Mystic Worlds

WAR - Never Know What You'll Find

If you’re like me, you find yourself clicking, licking, smelling and sending emotes to everything that moves in Warhammer Online, all in an attempt to unlock obscure Tome conquests.  I frequently go far out of my way searching for hidden paths and locations.  If I run across a named mob or something that looks at me cross we’re going to be trading blows.  I’ve unlocked Tome items in this manner.  And I’ve also gotten my ass kicked, like the time a level 22 Rat-boy emerged from a crate I’d opened on the docks. 

I had a very interesting encounter the other evening while killing time in Altdorf.  Our guild had just finished completing successful assaults on two keeps in Shadowlands.  It was too late for me to head back out to my own Tier 2 zone but I wasn’t ready to log off either.  I decided to go in search of the guild tavern I’d seen mentioned in chat when I wandered into the Blowhole…

Warhammer Online’s Accidental Crafter

Highlights
I’m a crafter and crafting always plays an equal part in my character’s achievement map.  While I don’t like grinding mats anymore than others, I can tolerate it in order to attain crafting advancement and participate in the economy using my chosen profession.  My early impression of crafting in Warhammer Online (WAR) is that the mechanic supports a more “accidental crafter” motif.  Casual crafters – crafters of convenience, will also benefit from this system, whereas dedicated crafters will on some level, find it a bit more frustrating than other designs.

• In WAR, the items are all dropped from mobs, facilitating the idea that this is “war” where you’re meant to be killing things not whacking nodes.  This is both a blessing and a curse.
• When you aren’t looking for particular items, collecting them as random mob drops makes life simple.  However, it’s a considerable disadvantage when you need specific components and the only way of acquiring them yourself is to kill mobs, which have no guarantee of dropping the items.
• It’s extremely advantageous and encouraging that the vast majority of your creations will be useful to you or wanted by others.
• Actual production of this smaller amount of items felt like it took just as long as crafting advancement in a game like World of Warcraft (WOW) – at least at the low to mid tiers.
• Too much granularity in production output thwarts item stacking, which results in a crafting system that consumes too much of your VERY LIMITED pack space and bank slots.
• While I enjoy the interactivity options of cultivating, I’d like to be able to manage the multiple plots from the Home tab.  It’s tedious to click in and out of the plot windows.
• I find the crafting in WAR good enough even though I personally prefer something more in depth – not all grinding is bad.  It is pointless grinding that is the bane of many crafting systems.  And while this system is light for my tastes it’s not game breaking for me if it never changes from what it is right now.

Trying New Format

I'm finding that the less frequently I post the more walls-of-text I produce when I do post content.  With my time being short these days, I find myself less inclined to read walls of text myself, even from my favorite bloggers.  Of late I'm reading in the wee hours and trying to catch up on several blogs at once so end up scan reading more usual.

To alleviate my own walls of text, I'm going to try doing a summary of the whole post in the beginning for readers who are short on time or just not into reading large chunks of text online.  For those who want the gory details, they can use the read more / continued options.  I'm going to try this for a while and see how it works out.  I would suggest that if you're disagree with something in the summary, that you take the time to read the whole article to obtain the full context before posting a comment.

RVR for the Win!

Man it feels good to finally do some PVP!  WOOT.  ROAR.  WAAAAAAGH!  I joined the guild in some Empire Tier 2 RVR.  At every turn I expected to crash.  Every time the screen lagged I cringed expecting to see the black screen of death which thankfully, never came.  We started by obtaining the local RVR objective in Troll Country, securing the Monastery.  From there we headed to the Destruction Keep.  To Destruction’s credit, they showed up en masse.  Casualties of WAR gave it a great effort but had to eventually call a retreat before we were completely surrounded.  The group moved to the Dwarf zone but it was a bit late for me to continue.

The whole thing was exciting, thrilling and chaotic fun!  The leaders gave instructions on vent to keep things as organized as possible.  Tanks tanked, healers healed and rez, while DPS tried to nuke their way to victory.  We didn’t succeed but it was definitely a group bonding success.  Go COWs!!!!!!!!

