WAR open beta report: Night two with the dwarves

Posted on September 12, 2008 by SynCaine

Another fun night of Warhammer open beta for Aria and I, this time without her computer overheating. I only experienced one CTD, again after a death, but this time in a scenario, so it seems to be semi-random. I’ll have to do some drive updates to see if that helps, but one crash in 2-3 hours time is really nothing IMO.

We started and finished chapter 2 of the dwarf area, including participating in all three PQs and completing all quests. Just very briefly about the quests, they were a lot of fun. No annoying ‘find the little pixel’ quests, or any super long ‘kill 200 rats’ stuff. Plus any quest that ends in you drinking beer that sends a fireball out of your mouth I consider a win.

The PQs were an interesting adventure in player stupidity, as we had what must have been the worlds worst MMO players join us at one point. One guy literally charged the Hero class PQ boss head first (he was a healer too), agroing not only him but also the 6 mobs along the way. Needless to say, he died rather quick. We ‘failed’ that particular PQ, as the Giant at the end… well hit like a giant, and was just too much to overcome. We also could not complete the PQ located in a cave, but that was simply due to Aria and I trying to two man it, and we ran out of time on phase 2 (we were also completing quests at that time, so we were not exactly 100% focused on just the PQ). We did however succeed in completing the 3rd PQ, one that has you lifting a siege near the town. The first phase has you killing a bunch of greenskins, phase two you place barrels of gun powder around their catapults to destroy them, and phase three featured another Hero class orc and his henchmen. At that point however we had a decent group (or rather, one healer actually healing, and a few of the previously mentioned allstars), so we managed to take down the Hero boss and get access to the loot chest. The influence bonus for finishing the PQ also meant we had maxed out our influence for chapter 2, so double bonus for that. After we collected our PQ and influence rewards, we ran to the chapter 3 hub and decided to call it a night.

Perhaps it was just that we were higher level (made it to 7), but combat felt a lot smoother last night. It was mentioned in the patch notes that Mythic continues to work on combat responsiveness, and it shows. As of last night, I can honestly say the combat engine is at about 95% IMO. It’s still ‘slower’ than WoW, but by design now rather than for technical reasons. The fact that everyone has more HP than in WoW, compared to the amount of damage done, is a huge factor in the pace of combat. To me though this is a huge plus, as it means you actually have to form a basic strategy when dealing with normal mobs, and really be on your game when facing champion and hero mobs. I noticed a huge combat difference when I used my skills at optimal rotation, and when I just mashed one attack, which is great.

This is also important because working as a solid team in WAR really pays off. For instance, I was placing my ‘grudge’ buff on Aria, and if I let a mob hit her a few times at the start of combat, it not only split the damage a bit between us, it also gave me a huge grudge boost, meaning I could execute my moves that much sooner. During the cave PQ, if we executed this strategy, champion mobs were very doable. However, if we just ran in and mashed, the champion had a chance to kill us, or at least leave us in a badly damaged state, resulting in a longer downtime. I’m sure at the higher levels this gets even more important, but it’s nice to see strategy factoring in at such low levels. I can’t wait to run in a guild group of 6, everyone on vent and working as a well oiled machine.

With open beta coming to a close at some point on Saturday, we likely have one more play session with our dwarves. Mythic has done a great job capturing the unique feel of the dwarves in the Warhammer world, and anyone planning to play one is not going to be disappointed. Luckily for me, CE head start is Sunday, and I just happen to take Monday off as well. /win

Posted in beta, Warhammer Online | 2 Comments

Warhammer Dwarf starting area, and the heat monster persists.

Posted on September 11, 2008 by SynCaine

Aria and I finally got to play some Warhammer open beta last night, and overall had a good time. We created dwarves just for kicks (we will be playing DEs at launch). Ironbreaker for me, Engineer for her, and made it to level 6 before calling it a night.

