvannia stuff appearing in some form. It irritates me that something like this isn't appearing now, it would make so much difference to the game. Mythic desperately need to speed up their patch cycle. Dramatically.
Planetside 2 will be F2P. Instantly we could choose to start worrying about it being pay2win, but actually I'm not that concerned. The original Planetside's level system didn't work like most MMOs, in that instead of levels giving you power, they gave you options. It allowed you access to a wider range of weapons and vehicles that gave you options in what kind of gameplay you experienced, but it didn't make you better as such. For example the big MAX suits had huge weaponry and armour, but their mobility was terrible. A basic agile armoured infantry set up would still be lethal if played to it's strengths. So I am hoping that the cash shop (I presume it will have one) will sell options rather than power. This remains the big hope for my next long term game, unless SWTOR proves to have long term appeal.
Star Wars The Old Republic has a release date of 20th/22nd December US/EU. No news yet on the head start dates, presumably a good few days beforehand. I just hope people with boxed pre-orders (like me) are given a download option because having to rely on the post at that time of year is less than ideal.
It's a funny time to release the game really, I assume its being done to further break up people logging in (combined with the staggered launch malarkey) to help Bioware with a smooth launch. If it's not nigh on perfect there will be much rage spewing across the internet. Personally I don't care much, it gives me plenty of time with Skyrim :P I do feel sorry for those Bioware employees and their families that have effectively had Christmas cancelled.
Outside of MMOs, because THEY ARE NOT MMOs (Massively I am looking at you), I'm intrigued to see the makers of World of Tanks developing both World of Battleships and World of Warplanes. WoT is a very good game, if a little too cash shop dependent, and as someone with a Silent Hunter addiction, I'm particularly intrigued to see what Wargaming.net can do with the big shooty ships. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be World of Battleshops.
World of Darkness, CCP's vampire MMO (same setting as the legendary Vampire The Masquerade RPG), is going to have perma-death. Interesting, bold and a little surprising, but then CCP do have slightly bigger balls than most developers. Though apparently you'll get plenty of warning and opportunity to prevent it, so I'm not sure quite how much of a risk it is, yet it will at least be a genuine possibility.
Also, and this I didn't see coming, in World of Darkness you'll be able to play as a human?! I'm not sure why anyone would want to with the range of different vampire types in that setting (from bestial mingers, to psycho killers, to kinky boot beasts). Presumably there's something fancy planned there. Very little info out there about this game at the moment, but it's one I'm very keen on hearing more about.
On the WAR front the only glimmer we have is the line "And next year we are about encounter bloodlust in an additional way.", which I expect to be the Sylvannia stuff appearing in some form. It irritates me that something like this isn't appearing now, it would make so much difference to the game. Mythic desperately need to speed up their patch cycle. Dramatically.
Planetside 2 will be F2P. Instantly we could choose to start worrying about it being pay2win, but actually I'm not that concerned. The original Planetside's level system didn't work like most MMOs, in that instead of levels giving you power, they gave you options. It allowed you access to a wider range of weapons and vehicles that gave you options in what kind of gameplay you experienced, but it didn't make you better as such. For example the big MAX suits had huge weaponry and armour, but their mobility was terrible. A basic agile armoured infantry set up would still be lethal if played to it's strengths. So I am hoping that the cash shop (I presume it will have one) will sell options rather than power. This remains the big hope for my next long term game, unless SWTOR proves to have long term appeal.
Star Wars The Old Republic has a release date of 20th/22nd December US/EU. No news yet on the head start dates, presumably a good few days beforehand. I just hope people with boxed pre-orders (like me) are given a download option because having to rely on the post at that time of year is less than ideal.
It's a funny time to release the game really, I assume its being done to further break up people logging in (combined with the staggered launch malarkey) to help Bioware with a smooth launch. If it's not nigh on perfect there will be much rage spewing across the internet. Personally I don't care much, it gives me plenty of time with Skyrim :P I do feel sorry for those Bioware employees and their families that have effectively had Christmas cancelled.
