I’m more of an FPS/Action/RTS guy and to me, the combat system is everything. Since WAR’s combat is standard MMO, there really isn’t much I like in that regard. It doesn’t even attempt to break the Trinity stuff.

The visuals (character and environment) are old to my eyes. Of course, I’m used to having the Unreal 3 Engine in my face with my FPS games, so that isn’t a surprise. Still, I don’t see why they could have made it a tad nicer to look at. They barely give you any customizable options for them either. I’m used to having a lot more video settings than the 7 I’m given.

Like I said, I’m not a big fan of the genre. I definitely had more fun starting in AoC, too. The problem for me is that I don’t really want another standard MMO… I’m waiting for a game that does things differently, which is why I don’t look at my experience with AoC as being a waste of time. Funcom’s combat system was the best part of that game… it just lacked the content and completeness it needed from the start.

I’ll be playing throughout Open Beta and even after release (because I have to write an official review) but after that, I’ll probably put it down and leave it to those who absolutely love the genre in its current state.

My wife loved the Witch Hunter, but overall felt like she was playing in a Disco with all the brightly lit circles and the dull graphics made her feel that she could not make a good looking woman (and she didn’t, it looked “rough” as she put it.)

The fact I reupped my AoC account after playing WAR Sunday (and having fun) really says something…

Duplicate the EQ/WoW formula all you wish, but as LOTRO has proven…if it has already been done, then you fall into the “niche” territory.

WAR does not “suck”, but it really does nothing to motivate either.

Warhammer is cool and has the potential to be a really good game. Good enough to warrant spending another $50 if you’re already playing an MMO, probably not. Good enough to give up all the time you’ve devoted to another MMO, definitely not. I enjoyed the game greatly and in about a year or so I might give it another try. Right now, it’s just not worth the effort.

@Rog: I loved the cities, one of the highlights for me. I think they did a great job on them.

I enjoyed the Public Quests more, but I think that’s because I didn’t hit any “not attackable” mobs the first few times.

Overall, I suspect most of the bugs I’ve encountered are related to lag issues and that’s an annoyance as a player from the west coast of Canada, because I suspect I’ll get a lot more screwed over the lag problems than say, closer to Mythic’s centralized server farm.

I really like much of the interface so far, Tome of Knowledge included, but I totally agree, it’s not revolutionary or anything.

I took a trip to Inevitable City and was really unimpressed. Mythic’s insistence to call these “living cities” doesn’t seem to have any merit.

I played an Ironbreaker most of the weekend so far and found even though yes I don’t do lots of damage, I have some CC skills to keep players near me so I can pound on them, I can buff another person while I buff myself, or take damage for others (I think high level LOTRO guardians and WoW pallies have a similar take damage for others skill). But in WAR you get it at level 10. Taunt also works on squigs! now i just need an aoe taunt since often a healer will have 3-4 squigs on him (or lions).

Anyway, as a tank I felt not completely useless in pvp which is the bane of other games.

However I did not like the zealot, I only got to level 8. But unlike the melee healer and the shaman/archmage, both of which must do damage in order to heal, it seems the zealot (and runepriest I suppose) are too much like healers in other games. You stand back and heal and buff. I liked the other 2 healers types but not that one.

Many things in WAR are more fun with friends, that’s nothing new either, though one of the things I think they did well is that open groups can also fit that bill. There’s the usual proportion of selfish asshats around but that’s just bleedover from RL, and on the bright side I’ve met more fun people to group with than I ever did doing standard PUGs elsewhere.

Hop into Vent if you have it and Moo with us over voice chat? If nothing else it might help answer those really irritating questions one can get as a new player when you KNOW something should be obvious but you still can’t figure out how to do it. That’s not unique to WAR, but it’s exquisitely re-irritating with every new game that comes out. ;)