World of Warcraft retail

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 9:41 pm

So who else picked this up?

This is my night elf character right outside the Dwarven stronghold of Ironforge. Server is Kel'Thuzad (Mountain region).

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 9:55 pm

Good lord that's nice eye candy. I'm so glad I never got into those types of games, because I know I'd never leave my computer.

Phoenix Red · Post by **Phoenix Red** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 10:05 pm

My friends have all split to different servers for retail, why I do not know.

Well, that's not true. Blizzard took down our server Archimonde less than 24 hours after release to beef it up because it was getting hit hard.

It's still down.

It is PVP CENTRAL though. The best pvp guilds in the game are on archimonde! Only, now I'm alone there.

MehYam · Post by **MehYam** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 10:50 pm

I od'ed on it in the stress test beta... I would buy this game, but it would turn me into an albino for all the sunlight I'd get.

Tyranny · Post by **Tyranny** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 11:43 pm

I'm tempted to get it for Christmas. Too many good console games coming out recently though.

roid · Post by **roid** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 1:20 am

MehYam wrote:I od'ed on it in the stress test beta... I would buy this game, but it would turn me into an albino for all the sunlight I'd get.

heh, the politically correct term seems to be "night elf"

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:54 am

me in a raid on undead territory

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 4:12 am

Temple of the Moon inside Darnassus (Night Elf territory)

sheepdog · Post by **sheepdog** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 8:18 am

It's really beautiful, Tetrad. Thanks for sharing pics of the gameplay. Have you played other MMORPG? How does this stack up against them? Ever since I played a fairly uber PvP mod in Neverwinter nights I have been interested in WOW PvP.

I'm wondering what the monthly online costs turned out to be. I looked at the box when I was in Best Buy on Wednesday and didn't see anything there.

There's probably a breakdown on the website. Must look. I doubt I will be able to resist it for long it it isn't too much of a monthly charge.

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 9:31 am

Only other MMO I've played was FFXI. Final Fantasy is a horrible game compared to WoW. Not nearly as fun. And not as good looking either, which says a lot since it's essentially Square vs. Blizzard. In as far as PvP goes, I haven't played anything else that has it but it works well. Right now there isn't any sort of honor system to prevent griefing or rewards for actually going out and killing the other people, but it's pretty fun to grab a group of 60 of your closest friends and raid the other alliance's newbie section at 4 in the morning.

It is expensive though. 15/month per month, 14/month in packs of 3 months, or 13/month in packs of 6.

Phoenix Red · Post by **Phoenix Red** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:48 pm

hio, Sheepdog is a pvp fan! Ideal!

WoW's pvp rundown:

It's balanced for primarily group pvp, from small to large. Don't expect every 1v1 encounter to be totally fair (winnable if you're better, but not totally fair, if you're used to other MMOs this is balance heaven haha). Once you get into groups of 4 or larger it's 100% skill. I'm not a quick one to say this.

All 1v1 encounters fall into one of two categories, ganks and duels. Duels are pretty much only with your own faction, you can try to initiate a fight with an aware, unengaged, fully healed, similar level opposite faction member... it might work, or his friend might shank you from behind hehe. Ganks are unfair fights where someone is caught unaware or unprepared, usually with a level discrepancy. Obvious to me anyway is neither of these scenarios is worth making your end game goal, so since hte only fair fights are in groups, bring on the groups.

There is a not-yet-implimented honour system. Fair kills (level range depends on your level, 50s and up at 60/cap) get you + to your honour, unfair kills get you -. Get high enough and you can appear on a ladder and buy from special vendors with what we've been told is at very high honour extremely nice gear. Get too low and your own faction can kos.

