Something For Everybody!

If you’re a “glass is half full” kinda guy: Warhammer Online released patch 1.2 today with a small paperback book worth of design tweaks and two new classes, the Slayer and the Choppa, melee DPS classes both similar in mechanics (berserker-style, hit things, do more damage, hit things too much take more damage).

If you’re a “glass is half empty” kinda gal: Warhammer Online finally released the two other classes that were dropped from the release schedule, still did not completely roll back the traditional last-minute XP nerf. But hey, you can complain about it now on the official forums! (note: currently down, hi Patch Day!).

If you’re a “glass is broken on the bar and stabbing at my neighbors” kind of person: Darkfall is up, sometimes. I think. The forums are down.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 and is filed under Warhammer, _. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

#1 by Einherjer on March 5th, 2009

My “odd need”?
What about most of the commenters here who have the “odd need” to say the game is not good?
I am just providing an alternate view.

@Iconic

Are we discussing features or bugs? As for the rest of your comment, yes, everybody knows that producing software is almost the same thing as producing cars, so your theory is extremely valid and i stand corrected. *rolls eyes*

#2 by Drakks on March 5th, 2009

Einherjer :My “odd need”?What about most of the commenters here who have the “odd need” to say the game is not good?I am just providing an alternate view.

You seem intelligent, so I find it odd having to remind you that “not good” is subjective. You’re trying to argue the unargueable.

#3 by Einherjer on March 5th, 2009

@Drakks

Competely immaterial comment. I am just providing an alternative view to the “WAR is crap” stance predominant in this blogs comment box.

You don’t see me arguing with people who say “I didn’t liked the game” but i will argue with people who say that “the game is not good.” Specially when they try to back up that subjective opinion with pseudo-facts.

#4 by Drakks on March 5th, 2009

I didn’t like the game = the game is not good.

A=B, B=A.

We already established good is subjective, therefore it is based on whether or not the indiviudal making the claim liked the game or not.

I reupped my account to take another look, as I am want to do, and it took me roughly 45 minutes to remember all the stupid little frustrations that drove me away to begin with: They *still* don’t have the UI bugs worked out, you still cannot change resolution and have it not totally fubar your interface. 4 hotbars do not scale based on screen resolution so I end up with 4 GIANT 640×480 hotbars on my 2560×1600 screen. I’m running twox8800GTX in SLI and video is still poorly optimzed causing my machine to slide show in places I swear I could draw shit in mspaint faster. The AH search function are still apparently being done on an abacus, armor models are still clipping my BOs head, the stupid flight path video (of you taking off on a dragon, designed solely to make Fp times take longer!, is still clunking in there).

I mean, and these are just off the top of my head and I’m making myself stop because I could post shit like this for hours. I’m not a coder, so I am not appreciating the complexity of the code that makes the game work. I’m a consumer, there are competiing products, and this one is still sub-par by comparison in ways outside of just content.

To me, I don’t like the game because the game has way too many annoyances. The core mechanics are all there, I just lack the patience and desire to ignore the annoyances when I simply don’t have to anymore. I mean, the suckfest that was annoyances in EQ was compounded by the fact that there were no alternatives. That was *it*. DAoC was a great game, and it seems to me that Mythic doesn’t get the “new game” pass when they didn’t seem to apply many of the lesson’s learned from that game to their new one, which btw isn’t new anymore.

#5 by Drakks on March 5th, 2009

In addition:

I went to cancel my account after logging out (not in a fit of rage, moreso so I don’t forget and get charged again in a month) — and I shit you not there is a 30 minute “general” lockout on my account from the management page.

I didn’t flub a password or change a single item. The lockout, if I were a conspiracy theorist, is keeping me from accessing the cancel button immediately so that idiots like me will forget.

#6 by Einherjer on March 5th, 2009

@Drakk

“I didn’t like the game = the game is not good.”

I dislike a lot of music that i considered to be good. Just not to my taste. Just like a dish you dislike but you can say if it was cooked properly or not. Of course trolls don’t do that “If I don’t like it it’s because is crap”.

