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Is WOW the right game for me?
zollen
Member Posts: 351
I have been thinking about buying WOW specially the coming release of the expansion. Would anyone gives me a few suggestions? Here are a few of my own requirements:
1. I am a casual player (could spend 1-2 hours or less per day)
2. I love PvP and I love strategy games
3. I love complex battle tatics
4. Dont enjoy too much about leveling (unless it is really fun to do)
5. Good replayibility
6. Perfer no subscription fees (but I would make an exception if the game is very good)
7. I enjoy players/guilds politic and good players communities
8. Good economical system (but optional, can do without)
9. Good Graphic
10. Persistence PvP that have global effects (again optional)
11. Perfer skills over time invested, so I can stand a decent chance against a higher level opponent.
12. Good Lore (is a must!)
13. minimun down times (reasonable requirement)
14. I can have fun even I am on for a few minutes.
1. I am a casual player (could spend 1-2 hours or less per day)
2. I love PvP and I love strategy games
3. I love complex battle tatics
4. Dont enjoy too much about leveling (unless it is really fun to do)
5. Good replayibility
6. Perfer no subscription fees (but I would make an exception if the game is very good)
7. I enjoy players/guilds politic and good players communities
8. Good economical system (but optional, can do without)
9. Good Graphic
10. Persistence PvP that have global effects (again optional)
11. Perfer skills over time invested, so I can stand a decent chance against a higher level opponent.
12. Good Lore (is a must!)
13. minimun down times (reasonable requirement)
14. I can have fun even I am on for a few minutes.
Comments
This is for 2 reasons. WoW is very much a leveling game where time invested is possibly the most important aspect. Gear is extremely important and getting that gear takes time. Those who spend more time getting that gear by raiding will clean your clock in PvP. The PvP is rather one-dimensional and has no real effect on the world. The reason I say its one-dimensional is that there is very little variation from person to person in classes. You never see the equivalent of the diversity of both individual and team builds a game like Guild Wars has there for the team PvP very much lacks that option. It can be fun but it isn't rich. You pretty much know what you are goign to get each time even if the gameplay itsefl is fairly fun.
BC may add some effect on the world as they are putting horde towns near Alliance towns and removing DKs. But don't think you can actuall effect anything in any real way like Eve or Neocron. And there is essentially no guild politics such as Eve has.
Otherwise for many of your points WoW is pretty decent at, but in the end you will probably feel that WoW is a good game that favors raiders above everyone else and if you don't raid you might as well quit.
1. positive, wow is casual friendly, at least up to 60.. then it is a mixed bag.
2. PvE is king in WoW. the PvP can be lots of fun, per se. but you do not get any lasting effect in the world beside some cool stuff (could change in the Expansion)
3. I'm unsure what you mean by "battle tactics"... but WoW classes are pretty choked full of skills.
4. I found levelling in WoW the easiest and funniest experience in the "level-based" mmorpg. Meaning in UO and SWG it was easier (with a few exception for elite SWG classes like bounty hunter).
5. you have lots of stuff to see. each class is pretty different, you have two sides and plenty of regions for it
6. as you prolly know, WoW has subscription fees.
7. players/guild politics? if you mean that players get to control lands and battle each other for its control, then no. If you mean, intra-guild politics, those fully depends on the players and the guild. As for the community, it is a mixed bag, I've found a very good one on this new euro server i am into... it is RP-PvE server and brand new... and i actually roleplayed with random people in the low level areas! awesome.
As a rule of thumb, the people become better in the higher level areas.
8. the Auction house is pretty nice and crafters can do lots of useful stuff, dunno if that qualify. it surely does not have the economy of EVE
9. WoW graphics is awesome... if you like the style. You can see the painstaking accuracy for details in it, and landscapes are great, with ability to see pretty far away. The characters are relativly low poly, but still look nice enough.
10. as said before, nope. this wow has not. (might have with the expansion, but for now, nope)
11. WoW does a somewhat better job than others, meaning a determined band of guys can defeat some 10 level higher opponent, but anything more than that and no chance in hell.
12. Warcraft lore has been developed over 10 years and it is pretty varied. Each race has its own origins and is well characterized. There are in game-books you can read or you see the history on their web site. many quests tie in with this story and continue it.
