The Angry Raider

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning comes out on September 18. I’ve been following this game’s development for quite some time. I never played the miniatures game, but I did play some of the board games and I knew lots of folks who played all of Games Workshop’s various offerings.I preordered WAR a couple of weeks ago and tomorrow, I get to participate in the Open Beta. I’m very excited about trying this game. I’ve been a WoW player since launch, and I’ve left a few times to play other games, but I kept coming back to WoW for various reasons.  All in all, I’ve played and quit:

• City of Heroes (before WoW)
• City of Villians
• Dungeons and Dragons Online
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
• EverQuest II
• Lord of the Rings Online
• RF Online
• Tabula Rasa
• Guild Wars

Some of these I quit to return to WoW; others, like RF Online, were just terrible. And this list doesn’t even take into consideration the trials I’ve played, like EverQuest, A Tale in the Desert, and even ToonTown.Why did I quit these games? I quit EverQuest 2 because of the massive commitment it required; that was my own fault, as I relentlessly pursued achievement points and heritage rewards instead of just enjoying the leveling game. I quit Lord of the Rings Online because I couldn’t find fun things to do in my teens. I quit City of Heroes because I reached the level cap and had nothing to do. I quit City of Villains because it was more of the same. I quit Tabula Rasa because I was playing it all by myself while my friends played WoW. I quit Guild Wars for the same reason. And DDO, for that matter.So how do I know WAR will be different? Well, I don’t. I’m hoping it will be. I’m hoping it will hold my interest like EQ2 did. I never wanted to quit EQ2; I think it’s way, way better than WoW for a lot of reasons (future post alert!). And I think I’m going into WAR with a totally different mindset, an attitude adjustment of sorts that will let me enjoy the game for what it has to offer.WoW did change my perception of how an MMORPG should work. WAR learned from that as well. Rather than hold on to the legacy created by EQ (as EQ2 did in a lot of ways, as did Vanguard), it builds on what WoW has established in the MMO space. But at the same time, Mythic knows what WoW does wrong and aims to fix that. Only time will tell if WAR accomplishes that. Will it keep me enthralled enough such that I ignore Wrath of the Lich King when it launches? Will I play both at the same time?Or will I find myself, once again, returning to WoW and wishing I could quit?