Luckily it’s been a slow day or two (at least, as far as MMO news for those games about which I care), so the interference thrown at me by the Real World has been less than bothersome. Aside from the normal bother, that is.
There’s this. And, of course, this. As a current player, I always like the LotRO Welcome Back Weeks/Weekends. I make it a point to get in on an alt or two to make the most of the bonus experience, and the savings at the Stablemasters. Hauling back and forth between the Lone Lands and North-Downs can get expensive, and I’ve never liked grinding through one of those in one swoop; by the time you get through one, the other has lost a lot of its value. And as both are somewhat blah visually, I like to get the most out of them while I spend my time there. Thing is, Turbine seems to be throwing quite a few of these “Welcome Back” events recently, and that makes me a little nervous.
Catching up on some reading, I came across this post by SynCaine. I agree with it wholeheartedly, both as a fan of the Warhammer universe (though I’ve always been partial to the Warhammer 40k setting), and a former player of WAR. I’ve always felt it was a shame that I payed for WAR, because if I’d started now, I’d have saved myself the money. I never took a single character past what is now included in the Endless Trial.
There were several reasons I never stuck with the game, but a lot of them come back to the same disappointments SynCaine expresses. The feeling I get playing WAR just doesn’t match up to the lore of the world I’ve grown up reading and playing; it’s too much like WoW, and not enough like it’s source material. Also, when I was playing, the Tier 1 areas were mostly empty. I imagine this issue has been somewhat alleviated by the Endless Trial, but the damage was done (for me, at least).
There are some great things about WAR, no doubt. Public quests. Item customization and cosmetic items. The IP itself is world-renowned. The implementation, however, is lacking. There’s too much between me and the fun.
pix'led life 