It's a good game, but only if you can find people to level up with who are also relatively new, you'll find plenty of veterans otherwise, but those guys will just steam through every instance and won't give you the space to enjoy the game.
World of Warcraft is a different game from when it began, it's mostly focused on the people at the level cap now in my experience; you'll find it rather easy to get into that endgame when you hit that level cap though (might however take you several weeks of grinding gear once there).
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
To quote word-for-word a conversation from a PUG i joined the other day:
"Me: Hey all! excuse me if i'm a bit rusty, I havent logged in in a few months, but I'll do my best"
"Player1: OMG can we kick this fag?"
"Player2: lol, your gear sucks man"
"Player 3: we're gonna die. Kick this fag"
That pretty much sums up the community in WoW nowadays. If you're not geared for the best, or 100% competitive / focused / on the ball / full to the brim with cocaine, everyone hates you. I did not paraphrase in that quote, nor did i try to make myself look better. That is exactly how it happened.
I would be very surprised to hear that you do not play on a PvP server. Do you? My experience with the WoW community is nothing at all like this (I play on a Normal server). I imagine PvP servers probably draw the more "hardcore", competitive players.
I actually paly on Madoran, a PvE server, although apparently there's a hardcore focus on raiding on that server. However, I just learned that the Dungeon Finder is cross-server, so maybe those d-bags are coming in from PvP servers.
Only worth it if you are new to the game or coming back from a long vacation and haven't played to 80.. But once you hit 80 and been there for a few months to do the little end game........ NO, it's not worth it.. 90% of the player base in WoW are only there using the game as a pissing contest esport of my stuff is better then your stuff.. OR waiting for Cataclysm to come out in hopes it will energize the game again.. Zzzzzz But that is my opinion as I have played for 5 years and been burned out long ago..
Personally, I really don't see the worth of paying $40 for 5 levels, handful of zones, and dungeons while paying $15 a month as well.. Talk about rip off.. I'm sure the fans of WoW will claim it's all worth it.. However, if Blizzard changed it name to BillyBobGames.. and came out with a "new" MMO with 5 levels, 6 zones, a handful of dungeons for $40, the public would scream CON < RIP OFF> , and demand their money back etc etc.. But this is Blizzard, so they get a free pass for lazy work..
Hell.. STO has more content, then Cataclysm and look at the heat Cryptic is taking.. LOL
Let's not forget the fact that they are adding 2 new races, and completely re-vamping the entire world of azeroth, as well as adding new class/race combinations, changing how some of the said classes work, Changing how questing works as well as the rewards for all azeroth quests(1-60) adding the ability to fly in azeroth, another tradeskill, and the usual graphical update. That on top of the things you mentioned, which aren't exactly small endeavors either.
If you're going to bash something, at least be honest about your criticisms. STO doesn't even come close to the content Cataclysm alone is going to offer. Nor do I think anyone who is a fan enough to buy Cataclysm, at this point in the games life, is going to scream rip off, and demand their money back. Those who actually took the time to read about the expansions FULL features, know what they are getting. I'm not even playing wow now, but with all that they have added to their game...and how little every other mmo aside from EQ2 has....I'd hardly call them lazy.
Personally, I really don't see the worth of paying $40 for 5 levels, handful of zones, and dungeons while paying $15 a month as well.. Talk about rip off.. I'm sure the fans of WoW will claim it's all worth it.. However, if Blizzard changed it name to BillyBobGames.. and came out with a "new" MMO with 5 levels, 6 zones, a handful of dungeons for $40, the public would scream CON < RIP OFF> , and demand their money back etc etc.. But this is Blizzard, so they get a free pass for lazy work..
Hell.. STO has more content, then Cataclysm and look at the heat Cryptic is taking.. LOL
You should read a little more about the expansion if you think this is the case. Cataclysm is as much about revisiting old content and getting the game mechanics where they should be as it is adding new zones.
Things worth looking into:
- They are basically rebuilding the entire old world with new quests (and thus quest rewards)
- Tweaking every talent tree in the game to work with the new mastery system
- Massive changes to the stats and game mechanics of some classes.
- Adding guild advancement
- New professions
- New races
- New race/class combinations
- New skills to the leveling process (not just new skills for 80-85)
- Taking the dungeons back in the right direction, where CC will actually be useful instead of just being a big AOE kill-fest (Yay!)
If you are starting from scratch try and stick with it until level 20+. That is when the game really got its hooks into me and started to take off back in 2005.
On the whole though I would fully recommend WoW to any gamer looking for a MMO. The art style isn't to everyone's taste but I think it's fine. In fact more than fine as it doesn't really go out of date. + with Cataclysm coming the graphics are getting a boost anyway.
Some people are saying to get the Battlechest, that is sound advice. Not only because it's cheaper but you have the choice of 2 extra classes that you wouldn't have just with vanilla. and class choice can count for a lot here.
One more word of advice. Choose your server wisely. Decide which faction you are going with and make sure you don't end up out numbered 8 to 1 or something.
Also choose a server which is listed with a medium population as low pop servers can lack a bit of atmosphere.
And check the battlegroups, the more servers that are in yours means the more battlegrounds you will have running and the more people looking for random dungeons if you want to play at off-peak times.
WoW is the most well rounded and polished MMO on the market. It pretty much has something to offer every player type out there. If you have never played WoW before it will suck you in and keep your interest for a good while.
Now having said that everything that has been said in this thread about the community unfortunately is true, it's a very elitest prickish attitude. Once you do everything in WoW and get sick of the constant dungeon farm then you will see why "gamers" start to hate WoW and your search for something more meaningful will begin.
Only worth it if you are new to the game or coming back from a long vacation and haven't played to 80.. But once you hit 80 and been there for a few months to do the little end game........ NO, it's not worth it.. 90% of the player base in WoW are only there using the game as a pissing contest esport of my stuff is better then your stuff.. OR waiting for Cataclysm to come out in hopes it will energize the game again.. Zzzzzz But that is my opinion as I have played for 5 years and been burned out long ago..
Personally, I really don't see the worth of paying $40 for 5 levels, handful of zones, and dungeons while paying $15 a month as well.. Talk about rip off.. I'm sure the fans of WoW will claim it's all worth it.. However, if Blizzard changed it name to BillyBobGames.. and came out with a "new" MMO with 5 levels, 6 zones, a handful of dungeons for $40, the public would scream CON < RIP OFF> , and demand their money back etc etc.. But this is Blizzard, so they get a free pass for lazy work..
Hell.. STO has more content, then Cataclysm and look at the heat Cryptic is taking.. LOL
Let's not forget the fact that they are adding 2 new races, ( WHOOPIE DIPSHIT.. Like I care about race graphics.. THAT IS NOT CONENT) and completely re-vamping the entire world of azeroth, ( AGAIN, whoopie dipshit. they are doing some graphic changes but it's nothing close to a complete re-vamp IF you bothered to pay attention to my post I said it was WORTH it IF you are new.. but as a 80th level toon in T9+.. entry stuff means NOTHING ) as well as adding new class/race combinations, ( AGAIN whoopie.. so having a human hunter is INCREASED content? ) changing how some of the said classes work, ( LOL this happens all the time and NOTHING that justifies as CONTENT.. Changing how questing works ( ??? you mean we dont' click on the gold ! above their heads anymore? ) lmao as well as the rewards for all azeroth quests(1-60) ( you mean we don't get gold and exp for completing quest? ) LOL adding the ability to fly in azeroth, ( it hasn't been confirmed last I recall but flying in Azeroth isn't 100% available ) another tradeskill, ( going around picking up rocks is a minor side bonus ) and the usual graphical update. That on top of the things you mentioned, which aren't exactly small endeavors either.
