To WoW or not to WoW...

[Jamboxdotcom]

i'm torn about WoW. it is/was (imo, more "was" than "is") a great game. however, it *can* be extremely addictive, to the point of social problems.

also, i would have to point out that an MMO is only worthwhile if you have a good (and by good i mean fun, friendly, cooperative, AND skillful) group of people to play with. without a good guild, the game is worthless (in fact, it was only my guild's eventually disintegration (we all got bored and burned-out with WotLK) that enabled me to break my addiction).

one thing i'd point out, is that the game is getting extremely dumbed-down. the classes are getting too homogenized, and many goals are being made too easy, in order to cater to casuals. unfortunately, that makes achieving various goals very unsatisfying.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

I like how when you buy multiple games a month that aren't WoW, you're not throwing away your time and spending your money well, and yet when someone plays WoW they're addicted and throwing away both their time and money. It's fun to read.

OT: Try the trial, it's 2 weeks for free and a lv20 cap. Some features are obviously locked, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect. Now is probably one of the best times to play, they've just revamped Azeroth with new quests. I'm levelling a Mage currently and I'm enjoying it, there are some interesting stories to be told. Plus, you can soon fly in Azeroth, so questing will be even quicker. I believe they've reduced the amount of exp to level from 70-80 by 20% too, so good timing.

Grind is always given a bad name. People seem to just immediately think progression = grind now. Obviously, if you're just completing quests for the experience and rushing your way to 80 it's gonna seem like a grind. I play 1-2 hours a day, enjoy the quests, combat and the exploration of zones. I'm progressing, not grinding.

 

[Siyano_v1legacy]

If you want to play WoW be sure to have and almost includes anything:
1) Alot of time to spend of a video games (about 10-15 hours a week is a likely minimum)
2) A group of friend where you can play with, or the easyness to find friend in a associal virtual world
3) No trouble of repetion and grindeness, Kill [X] Mob, Kill [X] Mob to collect [Y] Item etc
4) Read alot on the internet to become a Min-Maxer professional

I know it a bland explaination of what WoW is but after almost 4 Years that how you look at the game now

 

[Cowabungaa]

I'd say yes. This is the perfect time to start WoW. They're redoing it all, essentially making this an entirely new game.

And what a game, good gods I just started playing again after a few months of absence, rerolled an Orc Shaman and WOW! The starting areas are réally good and so much more fun than before.

If you want to get into WoW, then yes, now's the time. As for the addiction stories; anyone who's psychologically weak enough can become addicted to anything. Yes an MMO's style makes it easier, but if you're mentally alright and you're able to set priorities there shouldn't be much of an issue. At least not one you can't have with another game.

If you want to play WoW be sure to have and almost includes anything:
1) Alot of time to spend of a video games (about 10-15 hours a week is a likely minimum)
2) A group of friend where you can play with, or the easyness to find friend in a associal virtual world
3) No trouble of repetion and grindeness, Kill [X] Mob, Kill [X] Mob to collect [Y] Item etc
4) Read alot on the internet to become a Min-Maxer professional

I know it a bland explaination of what WoW is but after almost 4 Years that how you look at the game now

Meh, that kinda way of thinking ruins WoW if you ask me. It sure did to me, lead to my first big break.

Most important thing; you sure as hell don't need 10-15 hours a week minimum. It's a game, play as long as you wish.

 

[Charli]

I work for Game (The UK version of Gamestop for the transcontinental) and as such, I have learned alot about Cataclysm. In short, I am intrigued. I have always avoided WoW and have never really been too interested by it. I don't hate it, nor am I against it, I was just never that fussed, until recently.

My boss has been playing WoW, literally since day one and he sells it very well, obviously.

So I put it to you my fellow escapists, is it worth (or even wise) to get involved with World of Warcraft?

Having spent the last six years on the outside, is it (forgive the pun) too late in the game to join?

Hi there, I work for GAME too, we're doing a midnight launch and I'm the other way around, I'm trying to convince my boss it's worth it

I'll try and be as unbiased as possible. There is SO MUCH to do in that game, if you can just let the story and atmosphere take you in, you'll never experience a community and world quite like it... Sadly Catacylsm won't hold the same significance that it will for the current WoW community. The world of 6 years just got torn up and advanced 5 years into the future of the storyline, to new players you'll literally be stumbling into a apocalyptic WoW (if some of the hints are to be believed) and might be a little lost as to what all the hysteria is about.

But too late? Sir I think not, the new player experience has been uprooted and in my opinion Honed to an approachable perfection, the new quests are engaging and get you really feeling apart of the race/side you choose to represent.

There's a slight hitch with the other 2 expansions, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the LichKing, essentially what happens is when you reach the pinnacle of the main World of Warcraft game now (level 60) is you go back in time, and play through events that have already happened...a little confusing but... well by then you're just rolling with alot of things...

