Having played AoC, are you more or less excited for WAR?

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I was reading the Age of Conan and Warhammer Online boards when I saw that a topic existed on both boards asking this simple question: “Having played AoC, are you more or less excited for WAR?”

The question is very simple and the answer can be a short. However, having played Age of Conan and being a close follower of all things Warhammer, this question holds a lot more meaning and depth for me. There are several features and design decisions that Mythic is going with that make me excited about WAR, and when I look at how AoC handled similar issues I find myself easily able to answer the question at hand.
PvP in AoC: In Age of Conan PvP is built around a FFA system. Everyone in Hyboria is fighting for their own survival and triumph. Amidst all that chaos your only allies are your guildmates. Your guild then works for triumph against everyone else on the server.

PvP in WAR: In WAR PvP is designed to be realm vs. realm, or a faction/team based system. This means that regardless of race, class, or creed you are allied with the other races that fall under your ‘realm’ of Order or Destruction. Everyone in a realm works together for the glory of all.

I like: Warhammer’s System. I’m looking forward to working with others to take keeps and capital cities without the more fierce competition of guilds. PvP means more to me in WAR than it does in AoC. I also have a lot more potential to progress in WAR’s system because it is not quite as “hardcore” as AoC’s.

Character Progression in WAR and AoC: Age of Conan’s questing keeps with the ‘standard’ that we have come to know since World of Warcraft first truly implemented a polished quest-to-advance system. I can’t speak for WAR’s questing system right now because the game is not out, but I can state my opinion on AoC’s system. I simply don’t like this particular style (nothing new there, most of you know this.) I feel like “questing” has devolved into “tasking”. It’s boring to me when it’s the only means of progression. You may like it, but I don’t. WAR will offer an alternative means of progression with RvR. I don’t have to quest to level. WAR may have the exact same style of quests, but at least I can avoid them if I feel like it.

I like: The potential of WAR’s progression system. RvR’ing to level is a dream come true. I feel like AoC does not diversify itself enough during the leveling process (thus far).

Style: Both games have very strong lore and history. AoC is based on Conan and the works of Robert E. Howard. I certainly can not argue the magnificence of such a world and creation. Warhammer is based on the fantasy setting created by Games Workshop and has 25 years of content making it equally magnificent. Where the two diverge and distinguish themselves is in how these companies use these properties to create a mmorpg. AoC is rooted in more of a realistic and serious environment and WAR takes itself less serious and feels much more like a high fantasy setting to me. I hate comparing games to WoW, but WAR is much more like WoW in this sense. I loved the atmosphere that WoW created. Not everyone does, but I did. WAR is not out yet but the excitement is building for another chance to play in such a setting.

I like: Both. However, I like how WAR’s style immerses me in the game much more easily.

Okay, that’s enough of the comparisons

I’m so excited to see how WAR addresses keeping 6-man content interesting while avoiding the pitfalls of raiding. I want to participate in Public Quests and feel the world around me really come alive. I want to get lost in the pages of my Tome of Knowledge and see how far off the beaten path it can take me. Age of Conan is beautiful and the gameplay is fun, but it really lacks that same sense of adventure.

I think the most unfortunate thing about AoC is that it does not really feel much different. The leveling feels exactly like it did in LotRO, WoW, Vanguard, EQ2, etc. The gameplay, aside from a few innovative ideas to help evolve combat, remains very standard. Mythic is implementing a great deal more in their game to make it feel different from most (albeit probably very similar to DAOC in scope) and that’s where most of my excitement comes from. There’s nothing really wrong with being a good standard mmorpg, but there’s something to be said about a game that really promises the potential for a whole lot more.

Having played AoC, I am much more excited for WAR. How about you?

  • “I think the most unfortunate thing about AoC is that it does not really feel much different. ”

    I haven’t looked at WAR for more than an hour, but I have the same suspicions as you that it will deliver on more of its promises than AoC did. I think I’m ready to jump ship and look forward to WAR.

  • “I feel like “questing” has devolved into “tasking”. It’s boring to me when it’s the only means of progression. ”

    I am getting there too. Questing in current MMO’s are too common. I get so many quests that they all blur. Also with too many quests, i don’t feel like reading them all. So they just be come mindless tasks.