If you're going to bash something, at least be honest about your criticisms. ( If you're going to read something.. understand first.. As I said before and as I will say it again.. IF YOU are new , it's worth it.. but for an old vent like me it isn't.. BTW.. the changes you mention are ALL FREE changes and not part of the paying Cataclysm expansion.. You dont' have to pay for the expansion to get all the original world changes.. GENIUS. STO doesn't even come close to the content Cataclysm alone is going to offer. Nor do I think anyone who is a fan enough to buy Cataclysm, at this point in the games life, is going to scream rip off, and demand their money back. Those who actually took the time to read about the expansions FULL features, ( OBVIOUSLY you didn't.. What is actually EXPANSION material is diffent then the Global changes that take place at the same time for FREE.. FREE FREE FREE.. know what they are getting. I'm not even playing wow now, but with all that they have added to their game...and how little every other mmo aside from EQ2 has....I'd hardly call them lazy.
Maybe you need to go back and reread what is in WHITE text again
I think you can have counter arguments without the insults. If you try really hard. Anyway, all that I mentioned IS content. It's going into the game. It's all just as much content as the things you mentioned, whether you like them or not won't change that. You were trying to put off that the entire expansion only consists of the few features you listed, when in reality it does not. It is offering much more, and for your other argument, I'd like for you to prove your point on what is going to be globally free, and what is only going to activate once the expansion comes out. Since, according to you, I failed to read up on the expansion, although you listed maybe 3 very generalized additions and tried to put it off as the entire expansion. Why don't you go ahead and show your proof, on what is going to be in the expansion and what is going to be "global changes" for free. Please also try to refrain from having to resort to personal insults.
I'd also like to know your reasoning behind why someone who is level 80 and in Tier 9 wouldn't want to try out the re-vamped old world; why they'd only want to play for 5 more levels and not want to experience anything else, like it seems you would do, if you got the expansion, since nothing else mentioned was found to be interesting by you.
Since my initial response wasn't even meant to be offensive, just clarifying that there is going to be more in the expansion than what you were putting off, I don't expect your next response to be anymore civil than your last, all I'm going to keep asking is what I asked before, that if you're going to bash something, at least be honest about your criticisms. Not everyone shares your views on if something is worthy of being called content, or worthy enough to pay for and play through. You can choose to not like wow anymore from being burned out or whatever, but don't try to sell something off without listing everything it's actually offering. Most of your response was pretty much invalid, since what I mentioned IS content, no matter how small it is, if it's new it's content. It is inside the game, thus, the contents of the game. Some of it will be free, like you said yes, but that doesn't mean all of it is. There is still going to be much left for the expansion. Even comparing content to STO. For all I know, they could be using their phasing technology for Cataclysm and keep vanilla wow around for those that didn't purchase the expansion. They could have those new classes greyed out on all of the races for players who didn't buy the expansion. You don't know what is going to be globally free, and what is going to only activate once you install Cataclysm, so do not say that everything I mentioned is going to be free and not in it. That is just absurd.
The re-vamp of the old world is much more than just "some graphical changes". They're altering the entire foundation of the game world. Your "it's only worth it if it's new" comment is also irrelevant since it's only your opinion. I for one would find it worthy of revisiting, and I've been playing just as long as you. I have my 80 my epic gear and what not and I'm burnt out as well, which is why I'm currently not playing it, but I give credit where it's due. Entry level stuff means nothing to YOU, it does however mean something to other people. There ARE other people playing this game, and what you might not find interesting, doesn't mean that others will share that view.
And yes, having a human hunter is increased content. All of the race/class combinations are. For all of those people(myself included) who always wanted to be a certain class with a certain race but were never able to, until now are probably pretty excited by this news. Myself for expample have always wanted to be a Blood Elf warrior, and a human hunter doesn't sound that bad either. They've done balancing from the get-go with classes yes, but changes to the entire concept of the class and how it functions?......not so much. They're changing the resource hunters use for their abilities, how warlocks use soul stones etc. A lot of other various little aspects of this expansion that you weren't willing to lay out, simply because you don't find them interesting, or you think that it's ALL going to be in this one imaginary SUPER patch.
What I meant from how they are changing quests, is that since horde and alliance are going to be owning new and different zones there has to be new and different quests for them to partake in. So we'll be doing many different things than we used to do, and be getting different rewards for them now. Sarcastic remarks in hopes of coming off as intelligent rarely work, especially online, so I'd like to offer advice on just being civilized with people. Answer questsions, dispute arguments whatever, but calling people names and mocking their responses does not put a good light on you. I'd really like to know what IS going to be in the expansion if EVERYTHING I mentioned is just going to be free in some patch before Cataclysm.
All of the information I have laid out here is from visiting the Cataclysm website, as well as watching the Cataclysm Panels on youtube. Everything I've said is straight out of the developers mouths, so if everything I've listed was going to be globally free, why announce the changes at a panel for Cataclysm, instead of just putting them in patch notes, with advertising on the official website like everything else that has been free? Because it's not all going to be free, a lot of it is only going to occur once the expansion hits.
Here is the link to the official Cataclysm website that also very prominantly says "Flying Mounts in Azeroth".
all 3 years old + game will be top heavy !some are completly unseen like eq2 they are in the game but in various place ,like guild hall etc
like silkroad you will be solo a long while to lvl top max but as server show they are always full so this means everybody is an say the last 20% of the game (end game)
if you have friend no probablem if not i would wait till cataclysm is out and find an alt game for now
cataclysm bring a clean sheet so everybody will restart .new race new ways of starting fresh etch
Only about 2 more months until summer break, and I'm already thinking of what to play during that time period. I already crossed on MapleStory and pretty much any other game I've played in my gaming career, and I came down to World of Warcraft. Now, I've played WoW ONCE before, and that was only for a couple of minutes. But, I'm thinking about saving up money to buy a game card as well as the two expansions IF I like the 10-day trial. I've heard this game is really addicting, just like MapleStory used to be for me, and I'm completely fine with that. I'm looking for a game to stick with, unlike most of the other games I play, where it's just a one-day promise.
Anyway, I'd like to know if this game is actually worth the bucks? $15 (Game Time) + $20 (Original Game) + $30 (1st expansion + $40 (2nd expansion) = $105! Although, you could probably subtract $70 since I'm going to hold off on buying the expansions for a while since I need to reach the limit of the original game.
So, I'd like to know if this came is worth my $100?
P.S. Luckily, I have 8 weeks left of school. I get paid $15 a week just for doing chores, so I'll be able to afford the game by the beginning of summer break.
Edit: I just figured out that you have to pay money for MOUNTS? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Where are you from? If you enjoyed Maple Story (like I did), there is another 2D game on the market as well. It is called: WonderKing. It's arriving in Europe in a few weeks/month (I hope). It's F2P, so it'll be cheap for ya.
Don't listen to the people who have nothing better to do than to troll on video game forums to bash the game and its players. Those guys just crave for attention and should use their energy on more useful stuff.
WoW is still a great game, doing most things way better than any other MMORPG, and it's definitely worth playing. And for a totally new player, it's a HUGE amount of content to explore before even hitting the level cap.
