World of Warcraft

T-900 · Post by **T-900** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:34 pm

(I'm aware Franz has done a thread or two on this already but i feel like giving my own opinion)

I've played for about four hours with a character type i've been hungering for, for a long time...

I have been very pessimistic about this game, thinking it just another MMO, with levelling, killing, missions, collecting, pvp... And I was absolutely right. What I was wrong about was to think that was a wholly bad thing. All those features have essentially just been polished up and made rather fun. Nice eh? =D

The game is atmospheric, if you can ignore the ridiculous looking players, and it essentially quite fun... It clearly needs some work, but... the game lacks all those horrible bugs, missing features and boring slogs that other MMO's do. I'm certain within three months with this game, i'd be bored. But it would be an excellent 3 months (same as my experience with starwars galaxies).

I just keep finding features that other games miss that are so simple, yet they add up and make the overall experience so much smoother, much more like a singleplayer RPG than a buggy, laggy, detail-less online RPG. This game could easily be compared to playing a deeper, more RPG-like dungeon siege, without having nearly the depth of a Baldurs Gate game...

I'll write out a brief (probably not) account of my few hours with the game to give you all an idea of the gameplay...

My character, Jakkar, an undead rogue. You cannot alter the height or dimensions of your character, and the character design feature is abysmal in comparison to that of Starwars Galaxies. You can alter hair, skin colour, hair colour, some facial hair, some race-specific features like horns, and facial features. The undead have a nice style, with many different face options including broken/missing jaws and no eyes.

You'll begin with a live, zooming video of the starting area of your race, the camera flying over the landscape in realtime, seeing npc's and actual players running around below, until it reaches your character, all the while a horrific sounding american narrator who should never have been allowed near a fantasy title explaining the current politics and setting of your race, and your role in it (kill things for money to defend the realm basically)...

As an undead, you begin in an underground crypt. Youcan step outside and a rather haggard undead grave digger will direct you to a priest at the church. The town, Deathknell, consists of a church and two buildings, the church empty, containing various trainers and the priest who'll give you missions, a building containing an armoursmith and weaponsmith, full of nicely modelled mounted animal heads and a bearskin rug... The town feels small, but details.. it has personality, unlike the usual RPG settlement. You've got low level trainers, a few traders, three people willing to give you a few 'go out and kill this many creatures' type missions, and outside the rest of the town is a ruin bordering on forests, full of non-aggressive, weak zombie creatures.. the forest contains spiders, bat things, wolves and the like.

You'll do yer missions, loot your enemies, sell your loot, visit the appropriate trainer to your class to learn new abilities, which are nicely designed and make combat a far more entertaining affair than normal MMO's (except neocrons lovely FPS combat).

Combat will consist of 'attack'ing your opponent, where you'll just perform normal attacks of random (within a set limit) damage, and the occasional high-damage critical. You add your specials to this, which, as a rogue, are fairly deep. Rogue specials give you 'combo points', with which you can perform finishing moves. The more combo points, the higher the damage of the finishing move you perform... this makes rogues suited toward a quick attack, with a sudden high damage destroying move.

There be many more random things i could go into detail on, but there's a set of impressions of the game for ye'.

Closing comments: The game is a fun, hack-'em-up MMORPG, with all the strengths (perfected) and weaknesses of the genre. The locations have personality, the character has great freedom of movement due to sidestepping, a well designed camera system and a so-so jump mechanic. The graphics have a cartoony look, which suits the warcraft setting well, providing a nice atmosphere and containing the odd very nicely done feature.. (two that i noticed, a wonderful sparkling effect on compacted snow on a friends dwarf character, and a nice metallic shine to the blade of my knife when i examined it closely.).

The game's fun if you decide to give it a go, just don't expect more than a few months entertainment before it gets boring, unless you're an MMORPG nut.

- T-900

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:40 pm

Nice review, but just because Franz starts a thread doesn't mean you can't put your thoughts in it. Unless you're that selfish or something. Or he's a whiny bitch. Which he isn't.

Edit and to clarify, what exactly, is PVP like in this game? No one has done anything but state that yes, it does have it.

T-900 · Post by **T-900** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:42 pm

I thought another persons opinion might be appreciated, since people don't often want to make a purchase because of just one persons opinion. With how large this thing turned out, i don't think it'd have been suitable for a reply to a thread, but better as it's own.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:50 pm

Is PVP like in DAoC? Like, realms and stuff? Horde vs. the Alliance?

T-900 · Post by **T-900** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:54 pm

I have no idea, I played for only a few hours and my past pessimism over the game stopped me from paying much attention. PM Franz_Schubert, he seems to know a hell of a lot more than me

.

- T-900

axelgreese · Post by **axelgreese** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:45 pm

WoW is boring as shit.

Currently the combat is a complete joke, PVP isn't even reallly implemented, the classes are horriably imbalanced and the crafting system is complete balls.

And it also appears now that blizzard is trying to rush it out the door.

Franz Schubert · Post by **Franz Schubert** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:49 pm

axelgreese wrote:Currently the combat is a complete joke, PVP isn't even reallly implemented, the classes are horriably imbalanced and the crafting system is complete balls.

If WoW wasn't still in beta, then you wouldn't be a complete idiot.

axelgreese · Post by **axelgreese** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:08 am

Franz_Schubert wrote:blah blah blah I'm a jew whine whine whine

You e-diot.

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:35 am

Ouch! You hurt is e-feelings so much that I felt it.

P.S. Fuck initiative 184 because the salestax is bullshittedly high already.