I’ve also done a few Scenarios now.  I’m really looking forward to having this as an alternative method of leveling.  Now that I have access to all the features of the game, I might go ahead and create my alt for healing.  The icing is now on my cake.  Now if I can find a more useful purpose for the crafting, I’d truly be one with WAR.  *Smile*

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5th in Damage

1st in Killing Blows

Gas is $4.15 a Gallon. Please Don’t Make Me Buy another Graphics Card

As I’ve already lamented, I purchased a new graphics card to play Age of Conan – a game that I’m no longer subscribed to now.  The Nvidia 9600 GT ran AOC very well at maximum graphics quality minus shadows.  I was very happy with the upgrade and the performance.  I didn’t expect to have issues with RVR in Warhammer Online.  Since the Preview Weekend I haven’t been able to do Open RVR or Scenarios.  I was all set to post another plea for help when a last minute web search for answers provided what I hope is an intermediate resolution!  After re-installing Riva and under-clocking the Core clock, Shadows and Memory, I’ve been in four scenarios without a single crash.  I’ve also done some RVR with our guild, Casualties of WAR. For now at least, it appears my crashing has come to an end.  Join me in a bowing of the head and crossing of the fingers that this works long term!  You can find the post that has alleviated this troublesome issue here.

WAR Open RVR Servers - Be Sure Before You Leap!

Over the weekend I touched base with some friends that are playing Warhammer Online.  Two of them rolled characters on Open RVR servers and are unhappy about the selection.  Unlike me, they were in the closed BETA so are a bit over starting up from scratch.  I understand where they are coming from.  I’ve only done the Empire zone a few times at the low levels and as much as I like it, I will wait on my alt Warrior Priest so that doing the content again doesn’t seem stale.  I feel bad for them even though starting over at these low levels isn’t hard but who wants to now that things are underway for real.  I don’t know what they were even thinking when they created characters on an Open RVR server.

If the PVP experience you have is World of Warcraft after the implementation of Battlegrounds and honor rewards, particularly after the changes to Alterac Valley, then you have NOT done world PVP, even if you rolled on a PVP server.  If you think you enjoy PVP but all you know is WOW PVP, think carefully before choosing an Open RVR server.  If you’ve done EQ2, AOC or Vanguard PVP, you have a much better idea of how conflict is likely play out on an Open Server so go for it, if you’ve got the stones, the time and the allies.  I always rolled on PVP servers while playing WOW but I quickly bailed on PVP in EQ2.  Somehow surviving massive conflict in WOW even when world PVP meant something and low level towns were sacked for hours at a time, didn't prepare me for the roving gank squads in EQ2.  There's no way in hell, I'd try it on WAR servers.

World PVP in WOW all but died once the BGs were implemented with epic gear Rewards tied to Honor points and gaining marks from the various BGs.   Many players shifted from being motivated to win for the pride of winning, to wanting to gain honor and marks as quickly and efficiently as possible – regardless of the means.  If losing provided the most effective manner of gaining what they needed then losing is what players advocated be done in battles.  AV in particular saw both of the factions rushing to complete the PVE content while conspicuously avoiding each other on the battlefield.  For those of us who enjoyed the old world PVP this wasn’t to our liking.

Scenarios & Open RVR Still Causing Crash to Black Screen

Edit: Note to self not to post late at night.  Sorry for all the typos in the original

I "think" Mythic is still working on why some players are still experiencing crashes that require a hard boot recovery.  I say "think" because the lack of official Mythic forums makes knowing for sure difficult.  I've submitted tickets but I haven't had a response yet.  From what I've gathered from the MANY sites I've visited (reason why I'm not a fan of there not being at least a Support forum) is that there are problems playing WAR on some of the NVIDIA graphics cards.  In my case, I'm in the group of players crashing w/ the 9600 GT.  I've tried the suggestions from the sites I've found but nothing has worked so far.  I upgraded to the 9600GT to play AOC and gave my older card away.  I'm really not in the mood to buy a new card only a few months later for WAR.

I'm still enjoying the but doing nothing but leveling is starting to wear thin.  I can't enjoy such a one dimensional game experience long term.  It's a credit to Mythic that I've done as much questing as I have done since questing is never my preferred in-game activity.  Unfortunately right now questing is about all I can do.

