Is WoW worth it at this point?

[rasmasyean]

Few points…

Cataclism is in 5 months. 5 MONTHS! Not many games even last half that long so don’t worry about it.

Regarding veterans… player achievement levels off A LOT at end-game. Which means most of those uber players are the minority. And you get lower-level XP-booster as mentioned.

Cataclysm uses DX10. It’s not “realistic” by any stretch, but they make it cartoony so it’s accessible to more players. The “eye candy appeal” is in the art in combo with the orchestrated music giving you immersion.

As one of the last $15 MMO’s, it means that others MMO’s have to “go free” to take subscribers (or hope to) from WoW. That says something. The P2P that “go free” suffer before they become F2P.

You must consider if you want to “jump into new high level content” vs. “alting in Cataclysm”. Some ppl like exploration’s “first there” experience. Is that you?

Alliance has more kids…which affect the “community”. It’s obvious if you rolled alts on a different server. Because they have the humans and the “pretty” characters while most Horde looks ugly, mean, and evil.

If you’re getting the trial it will be nerfed so consider this…since it’s pretty cheap to buy in now and you get 30 months free. Buying all the expansions to play the new chars is another matter.

There’s Role-Play and Normal-Behavior PVP and PVE. Though not everyone in RP behaves “in character”. It’s mostly a team (a.k.a. guild) thing.

WoW is an RPG like D&D rule-base rolling types etc., but there’s also action when you go do PVP. In many cases, your maneuvering and (team) strategy can mean the difference between winning by a margin and total annihilation. Positioning and coordination is required to various degrees in PVE as well.

Lastly, if you’re into the lore, much of it will be wiped forever in Cataclysm. It seems that it will focus a bit more on PVP while currently the content focuses more on PVE. But the lore will be “better” in Cataclysm, because they’re making it more “noob engaging” and using new, more dynamic MMO technology to improve questing.

I find this channel has some entertaining reviews of the beta. But be warned that they contain spoilers so don’t watch them if you care.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TotalHalibut

 

[Libertine Lush]

If you’re getting the trial it will be nerfed so consider this…since it’s pretty cheap to buy in now and you get 30 months free.

Is that a typo? You'll get 30 free months if you buy which part of the game?

 

[rasmasyean]

Is that a typo? You'll get 30 free months if you buy which part of the game?

The original retail box comes with a 30-day activation. It's usually this way with all P2P games. If you want to play past 30-days, you need to pay. I'm sure the digital download is this way too. Although I guess you CAN, do a trial and then get 30 days on top of that at the end when you subscribe, but in the trial, I don't think you can like use the auction house or mail or something like that. I don't think anyone can give you gold, or something like that either. It's nerfed. Which amounts to...you can't sell anything like lowbie craft material to rich players for inflated prices...and experience the economy. That's a big part of MMO's.

 

[ortuno2k]

Don't wait for the expansion.
Yes, there will be new leveling content, but you wouldn't know the difference between today's world and the new world after Cataclysm.

I say what some have said: Give it a try. Start a trial, and see if you like it.
You might feel a little lonely while leveling up, 'cause most people already have high-end characters, but the game play should still be fun.

Don't rush to 80 unless you want to participate in the end-game content, which will still be difficult, since most people are already geared and such.

Take it easy. Explore a few characters, see if you like how the game goes.
Good luck.

 

[sinser]

I disagree with en earlier post about player ages. I would have to pin down the age range from 8 to 60 years.

I disagree too. I've been for more than a year in guild with an age span of 18-63. Me I'm an old guy too. WOW is really a mix of people playing.I'd say to try the game right now, so that, if u like it, you can compare with cataclysm once it's out on the market. As for WOW graphics, they are cartoonish, stylized and funny, that's why I like them a lot. No mention to WOW's in game music, simply fantastic.

 

[Huntn]

At low level go kill 20 pigs at high level go kill 150 pigs and that's how it goes right through the game.

Thats an outright exaggeration! I've never been asked to kill more than 30 pigs. Well, there was that time I had to mine and smelt 450 bars of Thorium to become an Armor Smith.

Seriously, grind tolerance is a personal thing.

 

[Gasu E.]

Hi Ya


WOW is a grind at best ( do not mind the grind but there is a limit even for me) and a bore at best.

