I guess I'll do a write up about the game and mention what I like and dislike. I'll start with the dislikes first since that seems to be what almost everyone wants to really here when a game is released.


1. Lag: There's a bunch of lag in "scenarios"(Read: Battlegrounds) and RVR. There's also a bit of lag in zones starting around what is considered to be Tier 3 Lands(The game has 4 tiers of leveling) and I'm sure continuing into Tier 4 End Game. This needs to be addressed asap. There's just no rhyme or reason for it in regular leveling or in a controlled enviroment like battlegrounds. Add that to RVR, where you're going to have hundreds of people fighting each other in open world pvp or more seriously, City Sieges which are meant to contain end game loot, and you've got a problem. Hopefully these lag issues can be dealt with soon, but its been noted by everyone who plays. Lag is a problem.

2. Class Balance: By the generic standard of class balance, which is based off of 1v1 combat, there is none. The game wasn't meant to be balanced on a 1v1 scale but a group scale where people are forced to work together in PVP just as much as they are in a regular PVE enviroment. I'm not a big fan of that in its entirety because I can feel you can still force people to work together and have a class that stands balanced against another class in 1v1 combat, but Mythic doesn't seem to agree with that outlook. Basically, there are going to be times when another class just destroys you if they manage to get their hands on you. Ask any Bright Wizard or Sorceress how they feel about Witch Elves or Witch Hunters. Not going to get a nice reply. This is something that isn't going to change, so anyone adament against a lack of 1v1 balance is going to be disappointed.

3. Public Quests: Public Quests are one of the most innovative things they've done for the MMO community, and yet, they are so underused it's sad. The game is really in an anti-social state for the most part, at least on Averheim, so I don't know if this will change in the future, but right now people are completely ignoring the Public Quest Boss Loot for the Influence Loot from the Quest and the XP/Gear from PVP. Mythic might want to think about upping the loot quality in PQ's to really get them moving.

and last, but not least

4. Population Imbalance: This is the biggest issue with the game currently. Just like it was with WoW when it was released. One side is being played way more than the other. For WoW, the Alliance was so overpopulated it was ridiculous. For WAR, its Destruction. This is going to be devastating to WAR though unless more people really decide they'd like to try Order. Why? Because the game is solely based off PVP. End Game is based entirely off open world conquest, leading up to a massive battle in capital cities where you gain epic loot from defeating the faction lord. Right now on Averheim every single Keep is owned by Destruction 99 percent of the time, and it's like that on most servers I'm sure. Because they all list Medium Pop for Order and High Pop for Destruction. More people means more guilds doing Keep Raids. Altdorf is going to be captured again and again and again, until it's balanced, and by then, Destruction will be super geared, and Order will be wuss. Mythic is trying to find ways to encourage people to play an underpopulated side, but really at the end of the day its what people really want to play that will come ahead.

As far as things I like and that have kept me playing:


1. "Scenarios": Their Scenarios are fun with a lot of inventions that I wish were in WoW to begin with. One, you can start a battleground from the moment you create your character, and gain great XP to level from simply having fun killing people and doing objectives. Secondly, They have level system for PVP that allows you to collect gear and add certain talents in addition to those already gained from regular leveling. This adds a certain flavor and will add strategy later on in the game when massive wars are occurring. Thirdly, they limited the game to 15 minutes each. This is such a simple addition but it really makes a difference. I can't even begin to explain how annoying it was in WoW when I would be in a game and it was taking forever to finish due to "turtling" or really just an even playing field. This forces the game to be done and over and people to be rewarded for their success or loss and allows for them to simply move on to the next game and not waste anymore time.

2. Gear Acquisiton: Gear is pretty simplistic here. Most of the good stuff comes from Influence rewards(Read: Reputation) which are different from town to town and are very simple to max(though still a grind, albiet small). Other ways are through the previously mentioned PVP levels, and of course the city sieges. This really allows for people to branch out and try other characters rather than having one or two that they continually have to strive to improve throughout the entire span of the game. I don't find myself hunting down a list to find where the next good gear comes from and finding groups to continually run instances, because PVE is a sideshow in this game, not the main show.

3. Gold Acquisition: Gold in this game is so easy to come by, its a joke that there's even serious gold sellers in the game all ready. I have 50 gold which I don't spend and already have my mount and my last name purchased(The most expensive things I've seen). Both of which were incredibly cheap, 15 gold and 4 gold respectively. I have a friend the same level as myself who has well over 100 gold because he uses the AH religiously, and he has no idea what to spend it on. I like not having to hunt down thousands and thousands of gold just to buy a Mount or some Trinket that will give me a tiny boost.

There's probably some other things I could go into but the short end of it is that the game is fairly simplistic even by MMO standards. Its really just simple fun. It's not really the NEXT BIG THING, or really even better than WoW, just different. If they can fix the lag issues I'll probably continue playing it until something else comes along that catches my eye. Most likely whatever Bioware is putting together.