[b]Running the game[/b]
1. I came home after patching in the morning.
I run WAR.exe and I got some error.
2. I run patcher.exe and WAR.exe was updated.
3. I can't run WAR.exe straight from a short cut desktop icon.
I need to run patcher.exe first so it scans the file manifest, then click Agree, and finally Play.
4. I have to click "I Agree" check box, after scrolling all the way to the bottom of the scroll box [u]everytime[/u] I want to play.
It don't remember that I agree despite the fact I paid $5 to beta it.
[b]Character Creation[/b]
5. My first impressions on the graphics is that there's too many shades of brown. The game looks muted and washed. It is similar to the color scheme of DAoC, lots of grays and browns.
6. I started a dwarf, then Rune Priest, and the standard face, skin, eyes, hair, beard color/style selection.
[b]Loading... Connecting... Lag![/b]
7. I finally was able to enter the game.
I moved a few steps and it was [u]laggy.[/u]
I right click on the first NPC with some green icon in (quest available) and I crashed to desktop. No error message. It was lag or my graphics?
8. I went to settings.
I'm running SLI 9750GTX video cards.
1920 x 1200 Full Screen. Set to Highest Quality. No Shadows.
9. I went back into the game. It was still a laggy.
I notice at least 10 dwarves (player) in my immediate view.
[b]Solo PvE Questing[/b]
10. Walking around the area and getting PvE quests done. Even quests objectives are in the same staring room.
11. Minimap, the Map, and Quest log with Quest info are intuitive and straight forward.
12. After a while of questing (from 1 to 7) the walking and running around gets boring and tiring.
13. I found some irritating quest where I need to kill 6 normal spawn mobs, and 1 Big Un boss. The area is relatively small with 6 areas where the normal mobs spawn, but it took some time to find where the Big Un boss spawn.
And since I was solo, and so were other noobs in the area who don't want to group. Tagging the Big Un boss was kill tag stealing ks. It spawns maybe ever 2 minutes or 3, but I wasted plenty of time looking and figuring out where he spawns
14. Some quests moves me onward out of one area to the next.
What I mean is, Start and Point A, and end at Point B. The NPC in Point A gives you a quest, and kill x mobs along the train tracks. After I kill x mobs, I turn in the quest at NPC Point B. So I don't need to back to Point A anymore--and no reason to unless I still have quests back in Point A.
[b]PvP - Scenarios[/b]
15. Each area has it's own scenarios where I can queue from the minimap icon. There are NPC in the town/city that gives a quests for the scenario.
16. Scenarios are like BG in WoW terms where you fight the other faction.
17. At level 1 Rune Priest (actually [u]it's called Rank[/u] not Level), I have a single nuke and an insta heal. When I enter a scenario at level 1, I get bumped up as a level 8 health and action point wise. But I only have 1 nuke and 1 insta heal.
18. At Rank 7, I have skill/ability/spells: 1 nuke, 1 dot, 1 bug nuke, 1 aoe dot.
1 insta heal, 1 hot, 1 bubble, 1 insta cast damage reduction, 1 single buff.
19. Spells are available from the Rune Priest Master npc in town for some price. I did not have to worry about money at Rank 7 because I have plenty to buy my spells from doing quests and selling gray items to a merchant npc. Spells are available based on Ranks.
20. So, sure a level 1 can participate in the scenario and good enough to stand on a flag area needed to be capture. At Rank 1, I can still nuke from up above a ledge down to enemies below.
21. There is a Renown points bar which is another kind of Level that is gained while in PvP or RvR. Renown (pronounced as Re-Noun) /shrug.
22. I can queue for a Scenario while I do my PvE quest.
I get a popup to join, and after the Scenario or after I get booted to desk top (It happened 3 times), I am back to the spot where I accepted the Scenario.
23. I am put in a raid/group called warband when I enter a scenario.
24. There is some time (30 seconds to a minute maybe) before a scenario starts. So I can buff up. If I try to run and jump down, I am teleported back to the starting spot until the scenerio starts.
