Kill Ten Rats

My name is Cyndre, and I have a Warhammer Online addiction.

Now that that is out of the way, I will jump right in.  I will not be writing a review of the game or its mechanics, as this has been done ad nauseum in the MMO blogosphere, and a simple Google search would deliver numerous examples.  I just want to target some brief points that have me hooked.

Continue reading Warhammer Briefs

Twelve hours later, I have had more time to ponder my first night of WAR. Since I am neurologically hard-wired to be cheerful, the technical irritations have faded while the more enjoyable parts have been reinforced. My brain chemistry rules! Let’s add some happier things.

I should note again that those were “first impressions,” not “a review.” The first levels are your wolf-slaying levels, where an early quest is “find a mailbox” (not literally, in this case). The first six levels of any MMO are probably pretty similar.

But they are not entirely similar. WAR takes a different approach, getting players involved in the war and with each other very early. Continue reading Further, More Positive First Thoughts

A fair implementation of DikuMUD with graphics, stable with relatively few bugs for a MMO in beta. That may be damning with faint praise, but as the man said, “I’ve already played Warhammer.”

I don’t know how much any of us are going to be able to say meaningfully from the open beta. You cap at level 20, and if you reviewed Age of Conan up to level 20, it was the game of the year. While level 20 is half-way to the cap here, half your leveling time is usually the last 10 levels, and holy crap they needed to add a cap of “half the levels” for a 10-day open beta? Is there some way to get open beta access without paying or having had closed beta access? It seems like a strange name. Anyway, these are thoughts from level 6 (class and RvR).

Continue reading WAR First Impressions

Update: problem just about circumvented, thanks Cyndre. I’m still getting “There was an error processing your request,” but at least it is not rejecting the code as invalid. [and, accepted, patching] If you make getting tech support difficult enough, players will find someone else to deal with the problem: a successful business model.

I seem to have a bad open beta access code. The other code on the card, for the head start and in-game items, works, but that does me no good right now. The Warhammer site apparently has no useful contact information, forums, etc., unless it is carefully hidden so that people with problems just find a forum to pester. There is a contact link: it asks you what in-game problems you are having with Dark Age of Camelot.

I know they’re busy and all, but “I paid for a code that doesn’t work, what can I do?” is not on the FAQ list. Right now, my Warhammer first impressions are that the game has an insurmountable log-in bug with no support or help button. I am open to the notion that there is some other problem in the process that I am up against, but given the lack of documentation or explanation, I am stuck.

: Zubon

There is a feedback form where you can send a question. It has a 10,000 word “Terms and Conditions” you must accept to ask a question. Once I’m done reading all that, I might be able to use the form. I guess use the “Customer Service Questions” link?

So how much staff do you have on-site for a Sunday launch?