As some of you may recall, I called it quits on Warhammer Online back in November. I blogged about everything that was wrong with the game at the time, so I thought it only right to do so again after revisiting the game this last month. Surprisingly, many of the issues I wrote about in November have been resolved, or at least improved.
Client performance has been upped significantly, and the forthcoming 1.2 patch improves it further. Client crashes have almost dropped to zero for me. The client is far from perfect still, obviously. In the most extreme of ORVR conflicts I can still drop down to 6 or 8 frames per second, but this can be avoided (for the most part) by turning down spell animation and shadow quality beforehand. I do wish Mythic would hire some world-class engine developers to go over the engine and give it the tune up it really needs. I still believe the biggest issue holding this game back is it’s high real-world system requirements (the ones marketed about on the box don’t even come close to what you need.)
ORvR conflict is far more entertaining than it was before, and the boosts Mythic has given to renown gain and improved gear drops has gone a long way towards fixing my major complaints in that arena. I would still like to see more incentive for guilds to hold their keeps, and more importantly a greater incentive for factions to defend their objectives and fortresses. From my experiences on the battlefield, there just isn’t enough reason for a warband to defend an objective. The influence/renown ticks you gain for holding it pales in comparison to letting it fall and then recapturing it 15 minutes later. We still see far too much objective and zone flipping precisely because of this. That said, the steps Mythic has taken here are very welcome and have made ORvR very playable for me once again.
So, my biggest complaints are more or less resolved. I’m still not a fan of the PvE raiding in the end game… it still feels pointless, and lacks the “epic” feel Warcraft excels at conveying… I’m thinking the extremely linear design of the dungeons is the cause of this. I’m decking myself out with RVR ward gear rather than focusing on that negative aspect. I do like the fact that Mythic has given us an option in that regard: if you love PvE, grab those sets. Otherwise, PVP gear is ripe for the looting.
I’m loving being back in the game, and I’m looking forward to seeing how v1.2 will change things. If you’re on Iron Rock’s Order side, pop me a tell sometime; I’m under my usual handle of Okaria.
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