Roleplay in Age of Conan vs. WAR: A comparison

As a roleplayer, a certain portion of my gametime goes to..well..you guessed it.  Roleplay.  There are a lot of misconceptions out there about what roleplay is.  The most common I think is that roleplayers walk around talking in bad old English and enacting bad melodrama.  Alright, so there -are- some folks who engage in the bad melodrama, but the whole old English thing is right out.  In short, roleplay means acting “in character” in whatever game you are happen to be playing in.  You react and speak as you imagine your character would in any given situation.  Think of it as acting in a play–sort of an ongoing improvisation as you go along.

There are some folks whose whole purpose in playing MMORPG’s is solely roleplaying.  That is their priority and their gaming tends to be an aside to the enjoyment they get out of enacting a character.  I’m the type of roleplayer, however, who uses roleplay to enhance my gaming.  I enjoy the game aspect–the mechanics, quests, combat, dungeons, etc—first and foremost, but I use roleplay to make it more fun.  Sure, there are some nights that I just want to do nothing but roleplay, but they are fairly infrequent.  However, as a roleplayer, I pay attention to the things that make roleplay enjoyable for me in any game I’m playing.

In my recent switch to Age of Conan from Warhammer Online, I’ve noticed a few major differences.  First and foremost, the physical game environment in AoC is more conducive to roleplay.  There are a host of workable emotes, such as sit, walk, crossed arms, combing hair–litereally DOZENS of emotes to use to make your character come alive.  WAR didn’t even allow me to sit or walk.  I had to type any emotes, rather than watch my character actually perform them.  AoC also provides some very nice roleplay environments for its players.  There are plenty of taverns, where players can congregate.  There are also many open communal areas that lend themselves to a roleplay atmosphere.  WAR did not provide these things.  The Inevitable City, which was obviously the hub for Destro activity did not have many places to meet and socialize.  Of course, players did the best they could, but standing in an empty room in a dark, gloomy city doesn’t compare with sitting in an opulent tavern in Khemi with courtesans walking buy, cushions that you can sit on, music playing in the background that is so appealing you can stand up and dance if you wish.

One major difference that I have seen since my return to AoC is the prevalence of roleplay as it compares to what I just left in WAR.  In AoC, if you want to find roleplay on the Wiccana server (which is an “unofficial” roleplay server, PVE), you generally can.  I often see people walking through the streets in Khemi or Conarch Village.  The Serpent’s Head tavern remains a hub for roleplay, and you will generally find a few roleplayers in there no matter what night you go in.  There are quite a few dedicated roleplay guilds, including the one that I have joined.  I do not think the roleplay community has decreased at all since my departure from the game over 6 months ago, and in fact, I think it’s gotten stronger. 

This is quite a change from WAR, where random roleplay is almost never to be found, even on a dedicated RP server.  When the game first launched, you would occasionally see roleplay happening in player hubs such as the Inevitable City or warcamps.  However, as the server merges happened, transfers inundated Phoenix Throne with non-roleplayers, roleplay became something that you only found if you belonged to a guild.  Although many of us rp’d publicly, it wasn’t enough to make it noticeable and keep the flavor of an rp server.

From a lore perspective, I’m finding AoC to be “easier” and more enjoyable.  WAR’s strength and weakness is its in depth  and fully developed lore.  While it gives a wealth of information for players to pull from, it also limits their choices with regards to the class they choose to play, the race they choose to play, etc.  I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard people correcting other players and saying “That’s not in keeping with the lore!”  I could pay for the rest of my gaming for the year.  Cal and I led a Druchii (dark elf) themed guild, and it turns out that was one of the most restrictive races we could have chosen with regards to lore.  Although we always espoused a rule of “reasonableness” when it came to lore, we had our fair share of  lore nazis in our guild.  I found it tiresome, and it really detracted from my enjoyment of roleplay in that game.  I don’t necessarily fault the people who want to stay true to the lore; I think that it is very important to respect the lore.  However, when the lore by nature is restrictive, it limits creativity to some extent, and no one enjoys being corrected all the time.

