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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: World of Warcraft
DarkLugia459
Member Posts: 8
This is a place to get a defininative list of what's good and what's not about WoW.
This is NOT a place for:
--WoW "fanboi"s
--EQ2 "fanboi"s
--"fanboi"s of any sort
If you're addicted to a single game and don't have an open mind, you have no right to be posting any "help" you may have in this thread. If you're open minded and just dislike other MMORPGs, you may post here. If you're fanatically obsessed with one game or another, don't post here. Use good judgement people.
Without further ado, World of Warcraft:
The Good:
--Simple, Fun, Effective: No complex training system, no complex windows, little things, things you ABSOLUTELY must know in order to be good and do well. The game walks you through it, whether through the quest system, the introductary help system, etc. Make a character, and play the game. It's (almost) that simple.
--Immersive: Extremely immersive. Completing a quest chain has you going around the town, around the countryside finding special items, killing creatures, and scouting out new lands. Even the "production" system is immersive. Engineering requires you to build copper tubes and bolts, and then buy a rifle stock, all so that you can build that shiny rifle you learned how to make. Then, you can make extras to sell to other players. But, you gotta build all the parts yourself.
--Caters to All: Power gamer? Casual gamer? There's a place for both in WoW. You have the people who need to make it to high levels, they'll probably appreciate PvP more than others. You have casual gamers, who want to sign on and level up. Some people might love mining; running around nodes and mining to provide engineers and blacksmiths with the items they need. Maybe you'll be an enchanter who gives people magical buffs.
--The Community: We've got some smart people. Really smart people. We're talking, "Let's make Cosmos" smart people. We've got helpful people, nice people. And, you've got so many people. There's all kinds. The WoW community is extremely diverse, ranging from young to old, power gamer to casual gamer, profession master to PvP obsessed.
--Soloing & Grouping: WoW is pretty open on this one. Play by yourself, play in a group, play in a guild, play in your faction; it's up to you.
--Overarching storyline: Quests really aren't a storyline. WoW doesn't have a storyline, somewhat of a good thing. Horde vs. Alliance is overarching, encompassing, totally ever surrounding you. The whole damn game is based on it, and it gives the game a great sense of "For the Alliance!" and "For the Horde!"
The Bad:
--Long Travelling Times: Thank god for flight paths. Who the hell would want to hold the "W" key to walk two+ hours across the continent? Lets face it; WoW's got some horrendus travelling downtime. But what game doesnt? All game has its downtime, and WoW just seems to have a more tedious downtime. You need to be watching your character at all times too, but sometimes that's a good thing, especially if you're in the middle of a raid.
--"The Community": All kinds, right? That includes the horde of fanboys, fanatics, gankers, power levellers, etc. They're all here, some will make your life a living hell, especially on PvP servers.
--Locked Characters: Pick your race, your class, and go. Once you pick it, you're done creating your character. No changing classes, no doing anything differently, bam. You've got your skillsets, your talents, your pets, your attitudes, your special quests, your mounts. And your side.
--"Quest Syndrome": The quests. So numerous, so seemingly out of place sometimes. Yes, tons of quests, they give the game direction, but where are you going with the overarching goal? Oh right, killing the other guys.
--Only One Storyline: Alliance VS. Horde. Enough said. The game doesn't have a developing storyline. It's "kill the other guys." Sure, the quests give the game changing direction, but it's mainly "kill the other guys." Both positive and negative.
The Ugly:
--88+ Servers: Your friends are playing WoW? Really? Oh, on which of the 3 different TYPES of servers, and after you determine THAT, which of the 36 servers in that specific category? Yes, for a game of its size, it would be impossible to have WoW on a single server.
=====
Please add on to this list, or comment on mine. And commenting on mine doesn't mean having a horde of you fanatical fanboys jumping on all the bad things saying "OMG YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED WOW STFU YOU STUPID NOOBIE." (because there the community is so big, there are bound to be some idiots who do that.) Commenting means leaving constructive criticism. If you don't know what that is, you probably are a stupid fanboy and shouldn't be posting.