Lemme know if you start playing(or not)/Have anymore questions. I'll help out however I can, with the realID thing it lets you chat between realms etc, so it's not hard to stay in contact with friends even if you decide you want a Player vs Player server while they're on a Player vs Environment or Role-playing server.

Oh and raiding is one of the most fun things to do and get drunk while doing with a couple of mates ever. E-Dragons have never been so ridiculously funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtvIYRrgZ04 This guy is a legend butt of jokes amongst raiders.
He even inspired 2 achievements in the game.

 

[MassiveGeek]

As a former hard-core raider, if you really want to get the most out of the community, you'll have to invest.

But the solo, level-questing is quite fun. Just no the second time around with 80 bloody levels to redo.

I quit last year, considering trying to boot it up again, but I don't think I will. Getting back into the community and tight raiding schedules would mess up my good grades I think.

 

[AugustFall]

If you don't have exams or anything important coming up then yeah grab it; it's awesome if you get in a good guild or have friends to play with.
I would recommend however if you want an awesome MMO get Guild Wars 2 when it comes out. It will be brand new so you won't be any more n00bish than the rest. And Guild Wars 1 is hands down the best time I ever spent on a game.

 

[OtherAlex]

I appreciate all the advice chaps. My main concern is basically becoming addicted, or worse, bored. I wouldnt want to invest my time (and money) just for a few months of gameplay. Though that said, I enjoy a good RPG and I am one of those completionist gamers who must do everything, just so and really put the time in...

 

[King Kupofried]

If you want to help ensure you don't get bored quickly, pace yourself and be proactive in-game.
I have some friends who keep trying to get into MMOs and always burn themselves out because they will spend every minute of free time they have level grinding. They clock in so many hours early on that they completely lose interest within a month. Nothing wrong with spending all day playing once in a while if you're not abandoning your real life for it, but don't do that every day. Clear some quests from an outpost or do a few dungeon runs and then take a break, participate in crafting or something like fishing to splash some variety in between killing monsters.

Do lots of dungeons using the dungeon finder, they are usually very well made and interesting, have lots of cool bosses and you can pick up some neat gear. Party with people if they offer you (Unless they seem like jerks.), join in some battlegrounds if that suits you, if you get bored go run off in some obscure direction up a mountain or wander through a high level area just for exploration's sake. These are the things that make games like this fun, if you do nothing but questing on your own I can assure you that the entertainment value will drop quickly. There's a wide variety of achievements to go for as well. There's pretty much always something to do besides outright level grinding, make sure you utilize that.

 

[Panicky]

I too was curious about World of Warcraft and decided to try it quite recently. I must say it met all my expectations. It was boring, tedious, and time consuming. For two hours I did nothing but murder boars in a barren field. It wasn't even that exciting; just a point and click affair. At last I thought "screw this" and ventured forth into uncharted territory, hoping to alleviate my severe boredom. Moments later I was devoured by a pack of wolves. At that point I quit, and never looked back.

The fact that there are thousands -- possibly millions -- of people addicted to this soul-grinding "game" is disturbing to say the least. Drugs I can understand, but this? The game functions on a reward-for-suffering scheme, where hours of soul-grinding tedium grants you tiny virtual items. It's pathetic.

If you have an addictive personality I implore you to stay well away from this abomination. It has ruined countless lives already. Otherwise, give the trial a go and see first-hand how terrible the game actually is. Just don't get too carried away.

 

[s0m3th1ng]

Try this first http://allods.gpotato.com/
It's a lot like WoW except it is free. Granted there are less races etc, but it has a similar feel and the controls are the same.
I personally wasn't all that impressed with WoW so I am not willing to spend money I don't have to play it, so I don't mind cheep ripoffs.
Also, a lot of people talk about getting addicted and all that, but if you've never gotten obsessed about an online game before, this one won't be any different. I don't know why people always assume that everyone who so much as tries it out will immediately become hooked and unable to stop.

Fuck that game, the pretty much ruined it when they didn't allow raid kills to be shared. I got stuck at lvl 28 in that main Pvp area getting ganked constantly. That and making incense a necessity.

 

[Lyri]

I work for Game (The UK version of Gamestop for the transcontinental) and as such, I have learned alot about Cataclysm. In short, I am intrigued. I have always avoided WoW and have never really been too interested by it. I don't hate it, nor am I against it, I was just never that fussed, until recently.

My boss has been playing WoW, literally since day one and he sells it very well, obviously.

So I put it to you my fellow escapists, is it worth (or even wise) to get involved with World of Warcraft?

Having spent the last six years on the outside, is it (forgive the pun) too late in the game to join?

Play the free trial first, see if you like it.

