Is WoW worth it after all the hype?

[Phyloxerra]

Howdy all,

I need to hear some lurker opinions on WoW. It looks like a great game, but unfortunately I will need to either upgrade my comp in a big way or buy a new one outright. Now I spent countless hours playing D2 and if I even get 1/4 the gameplay value from it , the investment will be well worth it.

Now, I'm not that into the PvP aspect of it, so that is no concern. But I TRUST you guys after many years of lurking here. Any great or negative things about the game I would love to hear about. I've read all sorts of reviews, but that is like asking for a car salesman's opinion of one of the lemons on his lot. Thanks in advance guys for the replies. And a Happy Holidays to all.


Scotty

[Nystul]

If you browse through some of the WoW forums, you might actually find your answer :wacko:

In short terms though, if internet access is not a problem, the monthly fee is not a major consideration, and you would consider anything close to D2's level of replay a success, I do not think WoW will disappoint you. It has some "arghs" to it, but overall it is a pretty fun time sink.

For me personally, at $15/month it would have to blow a game like D2 out of the water for me to consider it. The beta didn't convince me it was good enough for the extra costs, so I will be playing something else instead.

Right now, my replacement game for WoW is... the original Diablo! :D

[Phyloxerra]

If you browse through some of the WoW forums, you might actually find your answer  :wacko:

In short terms though, if internet access is not a problem, the monthly fee is not a major consideration, and you would consider anything close to D2's level of replay a success, I do not think WoW will disappoint you.  It has some "arghs" to it, but overall it is a pretty fun time sink.

For me personally, at $15/month it would have to blow a game like D2 out of the water for me to consider it.  The beta didn't convince me it was good enough for the extra costs, so I will be playing something else instead.

Right now, my replacement game for WoW is... the original Diablo!  :D
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Howdy Nystul,

I did do some browsing on the subject, but perhaps I should have checked back a little bit further in the fora. I actually picked up the Diablo battlechest the other day when i was in the store, but decided against it as I was at the checkout.

Money really isn't a problem. I'm going to cancel my Moviepass at Blockbustier, so there is my monthly monies and then some.


So how did you find the beta? What about it turned you off? If you don't mind me prying into your game playing experience. Was it just the cost factor? I know that most of my brothers CS:CZ clan has quit to play WoW, and those guys were pretty hardcore into CZ.

Thanks for letting me pick your brain. :)


Scotty

[LochnarITB]

Your mileage may vary but this is a small portion of my desktop. The icon on the right is for Cosmos which runs and then autoruns WoW. Note the name. :blush:

[Occhidiangela]

Howdy all,

    I need to hear some lurker opinions on WoW. It looks like a great game, but unfortunately I will need to either upgrade my comp in a big way or buy a new one outright. Now I spent countless hours playing D2 and if I even get 1/4 the gameplay value from it , the investment will be well worth it.
 
    Now, I'm not that into the PvP aspect of it, so that is no concern. But I TRUST you guys after many years of lurking here. Any great or negative things about the game I would love to hear about. I've read all sorts of reviews, but that is like asking for a car salesman's opinion of one of the lemons on his lot. Thanks in advance guys for the replies. And a Happy Holidays to all.
                                                                    Scotty
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I find the user interface a bit of a pain, however, I was also not too keen on Never Winter NIghts interface. Having been so used to D1' third pers perspective, I probably need to retrain my instincts.

The game has a lot in it. The people have generally been decent. The little fun things like my pet zergling are silly, but I like it. :)

And the World is huge.

While I am not swooning, I think it's a good game. My son loves his druid.


Occhi

[Nystul]

So how did you find the beta? What about it turned you off? If you don't mind me prying into your game playing experience. Was it just the cost factor?
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For the most part, it was a lot of fun. The world is huge and the graphics are beautiful. You can certainly play a single character for a long, long time without running out of places to explore and quests to do. There is a lot of humour, the instanced dungeons provide interesting challenges (provided that you have enough free time to do them), and their are some nice dynamics to team play.

This was my first experience with an MMOG. I don't think it is the right genre for me. I don't like competing with other parties to see who can find the spawning boss first, while in the mean time killing 50 lackies who respawn when their timer goes off whether you happen to be standing on top of their spawn point or not. I don't like spending 15 minutes of real time just traveling from point A to point B. I don't like the way personality, subtlety, balance, and storyline are sacrificed for massiveness and the endless rat race.

In all the time I've played Diablo, I have never even been close to reaching the maximum level 50. I play an IM game until I die, or I get a character to 30 or 40 and ditch it. Grinding experience and finding items is just not enough for me. At some point (after hundreds of hours), the WoW beta started to feel like a massive grind to me, and I just couldn't play it anymore. I could probably come back to it every now and then, but then I would have to buy a subscription every time I felt like getting back into the game...

[Jarulf]

For me, THE only thing that will make me not get it is actually the monthly fee. That really have nothing to do with WoW specifically, but any such "monthly fee game". I just don't think I get enough out of the game to justify that expenditure compared to what I can get instaed.