13. wow servers are down for couple hours each week. more on patch days. usually on wed morning in europe. dunno when in us, but is in week day, not week end, and in the morning.
14. Usually yes. many quests that you can do in not much, and lots of other side things to do. from crafting to fishing and pvp.
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"
SWG Veteran and Refugee, Intrepid server
NGE free as of Nov. 22, 2005
Now Playing: World of Warcrack
Forum Terrorist
You can read their design philsophy here and here from Rob Pardo's AGC keynote. As you can see raiders are considered "core" and hardcore and meant to be superior. Basically Pardo believes that more people = hardercore. Grouping is hardercore than solo and raiding is hardercore than grouping. And if BC follows the original game that will translate to about a 10-20 level difference between the special people and the not so special people. In WoW 10-20 levels is a very large difference.
I don't hink you sound like someone who is in the middle of their design donut. So I doubt the game is for you. Just like EQ, WoW is a game of hardcore lords and everyone else is a peasant. The difference is that WoW was marketed at the peasants and tries to keep them with the 1-59 game. That is their entire philosophy. Make it accessible to the peasants so they are initially happy but don't really let them have the good stuff so they will become cool hardcore epeen strokers like us and if they don't want to be epeen strokers then they can quit.
Raid or quit. Look at the changes in BC they are the exact same pattern. They found that too many people absolutely hated what they designed their game from the beginning to be so what did they do? Make that crap more "accessible" to the people on the outer rim of the donut but making it less hardcore (ie. less people). In other words they dumbed it down because they believe they misjudged the relative proprotions of that disgusting donut model. When in fact the model itself is crap.
1. You can do alot of stuff in 1-2 hours in WoW especially at lower levels but when you'll get to high end raids of the game, you'll want to spend much more time in PvE to get your gear. But if you prefer to PvP than you can do alot of it in 1-2 hours even at lvl 60 (70 with the new expansion)
2. PvP is great in WoW. Be sure to use a PvP server (obviouly). There's not alot of strategy during the first half of the gaming experience but if you can get into a good serious guild and raid high end instances, you'll definitly enjoy the strategy in this game.
3. Well again... Depends of your guild and your level. Don't expect to much tactics/strategy at lvl 22... You'll see more of it at level 50+.
4. You definitly have alot of leveling to do but the quests are fun and challenging most of the time. But you'll have to grind and farm sometimes.
5. Enough stuff to do in this game... don't worry about this one.
6. This is, in my opinion, the best MMORPG on the market right now so I think $15/month is pretty cheap is you plan on playing a minimum of 30 hours. That makes 50 cents an hour... but trust me, you'll play more than that.
7. WoW has a very good community in general.
8. Nice auction house, but thanks to the chinese gold farmer for f****** up the economy sometimes.
9. Awesome graphics in my opinion. The engine is kinda old but looks amazing even if you have a slower computer.
10. Man, Blizzard keeps on putting more and more PvP stuff in Battlegrounds and even directly in the world. Awesome! New thing is the tower in Eastern Plaguelands! check it out!
11. It's well made. Can train new skills or upgrade them every 2 level. Rarely got ganked by character that has +10 levels.
12. Warcraft man... Can't do better!
13. Down for couple of hours every tuesday around 10 am. Besides it's always up except for emergency obviously.
14. Very often I log on for only couple of minutes to check out my mail, the AH, chat with the guild and more!
I hope you'll make the right choice!
Would someone give me an in-depth, objective analysis to show me whether this game is right for me?
You should simply get a 14-days trial... you can get one at any store that sells computer games for $2.
Or simply buy the original game... it's $20 now in stores and you get a free month.
WoW is really a nice game. I think there's big chance you'll like it.
I think i was pretty objective
Of course it is silly to judge oneself, so...
Sadly with WoW it is really hard to get objective statements because any thread will invariably attract the fa/hatebois that seems have nothing better to do than praise/bash this game like is their personal crusade or something.
Anyhow, there is a free trial, so you can just try it yourself
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"
Here's the link for a FREE 10-days trial that you have to download (over 2GB).
https://login.blizzard.fileplanet.com/login.aspx?o=login&d=fileplanet&r=http://www.fileplanet.com/blizzard_promotion/wow_raf.htm
Try it...
