I agree with some that this game can be a bit confusing but I like the depth and sandbox feel. The one thing that has had me confused from the beginning hasn't been the direction but the leveling up of skills. I'm not sure how to optimize what I want to do, or should do to make my leveling up effective for my character. I recently read about the Meridian System to get somewhat of a feel of what was going on but I was more confused than ever. That being said, I look forward to learning the nuances of the game even if it is a lot slower than I learn other things. In the meantime, if someone that has a clue can please explain the following to me, I would surely appreciate it.
Total 9 lines of meridian. Internal skill (lv1-lv5) of each school is related to 1 line (total 8 lines). Sit And Forget Self Skill is related to 1 line respectively.
Relative meridian of school internal skill can be cultivated to lv180 (lv1-lv5 can be cultivated to lv36 respectively). Meridian related to Sit and Forget Self skill has no upper limit.(can open the upper limit continuously). When the lv1 internal skill of school is cultivated to lv25. An acupoint will be opened. Opening this acupoint can increase the upper limit of relative meridian to 36 ranks. When the second internal skill reaches 20 and the third internal skill reaches 20, the second and third acupoint will be opened and relative upper limit of meridians will be improved to 72 and 108 ranks respectively.
Open pointed acupoint and you can gain Skill Point. Consuming skill point can open Skill Slot. Currently there are 24 skills. Skill can cancel the shared CD of two movements.
The cultivation of meridian mainly depends on Chi. The higher meridian is, the more Chi is required.
Acquiring Chi is influenced by many factors.
The upper limitation of gaining Chi per day is related to different levels of power; if any meridian is cultivated above 5 ranks, can open the accumulated degree of Chi.
Total 9 lines of meridian. Internal skill (lv1-lv10) of each school is related to 1 line (total 8 lines). Sit And Forget Self Skill is related to 1 line respectively.
Relative meridian of school internal skill can be cultivated to lv360 (lv1-lv10 can be cultivated to lv36 respectively). Meridian related to Sit and Forget Self skill has no upper limit.(can open the upper limit continuously). When the lv1 internal skill of school is cultivated to lv25. An acupoint will be opened. Opening this acupoint can increase the upper limit of relative meridian to 36 ranks. When the second internal skill reaches 20 and the third internal skill reaches 20, the second and third acupoint will be opened and relative upper limit of meridians will be improved to 72 and 108 ranks respectively.
It's simple in what you do, in regards to tasks as almost all I have encountered thus far only give you one option dialoge wise.
Understanding how leveling up things works and what is smart takes a lot of learning. It has some appeal, but it gets old quick due to the open PvP. Right after you start out, every 5-10 minutes in town, someone comes along and kills you in a few shots. Then you have to wait on a 15 minute debuff, which can stack up to 5 times, to wear off.
I like PvP, but good grief when going through the tutorial and first few missions, getting slaughtered while in dialog it takes out the enjoyment.
Much like EVE Online, if you join a guild/ Corp that has war dec's on day one, you can pretty much rest assure you won't be undocking or doing anything.
Wushu only becomes nub clubbing when guilds drag people in too early and don't support those new people.
As for depth, no. Exper converts to cultivation, cultivation converts back to leveling. Set a skill and watch it level. You can walk across China in a few hrs. It is a sand box. There are many things to find and I'm not saying what because Sand Box gamers want to find them, not read about them but they are there. In the spirit of Sand Box, you have a single inner skill that caps at level 20 when you start. Why you are in a guild, why you are even in a school before that reaches 20? If you are a gimme, gimme, now, now, now type gamer? You will hate this game.
Deep or confusing . . . I don't know. But what I do know is that AoW is fresh. I've never played a game like it before, and I suspect that is one of the primary reasons it does seem so challenging.
Games rely on a set of arbitrary rules, rules conceived of in the minds of developers. When MMOs were new, they were incredibly exciting in large part because the rules were brand new. But over time, certain rules became etched in stone by the industry, and each new game began to feel like an immitation of ones that came before. The rules always remained the same, the surfaces changed.
This is why no one ever complained about a lack of sophisticated tutorials in any or these games -- despite the fact that usually the tutorials were abysmal -- because each game played exactly more or less like the game before. MMO players already knew how to play most new MMOs straight out of the box. Hell, I don't even remember the last time before AoW where I ever felt I even needed a tutorial.
AoW is confusing because AoW completely changes the rules, not just the surface. It does everything differently than what we have learned to take for granted in mmorpgs. This makes it incredibly new and exciting. In many ways, playing AoW is like being a newbie all over again.
It comes to me as a complete shock that while Western and Korean companies continue to produce generic game after generic game, China -- whose previous contribution to mmorpgs was in hacking accounts and gold farming (which they are doing like they have home field advantage with AoW) -- would produce the most innovative MMO in almost a decade.
Deep or confusing . . . I don't know. But what I do know is that AoW is fresh. I've never played a game like it before, and I suspect that is one of the primary reasons it does seem so challenging.
