Evolution in Action: Warhammer Online Open Beta (MMOG PC) Review

Posted on Monday, September 15, 2008 by Gary A. Ballard

I have not been eagerly anticipating the impending release of the PC MMORPG Warhammer Online. As a matter of fact, I've been critical of Mythic Entertainment for the conduct of their beta. Not only did they not bother to invite me to the beta, giving me the free preview of the game I demand before I will spend money on an MMOG these days, but they held the non-disclosure agreement over the heads of the testers for entirely too long. Keeping an NDA in effect until just a few weeks before release always makes me seriously doubt the quality of the final product, reminding me of the bad old days prior to the release of Anarchy Online, World War II Online and other such notable flops. But once I finally gained access to the Fileplanet Open Beta this past weekend, my fears were allayed. Warhammer Online is not a colossal failure, a bug-ridden cluster fuck or an empty clone of other games. Unfortunately, while it certainly iterates successfully on the formula of previous successes in the genre, the new features of the game don't raise it beyond the level of other competitors. 

Before I begin my obvious comparison, let me be clear. I am well-versed in the Warhammer universe, having played the tabletop miniature version Warhammer Fantasy Battles for many years. I am quite well aware that the Warcraft universe was an almost direct homage to the Warhammer universe, and that all things Warcraft owe more to the Warhammer universe than Warhammer Online owes to World of Warcraft. And yes, I'm also aware that the Warhammer universe is a darker re-imagining of the Tolkien universe through the drug-addled lens of British metalheads. So do believe that I have ample background to claim that Warhammer Online is at its heart a fun mashup of World of Warcraft and Dark Age of Camelot, taking parts of both games and successfully creating a PVP-focused, casual-friendly MMORPG. 

If you've played any of the ever-growing number of fantasy DIKU-based MMORPG's that have infested the medium since the success of Everquest, you know the mechanics Warhammer Online. Create a character of various classes, move him with the WASD key configuration, attack monsters or other players and hit hotkeys 0-9 to launch special abilities until you gain enough experience to raise your level and purchase new gear and special abilities. Along the way, your character will perform quests for various NPC's that wait around in warcamps. Some of those quests will bring the player in conflict with other players from the opposing faction. The gameplay is really nothing new. In execution, it lies somewhere between World of Warcraft's frantic style and Dark Age of Camelot's slower version of the same thing. In short, if you aren't sick to death of this style of game, you'll enjoy WAR as well as you would other games. 

WAR improves on its predecessors in a few areas, namely the public quests, tome of knowledge, open parties and integration of PVP objectives into each character's narrative. The public quests are entertaining and easy to find. As a matter of fact, the player will usually trip over a public quest without even knowing it exists. As long as that player is in the area, he can contribute to the quest by killing certain mobs or completing objectives, all of which are tracked on the player's HUD so long as he remains in the PQ area. One need not be in an existing party to contribute, and all who aid in the quest have a chance at getting one of six rewards which are comparable to the best gear for that player's level. Combining the best parts of raiding without the catassery normally required, public quests are a fun way to gear up and gain experience. 

The tome of knowledge takes the place of the quest journal from other MMOG's, and improves upon it greatly. Not only is every monster cataloged in the bestiary, but maps, quests and just about any other useful information in the character's career is tracked and cataloged. The tome is rife with achievements that grant custom titles to the player, and is a OCD collector's wet dream. The tome is a feature that every MMORPG developer needs to copy and improve on, because it is a slick way to build a character's individual place in the world. 

Open parties is another improvement on the normal MMOG grouping mechanic. A group can declare itself open, meaning that anyone can join the party just by being in the area. In a game where many objectives will require groups, removing the need for the traditional "looking for group" tools is genius. A party can turn off the feature if it desires to avoid the pitfalls of pick-up groups, but for the solo player, the ability to find a group that easily is a godsend. In addition, if the normal group is filled but finds it needs more slots for friends or to increase its strength, it can declare itself a "warband," opening up more group slots. Guild leaders should trumpet this feature from hill to dale, because it should significantly improve the problem guilds have had in the past with certain members feeling they are being ignored for groups. 

Finally, the integration of PVP into the natural narrative of the character's career is almost seamless. While PVP isn't required ever, it feels so natural both for the setting and the mechanics that I can't imagine why anyone would avoid it. The PVP is very similar mechanically to both World of Warcraft and Dark Age of Camelot. Both open world obejctives and instanced battleground scenarios are available, and all PVP progress is tracked zone wide, leading to bonuses for the side winning the most battles in the zone. Level disparities in PVP are diminished in comparison to other games, as all players are boosted to three levels below that area's maximum level. While this does help lower-leveled players compete in PVP, there are drawbacks. While levels are added, the player does not get that level's commiserate special abilities, making them underpowered against the highest level characters in the area. Lower level characters aren't quite speedbumps in the RVR areas, but they aren't exactly what I would call competitive. It does encourage players to achieve at least the minimum level before engaging in significant PVP. 

