To the folks having issues logging in after just buying the game...

This was a preview weekend. All collector's edition pre-orders were in automatically and the first 50,000 standard editions to register their beta accounts were invited as well. It is likely that you fell outside the 50,000 window. The preview should end this morning, giving them a couple weeks to make their modifications and fixes before the open beta on the 7th.

If your account didn't list "WAR PREVIEW" as being active, then that's why your login/password didn't work.

-----------------------

In regards to the game itself, I had a great time this weekend. The only huge negative I've found was the pathing issue, but Mark Jacobs addressed that issue directly (http://warhammervault.ign.com/fullstory.php?id=44629 Item #4). Mythic will typically be very direct and up front with it's player base judging from DAoC. If something is broken, they won't dance around it until it's fixed like Blizzard seems to do. That's a refreshing change.

I played Order all weekend and found all the classes I tried to be enjoyable (Engineer, Bright Wizard, Witch Hunter, White Lion, Shadow Warrior, and Warrior Priest). White Lion was the biggest pain of those. The pet seemed non-responsive at times. Engineers turrets also seemed to suffer from this responsiveness issue. I think a lot of that is related to the pathing issues.

Overall, RvR was a blast. I mostly did scenarios because the Open RvR wasn't too heavily populated on the server I was on. When they say you can level from RvR alone, they aren't kidding. I'd get ~15% of a level (at rank 9 or 10) in bonus xp just from winning 1 scenario. Add to that the xp from killing other people in the scenario and the couple of repeatable quest turn-ins you can do related to the scenario, and I was looking at 20-25% of my level per win. Losses weren't nearly as beneficial, but you still probably get 10-15% of your level in a loss.

Questing was pretty easy. When you get quests you see a red cloud area on your map that shows you generally where you need to be to do that quest. This helps you knock out several quests in the same area easily and without alt-tabbing out to WARdb.com (like wowhead but for WAR).

The public quests varied in terms of success for me. If there were lots of folks around, they were a blast. If it was just you and a couple other people without a tank (Empire starting area is pretty void of tanks unless a friendly elf or dwarf decides to make their way over) then you were probably only going to make it through the first phase or so of the PQ.

So all in all, it was really neat. It exceeded my expectations and considered how early it is in it's life cycle it's fairly polished. What'd everyone else think?

8/25/2008 6:02:51 AM

I noticed I didn't get in this weekend >.<

as far as what I have read and seen it seems that the order is in need of some balance issues.

8/25/2008 8:13:34 AM

I had fun. It ran like shit on my computer. My biggest complaint was that I had no idea how to jump into the RvR scenarios. In fact, the entire weekend I could never figure it out. I had no quests that led me to that location, and no help tip that told me where to go.

8/25/2008 8:43:33 AM

all you have to do is click the button on your minimap, like wow bg's. only you dont get ported to some major city when you're done, you get ported back where you came. I only got to do 2 different scenarios and both were somewhat boring. I think a lot of it has to do with being level 9 or so and not having really built the talents and experience for class synergies like in wow. it was mostly just people running around, stop, dps. I'm a zealot and was able to tab dot and kill several people with a few interspersed instant nukes while tanking 5-6 people with shields and hots. I feel like there's no way in hell this would work end game (I hope) but everyone was pretty clueless on target priority at this point.

I enjoyed the community quests a lot, especially the narration. Anything you can do to add to the immersion of the game is a huge plus to me. I hate how disconnected you feel in most mmo's while questing. It's basically just a mindless grind, but when you add story that matters and cut scenes/voice overs it's much more personal.

8/25/2008 9:17:28 AM

I played Swordmaster to level 19 this weekend with my new guild, Impervious-Stormreaver (WoW rank world #56, US#27). I'd say half of my exp came from pvp this weekend (pvp repeatable quests + scenarios).

The game ran like complete shit at first, then I installed the new Nvidia drivers (I have 8800 GTS) and the client performance was considerably better.

I think one thing WAR does really well is the integration of RvR, scenario, PvE, and PQs (Public Quests). You can queue up for a scenario from anywhere in the world and soon as you finish you are back in the exact spot where you queued. In WoW, you have to go to a specific place (battlemaster) to queue up and even if someone queues up for you, soon as the BG finishes if you are out PvEing, it teleports you to the battermaster that your group leader queued from. So in that respect WAR's integration of PvP with the rest of the game is seamless and better executed. The balance between pvp exp gain and pve is pretty good, and the good balance allows the player more choices for playing the game in a way that suits them.

