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Swordsman online discussion.
So there are not many English reviews of the game,but that is to be expected as the game is still in closed beta state. If any one here has played the game already i would like you to share some information about it 
How does the game play feel,are the combat mechanics clanky? (Age Of Wushu)
Are there any "special" things to do? except questing/running raids and pvping (fishing,special events,housing etc.....)
I understand the game has open world pvp? Do you get any rewrads for pvping? if anyone could further explain I would be grateful.
^__^ Any other experiences from playing the beta are welcome.
Edit >could a mod move my post to the right section please.
Basically clicking away text windows ruins every MMO, try to have fun instead of rushing things. Without story and lore all there is left is a bunch of mechanics.
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In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
I'd be more interested in some actual gameplay videos tbh.
But if anyone knows what the big focus is on with this game that would be good to know too. PvP, dungeons, raids, what's the crafting like if there is any, end game content?
Well was on youtube alot today. Didn't see any pvp video's, saw some gameplay ones though. One for a 30ish dungeon, and one for a 40 dungeon. By the same youtuber. They struggled with the 30ish dungeon, but the level 40 one seemed almost stupidly easy for them to finish.
Also saw a video on the first two hours of gameplay. Look very typical PWE style (See PW, Jade Dynasty. And you'll have a pretty good idea)
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
We'll see tonight. I'm mostly interested because I love Wuxia fiction and AoW was one of the rare MMO's that held me over for months this year.
However, I'd like to rant about Perfect World Entertainment's stupid crap already: their fucking Arc Launcher thing.
"Arc encountered an error while updating, please try again", "Arc encountered an error while repairing, please try again".
Nonstop while trying to launch that bullshit thing. it has to be one of the most uninformative errors you can possibly imagine.
Yet at the same time "trying again" seems to be the only solution to it as well. The first time the launcher finally worked after I completely shut down any antivirus running on my comp. The second time I tried to launch the thing, that didn't help anymore, but I got it working through a VPN. The third time that didn't work either.
So ultimately the only solution seems to be to click the "ArcUpdate.exe" thing a million times until it finally manages to download the 15000kb or so of data it wants to update.
Their technical support forum is full of threads with this error, without any sensical solution posted other than "Keep trying until it works."
No surprise considering their support is the absolute worst I've ever had the displeasure of contacting. I can look forward to playing this game with a VPN on anyway, as they've autobanned my entire home network range of static IP's for unclear reasons.
When I contacted their support earlier this year to clarify the issue the only answer they had for me was basically "No clue, fix it yourself", an answer I waited almost two months for to receive.
I'm hopeful that this game captures the Wuxia spirit as AoW does. I don't even find many PWE so bad as some do. But I'm still wondering if I'll be able to go on tolerating their incessant bullshit services.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
When you get it launched it's alright, the game downloaded fast.
However, getting it launched is obviously a huge problem for a number of people if you look on their forums. The problems then start when their support fails to come up with any meaningful solution.
For those having trouble I'd recommend trying a VPN that sets your IP to the US. The launcher seems happier to update then (although it might still fail a number of times).
About the game: I don't believe that an open world PvP game is doomed to fail in the west. That's the mantra often repeated by PvE purists. However, in absolute numbers most MMO's have a very significant (and often equally big) portion of PvP servers.
Other games that have open PvP haven't done badly. Like AoW opening up both in Europe and NA. Heck, even some of PWE's other games are heavily open PvP based.
Outside of MMO's, games that focus heavily around hardcore PvP have boomed the last few years, just look at DayZ and all the other survival spinoffs shooting out of the ground.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
good stuff it fired up early
works well d/l and playing early areas . i love the lore of Age of Wushu this game fits right in there very nicely
You guys are in? Hmm... I applied my key a while ago, but when I launch arc it says I have no games in my library?
*edit - I had to reenter the key in the arc client for it to take it if anyone else has this.
Playing Age of Wushu/Wulin for about 2 years now
Played Swordsman to about lvl 32 and it was terrible
Theres no FREEDOM in Swordsman you just follow the stupid questline from lvl 1 to MAX
Combat is very bad compared to Wushu/Wulin
The problem is, combat is about the only thing that AoW is good at.
I received a beta key for this from pwe, probably from my time in Neverwinter, so loaded up yesterday and off I went.
