04-12-2004, 04:13 PM
1) There are many ranged weapons in this game, ranging from bows to guns to wands to thrown objects. The tank classes can eventually use bows and guns, around level 20ish, at the cost of a few skill points. The magic classes can use wands earlier, but I haven't seen a wand yet with a lower level requirement than about 15. Rogues (and maybe other, I forget) can use thrown items much earlier. It is not clear yet how early hunters will be able to use guns or bows.
Here is my experience with a warlock using a wand. He has a dagger equipped in his right hand, nothing in his left hand (no shield proficiency), and a wand in his ranged slot. Once an item is equipped into that slot, you can drag an icon onto your hotkey bar and do a very fast swap into a ranged attack. His wand is like many spells, in that the waiting to shoot occurs before the shot rather than afterwards. But unlike the spells, his wand is not interrupted by most enemy attacks (some special attacks or spells will interrupt pretty much everything). It also does not "cost" anything to use a wand, whereas throwing weapons get used up and bows/guns will need ammo.
I assume that if you have a bow and a shield, the shield will be on your back when you fire the bow.
2) Since I haven't been able to use a bow and only have made limited use of wands and throwing weapons, I'm not sure about viability. It seems to me that you will be trading the distance ability for a great reduction in damage rate, potential loss of a shield, and the consumption of ammo. For solo, I imagine most characters would probably get a few shots of their bow/gun off and then hotkey back to their melee weapon as the enemy gets within range. Having the first shot with a ranged weapon can be a big advantage, but in some cases it takes away other options, like the warrior's "charge" or the rogue's attack-from-behind skills.
3) You have initial proficiencies, and then a limited set of other proficiencies that you can learn at certain levels. A few of these might be "trained" with cash, but most of them require the investment of 2 skill points. These are the points you would otherwise be using on trade skills. I believe a paladin can eventually learn to shoot a bow or gun, but a mage or warlock cannot.
4) I'm not quite sure which question you are asking here. Characters primarily belong to accounts. Characters also belong to guilds. As far as I know, accounts cannot belong to guilds (I can have my characters be in different guilds, or I can have them all join the same guild, but so far I only know how to do it one character at a time).
5) Yes, it does remind me a bit of NWN. I think NWN is kind of a hybrid of the MMORPG concept and the games like Baldur's Gate. This would definately not be like one of the "heavy roleplaying" NWN servers though... WoW is not much more about roleplaying than Diablo 2 as far as I can see.
6) To jump, you press the jump key :) Default is space bar.
7) The guild setup allows us to easily see which lurkers are on, what level they are, and where they are. Due to the insane amount of hours some of us have been playing, the chance to group up some of the time is pretty good without any arrangements. Grouping up with random people has been a fairly enjoyable experience thus far, too.
8) Some people are sticking with one character, and others are juggling between several.
9) There is a chance to block with shields, which is now related to the strength stat (funny how these things go full circle). I don't think anything about a specific shield affects your blocking chance (although I could be wrong), unless of course it has a strength bonus.
10) I think the others covered this. Basically it is a situation where you enter a dungeon, get a level-loading screen, and get your own "instance" of that dungeon, separate from other parties who could be simultaneously playing that dungeon in other instances.
11) You can "/leave" the general channel and/or trade channel as needed. You can also mute specific players. Since there is a channel for your party and a channel for your guild, there is never a reason to feel compelled to keep general and trade channels open.
Here is my experience with a warlock using a wand. He has a dagger equipped in his right hand, nothing in his left hand (no shield proficiency), and a wand in his ranged slot. Once an item is equipped into that slot, you can drag an icon onto your hotkey bar and do a very fast swap into a ranged attack. His wand is like many spells, in that the waiting to shoot occurs before the shot rather than afterwards. But unlike the spells, his wand is not interrupted by most enemy attacks (some special attacks or spells will interrupt pretty much everything). It also does not "cost" anything to use a wand, whereas throwing weapons get used up and bows/guns will need ammo.
I assume that if you have a bow and a shield, the shield will be on your back when you fire the bow.
2) Since I haven't been able to use a bow and only have made limited use of wands and throwing weapons, I'm not sure about viability. It seems to me that you will be trading the distance ability for a great reduction in damage rate, potential loss of a shield, and the consumption of ammo. For solo, I imagine most characters would probably get a few shots of their bow/gun off and then hotkey back to their melee weapon as the enemy gets within range. Having the first shot with a ranged weapon can be a big advantage, but in some cases it takes away other options, like the warrior's "charge" or the rogue's attack-from-behind skills.
3) You have initial proficiencies, and then a limited set of other proficiencies that you can learn at certain levels. A few of these might be "trained" with cash, but most of them require the investment of 2 skill points. These are the points you would otherwise be using on trade skills. I believe a paladin can eventually learn to shoot a bow or gun, but a mage or warlock cannot.
4) I'm not quite sure which question you are asking here. Characters primarily belong to accounts. Characters also belong to guilds. As far as I know, accounts cannot belong to guilds (I can have my characters be in different guilds, or I can have them all join the same guild, but so far I only know how to do it one character at a time).
5) Yes, it does remind me a bit of NWN. I think NWN is kind of a hybrid of the MMORPG concept and the games like Baldur's Gate. This would definately not be like one of the "heavy roleplaying" NWN servers though... WoW is not much more about roleplaying than Diablo 2 as far as I can see.
6) To jump, you press the jump key :) Default is space bar.
7) The guild setup allows us to easily see which lurkers are on, what level they are, and where they are. Due to the insane amount of hours some of us have been playing, the chance to group up some of the time is pretty good without any arrangements. Grouping up with random people has been a fairly enjoyable experience thus far, too.
8) Some people are sticking with one character, and others are juggling between several.
9) There is a chance to block with shields, which is now related to the strength stat (funny how these things go full circle). I don't think anything about a specific shield affects your blocking chance (although I could be wrong), unless of course it has a strength bonus.
10) I think the others covered this. Basically it is a situation where you enter a dungeon, get a level-loading screen, and get your own "instance" of that dungeon, separate from other parties who could be simultaneously playing that dungeon in other instances.
11) You can "/leave" the general channel and/or trade channel as needed. You can also mute specific players. Since there is a channel for your party and a channel for your guild, there is never a reason to feel compelled to keep general and trade channels open.