You want a game that is more accessible than WoW in terms of accomplishment since you don't have the time to play it while on the same time you want something that is complex enough that you can brag about your skills in it? I can think of one game like this, chess. But that's not a computer game (not really). Which game currently in the market come close to the game you envision as the best for you? Guild Wars
Ahem, first, WoW was a faction grind long before TBC. With the addition of reputation based raid instances Like ZG, AQ and the transformation of MC and BWL into token dropping instances, the way was cleared into turning WoW into a reputation grind.
In TBC, grinding reputation is much easier and more meaningful than grinding reputation for the Argent Dawn or Timbermaw Hold in regular WoW. It is easy to do, and happens naturally while improving your gear in instances. Also, the items up for reward from many zone based factions (Not including Shatratth, or however you spell that, of course.) are very class or role specific, so not eveyrbody will have to grind rep for every faction. In fact, it is much easier to get coveted reputation based gear in TBC, which is very good for the casual player, I as a hardcore player also welcome this, as it brings a nice twist to PVP.
TBC is a huge improvement from the Original title, whether you like it or not.
I myself am only level 64 at this point. So there is a lot of the game left for me to explore.
You do know that in the world of warcraft, the main objective in the game is to succeed in endgame? So by saying this game is "this" and "that', you're really judging the whole game on your 4 levels of experiencem, even though the main content of BC is at lvl 70.
Too bad the game may lose many players due to the repetition and unimaginative nature of the game mechanics.
These mechanics have been in the game and the MMO's industry for a long time now and if the current playerbase hasn't realized this, well they're in for a suprise.
Despite the new look, because the questing and grinding is the same, Burning Crusade is just Warcraft plain and simple.
A warcraft expansion is.. wait for it... WARCRAFT!
Wow geez thanks for stating the obvious, next time I should ask Blizzard if my EQ expansion works with their game.
- Do not hate it, but instead embrace the diversity.
"Burning Crusade is... the same Warcraft as before."
How is that biased if it's true? This line is enough to tell me my money is far better spent NOT returning to this game (as if the hugely immature community wasn't reason enough). Blizzard has proved well enough to me they care more about money than a good game, and all WoW is is a well-designed version of thsame tried, tried, tried, and cloned, cloned, cloned gameplay found in 99% of the MMOs out there, in particular the 3D ones. WoW just happens to be the funnest grind for end-game raids and fancy loot (and it makes sense, Blizzard are AMAZING game designers). The same tired concept of a MMORPG in the Warcraft universe doesn't make it a good game. It's just, oh my god, MORE OF THE SAME! The only difference is the context. So instead of an EQ ogre, you're playing a horde tauren. Instead of an AO Omni Opifex Nano-technician, you're a gnome mage. Instead of your Warforged paladin, you're a dwarf paladin. And this expansion is simply further proof that Blizzard cares more about money than making an innovative and creative MMO.
The reason WoW will eventually die out into a die-hard playerbase is because it has no content (raiding was content in Everquest and hasn't been since). It has nothing to immerse players (WoW's very click-and-watch in all aspects, PVE/PVP just requires a lot more clicking, not too involving). It has no story that makes you feel useful (Gratz, Thrall gave Orgrimmar a buff because you killed that big bad orc and his dragon in Blackrock. He only did that 6 million times before for the same reason). It has no evolving plotline for players to follow and affect (content patches, as hard it is for me to call what they add "content", are not a story). WoW has nothing to offer that is new, unique, original, immersive, or different from most every other MMO on the market. This expansion was nothing more than a content patch you had to pay for. It wasn't a real expansion because it didn't expand on the game. It just added on more of the same. As more games come out, people are going to move on to whatever else is pretty and somehow improves upon the same old, same old, or plays it out in such a context that it holds attention for more than a week. Or, maybe an MMO will come out that is trying to be new, different, and truly fresh in this festering pile of loot mongering and level grinding that the MMO genre has become, and change things for the better?
...WoW has nothing to offer that is new, unique, original, immersive, or different from most every other MMO on the market. This expansion was nothing more than a content patch you had to pay for. ...
Hm, I am surprised tbh. I have just watched my friends playing it a while, they told me about it, and it seems just "more of the same". While WoW surely is a decent MMO, I never found it justified the hype.I played the game 6 months, it was a nice time, but mostly because I was in a guild of good people. I never got over this disneyland-theme-park feeling and never really felt involved. No housing, no player cities, rudimentary crafting system - all lasting values that make a MMO world let me feel as if I live there are not in it. To this day I really can't fathom why this game is such a success. It is ok, but really not that good. The funny thing is, EVERY other game making an addon with no real innovation would have had a seriously lowered review like 7/10 or so, not those 90% ratings, an addon with just more of the same old simply does not deserve in 2007.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
1. The company. Blizzard is one of the elites in the industry. You can trust them to make fair, fun, and well designed games. From a game designer's standpoint, World of Warcraft is simply breathtaking.