Sure, the game itself is huge, fun and all that. I really do consider it a very nice game that I really want to play. Considering the size and content of it, I would really be prepared to may more than the normal cost of a game. But, in th elong run, it won't cut it. I don't play that much each week, so to experience it all (or a lot of it), I would have to be playing for many month, say 6 month and not getting a problem or bussy so I can't play for a few month, can one put account on hold then?. By that time, I have payed a lot of money. If I compare that to the several games I could have then bouth instead (not factoring in that I usually buy somewhat older and cheaper games), I would have got the same ammount of content if not more.

Some claim that the monthly fee is for constant adding of content. Sure, but really, does it equal a full new game every few months? And as I said, it will take a long time before I even run out of the content allready there from the start!!!! I would not need new content for at least half a year or probably even a full or two years since I can try new race/class and so on.

Of course, I am not the hard core multi player. I am not much into guilds and so, so that aspect of the game is not so important to me. Sure, it is more fun than single player, but I was happy with the level one get from say Diablo (1 and 2) and don't consider the extra interaction betwen players, which lead to extra support, supervision and so on which appearantly is another of the reasons for the monthly cost warrant it either, not for me.

So in the end, very fun game, but having to pay the money each month, quickly make it not worth the money for me. Especially since I might have weeks and months were I hardly play at all.

Just my personal view on it.

[Taem]

      Money really isn't a problem. I'm going to cancel my Moviepass at Blockbustier, so there is my monthly monies and then some.
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Heh, I wondered if a lot of people had those or not. I have one and talk about canceling it all the time, but then a (bad-word)-load of movies comes out that I want to see and I think to myself... man, I'm really saving a lot of money with this movie pass thingy... now why the hell do I also have a Blockbuster Rewards card and why on Earth do I keep buying those special deal movies where you purchase the movie for the same price yet get 10 free rentals also? I can't figure it out.

[Guest]

For me personally, at $15/month it would have to blow a game like D2 out of the water for me to consider it.  The beta didn't convince me it was good enough for the extra costs, so I will be playing something else instead.
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15 $ per month is expensive to play a game! not only this game would be one of the most expensive (around 60 euros),but you have to play it online.I don't like the idea to pay a second time even though it's the best game of all times..Blizzard could have increased the original price in order to make it free online once for all.

[Mavfin]

If I wasn't already paying out 19.95/mo to shoot people down in my WWII fighter, or blow things up in WWII fighters and bombers, then I'd be playing WoW. Looks neat, and if I get tired of flying, I may take it up for a few months.



:D

[Wiccan]

If I wasn't already paying out 19.95/mo to shoot people down in my WWII fighter, or blow things up in  WWII fighters and bombers, then I'd be playing WoW.  Looks neat, and if I get tired of flying, I may take it up for a few months. 
:D
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is already getting is sooo i shall see you there

[Griselda]

is already getting is sooo i shall see you there
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Woah! Slow down, remember where you are, and please take time with your posts. Thanks.

-Griselda

[Ashock]

Woah!  Slow down, remember where you are, and please take time with your posts.  Thanks.

-Griselda
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Heh, what did you expect? Look at his name :-)


-A

[Cryptic]

To buck the trend, I would recommend WoW whole-heartedly. When I find a good game, I tend to play it heavily with friends – so I plan on getting about 70-80 hours a month in, with a minimum of 40. (That leaves time for work, sleep, friends, home business, movies, and relationship. Not necessarily in that order!) So, at worst, having paid 6 months in advance, I’m paying $12.99 a month, or $0.32 an hour. Realistically, about $0.17 an hour unless I go on vacation or take a weeklong break. So unless you’re broke, you’d have to be against the *principle* of paying for a game, not the *amount*, to consider WoW a bad deal.

That being said, I’ll give my very quick capsule review based on my opinions of D1 and D2. All of this is IMHO, etc. etc. One person’s informed opinion.

Addictiveness: High. Better than D1. Better than D2. Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of individual taste!

Atmosphere: Beautiful world, but not perfectly cohesive. Worse than D1. Better than D2.

Depth (interesting complexity): Lots of interesting crafts, talents, spells, etc. Better than D1. Better than D2.

Freshness (ability to surprise): Better than D1. Worse than D2. With a caveat, though – after you’ve played 200 hours or so, WoW will still be adding content while D2 goes stale. So I would say if you’re in for the long run, better than D2.

Friends: Good guild system, decent chat system, instances encourage grouping with good new people and thus meeting them. Better than D1. Better than D2.

Fun: Worse than D1. Better than D2. Entirely subjective.

Gameplay: Worse than D1. Better than D2.

Graphics: Better than D1. Better than D2.

Interface: Worse than D1. Worse than D2. Takes some getting used to and the task bar needs to be much bigger.

Items: Better than D1. Worse than D2. Most items just increase stats and only a few have interesting modifiers.

Longevity (will you still be playing in 2007?): Better than D1 (contentious, I know). Better than D2.

Maturity: Credit card required for play, which is weeding out 50% of the bad apples. Better than D1. Better than D2. But still not great.

Monsters: Worse than D1. Better than D2.

Quests: Better than D1. Better than D2. Caveat – none of these games are known for their atmospheric, storytelling quests.

