There's many things to me. -You can only enjoy the game if you are on a high populated server. Which is why people have different experiences in the game. -Too linear -Not Sandbox -3/4 of the equipment is worthless. All you need is renown gear. Which you get renown from pq's anyways so no point on getting that pq's equipment. Just run to end of map and get your gear, there's no risk in it. -Community sucks -Grind -Extremely repetetive -No replay value -Not a finished game
This post = fail. For those that love WoW, WAR is not for you. It's also apparent you haven't played the game for more than a few hours (maybe open beta?). Renown gear was nerfed after beta, so it's not typically worth getting. The gear is a better on the PvE side so it's mostly useful. You don't get renown points from PQ's, you get influence points.
The community is good when you can manage to talk to someone (see chat issues below). I'd say the average age of the player is higher and people are more mature.
What happened to me is I played too much at release and during the early access and basically outleveled the server. RvR in tier 1 was great, worse in tier 2, and non-existent in tier 3. I ended up rolling an alt or 2 to play to let the rest of the server catch up and now it's fun again.
In tier 1 (and it's still true today if you want to start an alt), it wll never feel like grinding. You queue up for scenarios, do some PQs (there's enough in tier 1 to complete them), and PvE quest on the side. It's non-stop fun. WoW = "go grab this amulet for me on the other side of the map, yes you have to run there".
You can replay tier 1 as a different race and it's completely different - same as WoW. That's 6 different areas.
Yes, it could have used a few more months of polish, but to Mythic's credit, they are quickly fixing issues. Their VP Mark Jacobs is actively asking for input on issues (chat channels is a big one). They are seriously committed to a fun game and are proud of their product. The chat is pretty dead as there isn't a global zone chat yet - IMHO the reason behind the lack of communication.
Open RVR (battlefield objectives and keep sieges) are a blast. For those WoW players that remember the good ole days of pre-BG PvP (think Tarren Mill vs. Southshore), this is what it's like. Now imagine getting rewarded for pushing the other side back or getting XP for this fun... then you get WAR.
The only time I've felt a grind is when I'm on during odd times (very late or early) and figure I'll get a nice equipment upgrade from PQ influence. You never have to worry about grinding for money because it's not an issue. Mythic wants you to focus on having fun, not repairing your gear or paying 50g for a PvP respec.
If you want to avoid queue times, just roll Order.
My opinion is they need to kill scenarios, it was cool idea, but it destroys the game world. Too many people queing up for the instant gratification of scenarios. Isn't this what people were saying about AoC, that too much of the world was instanced and it didn't feel like an MMO. Same concept here, they are killing the PQs and RvR with these Scenarios. If it doesn't change, I won't be sticking around, i'm not paying $15 a month for sub-par PVE and Scenarios. I can go back to WoW and get the same thing only with better PVE, or I can keep playing AoC and wait for them to improve PvP.
Yeah I am starting to feel kinda lonely in WAR, especially in the morning. I get 'no groups in your area' quite a bit. If pops don't improve or they don't merge servers then I don't know what I will do. I like WAR but I already rerolled because of faction issues. Now if I have to reroll because of populations issues....well, I don't know that I am willing to do that.
Only question is what is the alternative? Go back to LOTRO? I don't know...I'm getting depressed now. It's not just WAR servers it's mmo's in general seem like they are in a decline. I would like a lively world with social interaction and fun things to do. Seems like I am asking to much though.
I too agree that I've been wondering which game would provide that immersive feel, with a truly interactive community that makes me feel like i'm playing through a world filled with life and energy. WAR has too much to offer, and Mythic is responsive to the issues. It would only take a little developer love to spark the community feel in this game, imo. To Dufftime's point, work on the chat system will fix one of the main reasons this game feels lonely. But PQs need to be addressed as well. This game has too much to offer for me to turn away yet. But I understand how it feels to wander through a land that's supposed to be teeming with RvR battles, but feels a bit bleak and soulless. It feels more like post-war apocalypse at the moment.
I too agree that I've been wondering which game would provide that immersive feel, with a truly interactive community that makes me feel like i'm playing through a world filled with life and energy. WAR has too much to offer, and Mythic is responsive to the issues. It would only take a little developer love to spark the community feel in this game, imo. To Dufftime's point, work on the chat system will fix one of the main reasons this game feels lonely. But PQs need to be addressed as well. This game has too much to offer for me to turn away yet. But I understand how it feels to wander through a land that's supposed to be teeming with RvR battles, but feels a bit bleak and soulless. It feels more like post-war apocalypse at the moment.
