Mythic's article, pwnt by Blizzard's advertisement. To me, this just kinda summarized the last few weeks in the life of a Warhammer Online player. It just feels harder to be a Warhammer fan and player than it is to be a WoW fan and player. I'm struggling to find a solid argument to defend Warhammer against its critics at this time. It just feels like the wind behind Warhammer Online's sails has died down and its just drifting. Warhammer Online feels like a constant uphill battle to me. It still has so many new mmorpg things to work out, design descions being challenged, bugs to be fixed, etc. The whole time you have this behemoth (WoW) breathing over your shoulder. It can feel unnerving to me some times, especially now. Right now is just a grin and bear it time for dedicated Warhammer players.
Here are some items relative to my perceived stagnation of WAR:
- I keep reading more and more gloomy stories about Warhammer on various blogs, I feel like I'm not alone in how I currently feel about the game. Sure there are many people still having fun with it, but there are also a growing number that aren't.
- Many people (myself included) are dissatisfied with many of the game's mechanics (like the the victory point/zone control system) and certainly with the client performance. There is too much to list here and I can't list all the things that need work here so I'll keep it short.
- Some desperately needed changes won't be coming until the 1.1 patch in a few weeks, and we can only hope they are effective in addressing WAR's problems. Until then, the players are having to figure out ways to stay occupied and have fun with the game in its current state.
- WotLK is the shiny new toy to play with at the moment and is getting all the attention.
With that said, I'll admit it...I'm playing more World of Warcraft than Warhammer Online right now. My Shaman in WAR is level 35, and I am going to have to force myself to grind him to 40 unless I find some motivation from elsewhere to finish that grind. I have alot to say about the state of WAR right now, but I'm going to save that in the hopes that Mythic can do something to fix things. I'm just waiting to see what happens and in a position I hate...hoping for the best.
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13 comments:
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November 17, 2008 3:17 PM
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November 19, 2008 9:05 AM
blog comments powered by DisqusCan't help noticing that all the major bloggers (even Syp!) are starting to lose their collective enthusiasm for this game...
As this is my first MMO, I can't tell whether this is the usual negativism you should expect from forums/blogs, or something bigger and more deadly to the future of WAR.
My experience is completely different from yours. Initially, I almost hated this game. Empty worlds, devoid of RVR - what the hell is this?
Now that our guild has transferred from Drakwald to Sylvania, things are night-and-day different. I'm having a hell of a lot of fun right now...
But I do worry about the rest of the gaming population out there, because without them this game is dead.
I still have some serious concerns about this game:
1)the ridiculous zone control mechanic
2)Lag issues. I understand they are killing the bigger battles in T4 right now, but have yet to experience myself.
3)No compelling reason to defend keeps = no realm pride.
Will be interesting to see how this plays out. My guild is holding together for now...
Thanks as always for your blog - always a good read.
As always I await you blog and was confused that you didn't post much at all this week. WOTLK will be a great expansion but I personally am tired of WOW. Sure there is a new class and there are tweaks to the trees with new spells and such. Even a new Zone to run around. But Aren't you worried that it will be the same grind to get new gear that is better than the ones you have at the moment?
I was tired of the grind to gain levels and i must say that WAR is starting to frustrating me with the grind that is happening there to. I'm pretty casual so I don't have much time to play. And I have yet to experience the sieges that Mythic has such pride in when they were advertising this game.
All in all The fact that the classes are In my opinion different keeps me coming back. I have 1 of each class so far besides the WH and DOK there is something about them that isn't so appealing despite the similarities to the WE and WP.
I've been waiting and wondering if your wall of texts were ever going to go there... to the great comparison between WAR and WoW. Not because I wanted them to, but because... well, unfortunately the game seems to be heading in that direction.
Two or three weeks ago my entire guild went back to WoW, after swearing they'd NEVER go back (and claiming they'd burnt their hard copies of the game in righteous indignation). I understood their return to WoW because we've all been friends for a very long time and the fact is they've always loved PvE and raiding. WoW lost most hope in the PvP department after BC (when I quit), and you'd have to be insane to stay with it and not love at least some of the PvE aspects.
Luckily for me, our guild had formed alliances with other more RvR-oriented guilds before everything fell apart, so I just switched guilds. And, together, the entirety of the new guild switched servers. Now most of them are separating their time between WAR, Left 4 Dead, and Call of Duty 5, with more emphasis put on the latter two. It's not that they no longer like WAR by any means, but there's just not enough there to warrant hours of continuous game play.
I'm no gaming pro, and I don't have time for "hours of continuous game play"... but I think one of WAR's major flaws was not providing enough rewards for the higher levels. Leveling went fast at first, there were tons of rewards, and there seemed to be a fast-paced story line from 1-20 that appealed to PvE'ers AND PvP'ers alike. But my original guild members all hit 35 within an unbelievably short amount of time and just got bored. And now, my current guild is all 40, and equally as bored. I'm stuck at 32, and I've already gotten tired of the grind. I don't like PvE, so I'm relying mainly on RVR to level, but there still seems to be a serious lack of accomplishment. Most new levels come with skills I don't even want to use, and new gear is much more sparse than it was in earlier levels. I realize I have a lot less time to play than my guildies, but even then, there's really no urgency to play since leveling hasn't provided any worthwhile rewards.