Games rely on a set of arbitrary rules, rules conceived of in the minds of developers. When MMOs were new, they were incredibly exciting in large part because the rules were brand new. But over time, certain rules became etched in stone by the industry, and each new game began to feel like an immitation of ones that came before. The rules always remained the same, the surfaces changed.
This is why no one ever complained about a lack of sophisticated tutorials in any or these games -- despite the fact that usually the tutorials were abysmal -- because each game played exactly more or less like the game before. MMO players already knew how to play most new MMOs straight out of the box. Hell, I don't even remember the last time before AoW where I ever felt I even needed a tutorial.
AoW is confusing because AoW completely changes the rules, not just the surface. It does everything differently than what we have learned to take for granted in mmorpgs. This makes it incredibly new and exciting. In many ways, playing AoW is like being a newbie all over again.
It comes to me as a complete shock that while Western and Korean companies continue to produce generic game after generic game, China -- whose previous contribution to mmorpgs was in hacking accounts and gold farming (which they are doing like they have home field advantage with AoW) -- would produce the most innovative MMO in almost a decade.
Ha, awesome post, that explains my feelings on AoW exactly. I actually had that same thought when I finally started researching and getting into the game - it truly feels as if you're playing mmos for the first time again, because everything is so different. It's intimidating, daunting, and even a bit unsettling at times but that's what I'm loving about it. I feel like I'm in a real virtual workd again, and I haven't had that feeling since my first experiences with games like Everquest and UO.
Comments
I agree with some that this game can be a bit confusing but I like the depth and sandbox feel. The one thing that has had me confused from the beginning hasn't been the direction but the leveling up of skills. I'm not sure how to optimize what I want to do, or should do to make my leveling up effective for my character. I recently read about the Meridian System to get somewhat of a feel of what was going on but I was more confused than ever. That being said, I look forward to learning the nuances of the game even if it is a lot slower than I learn other things. In the meantime, if someone that has a clue can please explain the following to me, I would surely appreciate it.
Total 9 lines of meridian. Internal skill (lv1-lv5) of each school is related to 1 line (total 8 lines). Sit And Forget Self Skill is related to 1 line respectively.
Weeellll I could... but theres no question:P
@Hatori-Hanzo
In regards to Meridians, check out this guide. It is based on the Chinese version, but does a much better job at explaining it.
http://forum.mmosite.com/thread/2/263/20120819/Introduction_to_Meridian_System-5031d06e521f6d013-1.html
Also, have a look at the discussion in this thread:
http://www.ageofwushu.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6939
Much like EVE Online, if you join a guild/ Corp that has war dec's on day one, you can pretty much rest assure you won't be undocking or doing anything.
Wushu only becomes nub clubbing when guilds drag people in too early and don't support those new people.
As for depth, no. Exper converts to cultivation, cultivation converts back to leveling. Set a skill and watch it level. You can walk across China in a few hrs. It is a sand box. There are many things to find and I'm not saying what because Sand Box gamers want to find them, not read about them but they are there. In the spirit of Sand Box, you have a single inner skill that caps at level 20 when you start. Why you are in a guild, why you are even in a school before that reaches 20? If you are a gimme, gimme, now, now, now type gamer? You will hate this game.
Deep or confusing . . . I don't know. But what I do know is that AoW is fresh. I've never played a game like it before, and I suspect that is one of the primary reasons it does seem so challenging.
Games rely on a set of arbitrary rules, rules conceived of in the minds of developers. When MMOs were new, they were incredibly exciting in large part because the rules were brand new. But over time, certain rules became etched in stone by the industry, and each new game began to feel like an immitation of ones that came before. The rules always remained the same, the surfaces changed.
This is why no one ever complained about a lack of sophisticated tutorials in any or these games -- despite the fact that usually the tutorials were abysmal -- because each game played exactly more or less like the game before. MMO players already knew how to play most new MMOs straight out of the box. Hell, I don't even remember the last time before AoW where I ever felt I even needed a tutorial.
AoW is confusing because AoW completely changes the rules, not just the surface. It does everything differently than what we have learned to take for granted in mmorpgs. This makes it incredibly new and exciting. In many ways, playing AoW is like being a newbie all over again.
It comes to me as a complete shock that while Western and Korean companies continue to produce generic game after generic game, China -- whose previous contribution to mmorpgs was in hacking accounts and gold farming (which they are doing like they have home field advantage with AoW) -- would produce the most innovative MMO in almost a decade.
Ha, awesome post, that explains my feelings on AoW exactly. I actually had that same thought when I finally started researching and getting into the game - it truly feels as if you're playing mmos for the first time again, because everything is so different. It's intimidating, daunting, and even a bit unsettling at times but that's what I'm loving about it. I feel like I'm in a real virtual workd again, and I haven't had that feeling since my first experiences with games like Everquest and UO.