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Monday 14 January, 2008
Gameplay
This session I focused entirely on the low level PvP in one of the game's battlegrounds. I started at level 10 and by the end of my session I was level 12. This place is the easiest way to find a group, and even when there are little-no player enemies there are many npc monsters that can be killed. Leveling up in these battlegrounds is much more fun, but it does take a bit longer than simply grinding npcs.
The idea of these battlegrounds are on one hand ingenious, but it would be much better of it was only a place where people came to fight each other trying to level up. Too many people make characters for these battlegrounds at the maximum level, and have the best items possible. It seems that all of these people are never on my side. I feel like my class is gimped and it requires more people to win. I think the problem is the game is so situated that everyone who plays has already gotten to the level cap.
Design
As far as MMO's go the design of this game is damn near flawless. The main poblem is the pve is boreing and the game is dated. There have been graphic updates in various expansions, and even one engine change. The game uses a three way war, which sometimes is irritating, especially when 2 realms provide a silent truce and gang up on the other. The three way combat keeps things fresh, and it means you are not stuck fighting the same enemies over and over again.
The melee combat system is very deep and well created, that uses styled attacks to do additional damage and provide various status effects. Casting magic on the other hand is retardedly done, and is an experience where you press the one button over and over again until your enemy is dead. This is the game's largest flaw. The casting is uninteresting and overpowering, while the melee is fun, but inferior in player vs player combat. The game would have been much better designed if they decided to not include magic at all, or severly limiting it.
The level design is fantastic, the game consists of 3 realms with 2 open zones, 1 underground tunnel each. The realms also share the frontiers, where they fight, and a zone called the Ruins of Atlantis. They also share several RvR enables dungeons. The places to go are almost limitless, and each zone has enemies that can be fought to level up from one to 50. The enviornments are all varied, except the underground sections are slightly reused in each realm.
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