If there was a reason to take a keep, or defend a keep, or if assaulting a fort didn't constantly cause the entire game to crash, there might be more reason to get involved. If there were more rewards available that actually had stats my class could use, I might work a little harder at achieving those rewards (seriously... I'm a zealot... why would I grind PQ's for level 30 gear that's worse than my level 26 gear?!). And don't even get me started about the lack of flight paths...
I'm with you... hoping (desperately) for the best.
You're speaking out of my mind. I have a lvl 26 Black Ork and a 29 Shaman (and some twinks) but i'm just sick of grinding all the time. Always finishing the chapter and then farm the sc's until you're high enough to get to the next chapter...
I've bought me WotLK and it defentyl feels great to play a game thats kinda bug free. I played WoW for 2 years and stopped it for Warhammer just to try something new. Well I'm a bit disappointed... I had some great times in WAR but I still play for the fun not for loyalty.
thx 4 reading
I tend to play for fun. Wow stopped being fun, so I went back to Eve. War for me seems a half war house between WoW and Eve. You get the excellent PvP and avatar which I missed while playing Eve. War has so much lore and some much room to expand.
Wow has nailed it sails to the post and after a month or two everyone will have run through it's content and will get bored again.
By which time War will be even better than it is now with. I think Mythic are in for the long haul they will let WoW have it's lime light then k-pow! Paul will be spouting is usual stuff.
What will wow do in 2 months time, bring out another expansion? Not on your nelly in the time which follows Mythic have all the time in the world to sell and grow it's user base.
Comparing advertising for an expansion 2 years in the making to an in-game live event seems to be a bit off ;) But you are right, Mythic's advertising has been sub-par.
Good thoughts here guys. I can't say I'm fully invested in WoW, I'm not "back" to that game. I agree that might all be singing a different tune in 2009. Then, I think the shine will have dulled a bit from the WotLK expansion and (hopefully) Mythic will have rolled out some solid changes to get people jazzed about WAR again. Honestly, if it wasn't for WotLK I might just not be playing much at all right now while I wait for the 1.1 patch. I'd at least be like many others that just went out and purchased Fallout or Left 4 Dead or something else.
the problem with WAR is the world. The way it is set up. If there was 30 million people playing WAR it would still feel empty because of the way the world is divided into tiers and 3 racial pairings.
-Scarybooster
I can't imagine going back to WoW now. I have no doubt that PvP in WoW will still be dominated by the poopsockers and PvE will still demand too much time invested. Not to mention the grinding of rep, crafting, arena points, honor, etc.
WAR's draw to me was that it was different. It's requirements from the player was different. It's emphasis was different. If WAR fails, I'll probably write off MMO's for good. The idea of having to rely on the whims of a gaming community to determine the quality of my gameplay is a bit unnerving.
I must say that I agree with you. I'm pretty sure I'll return to WoW pretty soon if this game doesn't get any better. I miss the game that didn't lag, didn't need so much fixing and that some of my friends still play.
And then Mythic slaps the fact that the 1.0.5 career fixes has been moved to the next patch O.O I got extremely frustrated when I red that, especially since I was planning on making my engineer to my main. As it is now, the WotLK Expansion is to be honest much more tempting than the Heavy Metal Event, that won't even give us the BG and KotBS, but only make them playable earlier.
See you all in-game, as long as I'm in it ofc.
Seriously, I've been a fan of warhammer for a long time. I've done some of the table top gaming, but mainly a fan of the books. I'm sure that War right now isn't great. Most new games when they come out have a lot of issues to be dealt with. Its patience really. Warhammer itself has so much to expand to. So much lore that exceeds WoW ten fold! The WOTLK is tempting I must say. I quit WoW because I was sick and tired of BG's and Arena. I was a fan of World PVP. War offers a sense of hope to me and its RVR / PVP system. I mite start up WOTLK again but Im sure in a month or two it will just be the same grinding boring shit. Warhammer on the other hand I think it will turn into something amazing and will prove to be better than WoW in time. Until than. Patience is the key.
Keep us posted Br3nt. Big fan!
Ah so they sucked you back in too. I wondered why your blog had slowed a little!
I didn't think I would renew my WoW subscription, I was going to just quit MMO's completely. But the thing I've always enjoyed about WoW was the leveling process and the questing, so I decided to start back up one of my level 60s. If I'm still having fun after I'm through with Outland, I'll buy the expansion.
Right now with a ton of DK's running around Outland, it is an interesting time to be leveling a Priest, they all need healers for their instance runs.
I have heard, the War is a new game and some bugs are to be expected line alot. If WoW was released now, as it was when it was first released it would have been dead in the water. Players of the would have put up with alot more than they will put up with now. After AOC and now it will seems warhammer, people are now willing to just play anything. People no longer are will to understand that a game is new and thier will be bugs. I like Warhammer, i am working on my 2nd L40 now, when he is L40 tho i am going to have to leave till 1.1 comes out. As much as i like the game there should be more than just rvring, i like a good pve too, and this is where they are currently lacking.