WoW

[The_Wizard]

So I just ordered World of Warcraft: Battle Chest for $10! Also got Wrath of the Lich King & Cataclysm.

Not sure when they will be shipping my order but come January I'll be playing a Pay-to-Play MMO for the first time.

World of Warcraft celebrated it's 6th Anniversary on 23th of November, 2010, and I've never picked it up before... Why? Three words. Monthly Subscription Fee.

So why am I picking it up now? One Word. Worgens.

Anyone else here plays WoW and/or plans to start playing Wow?  

[PainfullyVivid]

Eh. I doubt I'll ever play WoW. It looks really, really, really boring to me. It seems like it takes way too long to get to a level that you can even do anything in, and even then, you just run around, raid things, kill things, just to get better armor and stuff. I think I'd get bored from a lack of a story or point. I'm also not really into having to play with other people to be able to do certain things.

However, several of my friends like it, so there must be something about it that I will just never get.  

[AquilaLiberum]

I played it for like a month and got bored. It's nice, but took too long to go up levels and didn't do enough to keep me interested xd

By all means, get a 3 month card or something and try it out first.

~Nya-ha!~
blaugh

 

[~ Milk Mynk ~]

I picked it up just a month or so ago, and I'm positively addicted. I'm playing a Worgen Druid right now. wink

Long gushy wall of text ahead.

It's actually much better than other MMOs in terms of leveling; you -can- grind, but why kill monster after monster after monster just to level, when you can quest and level instead? WoW lore is actually extremely convoluted; there are pages and pages out there devoted to explaining the backstory of the game. Many of the main questlines you do will have something to do with the backstory, with many short quests that reveal bits and pieces to you.

I've honestly not played another MMO that drew me into the story as deeply as WoW. After some quests, unlike with several other MMOs that have you do this and that and return to the questgiver without any further explanation given, there are frequently little "cutscenes" where the questgiver actually does some form of action; for example, after speaking to a priest in a questline, there was a short cutscene where he conversed with an undead monster and basically prayed(?) it into submission.

They also have this "phasing" system, whereby if you've completed certain main questlines, your map will be in a different "phase" from your friend who has not completed it. For example, in one questline, you get to blow up half of a mountain (fun!); on that character, when you visit that area you will see the aftermath, whereas your friend will see the original mountain if he/she has not done the questline.

And also; little touches, like hyenas (killable monsters) hunting in pairs, picking off mammoth calves (also killable monsters), then "feeding" on the corpse... They add a certain sense of... realism? For the lack of a better word.

I've not gotten to the end-game (level 80~85), where the serious raiding starts, but imagine a dungeon crawl where you require a hierarchy of an overall leader, with subleaders managing the individual groups (a raid is generally 25-man), just to make it through alive... Pretty challenging!

Also, since it's already PtP, there is very, very little in-game content that you buy with real cash (unlike those "free" MMOs; I got sick of those because every other week they push out some new payable item, to the point that you can effectively trump another player if you have enough cash to unload on the game). In WoW, you're on even ground, and I love that. Most of the buyable content are cosmetic, like sparkly mounts, or pets (with no combat capability).

WoW is not a casual MMO, to be honest, and some guilds can be extremely competitive. But it's also a very fun one. One tip; when you're starting, get an experienced friend to show you the ropes. It'll be easier for you to learn most of the stuff that way.  

[Intoxikace]

I love the game!
I tried it out in September of 09.. didn't really dig it too much.. but after a week of not playing I was hooked! XD
Leveling took me a while.. took me about 2 and a half months to get to 80.. but I found it pretty fun to be honest.. and I was in no rush.. it was just fun to do.
Raiding is fun, I like it! But even if I didn't raid there are still plenty of things to do in game that can amuse me.
I feel as though it is well worth the money.. I spend plenty of time playing it and nothing else really amuses me like it does. >_<  

[Supar Ingimon]

I love WoW, only played on private servers but those dudes let me wear my splunking hats! Hyjal, Outland in Deadmines, Well of the Forgotten, Old Ironforge, soooooo many great areas to think about and mourn over. Not to mention most raids and instances are fan-freakin'-tastic, especially in the 1.12 and 2.4.3 patches. Currently I'm fooling around with the WoW Alpha thingo, and my god, screw you Blizzard, you destroyed Ye Olde Ironforge and Undercity, so beautiful. Not to mention seeing how far they get with the Emerald dream with each patch! Oooooh I can't WAIT to see what they did with it in Kitty.