    Oddly enough I think PotBS had a good mix of quests at anyone time. You had one or two “chains” of quests active at anyone time and a small number of “side” quests. I don’t think I ever had more than 10 active quests in one area. I might have a few areas active, but I would only have to focus on a half dozen or so quests.

    Also Questing was not the fastest way to level in that game. But it was a good rate.

    I would like to see Quests become more meaningful be having fewer of them. But more detailed. I would like to see the return of Hunting for XP. Going out into the world and just making your own way.

  • I’m still on a wait-and-see with WAR, but then my focus (and my guild’s) for features is probably different from most who read here, because it isn’t PvP and it isn’t raiding, it’s the other guild features.

    City building is a big draw for instance. Atmosphere was also important.

    And lol maybe this sounds shallow, but I’ll be happy if I never see another damned elf.

  • I can remember the time (and effort) it took to reach level 30 when WoW was first released…I did the same thing in AoC in three days – and that is taking the time to actually read everything. I can see myself easily reaching 80 this summer and be back at the same point, what now? I will be jumping to WAR just to experience the end-game RvR which, hopefully won’t become tedious.

  • I think that you guys are jumping to conclusions a bit too soon. I live in Sweden and did not get the EA which means I won’t be accessing Hyboria for another good 18 hours or so.

    However I had my hands on my friend’s account for a few hours and got to level 13 on an Assassin. It was good fun so far. I must say I’m less excited about WAR after been playing AoC, I don’t know anything about the lore in either worlds nor have I read a whole lot about WAR. I absolutetly love PvP, so WAR should favor me, but it doesn’t. I get the feeling that it will make you repeat too much of the good stuff to make it into a grind, basically forcing you to PvP due to the lack of PvE (not nearly certain on how much PvE content there will be). And tbh – PvE is bound to have some sort of grinding to a certain degree, but PvP should to all costs stick to the freedom of choice. Like I said I haven’t read all that much about WAR so I’m pretty much speculating and going on what I’ve interpreted about WAR so far.

    What you might be doing wrong is not taking the time to breathe, exploring every aspect of AoC. Have you tried all the PvP mini-games with your character(s)?

    Just keep in mind that you’re comparing a recently launched game to a game that hasn’t even opened in public beta testing (at least not to my knowledge).

    Anyways hope the lot of you will have as fun as I’m going to have from tomorrow and onwards! 🙂

  • hmmm i think i will still buy AOC but the longest ive looked at WAR is about 30mins lol and a few unfair aoc vs war or wow topics which always one sided usually for aoc i may go to WAR yet id liked it more if it was warhammer 40k instead of the original but arnt they 2 different company’s?

  • o btw i forgot is there any pre-order extras planned for WAR
    its the only real reason i pre ordered aoc instead of getting a buddy card thing from my mate after it came out about a month later so i had a better chance of not wasting $80

  • Collector’s Edition Bonus Content

    * Exclusive Games Workshop Miniature – Greenskin Warboss, Grumlok, and his shaman, Gazbag.
    * The original graphic novel “Warhammer Online: Prelude To War,” by acclaimed Games Workshop writer Graham McNeill, and illustrated by Chad Hardin, Joe Abraham, Rahsan Ekedal, Tony Parker, and Kevin Hopgood.
    * “The Art Of Warhammer Online” – A Stunning Collection of art that gave birth to the Age of Reckoning
    * Bonus in-game item – The Librams of Insight. (XP-gain modifier good for 60 minutes, 3 uses, 90 minute reuse timer)
    * Twelve additional quests in the Tome of Knowledge, each offering an exciting reward, as well as an unique character title.
    * Bonus in-game content – Twelve character heads (with male and female versions)

  • 🙂 I am more excited for Warhammer and Spellborn personally. Btw guys if you like AoC or War or whatever more come vote on my site for your favorite one. Those two (WAR and AoC) are currently tied for first place :). I’ll email Keen the results when the poll closes in 9 days. Feel free to email me with anything you think I should consider in picking one of the new ones to play also. 🙂 I realize there are MMO’s I havent covered in my list that Kanthalos has reminded me of but Those have more shaky 2008 releases (like Darkfall).

  • Keep one thing in mind when reading and making comments. Its not about which of the two games that are the “better” game, that’s not even measurable. Its about whether your personal subjective view on what game you think will satisfy your interests best.

