So far the new guild I am in has it's ups and downs. I still have no official status with the guild = bad...but I've pretty much made it into every guild run since that first week = good...but they've been having tons of problems getting people to show up to raids = bad...but they don't seem to be suffering from the rampant angst that had plagued my previous guild during bad times.
Obviously, with WOTLK right around the corner now raiding interest in dropping. And for this guild, who is nowhere close to finishing Sunwell, I think the reality of it has sunk in. It's bound to happen to most guilds (in fact I was expecting and predicting it), though it might have hit this guild a bit earlier due to loosing 2 full weeks back to back due to other issues and the hurricane.
Still, last night they did raid and they did reasonably well. They have obviously tried to adjust; they are letting people bring their alts to the main raids now to try to keep interest up and it looks like they are going to try switching a few nights that are more friendly. We'll see what happens. I'm still hopeful I'll get a chance to get 4-piece T6 soon but I'm not going to hold my breath. At this point, killing Illidan is all I really care about. T6 chest would be sweet--I'd rather get that than even legs at this point just so I can look different. Thoughout all of BC I've been stuck in red or orange gear and it's time for something different.
So based on what I heard last night they are raiding again tonight (trying different days). We'll see what happens--usually when my old guild tried to switch days it just meant even fewer people showed up. And with more people playing alts, my chances of gear scaps drops even farther.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Witch Hunter Rules!
My first impressions with Warhammer Online weren't necessarily the best. It certainly plays a lot like WOW, but the PVP aspect seemed to one-sided that my interest immediately dropped.
However, you don't drop 60 bucks on a game to stop playing it after one night. So, I created a Witch Hunter and tried setting up shop in a different area and see how that went.
I have a confession to make, I absolutely loved the Witch Hunter class. It's rogue-like sensibilities, followed up with some pretty cool finisher moves involving sticking some gun into an enemy's face and pulling the trigger, really appealed to me.
At the same time, doing the scenarios stopped being completely one-sided and things seemed to improve all around out just after a day with it. I didn't play it much yesterday, but Saturday I played it for a good part of the day and I had a lot of fun with it.
The best part of the game at the start is the amount of options available for starting characters to progress with your character. BGs (or whaterver they are called), seem pretty good for earning XPs. Questing, and RVR objects seem to be useful and provides a bit of variety. On the flip side, while the BGs seem much more even now; RVR is still 100% dominated by destruction. Here it's a combination of population, and high level intruders. This weekend there were lots of 20-21s operating in the T1 RVR zones--all of the Destro, where the average Order guy was level 7-10. So when you couple that with the fact that Destro usually outnumbered Order 2 to 1 in the area (some times worse), it became something of a pain to complete all of the PVP quests in the area.
So far, ganking hasn't seemed like a big deal. PVP fights definitely seem to last longer (at least they do at low level), and there doesn't seem to be lots of ultra-high damage abilities leaving you completely vulnerable in a situation like that. In AOC, I was frequently 1 or 2 shotted by stealthed characters who'd gank me just as I finished off some PVE mob; but that hasn't happened to me even once in Warhammer.
Unfortunately, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the game at this point. I'm liking Witch Hunter, and I know Destro's Witch Elf is similiar. I'm also a little nervous about being on a Open RVR server. Even as one-sided as RVR was this weekend on my server, it being Open RVR didn't seem to hurt it so bad. Of course, it'll probably get a lot worse when bored higher level pukes start messing around with the low levels. So it's kinda hard to say what's going be be best right now.
However, you don't drop 60 bucks on a game to stop playing it after one night. So, I created a Witch Hunter and tried setting up shop in a different area and see how that went.
I have a confession to make, I absolutely loved the Witch Hunter class. It's rogue-like sensibilities, followed up with some pretty cool finisher moves involving sticking some gun into an enemy's face and pulling the trigger, really appealed to me.
At the same time, doing the scenarios stopped being completely one-sided and things seemed to improve all around out just after a day with it. I didn't play it much yesterday, but Saturday I played it for a good part of the day and I had a lot of fun with it.
The best part of the game at the start is the amount of options available for starting characters to progress with your character. BGs (or whaterver they are called), seem pretty good for earning XPs. Questing, and RVR objects seem to be useful and provides a bit of variety. On the flip side, while the BGs seem much more even now; RVR is still 100% dominated by destruction. Here it's a combination of population, and high level intruders. This weekend there were lots of 20-21s operating in the T1 RVR zones--all of the Destro, where the average Order guy was level 7-10. So when you couple that with the fact that Destro usually outnumbered Order 2 to 1 in the area (some times worse), it became something of a pain to complete all of the PVP quests in the area.
