Still Here
I haven't posted here in a while, but rest assured I'm still around. Next to nothing has been coming out of the Warhammer universe lately, save for the latest newsletter. It's worth checking out for more Warrior Priest screenies. As far as we know, they're still polishing up the Empire/Chaos facets and getting ready to shift gears and focus on High/Dark elves.
In the meantime, I've been playing around on the Lord of the Rings Online open beta. Since WAR isn't due to be out before the end of this year, I went ahead and preordered LotRO. Preordering means I'll get to keep my open beta toons in live (getting a 15 level jump on the newbz) and have a reduced subscription rate (at 9.99/month vs. 14.99/month). I approached this game negatively, but having given it a try I'm finding it enjoyable. Most modern fantasy is rooted in Tolkien's works, and from what I've seen the game presents Middle Earth admirably. Hobbiton is particularly charming, complete with Bag End and the Green Dragon.
I started out playing a Champion (think WoW fury Warrior), but found it difficult to solo with. For all his melee strengths, the combo points-like system was sluggish when used in conjunction with an already sluggish UI. I finally bit the bullet and rolled a Captain, finding it much more to my liking. You start out with a 2H sword, and get a nice variety of combat moves as well as buffs and a heal you can use after you kill something. Your abilities expand in these categories (combat options, group buffs, target debuffs) as you level up, and you even get a pet at level 10. He follows you around, emanating a buff aura that can affect your whole party (or "fellowship" as it's called in LotRO). He also helps you kill things. I named mine Foror - an inside joke for anyone familiar with WoW's infamous former-EQ-playing developers with an anti-hybrid vendetta.
I'm still active over at paladinsucks.com, in spite of having canceled my WoW subscription. A new patch is about to hit the public test realm, and things are abuzz in that regard. Anyhow, happy hunting to all of you as you await the release of WAR. If anyone is checking out LotRO with me and would like to link up, let me know. Just shoot a mail to Vaelion on the Meneldor server (the "unofficial" PvP realm - where players are looking forward to trying out monster play).
For Gondor!... until Altdorf opens up!
In the meantime, I've been playing around on the Lord of the Rings Online open beta. Since WAR isn't due to be out before the end of this year, I went ahead and preordered LotRO. Preordering means I'll get to keep my open beta toons in live (getting a 15 level jump on the newbz) and have a reduced subscription rate (at 9.99/month vs. 14.99/month). I approached this game negatively, but having given it a try I'm finding it enjoyable. Most modern fantasy is rooted in Tolkien's works, and from what I've seen the game presents Middle Earth admirably. Hobbiton is particularly charming, complete with Bag End and the Green Dragon.
I started out playing a Champion (think WoW fury Warrior), but found it difficult to solo with. For all his melee strengths, the combo points-like system was sluggish when used in conjunction with an already sluggish UI. I finally bit the bullet and rolled a Captain, finding it much more to my liking. You start out with a 2H sword, and get a nice variety of combat moves as well as buffs and a heal you can use after you kill something. Your abilities expand in these categories (combat options, group buffs, target debuffs) as you level up, and you even get a pet at level 10. He follows you around, emanating a buff aura that can affect your whole party (or "fellowship" as it's called in LotRO). He also helps you kill things. I named mine Foror - an inside joke for anyone familiar with WoW's infamous former-EQ-playing developers with an anti-hybrid vendetta.
I'm still active over at paladinsucks.com, in spite of having canceled my WoW subscription. A new patch is about to hit the public test realm, and things are abuzz in that regard. Anyhow, happy hunting to all of you as you await the release of WAR. If anyone is checking out LotRO with me and would like to link up, let me know. Just shoot a mail to Vaelion on the Meneldor server (the "unofficial" PvP realm - where players are looking forward to trying out monster play).
For Gondor!... until Altdorf opens up!
posted by Vaelin at 9:18 PM
8 Comments:
I've tried out LotRO, and I felt it was too much like DDO (better, but still pretty similar).
Kind of like a mix between WoW and DDO.
The graphics are nice, but due to my negative experience in DDO, I find myself predisposed to disliking the game (and all Turbine games - Asheron's Call 2. . .)
Yeah.
LotRO has plenty of flaws. My biggest complaint is the sluggish UI. In WoW, you press a button and (assuming your latency isn't craptastic) said action is carried out right away. In LotRO, it sometimes feels like you're queueing up abilities ahead of time. I tried out monster play and honestly didn't care for it all that much. Everything is pretty slow-paced.
What I like about it is how it has plenty to offer the solo player - namely in the form of deeds and actual rewards for exploration. As a fan of the books (and subsequently the movies), I'm looking forward to being able to explore famous locations. Last night I found Tom Bombadil's house, for example. Turbine has done an admirable job at bringing these locations to life in decent quality.
I have a feeling that by the time Warhammer Online comes out, I'll have just had my fill of LotRO. That's mainly all I'm looking for - something to tide me over until then that doesn't require paying Blizzard Entertainment 15 bux a month so they can continue to dung-coat and tarnish the great archetype that is Paladin.
Well, once you come to terms with the fact that the WoW "Paladin" doesn't live up to its lore in any way, and get a good group to play with, it's not so bad.
You just have to work "running like a pansy" into your regular combat tactics, along with "dealing no damage", and "mastering healing techniques".
i know this is unrelated, but wtf happened at paladinsucks?
I am very sad about Paladinsucks.com
I read everyone of your posts and I am quite appreciative of all the effort you put into your bloggs. I cannot wait until WAR comes out to hear your opinions on the subjects it brings up.
No idea what happened over at PaladinSucks. I wasn't the primary owner of the blog, just a contributor. Mastgrr and I never really communicated outside of posts and comments on the blog, and I haven't received an email from him explaining why he shut it down.
I know he had comment moderation on for the past week or so, after someone linked to it in a forum post and caused a round of trolls to hit the blog. He's the only one that can read and approve/deny the comments, so who knows what sort of crap he was having to sort through.
He was really invested in WoW, and made the best of the Paladin situation by playing as a Holy spec. It's the only thing Paladins really had left spec-wise, as they weren't really NEEDED as tanks over Warriors in any situation, per se, and a Protection spec leaves you pretty gimped for just about anything else.
If I were to guess, I'd say it was a combination of factors - from the already craptastic lack of spec options for Paladins in endgame, to the recent Holy nerf and now official word that Ret will probably never have a meaningful place in endgame (combined with whatever manure he was having to wade through via comments to moderate).
In the meantime, stay tuned here at HammerofSigmar as we anticipate the April WAR newsletter.
Slightly OT, but:
Has anybody heard anything about the Chosen class? I like the cut of their giblets.
I'm thinking of learning from the mistakes of WoW: playing as the less-popular faction to avoid queue times and playing as a pure class as opposed to a hybrid. The Warrior/Priet does sound pretty cool, but I still wonder about their viability.
If everybody else has distance healers, I could see there being call for Rune Priests and the Elvish healers in Empire lands.
News about the chosen class is up...They are basically a Dark Paladin it sounds like, with a DPS/Tank bent.
http://www.warhammeronline.com/english/gameInfo/armiesofWAR/Chaos/Careers/Chosen.php
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