25. The scenario was laggy sometimes until I guess all the players participating are loaded in my video's memory.
The first scenario looks like 10 to 15 players each side.
The objective is to control 3 flag areas.
26. The first scenario I joined went fairly fast--around 5 to 10 minutes. I turned it in for xp as well. And I can repeat it.
[b]PQ - Public Quest[/b]
27. I came upon an area where there is a PQ in progress. I started going at it killing x mobs as a solo player. After the objective is completed, the PQ resumes to the next objective. And finally to the last objective where killing a npc boss, labelled CHAMPION or HERO.
28. After the last objective of the PQ is done, there is a chest icon and the top 10 players who contributed to the PQ gets to roll on loot.
29. So, a group doing the quest has more chance to get the PQ loot, and their contribution would be more if they can tag more of the the mobs and objectives.
30. In one PQ, I was solo and my Rune Priest barely contributed despite me dotting everything and grabbing the occasional mob spawns.
31. In another PQ, I was grouped with an Iron Breaker tank, and 2 Engineer range dps. I was 2nd in place contribution points from nuking, dotting and healing.
32. PQ Loot. I won roll and got a "Loot Bag" in my inventory. I open the bag, and I have a choice of 1 items inside from armor, potions, to other trade skill materials, or money.
33. There is also an NPC that gives Influence Loot. There are 3 tiers of loot depending on how much you contributed (or how long you've been doing the PQ in the area). So you can grind the PQ for a bit until you have a Tier 3 Influence Points to get your loot.
[b]RvR Zone[/b]
34. By the time I moved on faster to the RvR zone, I was only Rank 7 skipping quests, and getting my quest log became full.
35. By this time that I am low in Rank, and my Solo dps is sub-par for some of the objectives. It is apparent that solo in no longer efficient and I [u]need[/u] a group.
36. There lies my issue. I [u]need[/u] a group to advance in a somewhat efficient manner.
37. I will need to find out if there's a LFG Looking For Group tool in game.
38. Sure there will be a guild to join later on.
But I can see that with different starting areas for each race, lowbies will have to learn how to find the RvR Warcamp so that they can use the Flight Master to go to other race's area.
39. With guildies who play at different times, and level at various speeds, the Rank disparity will not enable them to do same Rank scenarios until max Rank.
What I'm saying is, I'm Rank 7 and other guildies are Rank 12, we can't be in the same scenario until I catch up to maybe Rank 10 or 11.
40. I wonder if one can speed level through the PvE Ranks to 40. Then just grind Scenarios and RvR to get Renown ranks.
[b]41 Would time spent in a Renown 1 to 10, while at Rank 1 to 10 be the same amount of time getting it Renown 1 to 10 whiel at Rank 40?[/b]
[u]Overall Impression[/u]
1. I don't like the graphics. The choppiness gave me a headache. It reminded me back in the days after playing Doom 1 or Spear of Destiny in a Pentiun 1 w/ VGA. It sucks that bad, really.
2. The PvP would definitely be fun with "a guild of noobs" instead of "a pug of noobs." It will be more fun to hear cries in Vent win or lose.
3. I definitely will not be playing a healer unless is a heal-bot-box; or better mod UI to indicate and hotkey targets and heals and hots.
4. PvE is a necessary evil, and at least a 2-box will make leveling through the PvE Ranks more efficient since I play at odd hours or marathon weekends some of the time. That is why I was wondering how fast to level up Renown while at Rank 40.
5. I did not get an interest feel for the underlying story and lore behind the quests. It felt like I just grind the area until I'm done to move on. I guess one can say it's RvR with PvE as an after thought--definitely the opposite of of WoW.
6. There's at least a minor replay value in the Scenario for Rank 1 to 10. I would like to play there again at max level using all my spells instead of being Rank 8 with 1 nuke and 1 heal.
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