    For myself I can only say that based on all Ive read so far, and the little i got to play AoC OB got me more interested in AoC than i was, but even more eager to get playing with WAR! As with Keen here WAR just appeals more to me due to how they are designing the game, and that its more fantasy and less “real”.

    Anyways Im starting AoC tomorrow to give it a fair chance, but as of now chances are slim that Ill continue past the first 30 days of subscription.

  • “I feel like “questing” has devolved into “tasking”. It’s boring to me when it’s the only means of progression. ”

    Well put. It feels like “filler time”, like the developers are thinking “well, it should take the average gamer 200 hours of game time to reach level cap, so that’s roughly 1 year of gaming, equalling $180 multiply by the average number of alts …” It’s just filler time, calculated revenue, to keep you from “completing” the game too soon.

    That being said. After playing AoC, i am slightly less excited about playing WAR. Reason: My MMO addiction is dulled by playing something new.

    To me, the AoC end-game will make or break the game. if the end game ends up being miserable, i’m done and out in the blink of an eye.

  • @ Pelkor:
    200 hours a year ? 0o
    I clocked about 3500+ hours of WoW in bout 3 years, and Ive got a fulltime job, a spouse and a kid. ><

  • Yes, the math is off since in order for 200 hours to fill a year you’d have to play less than 4 hours a week, but otherwise a valid point.

  • I just having a feeling WAR PvP isn’t going to be much different…its going to be like any other MMO in general.

  • I have not had any interest in Warhammer Online before Age of Conan and having played Age of Conan for some hours, I still have no interest in Warhammer Online.

    Will probably end up trying it when it gets released – I had no interest for Age of Conan until quite recently, but ended up buying the game and have started to play it. But that was mainly due to that some friends were going to pick it up and if some friends pick up Warhammer I might do that as well.

    I have stopped engaging too much into games before they are released – what may sound good or bad in writing might be a very different thing in practice.

  • Curious where Aion fits on your list, it sounds like it’s altogether more polished than AOC or WAR at the same stage of beta and the graphics look great.

  • I really have enjoyed the full spectrum of reporting on AoC, all the way from the podcast after your early start to the daily updates. That being said I think you’ve done a good job at exploring major differences between what AoC and WAR are trying to accomplish. I think I lot of this can be expressed by just looking at the games literally, just look at your screen.
    AoC is system intensive because they are attempting to make a very realistic world to explore their realistic and adult ideas of what a MMORPG can be. If you have the high end system you’ll see the blood, the grimace on your opponents face, the flashes of steel and explosions of dark magic.
    WoW and WAR are high fantasy (ish with some steampunk oddly thrown in) then thus do not need to be stuck with realism and realistic views. Therefore the graphics can be stylized without deviating from their intended goals of fantasy.
    Its fun to play things that look pretty, its not fun to play things that don’t look pretty. I can say with a lot of confidence that your fatigue would be staved off quite a bit more if you could play with the high end graphics simply due to the “pretty” effect.
    Where AoC fails for most of what I’ve seen is accomplishing its realism, look at the screen shots and you’ll see what it looks like on an average machine. If you look at WAR and WoW screen shots you’ll see exactly what the game designers intended.

  • This is a tough one for me… I’m am MMOG-a-holic, so I’m pretty much excited for all games in the genre.

    In regards to these two… I knew I’d be playing them both, I just expected to do so at the same time (when they were supposed to release near each other).

    I think now, I’m very focused on AoC, but as the Fall and Winter nears my thoughts will drift to WAR and I’ll find myself playing both this X-Mas.

  • The main factor for me, is:

    Can I log in at any point, and play with my friends in whatever aspect I like?

    The standard MMO is kind of bad for this, because in order to play with friends you have to:

    (1) Be on the same server
    (2) Be about the same level to benefit you AND friends
    (3) Have the right gear for endgame
    (4) You and your friends MUST be the one designated class combination, all other combinations are invalid.

  • Honestly, I think it’s far too soon to give WAR much thought – you can really only guess what the game will be like. I’m pretty happy with AOC at the moment, and I’ll almost surely check out WAR when it finally does hit – I just know not to get my hopes up this early.