Indeed.
Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? ~Ernest Gaines
Here is the answer to your problem: LOTRO (with a target audiance of 200 K subs EU players) has .... 11 EU servers. WAR (on release and a beginning target audiance of the same order) has .... 63 EU servers. Low Capped servers is the reason (500/500 or 800/800 or whatever): Servers have a low to full status sometimes within an hour. --- Reason/ 1. Server lag if too many players are allowed on one server. The famous Beta viewed unresponsivness and lag between spells during server stress tests. 2. Cause: same engine as the 8 year old DAoC. 3. Solution : None OR make the world smaller (less RvR zones, less PQ's, less scenarios and regroup the people into centralised zones) 4. Should have been tested in beta and I know now why they deleted 4 more (spread out) capitols 3 months before release.... --- You don't agree? Well give another reason....
As much as I have become tired of you ceaseless WoW promoting, the quoted post is probably the most level headed and helpful post I've read of yours for a while.
Introduce PQ, scenario and RvR weekends with special bonuses.
Give players better rewards for doing PQs and RvR. Every option in Warhammer should be equally rewarding. Currently only scenarios give the best XP/hour and RP/hour ratio.
Finally, some servers suffer from heavy population imbalances which makes RvR not so fun. How to fix this? I don't know.
Lower the XP and RP gain in scenarios. Introduce PQ, scenario and RvR weekends with special bonuses. Give players better rewards for doing PQs and RvR. Every option in Warhammer should be equally rewarding. Currently only scenarios give the best XP/hour and RP/hour ratio. Finally, some servers suffer from heavy population imbalances which makes RvR not so fun. How to fix this? I don't know.
Lower the XP and RP gain in scenarios. Introduce PQ, scenario and RvR weekends with special bonuses. Give players better rewards for doing PQs and RvR. Every option in Warhammer should be equally rewarding. Currently only scenarios give the best XP/hour and RP/hour ratio. Finally, some servers suffer from heavy population imbalances which makes RvR not so fun. How to fix this? I don't know.
Good ideas. Population balance is hard, you kinda gets the impression that Chaos (yeah, yeah, destr, they are really Chaos) is a lot more worked on. Order needs to look cooler.
First of all all classes should be able to being played by both sexes. And elfs needs less liberacie kind of clothes, look on a Warhammer RPG books, while they dress like snobs they don't look so stupid as in WAR.
Some classes for order that looks tougher is a must too.
I believe the cap for war's servers at launch were around....5000. [/b][/quote] Someone did the math and found the cap to be 3000. They used /who 8 war priest and went through each class and level on a full server, if memory serves.
Hmm, now there is around 4200 players on each server (but off course, all is not on at the same time so 3K at the same time might be correct).
Lower the XP and RP gain in scenarios. Introduce PQ, scenario and RvR weekends with special bonuses. Give players better rewards for doing PQs and RvR. Every option in Warhammer should be equally rewarding. Currently only scenarios give the best XP/hour and RP/hour ratio. Finally, some servers suffer from heavy population imbalances which makes RvR not so fun. How to fix this? I don't know.
Good ideas. Population balance is hard, you kinda gets the impression that Chaos (yeah, yeah, destr, they are really Chaos) is a lot more worked on. Order needs to look cooler.
First of all all classes should be able to being played by both sexes. And elfs needs less liberacie kind of clothes, look on a Warhammer RPG books, while they dress like snobs they don't look so stupid as in WAR.
Some classes for order that looks tougher is a must too.
If you watch some of Mythic's dev blog videos you can see some of their concept arts. And boy, they do not look so bad for Order. But if you look what the final models look like ... I smells like rushed all over the place. After playing both Destruction and Order I believe that Mythic invested way, way more time in Destruction. Better looking armor including details, better voice overs, way more funny quests, much more detail and soul.
And btw, have a look over at Games Workshop. High elves and dwarfes can look cool, too.