For starters, the dwarf starting area is great. It’s very ‘dwarfy’, being in a mountain with cannons and booze all around. Said mountain is of course also under siege by Greenskins, and they are running all over the place, giving the starting area a very ‘happening right now’ feel. After a few initial quests, you make it outside, and we got that ‘ah fresh air’ feeling having started underground. Hard to really put it into words, but the pacing of the terrain is well done, and in a very short amount of time you get the sense of progress.

Aria is a huge fan of PQs, and almost immediately after character creation asked when do we get to do one. Having seen a bunch of starting areas, I knew one was generally close, and sure enough it was. What I did NOT expect was how hard the final Hero class mob turned out to be. Hero mobs just have a ton of HP, and our mini-group of 3 (a Runepriest joined us) stood no chance. Once the PQ reset, a few more dwarves joined up, and eventually with a full group we took the boss down, although even then it was not a cakewalk. The PQ itself was fairly basic (most are in the starting areas), one round of kill 20, a round of collect 10, and finally a hero boss mob with 3 adds. Yet while basic, it was still a lot of fun running around and smacking down greenskins.

Maxed out on influence, and with all quests completed, we moved on to Chapter 2, where we did a few quests, found the next PQ, and called it a night. Tonight will be round 2, and hopefully we can far enough to hit the RvR area and perhaps try a scenario.

During our time online, I don’t think we encountered a single ‘stuck’ mob that was invulnerable, something that was fairly common before the last patch. I did however experience my first two crashes, both instant CTD with no error report in Vista. Oddly enough, both happened when I hit release after being killed by the first PQ boss. In all fairness, my comp had been running for a long time, and once I reset it, I had no further issues. Aria’s comp did not crash.

Well actually it did crash, but not because of WAR, but rather that nagging heat issue. I downloaded SpeedFan, and ‘Temp 3′ was reporting stupidly high temperatures (200F+) as soon as a game was launched. The CPU, motherboard, and GPU all reported somewhat normal temps, and after a quick search I could not find what exactly ‘Temp 3′ refers to on an Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe MB. While clearly SOMETHING is up with the comp, I’m going to try and give it some extra ventilation (it sits under a desk in a corner right now) to see if that helps. The overheating shut down happens after an hour or so of playing WAR, so if I could prevent the heating issue for an extra 30 minutes or an hour, it won’t be much of a problem. Otherwise if the problem persists (or gets worse), it will have to go back to the shop. Anyone deal with anything similar, and have any suggestions? The comp is dust free, has a new GPU (Nvidia 9600 GT), plenty of case fans, and the CPU just got new putty and it’s heatsink cleaned.

Posted in beta, Random, Warhammer Online | 7 Comments

Mythic employee Tobold talks WAR

Posted on September 10, 2008 by SynCaine

Tobold, Mr. I’m kind of a big deal official media source and Mythic shill blogger, has an opinion piece about WAR. He is wrong, of course, but what do we expect from a total sellout. (insert random Darkfall comment, followed by something about an upcoming game with a cute feature list it won’t deliver)

In all seriousness (because the above was a joke, in case anyone gets confused), it’s a solid writeup. I did like the little “I like the PvP, so you won’t” part, as it references back to the difference between ‘impact PvP’ and ‘afk grind PvP’. As far as I can tell, WAR falls somewhere between the two. It’s certainly not UO/SB/EVE ‘winner take all’ PvP, but it’s also far from the ‘afk to win’ PvP of WoW. In the long run, I think that will work out for WAR and it’s fans. While you won’t have the uber epic PvP moments that come from ‘impact PvP’, it will be something that keeps people logging in and playing, something that will keep us fighting at least in part just to fight, without the massive downtime that ‘impact PvP’ requires.

So while I’m generally all for games with ‘impact PvP’, I think I’ll enjoy the somewhat more casual pacing of WAR. I’m guessing that between RvR areas, scenarios, keep sieges, and ultimately the campaign ending capital city events , I’ll have plenty of solid PvP content.