2. It's Warcraft! How many copies of the series have been sold? Or just the first, and the second, and the third?
3. Battle.net. The vast amount of players of this free online network for Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft gave Blizzard many more followers and loyal gamers than had Bnet never existed. People who never play Warcraft online (and surely some who never played a warcraft game ever) knew they'd be getting a good and stable service in a Blizzard MMO.
4. It's casual safe. You don't need a team, ever, to get the best equipment and to enjoy the game, least of all have to grunge through a raid. Providing compotent and doable solo content broadened their available market.
I played WoW for 2 years, I got a Beta invite and Leveled a Blood Elf to 20, Copied my main over and Leveled up 63, Played around with Jewel crafting. I have a 60 Priest and a 60 Rogue the only 2 classes that I liked playing, I played others but never took an interest to them at all, So adding 2 races to the game did nothing for me. After seeing all the New Fraction that were added to the all ready existing ones and the fact that all the time that I spent on my main is more or less washed away because of TBC. I spent months in MC/BWL trying to get my Epics and now they are all trivial to the everyday green drops. Getting into the Beta is what caused me to cancel my account, seeing what Blizzard was offering in the TBC. I really hoped that Bilzzrad would come up with and Expansion that Blew every ones mind away, but in my option they fall short of the mark this time. Can win them all.
I really don't think that this Expansion is worth $40.
I would pay $20, but $40 bucks and a Game card for $30 = wait till AOC or WAR and enjoy my XBOX 360 for a while.
I thought the review was incredibly biased, in a way that just looks down-right unprofessional. You really have to wonder whether the author even plays MMOs, because many of the things he blasts WoW for are staples of the genre. The author of the article goes out of his way to specifically knock the idea of a city in the Outlands where both the Alliance and Horde coexist. To the author, this is a ridiculous concept that he has never seen before. He asks how this is justified with WoW lore. I suppose the author has never been to Booty Bay, Ratchet, Gadgetzan, Cenarion Hold, or Light's Hope Chapel. It really highlights how he's just writing a review to reinforce his own negative opinions of the game.
The author, to his credit, is right about rep grinds. It's a gay mechanic, and there are a lot more of them to do. However, to be fair these rep grind really are not bad at all. Blizzard really screwed this up in the first game, and made us go through many brutal rep grinds. So when you first get to the Outland, you think it's going to be just as brutal. It's not. I'm not saying the mechanic isn't gay, just that it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. Then again, maybe it just doesn't *feel* as bad.
Also, I'd like to comment on how delusional most forum posters are. I know I'm lumping you all in together, but here is how I view you people. When I see you knocking WoW, it's because the game is too easy for a hardcore, accomplished MMO gamer like yourself. Then you go on to explain how you quit because you didn't like grinding for gear or xp or being in a guild. You then go crazy over a little anecdote about how scrubs with crap gear are beating epic-geared raiders, which shows just how unaccomplished a player you actually are. So yes people, I imagine that you derelects who hate guilds and raiders and grinds were the top gamers in UO, EQ, DAoC or whatever. You are like those people on American Idol who absolutely suck balls at singing but have no sense of self-awareness. And you're hilarious to watch! Hardcore MMO players who quit WoW cause they didn't like grinding for gear or xp or being in guilds? LMAO!
1. The company. Blizzard is one of the elites in the industry. You can trust them to make fair, fun, and well designed games. From a game designer's standpoint, World of Warcraft is simply breathtaking.
2. It's Warcraft! How many copies of the series have been sold? Or just the first, and the second, and the third?
3. Battle.net. The vast amount of players of this free online network for Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft gave Blizzard many more followers and loyal gamers than had Bnet never existed. People who never play Warcraft online (and surely some who never played a warcraft game ever) knew they'd be getting a good and stable service in a Blizzard MMO.
4. It's casual safe. You don't need a team, ever, to get the best equipment and to enjoy the game, least of all have to grunge through a raid. Providing compotent and doable solo content broadened their available market.
Is it your contention that the 8 million WoW players only play because they were huge fans of WC 1 and/or Diablo?
Sit down and think about it. Is this your contention?
All the casual players that play this game - girls and old people, housewives, etc. All those people only play because they know about Blizzard's reputation? They know all reputations of the numerous gaming development and publishing companies? Not only are these casual players exceptionall well-informed about the gaming industry, they are also champions of WC1 and Diablo.
voodoochile, you took what I said completely out of proportion. Does everyone who ever played WoW played another Blizzard game? Of course not, but fans of the company are going to play their games because they're always fun to play. Why would a fan of the original Final Fantasy play the 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th, and so on? Because they know it'll be fun. Does everyone on WoW been or are a user of Battle.net? Of course not, but those who used it understand how fun and stable it was, so a MMOG only sounds cooler. Remember how many people wished Diablo would be a MMOG? I can say without a doubt they all enjoyed either or both Diablos on BNet (i for one only played D2 online through BNet). I'm sure plenty of those housewives and old people and such you mentioned never played a Blizzard game before, but I sincerely doubt the majority are new gamers or WoW is their first "real" game, maybe their first MMOG at best. Blizzard's rep isn't going to matter to most people when they just want to play a fun game. Though, mind you, there are plenty of female gamers, casual and hardcore, so...