In Age of Conan, which is based on the works of Robert E. Howard, there is a framework that is provided for the players to use, but the vast majority of the lore is very vague.  For example, we know that Cimmerians, by nature, tend to be humorless and serious because the land they come from is so harsh and unforgiving.  We know that they are suspicious of magic, so it makes sense that there are no caster classes for Cimmerians.  But that’s about it.  There is a whole array of classes for me to choose as a player if I want to play a Cimmerian that allows for me to flesh out my character in a variety of ways.   The lore is “loose” enough that it’s easy to respect it and yet find a way to truly express what I want from my character.

I am not backed into a corner by the class I wish to play, as opposed to WAR, where the idea of a married or non-celibate Witch Elf or Sorceress is absolutely against the lore.  I played my Witch Elf character in WAR as married, and again, if I had a dollar for every time I heard “You can’t do that” I could pay for a big chunk of my gametime.  Another thing that I noticed in WAR is the prevalence of those who took it upon themselves to instruct those who weren’t experts in the lore.  I can certainly understand why someone who loves the WAR universe would want to play that game.  But the majority of the players know little or nothing about it, and are there to have fun.  I don’t mind a little “help” in learning some things, but constant correction wears on the nerves of even the most patient gamer.

One thing that has surprised me pleasantly since my return to AoC is the lack of “selfish” roleplay I’ve encountered. I see lots of cooperative roleplay going on among players and guilds.  There isn’t as much sense of “ME ME ME” from the roleplayers I’ve encountered.  In WAR, my experience of the roleplay community was that there were quite a few folks like me, who wanted to develop a story and learn and grow WITH other players who got completely run over by a vocal few who seemed to think that every action or story must revolve around their character or their story.  As a result, if you didn’t stamp and scream and force your way into the spotlight, it was very difficult to feel as if you were contributing much.  There was a sense of strong personalities overwhelming the majority of other players.  It was very tiring, and I found it frustrating. 

That’s not been the case in AoC.  I’m seeing a better dynamic among players.  There is more of a sense of low-key, friendly fun.  Not every story is a melodrama.  Not every character has to be the center of attention.  It’s possible to have a conversation with another character and feel as if you both walk away having learned something of the other.  There aren’t a lot of “stars” but more of an “ensemble” feel to the roleplay, where the group working together produces something enjoyable, as opposed to watching one character lecture and posture.

I have a theory about why this is:  I think it’s because AoC has been around almost a year now.  The volatile drama queens tend to have shorter, intense careers before leaving–usually in a mushroom cloud.  I think AoC’s been out long enough that the drama queens have moved on to other games, leaving behind a corps of roleplayers who just want to do what most of us want to: have fun and tell a story.  WAR is still going through growing pains.  However, WAR’s lack of game-related, roleplay, social features is against it.  Will the roleplayers of any kind stick around long enough to get to that “comfortable” stage?

Time will tell.

Conquering Age of Conan

So with this second time around, I rolled a conqueror, which falls into the soldier archtype of classes for Age of Conan.  My previous characters included a demonologist, a barbarian and a bear shaman, all of which were mid- to high-thirties in level range.    I must say that I am truly enjoying the class;  it brings a nice blend of support and melee damage, coupled with durability and survivability.

There are two ways to go as a conqueror–dual weild or two-handed.  I started as dual-weild, which yields significantly higher dps (and yes, I’ll confess, the combat is “prettier”), but changed to two-handed when I took on the role of tank for our standing group.  I’m enjoying it so far, though there are challenges to it.

As the tank in our standing group of 3-4, comprised of Dyones (Priest of Mitra–”pure” healer), Daccus (barbarian–mdps) and Delphiae (Tempest of Set–healer, ranged caster).  The conqueror is more of an “off-tank” class, probably better-suited to backing up a guardian.  However, I’ve found that I’m managing ably and can hold the aggro or get it back if the dps’s burst damage rips it.  One thing that makes it a challenge for me is that there is only one “taunt” ability that is a pure taunt, and you have to spend a feat point to get it.  The other taunt abilities come from combat arts, and you must hit the target and complete the combo to get the full effect.  I’ve been stacking taunt-enhanced gear, but I can’t tell if that has made a significant difference.  This bears further investigation.

