So I picked up Warhammer Online even though I thought the game was just WoW and DAoC bastard child. But I got to admit I’m enjoying it. It is a relative of Dark Age of Camelot just because the same developers (Mythic) made it. It does at times remind me of Camelot a bit. The weird thing is I’m really enjoying the hell out of the RvR.
I’ve got two characters on two different servers. Like DAoC you can not have characters of the opposite sides on the same server. My Destruction character is a Chaos Chosen which reminds me of a DAoC Pally in the way it can twist his buffs. Then I have an Order Empire War Priest who also reminds me of the DAoC Friar.
As I’ve said I’m really enjoying the RvR. Which historically for me has always been something I just don’t get into. Which is odd I admit since my first mmorpg was Camelot. Warhammer borrows lots of things from both WoW and DAoC. Most of the RvR I’ve been doing is on a WoW type Battlegrounds. It plays a bit like CTF of King of the Hill in shooters. The servers I’m on are called Core and they only allow RvR in designated areas and of course if you voluntarily flag yourself for RvR.
Participating in RvR rewards you both standard experience and you also get renown. Renown is like DAoC realm ranks and works just about the same. Each renown rank gives you a point with which you can use to buy renown abilities. And when you finish a match it of course shows the statistics so one can brag about how good they did or cry about how much they suck.
On the PvE side of things Warhammer has Public Quests. These quests are tied to a specific area in a zone and it has a set of objectives anyone in that area can help complete. When a Public Quest is finished players roll for the chest of loot that is dropped by the boss. In addition everyone who helped with the objectives earns influence towards the specific chapter of the overall story that the Public Quest ties into.
In addition to the loot dropped by killing the boss of the quest there are three ranks of rewards a player can receive for getting influence in each chapter of the games story. There are three tiers to the rewards. First you can choose from four different potions, then there is two pieces of magic armor/weapons, and finally there are two even better weapons or armor to chose from.
The other mechanic of the Public Quest (and the game in general) is one can run into the area and help fulfill the objectives of the quest and not worry about being in a group. Or if you want a group the game let’s players have their group be open so anyone can join and help out. Admitedly I’ve not played around with groups yet as I am a solo player most of the time. In fact the game will let you know when you go into an area that has open groups.
All in all Warhammer Online feels more like a finished game than say Age of Conan. Which is important for a mmo even more than a single player game. And as I’ve said it is fun. To me the fun factor is the biggest factor in any game I play. So if your looking for a new mmo give Warhammer a try.