I hate the new WoW LFG system. I hate it.

While doing my daily blog reading, I came across this post by Hudson of Angry Gamer.  Now, I agree with most of what he has to say but one quote, in particular, struck a nerve with me:

“their LFG Dungeon Finder system was a better release than many so called “Triple A” MMO titles.”

I posted a comment on the blog and thought I would transfer it over here.  So read on to find my feelings on this, oh so great, cross-server LFG tool.

The cross-server LFG tool was the final nail in the WoW coffin for me.

Can we make WoW any more impersonal? Random dungeon and random group mates that you will never see again?

I played WoW since before beta, on Mal’Ganis, which was the first high pop PvP server.  Those times were great.  The world was busy and populated, world PvP was fun and easy to find.  You knew EVERYONE.  Queue for a BG and you fought with and against people you knew, did an instance and it was the same.  The server community was important and dynamic.  Rivalries and alliances were created.  You entered Warsong Gulch, looked across the field, saw who you were up against and knew right then how tough the fight was going to be.  You hunted for certain people in the battlegrounds.  It was fun.

Now, everything is cross-server.  You have no idea who that person is across the field from you, because he is on some other server.  Rivalries are few and far between.  Now with the cross-server LFG it is even worse.  It is like a series of one night stands, fun for a short time but it can all seem so impersonal.

In addition, because of the fact you can now queue for an instance anywhere, no one runs around in the world anymore.  They all sit in Dalaran, waiting for the infamous “pop”.  It is like the greater world has become a virtual chat room, while everyone sits around awaiting the queue to pop.

Frankly, it has killed the server communities and it sucks.

I have a co-worker who is still playing WoW on my old server, he started shortly after TBC and we often made fun of him because of his inability to save gold for his epic flying mount.  I recently asked him if he had finally gotten it and he told me he no longer needed an epic flyer because most of his time is sitting in Dalaran and queuing the LFG tool and waiting for a pop.  This is so sad.  So much of the world is now dead because everyone is too busy queueing for instances with people they don’t even know.  I lament the loss of the old server communities.  I lament the loss of the rivalries and alliances.   I miss that you no longer know anyone else in the battleground you enter and the instance you fight through.

I miss the old WoW.

Astral Ship Battles and Wouldn’t it be Funny?

For most of the your time leveling in Allods, you will see very few new things.  Though I think the game, at this stage, is the most truly complete “theme-park” MMO I have played since early WoW, there is little that truly seperates it from WoW.  The art direction is top-notch, the classes are fun and interesting, the character stat/ability customization is great, the world is open and immersive, the quests are well written and the instances seem fun and challenging….but, then again, WoW has all of that.  WoW’s graphics are not as good, their stat/ability customization is not quite as deep but there is little that is truly innovative in Allods Online as compared to WoW.

So, why play Allods Online over WoW?  Why leave your level 80s and start over from the beginning in Allods Online?

Two words:  Astral Ships

Kanian Astral Ship

Astral ships, astral battles and astral exploration are the single biggest thing that differentiates WoW from Allods Online.  It will add a whole new dimension to Allods endgame.  What are astral ships, you ask?  Read on and find out!

Astral ships serve a multitude of purposes in Allods Online.  They serve as player housing of a sort, as they are owned by people or guilds and can have a unique design.  I believe, though I am not 100% sure, that “trophies” can be hung in the astral ship to decorate it, much like homes in LotRO and EQ2.  This allows the ability to personalize your astral ship and make it your own.

Astral Ship Interior

Secondly, they serve as transport and exploration vehicles.  The Astral is supposedly huge in Allods, as big as the normal world entire.  From what I have seen in Allods so far that will be huge.  Much bigger, for instance, than Aion’s Abyss.  In addition to being huge, it is random.  From a developer’s interview located here, even though you got to point B one way, does not necessarily mean you will get back to point A the same way.  Consider this quote:

The Astral is a dynamic, changing substance that appears to have a life of its own. This means that any travel away from the security of an allod is very random, with lots of exploration available. Players who find a way through to one place using a certain course should keep in mind that they may never get back to the same location by following the same course.

That really brings out the explorer in me, that is something I want to wander around in.  It adds an entire new dimension to gameplay.  If they can pull that off, it will be unlike any other MMO around.

But what good is exploration if there is nothing to do once you get there?  Luckily, Allods Online has tons for you to do in the Astral.  There are roaming (flying? floating?) monsters in the Astral, some taking a full raid or guild Astral Ship to defeat.  In addition, many of the endgame raids are located on small Allods (islands) that are floating around in the Astral. This means that your raid will have to travel to the island in an Astral ship, dock it and go in and complete the raid.

One of the UIs for Astral Ships

This opens up the next option for Astral content, PvP and pirates!  You see, once you complete that raid or kill that boss and loot it, all that loot is loaded into your Astral ship’s hull and can only be distributed to players after they dock the ship at a friendly port.  This opens up your ship for attack by player pirates.  Not only can you attack other ships, using magic and cannons, but you can disable and board the ship.  At that point, PvP battles open up on board the ship, as one side protects their hard-earned loot, while the other tries to take it.

When players unlock Astral battleships, they can travel in rather safe zones, fighting small demons and discovering small allods. As their fighting skills develop and their ships improve, players will soon realize that they are ready to embark on far more dangerous adventures and explore the far Astral. There they will encounter huge monsters that hold useful trophies, find unknown islands and have the opportunity to fight other ships. Once their ship is packed with treasure, they need to set back home. The return trip can be as eventful as the journey, as a booty-laden ship is an attractive target for pirates that are hidden among the conduits that connect the Astral.
Players have lots of choice to get back home. They can set off in a random and unknown direction, and risk getting lost and losing their ship with all the treasures in its hold. They can engage pirates and defeat them in battle, or try their luck and see if they can sneak past the pirates. Risk is an important part of the Sarnaut world.

Players get their Astral ship through quests, gold and patience.  They are a large endeavour and something that will have to be worked toward, they are not handed to players.  There are smaller ships that can be owned by one person and controlled by up to six and there are larger ships that are guild controlled and require up to 24 people to control.  Each person on board will have a role, be it as a pilot, gunner or navigator.  There will even be a engineer that will control a team of goblins who will run around the ship and repair various damage.

No other “theme-park” MMO has anything like this.  It truly adds something new and interesting to endgame and if it is as polished and fun as the rest of Allods Online, it will be a joy to experience.

So, in the title of this post I asked a question:  Wouldn’t it be funny?

Wouldn’t it be funny if Allods Online, a free to play, sword and magic, fantasy MMO, ended up having better “space” combat than Star Trek Online?  The more I read about each respective title, the more I believe that may end up being the case.

That, to me, is humorous.