Respect, walk, what did you say? Respect, walk Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me? - PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
I started playing WoW about 2 months ago, very casual. I have a warrior who is now level 33. The game is extremely enjoyable. I have done some random dungeons and have had no problems. I am on farstrider. Global can get crazy at times, but that is the same with all mmo's.
If WoW would be your first MMO then yes as it is more casual than hardcore and does not have that big of a steep learning curve. If, when and if, you get to 30 and are not enjoying either try something different or wait until CATA. There really is nothing wrong with casual MMOs, if you don't like them just don't play them...simple enough.
all 3 years old + game will be top heavy !some are completly unseen like eq2 they are in the game but in various place ,like guild hall etc
like silkroad you will be solo a long while to lvl top max but as server show they are always full so this means everybody is an say the last 20% of the game (end game)
if you have friend no probablem if not i would wait till cataclysm is out and find an alt game for now
cataclysm bring a clean sheet so everybody will restart .new race new ways of starting fresh etch
its wow 2 without being named that way!
I don't know where you were staying these last few months/years, but I doubt it was in WOW.
Leveling solo these days in WOW? You must have been playing before the LFG mechanism came out.
And while the "top heavy" statement looks like a cool expression, somehow the Census program doens't support this "top heavy" statement at all.
While the census samples for individual servers are hardly accurate, some data on the total of US/EU servers show that the actively played population is evened out over all the levels.
The graphs show the characters being played in the last 10 days.
Like always people tend to believe that the majority of actively played classes is exactly where they are, but stats show otherwise.
Everyone with one or two 80 classes has several other characters at various levels and according to the few sampled data of Census are indeed played on a daily basis.
People tend to believe their experience is the sole experience (be it content wise or game mechanics wise), that's one of the main false traps of mmorpg play though. WOW is not a one catch game.
90% of the active accounts all have level 80 toons playing 80 end game.. This game is very top heavy and actually there has been NO GROWTH whatsoever in WoW for over a year now.. When you look at some lame "census" number, those are ALTS, that are only played part time, or are used for banking and whatnots.. Please dont' try to feed me BS saying all those 1-10 level toons in Stormwind are newbies.. lol
To the OP . Its very easy to level in Warcraft nowdays so you'll find you hit level 80 in a week or three . Leveling is now limited for the most part to instanced dungeons or you have the option of leveling via the Bgs which is a slower option . If you want to quest you'll be most likly stuck to solo quests because only a minority of players leave the citys to quest these days . At level 80 you'll find your choices are to do raids , dungeons battlegrounds and arenas . Theres a lot of people playing the endgame now so you'll proberbly get a few months of enjoyment out of WoW . It really depends what you want in an mmo. WoW offers some fun for the casual player . There are more hardcore elements to it but these are really limited to arena play and a few endgame raids . Things may or may not improve after Cataclysm but now isn't the ideal time to join as a new player .
Only about 2 more months until summer break, and I'm already thinking of what to play during that time period. I already crossed on MapleStory and pretty much any other game I've played in my gaming career, and I came down to World of Warcraft. Now, I've played WoW ONCE before, and that was only for a couple of minutes. But, I'm thinking about saving up money to buy a game card as well as the two expansions IF I like the 10-day trial. I've heard this game is really addicting, just like MapleStory used to be for me, and I'm completely fine with that. I'm looking for a game to stick with, unlike most of the other games I play, where it's just a one-day promise.
Anyway, I'd like to know if this game is actually worth the bucks? $15 (Game Time) + $20 (Original Game) + $30 (1st expansion + $40 (2nd expansion) = $105! Although, you could probably subtract $70 since I'm going to hold off on buying the expansions for a while since I need to reach the limit of the original game.
So, I'd like to know if this came is worth my $100?
P.S. Luckily, I have 8 weeks left of school. I get paid $15 a week just for doing chores, so I'll be able to afford the game by the beginning of summer break.
Edit: I just figured out that you have to pay money for MOUNTS? Correct me if I'm wrong.
I'll be honest with you. I really like the leveling part of WoW. I've done very little endgame. I'm not really into it in WoW, it just isn't fun to me. But hey maybe you'll like it. I really honestly love leveling in this game. I had so much fun leveling my pally to 80 and I had a few other toons getting higher as well before I quit again. You can probably find the game for cheaper than that. Also it comes with game time, so just borrow a credit card to sign up and cancel the account right away so it wont even attempt to charge you after the first month.
It's a fun game and really worth it to at least give it a shot no matter what anyone tells you.
now is a great time to get the game with the new expansion coming (Around November) so all current gear will be obsolete (apart from maybe t9/t10 so depending the amount of hours you put into it you should have t9/t10 by then and will also get you ready for the expansion and so you know your way around the game and how to play your class wow is a great came iv played and quit about 10 times (leaving for the Next WoW Killer) and always come back within a month or 2 (just came back from aion) currently got Icc25 gear (No tier gear just basic drops) and am loving it the dungeon finder is the greatest tool for new players/pug raids takes about 5mins max to find a raid as a healer/tank dps takes alittle longer depending on the instance/raid
and once you get into end game gear you will end up having 2/3 sets iv currently got holy set prot set and ret set aswell and still play 15 hours a day the content is NEVER ENDING you might gave the *Best Set* but are never done because you need to work on off spec set and ofcourse make gold
Only worth it if you are new to the game or coming back from a long vacation and haven't played to 80.. But once you hit 80 and been there for a few months to do the little end game........ NO, it's not worth it.. 90% of the player base in WoW are only there using the game as a pissing contest esport of my stuff is better then your stuff.. OR waiting for Cataclysm to come out in hopes it will energize the game again.. Zzzzzz But that is my opinion as I have played for 5 years and been burned out long ago..
Personally, I really don't see the worth of paying $40 for 5 levels, handful of zones, and dungeons while paying $15 a month as well.. Talk about rip off.. I'm sure the fans of WoW will claim it's all worth it.. However, if Blizzard changed it name to BillyBobGames.. and came out with a "new" MMO with 5 levels, 6 zones, a handful of dungeons for $40, the public would scream CON < RIP OFF> , and demand their money back etc etc.. But this is Blizzard, so they get a free pass for lazy work..
Hell.. STO has more content, then Cataclysm and look at the heat Cryptic is taking.. LOL
how can you say the amount of content that will be in an expansion that is not even out yet?
some games (EQ2, soon AoC ect...) release expansions with no new lvls and only new content for end-game / early-lvl, while adding other game mechanics to customize your playstyle in place of meaninless character levels.
If Cata had no new levels it would be even better. just more content to quest through if you enjoy lore (and gold to make) and add more raid content for an already geared playerbase.
but they are doing very close to this by just adding 5 lvls, more Raid content than ever before (what they promise anyway) a totally revamped old world that has actually aged in a progressive storyline that all players new or old take part in, a new system to customize your playstyle, adding reason to world pvp ( changing capitols and giving us ability to use fly mounts in old world will increase world pvp)
cata could be great or it could be horrible. the only way to know is to play it when it comes out. i love all the ideas i hear, but if they don't do it right, it could have a horrible result.
in answer to the op. if you buy the game avoid a strait pvp realm. if you love pvp, pick a rp pvp realm, as the rp realms have a better community.
