04-18-2004, 10:22 PM
I am not really particular. Are we starting new characters for this or using existing ones? The only reason I said shaman is that I have one up and running now. I would be equally inept at playing a warlock, warrior, rogue or mage.
And to King Jim. Yes, indeed, I recall my EQ shaman, who got to about 14 when I got bored of the game and quit. In fact, his name was Haradil, the same as my ugly orc in WOW. The shaman plays differently than I recall the one in EQ. That one, iirc , was mostly a buffer (at least at the level mine achieved) whereas the one in WOW is more of an offensive spell caster, with some buffing skills and crowd control skills thrown in. I have found this game much more captivating than EQ, and I am not really sure of all the reasons. For one thing, the screen layout is much more to my liking in that the various "bars" take up much less of the screen. Also, the view selection is much better. In EQ, you were kind of limited to either a first person view (which I did not like) or a straight top down view which was not very good for playing. EQ did have that taunt skill which was available to warriors and shamen (at least) from an early level and that was useful for keeping mobs off of spellcasters and healers. Warriors have that skill in WOW but it comes later and is not as easy to use, since I believe it is tied to rage. WOW has so many more quests available than I remember in EQ and there is far less need to camp overcrowded spots in order to get experience. Of course, at the time I played EQ it was a mature game with lots of people playing as opposed to a fairly sparsely populated beta.
Finally, there is much less spam. You mentioned the fact that EQ felt the need to constantly remind you that you were hungry and thirsty after you died and were going after your corpse. WOW seems less inclined to remind you constantly of the obvious so there is less text. Also, WOW players seem less inclined to overuse the yell command, although, again, that may change when the game goes gold.
And to King Jim. Yes, indeed, I recall my EQ shaman, who got to about 14 when I got bored of the game and quit. In fact, his name was Haradil, the same as my ugly orc in WOW. The shaman plays differently than I recall the one in EQ. That one, iirc , was mostly a buffer (at least at the level mine achieved) whereas the one in WOW is more of an offensive spell caster, with some buffing skills and crowd control skills thrown in. I have found this game much more captivating than EQ, and I am not really sure of all the reasons. For one thing, the screen layout is much more to my liking in that the various "bars" take up much less of the screen. Also, the view selection is much better. In EQ, you were kind of limited to either a first person view (which I did not like) or a straight top down view which was not very good for playing. EQ did have that taunt skill which was available to warriors and shamen (at least) from an early level and that was useful for keeping mobs off of spellcasters and healers. Warriors have that skill in WOW but it comes later and is not as easy to use, since I believe it is tied to rage. WOW has so many more quests available than I remember in EQ and there is far less need to camp overcrowded spots in order to get experience. Of course, at the time I played EQ it was a mature game with lots of people playing as opposed to a fairly sparsely populated beta.
Finally, there is much less spam. You mentioned the fact that EQ felt the need to constantly remind you that you were hungry and thirsty after you died and were going after your corpse. WOW seems less inclined to remind you constantly of the obvious so there is less text. Also, WOW players seem less inclined to overuse the yell command, although, again, that may change when the game goes gold.