And yes, in case you are wondering, I have played WoW. In fact, I enjoy it greatly. I'm just trying to give both sides of the game, the good, the bad...well, the ugly doesn't really count as a side.
Comments
You can hit num lock to auto run
Desolation
"Stare at the Sun im bored..."
Desolation
"Stare at the Sun im bored..."
~Lets see said the blind man to the deaf man~
~Lets see said the blind man to the deaf man~
uhm, how many players are there? because in the 'ugly' part, you say that it would be impossible to have game of this size on one server. Well the game Project Entropia, only has one single server and it was actually designed to have 1 million users registere, within the first year.
Don't worry. Being eaten by a crocodile is just like going to sleep. In a giant blender.
There's no real storyline in Warcraft?; and it's just "kill the other guys" type? Such an ignorant statement. Read a little about Warcraft lore if you want some storyline and don't just click "accept" when taking quests.
While i like the fact that you cant just jump around the world teleporting everywhere, some areas are poorly designed thst you need to run too much to do any quest, especially The Barrens.
About The Ugly part... Blizzard doubled number of servers a few days after the launch due to unexpected massive sale of the game. Even today WoW is sold out in many areas, and I don't really understand complain about too many servers. Even the low populated ones have enough players and numbers will be rising for a while also.
This is NOT a place for:
--WoW "fanboi"s
--EQ2 "fanboi"s
--"fanboi"s of any sort
It is fanboY!!
Argh I just hate fanboi, can't you spell, it is FANBOY!!!!!!
Yeah deal with it, or else
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Cheers! I'm out
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Cheers! I'm out
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As someone who has never played any other Warcraft game, I don't notice much of a story line either. I mean I read all the quest logs, read some of the things that you can right-click on, but there doesn't seem to be much of a story. I also don't go out of my way like reading lore on fansites or anything.
If I played some of the previous Warcrafts, then I might notice a bigger storyline... but I don't think you should need to play other games for a story.
Oh, I'm also only level 43, so I haven't experienced the "high-end" quests yet.
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
I'm not "ignorant", and I have immersed myself in the storyline of Warcraft 3, etc. However, a quest about killing random brigands is far from the demon-slaying Tyrande, Malfurion, and Jaina took place in. Although the highest character I have is level 20, and for me, the small quests DO make up the storyline, I don't mean to say that World of Warcraft has no story, but the quests don't seem to give it the same driver the Warcraft 3 had. For good reason, because in World of Warcraft, that giant conflict has ended.
Personally, I believe the quests give a believable storyline. However, for some of my friends, they complain about it, and so I believe that I should put it in.
And yes, tell me about WoW being sold out...EVERYWHERE. My brother is still looking for it, he's been looking for two weeks...and while he waits, he begs me to play...
Listen, I'm not an unreasonable person. I do know that there are many servers for a reason, and unfortunately I don't think it could be any other way. Having one giant world...with so many people, would be impossible.
And I misspelled "fanboi" on purpose.
We don't know what the world of warcraft storyline has in store for us. It's been out less than 2 months. The storyline is barely developed and in place visibly, but it IS there and its still unfolding.
IMO the storyline will pick up once we see the first expansion(s) come out when they bring back northrend, and add a few more classes and races also.
The game hasn't been out long enough to say that there is no storyline.
The difference between WoW's storyline and W3's storyline? W3 was designed to deliver the storyline relatively quickly being that it is a single player one-shot game and not a massively multiplayer (if you even pretend to contradict that i'll come to your house and kick you in the nuts) online game designed to last for months on end, not just for the weekend.
W3's storyline is unraveled at ludicrous speed whilst WoW's is more like trying to ride a bike cross country. It takes time for WoW's simply due to its size and the nature of the game.