I think i was pretty objective
Of course it is silly to judge oneself, so...
Sadly with WoW it is really hard to get objective statements because any thread will invariably attract the fa/hatebois that seems have nothing better to do than praise/bash this game like is their personal crusade or something.
Does WoW offer any of the things that OP wants?
Have you even been in EPL?
I'd just be reiterating what Volkmar posted, so I won't rehash anything.
I've been playing WoW for over two years now, and you could definately characterize me as a casual player. I'm not looking for any indepth experience, just a game I can enjoy a few hours per week with friends. Blizzard has done a fantastic job, imo, of giving me my $15-per-month's worth of entertainment.
If the subscription fee is a deterrent, check out Guild Wars. It's another very fun, well polished, MMO.
Good luck!
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.
Yes. What is your point?
1. I am a casual player (could spend 1-2 hours or less per day)
- this is fine, you could achieve something in that, and not logging in for a while you gain rest exp which doubles your exp for a bit.
2. I love PvP and I love strategy games
- Yep WoW has pvp, and there is a strategy element to BGs.
3. I love complex battle tactics
-Yep, BGs again, or possibly raiding later on would be up your street.
4. Dont enjoy too much about leveling (unless it is really fun to do)
-Well, admittedly levelling is the farce cursing the mmo genre, but the levelling is friendly enough.
5. Good replayibility
-yep can play a variety of different classes of which are different.
6. Perfer no subscription fees (but I would make an exception if the game is very good)
-sorry subscription here, otherwise look at Guild Wars no subscription there and has pvp.
7. I enjoy players/guilds politic and good players communities
- I'll be honest, this is crap. Yeah there is Guild politics with raiding and that but doubt you really want that. Maybe there is a better pvp element in BC which could enforce this but WoW does have a fair number of immatures as does Guild Wars as well.
8. Good economical system (but optional, can do without)
-Nah, not really. It has an auction-house, you get items you sell them.
9. Good Graphic
-Warcraft graphics, graphics are fine for what they achieve but if you were looking for a more serious immersive experience I would argue another game.
10. Persistence PvP that have global effects (again optional)
-Well this has been a strong criticism of WoW, the world pvp element. Things look to be improving in the new expansion Burning Crusade. But got no idea of the specifics or how popular it will turn out to be.
11. Perfer skills over time invested, so I can stand a decent chance against a higher level opponent.
-There is undoubtably a learning curve to all the classes, yes you have chances against higher level opponents but if you want more of a chance you need to hit the higher end of a level range. Ie Battlegrounds are levels 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59 and 60. (A small warning here though 1-29 is infested with twinks which does ruin the lowbie BG experience. This is meant to be improved with a forthcoming matchmaking system.)
12. Good Lore (is a must!)
-It does have lore. It also has roleplaying servers which maybe appealling.
13. minimun down times (reasonable requirement)
Yep, something that was a criticism of older mmorpgs has been reversed with this and you have very little downtime.
14. I can have fun even I am on for a few minutes.
Well you can have fun, but only on for a few minutes, if you got some characters like I do I can logon play a few BGs and then logoff. Though minutes is unrealistic. You can have fun in 10 to 20 mins but 5 mins nah.
Basically, I think the game could be worth a try for you but it depends really to what extent you want certain things as well are flexible to certain things. For instance, levelling is a big part of the game- do you want to dedicate time to this? Pvp wise,you can do battlegrounds as early as level 10, but more realistically 19 and even then versus some twinks who have pumped up their character with certain weapon enchants and hp. To avoid that you would be either attaining the level 30-39 range, or waiting to see how WoW's new expansion pans out with this matchmaking system. (This is meant to pit people of a similar gear versus each other so that the issue is more to do with 'skill' than 'gear'. However, the judge of that is when players have tried that which is happening in Beta right now.)
A further analysis of the key areas you are looking at, Blizzard philosphy is about simple spells which take a bit more to master. For example, a shaman has various totems to use, which totems does he use? He has a few nukes on cooldown, which nukes does he use? Then there is the talent builds, you gain an ability point each level that you can use in any one of 3 talent trees. Here is a link to it for instance:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/index.html
Click on one of the classes to see an example.