Further, I quit WoW after 8 months from retail, and the only raid boss I ever saw was Lucifron, through PUGs, and fought him collectively? 4 times? Never did get him, though. Your generalization, even of the hardcore gamers (of which I am not) that replied, is pretty untrue and unfair o_O
1. The company. Blizzard is one of the elites in the industry. You can trust them to make fair, fun, and well designed games. From a game designer's standpoint, World of Warcraft is simply breathtaking.
2. It's Warcraft! How many copies of the series have been sold? Or just the first, and the second, and the third?
3. Battle.net. The vast amount of players of this free online network for Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft gave Blizzard many more followers and loyal gamers than had Bnet never existed. People who never play Warcraft online (and surely some who never played a warcraft game ever) knew they'd be getting a good and stable service in a Blizzard MMO.
4. It's casual safe. You don't need a team, ever, to get the best equipment and to enjoy the game, least of all have to grunge through a raid. Providing compotent and doable solo content broadened their available market.
some more reasons could be...
5. Its the most stabel mmo on the market suiteble for almost every decent pc.
6. It atracted more then gamers alone, people that never even heard or played warcraft before, but been bombarded with add/commercials, and Blizzard really knows how to market and make great Intro movies.
Not playing anymore cause i kept missing some form of immersivness but never found it in WOW but had fun tho while i played, but if technology lets it and if there ever will be a WOW 2 that will look and play like the intro-movies they make then i'll be there and really would call something like that Nex-Gen.
voodoochile, you took what I said completely out of proportion.
I most certainly did not. You listed the 3 biggest reasons of WoW's success as having to do with Blizzard's reputation before WoW. It's an absurd notion that 8 million people knew or even cared who Blizzard was. If it was the reason WoW was so popular, then you would have expected Diablo to have 8 million players too.
Further, I quit WoW after 8 months from retail, and the only raid boss I ever saw was Lucifron, through PUGs, and fought him collectively? 4 times? Never did get him, though. Your generalization, even of the hardcore gamers (of which I am not) that replied, is pretty untrue and unfair o_O
Glad you admit that you're not a hardcore gamer. Most elitists on this board would not admit that fact, when their record of MMO accomplishments is as non-existant as yours. But my characterization is most definitely not unfair. Just about every single elitist on this board is a MMO loser, who can't get into a good guild and has no MMO accomplishments worth noting. It's so easy to spot. How can you be an MMO elitist and simultaneous bash WoW for having to get gear and join a guild?
voodoochile, you took what I said completely out of proportion.
I most certainly did not. You listed the 3 biggest reasons of WoW's success as having to do with Blizzard's reputation before WoW. It's an absurd notion that 8 million people knew or even cared who Blizzard was. If it was the reason WoW was so popular, then you would have expected Diablo to have 8 million players too.
Yes, you did, and you're leaving out the fourth in your argument, which is probably the biggest reason of all; WoW is a casual friendly game. This modern world is quite busy, and you'd be surprised just how many people out there play video games. Did you know the mobile phone game market consists largely of soccer moms? And now, when the lemonade is made and the game is done, they can sit back for a couple hours, socialize with some of their friends, and play something that helps them relate to their kids. Blizzard's reputation for good games, and the stability and fun of Diablo and Warcraft and Starcraft online provided WoW with a rather large garaunteed initial player base, which included me. I never once said 8 million people play based purely on Blizzard's reputation alone. I never once even gave numbers. I merely listed rather plausable reasons why it's so popular. Please do not try to argue by putting words into my mouth. For that matter, why ARE we arguing about this?
Originally posted by Balmer How shocking...a casual player whining about spending time to gain epic gear (at least it's in there this time, jackass). The raiders will spend a lot of time in the high level 25 mans while the rest of the 'casual's have to grind for faction to get something epic. boo freaking hoo The author of this article is extremely biased. Time for MMORPG to get some new editors. In fact, I think I'll write the senior editors a little note since this is the third WoW article in a row that's been biased toward 'casuals'.
You know, I am a very casual player, and I still have to agree with you. The point of a review is to be objective and explain what's going on in the game. Whining about the new factions is silly, as it should have been obvious they were going to exists, and I think there are even fewer factions in the Outland than Azeroth. Add to that the fact that they made reputation come faster, and that's just a case of bad journalism. He should know better, and he should be more professional.