Plus EVE is always around, in case the ‘impact PvP’ itch strikes me.

Posted in beta, Combat Systems, EVE Online, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

The real Warhammer Online comparision!

Posted on September 9, 2008 by SynCaine

So full of win.

Posted in Random, Warhammer Online | Comments Off on The real Warhammer Online comparision!

“Dude, that game is so 2004”, and other WAR comments.

Posted on September 8, 2008 by SynCaine

Reading some of the early Open Beta feedback, one thing struck me as a bit curious, and I wanted to write about it here in the hopes that someone can explain it to me. Why is 2008 so different from 2004?

What I mean is, why are people saying that Warhammer Online would have been nice in 2004, but in 2008 it’s ‘not enough’? And I don’t mean the people who don’t like WAR for whatever cool-aid infused reasons, I’m talking about the people who played it, had fun, and will continue to play it, but will do so under the doom and gloom of ‘I won’t like it for long’.

It’s not about the graphics, because WAR is generally an upgrade over WoW, and about as much as you can expect in four years when your main goal is performance > looks. WoW had EQ2, WAR has AoC, and we all know how that story plays out. It runs well on ‘average’ machines, even during RvR battles, and that all along has been the mission statement. Same goes for sound, servers, stability, and all other ‘tech’ issues, I don’t think anyone is super underwhelmed with the tech behind WAR.

Many people are stating that generally accepted MMO design features (holy trinity, hotbars, global cooldown combat, having fun) are old and need to go. It’s time for really ‘next gen’ stuff like… um… no hotbars or classes, instant (but balanced and non-twitch) combat, deep PvP that attracts a mature (not AoC mature) and very un-PvP crowd, and we want all that wrapped in a niche setting with a multi-million dollar budged behind it. Oh and no established IP to lure investment dollars, we want totally new fiction that is new and awesome and ‘matters’.

Sarcasm aside (it’s Monday, deal), why is a game that was fun in 2004 no longer fun in 2008? Why did that game in 2004, that did nothing for the genre other than add polish (which was as huge a step forward as any) get a ‘no innovation’ pass, yet in 2008, when handed another game that hits it’s marks, brings polish and a twist (PvP > PvE focus), some scream bloody murder?

“Oh but its 2008, we have been playing MMOs for years”. True, just like in 2004, when some of us had been playing MMOs for years. Just like DAoC was the PvP EQ, WAR is the PvP WoW. Was there ‘no innovation’ being chanted during the DAoC beta? Did people cry out that Mythic was developing ‘yet another fantasy MMO’? Had Bartle already played DAoC, but it was called EQ Rallos Zek?

Posted in Age of Conan, beta, Combat Systems, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 21 Comments

Warhammer Open Beta mini-report.

Posted on September 8, 2008 by SynCaine

Preview weekend plus took place the last few days, and today is the first day of Open Beta for Warhammer Online. Unlike the first preview weekend, Mythic did not slip in a last minute gamebreaker like borked NPC pathing, and the game played closer to what is expected when WAR goes live. It was not perfect, as at times NPCs became ‘stuck’ and invulnerable, but this could be fixed by moving away and letting the NPC chase after you. Annoying, yes, but not gamebreaking. I’m also guessing this is something that will easily be fixed before WAR goes live.

I got a chance to play with Keen and Graev’s guild, Happy Fun Guyz, on the Chrace server, and also squared off against a few Casualties of War members in scenario play. I was playing a squig herder, mostly just to test the pet pathing, and I’m happy to report it worked without issue. I still got the feeling the squig herder was slightly underpowered in RvR, but I only got to Rank 9. In PvE the SH worked well, thanks to the squig pet being such a good tank, and the fact that the SH could run and gun if needed.

While having access to Open Beta is nice, I just want the week to hurry up and end, Sunday to arrive, and create my live characters. Only a week!

Posted in beta, Warhammer Online | 5 Comments

AoC in a Wall of Text nutshell.

