WoW: Like A Virgin With A 10-day free trial pass
Monday, June 18th, 2007 - 2:24am
So what the hell, it's just computer crack cocaine, but if I don't actually buy it....
So. How shall I best spend my 10 days? Since I'm in Greece, that's 7 hours later than EST, so chances of seeing you all are perhaps slight. Chances of my reading through all of the WoW threads on GWJ are infintessimaly (sp?) small.
Is there a server I should be going for?
A character class/race combo that's easiest for soloing?
Is there some crazy GWJer (perhaps one in Europe, or one who simply doesn't sleep) who wants to create a new character to keep me company? 
Any advice of how best to enjoy my 10 days would be swell. Thanksoverymuch.
Hordies are on Baelgun, Allies are on Blackhand. As for race/class combos, race doesn't matter much apart from aesthetics, but here's my favorites on classes, in no particular order:
Warlocks
Paladins
Shaman
Hunter
Rogue
Coldstream wrote:
So if I don't see those realms available in the 10 day trial thingie I'm using...they're only for expansion characters or something?
I see Balnazzar and then Bladefist. Nothing in between or before resembling either Baelgun or Blackhand.
I was thinking about Tauren Shaman....who knows.
I'm thinking maybe you only have a choice of European servers? Not sure how it works with regions, etc.
Xbox Live: hubbinsd
Another question, are any of these professions going to be at all....I don't know, lucrative and/or interesting?
WOW is fairly well balanced. All professions are potentially lucrative or interesting. Jewelcrafting and Enchanting are perhaps the hardest to master and take the most money to skill up. I would recommend taking professions that work well together (i.e. herbalism/alchemy, mining/blacksmithing, skinning/leatherworking) and also that work with your class (i.e. leatherworking for a hunter, blacksmithing for a warrior, etc.). If your only goal is to make money, some people will pick farming professions (ex: herbalism/skinning) and then just auction whatever they farm. You really can't go all that wrong with whatever you choose.
Over the course of 10 days you are not likely to get deep enough into the professions to see any major financial benefit and if you decide you like the game and stick around it is extremely easy to switch at a later point. I would just try what seems interesting using the combinations Copingsaw recommends.
Crafting in WoW isn't terribly deep. It can be fun, but there's not a lot to it.
Mages, hunters, warlocks, rogues, warriors, shamans and druids are fun to play.
I guess that leaves out priests and paladins IMO.
Edit : I have a 60 dwarf priest too.
Jolly Bill wrote:
For 10 casual days, any class is equally good to try and have fun with. Just have to figure out what you want to role play. A caster? A basher? Want to shoot things from far away? Want to get in and dirty? Can't make up your mind?
There is a class for each option. For ease of soloing though, I'd suggest either mage or hunter. Or possibly warlock. Mages can make their own food (hp regen) and water (mana regen) so they never have serious down time. Hunters and warlocks use pets to keep things away from them, so their time can be minimalist as well.
(@)
Emphasis is mine.
With only 10 days available, Leatherworking is good for a Hunter...if you intend to keep the character, however, Blacksmithing is a better choice for the Hunter (as he switches from Leather armor to Mail at lvl 40.)
That which does not kill you, still hurts like Hell. - Anonymous Soldier
None of us is as dumb as ALL of us. - Anonymous Staff Officer
Veni, Vici, Ridebam, Discedebam - "I came, I saw, I laughed, I left"
Roo - I suggest starting a thread called "Looking for European WoW players", because there are some, and some have recently been trying to find each other. And if you do find each other, it might be better to find an established, fun guild rather than start your own with just a handful of people.
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
I tried hunter and found it paaaaaiinful to get him to L10, when you finally get a pet. Obviously it's all downhill from there. But for a 10 day trial, he might be better off staying away from hunter and warlock (the other pet class).
Personally, I think the most fun class in that level range is the shaman. Fairly hardy, can do damage and self heal. Not a lot of downtime.
I'm relatively new to WoW and with my first characters went with skinning/herbalism. I got basic pocket change from skinning early on, but by the time I got to L40ish herbalism became my cash cow.
