WOW, help me understand what I'm missing??

I was talking to Reaper and Luna the other night in an attempt to understand the whole WOW phenomenon. I asked about what the game was like and how you play it. I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with what it's all about.

I'm a long time gamer but have concentrated almost exclusively in flight sims and tactical shooters. I've also dabbled in a few RTS games like Command and Conquer. Honestly this whole RPG thing eludes me. I have this horrific vision of a bunch of people dressed up like elves in somebodies basement with 12 sided dice. Since it's so popular, there has to be something to it, right?

Please help me understand why I should be playing WOW?

bah, dressed up as elves, come on... I am a human wizard, lightningbolt, lightningbolt.. sleep, sleeeeep

Here, watch this, this is the best way of describing it. WoW is sooo cool

http://www.planetradio.net/ogre-battle.large.mpeg

p.s. you stole my avatar... silly bear

"Bear" wrote:

Please help me understand why I should be playing WOW? :?

You shouldn''t! You should grab your G-36 and head out to those hills solider, double time!

Escalation > WoW anyday!

Escalation > WoW anyday!

Hey Mateo, quit sniffing the mustard gas...

Here, watch this, this is the best way of describing it. WoW is sooo cool

This... is... so... ... ... EMBARRASING.

"Garrad" wrote:

bah, dressed up as elves, come on... I am a human wizard, lightningbolt, lightningbolt.. sleep, sleeeeep

Here, watch this, this is the best way of describing it. WoW is sooo cool

http://www.planetradio.net/ogre-battle.large.mpeg

p.s. you stole my avatar... silly bear

WTF? After watching that video, I''m more convinced that this is a really, really bad idea.

"Garrad" wrote:
Escalation > WoW anyday!

Hey Mateo, quit sniffing the mustard gas... :P

Hey, I need someone to shoot at on our handy dandy TG/GWJ server. Kinda quiet over there the last few days since WoW went live.

"mateo" wrote:
"Garrad" wrote:
Escalation > WoW anyday!

Hey Mateo, quit sniffing the mustard gas... :P

Hey, I need someone to shoot at on our handy dandy TG/GWJ server. Kinda quiet over there the last few days since WoW went live.
:cry:

Get used to it.

"Flux" wrote:
"mateo" wrote:
"Garrad" wrote:
Escalation > WoW anyday!

Hey Mateo, quit sniffing the mustard gas... :P

Hey, I need someone to shoot at on our handy dandy TG/GWJ server. Kinda quiet over there the last few days since WoW went live.
:cry:

Get used to it. :hump:

Hey, when you guys get over your whole cosplay thing, let me know!

Sometimes it''s better not to ask honest questions around here. Seriously tho I never played any MMORPG before this one. Keep the whole RPG thing out of your head. It''s a game first and that is why I have but money into it now.

If you want to look at it in a different way this can have stategy/tactics when grouped with other players. The mix of classes can greatly change how you must fight a battle (particularly further into the game). Mages are you heavy artillery, fighters are yuor frontline solders. but there are several oother claseses with different special abilities that can makes things more interesting. Thus you could loosly think of grouping as playing a tachnical FPS.
Best I could suggested for getting over not knowing what it''s like is to perhaps find a friend who is playing the game and take a look at it. MMORPGs are not for everyone as there is a sort of need to invest some time into it . But unlike a few others that I tried for free this is the only one that feels like a game. Blizzard has tried to minimalize the ammount of time needed to play the game.

On a side note, this has to be some sort of a record. We have 11 WoW threads and a sticky on the first page alone. I''m not complaining, just noticing.

I think it''s the carrot and the end of the stick (is that the expression you english people use?) that motivates people playing this. That and the heavy social aspect of the game. To me the gameplay is way too shallow to keep me interested but I have to admit that exploring the WoW world was fun by itself when I played in the ST. It eventually started to feel like a part time job though.