Personally I'd recommend starting a 1.12/2.4.3/3.1 server first, high props to 2.4.3, to experience frustration you won't have to experience with Kitty, if my sources are correct. If you want to personally experience some of WoW's lore, you MUST play Warcraft 3 and its expansion if you haven't already, thought the retcons are seeing to destroy that, Warcraft 2 and the expansion can help with some more specific details while Warcraft has been left in the dust.  

[scrub]

I will never play WoW again but some of my friends have re-rolled on our old server (as Worgens), it looks like the game has changed a lot since TBC. I think the Goblins look cooler than the Worgens but you have to love the transformation animation.  

[Fuji_hobo_jacket]

I've currently got an 85 mage, 80 druid, and started a paladin a week ago that is now 35 just to lol at how easy it is to level. I'm leveling this paladin holy and only doing each instance once, and questing the rest.

I know this is the oldest defense for PTP's out there but it's $15 dollars a month and depending on how much you play that could be anywhere from 5 to 30 hours of entertainment. Going out to see a movie with friends is 2-3 hours of fun for $10. More if you want food. =P

As for the actual content of the game, most of the things that Milk mentioned are either completely new in Cata, or else were tried out a couple times in Wrath and after seeing the huge player response blizzard implemented them more in the new xpac.

What I'm finding so far is that for a lot of the 80-85 content and the dungeons they've made them more involved then a lot of the 60-80 stuff from the 2.X and 3.X stuff. There's still the go out and kill X number of things grind, and whatever reasoning they put in for having you kill those things is irrelevant because it's still a grind. What they've successfully changed is that it's not ALL about the grind anymore, and the way you move about in it is better I think. It used to be "Hey. We've been told that this NPC at this next quest hub needs help. Go talk to them" But they've managed to progress and make a story arc to help you from hub to hub.

Did I just contradict myself? I don't know. Whatever.

As for the dungeons, I'm in a dead end guild and too casual to be trying to get into raiding quite yet, I'm still enjoying the normal 5 mans, so I can't comment on too much. I like that a lot of the fights have more mechanics to them than BC and Wrath, where you could deal with the mechanics and no worries or you could just tank and spank and only deal with the mechanics you absolutely had to. The things they've done have pretty much said that you HAVE to follow the scripted fight the way it was intended or you will die. And even then, if you suck too much you'll still die.

That being said, I've done every normal 5 man for cata and on easily half the bosses I had no idea what the mechanics were going into the fight, but I picked it up quick and didn't have any problem staying on top of my role.

My 2 cents. Probably more then that, but I felt like typing. razz  

[The_Wizard]

Well people, the game finally came in the mail on the 3rd, so I've been playing all of 8 days so far.

I have a Worgen hunter, that's already lv 31, I would have thought it would take me longer to level but quest exp sure stacks up fast.

So far I've been solo the whole time, save for that once I partied with another player to complete a quest faster.

Everything so far on how to play has been pretty straight forward; been figuring it out on the way.

Haven't done a dungeon run yet but I may just head back to Ashenvale as Blackfathom Deeps is the only dungeon I know the entrance to, though I'll need to gather a party together first.  

[Fuji_hobo_jacket]

You don't need to go to the entrances, the LFG tool will put together a group and teleport you into the instance once the entire group has accepted the summons. It's the little green eye on the menu along the bottom of the window.  

[Aaditya]

I was into it back in the day but the raiding made me stop. For me the endgame was too much time for too little of a reward.  

[Maze]

Urgh.

Worgen.

I don't mind WoW, but I mind the horrible accents they gave the female Worgen. The males are.. eeeeh.. doable, I guess. XD;

It might help a little that I'm naturally found on the Horde side of things, but I did make a Worgen toon to check out the area. Have to admit, the phasing's done neatly, though it's kind of creepy the way your groupmates just disappear when they hand in a quest before you that makes them switch planes.. XD

The story of the Worgen is pretty well thought-out, and the atmosphere is great, but I am not a fan of Worgen. XD  

[~ Milk Mynk ~]

Try laughing as a Worgen. talk2hand

I just reached lvl 85! My first 85!! X3  

[Maze]

~ Milk Mynk ~

Try laughing as a Worgen. talk2hand

I just reached lvl 85! My first 85!! X3

I have a female Worgen. I learned not to.  

[scrub]

Aaditya

I was into it back in the day but the raiding made me stop. For me the endgame was too much time for too little of a reward.

Word for word the same as me xd