World of Warcraft

[Pacu]

So out of curiousity i bought WoW at Target today for 4.99 on black friday ad. Anyone play it? Thought i'd give it a spin since people go crazy for it. It came with a 30 day free online trial.

[Tsquare]

my kids played it for a while.  It looks pretty good to me.  They are older 15 and 19 but just like anything else the latest and greatest come along then they move on. 

[Whoey]

I have the game, burning crusade and lich king addons. I played for about 6 months total. I've been clean for about 5 or 6 months. It scratches my get more elite loot itch, but I'd like to be able to play with all my friends, which means global, and it limits you to local servers... I might return to it eventually, but not like I did before.

This is my main character:
http://www.armory-light.com/eu/Darkmoon%20Faire/Nathicana/

[nuphoria]

I was going to get it for our lad but I think paying an online subscription is a bit rich - he does the Warhammer thing anyway which is free a the local games shop 

[Whoey]

I was going to get it for our lad but I think paying an online subscription is a bit rich

This is exactly what kept me away from it for so long, then I got the game plus first addon with guides (the WOW battle chest) off amazon.co.uk for about 15GBP or something like that... with 1 month of free play... then I got a few play cards, the 2nd addon, and paid for a few months of play... I do have some friends that have been playing since the game started off and on, and they helped me out. That's the best thing really, if you can get some help now and then from some higher level players... It really got kinda dull, the guild I was in was always scheduling raids when I couldn't do it, and grinding for gear (alone) gets old quick, especially once you peak out at lvl 80... of course you can play multiple characters/races/classes for a different playing experience and there's never an end to the quests you can do...

If you just want a quick loot/dungeon type game, and aren't worried about the multiplayer side, check out Torchwood, I think it's only 19.99 USD and fun yet easy to jump in and out of.

[turbov21]

I play every once in a while.

[Foskey]

I had it, and played for about a month. Good game if you are into that kinda stuff. I'm more of an FPS, shoot 'em up type of guy. So, I am pretty loyal to my all time favorite: The Call of Duty series. I have WAY more time logged on that game then I would like to admit. Had some really good times playing it. Speaking of which, I think I'll go play a few rounds now!

[zepla]

Did Southpark not an episode about WoW  Yeah, I'm pretty sure they did.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, I was just trying to find a link to the episode...

Basically a guy with absolutely no life whatsoever plays WoW enough to amass enough power to even kill Admins, then goes through the World, slaughtering everyone.  The boys train hard and try to fight him but it's still not enough, until the people at Blizzard Entertainment, the company that created Warcraft, deliver the Sword Of Truth on a flash drive to the boys.

The recurring theme of the episode is that folks who play WoW have no life.  The two Blizzard employees need to deliver the Sword Of Truth in the game since they can't find the boys in the real world.  One employee looks at the other and says "Do you have a Warcraft account?"  The other responds, "No, I have a life!"

Back to topic, I have WoW- it was a present a couple of years ago from my brother who is an area manager for one of the larger electronics retailers.  I think I loaded it in once, but never played it.  I don't think I even got past the payment screen before giving up and deciding I had better things to do...

Def

[Pacu]

Yeah, I was just trying to find a link to the episode...

Basically a guy with absolutely no life whatsoever plays WoW enough to amass enough power to even kill Admins, then goes through the World, slaughtering everyone.  The boys train hard and try to fight him but it's still not enough, until the people at Blizzard Entertainment, the company that created Warcraft, deliver the Sword Of Truth on a flash drive to the boys.

The recurring theme of the episode is that folks who play WoW have no life.  The two Blizzard employees need to deliver the Sword Of Truth in the game since they can't find the boys in the real world.  One employee looks at the other and says "Do you have a Warcraft account?"  The other responds, "No, I have a life!"

Back to topic, I have WoW- it was a present a couple of years ago from my brother who is an area manager for one of the larger electronics retailers.  I think I loaded it in once, but never played it.  I don't think I even got past the payment screen before giving up and deciding I had better things to do...

Def

that's about where i gave up yesterday

[Pacu]

[Poncho65]

I would love to play this game but I can't see buying a game and then paying a monthly fee for the service

[american lockpicker]

You have to pay to play WTF?

[Freudian Frog]

Eww.

That is all.







Wait, some more.

You have to pay to play WTF?

That's why it's called P2P (pay-to-play).

[Grant Lamontagne]

You have to pay to play WTF?

Unlike traditional games where you purchase (or pirate!) a copy of the game and play, World Of Warcraft and other so called MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) don't actually run on your computer.  They run on massive servers, and what you purchase in store, or download from Blizzard.com is an interface that allows you to connect to the servers, and play with hundreds of thousands of other people worldwide.  You aren't paying for the game, you are paying for the access to the server, usually on a monthly basis.

Software companies made this shift as it's easier for folks to play together, and also because they had no real way to keep folks from pirating the CD's and DVD's the games were distributed on.  Copy protection was never really that effective, so now they give you the game free, and make you pay to play it. 

Def

[Pacu]

think i'll stick to xbox live. 49.99 for 13 months vs 29.99 for 60 days.

[Poncho65]

You have to pay to play WTF?

Unlike traditional games where you purchase (or pirate!) a copy of the game and play, World Of Warcraft and other so called MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) don't actually run on your computer.  They run on massive servers, and what you purchase in store, or download from Blizzard.com is an interface that allows you to connect to the servers, and play with hundreds of thousands of other people worldwide.  You aren't paying for the game, you are paying for the access to the server, usually on a monthly basis.