But that''s just fine, people enjoy that so I''m not going to pretend that I know better. Where I back off with a passion is when I see the unhealthy amount of time people put into this and other junkie behaviors but I''ll just leave it at that.

Vade Retro Satanas!

But that''s just fine, people enjoy that so I''m not going to pretend that I know better. Where I back off with a passion is when I see the unhealthy amount of time people put into this and other junkie behaviors but I''ll just leave it at that.

That can be said of any gaming though. Some people have that addictive personality when it comes to certain things, gaming in this instance. It doesn''t have to be MMORPG in particular though, even though I think this type of gaming has a predisposition to that type of behavior as people do get attached to their characters, seeing as they can in some cases be an extension of the person playing the game. I have seen people take what most would consider an unhealthy interest in their gaming and shun parts of their life that should take precendence. To each their own I guess.

That can be said of any gaming though.

I don''t have scientific studies to back it up but I''m pretty sure it''s a lot more prevalent in MMORPG''s than any other genre. Combined. I''m just looking at the threads here since the game''s release, I look at my Xfire friends list and it tells me enough.

But it''s none of my god damn business (before someone tells me). Live and let live, people live their lives as they see fit, all I''m saying is that it''s clearly not for me.

I would never call WoW shallow or any other mmorpg for that matter. They are the exact opposite of the definition of that word.

But it''s none of my god damn business (before someone tells me). Live and let live, people live their lives as they see fit, all I''m saying is that it''s clearly not for me.

Understandable. It''s not for everyone. I was in CoH since day 1 of retail and had to quit when I went to the Fire Fighter Academy in September. I look back and see that I had spent a lot of time in Paragon City and that it was very possibly an unhealthy amount of time and decided to not go back. I plan on getting into WoW after the holidays, but I will limit the amount of time I can be on each week, especially so when my wife and kid are at home. That being said, I bartend on weekends and have most of the week off to myself until 2 pm when my son gets out of school, and my wife usually sleeps during the morning and early afternoon because she works 3rd shift, so I can game with impunity in the mornings and up till after lunch.

"Flux" wrote:

I would never call WoW shallow or any other mmorpg for that matter. They are the exact opposite of the definition of that word. :)

No of course you wouldn''t, you love the damn thing. It''s shallow gameplay according to my definition of gameplay. To me, gameplay involves skills, and by skills I mean dexterity, the ability to resolve puzzles or make strategies. That kind of stuff. One could argue that in WoW you can use strategies when grouping but that''s very basic. The game is made to be accessible to anybody and that''s why it''s so popular imho. My 60 year old dad could play WoW but no way he could ever play Halo 2 without making a hole in the wall with the controller 2 minutes later. I''m not talking through my butt either, I''ve built a level 11 human rogue during the first Stress Test and one level 6 during the second one. I could be wrong but I''m pretty sure I have a good idea on what I''m talking about.

Again, I''m only explaining why I don''t like the gameplay. I don''t doubt that you guys have a blast exploring WoW''s beautiful world right-clicking on stuff together to gain levels and buy better gear and chit chat during the process, I''m just saying I''d rather watch paint dry.

/ducks
/runs

I''m just saying I''d rather watch paint dry

What kind of paint? Acrylic or Water based?

"Vector" wrote:
I''m just saying I''d rather watch paint dry

What kind of paint? Acrylic or Water based?

Flat,Gloss, or Semi-Gloss?

Details, man, details!

Skill is in the PVP and high end encounters, and even the higher you get the more it takes skill and strategy. Of course the first few levels are very easy.

Anyway, that is my take.

I''m not talking through my butt either, I''ve built a level 11 human rogue during the first Stress Test and one level 6 during the second one. I could be wrong but I''m pretty sure I have a good idea on what I''m talking about.

You hardly scratched the surface but I guess we will agree to disagree.

"Garrad" wrote:

Here, watch this, this is the best way of describing it. WoW is sooo cool

http://www.planetradio.net/ogre-battle.large.mpeg

omfg

"Flux" wrote:
"Mr.Green" wrote:

I''m not talking through my butt either, I''ve built a level 11 human rogue during the first Stress Test and one level 6 during the second one. I could be wrong but I''m pretty sure I have a good idea on what I''m talking about.

