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WoW the myth
XwyldeX
Member Posts: 7
ok i should start with a little detail about my self, At the moment i am starting to document the massive effect that these sort of games have on us and society at large. Now i am not a middle aged man neither am i a child "flamming" a game that i dont like. I have been role playing since i was about 10 and i am now 24
The reason for this post is an interest that i have in how this game (i will be doing more posts about other mmo's) has managed to pull so many people in to it, so i will start from the begging
after installing the game i noticed straight away that the music in the game was actually very polished which is a very important thing in any mmo as we all no you cant have that "epic" raid with out some good ol'fashion killing music. ok now one thing that i did not expect from this game was the lack of character design, actually i feel i should explain my self here. Its not that the character designs are not expansive its far from that infact you actually get a fair choice of what you would like your "toon" to look like. But the actual "look" of these characters are terrible they look unpolished and nothing compared to how they should look compared to the standard of todays games, So after making the character, i had a look into the classes and to be honest there not is a great choice there, for example most of the classes cant equip heavy armour, and every race had the same class which is fine but left me feeling a little constarained staright away
you are taken to a cut-scene that takes you to your char,Now i started as a human as it was the closest to a main town that i could find
Straight away you are directed to a quest that will get you xp and take you on to other quests. Im going to slow down now before i get ahead of my self!
So now to the combat, Well what can i actually say about this.. its poor thats the only way i can describe it, Maybe its the physics of the game engine or lazyness on the part of the dev team. But with every swing of my sword it never actually felt like i was making contact. now i dont no what its like later but at the start it is poor, So after you have run around the starting town and done every single quest, And i would like to say that the quests in WoW are very good. Ok there not amazingly intricate but they are a good way to progress through the beggining with out actually felling like its a grind fest. Which would be a terrible thing thinking that the combat actions are that poor
After you have done the first quests you are taken to the next town which for me was goldshire, now this is another problem that i have found in this game which i could imagine to be a big part of it is the constant pm's to join a guild or the consistent PvP requests, now i no you can turn them off but is it not possible to have a mature gamer base and not have someone constantly doing it and only giving up if you run a good couple of mins out of town. now when i got there i tried to ask somone if they could give me a few mins to talk about the end game aspects as i wanted to write end game as well as the begging but i was met with.. lets say insults (the usual Noob) and others that i found quite rude and was surprised that they where not edited out
Again after doing quest after quest after quest you eventually get directed to the main town of the alliance, From what i belive any way to be the main town, Now i have to admit this place was massive i have played many mmo's before but this way a big town and it was very easy to get lost, now i belive that you do some sort of class change quest thing at lvl 10 but im not sure as getting some help on this game is impossible as i feel most gamers out there in WoW are a little immature and dont seem to have the time for the "Noob" which is incredible as i have read that WoW is directed at the Noob
there is the usual gold selling and OE item selling that you get in most other games but it wasnt as bad as say L2, now i am excited to say that the game is starting to look up a little bit after that dissapointing start, there is a feature called talents which from first looks seems to let you "spec" in a certain talent which is a nice addition and i will only find out about this feature once i get a little higher
that is all for now readers but i will be posting the remainder of this once i feel i understand this game a little more
please do not reply to this with any flamming or any "this game rules" post, i neither say this game is poor or amazing i am just making an honest account of this game for others to find out about it before they play
thanks for reading
Comments
I played WoW for a long time and to be honest you wont get a real feel for the game until you try out endgame content.
the leveling game is really good in WoW, amazing looking zones, fun quests, cool new spells,tons of dungeons, low level pvp raids and battlegrounds.
I loved leveling up in WoW and feeling my avatar get more and more powerful.
I felt like i was on a never ending adventure always recieving new spells and meeting new people to quest with once i entered a new zone.
the game world feels alive while you're leveling, battlegrounds and dungeons have meaning you normally need to complete a quest in low level dungeons and you really dont farm anything like gear you just wear any upgrade you find and move on.
the world is even loaded with non-instanced dungeons that you can do with a bunch of rag tag strangers for really memorable moments.