Collision detection is well executed. Collision is only active if you are flagged for pvp (otherwise you can expect players to grief each other with collision by blocking doorsways etc in non-pvp situations). Collision detection also makes tanks very useful for RvR and sieges. I remember we had 30+ people in Tier2 dark elf zone trying to take over a keep, we broke into the first floor but couldn't advance up b/c Destruction had 10 tanks blocking the staircase.

Swordmaster was a really fun class to play, the combat system of Tactic swapping allowed my character to switch from tanking mode to dps mode between combat. Swordmaster, while a melee class had abilities that did spirit dmg, which makes Swordmaster a melee tank killer. Tanks have high damage mitigation vs physical damage (50-60%) but very low resist vs spell damage (20-30%). Also Swordmaster comes with an arsenal of debuffs that reduces your target's spell resists (can debuff a target down to 0-10% resist) so against tanks, my Swordmaster cut through them like a light saber!

Looking forward to the open beta, I plan to test the White Lion then (hopefully the pathing is fixed).

8/25/2008 6:31:00 PM

Quote :

"Impervious-Stormreaver (WoW rank world #56, US#27)."

no kiddin? that was my rival guild (I was Horde side they were alliance) the entire time I played WoW. Biggest rival in PVE and PVP versus us horde side top guilds. They used to be much higher than that, but then again so did we. Most of their founding members/members that had them up in the top 10 in the world, and nearly all of their best pvpers have since quit over time since BC started though. (although im sure they still have decent players).

I actually thought about playing warhammer with them if I ever played.

If you know any of them that have been with Impervious for a long time (IE more than a year) let em know "Morbidgorbag" says hey

edit: Wow, after looking at their lineup in WoW these days, they are a shell of their formerselves. MAYBE 10% of that guild are the original members that were with them for 3+ years. They must have lost a lot since I havent really been playing. I bet some of the people who quit WoW are with them in warhammer though.

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 6:39 PM. Reason : ]

8/25/2008 6:34:49 PM

^ Impervious are joining forces in WAR with their old horde rivals in WoW, <HarroW>, that's how I got acquainted with them, I knew bunch of ppl in HarroW.

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 6:40 PM. Reason : .]

8/25/2008 6:40:45 PM

I knew some of the HarroW people. Some of them were really good, and a lot of them were mediocre, but they were pretty old school. Havent heard that name in a long time They werent really around for that long while Impervious was in WoW. They were for awhile in the old old school when battlegrounds first opened (epic AV battles), but that was before Impervious started having a pretty strong presence in the bgs themselves.

I came from The Cabal and Original Gangstaz.

If Broderick/Shamerick is playing warhammer, tell him hey especially. He and I's warsong gulch group matches were epic.


[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 6:50 PM. Reason : ]

8/25/2008 6:44:14 PM

so what are people going to play?

I'm thinking Chosen for destruction and Rune Priest for order

8/25/2008 9:49:08 PM

I'm pretty sure it's Warrior Priest for me. I tried out Bright Wizard, Engineer, Witch Hunter, Shadow Warrior, White Lion, and Warrior Priest. WP seemed to be a neat playstyle that I enjoyed. I'm going to use Open Beta to make sure that's what I want to do, but I'm pretty sure that's the career for me!

8/25/2008 9:51:48 PM

I figured that soon enough, Spar would come in here with some essay about how he's in the top guild and full of theorycrafting shit.

8/25/2008 11:19:12 PM

So when's the open beta?(to those who didnt preorder)

8/25/2008 11:42:43 PM

Open beta keys now available for fileplanet subscribers.

http://www.fileplanet.com

8/26/2008 12:33:31 AM

^^
This isn't a real open beta. Open beta will be available to all closed beta participants, CE, and standard edition pre-orders and it begins September 7th. It only runs 1 week (until the 13th) then the "Headstart" program begins for pre-orders. The schedule is as follows:

September 7-13: Open beta for CB folks, CE+SE pre-orders
September 14-17: Live game headstart for CE pre-orders
September 15-17: Live game headstart for SE pre-orders
September 18: Live game launch for the rest of the world

Edit: apparently Fileplanet.com subscribers can participate in the open beta as well... so add them to the list!

