world of warcraft

[jelloshotsrule]

i'm dumb, and could use some help before buying world of warcraft for myself and/or family to play online..

1. is there any single player aspect? or is it like the new final fantasies that are totally online play?

2. is it at all like old warcrafts (ie, making towns, battling other races, etc), or is it entirely an rpg (a la final fantasy)?

3. is it enough to buy x copies of the game for x people to play together? or is there an additional subscription service needed (like for ff)?


mainly, my brother is addicted to final fantasy, and myself and another brother would like to get him back on a mac game and also something we can join him with... but hoping that it's not entirely a rpg type game...

any help would be great, and thanks in advance for dumbing things down for me!

[JasonL]

Well, here goes:

1) no, it is an online-only massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)

2) it is entirely an rpg, it is not an RTS game like WC3

3) not sure, but I'd think you'd have to have accounts for each person playing, which could get expensive considering the monthly fee ($13-15/mo)

It is a great game, though. Ridiculously addictive for sure!

[jelloshotsrule]

ok, thanks for the quick and thorough response!

so, next question actually goes to wc3.....

is there a monthly cost for wc3 or is it just the cost of the game and then you can connect to battlenet thing for free??

thanks again!

[JasonL]

ok, thanks for the quick and thorough response!

so, next question actually goes to wc3.....

is there a monthly cost for wc3 or is it just the cost of the game and then you can connect to battlenet thing for free??

thanks again!

BattleNet is free as far as I remember.

[scem0]

yeah, warcraft is a pay one time kind of thing. b.net is free.

scem0

[jelloshotsrule]

ok, cool, i think i'll go that route since i am not really willing to invest the time in an rpg like that.

thanks all!

[JLaFrance]

But you could have one world of warcraft account with multiple characters on it....the only trouble is, you couldnt all play at once (?)

[QCassidy352]

But you could have one world of warcraft account with multiple characters on it....the only trouble is, you couldnt all play at once (?)

quite right. That's what 2 friends and I did during open beta because I was the only one who got in in time. But playing with friends is a lot of the fun of it, so that's sort of a crappy set up, in my experiences.

[jared_kipe]

That game looks pretty kick ass, but I will never play it.

Firstly, it sounds too freaking expensive for what you end up getting.

Secondly, I hate games where skill takes a back road to experience. RPG's to me were about story, but with them online it's about playing all the time and repetition.

[JLaFrance]

That game looks pretty kick ass, but I will never play it.

Firstly, it sounds too freaking expensive for what you end up getting.

Secondly, I hate games where skill takes a back road to experience. RPG's to me were about story, but with them online it's about playing all the time and repetition.


Too expensive? huh? I dunno about that...surely $50 is alot of money for any game, but look at Halo...WC3 (when it came out) and what you got with them compared to this. I think this blows them out of the water, though it is difficult to compare platforms ( 1st person shooter vs. RPG )

I dont really understand what you're saying about skill taking a back road to experiance. :confused:

Isn't there always a story? The story here boils down to the eternal struggle between horde and alliance. Maybe what you're used to is a stroy line built into the game that everyone follows, which obviously, this game is not. But in my opinion, games where you can choose your own destiny (quests etc.)
makes it much more fun.

LaFrance

[DavidLeblond]

Too expensive? huh? I dunno about that...surely $50 is alot of money for any game, but look at Halo...WC3 (when it came out) and what you got with them compared to this. I think this blows them out of the water, though it is difficult to compare platforms ( 1st person shooter vs. RPG )


Halo (for the PC/Mac) and WC3 don't have monthly charges.

WoW does.

I can't get to Blizzard's site now (firewall at work) but say WoW costs $10 a month, plus $50 to purchase initially then it would cost you $160 the first year to play (assuming the first month was free.)

You could buy an iPod Flash for that! :rolleyes: (assuming iPod Flash actually existed/cost $150)

[jsw]

...but say WoW costs $10 a month...
It's $13/month in 6-month blocks, $15/month pay-as-you-go.