If I had to rate wow's leveling game i would give it a 9.5 out of 10.
Now here's the kicker, once you hit level cap everything changes.
The world goes from being alive to being very static.
You go from adventuring and learning new wonderful spells to queing up for battlegrounds not to experience them but to farm them hundreds of times over and over.
you discover this mechanic called arenas that are basically glorified duels and are terribly balanced (in 2v2,3v3).
you no longer go to dungeons for quests but to farm them for a particular items over and over and over.
Quest are no longer short adventures that lead you to a new wonderful zone they become "dailies" basically running the same quests over and over again everyday like a job.
Pvp raids become non-existent and you are introduced to the main attraction of WoW.
Raiding.... while raiding is fun the first few times (taking down hard bosses is awesome) farming a instance for months on end isn't.
WoW becomes less about adventuring and all about queing up for pvp and waiting on a raid schedule for gear. gear is the only way you progress in WoW which is totally different from the leveling game.
If I had to rate WoW's endgame i would give it a 6 out of 10.
This is only my opinion and i realize other players will disagree.
I hope i don't get flamed too bad for being honest.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
If you realy want to understand how it pulled so many people in, you need to look at it from the perspective of it's launch, not todays WoW.
If you realy want to understand how it pulled so many people in, you need to look at it from the perspective of it's launch, not todays WoW.
this is true, But i find it hard to believe that this game had 10 million (or what ever the number is) subscriptions on D.O.R, so down the line they still manage to pull the people in, and the person above this is correct you kinda do get sucked in to it but not enough to warrent that many people playing this
in the end is very simple, WoW had all the pros to succeed,and no cons
1) the brand name weighted a lot. Diablo players, Warcraft players, starcraft players, DK players...all them felt compelled to try the first attempt of MMO from the company who made the amazing games they like
2) once you have such a huge playerbase to start with,the game expanded a damn LOT by word-to-mouth . for example:
-you have lil harry playing WoW, he has never ever played other MMO but tried WoW becouse its from the same company that did Diablo2...so it must be good,right?
- lil harry likes what he sees,instantly considers it "teh bestest geim in da wold" and runs to tell his friends mary johnny and mark
- mary johnny and mark fall for the same. they all go to school together,and talk the whole time about the game
- their classmates hear the 4 talking nonstop about how cool they are,how many orcs they killed, how amazing it feels raiding a boss,and all of a sudden jealousy kicks in. they have to get WoW too...
well,you can figure out how this follows....
3) WoW is simple and caters to the masses. dumbed down gameplay,a few possible gratifications in a single session, easy to get into
4) absolutly no competition watsoever at release.
-the rest of games were clearly inferior in budget advertising and brand name
and...
5) absolutly no competition watsoever after release.
-games with potential to bring WoW down failed by their own mistakes (vanguard,DDO).
that obviously caused a sort of "WoW is the best and nothing will change that" line of thinking. now players are more reluctant to change games than ever, first becouse they cant admit other game is better in any aspect, second becouse they already have had a few dissapointments and dont want to live another one
for example,by failing hard AoC has probably helped WoW way more than hurted it. it gives more ammunition to the WoW players,and make them re-assure in the "fact" that WoW is the only good thing out there.
not that we can blame them on that....
Too late, it's already been done.
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/gateway_intro.html
I have to disagree about the graphics of WoW. I have never seen a game that has so many unique gear graphics which mesh together in an aesthetic fashion. Think about it, every piece of gear you find along your journies can be worn and blend in nicely with your existing set of gear. Within a couple weeks, you will have a very theme oriented graphic avatar with unique gear.
Every game which has pvp is bound to have a section of players who are immature in the sense that they try to chase down newbs rather than fighting skilled players of their own level. It is unavoiddable.
