[General Article] World of Warcraft: A Noob In WoW

SBFord

It's hard to believe that there's an MMO player who hasn't at least dabbled in World of Warcraft. Yet it's true. We take a look at WoW through n00b eyes to see if it really is 'all that'. Check it out and then reminisce in the comments about your first days in World of Warcraft.

Still, the old adage “better late than never” seems to apply quite well to my arrival in Azeroth. Convinced by my friend Shelassa, a true WoW veteran, to try it out, I have become an ardent member of the Cult of WoW. By playing the game through level forty-ish, I am of the opinion that it is still the finest example of a high fantasy MMO on the market. Younger games have not been able to topple the WoW juggernaut, and for good reason.

Read more of Suzie Ford's World of Warcraft: A Noob in WoW.

Who doesn't love Zen'Kiki, mon?

marz.at.play

I too have not played WOW. Enjoyed reading the article but I don't have enough time to play anymore to justify a subscription. This is why I enjoy the B2P and F2P games now as I play whenever I want and not have to feel I need to play to get my money's worth.

Nitth

"Noob" seems to be conjoined with the word "Idiot" these days.

Looking back 5-10 years ago Noobs were actually capable to [i]learn[/i] mechanics in games where as today games are dumbed down to meet the intelligence of the noobs.

 

In the case of world of Warcraft i really don't think its that big of a hill to climb to get equated with mechanics and terminology. In fact, i would wager that a "noob" could manage 80% of the content without even talking to a soul.

SBFord

I totally agree with what you're saying, Nitth, except in the case of PvP where gear seems to automatically equate anyone with n00b if it's not top end.

xSagai

Enjoyed the read. "WoW Clone" is certainly a compliment to WoW and once you play one you think to yourself, why not just play WoW? Which I guess is why I continue to purchase each expansion and experiencing the story.

Aconsar

It's interesting seeing your view on the game in its current state.  It's a shame, though, as the game was so much better at release and actually had depth and took time to progress.  Skill actually mattered and you weren't judged by an artificial gear score number.

pmiles

Let's see if you joined under recruit a friend, you hit level 40 in probably less than a day.  It's not until you hit max level and realize that all the worlds you passed through (extremely rapidly I might add) are now irrelevant and what you have before you is a rather small patch of land of repetitive dailies and repeatable raids left.  The sad part is, and it is really sad, is that you, the noob, missed out on 8 years worth of content because you've leveled through it in warp speed.  No epic opening of the Gates of Ahn Quiri, no attunement chains to gain you access to Kharazan, Molten Core, Upper Black Rock Spire, etc.  No class quests for you first mount or special abilities.  No sense of becoming awe and powerful as you level because you are undefeatable upon creation.  Noobs fall in love with a game that isn't actually a game anymore... they fall in love with a reflection of what was... and a very shallow reflection at that.

newbinator

I have issues with WoW, for sure. But the n00b experience in WoW is probably the best of any MMO on the market.

Po_gg

"It's hard to believe that there's an MMO player who hasn't at least dabbled in World of Warcraft."  It is?  

I know a few myself, and like marz.at.play I too haven't played it - but maybe the dabbling part is valid in my case, I tried it 3 times (after each expansion with buddy key, since I have a couple very persuasive wow-veteran buddies like your Shelassa), I think the most I could bear was a few hours... it's just not my cup of tea, I guess.

But it was fun to read your adventures "taken part in an anomaly in the industry"

WellzyC

 

"WoW clone"  isnt an insult to WoW itself..

 

 

WoW is an amazing game.. played it for years I loved it.   But we are so sick of companies copying  the game for a money grab.

 

The genre used to thrive on creativity,.  but because of WoW success  everyone wants a peice of the pie so they just blatantly copies it.

 

"Lets make an mmo!  ok, ho should we make it? 

 

 oh i know!  Quests with yellow exclamation marks, Battle ground pvp, and gear progression?

That sounds good!  lets roll it out!

SBFord

Originally posted by pmiles

Let's see if you joined under recruit a friend, you hit level 40 in probably less than a day.  It's not until you hit max level and realize that all the worlds you passed through (extremely rapidly I might add) are now irrelevant and what you have before you is a rather small patch of land of repetitive dailies and repeatable raids left.  The sad part is, and it is really sad, is that you, the noob, missed out on 8 years worth of content because you've leveled through it in warp speed.  No epic opening of the Gates of Ahn Quiri, no attunement chains to gain you access to Kharazan, Molten Core, Upper Black Rock Spire, etc.  No class quests for you first mount or special abilities.  No sense of becoming awe and powerful as you level because you are undefeatable upon creation.  Noobs fall in love with a game that isn't actually a game anymore... they fall in love with a reflection of what was... and a very shallow reflection at that.

