E3 Thoughts

Is it futile to even talk about anything else this week? I guess so!

We here at WAAAGH! Labs have been slaving hard to find the right formula to deliver the E3 experience straight to your brain, but considering that you might end up like Keen over there, it'd probably be best if you abstained and just read through some of the info out there.

End Game RvR Explained - I think this makes a bit more sense now. The way it goes is that each of the three tier 4 zones of the game have their own fortress (a massive keep) that is the initial focal point of end game RvR. If Order can manage to capture two out of three of the fortresses, the Inevitable City becomes open to attack; likewise, if Destruction can capture two out of three, Altdorf swings open its doors to enemy invaders. It makes all three zones worthwhile to fight in, followed by narrowing the fight down to a single city.

Then you have the concept of the "rotating capital cities" or whatever they're calling it. How I see it is that once more capital cities come online, they'll either just activate two of them during a set time frame (for the span of a month, for example) or declare only two of them vulnerable to capital city siege.

Open Grouping - Sometimes the smallest things are the most beloved, and I think open grouping has the potential to set the standard for all MMOs in breaking down the barriers between solo players and getting into a good group. The way it works is that you can start a group and flag your group as "open" or "closed". If it's closed, then only people you personally invite can join the party. If it's open, then anyone else who wants to find a group in the area can easily see what open groups are available and where they are, then just click a button to automatically join that party. No fuss, no muss.

Really, open grouping is party construction in reverse. Typical group formation is done from top down: one person takes the job of finding players and adding them. Open grouping is the players forming the group themselves for the leader. This'll make joining groups for PQs or general zone questing or PvP so much simpler.

UI Customization - Reportedly, the standard UI in WAR will be almost completely flexible for resizing and relocating screen elements (hotbars, radar, etc.). A lot of people -- myself included -- need to tweak their UI to fit their playstyle just right, and this looks to be offering them as much flexibility as possible for that.

Armor Sets - Over 400 sets are in the game! No, really. Plus dyes. That works out to 20 armor sets per class, which is quite a wide range, all things considered.