Also, don't say WoW has no storyline unless you've played and/or read the story of W1, W2+x and W3+x and read all the books out there and STILL somehow believe that the people who created all the manga for Warcraft couldn't possibly have integrated another storyline into WoW.
Also, WoW's community is only bad because it has 250k+ people. If you were to go into ratio's, however, they would be almost exactly the same "nice":"jag-off" in comparison.
Long travel times aren't that bad...and ther is an autorun key as others have stated. The only thing really annoying about traveling is getting between darnassus/ironforge or thunder bluff/ogrimarr for the first time.
Meh, it could use more customization, but it isn't that bad. The hero concept should liven things up though. The only thing i hate is there aren't more hybrid fighter/mage classes (AKA the battle mage) and that it could use more "mage" type classes (IE more specific types of mages or even a blood mage) and other such nuances.
[quote][i]Originally posted by DarkLugia459[/i]
[b]This is a place to get a defininative list of what's good and what's not about WoW.
This is NOT a place for:
--WoW "fanboi"s
--EQ2 "fanboi"s
--"fanboi"s of any sort[/color]
If you're addicted to a single game and don't have an open mind, you have no right to be posting any "help" you may have in this thread. If you're open minded and just dislike other MMORPGs, you may post here. If you're fanatically obsessed with one game or another, don't post here. Use good judgement people.
Without further ado, World of Warcraft:
The Good:
--Simple, Fun, Effective: No complex training system, no complex windows, little things, things you ABSOLUTELY must know in order to be good and do well. The game walks you through it, whether through the quest system, the introductary help system, etc. Make a character, and play the game. It's (almost) that simple.
Fine, but thats not worth 15$ a month
--Immersive: Extremely immersive. Completing a quest chain has you going around the town, around the countryside finding special items, killing creatures, and scouting out new lands. Even the "production" system is immersive. Engineering requires you to build copper tubes and bolts, and then buy a rifle stock, all so that you can build that shiny rifle you learned how to make. Then, you can make extras to sell to other players. But, you gotta build all the parts yourself.
There isn't much demand for player-crafted items or a real sense of being a craftsman. You just plop stuff on auction. You mention below theres no storyline, so kind of hard to be immersed in something that isnt there :P All the items mentioned above are present in just about any MMO.
--Caters to All: Power gamer? Casual gamer? There's a place for both in WoW. You have the people who need to make it to high levels, they'll probably appreciate PvP more than others. You have casual gamers, who want to sign on and level up. Some people might love mining; running around nodes and mining to provide engineers and blacksmiths with the items they need. Maybe you'll be an enchanter who gives people magical buffs.
No game caters to all, regardless of what you might think.
--The Community: We've got some smart people. Really smart people. We're talking, "Let's make Cosmos" smart people. We've got helpful people, nice people. And, you've got so many people. There's all kinds. The WoW community is extremely diverse, ranging from young to old, power gamer to casual gamer, profession master to PvP obsessed.
Yeah you've got lots of nice people, and a bunch of assholes looking for a place to happen (they chose WoW)
--Soloing & Grouping: WoW is pretty open on this one. Play by yourself, play in a group, play in a guild, play in your faction; it's up to you.
Can do that elsewhere.
--Overarching storyline: Quests really aren't a storyline. WoW doesn't have a storyline, somewhat of a good thing. Horde vs. Alliance is overarching, encompassing, totally ever surrounding you. The whole damn game is based on it, and it gives the game a great sense of "For the Alliance!" and "For the Horde!"
So were paying 15$ a month for a game that is simply a visual representation of I guess, a MUD? Proceed through the level grind, and apparently pointless storyline, as well as its quests. Then what? PVP? Have you seen how unappeallingly boring the combat system is in WoW? Static, I hit you hit, and its not even that quick its more like I hit, wait 5 seconds while staring blankly at me, then you hit, repeat.