Posted on September 5, 2008 by SynCaine

If Yahtzee ever actually played a game for longer than 10 minutes, took a breath, stopped being a spoken word forum troll, and had to type, it might look something like this.

Pure win.

Posted in Age of Conan, Random | 1 Comment

Mark Jacobs blog, Open Beta, and CPU issues.

Posted on September 5, 2008 by SynCaine

Mark Jacobs not only started a blog, but has been a one man typing machine ever since. It’s almost scary really; the guy posts and replies more than Tobold. I doubt our blog overlord will take this lightly, and has already fired an indirect shot (well not really, but go with it here)

Jokes aside, the blog makes for some great reading, and gives some nice insight into not only Mythic, but Jacobs himself. The game must be more ready to go than we though, if Mark has time to blog like a madman, and Mythic starts the open beta a few days early (hear that, something in MMO land happened BEFORE it was planned. It’s a reverse Blizzard!)

I’m curious to see WAR without the graphics turn down, and to play with Aria when the NPCs don’t run away from you. I mean we had a great time during PW, and the game was seriously borked. Getting my 2nd computer back from the shop ‘soon’ (the repair shop and Blizzard have similar business models, quality work, not so good with the whole timeframe deal) will help too, as it was having a little bit of a CPU overheating issue, and being a high end machine, I was not super comfortable messing around with the CPU myself. I would rather pay $100 or so and be safe than do it myself and fry three grand of hardware. When the CPU was having issues, it would randomly shut itself down, which in turn oddly enough made WAR erase 5-10 minutes of game play, often resulting in Aria having to redo a quest or run to a town for a second time. When that happens every hour or so, it’s understandable that she was getting frustrated. On the other hand, the fact that she is still really looking forward to the game speaks volume.

Posted in beta, Random, Warhammer Online | 3 Comments

Is it Sunday yet?

Posted on September 4, 2008 by SynCaine

Open beta here yet…?

Sorry one track mind right now, and currently the servers are down.

Posted in Warhammer Online | 4 Comments

Warhammer Online Open Beta, Launch, and the hype.

Posted on September 3, 2008 by SynCaine

The Warhammer Online open beta is just around the corner, and shortly after Warhammer will finally go live. While the game is by no means ‘finished’ or ‘perfect’, it’s actually in far better shape than what most people saw during the preview weekend.

The NPC/Pet pathing issue, which was the most major and noticeable bug during PW, has been fixed, along with a graphics fix that will finally let us see what the engine behind Warhammer can actually do, instead of viewing muddy textures 10 feet away from our character. In addition to those two major changes, a slew of lesser fixes have also go in (according to forums and such), adding further polish to a game that was already in good shape.

I have little doubt Open Beta will generate even more buzz than the PW did, and as positive as the PW was, I think Open Beta will blow that out of the water. Simply put, WAR was drastically different with working pathing than it was during PW, when even I at times logged out in frustration. It will be interesting to watch fan reaction during Open Beta, both from people playing it for the first time, and those who only got to play during the PW. Both groups are in for a treat, and instead of getting hung up on bugs, they will be able to dive deeper (read: outside the starting area) into the game and actually see how the systems work. We already saw a few PvE players react positively to the small sample of RvR they got; my guess is a whole lot more of that will happen during Open Beta.

WAR has been getting a lot of heat for its almost constant hype, both from Mythic and from fan sites. In most cases, a product never lives up to the hype, and no matter how good it actually was it leads to disappointment. With WAR, as hard as it is to believe, I think MMO fans will actually be surprised by just how well the game works, how everything fits, and how its got both the familiar MMO feel while offering so many “that’s awesome” moments.

I’m very much looking forward to launch, not only to play a great MMO, but also to watch and observe the reaction from both fans and skeptics alike. For me, it’s 2004 all over again, waiting for the WoW beta to finally end so we can get in and ‘make it count’.

Posted in beta, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 1 Comment