BigJonno
01-19-2004, 09:10 PM
I got into the current phase of the beta. The NDA is very open so I can talk about it a lot. I'm going to be keeping a full blown beta diary on my blog, but I'm going to put some first impressions here.
Character creation is solid if not spectacular. You pick a gender and race (currently at human, elf, dwarf, gnome and cyclops,) and then get a few customisable options; face, skin colour, hair style/colour, facial hair style/colour and height. I hope they're going to be including more options to customise your appearance as they're severely limited right now (male elves currently only have two hairstyles, long hair or no hair.) Choice of race is purely cosmetic at the moment, but racial abilites and stat mods are going to be implemented later.
You then choose a class (warrior, mage cleric or rogue) and then answer a bunch of questions. These questions determine your initial skill locks. To understand skill locks, you need to understand the skill system, which is almost identical to UO. Basically, as you use a skill, it gradually improves (this goes for your stats too.) If you don't use a skill, it degrades. What skill locks do is prevent skill degradation completely, or stop them going beyond a certain point, depending on whether it's a primary or secondary lock. It may sound a bit confusing but it makes sense once you've used it for a while.
After you've answered the questions, you go off into the world. The first thing that struck me is how complete it looks. For a game that is still in the early stages of beta testing it's quite remarkable. The graphics aren't mind-bogglingly amazing, but show a surprising amount of subtle detail.
Okay, on to the gameplay itself. The most noticeable thing are the controls. It's entirely point and click, (bar a few keyboard shortcuts.) You may be going "ewwwww" (I know I was,) but it works incredibly well. The pathfinding is the best I've ever seen, including in single player games, and it makes everything a lot simpler during combat.
At the moment there isn't much content in place. You can only really hunt and gather resources, both of which are pretty standard MMORPG fare. Many of the skills haven't been implemented yet and there is little in the way of equipment to buy. Crafting isn't included at all.
The one thing it shouts at me is "potential." Wish could be a really good game. It's going to come down to the content. If they can make it fun to play and keep people occupied it will be great. If not, it'll be just another fantasy MMORPG.
Character creation is solid if not spectacular. You pick a gender and race (currently at human, elf, dwarf, gnome and cyclops,) and then get a few customisable options; face, skin colour, hair style/colour, facial hair style/colour and height. I hope they're going to be including more options to customise your appearance as they're severely limited right now (male elves currently only have two hairstyles, long hair or no hair.) Choice of race is purely cosmetic at the moment, but racial abilites and stat mods are going to be implemented later.
You then choose a class (warrior, mage cleric or rogue) and then answer a bunch of questions. These questions determine your initial skill locks. To understand skill locks, you need to understand the skill system, which is almost identical to UO. Basically, as you use a skill, it gradually improves (this goes for your stats too.) If you don't use a skill, it degrades. What skill locks do is prevent skill degradation completely, or stop them going beyond a certain point, depending on whether it's a primary or secondary lock. It may sound a bit confusing but it makes sense once you've used it for a while.
After you've answered the questions, you go off into the world. The first thing that struck me is how complete it looks. For a game that is still in the early stages of beta testing it's quite remarkable. The graphics aren't mind-bogglingly amazing, but show a surprising amount of subtle detail.
Okay, on to the gameplay itself. The most noticeable thing are the controls. It's entirely point and click, (bar a few keyboard shortcuts.) You may be going "ewwwww" (I know I was,) but it works incredibly well. The pathfinding is the best I've ever seen, including in single player games, and it makes everything a lot simpler during combat.
At the moment there isn't much content in place. You can only really hunt and gather resources, both of which are pretty standard MMORPG fare. Many of the skills haven't been implemented yet and there is little in the way of equipment to buy. Crafting isn't included at all.
The one thing it shouts at me is "potential." Wish could be a really good game. It's going to come down to the content. If they can make it fun to play and keep people occupied it will be great. If not, it'll be just another fantasy MMORPG.