All is not rosy with WAR, despite the positives I have mentioned. There are certainly bugs, as one would expect of an MMOG these days. Network lag was also a bit of a problem at various times during the weekend, which is again to be expected during an "open beta." As the game matures, new players will find their progress stunted because the majority of the population will outlevel the starting areas. I shudder to think of the grinding difficulties a player starting the game six months from now will find when trying to finish public quests all by their lonesome. Population imbalances among different factions may also become a significant problems, and I'm not sure anyone has found a solution this problem that plagues all PVP-enabled games. 

The game is fun, of that there is no doubt. Still, during the entire time I played, I couldn't help wanting more out of the game. At its most basic level, the core gameplay isn't that different from World of Warcraft or other games of its type. And as someone who is entirely too experienced with that sort of gameplay, I am inevitably bored by it. While the world is well-realized, and is worth exploring, I don't think it has enough new features to be worth my money. For those who aren't hopelessly burnt out on DIKU, I can recommend it as an entertaining alternative to World of Warcraft. I can't say that it is better or worse, just different. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the game a 7.5. It's not spectacular or innovative, but it's entertaining for those who like that sort of thing. 

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The 30-Minute MMOG: Lord of the Rings Online Beta

Posted on Thursday, February 15, 2007 by Gary A. Ballard

This week brought news of another soon-to-be-released MMOG lifting the curtain of secrecy surrounding its beta. Lord of the Rings Online dropped the NDA prohibiting public discussion of the beta. As a beta participant, I'm now ready to give my impressions of the game. These thoughts are based on my play in the Stress Event as well as a bit of time in Beta Stage 2. As with any new MMOG I evaluate these days, LotRO got the same 30-minutes that Vanguard got, and the same 30-minutes any other new MMOG I write about will get. For those who haven't read my 30-Minute MMOG Rules, I'd suggest you do so now to understand what I mean. 30-minutes is all MMOG's get from, and is more than most deserve. Lord of the Rings Online actually managed to squeeze almost two whole hours out of me before I came to this conclusion.

I've been here before.

I don't mean that I've traveled to the virtual places pictured in Tolkien's books that are represented with loving care in this MMOG. I've read the Middle Earth saga, including some of the history texts on the world like the Silmarillion, and am quite familiar with the lore this game is based on. No, the familiarity with which I view LotRO is a similarity that is sure to raise my ire and lower any score I might give the game.

You see, I've played this game before. I've played it. It is at heart the same gameplay I've experienced countless times before in every other Diku-based MMOG since my first experience with Everquest in 1998. I've played with this graphic engine in Dungeons & Dragons Online, I've played with this interface in World of Warcraft and I've used this combat engine over and over again. In two hours of play, I can honestly say I saw absolutely nothing new other than the setting. I leveled a human burglar to level 4, I bought skills and armor, I did a number of quests, I wandered a bit and then I logged off in boredom.

What is this game supposed to bring to the MMOG medium? Instancing? We've done that, in WoW, DAoC, DDO and others. Is it a sea change to combat mechanics? No, it feels just like DAoC combat, slow and plodding and even worse, it feels like DDO combat with all of the "twitchy" components removed. I say that having been brutally disappointed by DDO's combat. Both DDO and LotRO combat suffer from something I'll call the slog effect. The underlying numbers and mechanics to this combat doesn't bother me, but something about the pace, something visceral that i feel down in the sub-cockles of my bloodthirsty heart, is off. I can't pin an actual name on it, but the combat feels like a guitar with a delay filter on it, as if the actions I'm taking with my keypresses are only implemented seconds after I make them, instead of concurrent with my keypresses. Perhaps others do not experience this, but for me, it makes me feel as if I'm only watching combat instead of actively participating in it. Again, this is a problem I had with DDO's combat, and since both games seemed to based on the same underlying technology I'm going to have to lay the blame for this one at Turbine's feet.

So if the mechanics, leveling, and quests are the same, what about LotRO that I experience in the first 30 minutes is supposed to make me want to test or even pay for the game when it's released? All of the "innovations" to the medium like Achievements and Monster Play are so much farther down the leveling track that any hopes of me getting a gander at them after 5, even 10 hours is remote. Why would I pay for this game?

Don't get me wrong, LotRO is not a BAD game. I'm sure were it my first MMOG and I could get over the slog effect, I might enjoy it quite a bit. But it isn't my first MMOG, and I'm guessing it won't be for a lot of other people as well, especially the potential hordes of WoW castoffs. It's only distinguishing feature then is the Tolkien license, and I'm not quite sure that's enough of a draw to hang this game on, at least as it has been built.

The sad part of LotRO is that with such a rich heritage as Tolkien's works provide, the results of years of MMOG development is something so bland and uninspiring. Every single one of my 30-Minute MMOG Rules gets broken by this game. Every single one. As such, I won't be buying this game on release, and unless it would be your first MMOG or you've such a hard on for Tolkien that you must play as a hobbit in an MMOG, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. If I had to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it 6 meh's and go play something fun.

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