I like these type of games to be addictive and WOW just is not me.

I found that it has no substance in its Quests at all.

At low level go kill 20 pigs at high level go kill 150 pigs and that's how it goes right through the game.

Oh well each to his own : )

There are many quests of the sort, but there are many other types as well. Some are boss fights, where you need to deal with distinct characteristics of the boss. Many are chains with a distinct story line. Some chains generally require at least one cooperative phase to complete at a reasonable level. A few require operating some piece of fighting machinary with specific controls. Some quests play differently depending on your class (for example collection quests where you can choose between a fight or avoid strategy).

 

[rasmasyean]

Thats an outright exaggeration! I've never been asked to kill more than 30 pigs. Well, there was that time I had to mine and smelt 450 bars of Thorium to become an Armor Smith.

Seriously, grind tolerance is a personal thing.

I think they have changed the newer starting areas and quests so that you don't have to kill 150 pigs to drop 20 ribs and stuff like that. OMG...anyone remeber the Gorrila Sinew? They found it annoyed a lot of ppl and doesn't really add much to the game. Cataclysim will change a lot of those quests too.

I think the problem they were trying to solve was first...to get you to grind and pay them for a long time...but also to make you collect craft material (for cooking, etc. or hides) to use and trade with players. At the same time, they didn't want you to be able to like flood the market and make them worthless. They didn't quite do it right thought so it was a learning experience.

 

[rasmasyean]

I think it's a great time as any to start playing. WoW has become very noob friendly. I only started a year ago and it was tough getting things going and understanding since it was my first MMO. But it was nice I started late because I didn't have to go through all the stuff 4 years ago that made wow so much playable up to this point. BG queuing and xp is nice, and now random dungeons. YOu can level up by doing quests and just queue up for dungeons. bam!

Yeah, I think they learned a lot and made it more playable. That's the good thing about Blizzard is that they put effort into playability and balance and stuff. Now that Activision has them....we'll see how true that still holds.

But I was in the 2004 beta and original WoW. It's definately rewarding in it's own way however (not that we knew any better how it could be improved anyway ). But it's really interesting when 2004 beta was comming to a close how ppl wanted to give you their emails because they had so much fun with you so like you are like BFF's and can meet up again on the same servers and stuff...and ppl were like QQing like crazy in the world chat right before shutdown, etc. You couldn't read anything! It was just the beta and you like got the sure feeling that this was going to be BIG.

But also, the first time into "contested territory", we were like on the lookout for "the enemy" and it was like scary because no one wanted to get PK'ed. Not that we didn't have our share of graveyard runs because we died A LOT! We practically bum rushed instances and hardly ever made it to the end. Many of us didn't even have enough silver and copper to repair and train skills! Cause we all saved our few potions for PKers. And used what we found to enchant all our equipment to get "the edge". Not like there was anyone to sell to because the Auction House was some mysterious empty implementation that no one knew how to use. Then "Holy S**T! There's a gnome!" "Is he alone?" "Kill him before his friends come!" "OMG 3 Night elves too!" "RUNNN!!!!" "Call everyone from the guild!" LOL!

And then you found a blue item and linked it and everyone was like. OMG! Grats! That's so awesome!

 

[rasmasyean]

did you join just to type that?

LOL, I just noticed that. It’s funny because one of the common themes these days are people who just HATE WoW. It often stems from players who felt that their “lives have been ruined” in some way because of the game. You also run into ppl who are curious but don’t want to try it because they “heard horror stories” about ppl getting addicted. Not to mention the news of parents neglecting kids and such.

Well, anyway…it happens in any activity one might find “too enjoyable”...like drugs! Lol

It’s actually better now because before you used to have to waste a lot of time to gather up like 40+ ppl and backups to do anything end-game. Part of this problem is that it’s pretty rude to leave at the poker table so you would get tied up in wee hours of the night just dying anyway before the boss. LOL! They made it more casual friendly to the end-levels now. Of course you can still live the basement life trying to be the best on your server if you so choose too.

