I'd just logged into WAR's Open Beta for about 10 minutes. I'd poked around and settled on a Squig Herder which I'd obtained the lofty height of Rank 2 (that's Level 2 for people who don't speak Mythic terminology). I decided to explore but got not much further than over the next hill.

A large group of players were assembled near a shoreline. The kind of crowd that makes you think some kind of parade must be starting. Suddenly this big Ogre appears and starts shouting "get these Squigs off me!" or somesuch. I find myself caught up in the excitement, killing the beasties, then finding beer barrels and then finally after a few waves of Dwarven troops I'm tossing my arrows at a Boss.

It was one big Woot! moment that lasted for several minutes. There were a ton of players participating and incredulously after I was awarded my share of loot, a timer popped up for the whole thing to start again in a couple of minutes.

I'd experienced my first Public Quest.

I ended up repeating it several times, dragging Nelg along with me and we both had a blast. This past Sunday that was my introduction to WAR.

My friend Chris would have described this as one of those "Oh wow" moments. He figures every MMORPG needs at least one big glorious moment, like the first time you take a flight path in World of Warcraft, or your first fatality in Age of Conan. Without those experiences there would be nothing epic about these games. And an MMORPG without epic-- well it just wouldn't be epic. =P

The Public Quest magic is so simple, it's basically just an event that players can jump into, even if it's in-progress. This is something we've needed in these games awhile, a chance to just run in and have a blast, without worrying about organizing the proper group to do so.

I hope Mythic can maintain this kind of magic throughout all of WAR's lifespan.