One thing that I find really neat about my abilities are my temporary group buffs (battle orders) that can provide anything from mana and stamina regneration, de-aggro for the group, or increase damage.  Only one can be active at a time, and it adds a nice layer to combat to decide on the fly which buff will best suit the fight the group is in.  These don’t stop with one set:  there are also buffs called commands which do similar things, but are more positional in nature, affecting the group members to the side or behind the conqueror.  You have to think on your feet to make the most effective use of these buffs, and I must confess it’s a challenge and keeps me on my toes.  Very entertaining to play.

The conqueror also is able to wear heavy armor, which is one step below the full plate that guardians wear.  However, I do have a couple of medium-armor pieces as well to get their taunt bonuses.  With a dedicated healer in the group (who is a very talented healer), I don’t find myself running out of health too often or taking too much damage.  My one disappointment with armor is a common one, which I hope will be fixed with the next patch, where they are paying attention to itemization, stats and armor class.  As it stands now, there aren’t significant differences between varying level gear, etc.  Also, I can’t wear cloth armor, which cuts down on my choices for “pretty” social clothes.  I keep hoping that FunCom will give us some appearance goodies.

All in all, I’m very satisfied with the class and enjoying it very much.  It’s just the right blend for me, a girl who loves her dps, but doesn’t mind taking charge of a battle.

Movin’ on.

I finally had enough of Warhammer, and have cancelled my subscription.  The reasons for doing so are many: lack of PvE content, unbalanced RvR, lack of social/rp features and a lack of viable crafting and a working economy.  Couple that with the upcoming nerf to my main character’s class, and I was left with no desire to play.

 

The hardest part of the decision wasn’t deciding to cancel the subscription, but rather what to do with the guild Caliga and I started.  We put a lot of thought into it and went over every possibility that we could think of, from turning it over to someone else to run, modifying it in some way, or shutting it down.  After many hours (yes, hours) of discussion about it, we decided to disband the guild and shut it down.

 

Guilds close for a multitude of reasons, and ours is no different.  Although outward appearances may seem that we took this drastic step with no consideration for anyone else, that’s just not true.  We spent as much time in making this decision as we did in coming up with the idea of the guild in the first place.

 

I’m sure that many folks are angry, and I don’t blame them.  I would probably be angry too, were I in their position.  However, after getting angry, I’d simply move on, find another guild or start one of my own and continue playing.  (No, scratch that.  I will NEVER lead another guild again, and if I do, I’m going to ask Cal & Daccus to clobber me over the head.) The sum total of inconvenience on anyone’s part is about the same—writing a one-sentence addendum to the roleplay backstory (if desired), finding another guild and putting in an application.  No more work than cancelling subscriptions to vent servers and websites, deleting material, reading irate mails, etc, and in some ways a lot more pleasant.

 

I’ve learned in my many years of gaming, after experiencing many heartbreaks related to guilds and other players, that it is, in fact, just a game.  It’s not life or death.  It’s a hobby.  It’s a past-time we play with virtual strangers for our amusement.  For me personally, Warhammer and the guild had become a hobby that wasn’t fun anymore.  I wouldn’t expect my guildmates to stick around in a game where they weren’t having fun; we’ve had folks leave the guild before for many reasons.  I’ve always cut people slack and said “Do what’s right for you.”  I expect the same courtesy in return, though I’m quite sure I won’t get it.

 

On my part, there’s no hard feelings.  Instead, I leave Warhammer with more good memories than bad of my guild, a lot of disappointment in the game itself, and nothing but well-wishes for those folks continuing to play.

 

Time to move on.

 

 

 

 

The Nerf Bat Swings

Well, a new patch will be going into WAR soon, and my class, the Witch Elf, is going to be one of the hardest hit.  Some of the highlights include:

* Shadow Prowler: This ability will now always be interrupted when the player is attacked.
Balance Changes:
* Kiss of Betrayal: This ability will now deal Corporeal Damage.
* Kiss of Agony: This ability will now deal Corporeal Damage.
* Kiss of Death: This ability will now deal Corporeal Damage.
* Kisses will no longer be able to activate off a thrown dagger.
* Vehement Blades: This ability has had its damage contribution from stats reduced.
* Enfeebling Strike: This ability has had its damage contribution from stats reduced.
* Treacherous Assault: This ability has had its damage contribution from stats reduced.
* Masterful Treachery: This ability’s bonus to damage has been lowered.
* Sharpened Edge: This ability has had its armor debuff removed. This has been replaced with a self buff that will deal damage back to your enemy whenever they block or parry your attacks.
* Pierce Armor: This ability has had its additional armor debuff removed. This has been replaced with a self buff that will increase your Weapon Skill.