 

[btrav13]

I've played on and off for several years. Right now I'm "off". The bad thing about WoW used to be that if you were in a good raiding guild and getting the gear and getting to see the content, you didn't want to leave because it would put you so far behind you'd never catch back up. Blizzard has gone to great lengths to make the game more balanced for the casual players. In such, the gear difference between doing the 10-man stuff and the 25-man stuff is very, very comparable. I am considering coming back as my friends have their own guild and they do 10-man content. We were discussing my two-tier old gear and they were saying how quick it would be to catch back up.

I'd say if this was two years ago, you'd have a rough go at it. Now it's not really so bad. The ability to level to 80 is easier and faster, and there are more guilds seeing the content as the content has been toned down to account for the more casual people. They are at the final boss right now in the 10-man version. Granted, they aren't getting to do the hard-core 25-man raids, but they are still going to see the same content and the gear is only slightly below the 25-man stuff.

I say if you want to try it, go for it. I have been able to successfully leave and return a couple of times in the past two years due to the changes, whereas over 2 years ago I NEVER would have given up my raiding spot in the good raid guild I was in. Now it's completely unimportant.

 

[rasmasyean]

Be wary of committing to “good raiding guilds” though. Because to some ppl ,it’s like a softball team. They have expectations to be competitive. And you still will be tied up trying to “get a spot”. I haven’t played in a while, but if I know Blizzard, there will be at least a little “ultra-end content” to keep the “basement raiders” (can we use that phrase for shorthand? ) playing the game.

But as others have mentioned, the game is vast. Even in the original game I was able to find a vocation skill I liked that made me like the richest player in the guild and the envy of many players. I had more gold and valuable assets than the guild bank for the longest time. LOL My character was famous and like everyone on the server knew who I was. Get so many random PMS. And I barely ever went on end-raids (especially when my Guild was like #1 on the server or some crap for a moment and we had a million uber raiders). I just went as a backup when they needed me (usually off-peak) or rotated me in after every logged main player had the “target item” or something. But at that level, it still was a bit of commitment albeit less time-sensitive, because I was the main guild crafter in that vocation and was expected to provide services. But I enjoyed it and didn’t have to stay up that late so… And just did some instances when I felt like it and mostly alt-tabbed in and out of the client while doing something else. Oh regarding that, I would suggest you get dual monitors. It will help with not only idle-time, but also the lonely grinds where at least you can surf the internet or whatever while mashing buttons etc.

 

[Huntn]

The bottom line is that WoW is the best MMO ever made. It's not perfect. It has grind. It is repetitive. Dungeons offer challenges and unique fighting opportunities you won't find in the vanilla quests. It's worthwhile checking out for no other reason then gaining a yardstick to measure other MMOs by.

 

[jav6454]

The bottom line is that WoW is the best MMO ever made. It's not perfect. It has grind. It is repetitive. Dungeons offer challenges and unique fighting opportunities you won't find in the vanilla quests. It's worthwhile checking out for no other reason then gaining a yardstick to measure other MMOs by.

Hell no. There way better MMOs out there. Albeit crappier graphics, but better suited.


Also, as per challenges and gaming goes. Get yourself a copy of Crysis or wait for Crysis 2. Now that's worth it.

 

[Libertine Lush]

Hell no. There way better MMOs out there. Albeit crappier graphics, but better suited.

What are some of the better ones for you? I'm trying out Allod's Online at the moment. Free and rather WOW-like in art direction. Too early to judge it though.

I'm most excited bout League of Legends coming to Mac though. Not quite an MMORPG, but if you're most keen on PvP, it's perfect. There's only a handful of games around like it in this unique little genre niche.

 

[jav6454]

What are some of the better ones for you? I'm trying out Allod's Online at the moment. Free and rather WOW-like in art direction. Too early to judge it though.

I'm most excited bout League of Legends coming to Mac though. Not quite an MMORPG, but if you're most keen on PvP, it's perfect. There's only a handful of games around like it in this unique little genre niche.

tried Runescape yet? I did back 7 years ago and stopped playing 6 years ago. I still log on from time to time.

 

[Libertine Lush]

tried Runescape yet? I did back 7 years ago and stopped playing 6 years ago. I still log on from time to time.

