All Posts by Finbar

An IMHO overview of WAR as is (9/8/08).

The game is ok 6/10.

Nothing to write home about mind you. It is very much the care-bear RvR/PvP game of the year. With no Stealth/Invisibility/SpeedBuffs/Utility Classes and no death penalty of any sort the sense of tension is very limited in scope. A world without consequences is a world without excitement. Ultimately everyone is a DPS class of some sort. The variety is either; you are a range DPS or a melee DPS (despite the in game descriptions of the classes). WAR takes the usual MMORPG class arrangement and simply removes key classes (Stealth and Utility) leaving a weak framework with little variety. Characters almost all look and play essentially the same, now this is fine if you are accustomed to games of limited scope such as WoW but for hardcore MMORPGers I think you will get more bang for your buck should you hold on to your coin for some other game (or even pre-existing already released games).

On the up-shot the game runs well on very low end systems, if you can run WoW on max settings than you can run WAR on max settings (with mild frame rate loss ~which we all know is not really a real issue in non reflex based games such as MMORPG's~ with a few exceptions).

Comparing WAR to WOW is VERY valid as the games are similar in many ways. They look the same graphically (stylized colour palate, very limited poly count, simplistic light mapping and shaders), they have the same interface, the worlds are seamless (and small), the over-all number of NPC models and world textures are very limited, and both games have a friendly level curve.

Ultimately this game will give casual gamers the feeling that they are hardcore PvPers much the way that WoW made casual gamers feel that they were hardcore raiders. I’m not going to extrapolate on my meanings of hardcore VS casual as I know it is a subjective definition but none the less they are definitions that members of our community use to describe specific factions of our communities (they are not value judgments they are simply game play styles based on the limiting factors of everyday life).

If you like Wow you will like WAR. WAR could potentially give WoW a run for its money but it will be hard pressed to drag gamers away from the time investment they have already committed to WoW. The accomplishment/acquisition of max level and "high end" raiding gear is significant to a WoW player (as casual gamers have less time to dedicate), and convincing them to start again is unlikely.
 

Now keep in mind that WAR is still in it's final Beta stage (and the servers are performing as expected ~ which is good news with regards to a stress test AKA: Open Beta); that said it's a bit to late (in the short term) to change many of the (very general) factors that I have hit on above.
 

Meh... the game is ok 5/10

Nothing to write home about mind you. It is very much the care-bear RvR/PvP game of the year. With no Stealth/Invisibility/SpeedBuffs/Utility Classes and no death penalty of any sort the sense of tension is very limited in scope. A world without consequences is a world without excitement. Ultimately everyone is a DPS class of some sort the variety is either you are a range DPS or a melee DPS (despite the in game descriptions of the classes). WAR takes the usual MMORPG class arrangement and simply removes key classes (Stealth and Utility) leaving a weak framework with little variety. Characters almost all look and play essentially the same, now this is fine if you are accustomed to games of limited scope such as WoW but for hardcore MMORPGers I think you will get more bang for your buck should you hold on to your coin for some other game (or even pre-existing already released games).

On the up-shot the game runs well on very low end systems, if you can run WoW on max settings than you can run WAR on max settings (with mild frame rate loss ~which we all know is not really a real issue in non reflex based games such as MMORPG's~ with a few exceptions).

Comparing WAR to WOW is VERY valid as the games are similar in many ways. They look the same graphically (stylized colour palate, very limited poly count, simplistic light mapping and shaders), they have the same interface, the worlds are seamless (and small), the over-all number of NPC models and world textures are very limited, and both games have a friendly level curve.

Ultimately this game will give casual gamers the feeling that they are hardcore PvPers much the way that WoW made casual gamers feel that they were hardcore raiders. I’m not going to extrapolate on my meanings of hardcore VS casual as I know it is a subjective definition but none the less they are definitions that members of our community use to describe specific factions of our communities (they are not value judgments they are simply game play styles based on the limiting factors of everyday life).