Outside of MMOs, because THEY ARE NOT MMOs (Massively I am looking at you), I'm intrigued to see the makers of World of Tanks developing both World of Battleships and World of Warplanes. WoT is a very good game, if a little too cash shop dependent, and as someone with a Silent Hunter addiction, I'm particularly intrigued to see what Wargaming.net can do with the big shooty ships. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be World of Battleshops.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
A little update
Lots has happened, but I've had no time, kinda. My house is under quarantine due to throat/chest/pukey pox and I've lacked motivation to move, let alone think about writing :P
Kill Frenzy in WAR is pretty much on hold again. A lot more people than just little old me got narked off with the whole situation WAR is in right now. A few die-hards are sticking around, but most of us have now quit and are looking forward to new games. Slightly depressing to see our WAR communtiy floundering so, at least as much as a computer game can be depressing, but the future for KF is bright with us gearing up for SWTOR and quite possibly a few other games. Our KF-RIFT guild is still going very strong too ;)
What little gaming time I've had over the last couple of weeks has been spent pottering around in Star Trek Online. It's been bloody great too. From reading forums it sounds like there's a range of issues with the game (shock horror), but I don't care really, I'm enjoying it. The atmosphere is great, it runs really well, the storylines are very solid, the character/ship development and customisation is interesting, it has some pretty spectacular graphics at times and it's casual friendly. However, I'm not doing any PvP in it at the moment and I don't plan to with any real dedication or effort. I'm purely playing this for casual entertainment where I'm free to AFK or pay loose attention and in those regards it's come up trumps, just be aware that my expectations maybe different to those looking for a full time MMO. I wouldn't like to say how solid the game is in that regard, at least not yet. Anyways, there's been a fair few interesting changes in STO since I last played it and I'll talk about those soon. One in particular is a great example of when Devs do the right thing.
nn :)
Kill Frenzy in WAR is pretty much on hold again. A lot more people than just little old me got narked off with the whole situation WAR is in right now. A few die-hards are sticking around, but most of us have now quit and are looking forward to new games. Slightly depressing to see our WAR communtiy floundering so, at least as much as a computer game can be depressing, but the future for KF is bright with us gearing up for SWTOR and quite possibly a few other games. Our KF-RIFT guild is still going very strong too ;)
What little gaming time I've had over the last couple of weeks has been spent pottering around in Star Trek Online. It's been bloody great too. From reading forums it sounds like there's a range of issues with the game (shock horror), but I don't care really, I'm enjoying it. The atmosphere is great, it runs really well, the storylines are very solid, the character/ship development and customisation is interesting, it has some pretty spectacular graphics at times and it's casual friendly. However, I'm not doing any PvP in it at the moment and I don't plan to with any real dedication or effort. I'm purely playing this for casual entertainment where I'm free to AFK or pay loose attention and in those regards it's come up trumps, just be aware that my expectations maybe different to those looking for a full time MMO. I wouldn't like to say how solid the game is in that regard, at least not yet. Anyways, there's been a fair few interesting changes in STO since I last played it and I'll talk about those soon. One in particular is a great example of when Devs do the right thing.
nn :)
Friday, 16 September 2011
WAR's 3 year vet rewards and some teasy stuff
Link to the herald for the full article.
Rewards are:
Rewards are:
- Jack O Lantern Vanity Pet – An exclusive pet for players that is available in four different colors. This awesome seasonally themed pet is available only through the veteran rewards program.
- Endless Chaos Black Dye – This item will give you an endless supply of Chaos Black dye to deck out your armor in style!
- Endless Blazing Orange Dye – This item will give you an endless supply of Blazing Orange dye to make you stand out in battle, plus the color is perfect for the season!
Also there's a couple of comments on the future:
"With 1.4.4 out the door, the Wild Hunt going on across the land, now’s a great time to get out on the battlefield!
After looking at the past and the present, let’s take a quick look at the future to conclude this note. End of next month the demon moon will rise again and Fortresses are looming on the horizon. And next year we are about encounter bloodlust in an additional way."
I hope for WAR's sake that the Forts are soon, that could be a nice boost if so as it could avoid clashing with other releases. As for bloodlust in an additional way, I presume that's something about Sylvannia, but whatever it is I just hope it's big.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
It's not me, it's you. And them too.
You’ve probably heard about the new pets that 1.4.4 has introduced to WAR. They’re about £10, give you a 5% boost to certain stats that remain active in RvR and as a (related) result I’ve cancelled my WAR sub. However, this is not quite the rage-quit it may appear, as my cancellation is actually far more of a considered decision than that. The pets are more a case of being the straw that broke the camel’s back, as I was getting a bit tired anyway.
