WAR review by and for FFXI playersFollow

Hello!

Now that the NDA is lifted, I thought I could share some of my experiences with Warhammer Online, which I have played into the Closed Beta.

First and foremost, I'd like to do it in the eye of an FFXI player. Second, I just want to share my experiences with this game. I love FFXI and in no way I want to criticize this game.

I think it might interest a few of you. If really this thread should be posted elsewhere, please move it, but read the thread first. I really want to do it with FFXI in mind.

But first, my background as an MMO player. FFXI is my only real experience of MMORPG (except a one week trial of City of Villains), and I started... wow... 3 years ago. I do not do endgame (the "closest" I do is Assault), but I have a well developped character and an awesome social linkshell. And I still have fun with this game.

Character creation : well, you chose a race, then from that race, you chose a job. And that's it, you'll be that job forever, which is a major difference from our game. (But you can create lots of characters). Then you have a little more character customization choices, like face types, ear types (for goblins), eye color, etc.

Into the game : I played two races as of now. Goblin Squig herder lvl 9 and Elf Swordmaster lvl 11. The first thing you feel in the game, is the atmosphere. While you begin your life in FFXI in a peaceful kingdom, full of helpful npcs, in WAR, well there's war everywhere. And I really mean everywhere. As a goblin, everywhere I meant, there was always some "stunties" to bash around (dwarfs for you normal-speaking people), and as an elf, plenty of dark elves. Many monsters are aggressive also, and there's also plenty of them. But I found that avoiding monsters was really easier than in FFXI. There's simply so much more room. And their aggro range is very, very small.

After that, you realize what you have to do quite fast. Quest NPC are clearly identified (which is different from FFXI). You go see them, they give you a quest, and, directly on your map, you can see where to go to actually resolve that quest (be it monsters to kill, treasures to find, npc talking or area scouting). I loved that.

And quests gives you xp. As is killing monsters. As is discovering new areas. As is unlocking new lore. As is... well, you gain xp for everything. And I really mean everything. I gained an xp reward for dropping 10 items out of my inventory (and a new tome unlock and title).

As you can probably guess, xp is easier to get, so grouping for xp is... well... unnecessary. I found this quite settling. My goblin (first character) went to level 6 without speaking to anyone. BUT...

If you actually want to group... it is very easy. Whenever you enter a new area (and everytime you check on your menu), you can check for "open parties". You see one, you join it. Simple as that. But why would you group? I found that grouping was very useful for RvR (more on that later) and Public Quest. Public Quest, are, in my mind, one of the most amazing thing in this game. There are several areas on each maps where it's a Public quest area. Think of it maybe as a campaign battle area. You have clear objectives once you enter those zones. An example : Stage 1 - Kill 100 dwarves (cumulative for everyone). Stage 2 - Go get beer barrels to the big Giant (yep, I did it). Stage 3 - Kill the big boss and his underlings.
Grouping helps, because every kills or accomplishments done by your party gives you some xp and renown, so it's better than being alone. Also, when a PQ ends, you are ranked for renown (and xp reward) and randomly ranked for loot (I think accomplishment may have positive effects on this random thing, but I'm not sure). The loot you get always contain something useful for you own job.

RvR (or PvP). Of course, this is probably the biggest difference with FFXI. At first, I was afraid that everywhere I'll go, there would be dumb players ready to kill me at every chances, but it's not the case. There are two types of RvR I noticed (maybe more, only lvl 11, remember). First are scenarios. Once you discover them, you can always join them (when they happen) and you are teleported there when they begin. In those scenarios, every players have their level adjusted to be equals (but you keep every abilities you know). There, you have goals, which of course are the opposite of your ennemies.

I played some Ballista, and was not very very good at it... and I think I may sucked even more in RvR. But it was fun. Dying ain't very bad, you spawn near your starting point... and everyone dies often anyway. But I think that I may have encountered many players coming from more PvP-centered game with more experience than myself, it showed on their strategies and abilities to play. Anyway, another benefit of grouping shine in RvR, of course, since you have access to party buffs and more protection.

The game interface is well done... but I must say, the chat window (even if it can be adjusted), is still bugging me, from my FFXI player point of view. It is SO SMALL. I miss alot of things going in there. I much prefer the FFXI one. Otherwise, you can customize everything in the menu, which is nice.

Finally... sorry it's long... although there is a lot of story in WAR... it's really not story-centric like FF. NPC really feel less "involved". They speak to you in a bubble, tell a little of their story, and off you go to complete a quest. You can have more of the background story in the Tome of Knowledge, but you are not involved at all in it. Do not play this game and expect to be as involved as in FF. I have seen no CutScenes. No interactions between NPC (except those that are fighting... and they are everywhere, like I said). From an FFXI point of view, it's one of the reason I'll still play FF. Storywise, FF (even if you do not count expansions) is richer.

So that's it. If you read it through, you can see the differences between the games. I think I'll enjoy both of them (nope, I'm not quitting FFXI). If you join WAR, have fun, because it is, and have a good WAAAGH! If not, keep enjoying FFXI, it's a wonderful game.

Thank you for this review Rogatien! Please update us on more (maybe on this original thread) as you level up and experience more of Warhammer Online! I think that a review from a fellow FFXI player on new games such as these really help me decide whether I even want to embark on them.

I want to hear more about the skills and abilities and how you actually move your character around in comparison to FFXI! One of the highlights of FFXI for me is the fact that maneuvering characters around the game can sometimes be tedious and somewhat slow but I think these little details really add to Vana'diel's immersion.

To answer your questions.

Moving around was special from me, since I use a controller (even though I play on PC). Luckily, I had some experience with the WASD movement keys by having played Elder's Scroll : Oblivion. But it was quite different for me.
Using abilities is used through the 1 to + keys, and with ALT 1 to +.