If you like Wow you will like WAR. WAR could potentially give WoW a run for its money but it will be hard pressed to drag gamers away from the time investment they have already committed to WoW. The accomplishment/acquisition of max level and "high end" raiding gear is significant to a WoW player (as casual gamers have less time to dedicate), and convincing them to start again is unlikely.
 

Now keep in mind that WAR is still in it's final Beta stage (and the servers are performing as expected  ~ which is good news with regards to a stress test AKA: Open Beta); that said it's a bit to late (in the short term) to change many of the factors that I have hit on above.

Thanks I forwarded that one on to my friend.

I will look around for another.

Anyone have 2 extra keys that I can send to my friends to try and suck them in? My email address is simian.logic@gmail.com but remember I dont need the keys/promotion myself as I already play. I simply want to send them on to a couple of my friends.

Cheers.

EQ2 is one option.

You can solo with a few classes but those classes are not really needed in a group so much. You can solo on over land areas but all dungeons (unless way below your level) require a group. There are tons of dungeons to boot. The overland also has many mobs that will require a group.

Or if thats not groupy enough for you then try EQ1. Nothing is more groupy than EQ1.

Id use one or two for my wife and me.

simian.logic@gmail.com

Cheers.

IMHO>>>>SWG should have been shut down after the first 6 months. The dev/marketing/legal teams just never really saw the loss and have since been wasting resources that coupld be put towards other games. Truely by now... they could have a new Star Wars MMORPG up and running. This is a classic case of more money than brains. <<<<IMHO.

Originally posted by jeffpenney

  'a Diamond in the dust'

 

-Lucky

Do you mean a "Diamond in the rough"?

Eitherway thanks for the heads up.

Im not one to go on (and on and on and on) about "WoW Killer" ideology but I have a strange feeling that this game might just give old 'World of Borecraft' a good old shot in the kindeys (with regards to population culling).

Given that Aion looks like a game that WoW players will like; I doubt very much that this game will be for me. Which is a good thing for NC soft because it means that the vast magority of main stream gamers might just come home to graze.

Good on ya NC soft. Keep up the good work, you do an excellent job of creating very basic, low strategy, mainstream mmo's; which in turn keeps the vast majority of gamers away from the boring old games that I play. It is much appreciated.

I'd love to give it a try at least.

Cheers!

Looking for a resurection scroll: simian.logic (at) gmail.com

Thanks.

Hello all.

Im looking for buddy keys for my partner and me. If you have a couple extra to share it would be most appreceated. Contact me at simian.logic@gmail.com or just PM me here as you like.

Cheers.

Fin.

I like the general idea.

One big problem though: Equipement.

High Level Equipement (or even newer expansion equipment) can easily throw the existing expansions balance out of whack. EQ is a VERY item-centric game for a reason. Take for example some of the POP items. I have seen weapons with more total stat points on them than was the maximum achievable stat set on the basic EQ Set. Thus a character (even level nerfed) could have more STR than the best equiped characters of the basic set . Allowing said expansion twinked character to easily out power the capabilities of characters who do not hunt the upper teir planes. The result is Guild-Hardcore-XXX>ALL goes to PoP earns tons of L33T gear, then turns around and goes back to old norrath and with a small group of 6 heavily equiped players kicks the crap out of Vox, Naggy, etc (I know for certain 6 Wizards could do it with mana burn, etc).

Semantics of class VS mob aside... the fact that EQ is so item-centric could not simply be ignored. Somehow (I dont know how) equipment would have to be reduced with level, AA, etc.

Not to mention classes, and races that did not exsist in earlier expansions. EG: Kerran Beserkers, Froglock Beast Masters, Iksar (period) etc. These new class/race combonations could also potentially unbalance in-situ expansion content.

As I said, I like the general idea, but like you said. It needs some tweaking.

Basic, Kun, Vel, any of the 'on planet Norrath' adventure sets (Jagged Pine, Deathly  Hallows etc), as well expanded content such as remade Odus (paineel, etc), remade Lavastorm, etc would be fine.

The moon should just well.... blow up and go away. And Pop was... Poop.

