While playing Warhammer last night I had some quests to do in RvR areas. A few times I ran across a member of Destruction, and we did battle. The experience buffs make a huge difference. I’ve been grinding plague trolls for like 2 weeks (obviously not literally). I’m level 15, they’re level 15. They give 400 experience per kill. Up the road a bit are these pesky sprites that are level 16. They also give 400 experience. When I ran into a level 15 Destruction character and fought him 1 on 1, I got 2000 experience for the kill. Later I encountered a level 17 Destruction character and beat her. 3000+ experience for that. So yeah, the xp buffs make a marked difference.
WARNING: Moping, whining part of the post begins here.
This morning I log in and go back to grinding plague trolls, fantasizing about a day when I can get a group to cap Chapter 7 influence. Then amazingly, more people show up. I join their open group and we churn through stage 1. Finally I’ll be able to do stage 2 on this infernal, hateful, spiteful, vile Public Quest. And then… they all leave. And I’m left alone again doing this quest.
Ah well. I go grind sprites while the trolls reset. At one point two of them attack me. Things are looking bad, so I pop a health potion. “That item cannot be used yet.” WTF? The icon isn’t dimmed, there’s no cooldown timer on it. I try a HoT Potion. “That item cannot be used yet.” Bam. Respawn. *sigh*
At this point I’m not having fun and thinking that maybe cleaning the toilet would be more rewarding than grinding more trolls and sprites. I decide to say the hell with it and move on, leaving Chapter 7 incomplete. And then Mandred’s Hold comes under attack. There’s chatter about it in /regional and I head out there to defend the homeland. Destruction has a sizable force attacking the Keep. Order has… me. At least that I saw.
I try to pick off a straggler but get noticed and killed. Respawn, head into the Postern Door. Destruction is inside but I get up the ramp and aid the NPC Keep Lord in defending as best I can. Still no Order. Destruction pushes up the ramp, I die. Run back…and just as I get to the front gate the guards change to Destruction. Keep is lost.
In /region there’s much moaning and groaning. I give up, go back to finding quests or something to do. Then Destruction hits the other Keep. Much more moaning and hand wringing in /regional, with a side dish of finger pointing. Finally it sounds like maybe someone other than me might actually think about perhaps defending, so I turn around and start running back. But by the time I get into the area, the keep has fallen. More moaning and groaning, and then someone suggests “Well let’s take it back!” but they’re shouted down by some self-professed Leader of Order who explains that its not a good time because there are defenders.
WTF? Isn’t that the BEST time to have a fun battle?
At this point I realize that my day is slipping away and a long unpleasant work week is drawing near and having to work this hard to have fun just isn’t an efficient use of my time, so I log.
Yes, I’m pouting & whining instead of acting. I could’ve shouted down the self-professed Leader or Order. Or I could’ve done what most others did and just let Destruction steam-roll the BO’s and Keeps and keep grinding trolls. But by this point the wind had gone completely out of my sails.
Warhammer is great fun with the planets align and you find a group and there’s some openRvR happening. But for me, that’s maybe 25% of the time that I play. And I’m really starting to question whether its worth $15/month for that 2 hours of real fun I get out of it every week.
I very much agree. I really like the game, but I feel so much of it depends on a healthy population in all tiers, and these days it just does not feel like there are enough players about. I have been rank 22 for about a week, because I refuse to grind scenarios (where I would be cannon fodder anyway). I have had some great fun open rvr, but it is very infrequent. I find myslef playing other MMOs, where I know I can log on for a few hours and actually feel like I am getting somewhere. I would hate WAR to fall apart like this, but at the moment it seems as inevitable as a certain city.
It was sort of apathetic this morning — and when we finally got to rolling for taking the T3 BOs back (T3 was also being hit), we got … no nice way to put it … abjectly slaughtered. Granted, we were outnumbered.
I’m not sure what happened this morning. I looked up and suddenly it was 11 my time (when last I looked it was something like 8) and half the RL stuff I’d meant to do was undone. WAR is one thing, but RL chores don’t do themselves, unless anyone knows some really cheap house help services.
I wouldn’t take it too hard, Pete. Some days nobody will get organised. Some days you start out to do A and end up doing B, or C, or nothing at all.
As for chapter 7, I refer you to my “ask” post on CoW. You know the one. 😛 Maybe you and I and a few others should schedule our logins. It’s not like I don’t have any alts capable of doing T2. /cackle
SIlly emotes. It wasn’t 8), it was 8 a. m. *snort*