Thursday, July 31, 2008

Mr. Jacobs, tear down this NDA!

Now that pre-order gate is winding down, lets get back to the real issue.

General Manager Jacobs, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for EA and Mythic, if you seek popularization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Jacobs, open this gate! Mr. Jacobs, tear down this NDA!

Worked for Ronnie...

Newsletter delayed, Dwarf dismayed

I am not sure what is going on with Mythic as of late. Did the CEO pass down a directive that only bad news can be released? The two things that stand out in my mind now are the feature 'adjustments' and now the delayed newsletter. They really have not given us anything of note information wise lately.

With the release date getting close, which they have neither confirmed or denied, it is an odd strategy. No more beta invites have been given out this week... after the extravaganza last week. That could be either good or bad. I was thinking good since the newsletter was due out this week, but now I am not so sure.

The information flow is looking like my lawn, brown and dying. Please water it :)

UPDATE: _heartless got this from gamestop:

"Open Beta Access: Be one of the first players to experience the glory of battle and the thrill of WAR! Open Beta will run from September 3, 2008 at 10am EST until September 12, 2008 at 10am EST."

Why do we get more information from Gamestop than we do from Mythic? Either squash this or admit it! It isn't just a site posting a shipping date anymore that is easily ignored as a rumor.

Werit is going through a phase.

No, not puberty.

I am talking about leveling characters via PvE grinds ( i.e. quests ). I cannot stand it any longer! It has become so repetitive and boring that I would rather do nothing than level my character that way. Recently, I played some City of Villains with Ardua. It is actually a very good game, however the thought of climbing the leveling mountain just destroys any enthusiasm.

I have lost the will to level any alts in WoW. The same issue killed my interest in Age of Conan. Maybe it is just the summer doldrums, maybe it is permanent?

My enthusiasm for WAR has not been affected by this phase, thanks to PvP leveling. There are a few reasons for this:
  • It may still be a grind, but it is much more dynamic.
  • It matters.
  • Realm pride.
  • As I learned in LotRO, it is just plain fun.
  • My vendetta against Snafzg!
So basically, that is all I feel like doing in the MMO universe right now. Of course, I cannot due to the Mythic NDA (No Dwarves Allowed) policy in their beta. Until then, I have some obsessive refreshing to do.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

WAR: Sept 18th wrong... Sept 16th right?

It is now getting ridiculous... EB Games is showing that WAR will ship on Sept 16th.... LINK.

I'm starting to wonder, is WAR actually out now? Is everyone playing it but me?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

WAR: Sept 23rd wrong.. Sept 18th right?

This is the 2nd time I have heard September 18th as a release date...

Gamestop

It isn't just the ship date, it specifically says: "Servers will not go live until 9/18/08 at 10 AM EST"

Could that be the head start date? Maybe, but it is listed on the normal edition, not the CE.

I have a hard time believing it... but still :)

Quest: Gaming Monitor

I am using an old monitor, you can see it here. I recently upgraded my computer to a Quad core with a GeForce 8800 GT. So I am running games at 1280 x 1024... it would seem to me that I am not getting the most out of my system with my 6 year old monitor. Am I wrong?

The challenge is getting a new monitor purchase passed the wife, considering I have a nice new computer by me. Anyone have any suggestions on a good wife-friendly cost monitor?

Monday, July 28, 2008

Boldly go where others have gone before?

Cryptic has announced, to the surprise of no one, that they are developing Star Trek Online. I freely admit it, I like Star Trek. Mostly, I am a fan of The Next Generation (TNG). Deep Space Nine (DS9) was ok... and it just went downhill from there. The Original Series (TOS) was alright, just a bit before my time though.

Star Trek is a tough theme to make into a MMO. The old Diku (EQ, WoW) formula will not work with this IP since it is about much more than combat. Star Trek is about exploration, decisions, characters, politics, space ships and some combat.

I can see it now, a Starfleet officer with an exclamation point over his head telling me to go down to a planet and kill 15 tribbles. I beam on down and start to Phaser tribbles. Ding I level up, yay! On a tribble's fluffy corpse, I find a new Phaser that does .3 more DPS. I then use that phaser to incinerate myself.

If there is ever a time for a sandbox game, this is that opportunity. Please Cryptic, take a chance. I know it is risky, but without risk there is little reward. Make this game something different. I know you will at least get one Collectors Edition pre-order from me if you do. You can feed your families on that right?

Friday, July 25, 2008

WAR: PvP leveling and gear

As I have mentioned, I like the idea of PvP leveling. It does raise the question of how gear will work if you want to take this path. Normally, when you level via PvE you end up doing a lot of quests. These quests often give useful gear rewards. In other games, they have been how I end up gearing myself.

In WAR, if you level by Scenarios and open world RvR, you will likely do very few quests. There will no doubt be some PvP quests or Public Quests, but will there be enough to keep up with your leveling?

Another possibility is that when you defeat another player, you can loot them. The loot isn't actually their equipment, but they get a level appropriate loot table. I think this is in game, but am not 100% sure. With this method, you are left to the mercy of the RNG.

Renown points could also be spent on new equipment. From what I have read, I got the impression that they would be used for big items, rather than leveling items. Again, I don't really have concrete information.

Anyone know if Mythic has addressed this publicly? I am sure they have in the game, but it is still a question for me.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

WAR: Lull in the action

The past couple weeks have not been very exciting as far as MMO's go. E3 did not really have any great MMO information. The last big WAR information we got was pretty much a downer. In the coming week, there are a few things to look forward to:
  • WAR newsletter should be out soon
    • Not sure what happened to 'News from the Front' this month
  • Cryptic is expected to announce Star Trek Online, the counter keeps on ticking
  • More WAR beta invites being sent out seems like a good bet
    • Not to me of course, I heard Mythic doesn't want me scaring off their players with my engineer skills
      • Who I heard it from is not important
        • I like bullet points
  • WAR is at Comic Con, maybe we will get some good videos from it?

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

WAR: Prediction...

Pain.

Whoops, wrong movie.

A possible timeline for WAR:

  • Present - Mid August: Werit continues not to receive a Beta invite.
  • Mid August: NDA drops
  • Early September: Open beta begins
  • Mid September: Open Beta Ends, launch preparations
  • End of September: Head Start, Launch
  • Early October: Werit defeats Chaos so soundly that the game itself surrenders
  • Mid October: Mythic begins Warhammer Online: Age of Werit