To the OP . Its very easy to level in Warcraft nowdays so you'll find you hit level 80 in a week or three . Leveling is now limited for the most part to instanced dungeons or you have the option of leveling via the Bgs which is a slower option . If you want to quest you'll be most likly stuck to solo quests because only a minority of players leave the citys to quest these days . At level 80 you'll find your choices are to do raids , dungeons battlegrounds and arenas . Theres a lot of people playing the endgame now so you'll proberbly get a few months of enjoyment out of WoW . It really depends what you want in an mmo. WoW offers some fun for the casual player . There are more hardcore elements to it but these are really limited to arena play and a few endgame raids . Things may or may not improve after Cataclysm but now isn't the ideal time to join as a new player .
Add in with the blue the professions, crafting and gathering stuff, the achievements, seasonal world events and titles to hunt for, the world Siege PvP in Lake Wintergrasp and so what other activities you can do apart from raids, dungeons, battlegrounds and arena competitions in those other MMO's at the highest levels ?
Oh I see, ...
I also like the "limited" leveling remark: having the choices of all earlier leveling dungeons, solo quests or level through PvP is soo limiting isn't it ?
It shows the usual attitude.
Allow me to add my 2 cents to this.
Crafting in WoW is absolute trash, it is not end game content, nor is it any sort of content at all. Crafting in WoW is nothing more than a time sinked bonus stat for your character. Crafting to make useful stuff for your guild to use or to sell is non existent. This goes the same for gathering.
Seasonal events and achievements are nice little distractions but I would hardly classify those things as content. Getting that haircut achievement was so hard and rewarding let me tell you.
Wintergrasp, unless you are on a well balanced population server is a waste of game design. Most servers are heavily lopsided since the server transfers opened up and those with the most for their faction wins WG on a near constant basis. And by win I mean totally steam roll the opposing side which has 10 more tenacity on a regualr basis. Wintegrasp is nothing more than a 2 hour queue unbalanced server only battleground, farm it for your honor and WG tokens to get a couple of pieces of gear and then never return to it again.
The only content this game has once you hit 80 and heroic farmed your triumph badges is raiding and pvp, nothing more.
To a "gamer" WoW is extremely limiting, to the average casual player out there WoW is amazing game and will hold thier interest for a long time. WoW is what it is which is a well polished, smooth playing and fun co op multiplayer game. For those good qualities it has some bad which is the fact that it is very sterile, the game has no soul any more. It's all about the badge farming and e-peen, hang out in Dalaran while waiting for your dungeon or BG queue to pop.
Only worth it if you are new to the game or coming back from a long vacation and haven't played to 80.. But once you hit 80 and been there for a few months to do the little end game........ NO, it's not worth it.. 90% of the player base in WoW are only there using the game as a pissing contest esport of my stuff is better then your stuff.. OR waiting for Cataclysm to come out in hopes it will energize the game again.. Zzzzzz But that is my opinion as I have played for 5 years and been burned out long ago..
Personally, I really don't see the worth of paying $40 for 5 levels, handful of zones, and dungeons while paying $15 a month as well.. Talk about rip off.. I'm sure the fans of WoW will claim it's all worth it.. However, if Blizzard changed it name to BillyBobGames.. and came out with a "new" MMO with 5 levels, 6 zones, a handful of dungeons for $40, the public would scream CON < RIP OFF> , and demand their money back etc etc.. But this is Blizzard, so they get a free pass for lazy work..
Hell.. STO has more content, then Cataclysm and look at the heat Cryptic is taking.. LOL
how can you say the amount of content that will be in an expansion that is not even out yet?
some games (EQ2, soon AoC ect...) release expansions with no new lvls and only new content for end-game / early-lvl, while adding other game mechanics to customize your playstyle in place of meaninless character levels.
If Cata had no new levels it would be even better. just more content to quest through if you enjoy lore (and gold to make) and add more raid content for an already geared playerbase.
but they are doing very close to this by just adding 5 lvls, more Raid content than ever before (what they promise anyway) a totally revamped old world that has actually aged in a progressive storyline that all players new or old take part in, a new system to customize your playstyle, adding reason to world pvp ( changing capitols and giving us ability to use fly mounts in old world will increase world pvp)
cata could be great or it could be horrible. the only way to know is to play it when it comes out. i love all the ideas i hear, but if they don't do it right, it could have a horrible result.
in answer to the op. if you buy the game avoid a strait pvp realm. if you love pvp, pick a rp pvp realm, as the rp realms have a better community.
Despite all the flack ryd got, i think he is basically right. Lets not forget that a big part of the new content another poster listed will be available to you regardless of wether you actually buy the expansion or not since its changing the old world.
In the end the Cataclysm Expansion will offer a fair bit less to players than BC or WotLK Expansion did. Alot of the cool stuff with cataclysm will have to be in a Cataclysm Patch, since they already said the world will change for everyone and not be done in phasing.
Just felt like pointing that out. Personally i will probably take a look at the new azeroth, and maybe level a new twink to experience it, but wont buy the expansion unless they manage to hook me again. Which i doubt, cause the things that turned me off seem to be the things everyone else is so hot about(endgame).
Yes this game is totally worth it if your just starting now. Many of the complains old vets have are around endgame raiding/progression/pvp which are months away if you twink even a bit. The level experience though is very nice, especially with the new dungeon finder making grouping easy. Just play on a RP-PVX server. Those servers appear to have some sort of retard repellant coating(RPC), which makes interacting with other players feel less like inebriating oneself.
For the OP or anyone starting an MMO, and has to make only one decision and it has to be a good one because of cash, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND WOW.
It's by far the bast, most full, most social, that can be played casual or hard core mmo on the market. I've been around the block and most all others suck
Now this is important :
80% of the population here on mmorpg.com that hates this game is because they are burnt out. You can play this game hard, and for years to the point that you can really hate this game. Even to the point that you can't even look at it. Their vision gets hazy and they forget that they used to love it, and they tell others that it sucks. I don't know what's wrong with people like that !
Other strong games are :
EQ2- but it sucks for the fact,that the community are all in clicks and will NEVER PLAY WITH YOU, and you will be playing solo.
LOTRO- good full game, but most find it boring, and hard to find groups.
Vanguard- great game, but no population at all, best to stay away unless they fix the population issue.
EVE Online- I guess people really like it, but it's has it's own style, and like no other MMO. Most don't like it.
City of Hero's-Good game if you like super hero's, and it's to obnoxious for my taste. Many like it.
D&D Online-Good game that had gone ftp, you can get far for free if you have no money. But you like to have to like dungeons and grouping.
While we are at giving out alternatives, just today i playtested Runes of Magic. Its really, really similar to WoW but F2P(now bear with me, i played it a couple of hours, not talking about endgame here). May want to give it a try, if your not used to quality P2P MMoRPGs that might scratch the itch for you without shelling out that hardearned cash. Obviously that game has an itemshop, and they try to rob you blind basically, but if you resist ... well its for free what else can i say?
If you want to go a totally different route, EvE Online is indeed your game. I think it costs 20$ and includes 30 days gametime, which is pretty good value for your money in my book. Since it is single server i can even offer you to help you out in that one a bit. Maybe hit up the trial on that one, its a love it or hate it kind of game but can be very rewarding. Since your still in school ill mention you can even play it for free once your char is good enough to make enough ingame money to buy your gametime with said ingame currency.
So your options are F2P(RoM, D&D), P2P low investment(WAR, AoC, EVE) or P2P high investment(WoW).