Tell us what's going on; don't whine like a baby because you have to level up and get new faction in an expansion; that's what happens in expansions. Terrible writing, and terrible bias. I'm irked again by the reviews here.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
Originally posted by voodoochile Originally posted by Deioth Elikal, the biggest reasons WoW is so popular:1. The company. Blizzard is one of the elites in the industry. You can trust them to make fair, fun, and well designed games. From a game designer's standpoint, World of Warcraft is simply breathtaking. 2. It's Warcraft! How many copies of the series have been sold? Or just the first, and the second, and the third? 3. Battle.net. The vast amount of players of this free online network for Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft gave Blizzard many more followers and loyal gamers than had Bnet never existed. People who never play Warcraft online (and surely some who never played a warcraft game ever) knew they'd be getting a good and stable service in a Blizzard MMO. 4. It's casual safe. You don't need a team, ever, to get the best equipment and to enjoy the game, least of all have to grunge through a raid. Providing compotent and doable solo content broadened their available market.
Is it your contention that the 8 million WoW players only play because they were huge fans of WC 1 and/or Diablo? Sit down and think about it. Is this your contention? All the casual players that play this game - girls and old people, housewives, etc. All those people only play because they know about Blizzard's reputation? They know all reputations of the numerous gaming development and publishing companies? Not only are these casual players exceptionall well-informed about the gaming industry, they are also champions of WC1 and Diablo. Is that it? Is that what you're claiming?
You are taking what he said and saying that he said something he didn't say.
(Yes I did that because it was fun for me.)
He never made that contention, but you said he did, and then made that contention sound stupid. Of course that's a terrible idea. No one would ever say that the 8million people that bought WoW played their other games, but I bet almost everyone who bought it back in the first November was already a Blizzard gamer. That's the only reason GW is so popular; they already had a fan base, because, in essence, they are the people who were once Blizzard, and now Blizzard is full of different people.
It would be stupid and wrong to say that all 8million people loved Blizzard before, but it would be just as stupid to claim that that isn't a factor in their popularity.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
Is it possible for ANY article written here about WOW, to NOT have this condescending, snide tone?
I was never a huge fan of Blizzard's former games and I was in early beta and bought WOW on day 1. Diablo was boring and I never could get into their style of RTS games for very long. Too much base building, micromanagement and zerging.
People do not just play a game because its made by a company they like. They might buy one, but they won't play it for months unless they like it. People only play games they find fun. The name has very little to do with it, especially when it comes to MMOGs and paying monthly fees. EQ2 shouldn't done just as well as EQ1. SWG would've sold 30 million. DDO would've sold waaaay more than WOW. Name only sparks interest. A quality game doesn't need anything other than word of mouth and WOW has that in spades. Amazing reviews from every single reputable source helps;)
Originally posted by Josher Is it possible for ANY article written here about WOW, to NOT have this condescending, snide tone? I was never a huge fan of Blizzard's former games and I was in early beta and bought WOW on day 1. Diablo was boring and I never could get into their style of RTS games for very long. Too much base building, micromanagement and zerging. People do not just play a game because its made by a company they like. They might buy one, but they won't play it for months unless they like it. People only play games they find fun. The name has very little to do with it, especially when it comes to MMOGs and paying monthly fees. EQ2 shouldn't done just as well as EQ1. SWG would've sold 30 million. DDO would've sold waaaay more than WOW. Name only sparks interest. A quality game doesn't need anything other than word of mouth and WOW has that in spades. Amazing reviews from every single reputable source helps;)
That's certainly true. I was so excited about DDO, but when I played the Beta, I was so disillusioned that I had to stop. I already had a preorder, so I went ahead and got it, and played it for a while, but it was just too terrible. I couldn't keep playing. It was very dissapointing for me to be unable to play a game set in a world where I have roleplayed for years.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
You know, if it's a bias to remark negatively in a review about an expansion that, when you get right down to it, is nothing more than a content patch you have to pay for, then what would be an unbiased review? Isn't the whole point of a review to give opinions? If I wanted to be told what TBC is going to bring to the playingfield, I'll just read the FAQs on the website and read interviews about its progression. However, they aren't going to tell me that I can expect faction grind as the big new timesink, or that Azeroth has become outdated because TBC has much better loot, or that TBC is just World of Warcraft with a new coat of paint as opposed to adding something fresh, interesting, and creative. But, I'm also looking for reviews, and this was a review, and it told me exactly what I needed to know: TBC is just more WoW, more of what I got sick of, and more of what every other damn MMO is. Nothing is truly new. Nothing is actually expanded upon. So, why get mad when he says that, and expresses his opinions of why that is bad or why he hates it? Would your review be, "TBC introduces more awesome faction grinding. You can get incredibly good loot after repeating a dozen quests and grinding the same mobs"? Now, THAT would be biased!