  • @Q:

    For me, the big difference is that world PvP will have an impact on the open world. That should keep things interesting, and I look forward to keeping the War Herald refreshed at work to find out how the battlefront looks when I’m not there…

  • @Preston #24: Me too! I was constantly at the Herald when not on the game to see how the battles were going. Good times.

  • I think comparison is a totaly subjective manner. If you have two decent games, that are generally stable and have no huge technical problems, it comes down to personal taste. Its not like apples and oranges, because they are both in the same genre, its more like apples and pears. Someone will like apples better, and someone will like pears.

    Personally, I will try WAR when it comes out and see how it comes arround. It has alot of features that look awesome on paper, but it is still in the phase where they are hyping it, and untill release, many of those features will be either modified or scrapped. It means that in case of AOC, we have a game that has come out, so we can see and judge and in case of war we have a game that is still in production and we are getting only the marketing hype. How much of that is to be realised in the final product still remains to be seen.

  • Me and about 6 others all are waiting for WaR. It’s shaping up to look like that next game to take hold of you for years to come.

    Me and the Mrs. are very excited as well. AoC is a nice filler till then though 😉

  • I would have to say less excited about War after having played AoC for some time now. The graphics in AoC is simply stunning with my new graphics card and the bood/gore is amazing to see.

    Don´t think I can go back to a cartoon looking game again after AoC. Also the problem with RvR is that often I ended up in daoc not giving a crap about who I fought where as I hope in AoC I will really care about the people I fight in the borderlands and sieges.

    Also I believe War will have the same combat system as wow once again with the click a target to attack and then you attack that target (unless aoe) and then next etc etc

    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  • I mean what is really different with War from Daoc except higher polygon count ?

  • Frankly, i bought AOC despite the fact that i’m all about NOT supporting games that rely on heavy hardware. And to be honest, it’s exactly what i thought it would be, a better MMO than what came out after WOW but faster disappointing for those who don’t own high-end machines, slower for those who do. In the end I regret to have once more sponsored an industry that forces people to change their hardware way too often to appreciate a game for its graphics.

    Me too, i hate to compare new games to WOW but how many people haven’t been charmed by the magic of teldrasil or elwyn forest on their first character? And how many are just complaining about Tortage? Ofc, there are good points but frankly, with all the hype and all the waiting i would have expected to be more surprised and it just seems to be another grind, with more requirements.

    So yes, my excitement for WAR has growned. It has now become to me one of the two only MMOs that still have a chance to drag me entirely into a new universe, the other being WOTLK.

  • I don’t know what to tell u keen, i think u should better start talking good things about aoc, at least two or three, although seems trivial, because is good u know… it looks like u really dont like nothing, graphics, realism, etc..

    I know people who played aoc beta and war, and they said two things, aoc needs 4 months more and is too soon to release it, and war they bored after a week playing.

  • I cant help but get annoyed when i read comments like #32.
    Why should they talk good about a game if they can’t find much good to talk about. I find Keen and Graev’s comments to be very well balanced and they DO emphasize that its their opinions and not a factual statement (they do some factual statements, but saying that the game crashes when they do this or that is nothing but telling the truth).

    Furthermore I think people are failing to read the blog for what it is. Its not a review, its a weBlog where they share their opinions on stuff they enjoy or don’t enjoy. If you don’t like what you read, find some other blog or site to read. There are probably thousands of people out there blogging the awesomeness in AoC and that its perfect. Their opinions ain’t more or less true than Keen and Graev’s, they are just different as we people are different.

    /rant

  • Let’s just call this what it is, fanboi-ism at its best. Keen has been all over WAR and Drescher’s ass since the game was announced. If you want to play WoW 2, be my guest. You compare AoC to every other MMO. Once Mythic starts abandoning content to avoid missing yet another release date all you’ll be playing is World of Warcraft with a little DAoC thrown in. What was their last press release about? Oh that’s right, guilds. What a new concept. Oh wait, not guilds, LIVING guilds. Ohhhh, I am so excited. Have they run out of things to talk about?
    Don’t get me wrong, I am not defending AoC. While fun, there is no polish to the game and it’s pretty buggy. Another 6 months could have done wonders to the game.

  • Short answer: I’d very much like to know.