There are two types of zone currently in WoW (no zonING, but areas) on pvp servers, contested and occupied. Contested zones have all opposite faction members as attackable (pvp flagged). In an occupied zone your faction controls, you must become flagged for pvp (by attacking a member of the opposite faction, or "aid" (buffing, healing, ressing etc) a pvp flagged member of your own faction before the opposite faction can attack you. These zones appear in game as "friendly" and you can level here until about level 25, though you can chose to travel to a level-appropriate contested zone by about level 15. Occupied zones the opposite faction controls obviously have hte reverse rules, you have to wait for the characters there to attack you or otherwise flag themselved before you can hurt them. Occupied zones are the lowbie areas and are always have quests for just one faction.

Contested zones are type 2, and here it's open season. There are usually quests (perhaps of dubious quality) for both factions in a contested zone. You are flagged for pvp just by entering a contested zone, and since it takes 5 minutes to wear off you can't towngate at contested/friendly borders. The spoilt alliance (tsk tsk Tetrad) has a few contested zones all to themselves, and we Hordies turn up there at high levels to kill them in retaliation.

The third and "coming soon" zone type is the battleground. It's very similar to the contested area, except all the quests are engineered specifically to force pvp. They are also instanced to prevent zerging battlegrounds, large but fairly even numbers of people should be the rule here. The end of the quest series here is to kill the head of hte opposing town, though they will eventually impliment seige engines and allow you to destroy the town entirely. Battlegrounds are supposed to be a good place to level as well as pvp, starting around level 40. This zone type will also be available on carebear servers.

On carebear servers, basically every zone is a friendly zone for both sides and you have to attack the gaurds to get flagged for pvp, then hope some real PCs start joining in. Since guards spawn in inreasing numbers as they are killed this doesn't work so well. Cities work on the same rules as a friendly pvp zone, so you won't get opposite faction types in your capitols.

Oh, and Archimonde on Central still has the best pvp guilds ANYWHERE.

Lobber · Post by **Lobber** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 6:12 pm

I play Lobber the Troll Hunter on the Easter server Medivh. I am in a guild of friends who came from SWG and Eve-Online before that.

Phoenix Red · Post by **Phoenix Red** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 11:40 pm

edit: nevermind, goon squad explains it all. Rofl.

roid · Post by **roid** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:19 am

it does look very beautiful tetrad

Sage · Post by **Sage** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:17 pm

I bought it. heheh. heh. I've been playing as a Tauren on the Shadow Moon server.

sheepdog · Post by **sheepdog** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 1:57 pm

So how's everybody doing on this? Still enjoying it? Can anyone recommend some good forums? I just looked at the forums on Blizzard's site and didn't get that homey feeling.

The DBB has me spoiled, even though none can compare to it I have definitely found that the servers I like seem to have at least decent forums associated with them.

Also I read on IGN that they are trying to set up a PVP addition to the game. From a bit of skimming I see that the age old problem of noob raping hasn't been solved by WOW.*

*edit oops Pheonix Red I see that you discussed this. Thanks

I couldn't resist any longer. I ordered it from Dell (free shipping therefore a few cents cheaper than Best Buy). All the significantly cheaper places are sold out.

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 7:10 pm

For your health and overall enjoyment of the game I recommend you stay far, far away from the blizzard forums. If you join a guild maybe they'll have some decent forums. Or maybe some of the blizzard fan sites. But the bnet kiddies are horrible.

As far as n00b ganking is concerned, the only real protections involved are that the sub level 20 areas are faction controlled and you can't get attacked there. But beyond that you're on your own. Sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes it doesn't. It ticks me off when I get killed sometimes, but then again I prefer soloing so that just comes with the territory.

Oh, and my main character reached level 52 recently. I think I'm around 13 days play time.

Defender · Post by **Defender** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 7:33 pm

I'd hardly call that eye candy.
That's nothing compared to FFXI

La Theine Plateu after taking down a NM Ram.

Behemoth's Domain. Watching some 75s take on King Behemoth.

Me in Behemoths Domain with 75s taking on King Behemoth in the background

Qufim Island during double Light element.
The Aurora Borealis rocks.

roid · Post by **roid** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:25 pm

look much like the same game to me defender.