[Edited on August 26, 2008 at 7:30 AM. Reason : fp.com]

8/26/2008 7:28:37 AM

http://blue.mmo-champion.com/16/9236465192-content-patch-before-wrath-of-the-lich-king.html

Quote :

" With the release of Wrath of the Lich King approaching, we wanted to provide you with some important information. In preparation for the expansion, we will be issuing a new content patch in the coming weeks"

Blizzard is so mean, anyone wanna bet that "coming weeks" means September 18?

8/26/2008 7:46:10 AM

No doubt that statement was to build hype around Wrath and detract from WAR. Especially when you consider the timing of it, just after the preview weekend, when WAR hype is at it's highest. However... last time I heard "coming weeks" from Blizzard, it was about season 4's start date and it was 2+ months before they managed to get that out the door.

So, while I'm sure they are trying to get the hype machine back up and running for WotLK, I doubt they'd be able to get the full content patch pushed in just 2-3 weeks. It's just not Blizzard's style. Instead, they'll string people along for a while, not really giving them any information other than "when it's ready".

I'm really hoping Mythic maintains the kind of relationship they have through beta with their fan base. Even this weekend Mark Jacobs commented on exactly what the good/bad was from the preview weekend, addressing specifically areas at which they failed and need to improve. That sort of openness is refreshing. Hopefully it doesn't disappear upon release.

8/26/2008 7:52:31 AM

So what's the leveling curve like on this game so far? Just curious as I don't have a huge amount of time to play things like this or Wow.

Is the monthly the same as wows?

8/26/2008 10:18:21 AM

i just wonder which classes will end up being overpowered and which classes are gonna suck ass

8/26/2008 10:35:53 AM

Getting more and more pumped for this game.

Hopefully since there is so much group combat in both the quests and RvR that even if one class is extremely strong and unbalanced(which there will be) you'll still need other classes to balance.

8/26/2008 11:39:32 AM

Yeah as far and 1 on 1 goes there isn’t a ton of it in the game other than if you roll a pvp server (why wouldn't you) and encounter a random guy out in the world. The Warrior Priest is going to be like Rogues in wow, all the kids will play it due to them being OP 1v1 till they get smacked with nerfs (which are coming, balance is one of Mythics biggest concerns).

8/26/2008 12:24:19 PM

I'm having fun with the Chosen Marauder class. Seems like, depending on the "talent" build, it could be either a good melee dpser or tanker.

8/26/2008 6:06:53 PM

I'm having a lot of fun as a chosen zealot. No one can kill me, even 3-4 levels higher. I can also do pretty good dps with instant dots and instant nukes.

8/26/2008 6:49:52 PM

Good, I was hoping there would be someone to keep my Chosen up

8/27/2008 10:11:24 AM

One thing I haven't seen and was curious about..

Are there banks in the game? How is extra storage handled, etc? Or do you just carry what you can and leave what u aren't using.

8/27/2008 10:35:14 AM

yes they have banks

also guild banks once your guild level goes up.

[Edited on August 27, 2008 at 11:37 AM. Reason : .]

8/27/2008 11:36:39 AM

How do instances work and are they awesome?

8/27/2008 11:58:45 AM

from what I understand there are a shit-ton of them that are like WoW. Also some dungeons that have 3 wings with a boss at each end. The place itself isn't instanced but the boss fight is. If yo played DAoC and remember Darkness Falls in all of its glory you will remember how much damn fun it was. It will be a lot like that but with instanced bosses.

Also there are public quests which is sort of like an istance. Old Hilsbrad would be a good example in terms of WoW relating to WAR PQs. Except you just have to join and don't have to LFG for a GD hour.

8/27/2008 12:34:46 PM

^Thanks. Storage was just one of the things I hadn't read or heard anything about.

That was one thing I loved about UO was the ability to place houses.

I remember in some MMO games making the max characters just to hold crap

8/27/2008 12:42:07 PM

no word on housing but DAoC put it in right before I quit and they did it well.

8/27/2008 2:19:23 PM

holy shit watch this rvr video of an ironbreaker

http://textwall.blogspot.com/2008/08/bloody-hell-ironbreaker-rvr-part-1.html

Dude loots an epic cloak off of another player. Awesome.

8/27/2008 8:05:06 PM

In regards to storage, an additional thing to note is... that as you level up, your bag space increases. At level 11, I went from 40 slots to 60 slots. This continues to expand as you level.

8/28/2008 8:23:53 AM

^^so was that the other player's cloak? that would really suck if people could take all your good shit when they killed you.