Now, how badly this is going to affect my game play, I’m not sure.  The bottom line is that now all anyone has to do is AE nearby and I’ll be knocked out of stealth, my kisses will not do nearly as much damage, my armor piercing ability is reduced, and my biggest stealth assaults have been reduced.  I’m far from a min-maxer with gameplay;  I can’t tell you percentages or ratios of how often something procs or how much damage it does based on xyz set of cirumstances.  I’m very much a “casual” player, and therein lies the problem.

The people screaming to high heaven that Witch Elves were overpowered are still going to be finding that the hardcore, min-max gamers who play that class, who already have amazing gear and huge renown rank aren’t going to be slowed down much at all.  Those are the people who they hate in RvR–the ones who are so good at their class that they can burn down an enemy in minimal time and walk away laughing.  It’s the average players like me, with average gear and average renown rank at 40, though, who are going to take the hit.

I’m not going to complain over-much, because I know that with some creative thinking and some adjustments, I can learn to deal with the changes and hopefully not have it affect my enjoyment of my class.  However, I’m at a bit of a lowpoint in as far as RvR goes because my experiences there have been nothing but dealing with an Order zerg in ORvR and frighteningly organized Order premades in scenarios.  I spend many fights completely disabled for 7 seconds, by which time, the fight is over.  In the meantime, Caliga and I can both attack a 40 Bright Wizard, who only has a 32 Archmage healing him, hit the BW with our silence (Cal’s is 5 seconds, mine is 3, and no, they don’t stack), and not be able to touch the guy.  We don’t suck, nor do we need to L2P.  Something is wrong when that sort of thing is happening.  I don’t know what the answer is, but I don’t think it makes sense that a cloth-wearing magic-flinger shouldn’t be able to take out a group of melee dps when all the melee dps are hitting him.

I find myself not feeling overly excited about logging into WAR these days.  I do hope some changes will come soon to bring back some of the fun, but I’m not counting on it.

Lions and wizards and knockbacks, oh my

Is it just me, or are some of the abilities on the Order side of WAR a bit…ridiculous.  Let’s take the White Lion ability “Fetch,” for example.  The WL can send his pet lion in to fetch you back to him, basically punting you back into the middle of a giant pile of Order.  The spell has a 150 foot range, which is freaking huge, and is basically a death sentence.  If you get fetched, you’re a goner.  An “I Win” button.

Another example are the knockbacks that Order has.  Every.  Single.  Class.  I’ve been knocked back by bright wizards, shadow warriors, warrior priests, iron breakers, white lions, arch mages….you name it.  I’ve been punted into the lava so many times at Tor Anroc in T3 that I stopped even queueing up for that scenario.  Why does every class need a knockback?  I can see it for tanks.  I can even see it for healers, though the Disciple of Khaine doesn’t get one until level 40, which hardly seems fair.  But a freaking wizard?  Isn’t the wizard supposed to melt my face off?  C’mon, I’m a witch elf!  I’m wearing paper armor, too, and you don’t see me getting a knockback to get the bad guys off me.

Now, granted, sometimes the lucky order player I”m stabbing knocks me back into my own group, which is fantastic.  They save my life for me.  But more often than not, players are skilled enough to position to knock me back into their own teeming horde, and I’m toast. 

Knockback is one of those abilities that just make me bang my head on the desk.  Either because it leads to my death, or because the Destro tank that I decide to assist by coming to stabbity stabbity his target to death decides to hit his knockback button, effectively sending the target out of my range to kill–and possibly saving the bad guy’s life.  Memo to tank:  when the melee dps shows up to help you, PLEASE don’t knock the target away from the melee dps.  Thanks.

These are just a few of my little pet peeves while fighting Order.