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:44 pm

I hate to tell you this defender, but FFXI sucks.

It's nothing but perpetual grinding.

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:13 pm

Having played neither of these, and based only on these pics, I'd say that WoW looks better.

WarAdvocat · Post by **WarAdvocat** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 11:01 pm

I'm on Deathwing with my guildmates from SWG and Asheron's Call. I've played just about every major recent MMORPG, and I have to say that WoW is MMORPG done right.

I'm especially impressed with the engine, which rarely, if ever falters on my 1.7ghz system @ 1280x1024 with fairly high detail levels. The engine utilizes some impressive effects, yet it also seems to manage the LOD, data handling and etc very well. No framecrashing slowdowns for 10 minutes while loading a town, for instance.

In short, the kind of quality, playable product you expect out of Blizzard.

I haven't tryed FFXI, but it looks kinda washed-out, although rich in detail, the colors don't look nearly as vibrant and alive as WoW. Hope you're having fun either way.

Note to WoW players: Get COSMOSui lots and lots of goodies, including extra spellbars on screen!

Vertigo 99 · Post by **Vertigo 99** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:26 am

as someone who's played both WoW and FFXI extensively, i can assure you that WoW's graphics and environments are much, much prettier than FFXI.

in ffxi, everything looks the same. WoW feels alive.

WarAdvocat · Post by **WarAdvocat** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:04 am

Heh something I just noticed from the FFXI pix...

Everyone looks like they're a tad light in their loafers, if you know what I mean...

Lobber · Post by **Lobber** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:44 am

No cameltoe for you!

Hattrick · Post by **Hattrick** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:52 am

Unix wrote:Having played neither of these, and based only on these pics, I'd say that WoW looks better.

X2

WOW looks waaaay better imho.

I doubt I will buy the game because I don't do pay to play games.

WarAdvocat · Post by **WarAdvocat** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:14 am

MMORPGS, by their very nature, require continual, ongoing maintenance and updating. There will probably never be a true, persistent-world MMORPG without some kind of fee for that reason alone.

That said, most offer free trials for a month or even two. Many are free downloads even. They know that if you're the right type, you'll be hooked. So don't do it man!!! STAY AWAY!!!

Vertigo · Post by **Vertigo** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:02 am

I'm a L44 Mage on Spinebreaker

If anyone likes to visit, feel free

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:26 pm

WarAdvocat wrote:They know that if you're the right type, you'll be hooked. So don't do it man!!! STAY AWAY!!!

I will, TYVM.

sheepdog · Post by **sheepdog** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:23 pm

To me the payment thing could be a good braking mechanism. Free games I don't even have to think about...

As for getting hooked, are you saying that a WOW /MMOG addiction is worse than the triple threat D3/PXO chat/DBB crack habit? I might have to rethink this...

/me thinks

Nah! I'm going Alliance. Do druids totally suck? Can you mulitclass? I loved RoughCoat, my druid/Champion of Torm/ rogue in Bastions of War.

Whitewater · Post by **Whitewater** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:15 pm

Played both FFXI extensively and now WoW extensively, FFXI is vastly superior but the time required to play it is more then any person with a job or school can handle. Don't get me wrong WoW is great and the PvP facet is amazing, but it lacks the sense of accomplishment that FFXI does.
for FFXI Whitewater on Titan server 70 dark knight 68 ranger

for WoW my name is Tryptomine 47 Rogue Sargeras and 14 Rogue on Cenarion Circle both alliance

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:12 pm

Margo, druids don't suck but be prepared to spec out your character to be a healer if you want to be useful at all in parties. We can heal very well, and in a pinch take damage in bear form, but as far as dealing out any melee damage you can forget about it. Spell damage is another thing but if you're healing you don't really have the mana to spare (again, in a party) to nuke mobs from a distance. Plus we can only wear leather armor. Oh, and since the weapon you equip doesn't make a damage difference in bear/cat form, cat form is near useless after 40 with the exception of being able to sneak around in it.

