PhoenixRed

It's been a while! Unfortunately, technical issues prevented me from posting any kind of meaningful report for almost a month, but here I am, back and ready to give you a double helping of the experiment to close it out.

Conveniently enough, the two things you, dear community, wanted me to focus on were the same for the last two weeks of the experiment, just reversed in terms of priority. Those two things were Public Quests and RvR Scenarios.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8303

Let's start with PQs. The new patch was out, which meant there were "easy" PQ's that supposedly you could solo.

I killed many trolls and protected the wounded slayers to their very end, and fought the boss with the courage summoned only from the assurance of a game mechanic that would actually work.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8309

It was only then that I noticed that a Slayer was present in my last battle, determined to assist me in my hero's effort. How convenient and how less messy it would be for my dress if the dwarf would fight the boss! Together, we slew the mighty troll. Surely, with my Gold contribution bonus from doing the majority of the work for the PQ, I would be justly rewarded for winning the day.

Here was my loot for my amazing and epic journey of 20 minutes of troll slaying:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8304

As you can see, I apparently lost the roll, while my last-minute Slayer friend took his bright blue bag and skipped off on his merry flavor of the month way.

Frustrated by my lack of reward and smelly slippers, I trudged back along the road back to camp when I walked past another intrepid band of warriors trying to kill an undead abomination. As I ran by, I stopped for a second just long enough to launch a quick, terribly weak lightning bolt that apparently caused the PQ boss to keel over from pure surprise that an Archmage actually damaged him:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8298

Imagine my surprise when this happened:
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8305

Interesting. So by literally doing a "drive by" (or in this case, a Pungent Slipper Walk-by), I simply got loot for attacking something at the last minute.

I decided to try this drive-by strategy on 20 PQ's across three areas. In most cases I simply showed up near the end of the last stage or waited until the boss was nearly dead before putting a few well-placed awful DPS spells into them. Results showed that at least 40% of the time, I got the result above or sometimes better. How amazing and convenient for us casual players, yes?

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8301

I can't say that I had the same success running RvR scenarios though. During the time period of the last two weeks, I went a dismal, dismal 2 - 32 in RvR scenarios. I'd post the screenshots but some of the scores seem a little more embarrassing than the one above.

Let's just say maybe players were too busy with other, more important ventures - like profanity:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8307

Meanwhile, it's hard to actually win a scenario when the game is trying to literally show you you're a chicken:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8306

In week 3, some of you actually asked that I target Squig Herders first in RvR. Below is the only kill I was able to score on a Squig Herder during that week. Recycling the same screenshot of me taking a dirt nap seemed a bit redundant:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8302

Much easier was finding places to die from a falling, resounding splat on the ground for Week 4 and people's desire for me to get the AHHHH! Title (dying from falling 25 times).

I've found that there are a variety of places to send oneself to a death by pancaking:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8296 http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8295

Like keeps and a good old fashioned mountain...

Although it is rather surreal to see yourself flatter than an ironed shirt:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8297

But eventually, the title was mine:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=8310

What better way to end the experiment than by unlocking something through constant, hilarious death?

Some final thoughts on playing this class and doing so casually this past month:

-The Archmage is an interesting support class to play. But they simply lack the incentive to damage and then heal based upon that damage. It is heartening to see that AM's are being worked on, as I see them as a class that does not have a clear role on the field of battle.

-Playing casually meant I only achieved rank 13 during my entire month's worth of playtime. That might seem low, but having the community try to do things like level compeltely through ORvR may have messed with this. All paths to leveling should be viable.

-I gained nearly 30000 experience from Tome unlocks (of which I managed 302). I killed 1547 people in RvR - which basically amounts to - I hit them with a crazy little pew pew laser beam. I completed 387 quests.

-Population to do things in the game is more important as a casual player who only can play an hour a day. When there is a lack of population, there is a lack of fun factor, and despite collecting many, many hilarious screenshots for the community I found myself lacking at times during play sessions.

-Skull Throne itself has a lot of great individuals on both sides of the coin, While Badlands and Volkmar seem to overshadow the recent popularity of Core servers, Skull Throne certainly is still active and able.

I've thoroughly enjoyed doing this experiment and doing it at the whim of you the community. Thanks for your assistance and help, and I hope you enjoyed the journey!

Week 2 of the Casual Community WAR Experiment is over, so it's that time again to tell you all about my experiences with the character that you are helping to steer.

