World of Whatsit

[the_gneech]

At Comic-Con, lythandra and I each received 15-day free trials of World of Warcraft. As a general rule, I am hostile to MMO's on principle. First, because I don't like the idea of paying for a game, and then having to keep on paying for it; and second, because the idea of approaching somebody and saying "I am Galstaff, sorcerer of light!" and being greeted with "stfu noob ur lozr" just doesn't strike me as being a good time. Finally, the fact that if the company and servers go away, you can never play again, is something of a downer.

On the other hand, Laurie and I love playing multiplayer co-op games ... but we're rapidly running out. We've played Gauntlet: Legends and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (both 1 and 2) to death; with our recent purchase of the PS/2, we are now going to town on Champions of Norrath, which seems to be fun if a little bland. But once we're through that, there won't be a lot of options for us.

So, I'm wondering if World of Warcraft might be an option for us. Neither of us care about power-gaming particularly, but I am a roleplaying snob, and Laurie is only likely to play as long as it keeps being new and interesting, and any other people we meet are polite. We can certainly create a party of 2 to go off and do our adventuring, but how likely is this to actually be a good experience? Or more specifically, what we would consider a good experience?

I know a lot of the people who read my LJ play WoW, so you guys tell me. Is it too beer-and-pretzelsy? Is it possible to play the game without being harassed by munchkins? Does it have an interesting story or at least a semi-cohesive setting? Enquiring minds want to know!

-The Gneech

Comments

[the-lizard-rat.livejournal.com]

The same thing happened with Gunbound (the servers went away, then they divided them up into north american setups and whatnot) --- personally, I don't like MMORPGs either for those very same reasons, and that it's a huge time sink for when I could be doing something else (or you could be comicing ;) )

I would suggest joining my IRC battle system bit, but all it is is a series of arena battles and no real RP at all. *shrug*

Lizard Rat out.
Absolutely Random in Albany NY

[tcreynolds]

If you are really into RP'ing, make sure you roll a toon on an RP server! You will still encounter the 'stfu nubz lolz' crowd, but they will be much, much less prevalent.

Another thing that will help is finding a good guild of players to hang with who also share your ideas of what to get out of the game.

Unfortunately our server is full and isn't RP, but our guild is very mature. I'm hoping someone will comment here that can steer you to some good RP.

[graveyardgreg.livejournal.com]

It's a very pretty game, but in the end you're most likely better off playing something like Guild Wars. It, at least, is free.

Try the trial. You might like it. You might not.

[m0nkeygrl.livejournal.com]

Charlie likes it a lot. In fact, I haven't hardly heard a peep from him since I bought the game for him. He doesn't really run into problems with other players, but he usually doesn't go on the PvP servers. I'll point him in the direction of this post and have him leave his thoughts.

[c-rob.livejournal.com]

Actually i have guys on both type of servers and I really enjoy it

I can say the loser factor is much bether than I thought it would be

[rigelkitty.livejournal.com]

I tend to avoid MMO's because I don't play well with others, particularly the majority standard of MMO players. I like to non-team Deathmatch, but that's it.

Just wanted to note that you're asking the people who play WoW if they like the game. If they're playing it, don't they already like it? Your answer is kinda predetermined. :)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it's the why of it that interests me, if you see what I mean. :) If they tell me they love it for all the fart jokes, it still tells me that it's not my cup of tea. ;)

-The Gneech

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

I quite enjoy it, I've found that the RP servers are better off as far as behavior goes, for some reason.

I'm on the Scarlet Crusade server, if you want to try it out. They do a nice job of always having quests to bring you into new areas, and teach you new skills, depending on your class.

I've also got a pretty good Guild, very laid back, pretty willing to help out, too. (Holy Hit Squad)

[usagiweaver.livejournal.com]

I dont know about RP servers, but I have lots of fun playing WoW. I solo most of the time without being bothered. Of course, when they made the LFG channel worldwide, I had to turn it off and there are times when you just have to ignore genchat.

As for storyline... there's tons of lore and story if you go looking for it. Hence the freakfest when it was announced that Draenai could be Shaman and Blood Elves could be Pallys as part of the new expansion. "It rapes lore!" Well... of course, Blizz came up with some plausible explanation to how the two new races came by their previously impossible-for-their-factions abilities.

Give it a try. After all, you've got a couple weeks free. If you don't like it, nothing says you have to keep on it. And then you will know you made an informed decision on the game.

Oh... and if you don't like playing your first character, don't get all caught up in it. It just could be that race or class or faction you don't like. Roll up a new one. You may like that one much better. (I hated playing a Warrior, but I love playing a Hunter)

And if you find the server you're on a little immature, try another. Since you aren't coming in with a bunch of people after you to "come play on MY server", you have the freedom to shop around for an RP server that you like.