The power pets
5% is not a gamebreaking amount, it’s about the same as a liniment or a couple of talismans, so it’s not pay2win just yet, but it is a step on that path. I do not like any pay2win options in a subscription based PvP MMO and I will never, ever support or promote that as a good thing. It’s 5% today, but who knows what will be the next option to appear in the cash shop? Further stat boosts? Higher DPS weapons? You may think not and I would hope not, but I don't know.
If WAR was F2P I would still not like it, but would probably stomach it as that goes with the territory, but as WAR has a full price MMO subs fee... no thanks. For what little my thoughts are worth I will not contribute a subs fee so you can develop things like this whilst the following issue remains.
Lack of new content
The lack of new content for WAR compared with almost every other MMO is a problem. I’m so bored of Dragonwake, Eataine et all, Christ on a bike, even the glorious Praag has worn thin. I understand that Mythic have bugger all resources and actually I think that James Casey, Steven and Keaven are doing the best they possibly can, particularly when considering how little they obviously have to work with,. Seriously those guys deserve more appreciation than they get and I still have plenty of time for those lads. However, as much as I appreciate what they’ve done, frankly it’s just not my problem. I invest my sub fees so that the games I like can continue to keep my interest and unfortunately right now I am tired of WAR’s same old scenery and there are other new things to look at elsewhere. When you look at the incredible amount of REAL new content added to Star Trek Online since launch, from an investment of my own money point of view, it becomes hard to justify paying the same monthly amount for WAR where major new content is ruled out. Those two games are of course being run within totally different financial situations, but again, that’s simply not my problem.
I have a very long list of things I want to see in WAR and actually there is a chance some of those might happen, which will probably bring me back if so, depending on when it happens. Expanded RvR lakes and/or PvP in the T4 side zones would do it for me, before even considering things like new playables. However, I’m not so sure forts are enough of a lure considering the competition. Whatever happens eventually, we won’t be getting any of that stuff anytime soon and I have a bad feeling that the time of the fortress patch is going to clash with the other big MMOs being released. As such, there’s little point carrying on paying to play a game with minimal development, when there are so many others great games to play right now and huge new MMOs around the corner.
Wrath of Heroes
I was disappointed with the whole situation when WoH was first revealed to me, but Mythic did spark my mood back up with their talk of the potential implications for WAR. I honestly think Wrath of Heroes will be a great success, just not with the PvP MMO audience. Despite it looking to be a good and very accessible game, it’s a game that isn’t made for or aimed at a true MMO gamer like me, which obviously means I find it hard to give a toss. Alas, I’m back to feeling disappointed. Sure, it may well have good end results for WAR, but that won’t be in the near future and unfortunately for my WAR subscription, the near future is all that matters.
The near future
And this is the main thing that makes a WAR sub pointless for me right now. Over the next few months I’ve got limited gaming time due to having a real life and somehow I’ve got to fit in:
I decided a little while back to drop my multi-sub-madness and I would only have 1 active MMO sub. I was spending too much money and never completing any single player games. So I’m sticking with the 1 sub thing from now on, which will of course tighten up what I play or not. Last night after cancelling WAR I reactivated my STO for a 1 month period. My reasoning being I can get my characters set up ready to downgrade to the silver F2P bit when that kicks in and in the meantime I can explore the HUGE amount of new content it already has. When that sub expires I’ll probably be up to my arse cheeks in Football Manager 2012 and Skyrim until SWTOR comes out.
In the new year I imagine SWTOR will keep me busy for at least a month or two, possibly much longer, depending on how well our Kill Frenzy SWTOR goes. After that there are of course more games on the horizon. Dust 514 is a definite one for me and I would sell your mother into slavery to play Planetside 2.
So for me it’s WAR stuggling to compete and my subscription becoming untenable as result, yet really no matter which MMO you play right now, there’s a lot of competition for your attention coming. Not just from MMOs but from big games that eat up time. And hell, as much as I berate it now, maybe Guild Wars 2 won’t be a pile of wank after all. I’ll have a proper gaming crisis if that mutant space fantasy emo crap turns out to be good.