After logging 14 hours on the Archmage, I can say that I'm somewhat getting used to the fact that in a dress, I look stunning. That, and I can heal a bit better. Successes in RvR have been the reason why my Scavenging has gone up to at least 25.

All of this loot meant I had to go selling my very-full backpacks. This went pretty well, but it appears that as far as the High Elf economy goes, bad fashion is simply inexcusable and therefore not worth the price of other items of more importance during wartime:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7934 http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7933

Adventures in merchanting aside, I was directed by the community to spend time in the Greenskins and Dwarfs area this past week. After a brief flight in which I subjected myself to the wonders of Dwarf copter technology, I arrived in the area, determined to carry out the community's orders for levelling. The community had decided that this week, it would be an all-RvR slugfest, as both of my leveling paths were to be RvR related.

Boldly stepping into the RvR area, I looked to pick up the primary focus of my leveling, ORvR, and opened the open party window in anticipation...

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7935

Sadly this was to become a common occurrence, for ORvR was sparse and few and far between, especially in the Greenskins and Dwarfs area. This was the case for many a daily hour that I spent in the game, as calls for ORvR groups and warbands went unanswered by most people in the area.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7940 http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7941

But the community had told me ORvR, and ORvR was what was going to happen, even if I had to do it myself.

Braving the rocky, hostile territory, I came upon a Battlefield Objective in the heart of Mount Bloodhorn's RvR area. Summoning the eldritch energies that enabled me to do the damage of a thousand fingerpokes, I defeated the mighty Orc champion and guards that stood watch over the objective, and despite the numbers, triumphed on my own.

To be honest, under any other circumstances, perhaps I might not have been successful. However, I was eternally confident in the fact that my heroism, can-do attitude, and pure and noble virtue is what won the day for me this time. It certianly was not the fact that none of the other guards were champions or that the only other company I had during my long, epic battle was a mountain tumbleweed.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7936

With the objective taken, and the map showing the blue flag of Order, I decided to settle in for the inevitable attack by enraged Destruction players, where I would finally get my fill of ORvR even if it meant my demise.

And so, I waited...

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7938

And waited...

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7939

And waited....

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7937

No one ever came. Not even a hearty taunt was enough to draw my enemies out of their camp to take back what was theirs.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7942

Eventually, Order NPCs spawned, and I was free to leave. While having been thankful for living yet another day, I couldn't help but feel emptiness that ORvR didn't happen, especially seeing as a dress-wearing high elf is a prime target.

That isn't to say I didn't get any ORvR done. I joined at least 4 or 5 warbands during my daily hours in the game this week, and in many cases we took plenty of objectives with little to no resistance. The experience was slow, but the prospect of running with others was fun in its own respect - although I had a feeling some of my party members might have been hit in the head a few too many times and forgotten some of the fundamentals:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7944

The secondary method for leveling this week was RvR scenarios, as was decided by the community. Because of my many travels, I managed to queue for T2 scenarios a couple of times. In scenarios, I went a dismal 4 - 11. So while I was healing better, the squishiness of the Archmage led to many, many losses.

Perhaps the greatest of these losses was experienced in Phoenix Gate, where we were losing so badly that certain Archmages had to go carry the flag because no one else would.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7948 http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7947

Maybe I'll have better luck next week.

Of the "What else should I do?" comments, there were a majority of people who wanted me to do something with guilds or join one. Thus, began my odyssey of prostituting my Archmage skills for the security of a group:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7949

My first nibble on the bait of being a healbot sort of seemed neat at first...

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7955

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7956

Sadly, my confidence dipped as the conversation went on...

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7957

Maybe I was interrupting lunch or something...

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7958

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7959

The imagination of thinking of a character name must have taken up all the thought into putting in an actual guild name, I guess.

A second conversation seemed to yield better results...

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7960

I like puns! And so, began my journey with the guild "Redemption".

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7961

We'll see if I'll have any guildie stuff to talk about next week. Guilds are always interesting, because guild members are like snowflakes - cut from the same cloth, but sometimes, on an individual basis, a unique and great source of entertainment:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7962

A great source of entertainment, indeed...

That's it for this week - except for one last note. I love you guys in the community, but what possessed you all to make me spend my mastery points in the Path of Asuryan, the damage dealing path? Curiousity? Insanity? The need to watch your a community lab rat like me suffer?

Let me provide you with the results of such a decisions. How about some epic numbers for how my DoTs are enhanced by your Mastery choice?

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7963

Or perhaps you'd prefer some actual RvR data?