I need help :-)
I don't seem to be able to use mouse keybinds - I have a 5 button mouse (L, R, Middle Scroll Button/Wheel, and 2 x side buttons) which works perfectly well with everything else, but doesn't in this game.
I cannot get it to even recognize the middle button click, never mind buttons mouse buttons 4 & 5. It also doesn't want to accept other fairly basic keys (numpad0 etc) as keybinds, with a message coming up saying I cannot use them.
Was hoping for a UI similar to NW which is pretty good for a reduced skill bar set up, but this seems a world away.
It may just come down to me not being very familiar with this games' UI/keybind options, so if any more experienced players have found a way to use extra mouse buttons, or get it to accept what I see as fairly basic keybind options, then I would be very grateful if you could shout out.
as a note to avoid any confusion - I have found the keybind menu, it just doesn't seem to accept quite a lot of keys as keybinds.
I can't answer all of the OP's questions because I haven't had enough time to really dig deep but here are my first impressions after getting to level 30. I'll be brief and can elaborate if anybody wants me to.
Combat: You can play either as tab-target, action, or a hybrid. I prefer the action control scheme after tinkering with them all for awhile. It's flashy and over-the-top with lots of movement, and, if you like martial arts, very satisfying. Comparing it with Age of Wushu is sort of like apples and oranges. Where Wushu is all about block/parry/attack, Swordsman feels a lot more like traditional MMO fare with some added depth thrown in. Speaking of depth, there does seem to be a fair bit under the hood; the problem is that it's poorly explained and you won't need to do more than scratch the surface to get through 99% of the PvE content.
Quests/Storyline: Make no mistake, this a traditional quest and hub-based game. You will be guided on a linear path through the main storyline from area to area, completing missions for various NPCs as you get gear and get stronger. This is made more bearable by a serviceable Asian melodrama as a backdrop, complete with political scheming, noble deaths, lost loves, hidden lore, and the occasional cutesy character. There are places where the storyline got confusing (particularly due to the unfamiliar naming schemes and terms) but I was largely engaged as I progressed.
Aesthetics: The game looks better than AoW in most respects, with a lot more overall polish. The world is blander than I thought it would be but there's a lot better character customization, more fluid animations, and better overall effects. Cut-scenes and locations help to drive home the feeling of being in the Ming dynasty and having characters speak in Mandarin with subtitles is a great choice.
PVP: ???? I haven't tried my hand at it, yet. It does appear that killing people can get them to drop items in certain circumstances, as scrolling system messages kept popping up showing what had been looted.
Final Thoughts: I can see myself playing this game quite a lot if it holds up going forward. My chief worry is that leveling is so incredibly fast that there won't be much to do once I hit end-game. (Seriously, this is the fastest leveling game I've ever played so far). Also, having played a few months of AoW, I definitely miss the openness of that game, choosing to go and do whatever I wanted from moment-to-moment. Setting aside the strong feelings/history, it wouldn't be too extreme to compare the difference between these games as that of SWG and SWTOR. Same essential universe, entirely different gameplay.
Oh, also, so far I see inklings of where PWE's monetization may go and it seems par for the course (gear enhancement, etc). Even with it being PWE and all, I still feel it is likely to be a more reasonable system than Snail's messed-up cash shop and money-making ways.
So I've played to about level 33. I played AoW in a pretty hardcore manner in it's early days - quit a few weeks after 3rd inner due to burnout. The following is a comparison between the two:
1) Combat
Comparing AoW and Swordsman on combat is fairly inappropriate. They are both wuxia inspired and it ends there. AoW is pretty close to pure rock-paper-scissors with the entire game focused around feint counters. Swordsman has rock-paper-scissors format, but it's more indirect. You truly counter with a skill that counters, rather than a feint/attack. There is no auto-block feature, one of my major gripes about AoW.
However, the movement is a bit more restrained in Swordsman. The animations I've seen thus far, are long and skill activations are restrained by a z-axis. You cannot use any attack in the air. I've yet to encounter any "flying" combat skills like AoW had but I think that's more of a function of my lack experience in the game.
PvP is frustrating - the control scheme is awkward but I think most of my issues come from AoW experience. Hard to say about balance, some schools seem to be amazing at 1v1. I wouldn't say that's necessarily an issue because we haven't progressed far enough to really see what group PvP looks like.