My suggestion would be to go herbalism/skinning, or mining/skinning, and drop skinning after you've gotten far enough into the game that you've got decent cash flow. (Unless you choose leatherworking of course.)
If you stick with the game beyond the trial, then by all means level a character in each class to L11/12 to see how they play. For a 10 day trial I'd recommend a shaman.
Your Quote Here!
I can't disagree that Hunters are boring before 10, but you can do 10 in what, 3 hours of playtime? Well, more if it's your first character ever.
Anyway, once you get a pet, Hunter is one of the most fun classes I've played (though I've only played it to 17 or something).
Cloth-wearing classes (priests, mages, warlocks) die a lot, which might be frustrating to start with.
But most importantly, just try something that appeals to you. Play it for a couple levels, and if it isn't rocking your world, try something else. If I could re-do my WoW experience, I would probably have done the first 10 or so levels on several different classes to see which one appealed to me the most.
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Id suggest a rogue. Nothing is more fun early levels than a rogue as you are the hot knife and the monsters are butter.
Tauren shaman and or Tauren druid are good early choices too.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
One other note, probably unnecessary: pick a race that you'll be happy with. I played a Gnomish rogue to level 16 or so and while I liked the rogue mechanics, I just could not handle the idea of being a cute backstabber. Some people absolutely love it, or love being a gnomish warrior, etc., but it wasn't for me.
My main looks like a black-haired Captain America, btw (Human paladin).
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Three or four hours was my experience. Maybe longer if it's your first time. I just figure he may not have much more than three or four hours to play in ten days. That's maybe two sessions for normal folks.
This is the most important point. The time you spend playing characters to level 10 (maybe three or four hours) pales in comparison to the time you spend levelling a character to Level 70. So take your time playing around with classes early on if you decide to stick with it past the trial.
If I had to do it all over again, my warlock would probably be a gnome. But at the time I didn't know what I was doing. Still probably don't.
Your Quote Here!
The warlock in my old group (oh, the days!) was a gnome. I'm down with gnomes, but I don't think I can ever be one. I haven't tried a dwarf, either.
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
I personally found shamans to be overly complex to play when I first started. They don't even derive their power from self buffing spells per se, but rather from some stones they drop on the ground and then dance around to receive self buffing spells (or other kinds). As far as my current shammy is super fun to play, I would definately suggest against going shaman for your first trial char. Go with something simple. Warrior to wear good armour and just bash. Rogue to live on the edge of killing up close, or getting killed if something goes wrong. Mage if you just want to own with damage and have strategic options. Once you become familiar with the basic game mechanics, then start messing around with pet classes, hybrid classes, etc.
(@)
I agree with Moon - I've just levelled a new Shaman to 11 or 12 or so in the last week (when I'm not playing my main) and haven't experienced all the "oomph" that I would want to. I'm going to continue, because I have this perception that Shamans turn into (but not 'til 40 - ugh) dual-wielding face-rippers who offer a lot of variety in how you can play (like any good hybrid class).
So far, Hunter has been the most pure fun for me, but I've yet to play one in a group, which is what I WoW for. My Paladin combos well with my wife's Hunter.
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
My reasoning behind the shaman is basically that in the first few levels you can (a) cast lightning bolts, (b) beat the heck out of mobs with melee weapons, and (c) cast a self heal so you don't spend a lot of time eating/drinking. So you get to try different aspects of the game all at once.
Most classes don't have many skills for the first ten levels, and many don't get a very key skill until L10 (e.g., pet for the hunter). With a shaman you get your first totem at L4/5. (At least the dranei do.)
I found myself doing a lot of eating and drinking in those first 10 levels with a hunter.
Now, like fang said, a rogue would be fun too. I've played one for a few levels and you kill things quickly enough to not need to heal a lot.
Your Quote Here!
Well, I tried Druid and this was pretty much what it was like. Cast a 2-3 damage spells until they get in melee range, and then switch to my big stick. Made it to level 8 yesterday.
I just got done with the school year (teaching English here), and so I'm at home with my baby girl with an hour of gaming time available every three hours or so, or 2 hours if she takes a longer nap. So...I do have some time to figure out if I like it.