Sound: Better than D1, mostly. Better than D2.

Strategy: Worse than D1. Better than D2.

Support (customer service): Better than D1. Better than D2.

Tactics: Worse than D1. Better than D2.

Trading: Very good auction system. Better than D1. Better than D2.

Updates (frequency of new content): Better than D1. Better than D2. Assuming, of course, that they’re not lying.

So, WoW gets 11 of my 1st place votes (out of 20), 8 of my 2nd place votes, and 1 of my 3rd place votes. Rating compared to other games out there, A. Rating compared to Blizzard action RPGs, B+.

Hope that helps, and I also hope the classic lovers don’t start a flame war.
:P

[--Pete]

Hi,

Very nice analysis and summary. With one nit (below), based on the beta experience I pretty much agree. As soon as some other things in RL settle to a low(er) roar, I plan to put together two new game machines and Magi and I will be joining the lurker horde (OK, maybe more like 'mob').

Interface:  Worse than D1.  Worse than D2.  Takes some getting used to and the task bar needs to be much bigger.
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Unless Blizzard's policy has changed, the interface can be almost completely modified. If this is still the case, a search for UI mods may lead you to fixes for most of your problems.

--Pete

[Treesh]

Unless Blizzard's policy has changed, the interface can be almost completely modified.  If this is still the case, a search for UI mods may lead you to fixes for most of your problems.
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They haven't changed their policy about UI mods. They are still allowed. They have changed how some things work to cut down on UI mods being used as exploits, but you can still modify your UI in a great number of ways.

For what it's worth (and basically completely off-topic), Horizons had the best user interface I've ever used. Too bad the game couldn't match the quality of the UI, but eh.

[Phyloxerra]

Howdy all,

Thanks guys for all of the input, especially yours Cryptic. Awesome job on that analysis. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a new comp/get the game. It just looks like so much fun, I don't think I can contain myself any longer. Maybe during my midday break tommorow I'll run to the store and pick it up. Once again thank you to all, I hope to run into you in the world of Azeroth.


Scotty

[whyBish]

Realistically, about $0.17 an hour unless I go on vacation or take a weeklong break.  So unless you’re broke, you’d have to be against the *principle* of paying for a game, not the *amount*, to consider WoW a bad deal.
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Nice analysis, just a comment on my own situation:

If I were to buy it I'd have to trump up the cash for a new machine just for that game (like I did for D2, and haven't done since ...). If I don't like the game that is a big amount of money to waste... I could buy a 15year subscription to tennis instead.

The other two minor factors that (for me personally) go against it are the lack of moddability, and the usual Blizzard lack of info on game mechanics (which can only be investigated through trial and error for WoW, and results may change at any time without warning, no-one noticing unless the tests are redone)

[Wiccan]

Snippets taken from Cryptic { Will explain later down below}

1. Support (customer service): Better than D1. Better than D2.

2. Updates (frequency of new content): Better than D1. Better than D2. Assuming, of course, that they’re not lying.

3. Maturity: Credit card required for play, which is weeding out 50% of the bad

4. Longevity (will you still be playing in 2007?): Better than D1 (contentious, I know). Better than D2.

5. Addictiveness: High. Better than D1. Better than D2. Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of individual taste!

6. Depth (interesting complexity): Lots of interesting crafts, talents, spells, etc. Better than D1. Better than D2.

Okay Cryptic has gotten me to realize this and why World of Warcraft is slightly better then Diablo1, and 2… some are moot points, but some are the points to the gaming industry making a game worthwhile even though you know its there but just don’t care to understand the points or what not….


1. Support (customer service): Better than D1. Better than D2. {Better be your paying for it, the $$ your giving goes to there paychecks. last i checked they want your hard earned money.}


2. Updates (frequency of new content): Better than D1. Better than D2. Assuming , of course, that they’re not lying.{This again is a reference to your money they want you to come back to play there game, if you don’t pay for it you get updates.. but whenever they wish to fix the problems and announce it will finally come to your HD{1.10 Anyone}I just pray they don’t become like Ever Quest and make countless expansions packs}

3. Maturity: Credit card required for play, which is weeding out 50% of the bad {True, but you failed on the point of the parents prospective of this “The ever loving mommy or daddy getting the game for there child knowing full aware that going to be paying for it."
Christmas season here, which translate into: "How long can i keep him out of my hair till he goes back to school syndrome”}


4. Longevity (will you still be playing in 2007?): Better than D1 (contentious, I know). Better than D2. {How long it last depends on how long you willing to pay for it, new games come along every year….}

5. Addictiveness: High. Better than D1. Better than D2. Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of individual taste!{Could not say it any better myself!}

6. Depth (interesting complexity): Lots of interesting crafts, talents, spells, etc. Better than D1. Better than D2. {I hope so because if it is just like D1 or D2 straight forward level grinding, rune finding boss dropping prized items… its Diablo3 with new races but with the warcraft banner and taste}

Edit: Used word perfect suite on my typing, spelling,context, and grammar

[Malakar]

Since you're buying a new comp for WoW, check this out.