My gaming group is considering starting playing world of warcraft. We have for many years played pen and paper D&D for the guys, and we ran our own Battlefield 1942 server for the wives and the guys for casual play . Since many of us have moved around the country, it’s gotten much harder to get together and play. Also, since we have upgraded to Vista, BF42 has become unusable for some of us levaing us with no group gaming option.
So, as the new year begins, we are thinking of switching everyone over to WoW to replace D&D as well as battlefield 1942. So this would include the hard-core RPG’ers as well as the casual gamers.
I am totally unfamilar with the game, so I’d be interested in peoples expereinces with the game, including from both the hard core and casual gamer experience. How much playing time does it require to be able to “have fun” with it - specifically how complex is the game experience?
WoW is a great but its in no way a replacement for pen and paper RPG. That said it won’t require any time at all to get to the “fun” stuff, the game is easy to get into and fun from the first minute you step in. Playing with a group of friends will allow you to do pretty much everything from pvp to heroic dungeons, which are all very casual friendly. If you want to get into the hardcore part of the game though you are going to need a guild for raiding, but you can get comparable gear to what 90% of raiding guilds can get with a small capable group. As long as you don’t expect roleplaying, which you are very unlikely to get on any online roleplaying game, you will enjoy it.
WoW is good, I play on a couple of servers - mostly Horde. I’ve started getting into Vanguard as well, but not able to play it as often. I think both give a free trial period.
There are RPG realms in WoW which is what I prefer - I am my character(s). I agree, it’s not anything like pen&paper but it’s a nice alternative.
WoW is great. It’s immersive and addictive, and there’s always something new to do–if you don’t want to run instances, you can quest. If you don’t want to do crafting, you can do PvP (player vs. player) combat. Everything is available to you.
I warn you, though–this game is very addictive. Be ready for that. If you’re okay with it, great. If you’re worried about it taking over your free time, think carefully before you start. I don’t think I’m underestimating this.
And I do think it CAN be equivalent to pen&paper if you play with a good group. If the OP’s whole gaming group is thinking of taking the plunge, then it could be quite close. With the additional bonus of nobody having to lose out playing experience to DM.
My suggestion is to start on an RP server. You’ll find more opportunities and cooperation for role-playing there, and the only people who will make fun of you for RPing are PVP Kiddies who are slumming because their main server is down.
Another suggestion I have is that once you’re somewhat familiar with the game mechanics (and therefore won’t need to ask for general help about “Where is?” or “What direction?”), that you “/leave 1” and go without the General channel. It’s jarring if your goal is to immerse. General isn’t mandatory RP for several reasons, and can be downright antithetical to RP in effect, especially in the newbie zones.
How do you know what servers are which? Are there different names for them? I’ve seen in the store different versions of WoW but not sure which is which?
You have access to all the servers when you install the game (there’s only one version of WoW plus one expansion pack, The Burning Crusade). You might have seen different covers. Each server tells you whether it’s PvP, Normal (PvP is optional and only when you want it), or RP (and I believe there are roleplaying PvP servers, too).
The servers have different names (BTW, last time I checked there were ~150 NA realms, and that was a while ago.). On the realm list it will be noted what kind they are (Normal, PvP, RP, and RP-PvP), as well as the population level–I’d look for something at medium pop myself. They also have different timezones. And be warned–attempting to level on a PvP server, from what I’ve heard, can suck, but if you’re with a group it’ll be easier. Having a group to play with will make the entire game easier, and more fun. You’re lucky to have that, if you do decide to go forward with it.
There’s two different parts of WoW right now–the base game and the expansion (Burning Crusade). You don’t need the expansion right away, but if you want to make a Draeni or Blood Elf character, or become a jewelcrafter, you will need it. Beyond that, you won’t miss it until about level 58. I will suggest, if there’s a group of you, to go with either Dwarf and Gnome characters, of Orc and Troll. These races share starting zones, so you can get a wider variety of characters without having to traipse over half of Azeroth to meet each other.
When you first install the game, you get a sign up screen where you can pick the server you want to play on. You’re given a list of available servers, their population density (how many people have characters on them) and their type (PvP, plaver vs player, (where you’re always available for combat with players who have characters in the opposing faction); P v E, player vs everything, (mainly people who play against the game, although PvP is available at the player’s discretion); and RP, role playing, (Forsooth varlet! I am an heroic warrior, away from that fair maiden!).
My only experience with WoW is losing a couple of friends to it for quite awhile. I know two guys that devoted every waking moment that they could spare to the game. I never got into it because of this. This game is indeed very addictive.
I seem to remeber hearing that the game was banned in Japan because people stopped going to work so they could stay home and play the game. I’ll have to check snopes on that one.
The game is indeed quite addictive, but it’s quite possible to balance it with your everyday life. Lots of people manage to, from the most casual to high end raiders. But do be careful not to spend too much time playing, whatever route you take.
I don’t play any longer, but WoW isn’t great if you don’t all stay within a few levels of each other. So make that a rule for your group - when everyone is at level ten, there shouldn’t be anyone more than “just hit twelve” and “about to leave eight.” If people want to play more WoW than your group characters, they should create alts. Or they should spend a lot of time crafting or fishing or something that doesn’t level you. There may be some “homework” for slackers - and some times when the overachievers need to sit back and skip a week. To me, that was the most annoying thing about WoW. That and you spent so much time going from spot to spot.
Which reminds me, as advice to a new player, PICK UP ALL THE FLIGHT PATHS YOU COME ACROSS! There’s nothing more annoying than having to run halfway across a continent for a delivery quest and back and then realizing you forgot to pick up the flight path all the way over in Bumfrick, Silithus, while you were there.
I have helped many an Alliance lowbie travel from Menethil Harbor to that small town just outside Ironforge (can’t think of the name) and then they head on to Ironforge in order to grab those vital flight paths as soon as possible. So if you go to Menethil Harbor as a low-level player and have a little time, see if someone higher level will escort you to the next town.
Also, it’s not obvious at first, but there is a tram from Ironforge to Stormwind. Grab the flight path to one, then take the tram and grab the other town’s flight path. It’ll save you some time in the future.
The tram in Ironforge is in Tinkertown, which is (trying to remember how IF is oriented compass-wise)…the eastern part of the city if you think of the Gates/AH/Bank/Great Forge/Explorers’ League axis as pointing North (Gates is southernmost, League is northernmost).
I never saw the really addictive part of this game. It was fun for a while but then it just got boring when I’d done everything. Saying that I never levelled any of my characters past level 45 because it just took too much time and I couldn’t be bothered, so in fact I haven’t experienced everything the game has to offer.
It’s addictive but not life-destroying, not unless you let it be. Quite often I stay awake, playing longer than I should, but I’ve never missed or been late for work.
I would have to agree with Dangerosa, try to stay around the same level or you just wont have much fun playing with each other.
It’s a game that will frustrate the hell out of you at times but if you have a group of friends you can trust and strategise with then it can be very, very fun. It’s just a shame you can’t take pre-made groups into Alterac Valley (a high level battleground).
Have you thought about City of Heroes? One reason is for the group aspect. If some of the players are higher than others you can sidekick them and basically even things out.
It depends on what you’re going to do, but probably not. Some of the boss battles are much harder with latency issues, but you wouldn’t have to worry about that for a long time if ever. WoW is basically 3 games in one, the leveling part, the PvP part and the raiding part. To level to 70 it will take probably 300 hours of playtime (maybe, it’s been a while for me.) If your lag is under probably 500ms it’ll be playable for the leveling portion even if you won’t be super effective. I’d also recommend you playing a damage dealing class since healing is very lag sensitive.