Edit: no multiclassing but there are different talent trees every class can specialize in. So there are shadow priests and healing priests. Defensive warriors and damage warriors. Etc. They aren't called any different, they just have upgraded and/or new talents that lead them along a given path. Plus it helps with equipment selection because certain bonuses help your particular tree more than others (sometimes).

White, normally I'd just say "lol ffxi" but seriously, how do you think ffxi is better? I played it for a month and got utterly frustrated at 1) the amount of time everything took and 2) the fact that you could not run away from enemies. Also everybody at a certain level range all wore the same armor (or so it looked like to me). I rarely see two people in WoW, even of the same class, that are wearing a large majority of the same armor. The only really good thing out of it was the auction house. With WoW you have gryphons/boats/tram/airship, fast low-level levelling, and moving around the world just feels much, much better. Plus at any given point in time I'm always working on several quests, which means except in rare profession-oriented circumstances I never have to just randomly kill mobs for loot/xp. Granted, WoW is a young game so they don't have housing in yet, or battlegrounds, or hero classes. Plus WoW has instances, which are awesome for partying and getting phat loot/xp.

Bonus screenshots time:

Horde raid on an alliance town. All those red things are horde names.

Flying out of Stormwind.

Me on my mount in the neutral town of gadgetzan.

DEVILSAUR!

Unix · Post by **Unix** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:35 pm

Sigh, the more I see you post here, the more I want to try this game.

Is there a demo or anything available for WoW?

MehYam · Post by **MehYam** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:57 pm

The Penny Arcade guys did a pretty good bit on WoW a few days ago. They were all in the beta, and now just got the retail. Here's the editorial.

The fact of the matter is that World of Warcraft is essentially the apex of the genre, and even those who are not proponents of Massive games should try it.

I disagree. Avoid this game, unless you're trying to shake a heroin addiction.

PA sends me royalties.

sheepdog · Post by **sheepdog** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:39 pm

I'm less worried about getting addicted than I am fearful of loving and losing again.

I have come in on the last crest of three great games: Descent, Tribes and NWN pvp. I would be thrilled to be in at the beginning of a great game where I could pretend to myself that I am uber ie. leech off the brilliance of vastly more talented gamers for a couple of years, and have a blast while I'm doing it.

Whitewater · Post by **Whitewater** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:08 pm

Granted Tetrad FFXI until thirty was a grind, u spend those levels mostly learning your role in a party and learning about Skillchains and Magic burst. Then once u hit 50 you start worrying about Artifact Armors and what not. For me the real fun begins at 65, granted it's a huge time investment to get there. At 65 you can start killing hyper notorious monsters in fights that take 20+ minutes along with doing the Zilart Mission so you can go to Sky and fight gods. In the end being able to kill Kirin made it all worth it, all be it a 1.5hr long fight even with 2 18 people alliances.

Phoenix Red · Post by **Phoenix Red** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:02 pm

This is my level 50 Undead Priest with his dragonling pet (aesthetic only, but very rare) waitingo n the zepplin.

I will again advise anyone who has no friends to meet and is looking for serious pvp to roll on Archimonde. We are THE pvp server. And not zerg pvp like tetrads :p

edit: I should add that I have no actual beef with the Goon Squad, I just have a long tradition of making fun of them to maintain dating back to the closed beta PVP server.

sheepdog · Post by **sheepdog** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 7:30 am

Many thanks, Pheonix Red I'm going to take you up on your offer. I'll assume that Tetrad (always a nice guy), won't mind me PMing him here on occasion.

What's the Goon Squad?

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 8:30 am

Margo, if you buy the game, let me know what you think. I've been curious to try a online game such as this.

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 9:35 am

Looking at the wow forums, I get the impression combat is more you a turn based attack than action based. True?