Okay, who's playing WoW?

[Goofball]

Just picked it up a week ago, and am now seriously considering checking into rehab. It's worse than crack.

I was a previous UO player, but dropped it a couple of years ago.

WoW is seriously eating up every spare moment I have lately...

:shame:

[Xiahou]

Just picked it up a week ago, and am now seriously considering checking into rehab. It's worse than crack.

I was a previous UO player, but dropped it a couple of years ago.

WoW is seriously eating up every spare moment I have lately...

:shame:
Man are you late to the game. ~;p

I used to play pretty regularly, but now it's more of an on again, off again relationship for me. I'll sign up for a month or so and then drop it again for awhile. It's a fun game, but usually somewhere before level 40 for me, the fun starts to wear thin and the suck becomes too great. As soon as it starts to feel more like a job than a relaxing past-time, you know it's time to quit. :yes:

[Bava]

I wonder when we´ll see the first "Quitting playing MMORPGs for the LAST time" threads in the arena.


On topic: Played a MMO once, way too much grinding and way too less PvP for my taste.:charge:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I wonder when we´ll see the first "Quitting playing MMORPGs for the LAST time" threads in the arena.


To my knowledge, it's already happened. :laugh4:

[econ21]

Yes, I was given it as a Christmas present and it is surprisingly addictive. I thought I would hate it - I am not into MMORPGs, have only previously tried Guild Wars and despised it; found Morrowind/Oblivion - which seem to me single player MMORPGs - ultimately soulless; have no time for RTSs and found no attraction in Warcraft with its hackneyed and clunky cartoony graphics. BUT to my surprise, it has sucked me in.

I think it handles the questing/levelling/upgrading/exploration aspects of RPGs very well. Aesthetically it is surprisingly pleasing - my favorite zone so far is Duskwood[1]. The combat has sufficient complexity to be interesting and seems well balanced for challenge. I have not got into the PvP side, but the party aspects are interesting if a little frustrating (finding the right people to do an instance with).

Even stuff I thought would be anathema to me - like the gathering/crafting professions and the auction house - are compelling.



[1]My favorite moment so far was my first encounter with Stitches, the gift from the embalmer in Duskwood. I was in village and suddenly the NPC night watch started panicking. Their camp had been over-run by a monstrosity and four mustered to run off along the road. I was intrigued, as up until that point I had seen no NPC scripting of any note. So I followed them up the road. They then stopped at an intersection and waited.

I got bored, so I carried along the road. Travelling alone along the road from Duskwood at night is quite an atmospheric and creepy experience in itself. Then I saw a player warrior running along the road in the opposite direction. We stopped and stared at each other, as I struggled to find the controls to buff him. Then I ran off.

He typed: "No".

Then: "Wait".

And: "You will die."

So I stopped and ran back, and waited alongside the warrior.

Out of the gloom we saw this giant undead monstrosity - a hideous flesh golem type creature - coming down the road towards us.

We both ran back behind the four night watch. I buffed them up and we waited.

"What is it?" I asked the warrior.

"I dunno" he replied.

As the monstrosity laid into the night watch, I felt compelled to lend a hand. A couple of hits from it and I was done for. The warrior ran off.

"Are you dead?" the warrior whispered.

I answered in the affirmative, but was totally thrilled by the experience.

[Xehh II]

I still have no idea why people pay money each month to play a game, it pathetic.(Or I'm just jealous that you get to play them and I don't.)

[Hepcat]

My brother is addicted to the game. Since it's the school holidays he's playing it 12 hours+ and it's driving me insane. I tell him it's a waste of money yet he insists it isn't and even paid for a "special" gaming keyboard which had a WoW layout (which is exactly the same as a normal keyboard except it has the hotkeys labelled).

I have never tried playing it and I don't intend to since it seems so addictive and it costs money (the main reason :laugh4:).

[TB666]

I used to be addictive to the game.
Luckily I realise how boring the game really was and stopped.
Haven't looked back since.

