As promised, I rolled up a Black Orc last night. So far, I’m diggin’ it in PvE at least. The combat system is nearly identical to LOTRO’s Minstrel class, where there are different tiers of abilities and using an ability from one tier opens the next higher tier. That’s perfectly fine in PvE but I’m concerned once more that once I get into the hectic melee PvP scene that I’ll be too flustered with all the hotbar clicking and unable to perform the role I’ve chosen.
The starter area has a lot of personality and humor, such as one of the first quests to go find a barrel along the shore with a dwarf stuffed inside yelling to let him out. A few quests later you end up on top of the dwarven fortress and stuff an unconscious dwarf inside a barrel and toss him over the side! So at least there’s closure to the question of “how and why are there dwarves stuffed in barrels?”
I’ve gotten Vrasaaj up to Rank 6 so far, playing several hours last night and this morning.
Unfortunately I also spent the entire time queued up for the first Scenario and it never activated. Not a good sign. I’m really hoping I get to play this class since the Chosen didn’t quite grab me but it’s difficult to practice the PvP when there’s no one to PvP with in these Scenarios. 
Just in case the melee thing didn’t work out, I thought it prudent if I had a backup plan so just after lunch today I rolled up a Goblin Shaman. As I’d feared, not only is “progress bar casting” in full swing with the Shaman (and I’d expect every other casting class) but he has to stand still to cast. Vanguard seriously has me spoiled in that respect… However — I can’t even believe I’m writing this — Goblins have flair; they have style, and I’m really enjoying the Shaman so far. Squishy as hell until I get the hang of the whole Gork/Mork system, but it’s surprisingly fun. I know damn well I can heal in PvP, I did it in WoW and I do it in LOTRO, so if the tanking thing doesn’t pan out I’ll certainly have a part-time job as a Shaman. Everyone loves healers, right? Right? 
The Shaman is also the first time ever I’ve made a character with a “silly” name. Here’s why: when playing through the starter quests last night with Vrasaaj, the goblins kept being referred to as a “Gobbo.” Don’t even ask me why, but for some reason Cabo Wabo tequila popped into my head. I almost named him Kobbo Gobbo but WAR doesn’t allow a last name (at least not that I’ve seen) and who’d get that anyway? So, I ended up with “Tukeela.” Not incredibly creative, and trust me, I always cringe when I see retarded character names but ya know what? I’m gonna roll with it anyway this time. Y’all can just deal.
This article’s continuation of the “disappointment” theme is this: as linear as WAR may be, it needs players to drive the content or it falls flat on its face. I spent 4 hours or more queued for that scenario and nothing. I took the Shaman to his first Public Quest and there was no one there. Even though I’m enjoying the questing more this time around because I’m enjoying the classes themselves, the bottom line is that the PvE is still lackluster at best. Without other players around, there just doesn’t seem to be much of anything to do in WAR, and that concerns me.
Having come to that conclusion, and having found two classes that (so far) I am enjoying, I think it finally might be time to let Casualties know I’m here and see what a difference that makes.
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Order = win for scenario queue times.
As for last names, I believe the option comes at 20, and the last name registrar is at the capitol cities.
Bah, can’t edit.
Shamans are AMAZING as hell in RvR. They can’t be brought down unless with strict focus-fire. And pairing one up with a Black Orc is one ROUGH duo to handle.
One hell of a healing class.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m saying here’s another view:
1. Set up key bindings now. Get used to using the keyboard instead of clicking the buttons on the hotbar. Really. I was a clicker before, now I mainly use the keyboard for activating abilities. It makes a HUGE difference and frees up the mouse for looking, clicking on enemies or allies (not in group).
The sooner you do it, the more time you have to get used to it while the game is still forgiving.
2. Shamans have some instant casts as heals, buffs and attacks. You’re wrong here, it’s a mix
3. In Vanguard, you slow down when moving and casting so it’s really not that much of an improvement. If you need to move in WAR, moving slowly while casting isn’t going to save you any. In a PVE only game? Okay. But trust me when I say you don’t want a Bright Wizard to be able to run around at full speed while casting his big nukes
4. I found the shaman to be a lot of fun and often it can make scenario experiences better because now your side has a healer that will actually heal! What a difference that makes!
5. The lack of other players is bang on. Scenarios and PQs fail without other players around and if no one is around in your level range, you’re stuck soloing the PVE content.
I’m really surprised they didn’t learn from this in DAoC. I remember making a DAoC character a couple of years after it was released and the newbie areas were dead. Dead. I couldn’t find anyone to group with. For some reason this isn’t the case with WoW… likely due to large subscriber base or something.
Ah well.
Honestly, I can’t emphasis #1 enough. You should do this in other games too whether you think you need to or not. You’ll find you can react quicker even in PVE.
I do rebind the keys immediately, and I hate clicking but once I get past 4 or 5 on this new keyboard (one of those ergonomic dealies) I end up hitting the wrong key because it isn’t where it would be on a normal keyboard. Plus there’s only 1 to = anyway then you’re on a new bar, so I’ve been attempting to get myself used to doing a combination of pressing and clicking. The clicking isn’t going so well except in slower PvE. I ended up moving my heals to a different bar but I’m so used to LOTRO where bar #2 would be Shift+# but WAR uses that to change bars.
Another problem is that WAR isn’t releasing default keybinds. I use ‘R’ to Run, not Reply to a tell. That works fine because I bound Reply to another key. But ‘B’ and ‘V’ in particular are being problems. I prefer ‘I’ for Inventory over ‘B’ for Bags. I cleared the Bags line then set only ‘I’ but ‘B’ still works anyway. Worse, I always use ‘V’ for VOIP push-to-talk, so every time I talk the Abilities frame pops up even though I also have that set to a different key.
Yeah, in Vanguard casting slows you down dramatically, but you’re still moving. More importantly, there’s no error message because you’re moving, which is really the big-picture point I’m getting at — it lets me play the game without having to jump through hoops. Stopping is a small hoop but it’s aggravating in a tight situation.