[larksilver.livejournal.com]

I was horribly disappointed to discover that I didn't like the paladin in WoW, as that's my standard character of choice. I just have a thing about characters who Do The Right Thing because it is the Right Thing, and for no better reason.

Then I discovered the Shaman... wheee!

Still, I'm having a hard time choosing between EQII and WoW, because EQII is still more like home to me, and tends to have more mature players, from what I've seen.

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

OMG Gneech in World of Warcraft!
This could be dangerous. Okay, first let me explain I was very heavy into RP before I took my present position some six years back that slammed the door on my free time and extended travel time beyond where I could continue. Thus, with only occasional one night stands, I've been without RP (wimper, whine, sob).

Well a few months back a certain Kirin you know 'tricked' me into playing a bit of WoW. It has become my RP fix. I do a lot of solo work on it but also have done some nice pickup along the way. I also will join up with Smrgol and we'll go out finding quests and raising our levels and skills. The player to player RP I've done hasn't been bad though I haven't as yet gotten onto a RP server.

I like the game system and interface. The only real issue I have is the upgrades that come along can kill a planned outing due to their size and time to download and install. I try to pop on early in the day just to see if there's an upgrade so I don't get caught when I really want to play.

Anyway that's my take on it. Feel free to ask me (or Smrgol) other questions you might have. It would be great to have more of our group of friends on something like this. Hmm, I wonder if a DDI Guild could be in the offing.

[usagiweaver.livejournal.com]

Standard updates are always on Tuesdays. I don't remember when they start, but barring unforseen circumstances, they end by 1pm my time. (Central US time) And most of the time the work is done server side. Only once or twice a month is there a client side patch.

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

As da lion said, it's fun to join up and quest together.

He and I both have Tauren characters on Silvermine.
One set are level 10-12 and the other low 20's

We also both have Human characters there (low level)

That gives you two teams, human and Tauren to get together with.

I also have a low 20's level Night Elf.

this is long and prolly not grammatically correct

[ketrava.livejournal.com]

If you are heavy into rp WOW is prolly not the best of mmo\'s. I have played to 60 and the RP servers are better but its not anything like sitting at a game table. I would suggest maybe eq2. Its a little less popular but from playing both it has a much better community. Both however will have the STFU newb crowd and the \"heh heh he said p e n i s to avoid the chat filters heh funny\". I have found that because there is more involvement in eq2 that it tends to get more serious players versus wow which given enough time a money with a stick will get to 60. I am however a bit wow bitter.

As for why I play. I play because I can hop into a world at the drop of a hat. Its not my saturday DnD game or the once a month boffer game I used to go to , but its there all day every day. I enjoy the progression of watching my character get better and make friends whom I work well with. I enjoy finding new and interesting people to talk to. Especially when you can start RP\'ing with someone and they roll with it . I ran in to a ratonga paladin for the first time named gaff. I spent 5 hours just him and me grouping killing undead and in character BS\'ing the whole time LOADS of fun. Lastly for the cost thing I can live with spending many a night with something to do for the cost of going out to dinner once a month. I could play CS and have to deal with any asshole with a mouth or leave the server. Here if someone presses my buttons I can report them or ignore them.

Ketrava

[pandaguy.livejournal.com]

WoW is a very social game. To succeed in it you have to work with others. DOing it solo is hard, and once you finished leeling, you really cant do much of anything solo. Luckily the are lots of in-game guilds you can join to make that easier.

Chose your servers wisely. I would suggest, unless you have a lot of MMO experience, tay off the PVP servers foryour first time. Trying to level up your caracter solo on a PVP server will make you quit the game uickly.

I would also suggest you lok for servers which you have friends on. I play on a PVE server named "Elune", and I have a cple of toon on another server named "Bloodhoof". I found a very nice guild on Elune, with a good core of people to play wth, and I really enjoy it. There are "furry" guilds on Bloodhoof, but I personally found the drama level a bit high there, so I haven't played there in over a year now. Maybe things are different now, but I couldn't say.

If you wanted to stop over at my place some evening, I would be glad to show you some of what it's like. My guild raids Wednesday and Friday nights at 9pm, so if you wanted to see a 40-man end-game raid, that would be when to come. Any other night, I could show ou other things.

[soappuppy.livejournal.com]

Give it a try. You'll know within 20 minutes if you'll like it or not.

I fought against it for a month and a half until my husband sat me down and said, "Play." Within half an hour I had bought my own account.

When you find you tire of soloing, you'll be just the right level to group. Can't stand grouping? Any class can solo to the level cap. Want to vent some frustration? PvP the other team into bloody streaks. There's problem solving, nifty puzzles, and plenty of lore (oh, the lore).

If you hate it, what have you lost? An hour of your time?

