A Short but Sweet Review of LOMA

jihashi

  As some of you know, the first thing I always do is check the forums. What do I look for when I sift through them? First, I look and see what bug reports have already been submitted, mainly so that I don't end up submitting the exact same thing. Second, I look and see what suggestions they've put in already, again for the same reason. Third, I look at what kind of community is in place, I get an idea of wether or not if I'm dealing with mature individuals that know what they're their for. Or if the community is filled with irrisponsible hooligans with nothing better to do, other than to trash talk whoever comes along. The last thing I do, is log onto the game itself, and see just how it is. How the people behave in game, and how the game play is as far as responce time, fun factor and overall quality of the work that was put into it. So without further ado, read on to see how I disected this interesting little specimen.

-gameplay seemed little to do with martial arts, and focused more on magic. It was a little disapointing to see that instead of some sort of fancy martial arts moves, there was just alot of weapon swinging and spell casting. So yeah, it was a let down on that end. The movements were glitchy, and the weapons didn't seem to correspond with the type of combat they were meant for in the first place. Ranged combat with a scythe anyone?

-appearance I would have to say, while cartoony at best, still looked fantastic. The female outfits could have at least covered a bit more flesh than what they did. But, hey, they're trying to cator to the drooling hormone driven teens out there. Thankfully, the limited character customization options during character creation at least kept the characters from becoming disproportionate abominations. With the screen resolutions and options set just right, the animations flowed smoothly, and the character movement appeared flawless. That is, until there was combat.

-the quests were realatively dry at best. Go here, kill this, go back and report in. Standard fare, but nothing less than I ever expected. That is, until I got a surprise secret newbie quest. The title of that gave me a good chuckle either way. I would divuldge what the reward is, but, it's a secret. Not gonna tell. No trouble finding your mission monsters, all you had to do was click on the name and off you go. That was another nice feature that I've seen in a great deal of Korean MMOs as of the last couple of years. Set the auto tracker and go make yourself a sandwhich. When you come back, your already at your destination. I have to say that that was my favorite part.

-the community (I had to get this painful bit out of the way before proceeding with the rest, you'll see why shortly) appeared to be populated by assanine individuals. Who all acted like they were in middle school. On their forums I saw countless flames towards one person or another, threats to PK each other while they were afk, "bragging rights" from another individual that they oh so bravely took out a high level while they were away from their keyboard, and one particular kid crying that he didn't get the exact item (supposedly) that was in the cash shop during this beta phase. In game they were no better. Ask a question and right away your buffeted by abusive comments. In short, your almost better off keeping to yourself as this group appears way to cliqueish.

-the forums appear to be a mishmash of mixed information. They more than likely would have done better with it with clearly defined sections for bug reports and suggestions. Though the addition of the self help section was well done, and filled with useful (albiet spammed out by the community at large putting in their own "expert" opinions) information for new players. The forums are at least moderated, but that doesn't stop the idiocy from flowing freely.

 

 All in all I have to say, despite the misleading title, PWI came out with another beautifully done MMO. I'm not just saying that because I've been playing their games for years, but rather because they're a company that knows what they're doing.

Grammie

Are there any early level quests?  Anyone know where I might find  a list of them?