On the whole, I wouldn't say Swordsman is worse in combat than AoW. It's different and both certainly have their concerns.
2) Graphics
I run a bucket of bolts, not a super high-end machine. Swordsman runs beautifully. It looks great. It's well optimized for lower end machines. I personally prefer the art direction in Swordsman more than I did in AoW.
3) Grind
It's PW, you know there's going to be a level grind with dailies involved and Swordsman fits into that mold. Given that it's CB, I expect to see more features rolled out that add a little sand to my themepark (territory control, politics, ect). The game appears to be setup to allow those things.
It's open PK - which is a big plus to me. You can be a killer, avengor (PKK), or just a peaceful dude roaming the countryside. Either way, the risk of getting mowed does help keep you immersed during the grind.
Now, is it better than AoW? I'd say yes. The grind in AoW got out of control once you got to a high level. Is AoW more "sandbox-y"? Yeah, at this stage I'd say it is - but I'll take Swordsman over the mindless AoW grind any day of the week.
----
So my conclusion? Swordsman got promise. It needs to deliver more, but for a guy that likes martial arts (like me) - this is enough to at least demand a trial run.
I agree with very nearly everything you said, just wanted to add that there are indeed some skills that can be activated once you're in the air. My E'Mei second set has at least one that works that way. You're absolutely right about AoW having more freedom of movement, though, especially with skills like Goose Step.
Likely a function of my school in that case - Zephyr. I've heard there are aerial combos, throws, and the such. There's also "world" skills, similar to Jianghu from AoW. If there's going to be things like Goose Step - and I sincerely they include a function like that - my guess is that it's categorized there.
Swordsman has that double tap dodging, and I do like the QTE counters.....but Goose Step from AoW was probably the best combat mechanic they had. Double tap dodging had it's day and I think that day is long past.
double tap dodging is no different from goose step.. the only difference is that you press dodge twice instead of just once.
I question what you guys think good combat is. Because combat is one of the things Wushu does the worst.
Almost every skill is buggy has almost no character to body recognition. And the entire system is trumped by spin to win attacks. How the hell could you say that is better than SO combat? To me that is just fan boys talking in denial. And this is from someone who has done more reviews then majority of people on Wushu.
Just stop lying to yourselves and us on that. If you want to say it's better sand box fine. Better trade skills fine. But gtfo on combat that's a total lie. I'm not even going to let that one slide.
Combat, Story, Graphics, Movement, Character Customization, Dungeons, Gear Swordsman Beats Age of Wushu badly in. Only thing Wushu can hang it's hat on is sand box elements. Also don't forget Wushu's story is linear as hell too. It's just hidden in the sand. Not to mention the times it forces you into 6 man dungeons no one does. Because the game is really low pop for a long time.
Just stop the denial wushu fans it's better get over it.
Dude, seriously. Why can't you understand that people like different things?
Swordsman's combat is hard to compare to Wushu's. AoW's combat focuses on tactical thinking and moves that take priority over other moves. I like Swordsman's skill too, but it's more straight out in your face action.
"Almost every skill is buggy", is a gross exaggeration, what skills are buggy? Some are yes, most work as intented. The rest can be attributed to crappy server infrastructure and lag. The latter also bugged me seriously today as well in Swordsman, as my Sun and Moon Cult character's leaps went anywhere but the intented target.
"Spin to win attacks?" How long did you even play AoW? If you couldn't beat spin to win you never encountered the truly difficult combo's. Their combat system isn't for everyone, just like SO's won't be for everyone. There's no need to crap on eachother.
About the combat in SO: I've been starting to enjoy it a lot more now that I've got my second school style. I should get level 40 tomorrow for the third style. After that I plan to kind of dig into PvP as much as I can for the remainder of the Beta. Apparently there are actually ways of getting the skills of other schools later on, I didn't expect that, so that's a cool surprise.
I just hope they'll allow you to rebind the dodge modifier to a key on your mouse or something. After that things like goose step will also be pretty much the same.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
I feel pretty much the same as you about everything. The game is fine.. it's not a sandbox.. so after wushu.. you have to do some adjusting.. but other than that.. the combat is completely different... and it has it's own learning curve.. same as wushu.. just have to dive in and get some experience. after i got my second set.. i finally started to enjoy myself... btw.. I picked up Splendor school.