WAR: Someone's Spec ain’t Your Business

The much touted Public Quests (PQs) and Open Grouping (OGs) mechanics in Warhammer Online aren’t perfect.  I’m not sure who expected perfection out of the gate.  There might be too many of them.  It’s harder at the bottom and top tiers to get enough people to complete the three phases.  Some PQs can’t be completed without the standard Holy Trinity – tank, healer & DPS.  While others are tedious in the number of mobs that must be killed (Dwarf zone). 

Eh, I can get over these issues.  If they become huge stumbling blocks for a majority of players, I believe Mythic will address them.  Regardless of these concerns, PQs and OGs achieve one great thing.  These mechanics eliminate class spec discrimination.  That’s it.  It’s over.  It’s gone.  Someone’s spec is no longer your business.

Highlights:

• There’s no spamming a chat channel for an hour looking for a group or trying to form one.
• With Open Grouping people can freely join groups without interrogation.
• Many players are still completing PQs without bothering to form or join an official group.
• I’ve yet to hear anyone be asked about their spec, with the intention of excluding them from a group.
• Order has only two pure healing classes.  If they choose off-specs, having powerful healing can be problematic but not insurmountable.
• Specs impact game play in WAR just like other MMOs.  However, the inconvenience of failure is dramatically lower.
• Open grouping is not ideal in every situation.  Some times you really do need a meat shield-aggro-holding spec’d tank or pure healing spec to get the job done.
• My standard excuses for being anti-social don't exist – too much time, not attuned, not the max DPS spec, I don’t have my potions on me, I’m in my “whatever” gear and don’t feel like going back to the bank and changing, ad nauseum.
• Minus my typical reasons for declining groups, I accept most offers that are extended to me.

Grouping Tips:

1. You don’t have to wait for the Group Leader to send invites - Anyone in the group can invite another player to the group, using the /invite command.
2. You can find and join Open Groups in your area by using the people icon below your character portrait.  I
3. The Open Groups window will also tell you how far the groups are from you in minutes, which helps in making your selection
4. If you know the group leader's name, you can join an Open Group using the /join command.
5. To allow more players into a group turn it into a Warband - Have the leader right-click the party window and select the appropriate option.

As someone who promotes and prefers diversity in player options, I think PQs and OGs are wonderful.  It’s not ideal in every situation. Some times you really do need a meatshield-aggro-holding spec’d tank, to get the job done.  When you don’t have the right combination of classes or a pivotal class is using an off-spec, you might fail to complete a task.  In other games that could mean a couple of hours of wasted time.  In WAR, it rarely means more than 15 to 30 minutes.  And re-forming the group or jumping into a new one for a second attempt is easy.

I’m just about at the half-way point for character levels and I’ve yet to hear anyone be asked about their spec, with the intention of excluding them from a group.  With Open Grouping people can freely join groups without interrogation.  Many players are still completing PQs without bothering to form or join an official group.  The only closed groups I’ve been in so far are all guild related and even in those, no one asks about your spec before sending you an invite.

Does that mean that specs don’t matter in WAR? No, specs matter just as in other MMOs.  Encounters will be easier and run more smoothing with the right class mix and min/max specs.  The big difference is that the penalty (inconvenience factor) for failure in WAR is dramatically lower than it is in other games.  The content is chunked in bite-sized pieces that can be re-done with a limited amount of inconvenience. Moreover, if someone was to be excluded from a controlled group for any reason, other groups and opportunities are readily at hand.  There’s no spamming a chat channel for an hour looking for a group.

Even in the more traditional PVE instances – yes, those exist, players are carefree about the classes they accept or take along.  The other night I was in a guild party doing the first two instances of the Sewers in Altdorf.  We checked for a tank and healer but that’s as far as the selection criteria went. We didn’t ask about specs and there’s no gear-check.  Even the fact that our tank was 3 levels lower than the majority of the party wasn’t a concern.

I’m not sure I’d call it a high quality run except for the fun factor. I laughed to the point of tears.  We wiped so many times.  Watching poor JoBildo’s corpse face down in the stench, speaking with chat bubbles above his head was pure hilarity.  It took us 30 to 45 minutes to clear the two instances.  I think we skipped the final boss in the second sewer.  I don’t know what the loot drops were for the run.  I wasn’t there for the loot so I passed on everything without even looking at it. 

Left to my own devices I wouldn’t have even bothered.  However, since getting the run together and forming the group was simple, and the amount of time it was likely to consume so short, there was no reason not to tag along.  My standard excuses for being anti-social didn’t exist – too much time, not attuned, not the max DPS spec, I don’t have my potions on me, I’m in my “whatever” gear and don’t feel like going back to the bank and changing, ad nauseum. Minus these reasons to decline the group, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Sure, I’m up for it.”

Toward the end I think our tank realized that he’d missed purchasing one of his aggro-holding abilities.  In a game like World of Warcraft, he’d be boo’d off the stage and blacklisted as a noob.  In WAR, we can shrug it off as a 30 minute lesson-learned and fun amongst guild-mates.  I’m VERY glad that I went.  It was one of the funniest sessions I’ve had in a game in ages.  Even thinking about it now makes me chuckle.

Comments

[Phoe]

Don't forget, you can even JOIN an open group on your own if you know a player's name in the group with the /join command. Kinda helpful if they're in a different side of the world.

[JoBildo]

Good lord, those sewers were a blast, alright. Quick, to the point, and HARD if you've not out-leveled the place. Plus Tankerbelle's quips were just about comic gold.

I'm thinking of raising my Ironbreaker, though and leaving the White Lion behind for a bit... there's a serious visual disconnect going on between me and the elf.

[saylah]

@Phoe - Thanks for reminder. I forgot about that one. Will add to list.

[Relmstein]

"Specs impact game play in WAR, just like other Moms"

I've heard many nicknames for a person's parents, but never "specs". :-)

You're 100% right about the time penalty not being bad for failing in Warhammer. I still find the game challenging in some ways because you're mostly matching wits against other players. The PvE gameplay has been bland so far, but I think the level 25 dungeon will be better. Apparently its mostly comprised of public quests with the boss instance being accessed once you have maxed out influence.

[Saylah]

@Relm - LOL on that typo. I had a complete fubar with the HTML spellchecker which couldn't be undone. I tried to catch the changes but clearly missed a few. :-)

[Saylah]

PS. If by PVE content you mean the Sewers, I agree that was very bland. If not for the multitude of deaths we suffered along the way, it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun.