Warhammer: Age of Reckoning

[Jamski]

So... a new MMO has been out for a few days, and my oh my, its looking tempting.

Reviews are positive, but that means little, as most reviews for AAA publications are positive. Forum posts are very positive too, though, even on the official forums. (always a place to look for the malcontent purchaser of a game venting his nerdrage)

So, although I have very little in the way of free time at the moment, I'm rather tempted by the idea of picking this one up for a run. Sure, in 6 months time it will probably be a better product, but its fun to be in at the start of these things when everyone is a noob together.

What have others heard about WAR?

[vee4473]

I picked it up last thursday. I've enjoyed it all weekend. The graphics are better than expected and what i've seen talked about. Somewhere between wow and lotro, leaning towards lotro.

Of course it is pvp/rvr focused, but the pve area of the game doesn't lack too much. The tome of knowledge is oddly addicting. Every NPC, monster or area you encounter opens up an entrey into it (like an encyclopedia) which in turn opens up more once you unlock discoveries.

The PQ's (public quests) are great. They are areas of a zone that, once you enter, you are included in the pve fight. No need for formal grouping (though many do out of habit). Just enter, contribute and have fun. The more you contribute, the better chance at the better loot at the end. At level 2 I participated in a PQ that had an epic feel to it that most games don't have until later on.

They are in stages, the last stage being a boss. They reset fairly often, so if you come in at the end stage, you can contribute what you can and wait for it to reset if you want to experience it from stage 1. Of course, you have to have a few people around to do the later stages.

The pvp seems a little more meaningful since it has an impact on the world. The scenarios are similar to wow BG's. There are open world rvr areas with keeps too. Even pve quest completion adds to the war effort since, i guess alot of the pve quests have you doing battle with your enemy (in mob form)

There are 2 levelling systems, rank (same as regular levels) and reknown rank (your rank as you participate in pvp).

I'm having a ball in it so far and i'm looking forward to seeing what the later stages of higher level keep/city sieges have to offer. Some pve quests seem to allude to what may come in pvp, having you drop exploded barrels on orcs or firing siege engines.

The classes are nice, altitis on full tilt here. The witch hunter is interesting, although my dorf engineer is havin a blast (literally).

There are some graphical bugs so far, but minor. Mobs pathing odd, standing still then teleporting to your location. Or other minor anomalies.

The whole "pvp has an influence on the world" thing seems nice as there is a bar that tracks which side controls different areas and affects the gameplay (having to control a keep to gain access to new things). This all depends on server population though. It will be interesting to see how it pans out since if you are on a low pop server, it will affect this game more than others just because of the nature of it.

To early to tell how it pans out in the end, but I can say it's been awhile since i've had so much fun in an mmo.

[vee4473]

oh, and i can't comment on crafting yet. It seems a little narrow in that the only professions are apothecary (potions/lotions) and talisman making. There are 4 gathering skills though: butchering, scavenging, salvaging and cultivating. The end results used in the 2 actual crafts.

I hear it is unique in that there are no recipes, you go trial and error, but I haven't tried much yet so not sure.

edit: and yes, I still play lotro. my 2 games i guess.

[vee4473]

double

[Jamski]

I picked it up on Monday and I'm having a blast. Jumping into PvP at level 2 was sweet, and I could actually complete too. Archmage is the class I've always wanted to play in an MMO - a solid healer that can really DPS (at the cost of being made of paper) I love it.

The game needs some tweaking still here and there, but its better than WOW was at launch.