Well What Do You Know

I never (ever) thougth that WAR would be the first ones to pick up on something that I, at least, have been kicking and screaming about for at least the last two years publically.   Kudos to you Mythic for being the first to have the light bulb come on.

Our solution is to introduce a new system that will let you set your armor and weapon appearance independently of your armor stats, so that you can look how you want to look and yet keep the statistics that you personally prefer. The goal is to give players the added benefit of having the new armor sets available to them, but the ability to change their appearance if they don’t like the way they look. We also think this will introduce a level of customization that players want to have for their characters.

Having said that – seriously why did it take this long for said bulb to go off?  Pull the camera back a bit folks, sheesh.

The next step – finally convince someone, somewhere (preferably that’s working on a game) that this can go far beyond this.  Tank, DPS, Heal, Control – they are not classes, they are playstyles.   But we force players that wish to play a given playstyle into certain classes.  In other words – character creation and customization is a joke from the word “go.”

Why not let players choose a class – and then determine how they will play that class?  Is there any reason why I can’t play a Mage who Tanks, while my buddy plays a Mage who Heals?  No, there isn’t.  It’s a big wide MMO world out there.  Somebody kick down these doors and lets get the party started, thanks.

Trading Places

* Quick Note for my EVE readers:  I’m currently training Missile Launcher Operation 5, followed by an arc for T2 Transports.  While I wait for a two person corp with way to much money to decide to war dec elsewhere.

So I’ve been bouncing around  trying to find my footing in EQ2.  I’ve been playing on Lucan D’Lere with The Halasian Empire with a Wood Elf Guardian.  I’ve logged some time with my original Half-Elf Necromancer on Blackburrow with my old groupmate (I was suprised to learn he was still playing).  And last night I joined The Knights Who Say Ni on Antonica Bayle.   But I still don’t know what I’m playing there.  Most of the day was spend internally debating Warden vs. Fury.  I finally (I think) settled on the Fury, just because of the higher damage output, and thus faster leveling cycle.   Having said that, I also got intrigued by the Defiler again.  I want the class to work, I want it to be right for me, but I think ultimately what I want and what it will be will remain two different things.

::cue John Williams score::

I really want the class to be something like the Ritualist from Guild Wars.  While at first blush the Ritualist looks like a pet class, given that it summons spirits, in reality the spirits operate much like the buffs and wards in the Shaman archetype in EQ2.  But they are actually spirits – unlike the Defiler which still seems to be bound to spirits which are in fact animal totems – which should probably be more the realm of the Mystic, IMHO.

Anyway, the bottom line is that this time around, any DPS character – mage or rogue or whatever – will be my secondary instead of my main.  The one experience I’ve had playing a mainline healer was Vanguard, and it was a blast.  But I’ve always been worried that it was fun because of the class itself and not because of the role.  If I keep it up here, I may just have a chance to find out for sure.  Wouldn’t that be funny if I’ve been playing the wrong archetype all these years?  And by funny, I mean mind numbingly frustrating?

The super fun thing is that this is literally my first time through the Gorowyn starting area.  So far, outside of superior rewards, I don’t see that its all that different than the other ones.  I’m promised that it will take me to 20 though (instead of 10) so I’m happy about that prospect!

You Need Help

From this month’s new Alganon Newsletter:

Our character creation system has also received a major upgrade. Players will now be guided through an on-screen wizard to aid in the creation of new characters. This new system provides plenty of descriptions to aid you in making decisions during the creation process.

O-RLY? 

Dear Alganon,

Unless your huge overhaul has included releasing all those other classes and races you promised, and not just the basic four classes and two races in the game now,  I’m not sure how much “help” and “description” people need to figure it all out.  Thanks.  PS – I still can’t launch the game, even with your new patches. 

~ Hzero

Welcome to the New and Improved Alganon Character Creaction System.

Race:  If you’d like to play a good but arrogant race, pick race 1.  If you’d like to play an evil and misunderstood race, pick race 2.  Congratulations, you are finished selecting your race.

Class:  If you’d like to play a tank, pick class 1.  If you’d like to play a healer, pick class 2.  If you’d like to play dps, pick class 3.  If you’d like to solo, pick class 4.  Congratulations, you are finished selecting your class.

Family:  If you’d like to explore, pick family 1.  If you’d like to PVP, pick family 2.  If you’d like to raid, pick family 3.  If you’d like to socialize, pick family 4.   If you’d like to craft, pick family 5.  Congratulations, you finished selecting your family.

Wow! That was difficult!  We are pleased to have been able to bring you this new system to help guide you through the enormous and complicated task we set before you.  Enjoy the game!