My "shamelessly whoring World of Warcraft" thread.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2004-11-20 06:28pm

Well, I was in the Open Beta for over 5 days, stayed up most of the time to play it and try out 4-5 characters (I took 3 hour naps every now and then once I started having dreams while awake).

Damn good fun, very polished and functional gameplay, a lot deeper and more complex than Guild Wars (which isn't exactly an MMO), and definitely less of a timesink than a Sony game like Star Wars Galaxies. I'm going to try and get it by next week, and I would post some screenshots, but I'll be busy the next few days.

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2004-11-20 07:33pm

If you click on the pictures named "Insanityxx" (01-05) you'll see some of the shenanigans that went on on the closed beta server the other night. The GMs assumed control of Jaina Proudmoore, the dwarf king, and Tyrande Whisperwind and went to town in Razor Hill. Once we smacked them down, they unleashed Onyxia on us.

I got pretty close to her, that one is labeled "OHSHI.jpg"

I myself wandered over to Mulgore because the World Defense kept firing off, and sure enough, someone was ganking newbies. Unfortunately, they were ten levels below me, so it wasn't even a challenge to kick their ass.

It was quite a wild final night.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2004-11-20 08:05pm

I had heard that the game wasn't intended for hardcore MMO players, i.e. anyone who plays more than 3 hours a day, is that true,

What are the fight animations like? I had heard that they where insultingly cartoony.

Is there a crafting system, if so is it limited to a certain race or anything?

I just canced my Saga of Ryzom account, due to it being pure shite, and i need a new game.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2004-11-20 08:50pm

The graphics definitely have a slight "cartoonish" feel to them, but it's really not too bad. My only complaint with the graphics are the low-res and bland equipment textures. The combat animations are actually pretty good. After I got my Undead Warrior to 20 and picked up Dual Wield, I was a freaking whirlwind dervish of destruction.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2004-11-20 08:53pm

Lord Pounder wrote:I had heard that the game wasn't intended for hardcore MMO players, i.e. anyone who plays more than 3 hours a day, is that true,

I suppose if you enjoy it taking a year to get your character to max level. Besides making more than one player, and raids making there lots of end game content, they will be implementing a hero levels which should be harder to attains.

What are the fight animations like? I had heard that they where insultingly cartoony.

The animations are cartoony, but has style where it is lacking in say, eq2

Is there a crafting system, if so is it limited to a certain race or anything?

yes there is and no limitations http://worldofwarcraft.com/info/professions/

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2004-11-20 08:55pm

Lord Pounder wrote:I had heard that the game wasn't intended for hardcore MMO players, i.e. anyone who plays more than 3 hours a day, is that true,

Depends on what you mean by hardcore MMO gamers. I played quite a bit more than three hours a day most days I played and found it quite fun. Maybe if you're a powergamer and can't be bothered with quests(if you're all about farming and grinding), it wouldn't be any fun. I would say that the level cap is fairly easy to reach if you play three hours a day, every day, so if you're in it just to get to level 60 the fastest and have the best gear and don't care about content, then I could see why this game would not appeal to you or be made for you.

What are the fight animations like? I had heard that they where insultingly cartoony.

They're not insultingly cartoony, that much is certain. They're not ulta-realistic, though, but not terrible. I'd say they're better than EQ1 by a good stretch.

Is there a crafting system, if so is it limited to a certain race or anything?

Yes, and no. The way it works is you select two "professions" and work in them. Professions are either crafting (blacksmithing, leatherworking, tailoring, etc.) or resource-gathering (mining, skinning, herbalism, etc.). There are no class restrictions, so you can have a warlock blacksmith/miner (even though he can't use a single thing he makes except daggers and swords) or a warrior tailor/whatever(even thought it would be pointless for a warrior to wear cloth armor). It's all about what you want your character to do. My shaman was a master leatherworker/skinner, because I thought that fit his character better. Believe me, I didn't get rich on that combination.