[Bijo]

I used to be addictive to the game.
Luckily I realise how boring the game really was and stopped.
Haven't looked back since.
Oh, but you want to play it, don't you? You know the game's just there waiting for you to be picked up, right? I mean... ya know, it's like... all you gotta do is pay a little money and install the thing and stuff like that. Wouldn't take too long now, would it? -gasp!- You hear that? What's that...? -imitates a high-pitched voice- "Come to meeeee, I am WoW. I must be played by someoneeeee. To be plaaaaayed by the one whose name starts with a Teeeeeeeeee." What??? It's WoW talking to you, man! It needs you, and you need IT. Admit it already! Confess! :clown:

[TB666]

*hugs my Xbox360*
WoW can go where the sun don't shine(northern Sweden in lazy terms).

[Ironside]

*hugs my Xbox360*
WoW can go where the sun don't shine(northern Sweden in lazy terms).

Hey, that's not fair!!!1

We see the sun sometimes, like 5 min midday if we're really lucky this time of year (you only need to be out by lunch on a place where you can see the horizon and on a clear day. That sure happens often...), but I do admittably live below the polar circle.
On the plus side, we don't have any vampire problems during the summer. :laugh4:

On and off WoW player here (off is usually counted in weeks) and been playing for quite some time. It's a good game but it's probably my only MMORPG as it takes a lot of time.

And let's not talk about the money. :sweatdrop:

Econ, they do have some pretty good NPC moments at some of the quests. The most epic one that I recall is in a bit sad shape atm as it's close to lvl 60 and part of a long quest chain making it ignored nowadays, as it's better to go to outlands.

In the end of a long chain with plenty of lore you're in the defence of Darrowshire in EPL with a lot of NPC, keeping away hordes of undeads while trying to keep one dude alive, until next event were you need to kill a deathknight.

And the addiction usually stops after a while. Admittably it was the longest one I've ever got, lastest for more than a month.

[Husar]

I hate it, never touched it. If I would I might do evil things to it. :juggle2:

[Viking]

I was addicted to an MMO, a really crappy one too, called Knight Online. The addicting part was really how much skill there was involved; in the sense of having rapid fingers. I was getting tired of it and decided to test out WoW. When I played WoW I said to myself: "Ugh this game sucks...way too slow..." So I got tired of WoW pretty fast (might say I never gave it a real chance) and returned to my addiction. Played it for a few months more until I reached lvl 70 and later got...tired of it. A couple of months later I decided to play it again, just to find that even thought my level and gear was ok, it would take too much time farming just to PvP (expensive mana potions :inquisitive: ), so I gave up once more.

Yeah, you'll get tired of it sometime. ~D


(it wasnt' all bad though; thanks to it I now got an extensive Turkish vocalbulary :dizzy2:)

[Kekvit Irae]

On topic: Played a MMO once, way too much grinding and way too less PvP for my taste.:charge:

You might enjoy Dark Age of Camelot then. There's the obvious grind of all MMORPGs, but it also has the best PvP system around. Siege warfare = luv.

[Viking]

Isn't Guild Wars pretty much just PvP? :inquisitive:

[Crandaeolon]

Isn't Guild Wars pretty much just PvP?

The vast majority of GW is actually PvE, on the order of hundreds of hours of content (counting all four campaigns.) It's not, however, a true MMORPG - it's basically an online action RPG.

GW's reputation as a PvP game is probably because of its "PvP characters", which are maximum level and have access to perfect gear and all unlocked skills upon creation, but these characters can only be used to play PvP. Normal PvE characters can also be taken into PvP, but the differences are only cosmetic.


You might enjoy Dark Age of Camelot then. There's the obvious grind of all MMORPGs, but it also has the best PvP system around. Siege warfare = luv.

I considered trying DAoC once, but the looming spectre of grind turned me away. I also understood that DAoC's combat is less controlled; teams can come and go and the battlefield is fluid. GW has much less grind and high-end PvP has no random elements, so it seems more like my cup of tea. I have no idea about DAoC's actual gameplay mechanics or team dynamics though.

[Bava]

You might enjoy Dark Age of Camelot then. There's the obvious grind of all MMORPGs, but it also has the best PvP system around. Siege warfare = luv.

Thanks for the recommendation, Kevkit, but the only MMO I really considered playing for a longer period of time was PotBS but that one turned out to be a bit
too arcadish. I guess it´s a single player´s life for me. ~D

Unless M&B goes online, of course...