The power pets
5% is not a gamebreaking amount, it’s about the same as a liniment or a couple of talismans, so it’s not pay2win just yet, but it is a step on that path. I do not like any pay2win options in a subscription based PvP MMO and I will never, ever support or promote that as a good thing. It’s 5% today, but who knows what will be the next option to appear in the cash shop? Further stat boosts? Higher DPS weapons? You may think not and I would hope not, but I don't know.
If WAR was F2P I would still not like it, but would probably stomach it as that goes with the territory, but as WAR has a full price MMO subs fee... no thanks. For what little my thoughts are worth I will not contribute a subs fee so you can develop things like this whilst the following issue remains.
Lack of new content
The lack of new content for WAR compared with almost every other MMO is a problem. I’m so bored of Dragonwake, Eataine et all, Christ on a bike, even the glorious Praag has worn thin. I understand that Mythic have bugger all resources and actually I think that James Casey, Steven and Keaven are doing the best they possibly can, particularly when considering how little they obviously have to work with,. Seriously those guys deserve more appreciation than they get and I still have plenty of time for those lads. However, as much as I appreciate what they’ve done, frankly it’s just not my problem. I invest my sub fees so that the games I like can continue to keep my interest and unfortunately right now I am tired of WAR’s same old scenery and there are other new things to look at elsewhere. When you look at the incredible amount of REAL new content added to Star Trek Online since launch, from an investment of my own money point of view, it becomes hard to justify paying the same monthly amount for WAR where major new content is ruled out. Those two games are of course being run within totally different financial situations, but again, that’s simply not my problem.
I have a very long list of things I want to see in WAR and actually there is a chance some of those might happen, which will probably bring me back if so, depending on when it happens. Expanded RvR lakes and/or PvP in the T4 side zones would do it for me, before even considering things like new playables. However, I’m not so sure forts are enough of a lure considering the competition. Whatever happens eventually, we won’t be getting any of that stuff anytime soon and I have a bad feeling that the time of the fortress patch is going to clash with the other big MMOs being released. As such, there’s little point carrying on paying to play a game with minimal development, when there are so many others great games to play right now and huge new MMOs around the corner.
Wrath of Heroes
I was disappointed with the whole situation when WoH was first revealed to me, but Mythic did spark my mood back up with their talk of the potential implications for WAR. I honestly think Wrath of Heroes will be a great success, just not with the PvP MMO audience. Despite it looking to be a good and very accessible game, it’s a game that isn’t made for or aimed at a true MMO gamer like me, which obviously means I find it hard to give a toss. Alas, I’m back to feeling disappointed. Sure, it may well have good end results for WAR, but that won’t be in the near future and unfortunately for my WAR subscription, the near future is all that matters.
The near future
And this is the main thing that makes a WAR sub pointless for me right now. Over the next few months I’ve got limited gaming time due to having a real life and somehow I’ve got to fit in:
- Deux Ex HR
- Spacemarine
- Football Manager 2012
- Skyrim
- Minecraft 1.8 (and beyond)
- Star Trek Online (going F2P)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
- +whatever else strikes my fancy
I decided a little while back to drop my multi-sub-madness and I would only have 1 active MMO sub. I was spending too much money and never completing any single player games. So I’m sticking with the 1 sub thing from now on, which will of course tighten up what I play or not. Last night after cancelling WAR I reactivated my STO for a 1 month period. My reasoning being I can get my characters set up ready to downgrade to the silver F2P bit when that kicks in and in the meantime I can explore the HUGE amount of new content it already has. When that sub expires I’ll probably be up to my arse cheeks in Football Manager 2012 and Skyrim until SWTOR comes out.
In the new year I imagine SWTOR will keep me busy for at least a month or two, possibly much longer, depending on how well our Kill Frenzy SWTOR goes. After that there are of course more games on the horizon. Dust 514 is a definite one for me and I would sell your mother into slavery to play Planetside 2.
So for me it’s WAR stuggling to compete and my subscription becoming untenable as result, yet really no matter which MMO you play right now, there’s a lot of competition for your attention coming. Not just from MMOs but from big games that eat up time. And hell, as much as I berate it now, maybe Guild Wars 2 won’t be a pile of wank after all. I’ll have a proper gaming crisis if that mutant space fantasy emo crap turns out to be good.
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About Me
- Bootae
- Half man half pixel. Music obsessive, likes a drink, occasional bastard.