    Long answer: Age of Conan screwed me over for 40 euros. Fucking cheap shot not to mention they wont allow Visa Electron until after I had pre-ordered and paid the order. The game box is deceptive too.. “requires approved electronic payment OR time card”. Its not “either or” situation, you need the electronic payment.

    Im so pissed at this shit.. I should’ve known from the anarchy onlines overall craptastic-ness something like this would happen. The whole company is a bad joke. I’ll laugh in 3 months, when the players have gone back to WoW.

    DONT BUY THIS GAME. It most likely is as bad as Anarchy Online.

  • So for those of you who are sick of the current crop of quests:

    What would you rather see? No/fewer quests, or different kinds of quests, and if the latter, what kind?

    If you just don’t want quests, there’re tons of decent free-to-play grindfests that you can check out. In a lot of these you’ll get 1 quest/level or something. I’m going to assume you know about these and choose not to play them, so you must want different kinds of quests. I’d be interested in hearing your ideas.

    My only gripe with the quests in AoC so far is after you leave Tortage you’re dropped into a city with far too many fetch & carry quests (anyone remember when EQ2 had a ton of those?) and no clear direction on where to go to get back into the fighting.

  • Personally I don’t see the problem with WAR being very much like WoW as WoW actually was a game that kept me interested for 3 years.

    The reason why I’m interested in WAR is actually for just that reason that its very much like WoW, but with some fundamental changes to the gameplay where I find WoW to be lacking (PvP foremost, but some other minor annoyances). I’m pretty sure that WAR will have its share of annoyances as well, but its the fundamental changes in gameplay (compared to WoW) that’s interesting and most important to me. If Blizzard where to change WoW so that PvP actually had a meaning and was fun again (where did the war between ally and horde go? hell i even meet the same faction as me in arenas nowadays), then I’d probably stick with WoW for a good while, but then again there’s the Warhammer IP that are awesome in my eyes too.

    Call it fanboi-ism, call it criticism, call it what you want but its neither right nor wrong. Games being released by well known publishers like Mythic, Funcom and Blizzard will ALWAYS have their share for devoted fans both prior and past release.

  • Proximo prime i read this blog because i prefere the truth by more dissapointing it is.
    And i think wait to play war because is similar to wow with the diference that has “fundamental changes”.. hmm it looks to me like “that is not right”, dont ask me why.

    What i just wanted to say is, if u r going to make constructive criticism, is good say one or two things good about the game.
    If u dont, better then say like jukasa did:
    DONT BUY THIS GAME. It most likely is as bad as Anarchy Online.
    Hmm that sounds very convincing and pure truth. Lol

  • I don’t understand why people can say: don’t buy it… I find it refreshing and even if it doesn’t have a long life like wow (still to see), i find it a success and my computer isn’t really big: 2giga ram, 7800GS 256 mg. I say: come and play it yourself people, at least it’ll be your very own opinion.

  • The WoW+Daoc Comment is why I’m excited to play WAR. As someone said, if it’s as good as Wow was in the beginning + have DAoC’s PVP. I know it will be a game to hold my interest for a very long time.

    As for AoC. I’m enjoying myself, but going very slow while trying to decide what character to take higher up. Hell, I haven’t even hit 10 yet on a toon.

    I actually wish Funcom would’ve stayed with their AO formulas for AoC. Meaning I really liked solo/team mission terminals. How much better would have been for you and your friends to be at a social town/city hub where players gather around for questing. They could’ve had them be old wooden signs you click on to scroll or (refresh through) for quests
    instead of running around town like a madman trying to find all the (!’s) above peoples heads. This time though maybe have both quests out-doors as well as the instanced quests randomly generated dungeons (ala AO), and even have static dungeon quests come up for rewards and exp.

    Funcom could’ve made questing a WHOLE lot better sticking to AO formulas, but expanding on them.

  • I only planned on playing AoC until WAR came out. My plan was to use it to ween me off of WoW for good, as I had a bad habit of slowly sliding back into WoW even though I’d spend hours doing nothing particularly fun (after playing a game for 3 years logging in becomes a reflex). So far AoC is better than I expected. I now have a game I can log into when I get the itch to play an MMO and it wont take over my life like logging into WoW would.