Those are the options i would look at, RoM and D&D i found very interesting, but cant really recommend them since i only played them a couple hours(but hey, they are free). Apart from eve they are all pretty similar and you will find it easy to group. EvE is ... well its different. But its one of the few MMO where people take you seriously if your <18(if your behavior warrents it), know some good people who startet playing that around 13 years. The moral freedom in that game makes it easy to distinguish yourself from the gutter folk no matter your age.
Edit:
Oh yeah, then there is LotRO. I concur with page, in that i found it boring. It also has pretty different and unique classes i didnt care much for(not the standard warrior/priest/mage for example). Then again it is a beautiful world, has a plethora of content, and might be alot cheaper to pickup for you. The unique classes i disliked might very well be something someone else enjoys(they where not bad, just different). I think i would definitly play it over WoW if someone would hold a gun to my head and demand i sub to a fantasy mmorpg.
Its also definitly more of a social/thinker game then WoW. There is a working music system in the game, housing, more involved crafting and the group instances are more interesting imho(both from story and actual combat mechanics). Also i met some of the nicest people there, only EvE compares there for me(dont laugh ).
Add in with the blue the professions, crafting and gathering stuff, the achievements, seasonal world events and titles to hunt for, the world Siege PvP in Lake Wintergrasp and so what other activities you can do apart from raids, dungeons, battlegrounds and arena competitions in those other MMO's at the highest levels ?
Oh I see, ...
I also like the "limited" leveling remark: having the choices of all earlier leveling dungeons, solo quests or level through PvP is soo limiting isn't it ?
It shows the usual attitude.
Allow me to add my 2 cents to this.
Crafting in WoW is absolute trash, it is not end game content,
Crafting to make useful stuff for your guild to use or to sell is non existent. This goes the same for gathering.
Seasonal events and achievements are nice little distractions but I would hardly classify those things as content.
Grtz for your 2 cents of opinion.
But everyone who ever played any WOW end game knows the blue is countered by a simple look at the thousands and thousands of AH items being sold on every server to "enhance your character and guild play".
Wotlk alone ... introduced 1500 new recipies for all professions. From crafted gear to serious guild enhancement "stuff".
I'll keep it simple: WOW consists of PVE and PVP and a very active and succesful economy.
Downplaying anything in WoW is suicidal at best, because you tend to use the 4 letter words without substance.
"It is just dungeon crawling" . Yep indeed, "just 61 dungeons" before even reaching end game.
Achievements are just "distractions". Just as if prestige and reknown is useless in an MMORPG. Great : you just keep puting out those points and you show you have NO clue what's the force behind it.
And then you keep wondering why.
Luckily my opinion is worth the same as yours I guess.
End game players use the AH to buy gear ? Tell me one thing in the game other than the current ilevel 264 boots and pants that are useful to an end game raider ? 2 whole items out of how many item slots each character has ? That is garbage crafting. 1500 new recipes are all still useless crap, all those pointy laser lights and smoke pillars are so amazing aren't they. You can't tell me anyone actually buys and uses the crafted ilevel 200 weapons still do they ?
WoW doesn't have a real economy and I do not have the writing skills nor the energy to explain why, figure this one out for yourself. But here's a clue, it's not player driven.
I am not downplaying WoW at all, in fact if you re read my posts you will see what I think WoW does well which is make an easily accesible game for casual mom and dad players to jump in and do a dungeon with their kids. It's a great bridge from the console gaming experience to the PC MMO gaming experience. WoW is a great action arcade game with an MMO element to it, it feels more like a giant game of the old school Gauntlet but with gear collection as the goal.
61 dungeons and they all play the same. How many mobs and bosses use the exact same fight mechanic or texture ?
Yes achievements are mindless crap distractions, just as reknown and prestige from those other wannabe WoW games. They are not content but mearly ways to make you sink more time into doing mindless mundane crap likegetting haircuts or being a delivery boy for a weekend while you do your seasonal quests for no real reason other than to have the achievement and titles that go along with them, again achievements and titles are not content which you contended were.
Like i said before, WoW does a great job of keeping the casual gaming audience interested in playing but for the real gamers out there WoW is a mindless flat game. WoW is the McDonalds of the game world now, sure they have a lot of customers and it sure is fun for a short while but this does not make it the best. WoW is a junkfood game now, it caters to those who want instant meaningless gratification such as obtaining a useless pet or title, there is no GAME left in it.
I have played WoW in beta and at launch, stuck around for Burning Crusade and got up to end game raiding there tehn bailed out of boredom. Came back in Lich King to play with old guildies, leveled up and raided end game content again yes 25 man ICC. I have seen everything this game has to offer and it is all very shallow and repetitive which is perfect for casual gamers who don't have much time to play and won't get burned out on the same content over and over so quickly. But if you are playing to raid in even a semi serious manner the game falls short very quickly.
Go get your achievement for 2500 badges collected and come back and tell me its not repetitive and that achievement was such great game content.
The OP asked if the game was worth it and for him judging by his original post I would say YES it is worth it for him. He will only be playing a few months and it seems like it is his first time playing so he will indeed enjoy the game for a while. But he should not expect any sort of real deep game play that other MMOs out there offer. If you don't understand that Memoir then keep your fanboy blinders on and see WoW for what you want. I am nor a WoW fan or hater, I have played it long enough to know what is good and what is crap in the game.
If you do get really into WoW then maybe look at getting an Authenticator and do A LOT of research on Mods if your gonna get some since unfortunately Warcraft has an issue with accounts being hacked either from keyloggers or other trojans hidden in mods or fake email scams and sometimes just pure agressive hacking via lists of account names/password searches..
Making a new email for your battlenet account and use it only for Wow would help counter some of this (some off the wall name with lots of random caps and numbers works well)
Personally i've played on and off since beta and now have 8 level 80s but still have fun playing both maxed and lower level classes as there is a ton of stuff to do and multiple places to level..don't want to level up in a desert? then go level up in a jungle instead etc etc.
Just research servers beforehand (and maybe battlegroups) to see what fits you the best helps alot also.
(oh and initial riding skill is now like lvl 20 and super cheap..even cheaper if your a warlock or paladin)
Lordmonkus is correct. People choose crafting for some advantage it gives their chars, like shoulderenchants, the ability to add sockets to their armor, nifty pvp gadgets or cheaper potions for raids. If your in a nice guild, you dont ask them to craft you items, you ask them to pull you through some instances where good items drop(cause they are almost always much better). Yeah there are one or two nice craftable semi sets(the ones with same name but no setboni) in northend, i remember a blue set for my pally around 75-78 i think, but you:
a) Dont need them to level, quest rewards are plenty enough for that.
b) Once your 80 you do hero dailies with your epiced out guildmates for the tokens, which will buy you epic raid gear.
c) Your going to get flamed anyway in a pug if you dare to join a hero instance in anything less than full T9. And no, your not allowed to question WTF that DK in said full T9 is doing struggling with breaking 500 dps ...
d) They will kick you if you question him. Even if your the healer. The only healer. The one they spend 2 hours spamming in tradechat to find.
Sorry couldnt hold that back. Just ... get in a nice guild OP. And dont pug. And turn of some channels. The game IS fun, especially if your just starting. Compared to other games though, the crafting really is rather meaningless. 90% of the stuff you produce to level your craftskills gets either disenchanted or sold for cash at a vendor, thats how good it is(dont argue with me, talk to the Yeti Fur Cloak, thats for which class again? Agi + Spi ... wait let me think ...).
Comments
It's a good game, but only if you can find people to level up with who are also relatively new, you'll find plenty of veterans otherwise, but those guys will just steam through every instance and won't give you the space to enjoy the game.