I wouldn't call this review biased. I'd call it the truth. And if you can't stand how reviews often offer opinions from the writer about what they're reviewing (which is the whole point of a review) then don't read them. If you like it and they don't, why does it bother you? Their review doesn't effect you. It's telling potential new players and long gone old players if it's worth checking out. TBC is, thanks TO these kinds of reviews, very much not worth my time. And just for the record, if he glorified faction grinding as opposed to putting it down, I STILL would not have bought TBC, because it'd be just that: faction grinding.
I've been playing this game since October 2005 with on-and-off break periods. In November 2006, my friends encouraged me to play again, so I reactivated my subscription.
I hit 60 on my Tauren Warrior two weeks before the expansion came out, and was shaking with excitement for it. I hurried with any last minute things and quests, got my mining/blacksmithing to 300 each, and sat back waiting for the portal to open.
Midnight on the 16th, we went to GameStop and waited for the store to open. Once the gates raised, we rushed in with hundreds of other people and grabbed our copies. We rushed home hurriedly to install the game and jump into Outland.
Out of the 6 of us, 2 had corrupted CDs, and 1 other had 2 disk 1 CDs, so only half of us were able to install. I was praying that I wouldn't get the corrupted error. Pretty sad when you paid fourty bucks for something and you have to pray for it to work?
I logged on, and rushed through the portal, excited for any tasks ahead. The minute I stepped into Hellfire, I was disappointed. First off, something is very wrong with the current graphics engine in Outland. I'm running my PC on a 7800GT, 1.5GB of RAM, and a 2.4GHz AMD processor. In Azeroth, I was always getting 60FPS straight. Even in 40-man raids. But just from looking at the sky, it cut down to 32. What the heck is this?! I thought maybe it'd go away, so I kept playing.
I flew into Thrallmar and grabbed every quest available. The bombing runs were really appealing and fun to me. I was, however disappointed once again when I saw that the greens that I recieved from the quest easily replaced my Epic PVP set. All the time I had spent getting that honor had just flown out the window!
After finishing basic quests, I was told to report to 4 different outposts, which all gave me about 4-6 quests. OH BOY, A FULL QUEST LOG! Hmm...where to start? Oh! Each quest has me walk ALL OVER THE ZONE! Great! So in 4 hours, I can finish 6-8 quests! Oh boy, great job there, Blizzard!
7 hours later, I hit 61! Finally! Maybe I can leave this hellhole and go somewhere better! WRONG! More quests, more quests, and more quests! They flooded my log until it was full, so I said SCREW THIS! Cleared them all, and went on to Zangarmarsh.
SHROOMS! BLUENESS! Everything's blue! And dark! Wow, how creative. I go to the neutral Cenarion town, and guess what: MORE QUESTS! TONS! I couldn't take it any longer. I was so bored and stressed with having to run everywhere, I just logged off and made a Blood Elf Mage, something I had been wanting to do for months.
OH BOY, THREE THOUSAND BEs! Hundreds camping one quest mob, and you'll never get it unless you target-macro! Great...
After 9 hours and finally hitting level 10 (something I could easily have done in an hour and a half), I uninstalled and cancelled my subscription. I just can't stand another 10 levels of repetitive grinding and questing, the huge amount of carebears, the annoyingness of one race plaguing a server, and everyone screaming and whining.
Blizzard, IMO, failed with this expansion. Now, I'm waiting for WHO or AoC, I'm sure after those are released, you'll start seeing this 2 year-old game's population drop by the double digits in percent.
For all who enjoy this steaming pile of horse manure, good luck with it!
I feel sorry for you and I know the feeling, I bought the Alien invasion expansion for AO, played for 4 or so months and the only aliens I EVER fought were in the newbie area, because orgs were too high level, not active enough at mine, and my only real option was to pray for some rare mission drop or reward or something to call the aliens in. That was fun.
It's amusing to see people think questing is the only way to gain xp, if you dont like quests, dont do them simple as that. Also, its your own fault for spending all that time getting the pvp set when we all knew that in BC greens will be better than lvl 60 epics.
Comments
You want a game that is more accessible than WoW in terms of accomplishment since you don't have the time to play it while on the same time you want something that is complex enough that you can brag about your skills in it? I can think of one game like this, chess. But that's not a computer game (not really). Which game currently in the market come close to the game you envision as the best for you? Guild Wars
You do know that in the world of warcraft, the main objective in the game is to succeed in endgame? So by saying this game is "this" and "that', you're really judging the whole game on your 4 levels of experiencem, even though the main content of BC is at lvl 70.
Too bad the game may lose many players due to the repetition and unimaginative nature of the game mechanics.
These mechanics have been in the game and the MMO's industry for a long time now and if the current playerbase hasn't realized this, well they're in for a suprise.
Despite the new look, because the questing and grinding is the same, Burning Crusade is just Warcraft plain and simple.
A warcraft expansion is.. wait for it... WARCRAFT!