You hardly scratched the surface but I guess we will agree to disagree.

I was going to say the same thing, Flux. Looking at how far you got, Green, I can certainly see why you found it shallow. At that point in the game, it is - moreso for some classes than others, but certainly shallow.

It starts to get interesting - and by interesting, I mean from a complexity and strategy point of view - later on when you have more actions to choose from besides 3 straights attacks and a backstab. Try running a hybrid class, when your options expand to tanking, healing, nuking, or trying to control aggro. Do you go offensive or defensive in a particular situation? When do you change roles, and what happens when unexpected things occur (and they do)? Do you spend your money on gear or spells, and which ones of each? There really does end up being a fair level on both macro- and micro-management, and which decisions are appropriate can change rapidly.

(Do I sound like enough of a nerd yet? Cuz I really feel like one... I need to go shoot a deer or something, get back my man points... ;))

I like the game. I think there''s a lot to it, with more coming as you move further along. That''s my 2 cents; take it or leave it as you will.

The game is appealing because of a number of things... First - the social aspect, Second, the rewards of play time - the levelling process the finding something new - the character progression in a trade and as a ""class""... The excitement - you cant reload if you get killed... The atmosphere is very engrossing - exploring and seeing something new etc.... There are great challenges in both teamplay and solo = strategy, tactics etc... plus you get to dress up like an elf and roll dice in your basement :).

I''m not a big MMO player, but I play Toontown because it is a very relaxing, low-stress way to game. Last night for example, I was tired after a long (but great) Thanksgiving. So my wife and I sat down in our office, started up the Tivo, and watched some TV while she did some scrapbooking and I played Toontown. The game demands are low enough that I could still talk to her and follow the TV shows, and neither of us can just sit there and watch TV without getting fidgety.

WoW actually does have a lot of strategy involved in the combat and adventuring.

There are spells that stun, root in place, render harmless monsters that you encounter. In addition to that, you can cast reflective damage spells, heal over time spells, stat increasing spells, etc on you or other players.

Strategy in MMO''s has all to do with aggro management. Basically, you have mere seconds to make rapid decisions on what you want to fight, what you can handle fighting if you cant only fight what you want, and how to spread the damage hurled at your party or how to replenish it before more trouble comes.

Simplified, strategy types include: stunning a monster that starts to cast a heal on himself or one of his companions; charging a monster that wants to bast powerful spells at you from range; casting magic or using skills that reduce or ignore armor for monster with high armor; casting a heal over time spell since it will heal the same amount but wont cause all the enemies to charge you instead of your heavily armored friend.

You really have to play and in most cases group with other player to fully appreciate strategy. WoW did a really good job with utility spells for all the classes that are simple to use and very helpful.

And there is rarely anything more funny then seeing some massive enemy turned into a sheep - tickles me everytime I see it... when I first got that spell I sheeped everything just because I could

WoW is my second MMORPG (after City of Heroes), and unlike City of Heroes, it actually feels like a living, breathing world.

At the beginning I was put off by low-polygon graphics but I fixed it.
I forced 4x AA on the driver level, 4x AF (middle of the scale) in the game options, and the game runs well and looks excellent.
Now I can no longer see the shimmery outlines around everything, the environment looks clear and beautiful at large distances and it really feels ""whole"" which pretty much hides the low poly counts from me.
I disabled ""full screen glow effect"" because it added nothing of value and overrode my AA settings, and ""death effect"" which I know would get old fast, and had a big impact on performance.

