I played FFXI for the first 3 years of its life and loved it, like a crack head loves crack. I also played Dirge to 80 in EQ2. Vanguard was ok and I didnt like wow at all, Will I like WAR? I hope so after pre-ordering..lol I cant get my beta key until Aug..

I'd suggest giving some more info on what exactly you did in those MMO's; what aspects you liked.

Originally posted by kccrawler

 I played FFXI for the first 3 years of its life and loved it, like a crack head loves crack. I also played Dirge to 80 in EQ2. Vanguard was ok and I didnt like wow at all, Will I like WAR? I hope so after pre-ordering..lol I cant get my beta key until Aug..

Probably.

WAR is much, much, much more PvP-focused than the two titles you mentioned. There is going to be some pretty cool PvE, too, but to get the most out of the game you have to want to fight for your realm against other players.

Im not sure what it was about Eq2, but with FFXI the story line made me want to lvl, not just slash and lvl. I also liked being able to have many jobs with the same Toon, something is lost if you have 4 or 5 diff. names. Also it seems that most of the new games have you killing 3+ mobs at once in a slash and burn fest.. What ever happened to killing 1 big, badass, mob?

dont know, tell me some other things you like, maybe i can tell your future too.

Originally posted by kccrawler

Im not sure what it was about Eq2, but with FFXI the story line made me want to lvl, not just slash and lvl. I also liked being able to have many jobs with the same Toon, something is lost if you have 4 or 5 diff. names. Also it seems that most of the new games have you killing 3+ mobs at once in a slash and burn fest.. What ever happened to killing 1 big, badass, mob?

of course WAR is not about simple grinding and slash and level (you can bet on that)

im not sure about the amount jobs though (toon = avatar??)

check one mmorpg that doesn't have bosses

Originally posted by kccrawler

Im not sure what it was about Eq2, but with FFXI the story line made me want to lvl

WAR will not disappoint in terms of storyline. Unlike WoW, which does sort of have a story, albeit a disconnected one based on fragmented lore, WAR has a consistent, epic story that is threaded through the whole game via the ToK. To emphasize this, it is even divided into chapters to read like a book. The further you advance, the more of the story you unfold.

Hmm that's a tough one..

WAR is banking on being substantially different from EQ and FFXI type games... in that it does not feature a storyline... or rather THE storyline.

If you're looking for a masterfully pre-scripted story to follow then I'd suggest looking elsewhere. WAR will rely much more on players themselves to provide story and drama. Although it does feature a lot of PvE, even that is dependent on and influenced by the players as a community.

For example, you might set it as your goal to kill the big bad PvE boss who drops that rare and awesome loot you want... or is at the end of your quest chain. The catch is that the dungeon where this boss resides is in the opposing faction's capital... so you'll have to help your faction capture it somehow - whether through PvP or PvE.

That being said, the drama here won't be some pre-scripted story but whether your faction will manage to get there. Since there are 3 capital cities for each faction it might be that they are pushing at a capital that you don't need - however you might try rallying your allies to go for your designated target capital.. From what I gather, these kinds of conflicts are going to provide the most story and drama in WAR.

/edit

to reflect on the above poster - yes it will have plenty of stories, quests etc but it is not going to lie to you that you are "a unique and special snowflake". You'll be a soldier/adventurer in a constantly evolving story of conflict. There isn't an epic story with you saving the world (like everybody else) through some scripted lie. If you do manage to do something over-the-top and awesome it'll be because you actually achieved it and not because some quest script-writer thought everybody and his dog should save the world at some point.

I'm confused now...some are saying there's an epic storyline and others are saying the opposite. Which is it?

Originally posted by Lydon

I'm confused now...some are saying there's an epic storyline and others are saying the opposite. Which is it?

There is an epic storyline but it isn't pre-scripted... at least not after you get to T4. EQ-type games are based on "hero's journey" paradigm where each and every player is a hero that progresses towards eventually "saving the world". This concept is inherited from single-player games where this can be justified somewhat - since the player is the only "real" character in the game. However, if you stop and think about it, this is completely pointless and ridiculous in MMOs where you play with thousands of other players... and each one of them is a unique hero on a quest to save the world.

The dumbest example of this is the Onyxia quest line in WoW... Every player gets to uncover the great secret (which everybody knows) that is going to change the world forever (and yet it remains completely the same). Talk about suspension of disbelief...

WAR's storyline is about the world, rather than the character himself. The war itself is epic and it'll spawn loads of different stories... however from what we know so far there won't be a storyline where YOU get to win the war for everybody and set the universe to right. In addition the environment is dynamic and your killing that dragon will involve much more than following the quest instructions... For example, the dragon might be in a dungeon held by the opposing side.... or in an recently razed allied capital that has to be built up and repaired in order for the dragon to appear.