Magic World Online Preview

[Ralsu]

The Art of Storytelling Revisited

Ralsu continues his mission to find the diamonds in the rough among free-to-play games with a preview of Magic World Online. He recounts his experiences downloading Goldcool's game, creating a character, and playing through some early quests:

Already, I can sense that Magic World Online attempts to give gamers something that is often overlooked in the arms race to push computers to their limits and have the flashiest product: a solid story.

• Read the full preview
• Then tell us what you think

[Ralsu]

Anybody else here able to enjoy a solid game even if the graphics are not stellar?

[Cody Bye]

Yes - see my review of Mabinogi if you don't believe me.

That said, I really want to sink my teeth in MWO. It reminds me ALOT of Diablo II and the Baldur's Gate Trilogy.

[Blackmyst]

I tried the game.All I can say is you had FAR more patience than I did.The weak graphics ...no WASD movement and lack of a zoom function to get closer to the action, got me to pull the plug quickly.

Frankly I really had hopes for the game......crafting...player housing...faction fighting. All of my favorite options (sigh).

[Ralsu]

Originally Posted by Blackmyst

I tried the game.All I can say is you had FAR more patience than I did.The weak graphics ...no WASD movement and lack of a zoom function to get closer to the action, got me to pull the plug quickly.

Frankly I really had hopes for the game......crafting...player housing...faction fighting. All of my favorite options (sigh).

Can't defend the graphics. They are weak. The lack of WASD movement did not bother me because I have played Diablo. Normally, I would want zoom, but you do NOT want to zoom in on these graphics.

My goal in the next preview is to dig into some of those extra features to see if they are solid enough (like the story) to overlook the poor graphics.

[Kharkh]

Ive been playing this game for past few days, and must say that the lack of WASD control or any other is not a problem becouse this game is 90% about botting. And suprisingly - its most positive feature MWO have. I tested many asian 3d style games, and get bored of gameplay in like 2 hours. Everywhere same thing.. And honestly - i would skip MWO like most of asian games, if there wasnt implemented bot. Im truly happy that PC makes all the boring work for me here.

There are many things that devs should work on (for example turn off bots on siege wars! ) but so far, thanks to this whole bot thing, this is first asian game that keeps me playing.

[Blackmyst]

Any comments on Faction warfare ..... Crafting...Housing ?

[Kharkh]

Well for now i can only say there are 7 so called living skills like herbal, blacksmith, craftsman, alchemy, tailor, ore & lumber.. cant really say more because atm im focusing on exping and farming gold. Im planning to taste some alchemy in near future.. so i can let u know than.

About faction warfare. Atm Dynasty faction has big adventage on Empire. Last state war (its once a week) score was like 4000 : 300 for Dynasty. But it will change i think. 1 thing most ppl agree is an option to TURN OFF the BOT in war areas cuz now pvp is not much differ from pve..

Housing.. i know that u can buy furnitures and hire maids. There is special Uptown area where u can build houses. But no player atm has one. This is really expensive thing, i dont think that any1 could afford house now or in next few weeks/months..

[Dobry]

Yep, remember guys, this is still "closed" beta (actually it's quite open if you register, lol... "closed" beta goofiness is rampant in the F2P's I think)... so they're still working on improvements, content, features.

I've been playing for the past few weeks, and I must say that for what it is it is very good. I've really been getting into the various 2d F2P games lately, and they are addictively fun if you appreciate them for what they are, and a nice breath of fresh air.

One thing I would take issue with in the review is the notion that the game=bot is for "cheaters". "Cheating" IMO implies the use of illegal 3rd party software, and I think the availability of a legal bot accomplishes several positive objectives:

1. Eliminates all need for gold-sellers and farmers. Brilliant stroke, devs.

2. Levels the playing field for all players. Everyone has free access to the bot, so you can choose whether to use it from a purist's or moral perspective. Point is, the option is there, and it's completely legal.

3. Definitely the bot takes out much of the incessant and boring grind that is a fact of life in all mmo's. You can choose whether to bot, or even just use it as an assistant during play, and frees you up for the fun stuff, such as RvR.

To correct an earlier poster... there is very active RvR in this game, with scheduled events every Wednesday and Saturday night.

All in all, this is a hidden gem of a game, IMHO. I'm having a heck of a lot of free fun.

One other thought... learning to program the bot (a lot more involved than you might think at first glance) is something of a game in and of itself. Definitely a learning curve to it, and requires developing a skill at it. This actually has proven to be a rewarding and satisfying part of the game for me, just figuring how to tweak the bot and play it with finesse and nuance.

[Ralsu]

Originally Posted by Dobry

One thing I would take issue with in the review is the notion that the game=bot is for "cheaters". "Cheating" IMO implies the use of illegal 3rd party software

I think you misunderstood what I meant in my preview when I said

Goldcool games seeks to make this an integrated feature that any player can access instead of a third-party tool used only by cheaters.

It's not cheating if it is built into the game, which (as you said) is smart in some ways. I still worry that you'd end up with a bunch of people using the bot all the time to grind solo and then only really playing to do the RvR.

And if that is the way it turns out, why have any other content besides RvR? Just start us all out at the same level and let us fight--sorta like Street Fighter with multiple players at once.

But then, I am one of those "journey is more fun that the destination types." I actually enjoy developing my character and playing through challenges at all levels.

I'll be looking into some of the other features of MWO more this weekend and writing a second preview. We won't dare review it until it is a "finished" product.