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The small lacking things of WAR
Elikal
Member UncommonPosts: 7,912
Now much has been talked about WAR in terms of the grand design, and you can both love or hate it. But IMO WAR needs to focus on some of the details, which in my observation need improvement.
1. Ingame Voicechat: really, I am no TS lover, but it is totally and entirely beyond my understanding of the cosmic forces how a PVP focussed game like WAR could release without any ingame voice chat? Not every guild can afford TS server, and esp. for scenarios and the like group voice channels would help a lot. Even the old EQ2 now has ingame voice chat!
2. Character customization: Ok, I guess I am on the extreme scale in this, usually I spent hours to design my chars, and City of Heroes was my heaven. I spent more time creating characters there than actually playing the game, but IMO with WAR customization of characters has reached a new low. The faces are the most soulless and lack of character I have seen since... I dunno Ultima IV was fashion. All Highelf faces look the same, all human faces asf. I know some people dont care, but a lot of people do, and WAR really, really needs more and better ways at some point. All those male faces are burned out, crushed faces the same background guys in gangster movies would be. Elves all have that hollow stare into emptyness that makes them look like Vampires! Maybe a slider for fat/slim and height would also be neat, if possible. The faces are just totally characterless and several people I know found this the initial letdown, and people who dont feel attached to their chars will much easier go.
3. Character Itemization: When I heard WAR would not be so gear centred like WOW I was quite glad, but the scope of ways you can look like is really underwhelming to say the least. I just dont get it for instance why the colour custumization always just works for a small part of the clothing? The main colour, like the orange of the Flame Wizards always stays. One robe looks like the other also, so you end up basically like every other guy/gal, and in these days I thought such kind of uniform look was of past days. I hear that from lotsa folks as a mayor letdown.
4. Chat Channels: I know they are there, but so far you are not really hinted to it, and you can not set any public channel permanent as I see it. The chat window is kinda messy and on every server I have seen as a result the chat is minimal. 90% of all time I walk in total silence and if suddenly anyone was unable to type. I never ever have seen such a mute and silent community and I am sure it has something to do with the chat window design and setup.
5. Solo Heaven: I enjoy soloing once and then, but maybe I missed something, but it seems to me every quest is a solo quest. So far I only grouped in PQs and Scenarios. I always felt a game must force grouping, because people group when they must. I rarely have spent so much time soloing, and it kinda strikes me like some Guild Wars deja vu, like WAR's PVE part is a big single player game, just you share the world with others. I find this quite a letdown, and I would suggest to add group quests with better rewards to make people group more than they do now.
6. Combat Animations: I guess it is also common that WAR has sub par combat animations. The spells are ok, but the melee and bow combat animations, also the walking and some other animations looks really boring and stiff. Elves are walking like with a stick in their backside (no pun intended, teh), and the melee anims are also quite like in 1990. Nothing to really thrill me.
7. Tooltips: I would like to see moveover tooltips, which you can deactivate at will. It would make some parts of the game easier to learn.
8. Peace instead of war: an odd request, but what I felt was lacking was that counterpart to the "war everywhere" which makes the war more stand out. In the pathway of expanding the game Mythic really needs to add a few places where are serene, played hubs where people can meet and greet, relax, have a bonfire picnic or whatever, before going back to war. As it is Altdorf or the Invitable City dont look like meet a greet places to me. I always felt like even those most warlike game needs those peaceful places to socialize, to meet, to relax before the next battle and to have that feeling you have some place you are fighting for. In this way WAR reminded me a wee bit too much of Tabula Rasa; when war is everywhere it looses it speciality, its character as something extraordinary, and if people are supposed to stay in the game for years the world needs more than battlefields alone.
9. Voiceover: being a spoilt EQ2 gamer I always feel a letdown when I have to read quests. I dunno if the original version has them, but the German hasnt. I really want the characters to read the stuff to me. No big issue, but something to aspire to add in the future.
10. Housing: My role model always is the EQ2 housing. If you have a house in a world right away, you always hate to leave a world much more. Simple and complex housing are features I would like to see implemented at some point.
Overall I enjoy the game atm, but some small and not so small points make me wonder if this game is more than the fast food burger I'll play 3 months and then move to the next game. I kinda miss the qualities to make a lasting experience, a home rather than a mere collections of battlefields.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Comments
I mention a few of these in my Warhammer Review.
Of those ytou listed, I agree with the Customization is a bit lacking
However the character animations, Housing, tooltips etc, are all things that perhaps are annoying but are not integral to the game's success. I wager much of what you list will be improved or rectified after the first several months following release (Except housing which is likely a year off).
IN game chat and NPC voiceovers are fluff and not needed to enjoy the game.
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
About the VC part: belive me, most people will still use TS or Vent.