    If AoC does their endgame well I may stay while playing WAR. If it is horrible, hopefully WAR will be out by the time I reach it. Either way I don’t want to ever go back to WoW so it’s a win/win.

    To answer your question: I am way more excited about WAR now. AoC showed me I can have a lot of fun in an MMORPG not made by Blizzard. Every attempt up to this point (EQ2, GW, a variety of free MMORPs, etc.) didn’t even come close to doing the same.

  • To answer to your question I have not purchased AoC yet and I intend to do so this week end :)I`m more a Warhammer fan than AoC which means I `ll play Aoc as a filler till WAR is released.But above all I`m most happy that there’s something else play besides WoW and wish that both AoC and WAR to be successful.

  • @Gillian #36

    I would like to see fewer Quests in general. But make them more grand. The Destiny quest line is fun. Lots of story, and really at no point did I feel like I was doing something routine, even though you could break down each part in to a standard quest action element.

    For me reduce of all the Bounty, Courier, and Fetch quest. I don’t want to run all around an NPC town looking for exclamation points. But make small number (3 or 4) NPCs that issue repeatable task quests. These Task givers are tuned to send you to level appropriate areas. And the rewards for these tasks is a little better for your travel time then you would get if stayed out grinding.

    In away go back to the original EQ style of questing.

  • Thanks again K&G for giving me a quick stop in keeping up with the changing MMO world.

    One quick question. How is the combat model in WAR. One person above said it was going to be like WoW…is this the case. I know I keep bringing up Savage 2’s model, but is it by ANY chance going to bring that type of variation.

    Thanks again for all your info.

    And to quickly answer the questions. I want different cake..not the same cake with different frosting. AoC just wasn’t that different for me. I hope WAR is…

  • Expectations and disappointments 🙂
    When AoC was coming out it was promising a mature and different gaming experience which was supposed to revolutionaze the world of MMOs, now that it is out it is treated as a stepping stone to Warhammer, because it has delivered a game that is just as similar to WoW as any other MMO. Why is anyone expecting Warhummer to deliver anything different. If you look at previous examples like Pirates of the Burning Sea, different just creates confusion and ragequitting. I expect Warhummer to be in the same vein as WoW, LotRo and AoC. Different IPs, same mechanics, better graphics, nothing more, nothing less.
    BTW, I am still playing COH and PotBS and having fun because they are different from MMOs mentioned above.

  • @Andy #34:

    Dismissing the guild leveling system and other differences between the two games makes me wonder if you are assuming they are similar because both have “cartoonish” visuals. If Warhammer was merely WoW 2, I doubt you would be seeing the enthusiasm for it that you’re complaining about. Contrast to AoC, which really is WoW 2 in terms of PvE–which is fine if that’s your thing. Some of us do not want to retread that ground. That said, I’ll check out AoC if only because it’s new.

  • I am MUCH more looking forward to WAR. FFA PvP kind of ruined AoC as a whole for me, and being on a PvE server pretty much means only BG PvP (as I don’t play enough to be in any situation to have a shot at Seiges).

    In WAR, you can “seige” a keep at any time of day, there is no limit to who can seige what, except that only a guild can claim a keep. No big deal, long as I get to take part. I don’t play during peak hours when Seiges in AoC will take place, meaning I will not even get to take part as a Merc.

    WAR is multiboxable, something of which I’ve been a fan of for quite a while.

    WAR has better-sounding PvP mechanics. Finally the tank classes taunt can be used to a great effect on players. Each archtype is very unique in the way they heal, deal damage or CC. In AoC what really is the difference in play style between the Tempest of Set and Priest of Mitra? Sure they have different heal spells and different nuke spells, but basically its stand there and nuke or stand there and heal/buff/dispell. There really isn’t much more to think about.

    AoC just bores the crap out of me with all the running around and quests that have me completely skipping the dialogue by button mashing 1 on my keyboard because the first few pointless ones drained the life out of me.

    I will still play until WAR comes out, tho, because it is still a new world to explore.

  • Ive gotta say I agree fully with #46 Preston.
    WAR’s cartoonish graphics doesn’t make it more or less WoW2 than AoC.
    AoC’s “real” graphics doesn’t make it less WoW2 than any other game.