Originally posted by Minuvas

(My Characters: Level 25 Raki Diplomat, Level 25 Elven Bloodmage, Level 14 Dreadknight, Level 10 Necromancer, Level 10 Bard)

 

On a Side note before I begin: I know one of the major complaints about this game was lack of High End Content. I do know that a *single* raid Dungeon has been added. I however, can't comment on RAID/QUEST content really past level 30 (Which, for the Casual Gamer to obtain level 30 would require significant time input. Or for a Hardcore gamer would total more than a months worth of effort).Therefore please understand, that I am not addressing the "High End Content" issue - and would refer you to a higher level player OR direct you to upcoming patch notes to see if they are looking at these issues.

 

Let me start by saying I did Play Vanguard beta, I did Purchase a 1 month subscription to see what the game would be like (Since my beta experience was short - and I know that the Sony team has a good rate of patch release to fix most bugs) at release.

 

I was  mildly satisfied with my two months, but not enough to encourage my continued subscription.

 

 

However, I was browsing through their last few patches and their game updates... and figured, hell why not give it one more Shot - the game atleast on paper, seems to have been improved.

 

I found my experience to be overwhelmingly positive in this regard. The game is tremendously more efficient on hardware resources, and I found that a laundry list of bugs I remember from my original playing days were completely eliminated. They have refined and expanded alot of the beginner areas and quests too, The Martok beginning quests REALLY get you pulled into feeling like you belong to their nation.

 

Many if not the majority of the bugs are cosmetic in nature at this point, but thats not to say they still don't have the  bugs.

 

What my biggest regret about Vanguard is, its probably at the Stage it should have been RELEASED at..and should not have taken sony/sigil to repair their product to this standard. So let me give a quick list of Pros and Cons:

 

Pros:

1)Vanguard does make you earn your prestige in the game. Leveling, in any of the three spheres is hardly what you can consider "easy".  I personally consider this a pro, as you feel more reward for your well..rewards.

2) The Majority of CTD, Graphical, Memory Leak, and other problems have been fixed. I am running it on a 3 year old Labtop (XPS 2 build) and can run it on the High-Medium settings with only minor slowdowns.

 

3) The Remaining Community is supportive and willing to help, even on PVP servers. Theres alot of guilds who are looking to get members, and remain active.

 

4) The Sony/Sigil team is on the right track for delivering Timely, and appropriate Patches , Game Fixes, and Expansions. The last few patches have been Right on their mark, and The Game Update #2 looks to be a people pleaser.  Promised Mounts are finally coming in, an improved XP system, a different loot system.

 

 

Cons:

 

1) A large portion of the community has vanished. Making it difficult to get groups in unpopular areas (While larger, more familiar areas still retain a good amount of players). I think this can be HEALED, by it would require for Sony to do some heavy marketting to put Vanguard back on the batters plate - the way I see it, they can only push EQII for so long before they need to start cash cowing off a newer product (Especially considering the financial effort they put INTO Vanguard) .

 

2) Without groups, most of the "Elite" , or "Group" quests are pretty much uncompletable at this point - unless you happen to have friends on, are in a guild, or get lucky. For the most part I find myself abandoning these quests, since by the time you can complete them solo the XP and item awards are no longer worth the considerable effort that would be needed.

 

 

Summary:

I think Vanguard is actually a good game. If at the very least, you are hesitating or on the fence - I would encourage you to perhaps wait a little bit until Game Update #2 goes in, or hell - pay the $14 for one month (That's less than 50 cents a day to play for an entire month. Whereas a normal PC game goes for $50+ and you usually only get 20 hours out of it anyway). If you don't like it, cancel it - that is how I approach it.

I think in the end, I think Vanguard did hurt alot of players perception of it based on its initial release. I do think Vanguard can be saved, if the community gets behind it - and as long as the community is the one driving the direction of the game.

 

Agree, Disagree, your call - your opinion. This was just mine :).

I think that what you said here about Vanguard is true. That said I also think what you have said here can be said for ALL mmorpg's.

SUBJECTIVE (look it up).