What makes this game great? I am not sure. Maybe it’s the nostalgia or the PVP elements that at the moment are not found in any other game in he same way, the lore or even the name Warhammer! I suppose we all have our reasons for playing for as long or little as we have. Below is a quote i found and inspired me to write all this.
This is quote from the original guides of the game Warhamemr Online – Age of Reckoning. I have, highlighted some parts that i found interesting and also missing from the game it self. Some have to do with the game mechanics and some with the player base. If these are the aspects that made the original game great according to the people that had the concept… then…. if they are missing …what do we have? A lesser game? A not so good game? or a brand new game on the rise that will take a long long time to get to the level of a great game ?
“You choose to join one of six races, and those “realms” go head to head in global battles called Realm vs. Realm (RvR) combat. Dwarfs, High Elves, and the Empire are on the side of Order, while greenskins, Dark Elves, and Chaos ally as the forces of Destruction.
Everything that you do—completing quests, winning scenarios, conquering keeps, and battlefield objectives—contributes victory points toward controlling the game’s various zones, with the ultimate goal to enter the enemy’s capital city and defeat its king. Only when the king’s head is on a pike displayed for all your kin to see will you feel the ultimate satisfaction of a champion.
WAR has hundreds of exciting quests throughout the world, though none so unique as the public quests. When you enter a location where a public quest occurs, you automatically join the quest, fighting side by side with any allied players in the area. These cooperative quests unfold over several stages and give solo players the opportunity to experience the thrill of party adventuring and tremendous treasure rewards.
With so much going on in the game, it’s fortunate that you have a Tome of Knowledge that tracks your every action. The Tome unlocks lore, monster information, new abilities, and story revelations as it records the achievements of your life. Whenever you want to review a past accomplishment, just read through the Tome.
The best part of all this? You don’t have to journey alone; guilds thrive in the game and allow like-minded players to work together to capture keeps and accomplish other goals. The game’s advanced guild features give unprecedented options for leaders and members. You can create unique heraldry, carry standards out onto the battlefield to gain special abilities, and earn Guild Tactics that grow in power along with the guild enrollment.”
In the current state of the game despite the huge efforts of the developers i dont see the “Everything that you do” ….”contributes victory points toward controlling the game’s various zones, with the ultimate goal to enter the enemy’s capital city and defeat its king”. At this moment all i see is people x-realming, from individuals to entire guilds, manipulating sides and perspectives, throwing maps, keeps, forts to get to a high ranked city and get gear. I believe this is not the point of the game, (get gear only) especialy when the gear is not used… because once they have it they start a new alt and then the story starts again. Maybe if we added more things to contribute to victory maybe more PVE and PVP people would play and stay to their sides, maybe!.
“give solo players the opportunity to experience the thrill of party adventuring and tremendous treasure rewards.” This is something i don’t believe it excists in the game at the moment. It is a part that is realy missing from the game and i think the PVE aspect is good in this game, just not been taken care off as much as pvp resulting, in been neglected by player. There is no gear or rewards that you can use in pvp or dungeons since most gear is easy to get in pvp reward systems.
“The Tome unlocks lore, monster information, new abilities,” This would be nice still 6 years down the line is not in the game. I am not sure why not since there tactics slots for exaple are visible for over 1-2 years. Not to mention that when they became visible alot fo the player thoguht “oh yeah we are getting more tactics” even they were to be used only on PVE still good addition for those that liek dungeons and farm materials for crafting for those so needed potions in PVP.
“capture keeps and accomplish other goals.” Not sure what other goals were the original developers of Age of Reckoning had in mind, but in Return of Reckoning i personaly only see keep, forts and cities… no other goals… at least not yet.. there is still more content missing and maybe it will be in that “other” content… i dont know… maybe.
In conclusion i feel that the game is good to play and have fun with the limitation presented by a or any private servers and TOS. Especialy if you were playing in the past and you want to re-live some parts of the game. As of this date i feel that the game due the attidute of the player base, the lack of other content such as PVE to mix it in a daily bases, it can get stale, on top some faulty mechanics and other things that i possibly missed in this post, the game is good play and have fun but not as great as it was in the past despite the huge efforts of the RoR team.