8/29/2008 3:01:56 AM

Loot is randomly generated when you kill someone I believe. Just like killing in PvE. So if you die you don't lose anything, but killing you have a chance to get something cool.

8/29/2008 10:09:00 AM

Quote :

"That was one thing I loved about UO was the ability to place houses."

The one thing i loved about UO pvp was there was a real sense of danger when you got attacked. If you died, you lost all your shit.

8/29/2008 10:44:31 AM

^ I agree 100%, I loved that about UO. It was really like free reign, but a lot of people hated dieing and losing stuff. I guess this way is the best of both worlds, you can get a good item, but don't lose anything dieing.

8/29/2008 12:12:39 PM

I think WoW should do that



make a pvp zone that has higher penalties for death. (items lost, gems knocked out, etc)

8/29/2008 12:26:14 PM

I think WoW should die a slow painful death.

But death penalties are good for world RvR, would be kinda retarded in instanced PvP.

8/29/2008 1:19:36 PM

Kindof sucks preorder from amazon, unless they ship it early I'm not suppose to get it till the 18th and will have missed the headstart.

9/1/2008 10:16:07 AM

If you preorder from Amazon, your headstart and open beta keys are in some "vault" thing on their website. Instructions for accessing that are here:

http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=207

After you have a Mythic account with your beta/headstart codes entered in, you can use them to download the client from Fileplanet or via Torrents and be ready to go for the headstart. Be forewarned, it's a huge download (9.34GB).

[Edited on September 1, 2008 at 10:51 AM. Reason : more info]

9/1/2008 10:50:00 AM

Got it, I was thinking you'd need the actual hard copy of the game(and the preorders were picking up the actual copy early).

I see now reading through again that they are just carrying the characters over from the beta client during the headstart.

Still can't decide what I want to start out playing... I was thinking a caster but not sure.

9/1/2008 11:10:23 AM

Depends on if you're going destruction or order, but if you want a utility caster, Magus is pretty cool. If you're looking for direct damage casting, then Bright Wizard/Sorcerer are the mirrors of each other on each faction. Archmage/Shaman are pretty good caster/healer careers as well.

Use the open beta to figure out what you like before the head start.

Quote :

"The schedule is as follows: September 7-13: Open beta for CB folks, CE+SE pre-orders September 14-17: Live game headstart for CE pre-orders September 15-17: Live game headstart for SE pre-orders September 18: Live game launch for the rest of the world "

9/1/2008 1:55:52 PM

I used to play a game called Legends of Kesmai that allowed player looting.

to tell you the truth it was actually pretty cool

They handled PVP the best ive ever seen.


You could kill anyone anywhere, but if you did it without provocation your account got flagged, 3 flags and you got banned for 3 weeks.

Also you got karma and if you died it would take longer to reserrect based on this (up to days of doing stupid quests)

also people didn't act like retards. Because someone would nail your ass. And you had to be careful similar to real life what you did and what you carried. Sure it pisses you off, but you had to use the bank. You had to use your locker (moden would be house)

I got nailed a couple of times tring to kill mobs and looted, but guilds were more important because you see who does it, you track them and their account down, and kill them for a week.

9/3/2008 11:53:01 AM

so Lineage 2?

9/3/2008 12:25:48 PM

^^ Same shit UO did originally. Safe in the cities, outside you were free to kill and loot. Basically you could do whatever you wanted in that game, which made it fun. If you killed someone unprovoked you got a murder count, 5 and you turned red then you couldn't go into cities, be rezzed normally, etc. The counts wore off every few hours.

I'm pumped for the OB though, should be fun only a few more days. What server are people going to play on? I literally know nobody in the gaming world anymore and need friends =)

9/3/2008 1:12:10 PM

Quote :

"Legends of Kesmai"

shit, that is older than old school.

9/3/2008 4:59:13 PM

New Preview weekend started this morning

9/5/2008 3:19:43 PM

beta is open again, im on isle of the dead

9/6/2008 4:43:56 PM

dammit, so close to being able to play..

What time will OB start?

9/6/2008 9:50:51 PM

I pre-ordered from amazon, can I not play the open beta?

nope, goddamnit.

[Edited on September 7, 2008 at 6:42 PM. Reason : .]

9/7/2008 6:32:36 PM

amazon is having problems with their beta codes. i called them and they emailed me the codes about 2 hours later

9/7/2008 6:41:26 PM