[TevashSzat]

Isn't Guild Wars pretty much just PvP? :inquisitive:

From my time when Guild Wars first came out, I'd say this is pretty right.

I don't know what the current situation in the GW community is, but the PvM could only be really appreciated on the first time through. After that, all of my characters were rushed ie I went through everything really quickly and had the infamous Droknars Forge rushing from Beacon's Perch (a bit off topic here, but I actually had my R/W make the rush ONCE. This was after they made the run alot harder. Everyone I rushed got it for free since I was just interested to see if I couldve done it, but boy were they surprised...)

There is not too much PvM replayability so once you are fairly rich, you just want to do Tombs or GvG which means tons and tons of PvP. Even farming for items or questing in the hard areas are just ultimately attempting to aquire more wealth so you could PvP better.

[Crandaeolon]

From my time when Guild Wars first came out, I'd say this is pretty right.

Quite an odd comment. It's not really disputable at all that GW has around 40-80ish hours of PvE content per campaign, depending on player skill and experience. For a new player, the figure may be even a bit on the low side. This is quite comparable, even favorably so, to most other action RPGS such as Diablo II or Titan Quest.


I don't know what the current situation in the GW community is, but the PvM could only be really appreciated on the first time through.

Um... Isn't that the same thing with most other games? Certainly from my time in Diablo 2 only the first playthrough was a "new" thing, all subsequent playthroughs being about trying other characters or remaking dead (I played mostly HC) or nerfed ones as fast as possible.

I mean, obviously the amount of content is finite in any traditionally developed game. Developers try to extend this amount of content with things like repeatable quests (=dungeons etc) and grind for items, XP or titles. Personally, I think it's only a good thing that GW did away with most of this grind, as it levels the playing field and is ultimately needless anyway. (Those who wish to be competitive do it anyways.)


There is not too much PvM replayability so once you are fairly rich, you just want to do Tombs or GvG which means tons and tons of PvP. Even farming for items or questing in the hard areas are just ultimately attempting to aquire more wealth so you could PvP better.

The "PvM replayability" is exactly the same as in other non-random action RPGs - you create a new character, play portions of the game again, or keep exploring areas, or visit endgame elite areas. Maybe people think that the need to grind for XP and better gear is "replayability?"

And that last comment _really_ baffles me. GW is not a gear-focused game, and getting statistically perfect gear takes negligible effort when compared to pretty much every other RPG out there. Not to mention PvP characters, which are statistically identical to perfect PvE characters. There's no need to acquire "wealth" for PvP unless you just want to look pretty with PvE gear.

PvP is also entirely optional and limited to specific instances. I'm quite certain that the vast majority of GW players never play PvP except for a few visits in the most casual arenas.

[TevashSzat]

Quite an odd comment. It's not really disputable at all that GW has around 40-80ish hours of PvE content per campaign, depending on player skill and experience. For a new player, the figure may be even a bit on the low side. This is quite comparable, even favorably so, to most other action RPGS such as Diablo II or Titan Quest.

Um... Isn't that the same thing with most other games? Certainly from my time in Diablo 2 only the first playthrough was a "new" thing, all subsequent playthroughs being about trying other characters or remaking dead (I played mostly HC) or nerfed ones as fast as possible.

I mean, obviously the amount of content is finite in any traditionally developed game. Developers try to extend this amount of content with things like repeatable quests (=dungeons etc) and grind for items, XP or titles. Personally, I think it's only a good thing that GW did away with most of this grind, as it levels the playing field and is ultimately needless anyway. (Those who wish to be competitive do it anyways.)

The "PvM replayability" is exactly the same as in other non-random action RPGs - you create a new character, play portions of the game again, or keep exploring areas, or visit endgame elite areas. Maybe people think that the need to grind for XP and better gear is "replayability?"

And that last comment _really_ baffles me. GW is not a gear-focused game, and getting statistically perfect gear takes negligible effort when compared to pretty much every other RPG out there. Not to mention PvP characters, which are statistically identical to perfect PvE characters. There's no need to acquire "wealth" for PvP unless you just want to look pretty with PvE gear.

