I am going to disagree in principle, to something mentioned by the first two replies to the OP's thread. They are entitled to their opinion and that is fine, but I am wondering if they only really tried one leveling path. I say that because WoW really does let you start a character in one of several places or swap to the play area of a different race whenever you want.
Anyway, what WoW did reminds me of a science show comparing the basketball player Michael Jordan and Cheetahs. They analyzed what makes them so dominant in their respective environments by breaking down every little strength each had. And each of the strengths were measured to be slightly above average, but it was the total combination of all the strengths in one package that allows them to have long-term success at their professions(playing basketball or chasing down a small kill.)
I bring this up because I think WoW did that in 2005 with all the seemingly little decisions they made. Everything from keeping the graphics low to (increases the size of their audience), to making it super friendly for non MMO gamers, to all the Easter eggs and cultural jokes they put in the game. And I think it was also a little luck with the timing.
Now fast forward to present day and compare all the new MMOs to WoW. A new MMO has to compete with 10 years of content, 4 continents, 2 additional classes (Monk and Death Knight) in a game that already had 6, thousands of quests, fluff systems like battle pets, casual raiding for people who like to solo or don't have a guild (LFR gave me some of the worst experiences of my life). PvP, Arenas, etc... You may not llike WoW which I think is fine but that is quite a competitor to take on for a new product right out of the starting gate.
this i really have to agree with as someone who can't stand WoW.I have tried many many many times to play WoW and like it but i never make it thru the first month.But whenever i get sick or disappointed with our current offerings of mmo's I try to get into WoW even tho it never works for me but the motivation has always been that man if i could actually make it to end game i prolly would love the game cause of all the content there.
Originally posted by Albatroes Honestly WoD might be the end of WoW and not its revival, just saying.
Been hearing this nonsense every time WOW releases a new expac.
My suggestion.give it up, not gonna happen.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.' -Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid." -Luke McKinney
I haven't been playing WoW as long as some other people here, I started playing around when MoP came out. I never really liked leveling overall in any game but I had RaF (which I think is a great feature) and my friend and I leveled up about 6/7 characters to 80. When my RaF finished I leveled 2 of them up to 90 and got my free 90 with WoD preorder, but then I stopped the whole leveling process and began to focus on PvP and PvE with my 90s.
Well, it turns out that only now I realised I wanted a class that I never had and I've never really liked questing before, so off I go on my adventure to level without RaF. Up to now, I'm level 71 and I actually have adapted to like the questing. Although I saw some zones when I was going through on RaF, I leveled up too quickly to stay in one area for more than a few quests - this caused me to want to quest. I wanted to explore the WoW world, I wanted to check out the places I've never seen before and I wanted to experience the game how everyone else would have experienced it quest wise.
Honestly, it's probably one of the best decisions I've made, half the time I forget I'm even questing. The zones are beautiful, I enjoy seeing them all. Hell, I'm even upset that I haven't quite got to a lot of them because of the places I chose to quest in. There are so many different quests to do in so many places. This is what keeps me going, seeing the places I've never seen and I enjoy the feeling of leveling up even if it's just one, I'm closer to my goal.
I stay active on WoW because personally other MMORPGS to me just don't cut it, a lot of them (not all) have very limited places to go quest wise, you'd go to one place and if you decide you want to level an alt, you'd start in the same place you had started with your first character. I don't feel like I'm seeing anything new or anything different. Even to me replaying some places on WoW isn't that bad because it's different than the other zone I could have chosen to quest in. I could level up again and choose different zones if I wanted a new pathway.
A lot of it is also down to what someone else said before about earning so much on the game, spending so much time and not wanting to waste it and having those random achievements pop up, even if you do something as stupid as falling off a cliff and not dying. As much as I liked MoP when I was playing it, I honestly think from what I've seen of WoD they're making the right decision with it. I have yet to play the beta but I'm itching to try it out. It looks like a step in the right direction and as a newer player to WoW overall, I even said that I think the difficulty needs to be upped a bit in things like "heroic" dungeons because let's be honest, they're far from heroic.
Anyway, this is simply my opinion, I just wanted to put it out there.
Originally posted by maji If you think WoW is "on rails" then you never played Rift.
Good point here too. Rift, but also SW:TOR, or LOTRO.
If you think WoW is linear, "on rails", you never played a MMO that is really on rails.
In all honesty Rift never was until people complained, so... I guess it's something people want or at the very least don't know what they want/like until it's gone.
The thing people don't realize are that these games have stories... Some much worse than others, but in order to tell those stories you must live through them. It's all part of the immersion. So, with this in mind, how can games not be somewhat guided or "on rails"?
You got to be kidding me. I was in Rift beta, and it has always been a very linear game with a very small world. Specially compared to WoW.
As was I...
