Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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78 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Watch my chops!, 19 Sep 2008
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
I've been a long term WoWer since way before "The Burning Crusade" and finally the grinding and ennui got to me. Our guild fell apart and we scattered to the winds. Since then I've been in limbo; playing a bit of this and a bit of that but nothing was filling the restless empty space left by Warcraft.
I'm certainly not a PvP fan but I thought I might as well give this Warhammer thingy a go. One free month should tell me whether I like it or not. After the compulsory MMORPG long installation, regulation registration bottleneck and pre-patching there was a strange half hour when I couldn't get the login screen to accept any of my registered details. I didn't panic but calmly re-installed the game and this time it seemed to work and I was finally in the game (Neither time did disc 2 appear to be loading but it obviously must have been).
After choosing a server and creating a Goblin Squig Herder it must have taken me all of one whole hour to discover my new true-love.
This game is fun: that's F.. U.. N fun. Everything I was missing is here. I don't play for personal glory, I don't play for "epixx", and I don't play for the unsavoury thrill of competition. I play for those moments when you have an insane grin across your chops and chaos reigns all around. I even played some PvP (RvR?) which I never did in WoW and I loved it.
I'm enjoying the obvious newness and total inclusiveness of everything. Everyone mucks in and you are rewarded purely for your own efforts. Public Quests are true genius, no more LFG just join in and do your thing
OK, I base this on only my first seven hours in Warhammer Online but those seven hours have overshadowed the last 7 months in Warcraft. (Edit: Four days in and I love it even more) There's no guarantee that the things that ruined WoW for me will not appear here....goldsellers, boredom, twinking, grinding, elitists and other general idiots but Warhammer seems to have set the game up in such away that many of these evils are compensated for by the game mechanic itself.
Most of all its new and exciting right now and my insane smile is most definitely back.
another edit: Well it's approaching a month since launch day and I can happily report that some reviewer's concerns about GOA have been totally unfounded. I've experienced no server problems whatsoever.
Additionally, I discovered (from an incident last night) that Mythic is exceptionally pro-active when it comes to ridding Warhammer of goldsellers. In fact I'm so impressed that I need to add another star now :)
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48 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Closed and Open beta overview: very good and improving, 16 Sep 2008
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
First off, there are a large number of people on here giving this game 1 star, on the basis that the open beta registration was not available for the first couple of days. That is not a basis to judge a game on, and the war forums were similarly full of people whining that their "free trial" was not working properly. That's what a beta is for.
Personally, I was in the closed beta for 2 months, then in the open beta and now early access. Closed beta users did not have the same registration problems as people who were only in the open beta.
To not reiterate the people who have stated how the game is structured and/or how it differs to WoW, I'll point you toward a high ranked, verbose comment about that. I will point out that the game is one hell of a lot of fun, and has been improving with startling speed during the beta period.
It is true to the lore of warhammer (being a long-time WFRP player/gm, I appreciate that), the classes are particularly diverse to play, with many different mechanics for using their powers.
The graphics in the early betas were a little poor, especially texture-wise. Now, they are close to Age of Conan level, very nice. The architecture in particular is remeniscent of each race, very well.
It really is two full games, one RvR one PvE, while WoW is a PvE game with a little PvP tacked on. The variety of abilities is greater, not only do you have your action bar but you have tactics loadouts, morale-triggered abilities as well. While I haven't seen instances yet (they seem thin on the ground at low levels), that will be the test of whether it's as good as WoW for PvE environments.
Oh, and crafting is a LOT of fun with somewhat random elements being thrown in. E.g. want to make a potion? You don't find a "recipe" and fulfil it, you throw things together and see what comes out. Sometimes it's what you expect, sometimes it isn't!
The open beta launch in Europe was poor, but the early access launch was great. Those who complain the most probably do not remember the launch of WoW (I was in the beta for that also) which had many, many extended periods of downtime, after launch as well. GOA have said they're learning from the experience, they should be judged on their continued support, not just one episode.
To anybody who enjoys MMORPGs, this is a full-on adrenaline rush of a game. The RvR is great, the way RvR and PvE integrate is exceptionally well done. In particular, the atmosphere has come alive since Early Access, with a lot more people around, and generally it seems a more mature class of player. Get in there, smash some heads together and enjoy!
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79 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's the End of the World (of warcraft)., 31 Aug 2008
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
With Warhammer Online, developers Mythic have finally created an MMO worthy of threatening Blizzard. With its fun (and funny) gameplay, support for very low end PC's, innovative new systems (Public Quests) and its focus on massive RVR (pvp), Warhammer Online is a game that will keep you entertained for a long long time.
With 20 different classes to choose from, and 6 different races, across 3 massive lands, WAR really is everywhere, as they say. Within the first half an hour of gameplay you will be involved in Balanced PVP action, against possibly hundreds of other people.
Warhammer Online is based on the Table Top game from Games Workshop, a product that has been in the making for 25 years, and which influenced Blizzard when designing Warcraft. It's made by a company who are famous for their PVP MMO's, and they bring their knowledge of engaging gameplay with them.
BUT... this is not a game for "hardcore" raiders or those who like to grind XP/Coin all day to get the best gear. It's very much a solo friendly PVE game, and a balanced and fair PVP game. The best gear can just be bought when you hit the right level (of which there are only 40) for a few silver, and all quests are easy to complete on your own.
It's also not for the player who likes to beat on low level players. Try to enter a lower tier area in War, and you will be turned into a chicken, and be able to be killed in one hit!
This is really aimed at the casual player, the player who is married with kids, the player who has a job, and the player who does things other than game all day. But, in doing so, it creates an extremely balanced, fun, and exciting play style.
It's a great game, what more can I say?
- How do I know? Closed Beta Tester for some months, Preview Weekend player, and Elder Tester (meaning access to the latest Open code).
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