PvP is also entirely optional and limited to specific instances. I'm quite certain that the vast majority of GW players never play PvP except for a few visits in the most casual arenas.

What I meant was that GW is relatively low on the PvM side compared to other MMORPGs (WoW comes to mind here) especially if you only had the original campaign as I had did. That meant that the one play through is extremely short (relative to MMORPGs of course). 40-80 hours is NOTHING compared to what I expect people in WoW do to get to their level cap without even having decked out gear.

Since PvM is relatively short and there is not much replayability like in most MMORPGs, you can only really go to PvP once you get past a point or played for 150ish hours.

GW is relatively not very gear focused yes, which makes PvM even shorter since you cant even grind THAT much. As for me grinding, I don't know about other people, but I was pretty involved with the PvP scene and of the 800ish hours I've played, maybe 500 were PvPing. My Guild which was in top 150 at one point became really strict about top end gear. That meant the Superior Vigor runes which were easily 40plat at that time and since I mostly played monk, the Sup Monk runes which were not cheap at all. Then you need to factor in the multiple gear set ups with the full sup. rune for the cheap dmg reduction build and that a TON of plat there. I only got those stuff by farming like crazy which wasn't helped when all of the solo builds were nerfed and drops became horrible.

True, there are PvP chars, but I already had my limit in real chars and couldn't delete any of them since they were all pretty much essential. To get a decked out PvP only char, you still needed to unlock the runes which meant buying them expensively. Yes, the Balthazar whatever system came out, but I was already winding down in GW by that point and really didn't care about that too much at all.

As for the majority not playing GW, those would be the most casual players. IMO, any player who beats the campaign with a char or two really had no point of playing anymore unless they wanted to PvP. Really whats the point of having chars who have finished all of the PvM stuff if you don't PvP with them?

[Crandaeolon]

Apologies for the hijack, a couple more comments before closing off this tangent:


40-80 hours is NOTHING compared to what I expect people in WoW do to get to their level cap without even having decked out gear.

I still don't understand why stretching out finite content with all sorts of grind is supposed to be a good thing and even expected. Worlds in MMORPGs are generally built to have lots of scope with minimal design effort. While not a bad thing by itself, this kind of design tends to manifest in numerous fed-ex or monster hunt quests, slow progress in leveling and farming high-end gear for astronomical amounts of time.

Maybe I'm too old or too competitively minded, but GW's approach of easily attainable max power level so people can be distinguished by actual playing skill instead of time spent grinding is far superior to me.


True, there are PvP chars, but I already had my limit in real chars and couldn't delete any of them since they were all pretty much essential. To get a decked out PvP only char, you still needed to unlock the runes which meant buying them expensively.

This is all so 2005. I was there too, and yes unlocking via PvE was annoying. However, this is old information and as such, no recommendation should be based on it.


As for the majority not playing GW, those would be the most casual players. IMO, any player who beats the campaign with a char or two really had no point of playing anymore unless they wanted to PvP. Really whats the point of having chars who have finished all of the PvM stuff if you don't PvP with them?

I kind of agree with you here, but apparently the majority of GW players think differently. Even the developers themselves were surprised. As a result they added stuff like titles, Hard Mode, and in general much more PvM stuff to do.

[Ja'chyra]

Gave it a go this weekend and got a 15 Hunter so far, seems a whole lot like an easier version of Everquest 2 to me.

Think I'll give a Druid a go tonight.

[KukriKhan]

Make sure you find yourself a good guild. There's a lot to WoW you just won't find out on your own, but finding a good friendly guild (whether it's brand new, or well-established) will ensure that you're never really "lost" in the game.


That's what Jason (#2 son) says, too. He plays WoW 4-6 hours a day for more than a year now, so I can agree it seems almost addictive. I've loaded it up twice in the past year, and tried (really hard) to like it. But in the end, I found my attention wandering, and realized I was bored.

I can see that lots o'folks like it; folks whose opinions I value and respect; so I won't say it's a bad game. It and I have just never "clicked". Ten million subscribers can't ALL be wrong.

I must say: I admire how Blizzard keeps the game updated and supported.