That's what I did and I spent time getting to 80 and such.

 

[2xDouble]

<--- down, kitty! I see you charging your laser eyes!

Actually, yes it is worth it. World of Warcraft is a lot of fun (it wouldn't have billions of subscribers if it wasn't). If you have the $15 a month to spend, then by all means, play and enjoy. However, a few things to consider:

1) Any MMO is only as fun as the friends you play it with. (copyright, me [sub]c.[/sub]2008)

2) Guild Wars is also lots of fun, has no monthly fees,

Spoiler: and Guild Wars 2 will kick ass. Heh.

3) How much do you like your boss? Is it enough to spend many more hours raiding, levelling, etc. with him/her?

4) This episode of Extra Credits [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1906-The-Future-of-MMOs].

In spite of all that, if you do decide to play WoW, you probably won't be disappointed.

 

[ffs-dontcare]

I love how a few people in this thread are implying that WoW is to blame for people's lives being ruined.

As someone who's been playing on-off since early 2005, the game is quite fun most of the time - at least in my experience. Granted, it's not as social as it was back in vanilla, although it has only just recently regained some of that "socialness" with the rebirth of Azeroth, so depending on what server you're on, you can expect to be invited into a social guild with names such as "GOODBYE HORSES" and "Exalted With Mcdonalds" within 30 minutes of leaving your starting area. Blizzard also reduced the grind aspect a fair bit by making it so you don't have to kill as many of the same thing over and over, and by upping the variety somewhat. For example, I had to kill 11 sea elementals which is exactly what you might expect from vanilla WoW, but this time around, when I ventured over to the beach to kill them, there were fallen soldiers lying everywhere, waiting to be rescued so I did that at the same time.

I play WoW while listening to music like trance, Turquoise Jeep and 100 Ways To Love A Cat. When I get bored of questing, I go do achievements. When I get bored of that, I go do PvP stuff. There's not really much of a shortage of things to do, depending on what you want to get out of the game. Sometimes I just sit there in one spot engaging in some very entertaining conversations in guild chat. Not to mention some of the quest dialogue is hilarious and/or amusing. For example, Thonk the orc quest giver.

That being said, I don't raid. The only raids I've ever taken part in was when seven or eight of us did a quick Molten Core run pre-Cata and I took part in a Black Temple raid filled to the brim with level 80 people but the Reliquary of Souls encounter got bugged and we all just called it a night.

 

[Loonerinoes]

I work for Game (The UK version of Gamestop for the transcontinental) and as such, I have learned alot about Cataclysm. In short, I am intrigued. I have always avoided WoW and have never really been too interested by it. I don't hate it, nor am I against it, I was just never that fussed, until recently.

My boss has been playing WoW, literally since day one and he sells it very well, obviously.

So I put it to you my fellow escapists, is it worth (or even wise) to get involved with World of Warcraft?

Having spent the last six years on the outside, is it (forgive the pun) too late in the game to join?

It's never to late to join obviously. Heck, with Cataclysm here, this might in fact be the perfect time to join, given how they've revamped the starting areas and quests nicely.

That said however...and as one who's played it since its inception in Europe...I've recently felt it's had its time really. Even were the promises of other MMOs like SWTOR not looking moreso attractive, I've been on a 1-year hiatus recently that ended only because I've decided to give WoW one last chance with Cataclysm...and now that I'm back the only thing that's keeping me tethered to the game really is its community...and that can be made elsewhere too, not to mention that I've kind of outstayed my welcome with it to boot.

So while I feel that you'd be wise to give 1 or 2 other MMOs a shot before WoW...I'd say it's up to you obviously. Just get ready to have it consume a fair portion of your spare time, that's all the warning that needs be said really.

 

[spartan1077]

The answer to your qeustion is TO WoW!

 

[Jake the Snake]

I don't want to be mean, but WoW...it's best you not go there.

You say you won't get addicted. You will.

You say it won't become a huge thing. You will.

You say you're just playing it to have fun. You won't, you will play it because you're scheduled to raid.

You say you won't make a ton of characters. You will.

And what happens? It about of year or two you get burnt out, and you quit. You've wasted a heaping amount of time you could've spent actually enjoying something else instead of grinding (and it is still full of grinding, I know, I've played the beta) and you'll be down quite a bit of cash.

Seriously. It's not worth it. It's just not worth it.

 

[archvile93]

That depends, do you like games that pretty much play themselves for you, and do you have fifteen dollars (or it's equivilent in other currency) at the end of every month?

 

[King Kupofried]

Watch extra punctuation episode: the skinner box:
Warcraft is 100% repetitive clicks with diminishing perceived reward, and my bother missed a family meal for a raid, nearly punching another relative in the face when this was pointed out.
That, and it takes around two hours plus per day to make it worth playing.

