Profile: thief425
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• • Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning: First Impressions

  • Well, I will say that I started the beta intending not to like it.  However, AoC was such a major letdown as far as realized potential that I almost reactivated my WoW account.  I had seen some videos on betaleaks, and thought that WAR looked washed out and similar in style to cell-shading.  I suppose these videos were old, before the shadows were really fleshed out.

    Anyway, I wanted to hate it.  I wanted to dismiss it as WoW 2.0, etc.  However, I have been surprised.  Normally, I prefer to PvE in games, but have found a new taste for it in WAR.  I think all of the classes are very distinct and individual (as long as you don't compare them to their cross-faction mirrors), and it was very difficult for me to narrow my choice down to a main for release.

    The main thing that I love about the game is that you don't have to wait until end-game to start playing.  Yeah, I know you have to play to get to the end-game, blah blah...but what I mean is that the game starts at...mmm...let's say level 5.  I have, on a couple of alts, jumped into PvP at level 1 (the game gives you an artificial level boost to a competitive level of 8), and on others, I wait until level 5 or so, just to get a few abilities before jumping into the fray.

    I've played minimum levels and nearly max level (Rank 32+), and the game feels the same to me as it does at level 5.  Well, by "same" I guess I should say that it is more intense, more involved, and there are more options at max level than at low level.  Chosen only have 4 abilities at level 5, so, working with 20 or more at level 32 is a lot more complex, but the essence and soul of the game are very similar.

    For me, that's a good thing.  I'm tired of having to play games for a couple of months before I hit the meat and potatoes of the game.  I mean, look what Blizzard did with the XP curve and speed of levelling to rush people to 70.

    So, Mythic changed my mind.  I approached the beta with very little interest, and negative expectations.  I was converted my first day.  It goes without saying that there are little things (I'd like to have more 2h Great Weapons available for my class, less disconnects, and classes that aren't bugged [Bright Wizard]) but I expect those things to flesh out over time.

  • Posted: 8/20/08 11:49 AM
    General Discussion
• • Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning: Correspondent - About Those Cuts...

  • "I am in the beta.  There is a beta."

    That's all I can say about that.  What I can talk about is my recent experience with AoC.  Many people played it, and enjoyed it, as long as there was content.  I levelled slow, and took my time, experimenting with classes, so I hit the brick wall late in the game.  At level 63, I went from two or three levels a day to a level every day or two.  I picked up the last of my quests between 60 and 62, and when they were done, that was the end of the road until I hit 70.  What did I do for all of those levels?  Grind.  Hours and hours and hours of grinding.  At 70, I picked up a whole crapload of quests from Kheshatta, did the 5 that weren't bright, blood red, and guess what?  I'm back to grinding again. 

    Well, not entirely.  I haven't logged in two weeks.  I can't say why, but let it suffice to say that I'm distracted.  I've found something much, much more enjoyable to do with my time.

    What I learned from AoC is what I should've learned from Vanguard.  On paper, something can sound incredibly amazing, but when the developers fail to execute, and instead of cutting the content that isn't any good, they fast track broken and downright missing content into the game.  Developers either have too much pride to say what they have sucks, or they've oversold the hype, and are backed into a corner of failing to deliver, or losing 100 boatloads of cash.

    I applaud this decision.  I can only speculate to say if it was the right one or not.  For the last year or so, I've looked forward to a Choppa.  I wanted to chop chop chop with a fun dual-wield melee class.  I'll have to learn to make do.  At first I considered cancelling my Collector's Edition pre-order (that rings in at about 100 bucks) because I felt the game was going to the crapper.  However, after much consideration, I recalled AoC's developers and the PR-approved lies they sold us in the last hours before launch.  Every answer to every question sounded like it had been parsed and double-parsed by PR and marketing.  They were sugary lies.  Instead of finishing the DX10 client, building tons of new quests for high-level content, and fixing classes like the Dark Templars (that have been broken in the exact same way since beta), the guys in Norway have been busy building a broken PvP system that is going to be yet another broken and poorly implemented (rushed) game mechanic (which is already evident on the test live forums).

    So, coming from a fanboy that swallowed every bittersweet pill FC sold me, I have made too many excuses for the BS that SmilesCo put out there, with the expectations they have  that as long as you keep lying, and saying the fixes are coming next Wednesday, people will keep playing (and paying).

    If cutting some content early keeps players from hitting the upper echelons of WAR only to find that the game falls into a black hole, then they should go for it.  However, Mythic has to deliver on their promise that it makes the game better.  Otherwise, it goes from being a faithful promise that builds trust between developer and player to a little white lie that keeps growing and growing until, ultimately, the game fails. 

    Up to this point, we don't have developers that are involved in a discussion with their playerbase.  HappyInc promised to do that, and what they delivered is a poor CSR staff, and tons of feedback from players, but no responses from the devs.  They promised to deliver changes that the playerbase wanted, but instead, it's a one way street with communication.  Players give them TONS of insight and assistance on what needs to be fixed, but never get a reply, a response, or even acknowledgement that they can Eff-off.  I don't feel, with these honest but risky decisions, that Mythic is giving this brick wall approach to the developer/player conversation.  They're being forthright about what's going on during the development process, and I'm sure that it feels a little strange to us all.  We're all so used to being lied and marketed to, that it feels a little odd to get the honest inside scoop.

    Let's all have faith, at least until launch.  If it's bad, it won't take long for us to see it.  But, if it's good, we'll know that right away as well.

    I wish this wasn't so long, but I had to find a way to say what needed to be said without saying anything more than,

    "I'm in the beta.  There is a beta"

  • Posted: 8/01/08 12:10 PM
    General Discussion