As a recent newb to WoW I can say that I have made a smooth transition to the player base. However, I have seen the section of players who are more interested in seeking out newb kills rather than competing in reasonable combat. The benefit of WoW is that they have a flagging system implemented on the non-pvp servers which allows people to stay out of pvp entirely if they choose.
WoW isn't really designed to be that intricate or deep, it's designed to be like Diablo but online, where you grab the female archer and just start wailing arrows.
Theres different "stages" of the game to get you hooked.
In the beginning its all about the simple gameplay and lore.
You swing the sword, the enemy goes "ouch" you read the quests and the alliance needs heroes.
As you gain levels you get more powers, the gameplay gets more intricate, you learn a new strategy and go "uh huuuuuh".
Eventually you know your class very well and customize it with talents.
Endgame is all about either a) getting more loot or b) seeing raid content or c) social groups.
I did the 10-day trial of WOW, and yes, it is extremely polished and well designed but I have three issues:
1) Not enough race/class choices
2) Graphics are looking dated
3) Cannot live with the cartoony look of charactures, If I waan watch cartoons I'll turn on the tube.
I simply don't get why it's so popular.
The graphics are not bad for a game so old. Other games did have better graphics but WoW can be played on older machines I guess. II do like the animations and reactionary movements, and it does feel like the toon is reacting well to my commands.
I agree with you the music is pretty good and so was the starting cut-scene which got me into the whole story. I think the classes were sufficicient since you have to balance each one and there are many spec lines to customise them. Any more classes and it would be even harder to balance. Heck they should just make 1 class with 10 spec lines and you can spec him any way you want into any class...... Then people would stop complaining about balance.
I thought they did a pretty good job of the levelling through quests thing and minimising the grind. End-game seems ok too if you're a PvEr and into raids. PvP seems sparse and did lack content.
As for the PvP aspects I agree that the measly 4 BG and arenas suck as the total scope of endgame PvP.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
I like Pappy!
You may have X amount of 70's and still be considered casual in the eyes of most WoW players. Me saying my review was more of a hardcore perspective in no way meant that you were one. but you have to relize what you said about endgame still comes off as a casuals way of thinking. just cause you choose to grind something slowly little by little still means its a grind.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
I don't understand the whole "I'm hardcore but this is too much grind for me"
What exactly do you want the game to do for you?
You DID all the quests.
Even once you hit 70 you still have a good 100+ quests to do, some of them long chain ones.
I have to repeat myself here for emphasis.
What exactly do you want the game to do for you, once you have ripped thru every shred of content, the game just has nothing left to give you.
At that point you level up profs, do your dailies, save for epic mount, raid raid raid, do 5-man's and heroics, grind up rep for any items you want.
I've been 70 for a year.
200+ gold for 1 hour doing dailies is not a grind at all.
I dont farm any rep items or mats, I just save up and buy them on the AH, 5 days doing dailies = 1000+ gold.
I'm a 375 tailor, I sell my spellcloth cooldown every 4 days for 40-50g, plus I make bags and sell them on AH.
First thing I do every day is 1 hour of dailies.
After that I get on AV que and go check the AH for items that I buy.
Usually I am done shopping about 2-3 minutes before AV starts, so I look thru my group scheduler for tonights guild raid. If its good then I sign up for the raid.
Then I play AV if I feel like it, sometimes I stay in battlegrounds for 1-2 hours before the raid.
Then we go raid, if I win something, great, if not, great.
After raid I port to IF, get repaired and check my mailbox for the day's sales.
That's pretty much a typical day for me.
Note that I never do anything that I dont want to do.
I never grind. I never farm.
If I need something I buy it.
Last week I spent 2000g on rep items, turned em all in for rep, and got what I wanted.
Alot of ppl who call themselves "hardcore" are just mental burnouts. They just play too much to the point where its not a game anymore.
