Warhammer Online

I'm not a big MMO fan. The concept doesn't turn me off, but the execution often does. Also it has been my experience that a large enough number of very vocal players easily ruin the whole experience.
Dark Age of Camelot had me for a little while. I still love City of Heroes / Villains, though I didn't play it that much and haven't touched it in years. No other MMO (and I tried most of the ones up to maybe a few years ago) kept me interested for more than a couple weeks. I've never even seriously considered WoW.

Now, however, Warhammer emerges. The miniatures game system that Blizzard "copied" with Warcraft. And from what I've read and seen so far, Warhammer Online might be something I want to try. I loved the Realm Vs. Realm concept from Dark Age, and Mythic is behind that game as well as Warhammer.

Mainly, though, there is one feature that grabs my attention. City of Heroes, for example, gave us the spawning mission zone - when you entered a door to go into your mission (whether you, singular, or you, your party) no one else could follow. No other players could mess with your mission! This was great, and many games have copied this since - but it does pull away from being part of something larger. Enter PUBLIC QUESTS. These are mutli-stage Player Vs Environment events that spawn often and allows all players, even solo players, to engage in part of something larger with their "realm mates" without needing to find a group of players specifically to hang out with!

Combine PQ's with the whole expanded and refined Realm vs. Realm concepts of Warhammer Online, and I'm actually mildly excited for the first time in years over an MMO.

Anyone else interested?

Fourth Session Ends In Tragedy

I blame WotC for their Level 6 encounter designed to face off against a Level 1 party. Seriously.
I blame myself for, after seeing the party beaten once, not being far more careful the second time.
I wish I could blame text messaging and cell phone distractions, but they probably played little role in this event. Still . . .

Telafinil and Dram recouped outside the cave, and were joined by a Warlock tracking down the death cult in the area.
They tried to sneak back into the cave to rescue their fallen comrades but Irontooth and the kobolds were ready for them. The three fought bravely, long enough for Ghesh and Anastar to awaken - but apparently a level 3 Elite Brute is more than a party of 5 1st level characters can reasonably handle, especially if the Brute has allies and/or the party is half-dead.

General consensus was that the players would create new characters, the DM would more carefully screen the upcoming encounters for difficulty, and gaming would resume (same storyline, new party) October 8th.

More Dragon Age Origins Video!

Go to the Dragon Age website at Bioware, here, to learn more!

To Look Forward To -

1 - Max will most likely be playing a Half-Elf Warlock. This will likely mean that Miklotov didn't survive the assault on Irontooth hideout.
2 - The game will most likely pick up moments after last session ended, with Telafinil and Dram outside the cave entrance. My strong suggestion - the two escapees camp near the entrance, rest (with shifts of watches) and then attempt a rescue. Just my suggestion, but you guys can try whatever.
3 - The D&D campaign is going to be encouner / combat heavy. There will be skill challenges too, and many instances of "acting in character" for information gathering and non-combat encounters, but for the most part this will be less "acting" role-playing than "character adventuring" role-playing. Just because of the nature of how 4th Ed is set up and, for this campaign, DM's personal preference.
4 - We are almost done with kobolds. Honest!