Yeah I wowed for six months and I say: it's not horrible, but hanging about on facebook + playing proper games is 1000 times better. (I dont mean facebook games, I mean do the two separate actions simultaneously)

Hehe too bad Extra Credits missed out the fact that exploration and defeating players in PVP is much more rewarding than any item in game.

Also its not the game, its your brother.

You dont have to raid, you can do whatever you want in the game, and it will be worth it.

Coming back home every day, to have your guild greet you and chat, while doing a few quests and finding stuff is all some people need.

World of Warcraft is not 100% repetative clicks unless you make them out to be.

PVP = roll a rogue/DK/pally, mash the same two number keys and occasionally right click something, repeat against the same people on the same battlefield with the same objectives.
Play on your console online, it's infinitely more varied, yet you still get the satisfaction of defeating 12 year old norwegians, and the frustration of being defeated by 12 year old norwegians.
Also it doesn't cost 2/3 bargain bin games per month to play.
The social aspect? I'm getting my fix right now. on facebook. as I've already said. That, and I have friends with skin and eyes and laughter and accents.

.... I wasnt implying at all that WoW was a social replacement, i would never testify to such things, but guilds are still nice and friendly.

As for PVP i can argue in the same way that you aim for head and click to kill in FPS, or repeat build orders within strategy games.

But im not ignorant enough to do so. WoW PVP can be quite diffrent, ive had diffrent situations, and you dont have to roll Rogue/DK/Pally for PVP. Have you acctually played the game?

Other genres have infinitely more tactics you can employ, and if you want to know if I play READ MY FUCKING POSTS. ignorant fanboy.
And guilds are only friendly as long as you do as they say.

Im a fanboy for my opinion? I havent played the game since 08, but i didnt find anything repetative, my experiences in the game were simply diffrent, because i approached it diffrently.

Also acussing me of ignorance when:

Other genres have infinitely more tactics you can employ, and if you want to know if I play READ MY FUCKING POSTS. ignorant fanboy.
And guilds are only friendly as long as you do as they say.

Blatant claims without logical backup.

It depends on which guild you join, and i would not compare WoW tactics to other game tactics, simply because its vastly diffrent to RTS and FPS, while FPS and RTS are vastly diffrent from eachother.

I found WoW quite tactical at some points of the game. It was my experience with the game.

There is no need to be a douche.

No reply to my 'read my fucking posts' comment? Well, yes I guess I was right, thanks for backing down when you know you're wrong.
Whatevs trevs, fact of the matter is, everything in wow requires right-clicking things, and pressing a couple of number keys. I never said it was shit so dont get so defensive, i just said theres better (and far cheaper) things out there.
And yes. Yes you are a fanboy. Defending something with vitriol rather than reasoning, pretending that it's just to defend it, and calling anyone who doesn't love the same shit as you ignorant defo makes you a fanboy.
I still dont hate wow, but now I hate you.

But it's perfectly okay to call anyone defending a game you don't like a fanboy, yes?

I can't say I understand any of your points myself.
When I played I used several different classes and by the time I was half way to the level cap each time I would be utilizing two or three full hotkey bars worth of abilities, all with their own utility ranging from spell interruption, debuffing, DoTs, stunning, weakening, chasing, healing, etc. Many of which I would use in most common enemy battles. In PvP what abilities I would use would greatly vary depending on what sort of opponent I was facing or what they were doing, attacking me, attempting a point or flag capture, attacking a healer.
This certainly kept my hands much more busy commonly beyond you claimed "Right clicking and pressing a couple keys", many battles feel very engaging when you actually use your abilities to their fullest. Of course I can't exactly say what you claim is completely incorrect, but it's almost rather inane.

What if I were to say
All FPS require nothing more than WASD and clicking on enemies.
All RTS require nothing more than clicking+drag then click on enemies.
You may not be outright saying "It is shit" but you are certainly trying to paint it in a light of being far more simple than it actually is. I mean, that's all an FPS is right? Running around and shooting things. It's not incorrect, but it doesn't give any real information because there is still much more than that.

You can go ahead and dislike it, that doesn't bother me, but at least put a bit of effort into expressing why you dislike it instead of dumbing down your view of it and spreading misinformation.

 

[DarkPanda XIII]

I'd say not, but because I try to avoid it like the plague, despite how much I loved the Warcraft Mythos. I tried o listen to the stories and found myself annoyed...and pretty much said I wouldn't play it until they get the Goblin Race as playable..
..
..
..
..And then Cataclysm came out, I was amused, but annoyed at the same time, I heard the classes and found myself annoyed by the way they built each of them, and couldn't find myself a class that * wanted * to play. And yet watching both the Goblins and Worgen, I'm interested, yet I don't want to play.