Also, don't roll a rogue. They're a dime a dozen and it's hard to get them into groups at high levels. Hunters are best to solo, but, again, at high levels your experience will be a lot of "Looking For Group"...want to group a lot? People pay priests, druids, and sometimes shamans/paladins to come along and heal....

And that's my 50 cents...sorry to bug ya :)

[smrgol-t-kirin.livejournal.com]

Hunters are fun as they can tame pets starting at level 10.

Shamen are fun as they can shapeshift, gaining more forms as they level up.

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

I fought against it for a month and a half until my husband sat me down and said, "Play." Within half an hour I had bought my own account.

Sounds like what Smrgol did to me. I would agree that it's a great way to vent and burn off stress. I know my entry into it was just right to do a lot of bashing I couldn't do in RL.

As for what some others have said about RP I think it's like any other group. If you can find the right group of people to work with you can RP to your hearts content. I've been a member of the SCA for better than 20 years and you find in that organization a lot of people who are just looking to do the combat and drink together BUT if you look around you can also find those who will make the period come alive for you. Those are the people I hang out with. In WoW, so far, I've found much the same thing. I'm sure once I level up some more I'll be able to do more of that.

[mecampbellesq.livejournal.com]

I tried my hand at World of Warcraft, and wasn't too keen on it, mostly because of the other players. It never seened to matter what type of server I was on, I ran into the same type of smack-talking 14 year-olds. It seemed to me that the only difference between the 'normal' and 'RP' servers is that on the RP servers there's only half as much gay-bashing...

[larksilver.livejournal.com]

There's one nice thing about the MMORPG's that you don't get from a static game, even a really good one: the bang for your buck.

If you only play occasionally, then perhaps an MMORPG isn't for you. But whenever someone gives me grief about spending my $15 bucks a month on the game, I ask them "When's the last time you got 40 hours of entertainment out of something for $15?"... and they never have an answer. Sure, you have to buy the initial game, but even then, I've spent twice what the game cost me on dinner and a movie, and enjoyed it less.

How many times have you come out of a theater thinking "I can't believe I paid for that?" The MMORPG can go a long, long time without getting to that point, particularly if you hunt around until you find the right combination of server/guild/character type/race, etc.

As I mentioned up there, somewhere, I have played/play both WoW and EQII (and spent 4 years on EQ1 before that), and have a tough time deciding between them. They both have a very nicely-developed quest system, giving story and content, they both have plenty of opportunities to solo or group, and classes which are designed to do one or the other well (or both, sometimes, even).

But EQII has furniture. And houses.... and oh, man, I love my pet dragon in my house. The people there tend to be more, I don't know, the steady adult kind of folks than the whiny "n00b!" kind, but again, that could be that I've found the right combination of guild/server, etc.

What've you got to lose? You'll know in the trial time whether you're hooked or not. Just remember to eat, sleep, and go to work, mmmkay? Oh, and do the comics, too, cause I gots to have my nevernever :)

Good, bad and ugly...

[katayamma.livejournal.com]

So I've been playing WoW now for 2 weeks on an RP server (Scarlet Crusdae) and here's my observations:

Good:
You can solo.
Crafting is reasonably interesting and productive
Decent guild structure.
THE ABILITY TO MAIL CRAP TO YOUR OTHER TOONS!!!! (major good one!)
Quests, quests, quests!
UI plugins. Some neat ones too!
Hunters pets: Tame wild beasts, including named mobs!

Bad:
Too damned much running around... unless you love questing.
Annoying constant random duel challenges.
Money - Not having a rich relative in game hurts.
Did I mention running all over creation?
Finding a group can be a chore. The LFG channel is useless.

Ugly:
Character models. There's almost no customization. You can change the face slightly (pick from 4 or 5 different expressions) and a few hair styles, but that's it. Everyone's the same model, same height, etc. City of Heros really spoiled me for that! Nothing worse than everyone looking the bloody same. :(

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG! On busy servers, the lag can sometimes kill you. I've had ping times of 150ms to the server, but sat there with the client stuck waiting on the server to acknowledge an attack for 15 or 20 sec, only to come back and find I'm almost dead because I've not been able to use any special "high damage" attacks.




Definitely go to an RP server.

Worth playing? I'm not sure. I've been playing for 2 weeks and am at the "I don't know" point. Finding groups can be a pain as people want to solo mostly. Not a lot of stuff involves instance dungeons, but a fair number of quests spawn special mobs to kill. Most of your exp comes from the big bonuses for doing quests, but you can make almost as much xp killing +3 level mobs, so it's up to you which path you take. Questing does often reward you with items, but most of the time I sell them as I can craft better crap. (Or guild members can give me better crafted stuff. :P)

Anyway... give it a swing. You like it, keep it. You don't, you 're not out anything.

Cheers