There are also secondary skills, which include fishing, cooking, and first aid. They don't count as professions, so you can have them as a supplement.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2004-11-20 11:07pm

I think that trolls should have warlock class added. It would make more sence with their use deeper use of demon magic. Then they would be able to give mage back to dwarves. The only problem I think is that they don't want any race to have more than 6 classes. Same problem with dropping warrior from gnomes - they don't want any class to have less than 4 classes.

Another thing is that they should add more high elf npc, so far I've only seen two. Personally I think that they should have added high elves in as a playable race instead of gnomes (gnomes was never a major race even when they were in warcraft 1), but I guess that would make a problem with alot of people wanting playing them and there supposedly only being a few left, and there's already another elf race.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2004-11-21 01:55am

Acutally it doesn't make any sense that trolls are warlocks. Summoning and all that is dark arcane magic, something which the trolls, almost exclusively, do not practice. Trolls are, like the Orcs of old, chiefly shamenistic. Frankly, I don't quite get the Troll Mage thing, but I know it's to keep things balanced (franky it makes more sense for Orcs to know that sort of magic).

Second point on high elves:
You must remeber, friend, that Quel'Thalas was eradicated, there were VERY FEW survivors! There are, in fact, blood elves scattered throughout the land (and they don't like you). They've associated themselves with the demoic powers of Illidan, so really, Blood Elves are pretty much evil, along with the Naga. What few high elves that remain must have gotten over the painful withdrawl, since they have no "source of power" (previously the sun well, for the Blood Elves now, Illidan).

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2004-11-21 08:28am

InnocentBystander wrote:Acutally it doesn't make any sense that trolls are warlocks. Summoning and all that is dark arcane magic, something which the trolls, almost exclusively, do not practice. Trolls are, like the Orcs of old, chiefly shamenistic. Frankly, I don't quite get the Troll Mage thing, but I know it's to keep things balanced (franky it makes more sense for Orcs to know that sort of magic).
Trolls aren't shamanistic, they practice voodoo magic which is a form of arcane magic.

Shamanism is all about appealing and working with nature to help further your goals. Voodoo is more about commanding nature to do your bidding. -That is from the Warcraft III art book that came with the special edition.

They both originate from the Twisting Nether, although voodoo has a much darker side to it which is why they should be able to be warlocks. In fact, I don't remember where exactly, possibly somewhere in worldofwarcraft.com, it says that thrall doesn't approve of the trolls use of dark magic, but he allows. If anything, they should drop shamans out as one of the troll classes and replace it with warlocks.

Second point on high elves:
You must remeber, friend, that Quel'Thalas was eradicated, there were VERY FEW survivors! There are, in fact, blood elves scattered throughout the land (and they don't like you).They've associated themselves with the demoic powers of Illidan, so really, Blood Elves are pretty much evil, along with the Naga. What few high elves that remain must have gotten over the painful withdrawl, since they have no "source of power" (previously the sun well, for the Blood Elves now, Illidan).

Yes, that's one of the reasons I gave for high elves not being playable... but still, so far I've only seen two high elve npc so far.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2004-11-21 06:24pm

So does the crafting system work kindalike the old Horizions system, one adventuring skill to work on and another in crafting? can you change professions if you want?

I may try this for a month while a friend of mine trys EQ2.

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2004-11-21 06:46pm

Lord Pounder wrote:So does the crafting system work kindalike the old Horizions system, one adventuring skill to work on and another in crafting? can you change professions if you want?

I may try this for a month while a friend of mine trys EQ2.

Well, you could be a leatherworker/blacksmith if you want, it just means that you have to buy your materials from other players. However, you pretty much will have to gain levels to advance your trade skills, because they place the NPCs you learn higher-level stuff from in higher level zones. So you can't just stay in a big city, be level one, and make high end goods.

I would say that tradeskills are secondary to adventuring. It wouldn't be a very fulfilling experience just to blacksmith or what have you. It's meant as a way to supplement your income and offset the various moneysinks in the game, but the crafted items are by no means the best items in the game; drops from monsters are on average much better.

And yes, you can switch professions. Most people switch to blacksmithing/mining as they near level 40 and realize they need to come up with 100 gold to buy their mount.