I have been a little put off on the Euro server I'm on in terms of PC interaction. Whenever I walk through town, I've got what I assume are 12 year olds challenging me to duels. I have people randomly inviting me to group, and then if I do group, they say nothing and start killing things. Not exactly interactive. So I'll probably stick to soloing for now.
Tempting after the above posts to try a gnome thief next.
Although I have to agree that "cute" will probably be lost on me quickly...
Thanks for the advice, guys. If you have any interface tricks/tips let me know. I looked at the hotkeys and the overwhelming options of assigning macros and action thingies and decided that trying to figure all that out would be the opposite of fun. Probably need all that stuff when you're level 40-70.
I've tried a few mature servers (large populations), and have found this problem in them all. As I understand it, though, it's more prevalent at the lower levels, as the other players are learning gaming etiquette.
That which does not kill you, still hurts like Hell. - Anonymous Soldier
None of us is as dumb as ALL of us. - Anonymous Staff Officer
Veni, Vici, Ridebam, Discedebam - "I came, I saw, I laughed, I left"
Yeah, the druid has similar skills to the shaman early on. Definitely try them all before you settle on one. I strongly recommend playing each class to L11 or L12. Most classes get a key skill at L10.
I stuck with the default UI until at least level 20, though I played around with the options in the default interface options screen. Around that point I had started filling up my action bar with skills and added the additional on screen action bars in the interface options.
After a while I added a few mods - my favorites are the Mirage compilation (though I don't use the Titan pieces), Gatherer and Healbot (only use that for buffs though).
The mod you will probably appreciate most early on is a map coordinates mod. The Mirage compilation includes one and it will give you the map coordinates used by sites like wowhead. That really helps cut down on the aimless wandering when you're trying to figure out where to go for a quest.
Your Quote Here!
I don't think I like playing druids. I was totally excited about turning into various animals, but the animals have fewer abilities available than a "normal" class does. Overall the druid probably has more tools in his arsenal than any other class, and they can do anything they want to do well. Tanking, healing, melee DPS, caster DPS...the sky's the limit.
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Yeah, I kinda agree. I have one I play from time to time but I get tired of having to shift to heal or use a potion.
Your Quote Here!
Druids are arguably the most complex hybrid class there is. Sure picked the right one to start playing WoW with.
(@)
Hear me well - good druids rock! I don't think I'm a good druid. I don't want to manage multiple gear sets or shifting forms all the time. I like my Pally because he's always wearing plate, and if I need to switch gears I just do whatever needs to be done - need to heal instead of tank, I just hit the healing button.
All this talk has me thinking I need to give rogue another shot. I think I was having fun with that, and my Oblivion character's defining attribute is that he's very stealthy.
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Oh, I wouldn't dare knock druids. Like I said, IMO they are the most complex class in the game. But I'm having a helluva time playing with a pally as a hybrid class. Lugging around 2 sets of equipment is pain enough to actually have to do 3 sets. Yikes!
(@)
You should see my itemrack.. I have 8 settings.
Playing WoW as: Vilius (70 NE Druid)
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” John K Galbraith
My first character outside of beta was a gnome rogue who I leveled up to 60. His name was Furious, and it was really nice being a small "hot knife through butter" character.
I don't recall ever considering him cute (maybe on that first day) but instead considered him more equivalent to a tightly bundled explosive device - A force of destruction in a small package.
Also gnomes because they are smaller seem to jump higher and run faster than the taller races, though they are actually jump just as high and move just as fast as the larger races do.
Jolly Bill wrote:
yeah I noticed that too with my gnome Mage that I have. He is my slap-stick trickster that I RP with. to give you an example I have a macro setup:
/cast Arcane Intellect
/s Here let me help you get a little bit smarter
/laugh
I have gotten so many whispers of
"thats RUDE"
or
"I am reporting you"
all the way to
"Dude thats funny"
or
"Pretty funny"
I guess it all depends on the person but you have to have fun with the game to stay with it.
Fathgar - Feathermoon
wordsmythe - "Jesus would drive a Hummer and burn as much oil as possible, since the dinosaurs it's made out of seem to be confusing people.