  • i am in War beta and i have not even download the patch for the new round of testing

    i just dont want to log in to War after playing AoC

  • If WAR is worse than what i played in AoC beta ill start crying endlessly. So basically its all about personal taste, some will love AoC and not like WAR, some the other way around. 🙂

  • @Pete

    Just an FYI, there’s a lot of people in your situation who did download the patch and they are saying insane things about it, so you may want to get it sometime soon before you comment further 🙂

  • Here’s a nice read that pretty much sums up what I’ve been trying to say:
    http://www.warhammeralliance.com/articles/showentry.php?e=70

    Its a wall of text, but if you DO take the time to read it all, with some unbiased eyes and realize that you could replace every instance of AoC, WAR, Mythic, Blizzard etc with any other game/developer, I think you will begin to understand that there IS no such thing as a perfect MMO. AoC aint it and neither will WAR be.

    So with the hazard of sounding like a broken record;
    In the discussion of AoC vs WAR vs WoW its all a matter of what YOU as an individual find most interesting to waste your spare time on. Someone else out there are bound to feel different, and those are in no way more or less right or wrong than you.

    Bottom line, refrain from bashing other games and start using words like “i don’t like”, “not really interested in” or “not my cup of tea” instead of this sux and that rox cos i said so, we would all be better off in the end. 🙂

    From a devoted fan of WAR who actually got the balls and brains to see and understand that others may value AoC higher than me. =)

  • I think it might be best to keep your installs of the various MMOs and just rotate subscriptions as the mood takes you. I have long since given up being loyal to one specific MMO.

  • “I feel like “questing” has devolved into “tasking”. It’s boring to me when it’s the only means of progression. ”

    This is made worse when the developer takes absolutely no consideration for people trying to level in group. In WoW and AoC you can be considerably punished for grouping. Kill 12 rats becomes trivial and you take a bite in the exp for rats. But heaven help you if you have to find 12 apples that take 5 minutes to respawn. In a group of 6 in becomes 70 apples and everyone is pissed off by the end of the quest. NPC’s should be smart enough to figure out you finished a task together i.e. 12 freakin apples.

  • @Aethelwyrd: Yep, completely agree. This has been the cause of MUCH frustration for us. I actually get fed up and log off when I run into quests like that. Completely stupid.

  • I have to agree that the questing in almost every mmo I’ve played feels somewhat the same, though I can’t really see what will be that much of a difference in WAR, I’m in the BETA and as we’ve got NDA I shouldn’t say that much, but I the questing for me feels exactly the same as in WoW, Lotro and AoC, so I don’t really understand the argument about WAR is going to have so much more fun questing?

    It might be slightly different, but after a few hours it feels the same again. I have to admit that the combat system in Age of Conan makes AoC feel more different in both questing and PvP than any other (including the WAR BETA) feels.

    And all you say about the Age of Conan PvP isn’t really true, you say it’s free-for-all chaos, well it isn’t.
    If you are playing on a PvP-Server it might be, but on a PvE server the PvP isn’t a complete mess, you’ve got the different mini-games, which aren’t free-for-all at all, they are the same ways as the Battlegrounds in World of Warcraft, the only thing that might be a bit chaotic is the Boarder Kingdoms, but with Siege Warfare and Guild Cities I can’t agree about what you claim the PvP in Age of Conan to be.

    But it is true that Age of Conan reward good teams / guilds, if that’s something you don’t like, well the it’s not the game for you. But with the combat system, and not being that gear dependent Age of Conan seems to be way more fair when it comes to PvP than any other game and WAR, as it rewards skills and good teamwork rather than gear and pure luck with the group.

    Age of Conan also got the PvP-Experience which makes PvP having a meaning, you don’t simply join a PvP match and hope for the best any more, which is a good thing, and with Guild Cities and Siege Warfare and the collation system I think Age of Conan have some potential that WAR does not have.

    But it’s rather simple to pick one of the games, if you are the “non-guildy” type of player WAR might suite you better, if you are more into guilds and want to make good connections with a guild, screaming tactics over vent etc.. Then Age of Conan most likely suite you best.