So far, ganking hasn't seemed like a big deal. PVP fights definitely seem to last longer (at least they do at low level), and there doesn't seem to be lots of ultra-high damage abilities leaving you completely vulnerable in a situation like that. In AOC, I was frequently 1 or 2 shotted by stealthed characters who'd gank me just as I finished off some PVE mob; but that hasn't happened to me even once in Warhammer.
Unfortunately, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the game at this point. I'm liking Witch Hunter, and I know Destro's Witch Elf is similiar. I'm also a little nervous about being on a Open RVR server. Even as one-sided as RVR was this weekend on my server, it being Open RVR didn't seem to hurt it so bad. Of course, it'll probably get a lot worse when bored higher level pukes start messing around with the low levels. So it's kinda hard to say what's going be be best right now.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Warhammer Online
So Warhammer Online went life yesterday and I picked up a copy. That had been my plan for a while, though with me being guilded again in WOW I might not have the time to spend with it that I was origionally expecting.
SO, the install went ago. The patching took a while, but everything worked. Even on my Vista 64 machine, so few problems there. I picked a server where I knew at least someone, chose order b/c that's what they are and started creating the character.
The first thing I noticed, buy these characters are ulgy. Their faces just look off and everything else just looks off about them. I don't know why companies have so many problems creating attractive models for their characters, male or female, but it's always disappointing to me. The non-human characters looked much better as a result. At least they animated well.
Picking a class was simple Archmage! :) And with that it was on to the game!
First couple of quests were easy, having to adjust to the new interface was more difficult than I was expecting...I'm just too used to WOW (I had the same problem with AOC).
The next thing I noticed, the game animates smoothly like WOW does. Animation isn't jerky, you don't seem to get stuck on random flat terrain, and you don't feel like you are fighting the interface except for the camera which always seemed to reset it's default zoom level to something I didn't like.
For all the talk about how this game was different than WOW; from what I can tell it's pretty similiar. The main difference seems to be that you can go into a PVP scenario almost immediately after entering the game. You even get XP for it; and some form of PVP XP too.
So, I'd heard rumors that Destruction completely dominated in Beta; and well, last night i got first hand of that. Over the course of the night I leveled from Rank 1 to Rank 7 and did the PVP instance 13 times. The goal is simple. There are 2 Altars; when a side grabs both they get 80 points and the portals explode killing everyone near them before they reset. The first side to 500 wins. You also get a single point per kill (at least I think that's how it works on the points).
The BEST showing Order had in the 13 times I played the Scenario (got to PVP Rank 5)...we had a score of 16. Pathetic. And while you certainly seem to get rewarded more for losing, if this is the way this game is going to be I just don't see it surviving very long. There are only 2 sides, and if one side completely dominates the other from Day 1 in what is supposed to be primarily a Realm v Realm PVP game then either everyone is going to go Destruction or they are going to quit.
Personally I think this is the WOW factor. There doesn't seem to be the racial differences here that gave Horde an advantage. And I don't think it was class issue (but having not spent time with many of the quests that might be wrong). I think it's because people equate Destruction = Horde = GOOD PVP. The other major factor is, the Destruction races probably have more character. Hell, even the opening CGI movie in the game is basically Destruction kicking Order's collective ass in a completely one-sided engagement.
As for the Archmage class itself, it's a strange mix of Ranged Magic DPS and Healer. And it's fairly hard for me to control honestly. I was also having a hard time damaging things, but maybe that was because I was Rank 3 and usually running across Destruction guys which were Rank 7-11. Still, I'll probably create a Destruction character next and maybe a few other classes just to see what I like and what I don't.
Other than that, the quests were easy and generally easy to track. Much like AOC was, though the map markers could be alittle easier to deal with and it would have been nice if the active quest areas were shaded differently because the red tends to blend into the map making it hard to make out.
So, while I did have fun with the game, I also had problems. Warhammer certainly has more options from the start; but I'm very worried about it having fewer options at the end. WOW has Raids, 5-mans, PVP, specialized PVP which appeals to just about anyone. Warhammer I've been told will NOT be a raiding game, and will demphasize PVE at the cap making it less important. That leaves PVP...the thing I like least about MMOs.
So I'll have to see where this goes. Hopefully a few of my other friends will start playing as well.