Here is the answer to your problem: LOTRO (with a target audiance of 200 K subs EU players) has .... 11 EU servers. WAR (on release and a beginning target audiance of the same order) has .... 63 EU servers. Low Capped servers is the reason (500/500 or 800/800 or whatever): Servers have a low to full status sometimes within an hour. --- Reason/ 1. Server lag if too many players are allowed on one server. The famous Beta viewed unresponsivness and lag between spells during server stress tests. 2. Cause: same engine as the 8 year old DAoC. 3. Solution : None OR make the world smaller (less RvR zones, less PQ's, less scenarios and regroup the people into centralised zones) 4. Should have been tested in beta and I know now why they deleted 4 more (spread out) capitols 3 months before release.... --- You don't agree? Well give another reason....
I agree with all of the above except the cause 2 - same (server) engine as DAoC. Serverside WAR is not that much more demanding than DAoC, the only two factors are a bit more character customization (trophies, 2-tone colors) and CD which can be made pretty light on CPUs by some smart coding (client side CD with server arbiter).
Imo there is something else afoot.. I heard that during closed beta open RvR played quite a bit smoother both with regards to client stutter and server-side lag. Hmm.. Dunno, seems they broke something in the last big pre-release patch and now they're keeping server caps intentionally low...in addition that would explain giving more incentives for scenario RvR to keep people there until they get to fix those issues.
IMO another factor to seeming lack of server population is that average players tend to spend less hours per day on the game than what is the norm with timesink-from-hell games. Maybe the number of servers was determined on an assumption an average player would spend 4 hrs per day on the game while it turned out to be closer to 2 hr per day. I know this is the case with me - I absolutely love every moment I play but I do spend less time on it than say WoW. 2 hr / day is just about perfect for me.
As for solutions... server cloning while novel is not that great... I'd rather they opened free non-stop migration from higher to lower pop servers. With those new xp and renown incentives this might do the trick - populate the underpop servers and relieve pressure from higher populated ones.
Comments
This post = fail. For those that love WoW, WAR is not for you. It's also apparent you haven't played the game for more than a few hours (maybe open beta?). Renown gear was nerfed after beta, so it's not typically worth getting. The gear is a better on the PvE side so it's mostly useful. You don't get renown points from PQ's, you get influence points.
The community is good when you can manage to talk to someone (see chat issues below). I'd say the average age of the player is higher and people are more mature.
What happened to me is I played too much at release and during the early access and basically outleveled the server. RvR in tier 1 was great, worse in tier 2, and non-existent in tier 3. I ended up rolling an alt or 2 to play to let the rest of the server catch up and now it's fun again.
In tier 1 (and it's still true today if you want to start an alt), it wll never feel like grinding. You queue up for scenarios, do some PQs (there's enough in tier 1 to complete them), and PvE quest on the side. It's non-stop fun. WoW = "go grab this amulet for me on the other side of the map, yes you have to run there".
You can replay tier 1 as a different race and it's completely different - same as WoW. That's 6 different areas.
Yes, it could have used a few more months of polish, but to Mythic's credit, they are quickly fixing issues. Their VP Mark Jacobs is actively asking for input on issues (chat channels is a big one). They are seriously committed to a fun game and are proud of their product. The chat is pretty dead as there isn't a global zone chat yet - IMHO the reason behind the lack of communication.
Open RVR (battlefield objectives and keep sieges) are a blast. For those WoW players that remember the good ole days of pre-BG PvP (think Tarren Mill vs. Southshore), this is what it's like. Now imagine getting rewarded for pushing the other side back or getting XP for this fun... then you get WAR.
The only time I've felt a grind is when I'm on during odd times (very late or early) and figure I'll get a nice equipment upgrade from PQ influence. You never have to worry about grinding for money because it's not an issue. Mythic wants you to focus on having fun, not repairing your gear or paying 50g for a PvP respec.
If you want to avoid queue times, just roll Order.
Dufftime
Slyce - R29 RR20 Witch Elf on Bretonnia
My opinion is they need to kill scenarios, it was cool idea, but it destroys the game world. Too many people queing up for the instant gratification of scenarios. Isn't this what people were saying about AoC, that too much of the world was instanced and it didn't feel like an MMO. Same concept here, they are killing the PQs and RvR with these Scenarios. If it doesn't change, I won't be sticking around, i'm not paying $15 a month for sub-par PVE and Scenarios. I can go back to WoW and get the same thing only with better PVE, or I can keep playing AoC and wait for them to improve PvP.
I think that I agree. The scenarios are becoming the whole game. Perhaps scenarios should have timers on them or something?