As for greater movements. I did not die very often while in PvE environment, but if I understand it well, when you die, you go to the latest camp you visited, which is usually not very far. You can also set some kind of "home point". Every characters have a book item you can use to warp back to this home point (Rally point in this case). And you get this item at level 1. I did not yet experimented with the Flight Masters and mounts.

One thing I disliked a little, is that every time you level, if you want to learn a new ability, you have to go see a trainer and buy it. Not quite different than spells in FFXI, but buying abilities feel weird (remember, I'm speaking from an FFXI point of view). Luckily... getting money in this game is REALLY easy. Just loot everything you kill and sell.

As for getting xp for dropping items... There is one big thing I like in the game, and it's the Tome of Knowledge. It contains many informations about anything you discover, and you unlock "accomplishments" by doing many actions. I was quite amused to see that, after having dropped some useless, unsalable items, I opened a new accomplishment in the Tome (dropped 10 items). And, like everything, it got me some xp. Unlocking things in the Tome of Knowledge will keep many players occupied (me being one of them). It's a fun part of this game.

One detail I forgot last time. RvR zone are clearly defined. There are scenarios ones, and opened ones. Here, your level is not adjusted, so you are fair game for everyone. However, I have read that if you are too high level for your tier of play, something bad happen (like you turn into a chicken or something). I have not witnessed it, however. When you enter this zone, you have 10 seconds to go away before you are flagged for RvR, so if you don't feel like it, you just go away.

I'm sure people will get all emo on me, but having played WoW for quite some time......

This game sounds exactly like WoW. Questing is the same. One character per race/job and able to make a bunch just like WoW. WoW-like PvP battles. Grouping is beneficial for big dungeons just like WoW. No extreme sense of storyline just like WoW.

So basically this game is WoW with a different face. Not saying that is bad because well a bunch of people like WoW. I'm just saying from reading your thread it sounds exactly like WoW......in every aspect.

Just like WoW is a different face of the typical MMO.

So yeah, it's only obvious even more new MMOs will try to mimic WoW sadly.

The warcraft series is actually a copy of the warhammer series. A number of people from Mythic moved out and started/joined (dont remember exactly) Blizzard.

Also, wouldnt it be ignorant to NOT mimic WoW? WoW is the most popular and highest grossing mmorpg of all time.

Yes, WAR and WoW are very similar. But, WAR is alot darker and even more PvP based that WoW. WAR is going to appeal to the people that want non stop pvp all the time. Its like a FPS game in rpg form, if I can make that comparison.

I figure I'm going to play both. I have a deep love for ffxi, it was my first mmorpg. But since it lacks a real working pvp system (sorry to say), I'll be playing WAR to quench my urge.

Edited, Aug 20th 2008 2:08pm by Drazian

I don't think it's fair to judge an MMO in the first year of it's existence, much less the beta.

Everything feels fantastic when it's brand new. In a year or two, players might develop questionable mindsets or become more elitist. The game might even develop a reputation of attracting players or a certain age group or maturity level.

An MMO is defined by it's population, and right now the population is too young to give to give anyone an accurate impression of the game.

You can get a certain idea by the game mechanics, but eventually the player base will settle into the rut it's likely to inhabit for its entire lifespan, at which point we'll be able to make an unbiased comparison to other MMOs.

Pfft! Eveyone knows that WAR is for subjob only!
I keed I keed.

Thanks for the review. I tend to like more story orientated games so this might be a miss for me. Sounds like it's at least worth a look though.



Sorry if I missed it... but what was the second type?

Actually, Warhammer has about 20+ years of "story" to it, so I am not sure where you get the idea that the game doesn't have one? It is true that there are no cutscenes like there are in FFXI, but saying there is no story or that it isn't a story oriented game is absolutely false.

Every quest has story to it, there is a reason you are doing the things you do. IF you choose not to read those quests then you won't get the story line, but everything leading up to the sieges and killing the kings fits into the story cannon.

The thing that I hope I will be able to enjoy about WAR is getting exp from pvp. I personally cannot stand any quests. I had paladin and priest at level 70 in WoW, almost exclusively from healing in instances, or grinding in between instances. Sure, it wasn't the fastest way to level, but I absolutely hate quests.

I love ffxi because If I don't want to quest, I don't have to. I can just join a party, and grind out my levels all I want. If theres an item I want, I usually won't do the quest for it, I'd rather farm for the gil then buy the item. That is why I love FFXI so much. Questing just ruins a game for me.

I also got to level 50 in LoTRO and that game was extremely quest based, so I leveled a lot slower because quests bore me.

So hopefully WAR will have ways to level where I never need to quest, or it'll be back to FFXI exclusively for me

I have played FFXI since the NA release and I shall be playing it until the servers go down or I do, whichever comes first.
Having said that I will be starting the War introductory weekend starting tomorrow and look forward to what I know will be a great game. I used to paint the figures and sometimes when my brother would let me, I played the tabletop game with High Elf Dragon Riders and such.
Not only does it have a very rich storyline but it has 28 years of tried and trusted lore. There are many races and classes that have yet to make it to the game, many more armies like the Bretonnians and Lizard Men that also have a place in what is Warhammer.
Knowing a little about what to expect I can't wait to play..WAAAGH!!

Just so I can add one quick precision.

There is a storyline in WAR that I noticed. There is one huge storyline. The Tome of Knowledge is crap full of it, and there is a lot of storyline told through the npcs while doing quest.

But it does not feel like FFXI. No CS, it’s far less involved.

But to say that WAR storyline is crap or non-existant is not paying attention.