The way you always rip on the game...I'm surprised that you are playing...or are you?
------------------
Originally posted by javac
well i'm 35 and have a PhD in science, and then 10 years experience in bioinformatics... you?
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/218865/page/8
He says he's enjoying the game. I see no reason to doubt that.
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
1) Team Speak Voice Chat is cheap if your guild can not afford one then /start looking for a guild even a guild of 5 10 players can afford one.
2) I agree
3) Go level to the teens and higher and I love the looks of the armor, it fits in great with the game.
4) They are working on it and it has improved alot, no you can not sit around and spam the World over and over how sexy you are but it is just fine.
5) Once again about level 17 and up your life becomes very hard and will need alot more grouping, you have not even begun to touch the surface of the game yet, the first 20 levels is just a tease.
6, 9 10 are just plan made up whiny things.
Ok on to the that made me laugh"
Number 8- War is every where, it is not a nice pansy game, that is full of cute little gnomes and bright colors, suck it up and get in thier and fight! It clearly states that on the package.
Try a little harder to see constructive criticism for what it is. The OP's stuff is what makes games better and I salute him for being honest and unbiased in his post.
My brand new bloggity blog.
He says he's enjoying the game. I see no reason to doubt that.
I played four chars to level 8 in 2 days. WAR is one of the best MMOs released in the last 2 years imo. But so far I am not sure it will keep me more than 3 months or so. I dont see it is the "enitre world" like game I prefer, but thats an entire different topic.
And yes, am I critical towards MMOs, BECAUSE I like MMOs enough to want to more than to be mediocre. Whom the lord loves, he punisheth.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Just as a quick comment on coloring armor, if you right click on the color you want you can actually color the secondary color as well. Plus alchemy allows for other dyes to be made furthering customization.
Wow, I didn't know that. Awesome!
My brand new bloggity blog.
I pretty much agree with what Czarre said. I think most of this list is really nitpicking for a game that hasn't officially even launched yet. The core of the game is there and these listed items are extras that are "nice to have", but aren't in any way critical to the game. A lot of the list I would disagree with or could care less, to be honest.
Things like housing and better character customization would be nice, but you've got to be able to walk before you can run.
It's mostly a matter of personal preference. I know the exact type of game you are looking for, but the problem is so many elements are from the older MMO's and companies are starting to go away from that. The good news is there are games that already exist that will match up better with your preferences, but the bad news is I am sure you have already played them out.
The most important thing you have to understand is the Warhammer IP and how well this game fits with it, and also how much it limits it. The armies of WAR are very distinct and they have done a good job at recreating them in the game, but still allowing some customization via trophies, colors, faces/hair/tattoos, etc. so that you can be somewhat unique but still just be a cog in the WAR machine.
Also keep in mind that each class being easy to identify at a glance is intentional. Mythic wants every single class to have a distinct silhouette so that players can quickly look at a battle and know what they are up against. Armor textures and animations are a part of this as visual cues to other players what class your character is. This is important in a PVP game and fits with the tabletop game as well. Some minor modification is allowed but a Bright Wizard should always look like a Bright Wizard, etc.
I understand and share this idea, but you could make more robes for instance. And the BW stands out a LOT more than the Sorceress who is just one more slim, purple person among many others.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
What the op said was in fact true, all of his suggestion would improve the game.
Sadly his list of improvements could be applied to just about every game out there. While some games have most of these small imrovements they all lack some major aspects, such of variety of content, multiple paths avaliable to level your character, and RvR that can be enjoyed right off the bat.
Mythic has a really good chance here to stand out in the mmo industry by addressing these small gameplay factors. If Mythic could quickly (within a year) improve the game by addressing these issue, it would be a major deal. Doing such improvements quickly would make mythic stand out as one of the best companies out there. It would realy show those lazy mmo companies that it can be done.
I guess all we can do is wait an see how dedicated mythic is, and how good of a game they are trying to make.
The thing is you cant consider a game like Warhammer as a final finished product......Just look at WOW.....It has added a ton since launch......If you look at what it had just at launch then the game was seriously lacking.....To take a game like Warhammer and say its missing x, y, and z so it will never be any good is a pretty shallow evaluation......The game is pretty massive and it takes alot of resources just to get a game like this off the ground.......They are working on many things and I would recommend waiting a couple months or more to see where it is at if you aren't satisfied with where it is now.......
Wow, I didn't know that. Awesome!
alchemy & guild level & realm rank & drops are where some ofthe 'better' colors come from. YOu have to 'unlock' / find / make the better items & colors all of which are 2 tone most of the time..there are soem items that only take a single color some that take none and some that take 2
I fully agree with you! And I removed three minor typo's from your post to make it look even better ^_^
Addressing those things in a reasonable amount of time would earn them allot of community kudo's.
My brand new bloggity blog.