In addition I was actually surprised when I saw that Blizzard REALLY clever with this engine.
It''s not just some low-powered engine.
It''s a CLEVER optimized engine which flexes it''s muscles only when it needs to.
In the beginning area where you kill Kobolds, the mage projectiles had no lightsourcing effects, as to be expected - but there ARE lightsourcing effects in this game !
The higher-level Kobold enemies chased me out of the mines and shot fireballs which illuminated the ground underneath.
When people level-up (or at least, at some point when something changes, i didn''t narrow it down yet), there''s a vertex lightsoucing effect (Descent 1), which is both economical on CPU power and does the job.

I was also surprised that unlike CoH, where running got old really fast, in this game I found myself NOT getting tired of launching the spells and running, its a combination of many factors, including the carefully and yet scientifically handcrafted environments, and little things, like the spells winding up before you shoot them, instead of just having some boring pause as you ""reload"" your weapon.

Some things that annoyed the hell out of me when I partied up with my cousin, was that the quests had subquests which didn''t get accepted automatically, thus risking to create a quest desync between party members.
Also, the whole ""share quest"" thing was dumb.

Thankfully Cosmos UI addresses EXACTLY those problems !
Everyone needs to use it, seriously.
It also has minigames (i.e. you can play Chess with someone), something that was last present only in Ultima Online.

Unlike CoH, which had stumbling blocks on every step that reminded you the world was half-assedly made, largely a generic copy-paste job with palette changes, and not really alive, World of Warcraft feels genuine and alive.
There''s really no glaring ""holes"" in the consistency of the environment and things happen as you WOULD expect them to happen.
Locations are memorable and different.

Thankfully Cosmos UI addresses EXACTLY those problems !

Can you go into more detail about how it does this? Thanks.

Can you go into more detail about how it does this? Thanks.

We certainly can.

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=9198

Thanks Vector. I''ve actually been following that thread but after scanning it again, I didn''t see anything that told how it fixed the fact that ""the whole ''share quest'' thing was dumb."" Sorry if I missed it; could you point it out? Thanks again.

The flow is as follows:

a) You get a quest from Billy Hookadoodle to bring him 3 coats made out of elf skin
b) You press L to go to quests menu, select the quest, and click ""Share"" to share it with party members
Now, EACH one of your has to collect those 3 coats separately on your own.

c) You come back to Billy Hoodlehooka and he says ""Why thank you for the 3 coats, but now I would like to see you burn them. Because I love the smell of burning elf skin.""
At this point, he gives you another quest, which is actually a part of of the previous quest.
This caused great confusion when I played the game with my cousin because he automatically clicked ""Accept"" and I didn''t, because I wanted him to share all the quests with me to keep us in sync.

What COSMOS fixes is the following:

a) you can set it to auto-accept subquests (the way it should''ve been done)
b) you can set it to auto-share quests you receive with the rest of the party (the way it should''ve been done)

c) unfortunately, it does not fix the idiocy which makes each party member collect his own items. It would be better if the party of 3 had to collect 9 coats, as opposed to each one collecting 3 coats.
Otherwise, we again end up with some members lagging behind and quest not being ""complete"" simultaneously, as well as no desire to help other party member kill ""their"" target.
Everyone is on their own - which in overall is a really f*cking dumb decision, Blizzard.

What CosmosUI does here, as I understand it shows you the number of quest items the other party members have collected, so at least you know where they''re at.

Blizzard really should pay the guy who made CosmosUI, for doing their job.

Is the auto-accept thing working? I couldn''t get it to on mine. And the auto-share feature requires other party members to have Cosmos as well, I believe. But yes, good job on the mod...

The whole ""party of three collecting nine coats"" doesn''t actually address some in character things like ""it takes nine coats to build the magic dancing pants"", which I could really care less about. It also doesn''t address what happens when you stop after getting say two coats, then log back on later and solo for the rest. How many should you have? It''s a minor thing and most of the quest items drop frequently enough it''s not that big a deal, in my opinion anyway.

A small, related detail I like about Cosmos is it shows you the entire quest text immediately, instead of making you wait for it to turn up. You can set it to scroll and I believe change the scroll speed, but I don''t often want to read the damn quest right when I get it... that''s what gryph rides are for