If its not fun, DONT DO IT. Period end of sentence.
in the end is very simple, WoW had all the pros to succeed,and no cons
1) the brand name weighted a lot. Diablo players, Warcraft players, starcraft players, DK players...all them felt compelled to try the first attempt of MMO from the company who made the amazing games they like
2) once you have such a huge playerbase to start with,the game expanded a damn LOT by word-to-mouth . for example:
-you have lil harry playing WoW, he has never ever played other MMO but tried WoW becouse its from the same company that did Diablo2...so it must be good,right?
- lil harry likes what he sees,instantly considers it "teh bestest geim in da wold" and runs to tell his friends mary johnny and mark
- mary johnny and mark fall for the same. they all go to school together,and talk the whole time about the game
- their classmates hear the 4 talking nonstop about how cool they are,how many orcs they killed, how amazing it feels raiding a boss,and all of a sudden jealousy kicks in. they have to get WoW too...
well,you can figure out how this follows....
3) WoW is simple and caters to the masses. dumbed down gameplay,a few possible gratifications in a single session, easy to get into
4) absolutly no competition watsoever at release.
-the rest of games were clearly inferior in budget advertising and brand name
and...
5) absolutly no competition watsoever after release.
-games with potential to bring WoW down failed by their own mistakes (vanguard,DDO).
that obviously caused a sort of "WoW is the best and nothing will change that" line of thinking. now players are more reluctant to change games than ever, first becouse they cant admit other game is better in any aspect, second becouse they already have had a few dissapointments and dont want to live another one
for example,by failing hard AoC has probably helped WoW way more than hurted it. it gives more ammunition to the WoW players,and make them re-assure in the "fact" that WoW is the only good thing out there.
not that we can blame them on that....
You really show you have no clue whatsoever.
WoW released basically next to EQ2, the succesor of what could basically be called the previous Behemoth of MMO's. If WoW had never come out *that* would have been the big dog, not nearly as big but definately the biggest MMO in the West.
You may have X amount of 70's and still be considered casual in the eyes of most WoW players. Me saying my review was more of a hardcore perspective in no way meant that you were one. but you have to relize what you said about endgame still comes off as a casuals way of thinking. just cause you choose to grind something slowly little by little still means its a grind.
What you just said is that if you are hard core it HAS to be a grind. Basically grinding is your definition of hard core. I disagree. I think you can be hard core without grinding. My definition of casual is someone who only plays maybe once or twice a week and who only plays maybe 4 or 5 hours a week. Anyone who plays everyday or who plays upwards of 15 hours a week, is not casual and I think most would agree with me.
And I didn't say that I was doing things slowly, what I said was that I vary things, there's a difference. A casual player does things slowly because they don't play much, I play a lot but I do a little bit of everything. I raid a little. I PvP a little. I farm a little. I quest a little. Add it all up and I'm playing a lot, but it's NOT a grind. Grinding by definition is repeatedly doing the same thing over and over. I'm constantly changing things up to keep it interesting so it's not a grind. You CAN be hard core and NOT grind. It's possible. Not everyone does it, but it's possible.
Well lets define "grind"
The word is totally subjective.
If you are advancing your char and you hate it then its "a grind"
If you are advancing your char and you enjoy it then you are just leveling.
Whats the objective difference between farming 500 sunfury signets and just killing things to level?
One feels like a grind the other does not, but you are doing the exact same thing, killing NPC's to advance your char.
In every game YOUR job is to play the game in such a way that its fun for you.
If you cant then you shouldnt play.
The way to make a "grind" tolerable is to break it up into very small pieces. Dont try to get 10,000 honor in 1 day, do 1 or 2 av's and then do something else.
Dont try to do 3 hours of dailies every day. Do 1 hour.
Dont try to farm 500 sunfury signets, farm 10.
Dont try to take over the AH market all by yourself, take 1 small piece.
Thats how you keep the game fun, by doing small pieces of the grind every day, variety is the spice of life.
When I was farming mount money I swear I spent 14 hours one day just killing mobs in Shadowmoon Valley. It was the most miserable experience of my life.