---
Ethion
Yeah I am starting to feel kinda lonely in WAR, especially in the morning. I get 'no groups in your area' quite a bit. If pops don't improve or they don't merge servers then I don't know what I will do. I like WAR but I already rerolled because of faction issues. Now if I have to reroll because of populations issues....well, I don't know that I am willing to do that.
Only question is what is the alternative? Go back to LOTRO? I don't know...I'm getting depressed now. It's not just WAR servers it's mmo's in general seem like they are in a decline. I would like a lively world with social interaction and fun things to do. Seems like I am asking to much though.
I too agree that I've been wondering which game would provide that immersive feel, with a truly interactive community that makes me feel like i'm playing through a world filled with life and energy. WAR has too much to offer, and Mythic is responsive to the issues. It would only take a little developer love to spark the community feel in this game, imo. To Dufftime's point, work on the chat system will fix one of the main reasons this game feels lonely. But PQs need to be addressed as well. This game has too much to offer for me to turn away yet. But I understand how it feels to wander through a land that's supposed to be teeming with RvR battles, but feels a bit bleak and soulless. It feels more like post-war apocalypse at the moment.
Indeed.
Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? ~Ernest Gaines
As much as I have become tired of you ceaseless WoW promoting, the quoted post is probably the most level headed and helpful post I've read of yours for a while.
Is it all true? It sounds it to me.
Lower the XP and RP gain in scenarios.
Introduce PQ, scenario and RvR weekends with special bonuses.
Give players better rewards for doing PQs and RvR. Every option in Warhammer should be equally rewarding. Currently only scenarios give the best XP/hour and RP/hour ratio.
Finally, some servers suffer from heavy population imbalances which makes RvR not so fun. How to fix this? I don't know.
I love RvR and I like your ideas. Makes sense!
[quote]Originally posted by TheHavok
I believe the cap for war's servers at launch were around....5000. [/b][/quote]
Someone did the math and found the cap to be 3000.
They used /who 8 war priest and went through each class and level on a full server, if memory serves.
Good ideas. Population balance is hard, you kinda gets the impression that Chaos (yeah, yeah, destr, they are really Chaos) is a lot more worked on. Order needs to look cooler.
First of all all classes should be able to being played by both sexes. And elfs needs less liberacie kind of clothes, look on a Warhammer RPG books, while they dress like snobs they don't look so stupid as in WAR.
Some classes for order that looks tougher is a must too.
Hmm, now there is around 4200 players on each server (but off course, all is not on at the same time so 3K at the same time might be correct).
Good ideas. Population balance is hard, you kinda gets the impression that Chaos (yeah, yeah, destr, they are really Chaos) is a lot more worked on. Order needs to look cooler.
First of all all classes should be able to being played by both sexes. And elfs needs less liberacie kind of clothes, look on a Warhammer RPG books, while they dress like snobs they don't look so stupid as in WAR.
Some classes for order that looks tougher is a must too.
If you watch some of Mythic's dev blog videos you can see some of their concept arts. And boy, they do not look so bad for Order. But if you look what the final models look like ... I smells like rushed all over the place. After playing both Destruction and Order I believe that Mythic invested way, way more time in Destruction. Better looking armor including details, better voice overs, way more funny quests, much more detail and soul.
And btw, have a look over at Games Workshop. High elves and dwarfes can look cool, too.
I agree with all of the above except the cause 2 - same (server) engine as DAoC. Serverside WAR is not that much more demanding than DAoC, the only two factors are a bit more character customization (trophies, 2-tone colors) and CD which can be made pretty light on CPUs by some smart coding (client side CD with server arbiter).
Imo there is something else afoot.. I heard that during closed beta open RvR played quite a bit smoother both with regards to client stutter and server-side lag. Hmm.. Dunno, seems they broke something in the last big pre-release patch and now they're keeping server caps intentionally low...in addition that would explain giving more incentives for scenario RvR to keep people there until they get to fix those issues.
IMO another factor to seeming lack of server population is that average players tend to spend less hours per day on the game than what is the norm with timesink-from-hell games. Maybe the number of servers was determined on an assumption an average player would spend 4 hrs per day on the game while it turned out to be closer to 2 hr per day. I know this is the case with me - I absolutely love every moment I play but I do spend less time on it than say WoW. 2 hr / day is just about perfect for me.
As for solutions... server cloning while novel is not that great... I'd rather they opened free non-stop migration from higher to lower pop servers. With those new xp and renown incentives this might do the trick - populate the underpop servers and relieve pressure from higher populated ones.