[TB666]

If I ever return to WoW, I will do it when they clean up the RP servers.
There is absolutly no RPing in them.
It kills the mood when you are trying to RP and you get "lulz wut" back.

[TB666]

Maybe so, but there is still RP servers with RP rules.
Blizzard however never bothered to enforce those rules like they should.

[Navaros]

Isn't Guild Wars pretty much just PvP? :inquisitive:

I've played a ton of GW over the years mainly because I'm a cheapskate and don't like paying monthly fees just to play games. But I have no doubt that WoW is the better game experience.

GW has very little PVE content. Mountains and mountains less than WoW. PVPers in GW generally think GW is about PVP because for some (bizarre, IMO) reason they don't get bored with the endless PVP grind in GW.

GW PVE definitely has timesinks that can potentially keep one busy to the tune of several thousand hours, but they involve repeating/grinding out the same exact tasks ad infinitum. That is not really content persay, just a matter of the devs cranking out a ludicrous number that players must reach to make an achievement in the game, a number so ludicrous that takes hundreds or thousands of hours of repeating the same montonous task to acquire. And the bad part about all that is that unlike in WoW, the grind achievements in GW have little to no beneficial effect on your character.

I disagree with Crand that the GW games have 40 - 80 hours of PVE content per campaign. Those numbers would only apply if a player engages in the grind activities in GW. I'd estimate that to simply beat the games, a good player could beat the first GW game in under 20 hours, the second GW game in under 15 hours, the third GW game in under 20 hours, and the fourth GW game in under 12 hours.

Also GW has no Auction House, which makes trying to particpate in the in-game economy or trade in any way a very major migraine headache. Better not to even bother IMO.

There is a saying: "You get what you pay for". There is a reason why WoW has a fee and GW doesn't. It's because WoW is a MMO that justifies the monthly fee.

GW is a 100% instanced action RPG akin to Diablo 2 in terms of world and trade structure, not a MMO.

Having said all that if one doesn't want to and/or can't afford WoW, GW is probably the best alternative out there. Just don't expect it can compete with WoW in terms of quality. It can't.

[Tristrem]

speaking from experience friends don't let friends get or play WOW

thats all I have to say on the subject

[Crandaeolon]

Hey Nav, wondered what took you so long! ~:wave:


PVPers in GW generally think GW is about PVP because for some (bizarre, IMO) reason they don't get bored with the endless PVP grind in GW.

I still play GW PvP because there's no viable alternative yet. Fury tried, but failed so hard that it was almost comical. If you can point me to a similar game that has a sizable competitive community I'd be grateful.


GW PVE definitely has timesinks that can potentially keep one busy to the tune of several thousand hours, but they involve repeating/grinding out the same exact tasks ad infinitum.

Who really expects one piece of entertainment to keep themselves occupied for thousands of hours? A competitive game or sport or whatever I can understand, but not a casually played game. The very idea just feels alien to me.

And I seriously doubt that any conventionally developed game in existence can provide even "mere" hundreds of hours of content without resorting to repetition.


And the bad part about all that is that unlike in WoW, the grind achievements in GW have little to no beneficial effect on your character.

Nor are they required to be successful at the game; titles are optional, and so are pretty skins for gear. Nothing actually forces you to grind to be competitive. It's just a question of necessary grind vs. cosmetic grind. Again, the non-compulsory option is a no-brainer to me. This is entertainment, not work.


I'd estimate that to simply beat the games, a good player could beat the first GW game in under 20 hours, the second GW game in under 15 hours, the third GW game in under 20 hours, and the fourth GW game in under 12 hours.

Uh-huh. And people can complete Fallout 2 in less than half an hour. ~:rolleyes: Sure, your numbers sound about right for someone who knows what to do, ignores sidequests and exploration, looks up walkthroughs for maps and missions in Wiki and can play the game well enough. However, most new players won't just try to blaze through but also do sidequests and explore around a bit. I clocked around 80 hours of Prophecies during my first time through with a bunch of friends.


Having said all that if one doesn't want to and/or can't afford WoW, GW is probably the best alternative out there. Just don't expect it can compete with WoW in terms of quality. It can't.