Pretty steep - or, looked at another way, ~50 cents a day. Price of one video game in an arcade, or an extra shot of espresso in your Starbucks venti coffee.

[SumoHamster]

It's $13/month in 6-month blocks, $15/month pay-as-you-go.

Pretty steep - or, looked at another way, ~50 cents a day. Price of one video game in an arcade, or an extra shot of espresso in your Starbucks venti coffee.

Or one nice dinner a month :)

[JLaFrance]

mmmm....starbucks....

Anyway, i think its well worth it. But to each his own

That is a good analogy though, one game at the arcade.

[QCassidy352]

Halo (for the PC/Mac) and WC3 don't have monthly charges.

WoW does.

I can't get to Blizzard's site now (firewall at work) but say WoW costs $10 a month, plus $50 to purchase initially then it would cost you $160 the first year to play (assuming the first month was free.)

You could buy an iPod Flash for that! :rolleyes: (assuming iPod Flash actually existed/cost $150)

Yeah, but I am going to get a lot more hours of enjoyment from WoW than from an ipod flash (not that one exists...) during the year.

[QCassidy352]

I dont really understand what you're saying about skill taking a back road to experiance. :confused:

I do understand what he means about that. In this game, there is a very limited degree to which you can win a battle based on skill. There are decisions to be made in battle of course, but even a relative newbie who has put in enough hours and is lvl 20 will beat anyone in the world at lvl 14. A lower level character can beat a higher level one, but only if there is a fairly large difference in skill and a relatively small difference in level. Basically, your power in this game is determined by how many hours you put in.

[Don't panic]

Or one nice dinner a month :)

nice dinner for 13$? not where I live :)

as far as WoW, I agree it's very expensive and it basically "requires" you to get addicted. I would never buy as i don't have the kind of time (unfortunately) to make it worth it.
they should include a 30-non-continuous-days bonus in the box (you only use the days when you play), and add a buck-a-day option.
that way they could entice the occasional player.

[Don't panic]

I do understand what he means about that. In this game, there is a very limited degree to which you can win a battle based on skill. There are decisions to be made in battle of course, but even a relative newbie who has put in enough hours and is lvl 20 will beat anyone in the world at lvl 14. A lower level character can beat a higher level one, but only if there is a fairly large difference in skill and a relatively small difference in level. Basically, your power in this game is determined by how many hours you put in.

does that mean that the more time passes by, the harder it gets for newbies, 'cause the world is populated with ever more powerful characters? Or are there different areas depending on level?

[rickvanr]

just to be 100% clear... WoW is unplayable if you do not have the internet?
so no single player?

[rbarris]

just to be 100% clear... WoW is unplayable if you do not have the internet?
so no single player?

This is correct, WoW is an internet based game and requires a live connection to reach the server.

Rob

[JLaFrance]

just to be 100% clear... WoW is unplayable if you do not have the internet?
so no single player?

correct

[JLaFrance]

I do understand what he means about that. In this game, there is a very limited degree to which you can win a battle based on skill. There are decisions to be made in battle of course, but even a relative newbie who has put in enough hours and is lvl 20 will beat anyone in the world at lvl 14. A lower level character can beat a higher level one, but only if there is a fairly large difference in skill and a relatively small difference in level. Basically, your power in this game is determined by how many hours you put in.


o0o, i get it now

[Drgnhntr]

mmmm....starbucks....

Anyway, i think its well worth it. But to each his own

That is a good analogy though, one game at the arcade.


What if you only want an extra shot of espresso on the weekends? Now that extra shot is almost $2. Doesn't seem like a deal to me anymore. The problem with monthly fees is that you pay them even if you don't use them.

[rbarris]

What if you only want an extra shot of espresso on the weekends? Now that extra shot is almost $2. Doesn't seem like a deal to me anymore. The problem with monthly fees is that you pay them even if you don't use them.

Speaking strictly hypothetically since I don't have any info about billing or the business end of things here - an MMORPG company offering a cheaper "weekend pass" option, might find the effect would be to raise crowds even higher, exactly during the times when the servers were already the most crowded.