 

I actually didn't join under Recruit a Friend. I've earned my 40 the hard way through questing and PvP. I bought the full game and a game time card for the next 90 days. I am not, as you suggest, warping through it at all. I've done every quest in every location through which I've passed and intend to keep on doing so.

I do understand how much it's changed and there are things which I'm sad have been taken out but I only know that in retrospect, through research and in discussions with Shelassa. 

 

Purutzil

I know silly to talk about terms but "Noob" = A bad player, usually one that does stupid stuff, no nessisarily 'new'. "Newb" is the term most people use to describe new players, doesn't mean they are 'stupid' as much as just not knowing the game. 

 

I know, silly to really bring up stuff like that but eh. Might as well get some correct slang if we are using such silly terms.

 

Either way its not too surprising. Still would suck to come to wow so far down the road after its glory. Truth be told, taking away the numbers the game itself is far from being a great game. Time has aged it quite hard and its fallen behind. Theres far better choices out there for a game (Rift being a great example if looking for an MMo in a similiar style) so for most people, unless your playing with friends (the main reason wow got popular being the "I know someone" deal combined with nostologia) your probably not going to find the game to be that good, specially if you dabble in playing other more recent MMos.

 

Still, while i feel its not worth the price if you are willing to throw money at it, you can I'm sure find some interest seeing a game that managed to come out with the perfect storm of timing and good advertising to allow it to turn into such a huge deal.

 

maji

I agree with the author that the replayability of WoW is enormous and nearly unmatched by other MMORPGs.

I guess most modern MMORPGs are more about "who cares about replayability? If the players bought the game and stayed a bit, everything is fine".

Just think about games like Rift. I really like Rift, but with only two starting zones I got bored out of my mind so quickly.

fantasyfreak112

Good article.

Drop a noob in Vanguard or even SWTOR and see if the response is just as positive. Yeah not even close. Developers could learn a lot  from this, as almost all of his praises had nothing to do with the themepark elements, which is what is cloned the most these days.

Yaevindusk

 

All things considered, World of Warcraft is one heck of a ride.  This is especially true with them remaking almost all of the 1-60 quests in Cataclysm.  It's definitely one of the best in terms of really bringing you into the story (save for a couple races which are still boring for me).  This is especially true with new players if they pick the right races to start with, such as the Forsaken or the new Cataclysm races.

 

Outlands and Northrend will have more of the "old feeling", so you can probably look forward to that.  It then goes story focused again in 80-85 Areas, and the new environment / stories of Mists of Pandaria are second to none your first time through each area on both factions.  It would've been near perfect if they didn't make daily quests feel so mandatory while also trying to actively impede the joy of making / working on alts with these and other systems.

 

Still, welcome to one of the best games on the market.  I'm no longer subscribed myself, but there's no denying how magical it can be on your way to level 90 if you don't skip quests / skip entire areas and genuinely care about the story that's being told and the reasons they give you do things in game.

 

Luckily the game's large enough that you can make a couple of characters on each faction and experience new areas and their stories as well.  I'd recommend trying Alliance out at some point as well to get a balanced viewpoint / perspective on the lore / story of the game.  

General-Zod

I have never played WoW and I never will

Dracondis

The worst issues for WoW are still the players.  The game itself is replayable to an extreme extent, but the players are what make the game unfun most of the time.  Still, I can say, from having been a subscriber since original Beta (had to let my sub lapse because of money issues, sadly (and lack of interest in the current end game content)), level 40-ish isn't that far into the game.  That's about a couple days of play for me.  Its all the revamped old world content, which is great. 

When you get to the 58-70 content, however, you're going to claw your eyes out with boredom as you dredge your way through Outlands.  It's like Mulgore with the camera confounding terrain jacked up on meth.  The only saving grace is level 60, when you get the ability to fly, get your flying mount, and you can bypass most of what makes Outlands so mind-numbingly dull:  the sheer running around across huge zones populated by the most annoying things that aggro from across the map. 

And PvP zones that just exist for no reason in the middle of the maps that you're going to want to stay away from because nothing PvE happens in them.  They exist for no reason other than to try and push world PvP on people who aren't on PvP servers.  And let's face it, people on PvP realms won't care about the zones, either, because they're already PvPing.  Swing and a miss.