Alas, I haven't played WoW enough to compare the two games, so I'll just have to take peoples' word for it. I'm judging GW by its own merits only, and it does have abundant PvE content for its price. (And I'm not alone in this estimation; most reviews hold the same opinion.)

[econ21]

What zones do people find fun in WoW?

I had a blast in Dustwood - I liked the Sleepy Hollow atmosphere and many of the sidequests were fun, telling creepy stories. Having Stitches randomly rampage through it also added to the attraction.

What other zones should I look out for? (I'm level 34 now).

[TB666]

What zones do people find fun in WoW?

I think it was called Hellfire Peninsula, the first area that you enter if you got the expansion.
It feels like being in a warzone which is cool.

[Ja'chyra]

Well I'm still in the newbie zones and I now have a Shaman and a Druid as well as my hunter. I plan to level them up together along with one other as I like doing the professions as well as levelling but as I almost always play solo it shouldn't be a problem but it'll take me ages to get to 70.

Still not sure which class I prefer, not overly keen on the Druid but he should get better when I get bear form next level. At least money isn't that hard to come by, already have a couple of gold on my hunter at level 15 and 4 days of playing.

Anyway I'm on EU Runetotem server and my hunter is called Aeil in case anyone sees me running around aimlessly.

[Meneldil]

What zones do people find fun in WoW?

I had a blast in Dustwood - I liked the Sleepy Hollow atmosphere and many of the sidequests were fun, telling creepy stories. Having Stitches randomly rampage through it also added to the attraction.

What other zones should I look out for? (I'm level 34 now).

Overall, I find the Burning Crusade zones to be much better than the others. They feel much more living, and not like your usual MMORPG zone.
NPCs talk together, mini-events happen, etc. On the other hand, most pre-BC zones were quite blank (with exceptions such as Dustwood, Eastern Plaguelands and Silithus), it just looked like the average MMORPG quest hub + mobs.

If you're not really eager to discover end game content, I'd advise you to roll a Draenei and a Blood Elf. Their starting lands are really that great (I'd say that graphic-wise, the Blood Elf lands are better, but the Draenei zones have a somewhat "Wow, that's cool" feeling).
Later, other BC areas are also quite cool, if you don't dislike the introduction of spaceships and giant robots in a fantasy mmorpg.

Edit : Oh, and if you like Sleepy Hollow, you should aswell roll a forsaken/undead. It's probably not as timburton-ish as Dustwood, but still, cool and funny places.

[econ21]

...pre-BC zones were quite blank (with exceptions such as Dustwood, Eastern Plaguelands and Silithus),

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for those exceptions and it is good to know that the end zones are worth waiting for.

Still in the level 30s, I've been finding Stranglethorn Vale pretty mindnumbingly dull (killing 100+ tigers etc). However, I've read that Dustwallow Marsh has been revamped with lots of content and initial impressions suggest it is a good place to quest.

[Ja'chyra]

I tried WOW for a couple of weeks but I have to say, IMHO, that it's not as good as EQ2.

That being said I restarted my EQ account with Station Pass so I can play Pirates of the Burning Sea as well, thought I'd try it.

[Yawning Angel]

WoW has never appealed to me, but gave LOTRO a go before Christmas and am enjoying that.

The less cartoony graphics plus a reputedly more mature player base certainly seem to help. I'm also not interested in PvP, so the PvE of LOTRO suits me fine.

(Sorry about the slight derail!)

[Sjakihata]

I picked up WoW 2-3 months ago. I had a rather big break from school in january which i spent a lot of time playing the game. I have a level 69 undead mage, which i wont level to 70 just yet, because the BGs will get a lot harder.

Im playing on the realm of Khadgar. Don't get focused on money or spent any gold on gear untill you at least reach 60. When you get to outland the money will pour in. A couple of nights ago I got an epic pattern world drop that is worth 1000+ gold :)

What I especially like about the game is the professions and the auction house. In a place called Gadgetzan (neutral city) you can even trade with the opposite side on an auction house.

Must say there cen be a lot of grinding, especially if you want top gear. Endless of hours spent on pvping to get honourpoints to buy gear. Im more into PvE though, since that's more relaxed imo. PvP is fun too, but if you want a chance to compete at lvl 70 you must use 100+ hours of pure grinding for honour points.