WAR: Lookin for My BETA & Head-Start Codes from Amazon

Edit: Changed title so people didn't mistakenly think I needed codes.

Last night I emailed Amazon to ask about my Collector’s Edition BETA and Head-Start codes.  I woke up this morning to find all the information I needed in my email.  It’s customer service like this that keeps me a very loyal Amazon customer.  I’ve been shopping on Amazon for years and buy most anything from them even when I know it’s through a third party.  You can’t beat their online consumer experience and support.  Anytime I’ve had a problem, even through third party, Amazon has resolved the issue even if the other party was unresponsive.

Like Age of Conan, I’m not so much interested in playing the BETA because I don’t want to burn out any sooner than necessary.  I didn’t bother with the AOC BETA I had and I’m thinking about just waiting for the Head-start which is what I really wanted.  The only reason I’m even thinking of doing the BETA now is because I spent the first 2+ weeks of AOC rolling various classes before I selected my main.  The combat in AOC being so different, I wanted to try the melee classes before picking my standard Mage.  As it turned out, I preferred the melee style much better and ended up choosing to play a Bear Shaman.

With WAR the choices are more the usual fare but there are a couple of classes that are making me think twice.  The Witch Hunter looks rather bad ass and the podcast where Paul was shouting their awesomeness was very convincing.  Oh wait, Paul shouts animatedly about everything in WAR being awesome.  Hmm, I might not be able to use Paul’s enthusiasm as an accurate measuring stick.

Anywho, another class that has my interest piqued is the Warrior Priest.  The first time I rolled a WOW Paladin, I thought that’s what I was rolling.  Imagine my surprise at being put in the back of the line to cleanse and “Heal, you filthy, Healadin!”  Luckily, I had my Warlock at max level already.  I solo’d the Paladin just for some change of pace then put her on the shelf.  I felt bad for my son who had rolled a Paladin as his main – rough-n-tumble tuff boy, who ended up standing in the back with the skirts healing on our raids.  When I needed another diversion, I rolled a Shadow Priest which was awesome to level but again, people wanted you Holy to raid.  I tried a bit of healing.  I enjoyed healing BGs but healing PUGs to get the gear to heal raids, was just untenable.  This rant, posted at the height of my frustration on my Priest, says it all.  By the time some of these problems turned around for Shadow Priests and Paladins, I was three-shades-in-the-wind on WOW and all but gone emotionally, if not physically.

The last of the classes I’d be interested in before selecting my stock Mage, is the While Lion.  I played a Ranger in AC1/AC2 and really enjoyed it.  I was a mix of that with a caster (Enchanter) until the mid 40s when I re-spec’d full Enchanter.  One of the beauties of that system was that all I had to do was re-spec into a different tree.  The While Lion in WAR sounds like it will be a tad bit more than just being ranged DPS.  Besides magic/casters, I tend to play pet classes because they provide more tactical options for soloing content.  The magic class with pets in WAR is some beastly thing that I could never get into playing (Greenskin), which means if I want a pet, the White Lion is the route I’d have to take.

With these three choices to consider – Witch Hunter, White Lion and Sorceress, it would be nice to try all three before the head-start begins.  Beyond that the BETA doesn’t interest me.  I’m not big on rolling alts and re-doing content.  In fact, I’d never done it before WOW.  I think I played a full two-years before I had an alt and after I did the first, it was more for something to do than anything else.  I leveled them, max’d out their crafting then put them away for the most part except for the Druid, which was my last character.  I’ll see if I can make it through the huge download and patching I’ve been reading about just to putz around with classes before WAR actually arrives.

I think I’m going to be out of town on business when the head-start actually begins which really sucks.  I’ll be gone all the week before the release.  Only consolation is that I’ll be in Chicago where my friends, good food and conversation over wine, is some of the best fun I have for weeks at a time.  The weather will be a bit milder and my best friends (married couple) had a huge deck added on to their house since my visit in July. I foresee lots of BBQ and Pina Coladas after a long day at the salt mine, where we all happen to work.