SO, the install went ago. The patching took a while, but everything worked. Even on my Vista 64 machine, so few problems there. I picked a server where I knew at least someone, chose order b/c that's what they are and started creating the character.
The first thing I noticed, buy these characters are ulgy. Their faces just look off and everything else just looks off about them. I don't know why companies have so many problems creating attractive models for their characters, male or female, but it's always disappointing to me. The non-human characters looked much better as a result. At least they animated well.
Picking a class was simple Archmage! :) And with that it was on to the game!
First couple of quests were easy, having to adjust to the new interface was more difficult than I was expecting...I'm just too used to WOW (I had the same problem with AOC).
The next thing I noticed, the game animates smoothly like WOW does. Animation isn't jerky, you don't seem to get stuck on random flat terrain, and you don't feel like you are fighting the interface except for the camera which always seemed to reset it's default zoom level to something I didn't like.
For all the talk about how this game was different than WOW; from what I can tell it's pretty similiar. The main difference seems to be that you can go into a PVP scenario almost immediately after entering the game. You even get XP for it; and some form of PVP XP too.
So, I'd heard rumors that Destruction completely dominated in Beta; and well, last night i got first hand of that. Over the course of the night I leveled from Rank 1 to Rank 7 and did the PVP instance 13 times. The goal is simple. There are 2 Altars; when a side grabs both they get 80 points and the portals explode killing everyone near them before they reset. The first side to 500 wins. You also get a single point per kill (at least I think that's how it works on the points).
The BEST showing Order had in the 13 times I played the Scenario (got to PVP Rank 5)...we had a score of 16. Pathetic. And while you certainly seem to get rewarded more for losing, if this is the way this game is going to be I just don't see it surviving very long. There are only 2 sides, and if one side completely dominates the other from Day 1 in what is supposed to be primarily a Realm v Realm PVP game then either everyone is going to go Destruction or they are going to quit.
Personally I think this is the WOW factor. There doesn't seem to be the racial differences here that gave Horde an advantage. And I don't think it was class issue (but having not spent time with many of the quests that might be wrong). I think it's because people equate Destruction = Horde = GOOD PVP. The other major factor is, the Destruction races probably have more character. Hell, even the opening CGI movie in the game is basically Destruction kicking Order's collective ass in a completely one-sided engagement.
As for the Archmage class itself, it's a strange mix of Ranged Magic DPS and Healer. And it's fairly hard for me to control honestly. I was also having a hard time damaging things, but maybe that was because I was Rank 3 and usually running across Destruction guys which were Rank 7-11. Still, I'll probably create a Destruction character next and maybe a few other classes just to see what I like and what I don't.
Other than that, the quests were easy and generally easy to track. Much like AOC was, though the map markers could be alittle easier to deal with and it would have been nice if the active quest areas were shaded differently because the red tends to blend into the map making it hard to make out.
So, while I did have fun with the game, I also had problems. Warhammer certainly has more options from the start; but I'm very worried about it having fewer options at the end. WOW has Raids, 5-mans, PVP, specialized PVP which appeals to just about anyone. Warhammer I've been told will NOT be a raiding game, and will demphasize PVE at the cap making it less important. That leaves PVP...the thing I like least about MMOs.
So I'll have to see where this goes. Hopefully a few of my other friends will start playing as well.
Friday, September 12, 2008
More Random Mumblings
One thing I have no real intention of discussing here is politics. But, I really, really hate the way the media is portraying and analyzing the election this year. It's so slick, yet all of the time and converage is spent not on the the candidates, or their stances but who said what, and fake 'scandals'. It's all about making the election process an entertaining event, and it really torques me especially since everyone involved (candidates, and the new media) treat the general public like their are uneducated, dimwitted, ADD addled children with the attention span of about 1 day. It's just damned frustrating.
Anyway, I got to do some raiding on Wednesday with the new guild. It went pretty well (if my damage meters were at all right, I was pretty much at the top of the damage chart...though I take that with a grain of salt). I was pushing it pretty hard, which usually gets me killed...but Wednesday I had no deaths, no major mistakes, no real issues. Hopefully I'll get in tonight and maybe get some T6 gear. I still need Chest, and Legs if I can get them and from what I can tell most everyone has it already so we'll see.