Short form:  Warth zones are good, Cata zones are annoying, story-filled lore-slogs, and MoP zones are fun, so long as you aren't expecting to do dungeons.  There are, what, 4?  And you can't do the first two until 86 (unless they changed that by now), and the last 2 open up at 89, which you won't do until 90 because you'll get better experience questing.  Oh, and dailies.  Dailies everywhere.  I hope you like dailies.  Lots and lots and lots and lots of dailies.  Lots.  And lots.

Synns77

Nice article and nice to see a newcomer opinion this far down the years of wows existence. I remember the days of falling in love with wow just following the release of burning crusades, I enjoyed a number of years playing and didn't play any other game throughtout that time. Unfortunately cataclysm destroyed wow for me and i quit a few months following the release of that expansion and pandas put the nail in the coffin. For me personally I say R.I.P wow but I also say thank you for many fun years with the game aswell.

 

 

Hekate27

I am so pleased that you have dipped your toe, and now your entire leg it seems, into WoW.  I have heard people knock this game all over the place, and yes certainly it has changed over the years , it has aged, but then haven't we all.  As a player from the earliest times I mourn, in the way of many who have seen the passing of many years, "the good old days" .  But we have our memories and our front porches ... and our turbo powered Roflcopters and our flying disks and our pet battles, and our farms and combat against some iconic Lore Characters.  We have 8 million companions who for whatever reason also think that this alternate universe we play in is still something pretty special.  I am personally pleased that the Guild I started with some characters I met in-game 8  years ago, is still extant and active, as are at least 2 of the other original charter members.  I do not regret the years of my life that have been spent wondering down dusty roads chatting with vendors and travelling heroes.  The hours spent sitting in taverns in chairs you can actually sit on discussing upcoming adventures and adventures past with old friends.  We remember the past, and look forward to the future, we will bitch and moan about things we dislike about the game especially "change" and we will embrace these changes and challenges and keep on playing for we are the hopelessly addicted.

And if you ever want to play a gnome find the Gnomish Rescue Squad (GRS) on EU server Argent Dawn

 

kDeviL

I've played MMOs for over 10 years now.. yet for some reason I couldn't get past level 18 in WoW, Doesn't make much sense I guess but I dunno... I've never been so bored in an MMO.

Shadowguy64

Originally posted by General-Zod
I have never played WoW and I never will

 

Awesome! Good luck with your crusade!!!

plutosams

I also recently joined just a few months ago and am almost to lvl 70.  After playing this game I see why it still has so many subscriptions and makes me realize how dismal all of the other games I have played were...that being said I do feel the age of the game at times, but still enjoying it.

DarthIxidor

It is of my humble opinion that the game is very enjoyable. I still play off an on, about every other month. I find that the game still holds some of it's mystery while leveling new toons, and though the end game challenge is lacking. I will state that the cross over from 89 to 90 into the Golden Vale was difficult at the start and then again for the Isle of Thunder. That was my personal experience. Each class as I've found handles that transition differently and to state that each persons playstyle differs for those classes. I will also say that it is of my opinion that no other MMO has kept my attention or admiration for as long as WoW has.

wowclones

You shouldn't even be allowed to review WOW. This is an insult to the mmo industry, no one wants a review 8 years later. You played Neverwinter before WOW, sad. No excuse as there is a free trial. I can imagine you are a stubborn person in real life. Stop calling yourself an mmo player, because you are not.[mod edit]

SBFord

Originally posted by wowclones
You shouldn't even be allowed to review WOW. This is an insult to the mmo industry, no one wants a review 8 years later. You played Neverwinter before WOW, sad. No excuse as there is a free trial. I can imagine you are a stubborn person in real life. Stop calling yourself an mmo player[mod edit]

I really didn't want to respond to this but think I have to. First off, it's NOT a review.  It's merely impressions of a first-time player. 

Secondly, I have played more MMOs than you can even imagine. That I neglected WoW isn't a crime. I had other things to do like, I don't know, raising my daughter and going through a life-threatening disease. But, gee, maybe you're right and I should have gotten to it faster. * rolls eyes *

For the record? I'm not stubborn either.

 

Mothanos

Ah may you have fun in your adventures ahead of you, iam just a bitter vanilla WoW vet hating what the game has become.

But i still cherish my most memorable memmories from WoW.

Just make sure that if you meet the haters ingame ( like 85% of them) mostly found in random dungeons to ignore those guys so you never ever group up with those scumbags anymore

 

God i wish i could reset the time and start all over again ^^