Wow geez thanks for stating the obvious, next time I should ask Blizzard if my EQ expansion works with their game.
-
Do not hate it, but instead embrace the diversity.
"Burning Crusade is... the same Warcraft as before."
How is that biased if it's true? This line is enough to tell me my money is far better spent NOT returning to this game (as if the hugely immature community wasn't reason enough). Blizzard has proved well enough to me they care more about money than a good game, and all WoW is is a well-designed version of thsame tried, tried, tried, and cloned, cloned, cloned gameplay found in 99% of the MMOs out there, in particular the 3D ones. WoW just happens to be the funnest grind for end-game raids and fancy loot (and it makes sense, Blizzard are AMAZING game designers). The same tired concept of a MMORPG in the Warcraft universe doesn't make it a good game. It's just, oh my god, MORE OF THE SAME! The only difference is the context. So instead of an EQ ogre, you're playing a horde tauren. Instead of an AO Omni Opifex Nano-technician, you're a gnome mage. Instead of your Warforged paladin, you're a dwarf paladin. And this expansion is simply further proof that Blizzard cares more about money than making an innovative and creative MMO.
The reason WoW will eventually die out into a die-hard playerbase is because it has no content (raiding was content in Everquest and hasn't been since). It has nothing to immerse players (WoW's very click-and-watch in all aspects, PVE/PVP just requires a lot more clicking, not too involving). It has no story that makes you feel useful (Gratz, Thrall gave Orgrimmar a buff because you killed that big bad orc and his dragon in Blackrock. He only did that 6 million times before for the same reason). It has no evolving plotline for players to follow and affect (content patches, as hard it is for me to call what they add "content", are not a story). WoW has nothing to offer that is new, unique, original, immersive, or different from most every other MMO on the market. This expansion was nothing more than a content patch you had to pay for. It wasn't a real expansion because it didn't expand on the game. It just added on more of the same. As more games come out, people are going to move on to whatever else is pretty and somehow improves upon the same old, same old, or plays it out in such a context that it holds attention for more than a week. Or, maybe an MMO will come out that is trying to be new, different, and truly fresh in this festering pile of loot mongering and level grinding that the MMO genre has become, and change things for the better?
Sadly, but true...
Just found more free space on my harddisk
Massive Multiplayer Online Industry
Nice Game
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
1. The company. Blizzard is one of the elites in the industry. You can trust them to make fair, fun, and well designed games. From a game designer's standpoint, World of Warcraft is simply breathtaking.
2. It's Warcraft! How many copies of the series have been sold? Or just the first, and the second, and the third?
3. Battle.net. The vast amount of players of this free online network for Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft gave Blizzard many more followers and loyal gamers than had Bnet never existed. People who never play Warcraft online (and surely some who never played a warcraft game ever) knew they'd be getting a good and stable service in a Blizzard MMO.
4. It's casual safe. You don't need a team, ever, to get the best equipment and to enjoy the game, least of all have to grunge through a raid. Providing compotent and doable solo content broadened their available market.
I really don't think that this Expansion is worth $40.
I would pay $20, but $40 bucks and a Game card for $30 = wait till AOC or WAR and enjoy my XBOX 360 for a while.
UO-EQ1-SWG-DAOC-WOW-EQ2-WAR-GW2-RIFT
I thought the review was incredibly biased, in a way that just looks down-right unprofessional. You really have to wonder whether the author even plays MMOs, because many of the things he blasts WoW for are staples of the genre. The author of the article goes out of his way to specifically knock the idea of a city in the Outlands where both the Alliance and Horde coexist. To the author, this is a ridiculous concept that he has never seen before. He asks how this is justified with WoW lore. I suppose the author has never been to Booty Bay, Ratchet, Gadgetzan, Cenarion Hold, or Light's Hope Chapel. It really highlights how he's just writing a review to reinforce his own negative opinions of the game.
The author, to his credit, is right about rep grinds. It's a gay mechanic, and there are a lot more of them to do. However, to be fair these rep grind really are not bad at all. Blizzard really screwed this up in the first game, and made us go through many brutal rep grinds. So when you first get to the Outland, you think it's going to be just as brutal. It's not. I'm not saying the mechanic isn't gay, just that it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. Then again, maybe it just doesn't *feel* as bad.
Also, I'd like to comment on how delusional most forum posters are. I know I'm lumping you all in together, but here is how I view you people. When I see you knocking WoW, it's because the game is too easy for a hardcore, accomplished MMO gamer like yourself. Then you go on to explain how you quit because you didn't like grinding for gear or xp or being in a guild. You then go crazy over a little anecdote about how scrubs with crap gear are beating epic-geared raiders, which shows just how unaccomplished a player you actually are. So yes people, I imagine that you derelects who hate guilds and raiders and grinds were the top gamers in UO, EQ, DAoC or whatever. You are like those people on American Idol who absolutely suck balls at singing but have no sense of self-awareness. And you're hilarious to watch! Hardcore MMO players who quit WoW cause they didn't like grinding for gear or xp or being in guilds? LMAO!