Comments

[JoBildo]

I actually gave my extra code from Gamestop away already. :(

If I get anything additional, I'll let you know.

[RomaGoth]

I agree that Amazon is awesome. I have been buying stuff from them for years and have never had any problems at all with their customer service/refunds/returns.

In a non-related question, what does one do when he has (2) level 70's in WoW, (1) level 60, and is ready for a change? I tried LOTRO a few weeks ago and enjoyed it but stuck with WoW for awhile longer. Now I am not sure anymore if I want to keep playing WoW at all. I have 2 pieces of the FSW set for my 'lock, and my hunter is maxed out in mining/skinning to help make me some money. But I really feel uninspired. It doesn't help when things like last night occur either (we wiped 4 times in Shadow Labs and finally gave up after 2nd wipe on Grandmaster Vorpil). Is this all there is at 70 if you don't really raid? Battlegrounds for welfare epics? Mind-numbing grinding for primals? More mind-numbing dailies? Uggh. It begins to make me wonder why we are always in such a hurry to level our toons. Nearly three 70's later, I am ready for something different. The thought of grinding primals, battlegrounds, or running the same instances over and over again just does not appeal to me anymore. I know the expansion is coming out later this year, but will it not be the same content, just in a different setting?

Sorry to hijack your blog, but I am having a really hard time right now deciding what to do. I will probably play LOTRO just for the different content, and I always liked the lore.

I completely understand why you quit WoW, Saylah. Funny thing is, you played it a lot longer than I did (2+ more years than me I presume).

As for Warhammer, I will probably not mess with it, but good luck to those of you who will play it, the mechanics seem cool enough.

[Saylah]

@JoBildo - Thanks but I got my codes from Amazon this morning. :-)

[Saylah]

@Roma - I think the response warrants a post.

[wilhelm2451]

What was the actual answer from Amazon.com? I have the CE pre-ordered through them as well. Do I have to nudge them to get my beta/head start key?

[Saylah]

They sent a comprehensive email with all of the CE keys: CE BETA, Pre order Rewards and Head-start. Just send them an email via the support feature from "My Account". I sent the email just before going to bed around 1AM. When I got up for work at 6:30 AM the email with the keys was already there.

[wilhelm2451]

I'll do that though, while I am a big fan of Amazon.com myself, if I have to remind them to send me things like this, I am not sure I could give them two thumbs up for customer service.

[KingMob]

The magic class with stationary pets in WAR is the Magus (chaos side). They summon demons, but the demons are forced to stay in one place.
Their match on the Order side is dwarven Engineers, who summon turrets.
White Lions are melee DPS, and yes they have a rather impressive pet, a white lion.
Their match on Chaos side are the goblin Squid Herders, their pet is a squig about their size (basically a big green mouth on legs).

But yes, if you want a pet that can travel around with you rather than having to resummon it when you move to a new spot, and you don't like the look / feel of greenskins, you want a White Lion.

[Saylah]

@King - thanks for the additional information. I haven't been following WAR too closely. I figured I'd decide when I was actually at the point of being able to make a character. That is interesting to know about the pets. I rather like the idea of the Dwarf engineering having turrets. Reminds me of AC2. After watching some RVR videos this weekend, the feel of the game seems like a non-stop Alterac Valley. If I spend more time doing that than solo PVE, I'm now thinking about a healer. I loved healing in BGs when people weren't acting like idiots.

[Grimjakk]

I wouldn't worry too much about having to repeat content... you don't HAVE to. Well, there is one bit that you'll be doing over and over, but its different every single time. ;)

I sure wish they'd hurry up and drop that NDA already...

[Blacknimbus]

Are you a Prime member at Amazon? I shop there all the time and it's totally worth it to me.

[Saylah]

@Nimbus - Yes, I am. I never think about using the Virgin Worlds click-thru to help Brent out until after. I'm on there so often ordering stuff it's just habit to use my bookmark and off I go.