    You also have to remember that WAR isn’t release, we don’t know what we will get yet. Remember how darn excited you were about Age of Conan about a year ago? I remember the old conancasts, where it seemed like Age of Conan was the game of your dreams, now it seems to me like you got a bit disappointed and are just looking for something else to hung on to. I can’t say you have been this excited by WAR before, and too me it seems like you expect a bit too much of WAR. You got huge expectations about these systems WAR are promising, but you completely ignore that they might turn out in a other way than you are imagine it, they might even drop some of the features completely.

    Just look at how excited you seem to be with the WAR questing? By reading this blog people might believe that the entire questing in WAR is very revolutionary, but when playing the BETA it doesn’t feel any different to me than all the latest MMO’s like WoW, Lotro and Age of Conan.

    In the end I think WAR and Age of Conan will turn out to be two very different games, almost two different genres.
    Age of Conan is a guild game, and WAR is not.

    The feeling I had when my guild build our City Keep today is the most exciting feeling I’ve ever had in any mmo. It beats the first time I slaughtered a boss in SWG, or when I took down Ragnaros in WoW. It’s was epic!

    I don’t doubt that WAR will be an awesome game, but I can’t really agree with much of your arguments.
    To be honest WAR feels much more like WoW than Age of Conan do. The questing in WAR, Age of Conan and WoW feels very much the same, but because of the combat system, collation system, graphics and cool guild stuff in Age of Conan it feels more different from WoW that WAR does.

    To me WAR feels like a PvP (RvR) version of WoW with a bit of graphic overhaul. Lotro was kinda a WoW v1.5, and WAR feels like a WoW PvP-edition. If you get the point?

  • I decided not to pick up my AoC preorder. I played OP and read enough since release to decide to give it a pass. If WAR really is WoW PVP-edition, I’m on board. I prefer small guilds, and it doesn’t seem like their is much place for that in AoC. In addition, I enjoy PVP combat in the world, but not FFA, so WAR again seems the way to go.

    That said, I have not been impressed with WARs videos so far. It’s really not the graphic quality either, is the very stagnant animations that make it look like turn based combat. I am hoping new videos in the coming months will change my mind. If not, I guess I’ll just play SP or non MMO multiplayer games for awhile…

  • All games promise the moon and the stars and seem awesome, until you play them. Then you run into the compromises that had to be taken because for some problems, there’s no right answer.

    I’ve stopped looking forward to games. I predict no MMORPG that comes out, ever, will satisfy the fans. But maybe I’m just a bit cynical. 🙂

  • I’m right there with you, Keen. I’ve been playing the WAR beta the last couple days, after playing the heck out of the AoC open beta, and my time in AoC made me appreciate what Mythic is building.

    Questing as tasking: Yeah, you hit that out of the park. That’s totally what I felt like when I was met with a wall of quests coming out of Tortage. I like how Mythic is tying everything together in a zone; questing, public questing, instanced PvP and open-world PvP. I didn’t get that same sense in AoC.

    The one place I keep getting stuck with WAR is the graphics. It seems a little old, but not in a cool stylized way like WoW. I’m not a huge fan of the art direction. I think it has a hidden upside; I think the stripped down WAR models will load faster and perform better in large scale PvP. AoC sure was pretty, though. I wonder if people are going to feel like WAR is too far behind the graphics curve, and miss all the great ideas and gameplay because it’s not shiny enough. We’ll see!

  • Great points Rick. Keep in mind that right now no one truly knows what WAR will look like at release. It’s currently running in beta and in many screenshots on a bare bones client without any of the bells or whistles. Shadows, shaders, texture resolutions, etc are all cranked low.

  • WAR will have an Open Beta and if you pre-ordered the Collectors Edition you are guaranteed a spot. However, the “Open beta” is not entirely “open” because it will have restricted numbers, but that’s common in mmorpgs now due to industry’s enormous growth.

  • […] few people are blogging about comparisons recently. Keen and Graev have a couple of relevant posts, one asks if we’re more excited about WAR having played AoC, the other is about designing an ideal MMO. Syp, over at the Waaagh! blog also ponder the […]

  • I have been waiting for warhammer for about as long as theyve been working on it. I being a former DAoC player i feel like it will blow away all competition with mythics pvp style. I recently got bored and bought AoC but the firs 15-20 levels are fun and after that is just super repetitive in the questing and such. I just hope warhammer will have a better way around the questing part of the game with mind blowing RvR.