It's that kind of Red vs Blue with lack of storyline that ruins PVP as well as PVE immersion. This is also seen in Star Wars Galaxies where the Galactic Civil War is just about non existant, and so PVP has come down to Red vs Blue.
The Bad:
--Long Travelling Times: Thank god for flight paths. Who the hell would want to hold the "W" key to walk two+ hours across the continent? Lets face it; WoW's got some horrendus travelling downtime. But what game doesnt? All game has its downtime, and WoW just seems to have a more tedious downtime. You need to be watching your character at all times too, but sometimes that's a good thing, especially if you're in the middle of a raid.
"What game doesn't?" Heres a list:
* The Matrix Online
* Tabula Rasa
* Dark and Light (to some extent, there are teleporters)
And likely many other games to come.
--"The Community": All kinds, right? That includes the horde of fanboys, fanatics, gankers, power levellers, etc. They're all here, some will make your life a living hell, especially on PvP servers.
Yep. But you say it so passive / dismissive. As if it doesn't mean anything -- it does. You have to literally turn of General chat or you're bombarded with idiocy.
--Locked Characters: Pick your race, your class, and go. Once you pick it, you're done creating your character. No changing classes, no doing anything differently, bam. You've got your skillsets, your talents, your pets, your attitudes, your special quests, your mounts. And your side.
Going to ruin this game. That type of pigeonholing and restriction has gone out the window. Games like Fallen Earth and Wish essentially do away of classes altogether (Fallen Earth more-so) Tabula Rasa will allow for 'checkpoints' with a character so you can go back if you've made a decision you didn't like. The Matrix Online allows you to load up any skill / skillset you want, at a hardline. Want to be a healer one day? Got the abilities in your code archive? Simply load em up and you're a healer, next day youre a gunner, if you've got the abilities. Up to you. Dark and Light also allows for a bunch of versatility in terms of being a jack of all trades within your set class or specializing.
--"Quest Syndrome": The quests. So numerous, so seemingly out of place sometimes. Yes, tons of quests, they give the game direction, but where are you going with the overarching goal? Oh right, killing the other guys.
These are no better than the Star Wars Galaxies quests, simply better aesthetic presentation to deceive you into thinking you're doing something important. When in fact the entire game world is designed on value of necessity. Nothing in the game exists for exploration alone. It's either an area to farm for exp or a variety of other things, or its quest related. The world was literally built aroundt he quests. This game is more deserving of the EverQuest moniker than EverQuest itself.
--Only One Storyline: Alliance VS. Horde. Enough said. The game doesn't have a developing storyline. It's "kill the other guys." Sure, the quests give the game changing direction, but it's mainly "kill the other guys." Both positive and negative.
Alliance vs Horde = Red vs Blue. Waste of time.
The Ugly:
--88+ Servers: Your friends are playing WoW? Really? Oh, on which of the 3 different TYPES of servers, and after you determine THAT, which of the 36 servers in that specific category? Yes, for a game of its size, it would be impossible to have WoW on a single server.
That's not the end of it either. Because with all the apparent good WoW has, its got some very debilitating Bad. As the new very innovative, very beautiful MMOs come out in 2005, and theres a long line of Fantasy ones, they are going to sap at WoWs subscriptions, thats on TOP of natural drop-off (all MMOs lose some subscription steam over the first few months, especially after the influx of people) so now all these 88 servers housing a max of a few thousand players (what, 3-5000?) will be barren wastelands. The 88 servers will be empty, if combined they would probably still have a decent playerbase. But spread over 88? It'll be as deserted as current SWG servers. Theres no way they could consolidate either, due to probably a variety of database issues as well as name confliction.
GG happy gaming.
I agree with most of what the original poster said.
However, I like the travel the way it is. But there are several methods of transportation. The underused Tram, the flight paths, the hearthstone, and running/riding. I do like that running on roads isn't always so safe. If you don't watch what you're doing you might not get where you're going.
I find that the higher level you get the quests don't hold your hand as much.