As for the bugs you mentioned, I don’t even know what you’re talking about. But, granted, I am on 1680×1050.

#7 by Robert Howarth on March 5th, 2009

trial is open to everyone now
http://www.warhammeronline.com/trial

Even smelly Canadians

#8 by Alarik on March 5th, 2009

Drakks :
In addition:
I went to cancel my account after logging out (not in a fit of rage, moreso so I don’t forget and get charged again in a month) — and I shit you not there is a 30 minute “general” lockout on my account from the management page.
I didn’t flub a password or change a single item. The lockout, if I were a conspiracy theorist, is keeping me from accessing the cancel button immediately so that idiots like me will forget.

I had the same thing happen; no clue what was going on then. It didn’t have any problems when I came back the next day. I assumed it was server problems, but unless we both decided to cancel on the same day that’s less likely.

#9 by JuJutsu on March 5th, 2009

Robert Howarth :trial is open to everyone nowhttp://www.warhammeronline.com/trial
Even smelly Canadians

Thanks for the link. Data is being sent to Canada as I type…

#10 by Jeff on March 5th, 2009

Drakks :

Yes, people go to WAR with that mindset and when they find out that WAR is not WoW, they go back to their comfort zone. I read so much crap on what WAR is and is not that I beginning to suspect that most of the commenters are people who never played the game or played it for 5 minutes in the house of a friend. Most of the arguments here seem so superficial that that is the only explanation. .

There are two conditions that can possibly exist for someone starting to play WAR that we care about right now:
1. They have played WoW before.2. They have not played WoW before.
Given the starting numbers WAR had, and their current sub numbers, I’m going to submit to you that WAR has lost both types. I also have a problem with your repeated use of the idea that people didn’t play WAR because it wasn’t WOW — because in essence you’re yet again attempting to trivialize the opinion of people who stopped playing: people who had experienced WoW and then played WAR expected an enjoyable experience that they did not receive, while people who had not experienced WoW and then played WAR expected an enjoyable experience that they did not receive.
Note any similarity between the two?
In my opinion it boils down to the simple fact that WAR didn’t do enough better than the games before it, or in it’s own right — which was a trend that has repeatedly allowed new games to dethrone older ones.
Granted, I’m over-simplfying.. but still, the point being that it actually *is* possible to be a rational, logical, and intelligent human being and have played WAR and not liked it — regardless of your odd need to validate the games greatness for everyone else.

I couldn’t agree more. Well said.

#11 by The Claw on March 8th, 2009

I’ve spent some time over the last week checking out WAR again, thanks to the free trial. I haven’t played it since release (I had a pre-order and thus was able to play beta and the headstart on the release servers, but I opted not to go through with buying it)

The game has definitely improved.

It’s more stable for me, I had a couple of crashes a week ago but none since patch 1.2 (touch wood).

The responsiveness of the UI is still not up to WoW standards, but it is definitely improved, the global cooldown “flash” helps. Casting animations no longer get glaringly out of sync when your cast gets pushed back by taking hits.

Adding influence to the open RvR areas was a good idea, it gives you an incentive to get into them, which balances out the fact that renown and xp gain seems better in scenarios.

Crafting is vastly improved since 1.2, it actually feels like you can achieve something now. I tried talisman making back at release time and it was ridiculous, you needed all six professions to contribute to making a talisman. I don’t think I ever made one! But I have now, just using salvaging and talisman making, with vendor-bought items filling in the rest (I assume that if you do use items all produced by player craftsmen you’ll get better results).

Monster AI and pathing is still pretty hopeless, far below the standard I expect these days. You can still frequently pull a single mob while his friend standing five feet away completely ignores you. And often mobs will run in random directions before figuring out how to path towards you. Or, occasionally, just get confused and stand there motionless while you kill them.

Ultimately, I’m not yet ready to go out and buy a box to play WAR (I haven’t really seen it discounted in Australia), but I would be willing to pay a subscription for it, at least for a month or two to see how it goes.

#12 by Bonedead on March 9th, 2009

WTB new DF post. Are you in good sir? Isn’t it great good sir?

Broken Toys