World of Warcraft is a different game from when it began, it's mostly focused on the people at the level cap now in my experience; you'll find it rather easy to get into that endgame when you hit that level cap though (might however take you several weeks of grinding gear once there).
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
I actually paly on Madoran, a PvE server, although apparently there's a hardcore focus on raiding on that server. However, I just learned that the Dungeon Finder is cross-server, so maybe those d-bags are coming in from PvP servers.
You should read a little more about the expansion if you think this is the case. Cataclysm is as much about revisiting old content and getting the game mechanics where they should be as it is adding new zones.
Things worth looking into:
- They are basically rebuilding the entire old world with new quests (and thus quest rewards)
- Tweaking every talent tree in the game to work with the new mastery system
- Massive changes to the stats and game mechanics of some classes.
- Adding guild advancement
- New professions
- New races
- New race/class combinations
- New skills to the leveling process (not just new skills for 80-85)
- Taking the dungeons back in the right direction, where CC will actually be useful instead of just being a big AOE kill-fest (Yay!)
If you are starting from scratch try and stick with it until level 20+. That is when the game really got its hooks into me and started to take off back in 2005.
On the whole though I would fully recommend WoW to any gamer looking for a MMO. The art style isn't to everyone's taste but I think it's fine. In fact more than fine as it doesn't really go out of date. + with Cataclysm coming the graphics are getting a boost anyway.
Some people are saying to get the Battlechest, that is sound advice. Not only because it's cheaper but you have the choice of 2 extra classes that you wouldn't have just with vanilla. and class choice can count for a lot here.
One more word of advice. Choose your server wisely. Decide which faction you are going with and make sure you don't end up out numbered 8 to 1 or something.
Also choose a server which is listed with a medium population as low pop servers can lack a bit of atmosphere.
And check the battlegroups, the more servers that are in yours means the more battlegrounds you will have running and the more people looking for random dungeons if you want to play at off-peak times.
WoW census popluation info can be found here: http://www.warcraftrealms.com/realmstats.php
and Battlegroup Information here: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/battlegrounds/battlegroups/
_________________________________________
You can walk the walk but can you talk the talk?
Long story short.
WoW is the most well rounded and polished MMO on the market. It pretty much has something to offer every player type out there. If you have never played WoW before it will suck you in and keep your interest for a good while.
Now having said that everything that has been said in this thread about the community unfortunately is true, it's a very elitest prickish attitude. Once you do everything in WoW and get sick of the constant dungeon farm then you will see why "gamers" start to hate WoW and your search for something more meaningful will begin.
I think you can have counter arguments without the insults. If you try really hard. Anyway, all that I mentioned IS content. It's going into the game. It's all just as much content as the things you mentioned, whether you like them or not won't change that. You were trying to put off that the entire expansion only consists of the few features you listed, when in reality it does not. It is offering much more, and for your other argument, I'd like for you to prove your point on what is going to be globally free, and what is only going to activate once the expansion comes out. Since, according to you, I failed to read up on the expansion, although you listed maybe 3 very generalized additions and tried to put it off as the entire expansion. Why don't you go ahead and show your proof, on what is going to be in the expansion and what is going to be "global changes" for free. Please also try to refrain from having to resort to personal insults.
I'd also like to know your reasoning behind why someone who is level 80 and in Tier 9 wouldn't want to try out the re-vamped old world; why they'd only want to play for 5 more levels and not want to experience anything else, like it seems you would do, if you got the expansion, since nothing else mentioned was found to be interesting by you.
Since my initial response wasn't even meant to be offensive, just clarifying that there is going to be more in the expansion than what you were putting off, I don't expect your next response to be anymore civil than your last, all I'm going to keep asking is what I asked before, that if you're going to bash something, at least be honest about your criticisms. Not everyone shares your views on if something is worthy of being called content, or worthy enough to pay for and play through. You can choose to not like wow anymore from being burned out or whatever, but don't try to sell something off without listing everything it's actually offering. Most of your response was pretty much invalid, since what I mentioned IS content, no matter how small it is, if it's new it's content. It is inside the game, thus, the contents of the game. Some of it will be free, like you said yes, but that doesn't mean all of it is. There is still going to be much left for the expansion. Even comparing content to STO. For all I know, they could be using their phasing technology for Cataclysm and keep vanilla wow around for those that didn't purchase the expansion. They could have those new classes greyed out on all of the races for players who didn't buy the expansion. You don't know what is going to be globally free, and what is going to only activate once you install Cataclysm, so do not say that everything I mentioned is going to be free and not in it. That is just absurd.
The re-vamp of the old world is much more than just "some graphical changes". They're altering the entire foundation of the game world. Your "it's only worth it if it's new" comment is also irrelevant since it's only your opinion. I for one would find it worthy of revisiting, and I've been playing just as long as you. I have my 80 my epic gear and what not and I'm burnt out as well, which is why I'm currently not playing it, but I give credit where it's due. Entry level stuff means nothing to YOU, it does however mean something to other people. There ARE other people playing this game, and what you might not find interesting, doesn't mean that others will share that view.
And yes, having a human hunter is increased content. All of the race/class combinations are. For all of those people(myself included) who always wanted to be a certain class with a certain race but were never able to, until now are probably pretty excited by this news. Myself for expample have always wanted to be a Blood Elf warrior, and a human hunter doesn't sound that bad either. They've done balancing from the get-go with classes yes, but changes to the entire concept of the class and how it functions?......not so much. They're changing the resource hunters use for their abilities, how warlocks use soul stones etc. A lot of other various little aspects of this expansion that you weren't willing to lay out, simply because you don't find them interesting, or you think that it's ALL going to be in this one imaginary SUPER patch.
What I meant from how they are changing quests, is that since horde and alliance are going to be owning new and different zones there has to be new and different quests for them to partake in. So we'll be doing many different things than we used to do, and be getting different rewards for them now. Sarcastic remarks in hopes of coming off as intelligent rarely work, especially online, so I'd like to offer advice on just being civilized with people. Answer questsions, dispute arguments whatever, but calling people names and mocking their responses does not put a good light on you. I'd really like to know what IS going to be in the expansion if EVERYTHING I mentioned is just going to be free in some patch before Cataclysm.
All of the information I have laid out here is from visiting the Cataclysm website, as well as watching the Cataclysm Panels on youtube. Everything I've said is straight out of the developers mouths, so if everything I've listed was going to be globally free, why announce the changes at a panel for Cataclysm, instead of just putting them in patch notes, with advertising on the official website like everything else that has been free? Because it's not all going to be free, a lot of it is only going to occur once the expansion hits.
Here is the link to the official Cataclysm website that also very prominantly says "Flying Mounts in Azeroth".
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/features/
ok heres how it works:
all 3 years old + game will be top heavy !some are completly unseen like eq2 they are in the game but in various place ,like guild hall etc
like silkroad you will be solo a long while to lvl top max but as server show they are always full so this means everybody is an say the last 20% of the game (end game)
if you have friend no probablem if not i would wait till cataclysm is out and find an alt game for now
cataclysm bring a clean sheet so everybody will restart .new race new ways of starting fresh etch
its wow 2 without being named that way!
Where are you from? If you enjoyed Maple Story (like I did), there is another 2D game on the market as well. It is called: WonderKing. It's arriving in Europe in a few weeks/month (I hope). It's F2P, so it'll be cheap for ya.