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7964 http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7965

Opponent: Shaman

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7966

Result: Draw
Battle Time: 5:00+ minutes (not kidding)
Time to Live: Eons, because neither of us could kill each other.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7967 http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7968

Opponent: Witch Elf

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7969

Result: Oh crap, a Witch El- *dies*
Battle Time: 5 seconds
Time to Live: Blink and you'll miss it (in other words, SO not like the first cinematic trailer)

So when you vote in the current survey, can you tell me to go back to healing now? Please?

See you kids next week!

So Week 1 of the Casual Community WAR experiment has gone by, and here are some of the results from playing a character completely dictated by the community's whim.

I've played 7 hours so far on my Archmage, at one hour a day, which won by popular vote and a lucky couple of coin flips. I created this character with one click of the "random" box on appearance and name, which got me an appearance not unlike that of Legolas in a dress along with the inexplicably random name of "Fergsilirlis" (try saying that ten times fast).

Now a lot of people have been telling me that the Archmage has had - well, let's just say some challenges with being enjoyed as a class. This was made readily apparent within 5 minutes of me logging into the game and seeing this go over scenario chat:


It is both useful and disturbing to note that this Archmage was naked when they said this.

The primary method for leveling this week as decided by the community was RvR - Scenarios. On Skull Throne, the server which I chose to roll on since Core was the type the community voted for, the scenario pop wait was never longer than 5 minutes during prime time. In fact, I ranked up from level 1 to level 5 having never left the beginning area for quests.

In scenarios, I went an exact 8-8. My average healing done during this time was around 6500 or so. I landed a grand total of 2 deathblows the entire time.

Doing mostly scenarios allowed me to rank up pretty quickly, but there were problems which led to frequent occurrences involving naps in the dirt. For one thing, the Archmage's main heals are a heal and a hot, and a regular hot. The main damage dealers are one direct damage spell and a dot. For the first few levels, I was really unable to keep anyone up, nor was I really able to damage something enough to cause any significant damage.

This is unfortunate considering that the Destruction players I encountered had a severe aversion to dresses - something which I soon discovered was not exclusive to them (more on that later). Until the time I got Boon of Hysh, a long heal spell, my scenario strategies involved trying to hide my tall elf body in shrubbery (an abject failure) or running around in circles madly while casting dots. The Onyxia raid leader would be proud.







The secondary method of leveling as chosen by the community was PvE - Quests. In short, I did half as many quests as I did scenarios - 8 quests which really didn't mean too much to me because by the time I got to them, the mobs were worth a grand total of 20 XP per kill. You can see my very first kill in the picture (no good loot dropped, but I did give myself 50 DKP). Questing while being queued for scenarios is apparently the best way to go - although getting twice as many scenarios and outleveling a quest that ended up being hundreds of xp rather than thousands was not quite so heartening.

The lack of questing meant that my gear was basically the starter gear until I was able to run down to get renown gear from the first warcamp. Because my renown rank was pretty even with my regular rank, access to the Militia gear made my dirtnaps in scenarios slightly less frequent and my fashion not so "fresh off the boat".

Well, wait, there WAS one green item I won, although I think something seems a bit off about it. I can't seem to place it.

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7791

Crafting basically came down to simply acquiring the Scavenging and Apothecary skills, but not doing too much with them, mostly because of time. A casual player might not really know too much about the crafting system in WAR, mostly because crafting products are not immediately useful at the early ranks, and having the wrong mix of skills (such as Talisman Making, which as of 1.1 had no containers past the starter ones) means crafting becomes about as exciting and appealing as drilling a hole in one's skull, or watching paint peel.

Of the many comments I got in terms of other things to do, there were frequent comments about using the open party window to find a group. Here you can see my first couple of attempts at socializing with other players:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7790

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7792

Aside from my UI layout totally being awful with the chat window, I wasn't having any luck. But just as with everything else with this experiment, I turned to the community for help:

http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7793
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7794
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7795
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/for...pictureid=7796

Some sage advice from the Skull Throne community. I suppose I need to try it out next time, although this does speak volumes about how open party, while still an interesting mechanic, doesn't do much to force people to communicate. People apparently need to encounter each other in the wild before partying up, not wonder why the elf with the weird name that sounds like the chick from the Black Eyed Peas is asking to heal them.

So that wraps up week 1. I ended up at renown rank and level 8, putting me at a solid start for 7 hours of work. So far, I've uncovered some interesting things playing WAR casually and at the direction of the community, and plan on continuing to do so for more wall of text reports.

P.S. - Did I tell you I tried ORvR?