Put another way, it could be difficult to make a case for a discounted account that is only intended to be operated during peak crowd times.

Just playing the devil's advocate - I don't have any inside information on any of Blizzard's billing plans whatsoever.

[BrianKonarsMac]

Speaking strictly hypothetically since I don't have any info about billing or the business end of things here - an MMORPG company offering a cheaper "weekend pass" option, might find the effect would be to raise crowds even higher, exactly during the times when the servers were already the most crowded.

Put another way, it could be difficult to make a case for a discounted account that is only intended to be operated during peak crowd times.

Just playing the devil's advocate - I don't have any inside information on any of Blizzard's billing plans whatsoever.you genius you...keep them off my servers!! you do realize however the whole "server queue" issue could be avoided by having dynamic characters that can be used on ANY server...the whole Pacific realm doesn't have a SINGLE high population server, while Central and Eastern are basically all high population servers...if you're going to use time zones...restrict people to their own specific ones...don't let them all congest central because they have friends there. worst decision i have ever seen.

[SumoHamster]

the whole Pacific realm doesn't have a SINGLE high population server

I didn't know the entire Pacific realm was like this, but I have noticed that I have never had a queue :D

[Converted2Truth]

I noticed that yesterday too. Pacific servers are empty. Seems wierd because you'd think alot of people in cali etc would have this game. Heck, isn't blizz based out of cali?

[Drgnhntr]

Speaking strictly hypothetically since I don't have any info about billing or the business end of things here - an MMORPG company offering a cheaper "weekend pass" option, might find the effect would be to raise crowds even higher, exactly during the times when the servers were already the most crowded.

Put another way, it could be difficult to make a case for a discounted account that is only intended to be operated during peak crowd times.

Just playing the devil's advocate - I don't have any inside information on any of Blizzard's billing plans whatsoever.

I agree that it would make little or no sense on Blizzards part to sell a "weekend pass" or any other such discounted accounts. The point I was trying to make was that people who only play on weekends pay the same amount as the people who play all week. This game is more expensive for some to play than others depending on the time spent playing the game. Then to add insult to injury, the only days I would be able to play during the month are in fact the busiest.

[BrianKonarsMac]

I noticed that yesterday too. Pacific servers are empty. Seems wierd because you'd think alot of people in cali etc would have this game. Heck, isn't blizz based out of cali?i personally believe it is a plot on blizzard's part to conserve bandwidth for THEMSELVES! that's right, they are saving the low population servers for themselves and forcing us like cattle onto the central servers!!! if i hadn't invested so much time into my character already i'd just switch...WHY CAN'T I MOVE MY CHARACTER TO ANOTHER SERVER!?!?!?!?!?!

[Converted2Truth]

World of Warcraft Trial-Period Extension - Block on 12/1/04
World of Warcraft's record-setting first week brought hundreds of thousands of players together to adventure in Azeroth. The extremely high concurrency numbers that we've seen since the game's launch have required us to double our total number of servers over a four-day period, which is much faster than we had initially planned. This caused some issues with a few servers, and some players had difficulty logging in to the game during this period.
We are determined to provide our players with the best experience possible. It is for that reason that we are extending the one-month trial-period for players who created accounts before or during the downtime. The length of the trial-period extension will be based on when the player's account was created:


Accounts created on November 23 will receive a 4-day extension

Accounts created on November 24 will receive a 3-day extension

Accounts created on November 25 will receive a 2-day extension

Accounts created on November 26 will receive a 1-day extension
Our sincere apologies go out to all who experienced service disruptions. As always, we appreciate your patience and support, and we wish you good luck in your adventures in Azeroth!
Yeah baby!

[chibianh]

w00t! 4 day extension for me! and I didn't even have that much trouble the first few days. :)

[Converted2Truth]

w00t! 4 day extension for me! and I didn't even have that much trouble the first few days. :)
me too! This rocks. Gotta love Blizz. I feel bad for ya though BrianKonarsMacDude... that sucks.