PS: Wonderking is already out in the USA.
I dont' see any insults.. do you?.. I think you are reading more into what is said because you want it to say something..
Have a great day
Don't listen to the people who have nothing better to do than to troll on video game forums to bash the game and its players. Those guys just crave for attention and should use their energy on more useful stuff.
WoW is still a great game, doing most things way better than any other MMORPG, and it's definitely worth playing. And for a totally new player, it's a HUGE amount of content to explore before even hitting the level cap.
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
I started playing WoW about 2 months ago, very casual. I have a warrior who is now level 33. The game is extremely enjoyable. I have done some random dungeons and have had no problems. I am on farstrider. Global can get crazy at times, but that is the same with all mmo's.
If WoW would be your first MMO then yes as it is more casual than hardcore and does not have that big of a steep learning curve. If, when and if, you get to 30 and are not enjoying either try something different or wait until CATA. There really is nothing wrong with casual MMOs, if you don't like them just don't play them...simple enough.
90% of the active accounts all have level 80 toons playing 80 end game.. This game is very top heavy and actually there has been NO GROWTH whatsoever in WoW for over a year now.. When you look at some lame "census" number, those are ALTS, that are only played part time, or are used for banking and whatnots.. Please dont' try to feed me BS saying all those 1-10 level toons in Stormwind are newbies.. lol
To the OP . Its very easy to level in Warcraft nowdays so you'll find you hit level 80 in a week or three . Leveling is now limited for the most part to instanced dungeons or you have the option of leveling via the Bgs which is a slower option . If you want to quest you'll be most likly stuck to solo quests because only a minority of players leave the citys to quest these days . At level 80 you'll find your choices are to do raids , dungeons battlegrounds and arenas . Theres a lot of people playing the endgame now so you'll proberbly get a few months of enjoyment out of WoW . It really depends what you want in an mmo. WoW offers some fun for the casual player . There are more hardcore elements to it but these are really limited to arena play and a few endgame raids . Things may or may not improve after Cataclysm but now isn't the ideal time to join as a new player .
I'll be honest with you. I really like the leveling part of WoW. I've done very little endgame. I'm not really into it in WoW, it just isn't fun to me. But hey maybe you'll like it. I really honestly love leveling in this game. I had so much fun leveling my pally to 80 and I had a few other toons getting higher as well before I quit again. You can probably find the game for cheaper than that. Also it comes with game time, so just borrow a credit card to sign up and cancel the account right away so it wont even attempt to charge you after the first month.
It's a fun game and really worth it to at least give it a shot no matter what anyone tells you.
edit: 100th post! it only took 3 1/2 years lol.
Buy it Now
now is a great time to get the game with the new expansion coming (Around November) so all current gear will be obsolete (apart from maybe t9/t10 so depending the amount of hours you put into it you should have t9/t10 by then and will also get you ready for the expansion and so you know your way around the game and how to play your class wow is a great came iv played and quit about 10 times (leaving for the Next WoW Killer) and always come back within a month or 2 (just came back from aion) currently got Icc25 gear (No tier gear just basic drops) and am loving it the dungeon finder is the greatest tool for new players/pug raids takes about 5mins max to find a raid as a healer/tank dps takes alittle longer depending on the instance/raid
and once you get into end game gear you will end up having 2/3 sets iv currently got holy set prot set and ret set aswell and still play 15 hours a day the content is NEVER ENDING you might gave the *Best Set* but are never done because you need to work on off spec set and ofcourse make gold
BUY IT
PLAY IT
ENJOY IT
LOVE IT
how can you say the amount of content that will be in an expansion that is not even out yet?
some games (EQ2, soon AoC ect...) release expansions with no new lvls and only new content for end-game / early-lvl, while adding other game mechanics to customize your playstyle in place of meaninless character levels.
If Cata had no new levels it would be even better. just more content to quest through if you enjoy lore (and gold to make) and add more raid content for an already geared playerbase.
but they are doing very close to this by just adding 5 lvls, more Raid content than ever before (what they promise anyway) a totally revamped old world that has actually aged in a progressive storyline that all players new or old take part in, a new system to customize your playstyle, adding reason to world pvp ( changing capitols and giving us ability to use fly mounts in old world will increase world pvp)
cata could be great or it could be horrible. the only way to know is to play it when it comes out. i love all the ideas i hear, but if they don't do it right, it could have a horrible result.
in answer to the op. if you buy the game avoid a strait pvp realm. if you love pvp, pick a rp pvp realm, as the rp realms have a better community.
Allow me to add my 2 cents to this.
Crafting in WoW is absolute trash, it is not end game content, nor is it any sort of content at all. Crafting in WoW is nothing more than a time sinked bonus stat for your character. Crafting to make useful stuff for your guild to use or to sell is non existent. This goes the same for gathering.
Seasonal events and achievements are nice little distractions but I would hardly classify those things as content. Getting that haircut achievement was so hard and rewarding let me tell you.
Wintergrasp, unless you are on a well balanced population server is a waste of game design. Most servers are heavily lopsided since the server transfers opened up and those with the most for their faction wins WG on a near constant basis. And by win I mean totally steam roll the opposing side which has 10 more tenacity on a regualr basis. Wintegrasp is nothing more than a 2 hour queue unbalanced server only battleground, farm it for your honor and WG tokens to get a couple of pieces of gear and then never return to it again.
The only content this game has once you hit 80 and heroic farmed your triumph badges is raiding and pvp, nothing more.
To a "gamer" WoW is extremely limiting, to the average casual player out there WoW is amazing game and will hold thier interest for a long time. WoW is what it is which is a well polished, smooth playing and fun co op multiplayer game. For those good qualities it has some bad which is the fact that it is very sterile, the game has no soul any more. It's all about the badge farming and e-peen, hang out in Dalaran while waiting for your dungeon or BG queue to pop.
Despite all the flack ryd got, i think he is basically right. Lets not forget that a big part of the new content another poster listed will be available to you regardless of wether you actually buy the expansion or not since its changing the old world.
In the end the Cataclysm Expansion will offer a fair bit less to players than BC or WotLK Expansion did. Alot of the cool stuff with cataclysm will have to be in a Cataclysm Patch, since they already said the world will change for everyone and not be done in phasing.
Just felt like pointing that out. Personally i will probably take a look at the new azeroth, and maybe level a new twink to experience it, but wont buy the expansion unless they manage to hook me again. Which i doubt, cause the things that turned me off seem to be the things everyone else is so hot about(endgame).
@OP:
Yes this game is totally worth it if your just starting now. Many of the complains old vets have are around endgame raiding/progression/pvp which are months away if you twink even a bit. The level experience though is very nice, especially with the new dungeon finder making grouping easy. Just play on a RP-PVX server. Those servers appear to have some sort of retard repellant coating(RPC), which makes interacting with other players feel less like inebriating oneself.
I agree with Rockster in all.
For the OP or anyone starting an MMO, and has to make only one decision and it has to be a good one because of cash, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND WOW.
It's by far the bast, most full, most social, that can be played casual or hard core mmo on the market. I've been around the block and most all others suck
Now this is important :
80% of the population here on mmorpg.com that hates this game is because they are burnt out. You can play this game hard, and for years to the point that you can really hate this game. Even to the point that you can't even look at it. Their vision gets hazy and they forget that they used to love it, and they tell others that it sucks. I don't know what's wrong with people like that !
Other strong games are :
EQ2- but it sucks for the fact,that the community are all in clicks and will NEVER PLAY WITH YOU, and you will be playing solo.