Anyway, I got to do some raiding on Wednesday with the new guild. It went pretty well (if my damage meters were at all right, I was pretty much at the top of the damage chart...though I take that with a grain of salt). I was pushing it pretty hard, which usually gets me killed...but Wednesday I had no deaths, no major mistakes, no real issues. Hopefully I'll get in tonight and maybe get some T6 gear. I still need Chest, and Legs if I can get them and from what I can tell most everyone has it already so we'll see.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Starting Work on a New RPG Campaign
I have another confession to make. I love coming up with new RPG scenarios and characters. It's a hobby of mine, one which I usually try to keep some of my writing skills from completely falling apart (and they really need some work).
The problem is, I've been having a harder time focusing lately. Made worse by the fact that I've been having a hard time keeping my interest up in any one thing. My ideas have been more haphazard than normal, as if my mind keeps pulling me in many different directions all at once. That makes it hard for me to settle on one thing. And it's even been interfering with me writing these concepts down. It's actually been a hard time getting a paragraph or two into something before my mind pulls me in a different direction.
I think the problem is my tastes are changing, but I don't really know where to yet. Nothing has really grabbed me by the balls and squeezed me till I can't pay attention to anything else.
But, I've been wanting to try my luck with a RPG set in a space setting for quite some time. I went ahead and bought the GURPS 4th Edition rule set specifically to try a new game system. And even with that I'm a bit mixed. I love the available options within the game, but I'm not 100% convinced that I'll like the game system.
Of course, the alternative is to try to find something else, adopt something else, or make my own. I think I'd like to make my own, honestly, but that takes even more time and effort and I'm not entirely sure I want to spend that much time with it.
And even with that, what to do with a space setting? I've got a fairly good concept for a character, but it's a bit generic to me. I'd really like to spice it up, but stay unique. Too many people spice up a character, only to make it less interesting in the process because it's not thought through enough or is too derivative in the first place. Amnesia, for example, is a good but very over-used tool. It's a great method for allowing the reader/player find out about the character through the course of the campaign--but at the same time it's been done to death.
Also, adventure style campaigns often work the best. My concept is relatively straightforward--that of a telepath/telekinetic high-tech thief and mercenary working for a mysterious interstellar agency whose agenda is not as friendly towards the character as it might at first seem. The character gets into trouble when she begins having doubts and hallucinations, including severe headaches, which suggest that what is happening to her isn't quite what she thinks it is. And she may not even be who she thinks it is.
That, unfortunately, is relatively clique and generic. It's been done before, and done again...and it might actually work as is but I'm not sure. Throw in some alien conspiracies, maybe it will work. But I'm not happy with it. And so I keep looking.
The problem is, I've been having a harder time focusing lately. Made worse by the fact that I've been having a hard time keeping my interest up in any one thing. My ideas have been more haphazard than normal, as if my mind keeps pulling me in many different directions all at once. That makes it hard for me to settle on one thing. And it's even been interfering with me writing these concepts down. It's actually been a hard time getting a paragraph or two into something before my mind pulls me in a different direction.
I think the problem is my tastes are changing, but I don't really know where to yet. Nothing has really grabbed me by the balls and squeezed me till I can't pay attention to anything else.
But, I've been wanting to try my luck with a RPG set in a space setting for quite some time. I went ahead and bought the GURPS 4th Edition rule set specifically to try a new game system. And even with that I'm a bit mixed. I love the available options within the game, but I'm not 100% convinced that I'll like the game system.
Of course, the alternative is to try to find something else, adopt something else, or make my own. I think I'd like to make my own, honestly, but that takes even more time and effort and I'm not entirely sure I want to spend that much time with it.
And even with that, what to do with a space setting? I've got a fairly good concept for a character, but it's a bit generic to me. I'd really like to spice it up, but stay unique. Too many people spice up a character, only to make it less interesting in the process because it's not thought through enough or is too derivative in the first place. Amnesia, for example, is a good but very over-used tool. It's a great method for allowing the reader/player find out about the character through the course of the campaign--but at the same time it's been done to death.
Also, adventure style campaigns often work the best. My concept is relatively straightforward--that of a telepath/telekinetic high-tech thief and mercenary working for a mysterious interstellar agency whose agenda is not as friendly towards the character as it might at first seem. The character gets into trouble when she begins having doubts and hallucinations, including severe headaches, which suggest that what is happening to her isn't quite what she thinks it is. And she may not even be who she thinks it is.
That, unfortunately, is relatively clique and generic. It's been done before, and done again...and it might actually work as is but I'm not sure. Throw in some alien conspiracies, maybe it will work. But I'm not happy with it. And so I keep looking.
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