Curse

BlueBlazer · Mar 29, 2006, 07:28 AM // 07:28

Actually, I believe there were story missions in the preview event if you know where to find it. One example in the Luxon's side would be the escorting the baby turtles mission in Ghyla's Hatchery (which you can access once you finished "Befriending the Luxons" quest - the one you need 10k Luxon factions to complete). Those who finished that mission would then get to know a bit about Factions' storyline (not to be mentioned here due to it being spoilers).

Tric · Mar 29, 2006, 07:45 AM // 07:45

Overall, I didn't like the event.

Being on dail-up meant 5x45 minutes of watching Star Wars 3. Kinda sucked. I wish there was some kind of download window you could open in game where you saw all the things you haven't downloaded for your game, and in which warp you'd download it. Then you can click these packages and download them beforehand. Many times during the event, I got stuck in a download and once it was done, my team was all gone, having already finished and left the next area.

The only thing I'm looking forward to in Factions is the new skills for the core classes. Blazing Coals for my W/E hammer princess is gonna be nice.

The new classes I don't like, Assassin seems to be an advanced class since it's not durable and yet a melee specialist. It also seems to be a one-trick pony, not being able to do much other than fight. Warriors, for example, can excel as runners, tanks, etc. All assassins can do is shadow step around and try to not get killed. Distortion shuts them down real good also.

Ritualists I don't like either, it seems their rituals are either very, very good or utterly useless... In the latter case I mean in close quarters were the Rits' summons get killed seconds after getting summoned, especially against enemies with ranged weapons. On the other hand, I don't want the summons to be tougher, since that would unbalance the game. Because, when they survive, the summons almost guarantee victory, since they are very powerful. 15 damage reduction for all party members? Now that's winning the battle all right.

In the event, you could get both wand and focus that both gave 20%/20% cast speed/recharge speed, that's overpowered. It makes staves obsolete, even if staves get mods. Mods don't stand a chance in comparison, since the combo, as I call it, makes you extremely proficient with an attribute. Protection monks with the combo can kick some serious ass. The ever-expensive +30 staff health mod is pretty useless in comparison.

Also, Kurzicks > Luxons.

devils wraths · Mar 30, 2006, 03:49 PM // 15:49

i thought the event was great i actually thought there would be alot less to do and find. i carnt wait for the game from what i saw in the event i think this game will be cool and specially liked the new skins on the weapons. very good work i think was put into them. i would like to thank the whole of a-net in person but i carnt do that

LadyTheif · Mar 30, 2006, 08:44 PM // 20:44

I also like Guild alliances, kind of a thought too for most small guild leaders, just like me.
I think the preview alliances builds, could be done better. I hope its not the full thing as far as picking a team.
The turtle racers were kind of funny.

The Assasin will have it's downfall, its like a war without Aboption runes. I don't know what armor like knights. But if it going to be like a nero with mana fighting like a war. Its going to die fast. It should of been or going to need to be like a war with it's runes somehow. That will help alot.

Hanok Odbrook · Apr 01, 2006, 04:23 PM // 16:23

Overall, I liked the look of the game - lots of eye candy, slightly better graphs, except for the Kurz area - much too dark and drab for being a bulk of an explorable area. I was really impressed with the looks of the new pets, and they are getting the waterfalls to look better. However, I had some problems with how the mechanics of the game worked.

Clearly there were problems with traiters and quitters in the arena matches. At this point, I don't see this as a Preview Event specific problem. Unless Anet makes some changes to the system, this problem will continue into the official release. Making it impossible to zone or log out of the arenas won't solve the problem as players will just afk for the rest of the match.

The lock outs of NPCs and missions based on your Faction points or lack thereof didn't impress me at all. Personally, if a side was trying to get my support, giving me the cold sholder even though I have no faction at all, or an equal amount of faction doesn't lend me to support your cause. The system needs to be reworked so that it is "as long as you are not against us (i.e. having more faction for the other side), then we will show you hospitality." Right now, this "for us or against us" mechanic doesn't lend itself to casual PvE play.

I don't know whether is was a Preview issue or not, but I was unable to create a character with A or Rt prime to be born in Tyria Pre-Sear. Anet has clearly stated that merged accounts will have the choice of having all six character slots either born in Cantha or born in Tyria. I take this to mean that I can have my new Rt or A primes start in Pre-Sear. The fact that I couldn't do this in the preview event weekend gives me a leary feeling about the official release of the game. Anet needs to make it clear which characters will be able to start in which world - otherwise their statement is a bit misleading.

The movable borders did not impress me at all. Only the Southern most area changed at all, and there was not way to tell in game which side had the advantage in any of the areanas. Quite frankly, I would like to know how my side is doing and how close we are to taking over a territory or loosing it. Otherwise what's the point of choosing a side if those 20 consecutive FA or JQ battles you just fought made no difference whatsoever.

The PvE balance issue needs some serious work. The monsters in the Kurzick side were way overpowered. The overall battles just turned into a war of attrition as mobs just swarmed - there's no strategy or fun in fighting a battle with nearby mobs getting aggroed until you are outnumbered 2 or 3 to 1. If Anet wants to make the battles more fun and strategic, they need to work on the AI and not just make larger spawns of high level healing mobs. It got to the point where I preferred the d**n Devourers over what I experienced in Factions.

Right now, Factions to me is a lot of eye candy, that tries to cover up some serious mechanics issues with the game. Anet has a lot of work ahead of them to get Factions ready for it's release in 28 days.

Hanok Odbrook
Real Millennium Group Guild
Truth * Knowledge * Peace