Just took a look at a video. Can't say it interests me. Sure the graphics are outdated, but the art direction is what really puts me off--I find it very unappealing. WOW certainly has modest graphics for 2010, but I'm okay with it since I think much of the art direction's quite attractive. But also the gameplay in Runescape looked very static and dull. Maybe I'm wrong, but just my impression from a quick vid. Thanks for the mention nonetheless.

 

[rasmasyean]

Hell no. There way better MMOs out there. Albeit crappier graphics, but better suited.


Also, as per challenges and gaming goes. Get yourself a copy of Crysis or wait for Crysis 2. Now that's worth it.

What kind of suggestion is that. That's not even near the same class. Not everyone likes FPS. The last one I played was Quake I. Well, I admit playing Crysis just because I wanted to see what the graphics was about, but I didn't get into it. And yes I did play "Delta" difficulty or whatever it was called and beat the game in 2 days from the start. Shooters to me and really boring and brainless. Its the same arcade game on steroids. All you do is repeat Doom with different guns and terrain.

 

[jav6454]

What kind of suggestion is that. That's not even near the same class. Not everyone likes FPS. The last one I played was Duke Nukem. Well, I admit playing Crysis just because I wanted to see what the graphics was about, but I didn't get into it. Shooters to me and really boring and brainless. Its the same arcade game on steroids. All you do is repeat Doom with different guns and terrain.

I gave out one suggestion. You still have way others out there. Don't like shooters? How about a RTS game? Not into that, other stuff as well. WoW is just beyond overrated.

 

[Huntn]

Rasmasyean's point was that in a thread about an MMO, a good alternative suggestion would either be a different MMO or a RPG.

 

[rasmasyean]

Hey, just wondering...

How long does it take to get to level 80 these days with the new XP system.

I looked back at my screenshots and my first character took like 3 months. LOL Well that was a while ago when no one knew what they were doing and such. And I worked too so.

 

[Hisdem]

I gave out one suggestion. You still have way others out there. Don't like shooters? How about a RTS game? Not into that, other stuff as well. WoW is just beyond overrated.

Where to sign this?

 

[toughboy]

Hell no. There way better MMOs out there. Albeit crappier graphics, but better suited.


Also, as per challenges and gaming goes. Get yourself a copy of Crysis or wait for Crysis 2. Now that's worth it.

LOL ) And how many people play those "better" MMORPGs?? WoW is hands-down the best role-play game ever indeed. It has a history coming from Warcraft days, NPCs aren't just mobs traveling around, we know them so long now. Lich King isn't just the bad guy, I've known Arthas since he was a little boy, taking lessons about how to swing Light from Uther the Lightbringer..

I played WoW for almost 5 years now, have 4 toons and it never gets old. It's not a game anymore for me, I write it down on my CV right next to playing flute and snowboarding.

Go try the 10 day free trial, try couple of races, see the good and the bad side. And do it now, you'll apreciate the experience you gain in this couple of months. Most importantly it'll be amazing to witness how land changes in Catacylsm.

Just my 2 cents

 

[rasmasyean]

LOL ) And how many people play those "better" MMORPGs?? WoW is hands-down the best role-play game ever indeed. It has a history coming from Warcraft days, NPCs aren't just mobs traveling around, we know them so long now. Lich King isn't just the bad guy, I've known Arthas since he was a little boy, taking lessons about how to swing Light from Uther the Lightbringer..

I played WoW for almost 5 years now, have 4 toons and it never gets old. It's not a game anymore for me, I write it down on my CV right next to playing flute and snowboarding.

Go try the 10 day free trial, try couple of races, see the good and the bad side. And do it now, you'll apreciate the experience you gain in this couple of months. Most importantly it'll be amazing to witness how land changes in Catacylsm.

Just my 2 cents

Yes, HUGE land changes in Cataclysm. If you're not just OK with reading it from "WoWWiki" after the fact, you should definately experience it now before the transformation storyling. It's a pretty vast world so unless you are a full-time gamer, it should take you a good while to see the world and play all the beginner areas and most of the advanced areas. Not sure what it would take to reach ALL end-game content, but I'm sure you would be able to see much of it.

 

[Plutonius]

I gave out one suggestion. You still have way others out there. Don't like shooters? How about a RTS game? Not into that, other stuff as well. WoW is just beyond overrated.

How about staying on topic and suggesting other MMOs besides WoW that you actually play .