Software companies made this shift as it's easier for folks to play together, and also because they had no real way to keep folks from pirating the CD's and DVD's the games were distributed on.  Copy protection was never really that effective, so now they give you the game free, and make you pay to play it. 

Def

Pretty smart for the peeps at Blizzard I bet the guy that said hey let's do this online and make them pay monthly for it is rolling in it right now  

[Whoey]

running all those servers they have can't be cheap... Here's my somewhat long winded pros and cons of wow:

If we put the P2P part aside for a moment, I've had several years of playing Blizzard games, in the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo series. All have been for the most part quite enjoyable. I did however feel Warcraft III was going in the completely wrong direction. I loved Diablo & Diablo II. I'm eager to see how Diablo III turns out... the screens/videos I've seen look fantastic. The Starcraft franchise has been long overdue for a sequel... which is on the horizon not far as well, finally.

Now about WoW. I don't totally agree on the p2p aspect either, especially when they charge you to buy the game. I think the game should be free... maybe a minimal price for the media (CD/DVD/Booklet) and the only way to play would be p2p. I also thought they could have a minimal fee if you played less time... But, that model doesn't work well with the paid addons... maybe if the monthly fees were a bit lower... It's interesting that you can play with people who have and don't have the addons... it just means they have a different level cap, and more areas to goto, and quests to complete. The overall quality of the game is good, they have even made space for people to create mods to make the game even better... we're talking interface mods, not gear or quests. Customization was always a big selling point on the original Quake, so obviously I found it attractive here too. The time I played was rather enjoyable, more so with more interaction between other players... teaming up made quests much more enjoyable, however if you'd rather go it alone, you can do that too... up to a point.

The bad side is the grinding... a lot of quests involve "kill WW of XX and bring me YY of item ZZ" such as "kill 20 brown bears and bring me 5 pelts" where you may kill 20, but only get 4 pelts... thus have to keep at it until you get the number of pelts... (see this comic [contains bad language...]: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/11/14/ I hated the grinding... I had some very useful mods that act like a GPS/google maps to tell me what Zones had what I need to get for the quest, making grind a bit less monotonous. At the same time, if you manage to find more interesting quests and do those instead it can make up for it, or even better quests that overlap in the same area. Also adding mods and learning routines, creating macros to do the routine easily makes things a lot less hassle. Things you learn after playing the game for some time. my 2nd character benefited from what I learned from my first, and so on... I only managed to make 1 level 80 so far... but didn't keep playing... I would probably have a few more by now.

I wasn't very fond of PvP, however battlegrounds like Wintergarden and such make it a lot more enjoyable... think capture the flag where you actually have to destroy castle walls to get to the "flag" plus the "epic" PvP gear you can get by continuing to play these types of games... (there are quests in PvP too!)

The WoW world is vast... that's the best part... it's massive... there's so much to explore and achievements for doing so... it doesn't give you any special skill, sometimes just an epic guild tabbard... (no armour value, just looks fancy) There are multiple trades, and specializations in each... something else to explore... choosing the right combo of trades can allow you to fabricate great stuff to sell in the auction house and make some gold on the side! Also useful if you have multiple characters on the go as you can mail yourself gear! Bored with action? Go fishing... you can gear up and fish in pretty much at the edge of any water... ponds or oceans, off the side of a pier, even a boat when it's not moving... There are boats and underground trains that take you from different continents to others or from major city to another, which are free to use... and then there's the flight points which you have to pay a fee (amount depends on your reputation in the area, more quests completed in the area = better rep, lower price), but can go to any other previous flight point you've been to, very handy before you get your hands on a mount, or flying mount...

There is quite a bit of entertainment value in WoW... and is the monthly fee worth it to you? That's something you'll need to decide for yourself. It's not really that much money, and of course, if you pay more at a time, it's cheaper still... If WoW replaces buying countless other games, perhaps the fee is worth it in that manner. It's definitely more of a commitment than other games... a 60day play card is about 24eur here... that's 12 eur a month... go see two movies (about 3h entertainment) and you spend the same amount (or more...) where the amount time you have in WoW is up to you.

I will undoubtly return to WoW, perhaps once the next addon comes out... besides, I have a bunch of characters that need leveling

[Grant Lamontagne]

I don't think the folks at Blizzard invented the concept.  The first one I heard of was Dark Age Of Camelot (DAOC) that some friends of mine were playing.  I never got into it either.  I also have a copy of Guild Wars, which is a similar type game, but once you buy the game, there are no fees for playing online.

Frankly, I much prefer games like Starcraft or the old Warcraft RTS games, or even Unreal Tournament, where one guy hosts the games and his friends (or anyone really) connects and plays.  As much as I enjoy gaming, I really only like playing with friends, and it's even more fun when those friends are there having a few drinks and laughing with you about what happened or is happening.

Def

[Whoey]

Frankly, I much prefer games like Starcraft or the old Warcraft RTS games, or even Unreal Tournament, where one guy hosts the games and his friends (or anyone really) connects and plays.  As much as I enjoy gaming, I really only like playing with friends, and it's even more fun when those friends are there having a few drinks and laughing with you about what happened or is happening.

Unfortunately it seems those days are few and far between...