Is it your contention that the 8 million WoW players only play because they were huge fans of WC 1 and/or Diablo?
Sit down and think about it. Is this your contention?
All the casual players that play this game - girls and old people, housewives, etc. All those people only play because they know about Blizzard's reputation? They know all reputations of the numerous gaming development and publishing companies? Not only are these casual players exceptionall well-informed about the gaming industry, they are also champions of WC1 and Diablo.
Is that it? Is that what you're claiming?
Further, I quit WoW after 8 months from retail, and the only raid boss I ever saw was Lucifron, through PUGs, and fought him collectively? 4 times? Never did get him, though. Your generalization, even of the hardcore gamers (of which I am not) that replied, is pretty untrue and unfair o_O
Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
some more reasons could be...
5. Its the most stabel mmo on the market suiteble for almost every decent pc.
6. It atracted more then gamers alone, people that never even heard or played warcraft before, but been bombarded with add/commercials, and Blizzard really knows how to market and make great Intro movies.
Not playing anymore cause i kept missing some form of immersivness but never found it in WOW but had fun tho while i played, but if technology lets it and if there ever will be a WOW 2 that will look and play like the intro-movies they make then i'll be there and really would call something like that Nex-Gen.
I most certainly did not. You listed the 3 biggest reasons of WoW's success as having to do with Blizzard's reputation before WoW. It's an absurd notion that 8 million people knew or even cared who Blizzard was. If it was the reason WoW was so popular, then you would have expected Diablo to have 8 million players too.
Glad you admit that you're not a hardcore gamer. Most elitists on this board would not admit that fact, when their record of MMO accomplishments is as non-existant as yours. But my characterization is most definitely not unfair. Just about every single elitist on this board is a MMO loser, who can't get into a good guild and has no MMO accomplishments worth noting. It's so easy to spot. How can you be an MMO elitist and simultaneous bash WoW for having to get gear and join a guild?
I most certainly did not. You listed the 3 biggest reasons of WoW's success as having to do with Blizzard's reputation before WoW. It's an absurd notion that 8 million people knew or even cared who Blizzard was. If it was the reason WoW was so popular, then you would have expected Diablo to have 8 million players too.
Yes, you did, and you're leaving out the fourth in your argument, which is probably the biggest reason of all; WoW is a casual friendly game. This modern world is quite busy, and you'd be surprised just how many people out there play video games. Did you know the mobile phone game market consists largely of soccer moms? And now, when the lemonade is made and the game is done, they can sit back for a couple hours, socialize with some of their friends, and play something that helps them relate to their kids. Blizzard's reputation for good games, and the stability and fun of Diablo and Warcraft and Starcraft online provided WoW with a rather large garaunteed initial player base, which included me. I never once said 8 million people play based purely on Blizzard's reputation alone. I never once even gave numbers. I merely listed rather plausable reasons why it's so popular. Please do not try to argue by putting words into my mouth. For that matter, why ARE we arguing about this?
You know, I am a very casual player, and I still have to agree with you. The point of a review is to be objective and explain what's going on in the game. Whining about the new factions is silly, as it should have been obvious they were going to exists, and I think there are even fewer factions in the Outland than Azeroth. Add to that the fact that they made reputation come faster, and that's just a case of bad journalism. He should know better, and he should be more professional.
Tell us what's going on; don't whine like a baby because you have to level up and get new faction in an expansion; that's what happens in expansions. Terrible writing, and terrible bias. I'm irked again by the reviews here.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
Is it your contention that the 8 million WoW players only play because they were huge fans of WC 1 and/or Diablo?
Sit down and think about it. Is this your contention?
All the casual players that play this game - girls and old people, housewives, etc. All those people only play because they know about Blizzard's reputation? They know all reputations of the numerous gaming development and publishing companies? Not only are these casual players exceptionall well-informed about the gaming industry, they are also champions of WC1 and Diablo.
Is that it? Is that what you're claiming?
You are taking what he said and saying that he said something he didn't say.
(Yes I did that because it was fun for me.)
He never made that contention, but you said he did, and then made that contention sound stupid. Of course that's a terrible idea. No one would ever say that the 8million people that bought WoW played their other games, but I bet almost everyone who bought it back in the first November was already a Blizzard gamer. That's the only reason GW is so popular; they already had a fan base, because, in essence, they are the people who were once Blizzard, and now Blizzard is full of different people.
It would be stupid and wrong to say that all 8million people loved Blizzard before, but it would be just as stupid to claim that that isn't a factor in their popularity.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
I was never a huge fan of Blizzard's former games and I was in early beta and bought WOW on day 1. Diablo was boring and I never could get into their style of RTS games for very long. Too much base building, micromanagement and zerging.