First off, you simply cannot compare size alone. Sure there are more zones, but look how far you had to walk between quest hubs and such... It's terrible in WoW. Just look at the barrens which really is barren. It got a little better during the Cata revamp, but look how long WoW had already been out then and it's just as bad... It's just not as noticeable since you level so fast.
When Rift first game out the questing was rough, it wasn't very "linear" as you put it. You had many kids who were left wondering where to go next for their quests... You had people moving on to the next zones too early when there were 1 or 2 quest hubs left in the zone they were in. People complained... A lot. So they cleaned it up and it's now more linear. Sure the zone to zone path is linear, but who cares about that... It's not like each zone is an instance, you're just going from point A to point B.
The reason WoW was so successful is that it is an easy game. It was an EQ-clone that improved upon existing systems while easing up the gameplay. Slap on some cartoony graphics to hook the kids and you have a recipe to reach a new kind of player base. I was there, I saw it happen.
The rest is history and you can add all kinds of points on top of what I just offered, they have certainly added stuff to the genre. Nonetheless, that is how it went down.
EQ didn't have quests. WoW did. WoW plays in a very different way to EQ.
Also please don't try to sell me EQ as a difficult game. It was braindead easy. You get a group and you grind until you pass out from boredom. The reason why WoW was successful was that it is a fun game. Something EQ never was.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Comments
I think you are being too kind. Clicking a button and waiting is not what i call crafting.
this i really have to agree with as someone who can't stand WoW.I have tried many many many times to play WoW and like it but i never make it thru the first month.But whenever i get sick or disappointed with our current offerings of mmo's I try to get into WoW even tho it never works for me but the motivation has always been that man if i could actually make it to end game i prolly would love the game cause of all the content there.
Been hearing this nonsense every time WOW releases a new expac.
My suggestion.give it up, not gonna happen.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
-Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
-Luke McKinney
I haven't been playing WoW as long as some other people here, I started playing around when MoP came out. I never really liked leveling overall in any game but I had RaF (which I think is a great feature) and my friend and I leveled up about 6/7 characters to 80. When my RaF finished I leveled 2 of them up to 90 and got my free 90 with WoD preorder, but then I stopped the whole leveling process and began to focus on PvP and PvE with my 90s.
Well, it turns out that only now I realised I wanted a class that I never had and I've never really liked questing before, so off I go on my adventure to level without RaF. Up to now, I'm level 71 and I actually have adapted to like the questing. Although I saw some zones when I was going through on RaF, I leveled up too quickly to stay in one area for more than a few quests - this caused me to want to quest. I wanted to explore the WoW world, I wanted to check out the places I've never seen before and I wanted to experience the game how everyone else would have experienced it quest wise.
Honestly, it's probably one of the best decisions I've made, half the time I forget I'm even questing. The zones are beautiful, I enjoy seeing them all. Hell, I'm even upset that I haven't quite got to a lot of them because of the places I chose to quest in. There are so many different quests to do in so many places. This is what keeps me going, seeing the places I've never seen and I enjoy the feeling of leveling up even if it's just one, I'm closer to my goal.
I stay active on WoW because personally other MMORPGS to me just don't cut it, a lot of them (not all) have very limited places to go quest wise, you'd go to one place and if you decide you want to level an alt, you'd start in the same place you had started with your first character. I don't feel like I'm seeing anything new or anything different. Even to me replaying some places on WoW isn't that bad because it's different than the other zone I could have chosen to quest in. I could level up again and choose different zones if I wanted a new pathway.
A lot of it is also down to what someone else said before about earning so much on the game, spending so much time and not wanting to waste it and having those random achievements pop up, even if you do something as stupid as falling off a cliff and not dying. As much as I liked MoP when I was playing it, I honestly think from what I've seen of WoD they're making the right decision with it. I have yet to play the beta but I'm itching to try it out. It looks like a step in the right direction and as a newer player to WoW overall, I even said that I think the difficulty needs to be upped a bit in things like "heroic" dungeons because let's be honest, they're far from heroic.
Anyway, this is simply my opinion, I just wanted to put it out there.
As was I...
First off, you simply cannot compare size alone. Sure there are more zones, but look how far you had to walk between quest hubs and such... It's terrible in WoW. Just look at the barrens which really is barren. It got a little better during the Cata revamp, but look how long WoW had already been out then and it's just as bad... It's just not as noticeable since you level so fast.
When Rift first game out the questing was rough, it wasn't very "linear" as you put it. You had many kids who were left wondering where to go next for their quests... You had people moving on to the next zones too early when there were 1 or 2 quest hubs left in the zone they were in. People complained... A lot. So they cleaned it up and it's now more linear. Sure the zone to zone path is linear, but who cares about that... It's not like each zone is an instance, you're just going from point A to point B.
EQ didn't have quests. WoW did. WoW plays in a very different way to EQ.
Also please don't try to sell me EQ as a difficult game. It was braindead easy. You get a group and you grind until you pass out from boredom. The reason why WoW was successful was that it is a fun game. Something EQ never was.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.