Dungeon Crawls, oh how I’ve missed you….

Last night, some guildmates and I got a full 6-man party together and headed to one of the noted T4 zones, Bastion Stair.  It is set up as a large dungeon containing several different wings, various public quests and boss fights.  Apparently, some very good gear drops there as well, though for some reason we weren’t in luck last night.  Nothing but Chaos gear for our band of merry dark elves.

The long and short of it was that I had a great time.  It was nice to be in a more “traditional” setting again, where I’ve been doing primarily ORvR, scenarios, public quests and a bit of PvE questing.  Our group was fairly well set up, with 2 black guards, a witch elf and 3 disciples of khaine.  We could have used a bit more DPS, but at least we had adequate heals and some heavy plate to take the damage.  My witch elf was the highest level of the group, so I did rip aggro a few times.  My detaunt can only do so much!

The dungeon crawl is something that WAR has been lacking for me, and I’d like to see more of these types of zones appear in game at a later time.  Also, it would be nice to see some instancing, rather than making them large public dungeons.  With the PQ’s you have to share the influence and hope you contribute enough to boost your chances for a good loot sack upon completion.  I’d love just to see more traditional dungeons, containing some tough fights and bosses.  With the exception of Gunbad, there aren’t many alternatives for lower-level folks to experience this type of content.  Most of the dungeons seem to be found in T4.

All the same, this has come at a good time for me, as I’m finding RvR in T4 a bit frustrating, due to not being at max level yet and lacking suitable gear.  These dungeons should help me solve my gear problem, and at the same time, provide a nice opportunity to explore a zone with my guildmates, sneak in a bit of RP, and generally flex my PvE muscles in an old-yet-new way.

The Order Zerg

So I logged into my level 35 Witch Elf today in Warhammer Online, hoping to do a little RvR and gain some influence for some elite rewards that I’d love to have. There was some action in Caledor, a T4 zone, so I joined up with an alliance warband and headed off to fight.

We got slaughtered.

It wasn’t even sporting, honestly. I think Destro had about one and a half warbands to two, so around 36 to 48 players battling it out for objectives and the two keeps in the lake. I died so much, I was afraid the grey box with “respawn” on it was going to permanently burn into my monitor screen. I think Order must have had at least four full warbands there. They chased us down and pretty much butchered us each and every time we attempted to defend a keep, take an objective, run, take a drink, breathe–you get the picture.

Now here’s the thing: I don’t mind dying in RvR most of the time, especially if it’s a good fight where both sides are slugging it out and have an even chance to win. I don’t mind fighting even when there is a SLIGHT disadvantage for my side. But one-sided, zerg-tastic, free-for-all slaughter? No thanks. That’s not fun, it’s frustrating. I didn’t earn anything today, but I think I probably spent at least a couple of gold on healing myself of death penalties.

Frustration was high, and the Destro warbands were getting irritable and discouraged. A lot of people ended up leaving to go do something else. After an hour or so, I was one of them.

All of this to make the point that our beloved server, Phoenix Throne, is rapidly becoming unbalanced. Order has flocked here “because of the balance” and the “good population,” and what they’ve brought with them is a herd of non-rp’ers, power gamers and twelve year olds with a Legolas complex. Yeah, yeah–I’m sure some are going to say I’m just upset because Destro is losing. I answer that by saying that I don’t mind losing a good fight. But to just log in and get slaughtered with no chance at all? No thanks.

The real loser here is Phoenix Throne. It reminds me of a terrific little unknown town that gets “discovered” by tourists and immediately loses the charm that made it terrific in the first place. I’m discouraged. I hope it gets better.

Election Day

As I stood in the chilly fall air this early morning, waiting my turn to go in and fill out my ballot and cast my vote, it struck me what a truly remarkable country we have.  What a mix of people and backgrounds were with me at my polling station.  Everyone in line was there to cast their vote and make thier voice heard–however tiny it may seem against the screams of a media determined to tell us what we’re supposed to do.