I've seen little bursts of PVP this weekend.  Once you move past the first quest hub in Troll Country and beyond Felde Keep, you'll be doing PQs and quests in an area that sees Destruction traffic.  It's also very easy to get RVR flagged traveling around this zone if you're not careful.  It's common to see fellow adventurers RVR flagged (name is yellow).  When I notice a Destruction player passing thru I'll keep an eye out to see if the attack flagged players.  They often will if the player is lower and seemingly alone, at which point I'll DOT them up which flags me for RVR and join in the fight.

Unlike WOW, players are jumping into PVP to help instead of just running by.  But man the good guys still have lots of healers that don't heal!  Anywho I'm still having fun but if a lot more time goes by without being able to do RVR I'm not going to be so cheery.   The other thing that sucks about this is that I can't participate in the COW guild RVR events!  :-(

WAR is Everywhere – It was Very Funny the First Time

I guess I’m a strange duck when it comes to what I enjoy doing to level.  What I prefer fits into the grind category but it doesn’t feel like grinding to me.  One of my favorite zones in Asheron’s Call 2 (AC2) was Northeast Nepath where you started a group and killed mobs repeatedly within the confines of the small area called The Crossroads.  I thought it was fun.  Most players say they hated the place.  Go figure. 

At NE Nepath, people came and went.  The diversity and tactics used, changed as the class composition of the group changed.  The approach you use to kill multiple mobs when there are plenty of healers is different than when there aren’t enough – or any at all.  Killing a boss mob when you have a tank is the opposite of what you do when you don’t.  People have to know how to kite, drop aggro when you pull it, fancy foot-work out of the way, go back to fighting and rinse repeat without dying.  Consequently, you can be killing the same exact mobs in the same sequence but the strategy and tactics differ because of the players – their classes, their skill level, gear and knowledge of the encounter.  Once you get beyond the Chapter 2 Public Quests, these things come into play.  The moment to moment adjustments are what kept it fun and fresh for me, and are why I never tired of NE Nepath in AC2.

Pardon me, but you look sexy...

Today I received what I hope is the first of many Tome Unlock rewards, called the Shawl of Spring.  There was no quest-giver involved.  Someone in the guild started bragging about their fabulous looking cloak and invited people along to get theirs.  It doesn't have any stats but many MMO players believe in lookin good on the battlefield!

Because unlocking items in the Tome of Knowledge is a core mechanic in Warhammer Online, I won't post spoilers on this blog.  I'm sure that "Googling" the cloak name will lead you to the information if you're so inclined.

It's great that WAR gets how important character appearance is to most players.  So much so, that we'd be excited about obtaining pure vanity items.  Lord of the Rings got it late and had to add an appearance tab to compensate for the rag-tag look of gear.  Everquest II also supports appearance only items.  And of course Blizzard took gear (appearance) and vanity items to a whole new level of obsession.  Unfortunately, Funcom didn't get it when developing Age of Conan.  For 27 levels I looked exactly the same as I did after ditching my slave rags on the way to level 5.  I read they were adding better and more diverse gear but I didn't play long enough to see the items make it into the game.

Finishing up 3-Day WAR Weekend

I’ve been playing Warhammer Online since the Collector’s Edition Head Start began on Sunday afternoon.  I’m in the Casualties of WAR’s Order guild on Averheim and although I haven’t grouped with the guild much so far, it’s a fun having considerate and helpful people to chat with on Vent.  Most of the grouping is based around Scenarios and Open RVR both of which I’ve been unable to play since the Preview Weekend.  After making some minor tweaks I read on the Internet, I was able to stick a toe into the Tier 1 zone for a bit but within a few minutes I crash.

Sans RVR, I’ve been focused on the PVE content which really does deliver.  The quest mechanics are certainly the standard fare but there is something about the quests that I like enough that I’m actually doing them!  I not a fan of quests but like Age of Conan (AOC), the WAR quests are rather engaging so I find myself continuing to take the next one offered.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that the map is similar to AOC’s in that it provides visual cues for quest objectives.  I’ve always said that exploring is fun but being lost isn’t so find a more interesting way to encourage exploration than leaving me to wander lost.  Twice now this year, the gaming developer gods have taken pity on us poor gaming mortals and given us maps with quest information.  If you don't like the map help you can disable it.  Personally, I’m more apt to explore when I know that I can easily get back on track for quest objectives when I'm ready to get back to business.