The battlegrounds, there are basically three battlegrounds, with a fourth coming in expansion Burning Crusade. Two of the battlegrounds are open to under level 51s, which have level ranges 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60.
Those Battlegrounds are Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin. The first, Warsong Gulch- each side has a flag, aim to take flag from their base to your base. You need good teamwork to win- defenders, people on the battlefield, and people getting the flag. The second battleground, Arathi Basin- you have 5 locations, the aim is in your team to capture and hold various bases so that you gain resources higher than the opposing team. The number on each team is 10 for WSG, and 15 for AB. AV once you hit level 51 has a much higher number of people.
So, in summary I would say it is worth a try, as well as Guild Wars or even the older Dark ages of Camelot. Just a warning on DAoC, DAoC had a strong reputation for it's pvp in the past but has aged and the levelling up is probably a lot more boring than either in Guild Wars or WoW. And Guild Wars, I can't tell you much more about but I would say it has very nice graphics, and only 20 levels so you could get that in like a weekend or whatever.
The pvp I can't tell you much about but it is the main appeal of the game.
1. I am a casual player (could spend 1-2 hours or less per day)
This game is easy on that - you can play from lvl 1-60 solo and never have to group with anyone... but this is an MMO I kind of question the wisdom in not forcing players to group together to learn how to work together on more difficult challenges.
2. I love PvP and I love strategy games
I wouldn't choose WoW for PvP - there is no true PvP only faction vs faction. My highest rank was Marshall which is 2 ranks removed from the top rank - getting there was a chore, moreso than raiding. Every day spent getting 250,000 honor points or more and it took over 6 months... all this while my honor was degrading. If you want rank 14 you need to play all day - the people I knew who reached Grand Marshal always had 2 or more people play their account so the character would always be in the BGs.
3. I love complex battle tatics
WoW is disappointing in this. Their developers designed raiding so guilds would have harder and more complex challenges. On the PvP side you play for a strip of land that will disappear in a few hours... or you play capture the flag. If you have ever played a more open style RvR or PvP you'll be disappointed with this - they are small games that teach lvl 20s how to PvP in other MMOs. Ah, it is worth mentioning there are virtually no PvP guilds in this game. It is a hardcore raiding game. You will raid for gear, then move to the next dungeon for better gear, etc etc. You will want this gear because you will get rolled in PvP since your opponents will have superior stats.
4. Dont enjoy too much about leveling (unless it is really fun to do)
The first time it is fun - it doesn't feel like a chore... partly because it's so easy an 8 year old can do it. My nephew got to 60 in 2 weeks during summer break... he just started 4th grade this year. He even raids with his guild and has some BWL gear (second raiding dungeon). I say this to stress that you will find no difficulty in leveling.
5. Good replayibility
I have two characters at lvl 60... I was playing day 1 when it was released - I could have more... but I'm the type that likes to stick with a character. I think replayability is pretty good... but the fun comes from the difference in class types - you will be doing the same quests again.
6. Perfer no subscription fees (but I would make an exception if the game is very good)
It is popular for a reason - it is fun... but only up to 60. You will have to raid to progress any further and that is a timesink. You can't join a guild just to hang out with friends they force you to be an asshole and join a guild just to use them to get better gear. Kind of an acidic type of way to build a community...
7. I enjoy players/guilds politic and good players communities
You may find this lacking... it's not build around player communities or guilds... it's built around raiding.
8. Good economical system (but optional, can do without)
There is no player economy - for there to be a true economy I would expect some sort of player crafting... but it's all based on drops. Best gear is drops. You'll hear players complain that the auction house is flooded by "Chinese farmers"... they do make a tidy profit off it... but even if they are not responsible for all the economy woes everything is farmed to hell anyway. If you really want big money get into a large raiding guild and gamble with the other members... that's who has the money... you can make a few thousand in one night on a lucky run. I made 7k once off my guild master. They get their money from selling raid drops... getting people to pay them to run them through raids etc etc. Sad state of affairs.
9. Good Graphic
If you liked Warcraft 3 you'll like the graphics. It's got Blizzard's signature cartoony fantasy style.