But if I had just done dailies for 1 hour a day I would have gotten my epic mount in like 3 weeks with no grinding needed.
Thats a lesson the "hardcore" types have to learn.
I read the OP's post and I honestly got the feeling that you went in thinking negative about the game. That's how your words made me feel and if I haven't played the game before or follow what others did, I probably wouldn't play it.
It seems to me you didn't spend a significant amount of time or attention to the game from start to finish. I'm neither a WoW fanboy nor a hater but it's a good game.
I mainly disagree with you on the combat. To me, when I hit metal I hear metal being hit. Same for cloth. This isn't a game where two players just stand in one spot popping skills(although possible). There has to be some room to be able to run around and still land a hit. The combat feels fluid to me.
I do agree with you that the models can be a bit better, but I play games for other reasons then looks, focusing too much on that aspect just nurtures epeens.
1.Your problem with the tells and invites: That problem can be solved by you if you've taken the time to read settings, besides, how is a communities maturity determined by duel spam?
2. Your problem with the size of main cities: Don't know about you, but huge cities are to my liking and it doesn't take long to get your bearings with use of maps and websites.
3. I REALLY don't understand how players expect other players to help them with information when it's readily available on the web. (forums, wiki, etc)
If your job was to give people who've never played WoW ashort summary of it's negatives and positives, you need to be more detailed and pay attention to the game. As it is now it seems like you watched someone else play the game and wrote notes as they progressed.
If you realy want to understand how it pulled so many people in, you need to look at it from the perspective of it's launch, not todays WoW.
wow didn't have a good launch., so i do not know what your point is here..its a polished game now but it had a bumpy start.
If you realy want to understand how it pulled so many people in, you need to look at it from the perspective of it's launch, not todays WoW.
wow didn't have a good launch., so i do not know what your point is here..its a polished game now but it had a bumpy start.
Fabrication. WoW had a great launch. The only real problem WoW had at launch were full servers. That's a great launch.
Below is a post from launch day talking about the problems. First off, it's only 2 pages long, how bad could it have possibly been? The only major problems were people either being unable to install for one reason or another (probably hardware problem) or queues/lag on high pop servers. Medium and low pop servers were having very few issues. There's even a few posts of people saying they had no problems at all. Yeah, terrible launch. LOL
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/28037
I thought the launch for WoW went pretty smoothly as launches go. No doubt there were a few server issues like lag and being too crowded but all in all I think launch was fine.
What is it to be human?
What would we do with out farmers who love to do the same stuff day in and day out for their whole lives?
Are we this detached from what it is to be alive that we question answers we've known for centuries?
We've lost our identities in the mill of modern society. People lack purpose in real life, and maintain jobs that are neither emotionally nourishing, or physically healthy.
What keeps people from going crazy or rebelling? Artificial stimulation. Before we had such infiltration of computers and TVs in our households, people still played a more active role in deciding the direction of our society and their communities.
The question shouldn't be, why a person plays X video game. It should be what are we lacking in society that this person turns to X video game to fulfill.
If X video game is so bad, what drives them to this madness?
How come some people prefer to work, then watch TV or play a video game? Is it the job they do?
World of Warcraft MUST be better then working... Right?
The answer to all of this is purpose. And people find a purpose for their lives in these games.
Same reason why my Girlfriend comes home from work and plays around designing clothes, or my brother in law comes home and gardens... Or my sister comes home and paints... These people fulfill a need they have mentally to feel more important then they really are.
We have the machines and knowledge now to do everything we need to sustain a happy, modern life, without the billions of extra people sucking up natural resources. Its a sad truth we all find ways of ignoring. We all find artificial ways of creating a purpose for our lives. MMORPGs streamline this search, and put it in a colorful easy to use wrapper.
Face it, If we all had to rely on our hunter and gathering skills for survival, these video game would seem like a giant waste of time and energy, no matter how cool it was.
But i'm a
"The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius."
-Oscar Wilde