It’s likely that my choice for President won’t be the one taking the Oath of Office come January, but I have the satisfaction of knowing I did my part–and that is no small comfort.  I’ve always said if you don’t vote, you’re not entitled to bitch about your government.  Do your part and earn that right to complain!  Of course, seeing some of the folks that were lined up to cast a ballot….yeesh.  The lady in front of me who apparently didn’t realize what letter her last name started with and stood for a half hour in the wrong line would be a fine example.  Seriously, I wonder what some people are thinking.  Maybe they just wanted their free Starbucks.

One conclusion that I drew from today’s ballot was that the Constitution of the State of Alabama needs a serious overhaul.  I voted on several constitutional amendments that dealt with matters far from my own county, that will not impact me in the slightest.  Our state constitution is a perfect example of an over-reaching state government that won’t leave the smaller city and county governments alone.  It’s the same argument that those opposed to big federal government make–only written on a smaller scale.  It’s time to make some practical changes, in my opinion.

At any rate, as the pundits yammer and the media salivates over this juicy news day, I”ll go to bed happy knowing that I did what I could, and I did it with respect and care and thoughtfulness.  For all the bad that we seem to see about the United States these days, seeing our democracy in action is just one example of one of the many things that are good about her.

God Bless America.  Now go vote.

Third Saturday in October

It’s just a special day, I don’t care how you spin it.  I started following Alabama football when I was a very small child, thanks to my parents, who were die-hard Alabama fans.  My earliest years were spent cheering during the glory-years of the 70’s, when Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant led Alabama teams that gave new meaning to the word “dominance.” 

I grew up loving Alabama, even as the glory years faded away, being gradually replaced by a yo-yo-like cycle of flashes of brilliance paired with plunges into mediocrity at best, and outright disappointments at worst.  I attended the University of Mississippi for college, but even then I stayed true to my Crimson Tide first love.  Don’t get me wrong–I can cheer for Ole Miss just fine.  As long as they’re not playing Alabama.

Over time, my general attitude about Alabama football has changed in some ways.  I remember as a young child being absolutely shocked when Alabama lost a game.  That just wasn’t supposed to happen.  During my young adulthood, seeing Alabama lose became more common.  And over the past 10 years, I’ve found myself unable to take any win for granted, always expecting the worst.  Even this year, with the Tide sitting at 8-0 with a very real chance to win the SEC and perhaps play in the BCS title game, I still find myself thinking “When’s the other shoe going to drop?”

Last night’s demolition of Tennesee, 29-9 in Neyland Stadium, was yet another step in this crazy journey of fandom, and it reminded me that like any true love, you stand by your team through the bad times because it makes the good times so much sweeter.  This year, the Third Saturday in October was sweet indeed.

I married a ninja

No, really.  Saturday morning, I stumbled to the kitchen in my typical, pre-caffeine, groggy state and happened to peek out of the window over the sink that looks out on the side-yard facing our driveway.  My husband was out there, ostensibly walking the dog.  I rubbed my eyes and peered closer because he was carrying a broomstick.  A real broomstick with a broom on it.

And he was swinging it in slow, looping, overhanded arcs.  I blinked and looked for whatever he was trying to hit with the broom.  The dog was nowhere in sight, and anyway, what kind of lowlife hits a dog with a broom?  Certainly not my hunk of love.  Maybe it was a spiderweb he was knocking down?  A bee flying at his head?  A rabid chipmunk?  I couldn’t see any of those things, so I was puzzled as he continued to swing the broomhandle.

Then I got it.  Slowly his movements morphed into rhythmic chops and parries and thrusts.  His feet were set wide and he lunged forward, executing a series of swift jabs and blocks with his trust staff…er…broom.  He was doing kung-fu, or hubby-kun-do or something.

So I did what any supportive, caring spouse would have done.  I ran and looked for the camera while laughing hysterically.  Unfortunately, I don’t have photographic evidence to share with you here because apparently the forces of darkness were repelled by his lightening-quick reflexes and mad bo-staff skillz and he came back inside with the dog right behind him before I could snap a picture.

When he saw me standing there, giggling uncontrollably, he ‘fessed up. 

“I was practicing!” 

“For what?” I asked. “Imminent invasion by the acolytes of Chuck Norris?”

“I’m going to get a shower now,” he grumbled.

“Kee-yah!” I replied.

I swear, even the dog was laughing.

Good times.