LOTRO- good full game, but most find it boring, and hard to find groups.
Vanguard- great game, but no population at all, best to stay away unless they fix the population issue.
EVE Online- I guess people really like it, but it's has it's own style, and like no other MMO. Most don't like it.
City of Hero's-Good game if you like super hero's, and it's to obnoxious for my taste. Many like it.
D&D Online-Good game that had gone ftp, you can get far for free if you have no money. But you like to have to like dungeons and grouping.
While we are at giving out alternatives, just today i playtested Runes of Magic. Its really, really similar to WoW but F2P(now bear with me, i played it a couple of hours, not talking about endgame here). May want to give it a try, if your not used to quality P2P MMoRPGs that might scratch the itch for you without shelling out that hardearned cash. Obviously that game has an itemshop, and they try to rob you blind basically, but if you resist ... well its for free what else can i say?
If you want to go a totally different route, EvE Online is indeed your game. I think it costs 20$ and includes 30 days gametime, which is pretty good value for your money in my book. Since it is single server i can even offer you to help you out in that one a bit. Maybe hit up the trial on that one, its a love it or hate it kind of game but can be very rewarding. Since your still in school ill mention you can even play it for free once your char is good enough to make enough ingame money to buy your gametime with said ingame currency.
So your options are F2P(RoM, D&D), P2P low investment(WAR, AoC, EVE) or P2P high investment(WoW).
Those are the options i would look at, RoM and D&D i found very interesting, but cant really recommend them since i only played them a couple hours(but hey, they are free). Apart from eve they are all pretty similar and you will find it easy to group. EvE is ... well its different. But its one of the few MMO where people take you seriously if your <18(if your behavior warrents it), know some good people who startet playing that around 13 years. The moral freedom in that game makes it easy to distinguish yourself from the gutter folk no matter your age.
Edit:
Oh yeah, then there is LotRO. I concur with page, in that i found it boring. It also has pretty different and unique classes i didnt care much for(not the standard warrior/priest/mage for example). Then again it is a beautiful world, has a plethora of content, and might be alot cheaper to pickup for you. The unique classes i disliked might very well be something someone else enjoys(they where not bad, just different). I think i would definitly play it over WoW if someone would hold a gun to my head and demand i sub to a fantasy mmorpg.
Its also definitly more of a social/thinker game then WoW. There is a working music system in the game, housing, more involved crafting and the group instances are more interesting imho(both from story and actual combat mechanics). Also i met some of the nicest people there, only EvE compares there for me(dont laugh
).
Luckily my opinion is worth the same as yours I guess.
End game players use the AH to buy gear ? Tell me one thing in the game other than the current ilevel 264 boots and pants that are useful to an end game raider ? 2 whole items out of how many item slots each character has ? That is garbage crafting. 1500 new recipes are all still useless crap, all those pointy laser lights and smoke pillars are so amazing aren't they. You can't tell me anyone actually buys and uses the crafted ilevel 200 weapons still do they ?
WoW doesn't have a real economy and I do not have the writing skills nor the energy to explain why, figure this one out for yourself. But here's a clue, it's not player driven.
I am not downplaying WoW at all, in fact if you re read my posts you will see what I think WoW does well which is make an easily accesible game for casual mom and dad players to jump in and do a dungeon with their kids. It's a great bridge from the console gaming experience to the PC MMO gaming experience. WoW is a great action arcade game with an MMO element to it, it feels more like a giant game of the old school Gauntlet but with gear collection as the goal.
61 dungeons and they all play the same. How many mobs and bosses use the exact same fight mechanic or texture ?
Yes achievements are mindless crap distractions, just as reknown and prestige from those other wannabe WoW games. They are not content but mearly ways to make you sink more time into doing mindless mundane crap likegetting haircuts or being a delivery boy for a weekend while you do your seasonal quests for no real reason other than to have the achievement and titles that go along with them, again achievements and titles are not content which you contended were.
Like i said before, WoW does a great job of keeping the casual gaming audience interested in playing but for the real gamers out there WoW is a mindless flat game. WoW is the McDonalds of the game world now, sure they have a lot of customers and it sure is fun for a short while but this does not make it the best. WoW is a junkfood game now, it caters to those who want instant meaningless gratification such as obtaining a useless pet or title, there is no GAME left in it.
I have played WoW in beta and at launch, stuck around for Burning Crusade and got up to end game raiding there tehn bailed out of boredom. Came back in Lich King to play with old guildies, leveled up and raided end game content again yes 25 man ICC. I have seen everything this game has to offer and it is all very shallow and repetitive which is perfect for casual gamers who don't have much time to play and won't get burned out on the same content over and over so quickly. But if you are playing to raid in even a semi serious manner the game falls short very quickly.
Go get your achievement for 2500 badges collected and come back and tell me its not repetitive and that achievement was such great game content.
The OP asked if the game was worth it and for him judging by his original post I would say YES it is worth it for him. He will only be playing a few months and it seems like it is his first time playing so he will indeed enjoy the game for a while. But he should not expect any sort of real deep game play that other MMOs out there offer. If you don't understand that Memoir then keep your fanboy blinders on and see WoW for what you want. I am nor a WoW fan or hater, I have played it long enough to know what is good and what is crap in the game.
If you do get really into WoW then maybe look at getting an Authenticator and do A LOT of research on Mods if your gonna get some since unfortunately Warcraft has an issue with accounts being hacked either from keyloggers or other trojans hidden in mods or fake email scams and sometimes just pure agressive hacking via lists of account names/password searches..
Making a new email for your battlenet account and use it only for Wow would help counter some of this (some off the wall name with lots of random caps and numbers works well)
Personally i've played on and off since beta and now have 8 level 80s but still have fun playing both maxed and lower level classes as there is a ton of stuff to do and multiple places to level..don't want to level up in a desert? then go level up in a jungle instead etc etc.
Just research servers beforehand (and maybe battlegroups) to see what fits you the best helps alot also.
(oh and initial riding skill is now like lvl 20 and super cheap..even cheaper if your a warlock or paladin)
Lordmonkus is correct. People choose crafting for some advantage it gives their chars, like shoulderenchants, the ability to add sockets to their armor, nifty pvp gadgets or cheaper potions for raids. If your in a nice guild, you dont ask them to craft you items, you ask them to pull you through some instances where good items drop(cause they are almost always much better). Yeah there are one or two nice craftable semi sets(the ones with same name but no setboni) in northend, i remember a blue set for my pally around 75-78 i think, but you:
a) Dont need them to level, quest rewards are plenty enough for that.
b) Once your 80 you do hero dailies with your epiced out guildmates for the tokens, which will buy you epic raid gear.
c) Your going to get flamed anyway in a pug if you dare to join a hero instance in anything less than full T9. And no, your not allowed to question WTF that DK in said full T9 is doing struggling with breaking 500 dps ...
d) They will kick you if you question him. Even if your the healer. The only healer. The one they spend 2 hours spamming in tradechat to find.
Sorry couldnt hold that back. Just ... get in a nice guild OP. And dont pug. And turn of some channels. The game IS fun, especially if your just starting. Compared to other games though, the crafting really is rather meaningless. 90% of the stuff you produce to level your craftskills gets either disenchanted or sold for cash at a vendor, thats how good it is(dont argue with me, talk to the Yeti Fur Cloak, thats for which class again? Agi + Spi ... wait let me think ...).