10. Persistence PvP that have global effects (again optional)
No global effects. Just strips of land that disappear. They are working on adding more open PvP but the servers currently can't handle it. You won't see any city raids because the GMs will shut them down for lag. Will port everyone out of the city.
11. Perfer skills over time invested, so I can stand a decent chance against a higher level opponent.
This game is time invested over skills. You need to raid to get your class specific armor so that you have the stats and skills to take on someone your own level.
12. Good Lore (is a must!)
Warcraft actually has a good deal of it - many don't care to know it though. You can try a roleplay server, I prefer them actually. They've just started making roleplay-pvp servers that might be where you should start. I find the communities there a tad more civil than the others.
13. minimun down times (reasonable requirement)
Blizzard has a neat little feature on the login screen called "Breaking News" whenever they have a problem. Down time is average... lag is a problem.. but they have a lot of subscribers... can't handle the load basically but the rest of the time things are pretty smooth.
14. I can have fun even I am on for a few minutes.
It's easy in this game... the first 60 levels are very casual.
Overall, I think you should try it. I think you will find it fun... when you get to 60 and you have your feel of the game then you can decide if its worth it to raid or pvp... or start another char.
I no longer play because I've gotten everything out of it that interests me. I believe a game should be based around some type of PvP... you might want to try Warhammer instead when it comes out. Plenty of time to play WoW and get to 60 on each class in the meantime.
Currently playing: Eve, DAOC, Warhammer
Games I've beaten: AC, AO, CoH, DAOC, D&D, EQ, EQ2, FFXI, FlyFF, GW, Horizons, L2, Ryzom, Shadowbane, SpaceCowboy, SWG, UO, WoW
Stay away from: Eudemons Online, DNL, and Roma Victor
1. I guess you could play WoW casually.
2. PvP could mean anything, debating is PvP. I prefer stratagy games to MMO and don't find that many stratagy elements in WoW.
3. I'm not that big of a WoW fan but I doubt you'll find that in WoW.
4. I never found much to WoW exept leveling.
5. MMOs take a while to 'finish'. I don't know of that many people that replay them.
6. I didn't find WoW wort hpaying $15 for. I don't know if you will.
7. How tollerant are of you Chuck Norris spam?
8. I guess WoW has this.
9. I wouldn't consider them good.
10. PvP in WoW has little effect on anything. It's mostly just for people who like to fight people instead of AI.
11. Nope. Deffinitly not in WoW
12. I don't think it's that good. My personal opinion though.
13. HAHAHAHA. I seriously think all WoW is is downtime.
14. It really depends on if you like the game or not.
Really man, read about the game. Not these payed off gamesite reveiws but player who liked the game and players that don't. Then try the trial. Because, most of what you stated is an MMORPG player's wishlist for any MMORPG game ot have. And we're still looking.
As far as I can tell, CoH might be your cup of tea, probably not. Check out Granado Espada, it's a Korean game being translated as we speak.
Personaly, I think the best part of WoW is the skill customisation and the epic armor. There are three branches that each class has to customise in, so your character isn't neccicarly a clone of the next. The problem is that skills are a pain in the arse to get. They're done through grinding and they cost money, which imo is scarse.
Epic Armor looks and sounds cool but you have to grind to fifty for it and you have to raid for it.
Nope.. you havent and if you did was most likely the test realm.
Try it.
Nope.. you havent and if you did was most likely the test realm.
What the hell is your problem?? I asked you "What is your point?". I have a question for you... Do you play WORLD OF WARCRAFT???
Zavier, you haven't been around long enough to recognize certain posters. Ignore Precursor.
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.
First, i think your post is very clever
Based on your requirements, I suggest you try Guild Wars. Except for point 7 : politics (& 8,which is optional
, _all_ the requirements are well fulfilled (especially the PvP complexity).
I think WoW is not the game for you as it does not fulfill points 1,2,3,4,7 & 11.
Hope that helps
---
Waiting for: GW2
*thumbs up*: GW, Eve(, WoW)
*thumbs down*: MO, GA, FE
Cross Realm Battle Grounds resolved the issue with long queues. Alterac Valley may have a queue, but the most I've waited was 10 minutes. Otherwise, both Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch are instantaneous.
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.