People do not just play a game because its made by a company they like. They might buy one, but they won't play it for months unless they like it. People only play games they find fun. The name has very little to do with it, especially when it comes to MMOGs and paying monthly fees. EQ2 shouldn't done just as well as EQ1. SWG would've sold 30 million. DDO would've sold waaaay more than WOW. Name only sparks interest. A quality game doesn't need anything other than word of mouth and WOW has that in spades. Amazing reviews from every single reputable source helps;)
That's certainly true. I was so excited about DDO, but when I played the Beta, I was so disillusioned that I had to stop. I already had a preorder, so I went ahead and got it, and played it for a while, but it was just too terrible. I couldn't keep playing. It was very dissapointing for me to be unable to play a game set in a world where I have roleplayed for years.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
I wouldn't call this review biased. I'd call it the truth. And if you can't stand how reviews often offer opinions from the writer about what they're reviewing (which is the whole point of a review) then don't read them. If you like it and they don't, why does it bother you? Their review doesn't effect you. It's telling potential new players and long gone old players if it's worth checking out. TBC is, thanks TO these kinds of reviews, very much not worth my time. And just for the record, if he glorified faction grinding as opposed to putting it down, I STILL would not have bought TBC, because it'd be just that: faction grinding.
I've been playing this game since October 2005 with on-and-off break periods. In November 2006, my friends encouraged me to play again, so I reactivated my subscription.
I hit 60 on my Tauren Warrior two weeks before the expansion came out, and was shaking with excitement for it. I hurried with any last minute things and quests, got my mining/blacksmithing to 300 each, and sat back waiting for the portal to open.
Midnight on the 16th, we went to GameStop and waited for the store to open. Once the gates raised, we rushed in with hundreds of other people and grabbed our copies. We rushed home hurriedly to install the game and jump into Outland.
Out of the 6 of us, 2 had corrupted CDs, and 1 other had 2 disk 1 CDs, so only half of us were able to install. I was praying that I wouldn't get the corrupted error. Pretty sad when you paid fourty bucks for something and you have to pray for it to work?
I logged on, and rushed through the portal, excited for any tasks ahead. The minute I stepped into Hellfire, I was disappointed. First off, something is very wrong with the current graphics engine in Outland. I'm running my PC on a 7800GT, 1.5GB of RAM, and a 2.4GHz AMD processor. In Azeroth, I was always getting 60FPS straight. Even in 40-man raids. But just from looking at the sky, it cut down to 32. What the heck is this?! I thought maybe it'd go away, so I kept playing.
I flew into Thrallmar and grabbed every quest available. The bombing runs were really appealing and fun to me. I was, however disappointed once again when I saw that the greens that I recieved from the quest easily replaced my Epic PVP set. All the time I had spent getting that honor had just flown out the window!
After finishing basic quests, I was told to report to 4 different outposts, which all gave me about 4-6 quests. OH BOY, A FULL QUEST LOG! Hmm...where to start? Oh! Each quest has me walk ALL OVER THE ZONE! Great! So in 4 hours, I can finish 6-8 quests! Oh boy, great job there, Blizzard!
7 hours later, I hit 61! Finally! Maybe I can leave this hellhole and go somewhere better! WRONG! More quests, more quests, and more quests! They flooded my log until it was full, so I said SCREW THIS! Cleared them all, and went on to Zangarmarsh.
SHROOMS! BLUENESS! Everything's blue! And dark! Wow, how creative. I go to the neutral Cenarion town, and guess what: MORE QUESTS! TONS! I couldn't take it any longer. I was so bored and stressed with having to run everywhere, I just logged off and made a Blood Elf Mage, something I had been wanting to do for months.
OH BOY, THREE THOUSAND BEs! Hundreds camping one quest mob, and you'll never get it unless you target-macro! Great...
After 9 hours and finally hitting level 10 (something I could easily have done in an hour and a half), I uninstalled and cancelled my subscription. I just can't stand another 10 levels of repetitive grinding and questing, the huge amount of carebears, the annoyingness of one race plaguing a server, and everyone screaming and whining.
Blizzard, IMO, failed with this expansion. Now, I'm waiting for WHO or AoC, I'm sure after those are released, you'll start seeing this 2 year-old game's population drop by the double digits in percent.
For all who enjoy this steaming pile of horse manure, good luck with it!
I feel sorry for you and I know the feeling, I bought the Alien invasion expansion for AO, played for 4 or so months and the only aliens I EVER fought were in the newbie area, because orgs were too high level, not active enough at mine, and my only real option was to pray for some rare mission drop or reward or something to call the aliens in. That was fun.
It's amusing to see people think questing is the only way to gain xp, if you dont like quests, dont do them simple as that. Also, its your own fault for spending all that time getting the pvp set when we all knew that in BC greens will be better than lvl 60 epics.