04-12-2004, 02:18 PM
Hi,
Well, I've just played a few hours so far, and I haven't leaned much yet. But here are a few answers.
1- Can you have an archer character (like a D1 rogue) in this game? What class(es)?
In the list of talents (skills?) not yet available for my warrior is "bows". But I need to be level 23 (or thereabouts) to get it. I suppose I'll be able to find out more then. On the character screen, there is a slot for ranged weapon. I have no idea, yet, how one goes about switching the active weapon from melee to ranged, or what happens to the shield when one does.
2- More important, could it be viable, or does it get interrupted at short range, or have other problems?
No idea.
3- Are you 'stuck' with the initial restrictions/proficiencies? Can a paladin ever use a bow? Effectively?
From the list of unavailable (because of level) proficiencies, it looks that warriors, at least, can go a few different ways. Too soon to see which of the ways are viable. Magi's rogue is in the same situation and I suspect it is the same for all classes.
4- Does a character belong to a 'guild', or a player (acct) ?
A character may or may not belong to a guild, it is optional. Many of the testers that post on this board belong to the "Lounging Lurkers", primarily as an easy way to communicate with each other. Characters also belong to player accounts, which seem to be set up much like D2 accounts. One account can have multiple (I think 8) characters on it. Whether a player can have multiple accounts with a single monthly fee is not clear yet. And whether the multiple character on one account can "belong" to different servers is not clear, but I think so from some info on the "official" site.
5- Does WoW remind anyone else of Neverwinter Nights?
Never played Neverwinter :)
6- How do you jump?
Space bar -- but the key bindings are re-mappable. Haven't tried yet, so don't know if there are any gotchas like the remapping of "stand in place" in D2, which could be remapped but only worked right if left on the default "Shift".
7- Do Lurker Loungers / Lounging Lurkers have a set time they try to play? Which world/what lvl?
Only one world (or server) in the beta, so that is not an issue. AFAIK, people mostly just play when they have a chance. If there are organized game times, it is not at the LL level.
8- Do most folks try to stick to one character and go further with it, or play several? (I imagine most would give a short test run of a few lvls in each, but after that...)
I tried a couple real quick the first day, just to get a feel (for what, I'm not sure since an hour or so tells you nothing). Since then I've stuck with my boring human male warrior -- seemed the easiest to play to a sufficient level to explore the world with. When he gets up high enough to explore and to test out bows, I might give another class a shot.
9- Does a shield add a blocking percentage, or purely +armor defense?
Blocking is a skill that requires a shield to be active. And a shield does add to the overall armor. Beyond that, I still haven't figured out any details.
10 [edit] - What is the 'instance' system?
I'm not a high enough level to have experienced this yet. Based just on reading: To avoid kill stealing and camping, Blizzard instituted a system by which a party (formal group of up to 5 players) can request a quest. When that quest is granted, an instance (in the programming sense) of the quest area is generated that is only enterable by that group. The quest area has an entrance that is in the MMORPG world, but once the group has crossed that entrance, it is like playing D1 or D2 in a closed game. Now, Blizzard has said that there will be quests that will take hundreds of hours. If one of these is an instanced quest, then I hope that the instanced dungeon is persistent between sessions. More questions than answers at this point.
11 [edit] - How DO you stop the trading (or other) spam?
Somebody told me, but I forgot :( Need to jot hings down on a medium more dependable than my memory.
--Pete
Well, I've just played a few hours so far, and I haven't leaned much yet. But here are a few answers.
1- Can you have an archer character (like a D1 rogue) in this game? What class(es)?
In the list of talents (skills?) not yet available for my warrior is "bows". But I need to be level 23 (or thereabouts) to get it. I suppose I'll be able to find out more then. On the character screen, there is a slot for ranged weapon. I have no idea, yet, how one goes about switching the active weapon from melee to ranged, or what happens to the shield when one does.
2- More important, could it be viable, or does it get interrupted at short range, or have other problems?
No idea.
3- Are you 'stuck' with the initial restrictions/proficiencies? Can a paladin ever use a bow? Effectively?
From the list of unavailable (because of level) proficiencies, it looks that warriors, at least, can go a few different ways. Too soon to see which of the ways are viable. Magi's rogue is in the same situation and I suspect it is the same for all classes.
4- Does a character belong to a 'guild', or a player (acct) ?
A character may or may not belong to a guild, it is optional. Many of the testers that post on this board belong to the "Lounging Lurkers", primarily as an easy way to communicate with each other. Characters also belong to player accounts, which seem to be set up much like D2 accounts. One account can have multiple (I think 8) characters on it. Whether a player can have multiple accounts with a single monthly fee is not clear yet. And whether the multiple character on one account can "belong" to different servers is not clear, but I think so from some info on the "official" site.
5- Does WoW remind anyone else of Neverwinter Nights?
Never played Neverwinter :)
6- How do you jump?
Space bar -- but the key bindings are re-mappable. Haven't tried yet, so don't know if there are any gotchas like the remapping of "stand in place" in D2, which could be remapped but only worked right if left on the default "Shift".
7- Do Lurker Loungers / Lounging Lurkers have a set time they try to play? Which world/what lvl?
Only one world (or server) in the beta, so that is not an issue. AFAIK, people mostly just play when they have a chance. If there are organized game times, it is not at the LL level.
8- Do most folks try to stick to one character and go further with it, or play several? (I imagine most would give a short test run of a few lvls in each, but after that...)
I tried a couple real quick the first day, just to get a feel (for what, I'm not sure since an hour or so tells you nothing). Since then I've stuck with my boring human male warrior -- seemed the easiest to play to a sufficient level to explore the world with. When he gets up high enough to explore and to test out bows, I might give another class a shot.
9- Does a shield add a blocking percentage, or purely +armor defense?
Blocking is a skill that requires a shield to be active. And a shield does add to the overall armor. Beyond that, I still haven't figured out any details.
10 [edit] - What is the 'instance' system?
I'm not a high enough level to have experienced this yet. Based just on reading: To avoid kill stealing and camping, Blizzard instituted a system by which a party (formal group of up to 5 players) can request a quest. When that quest is granted, an instance (in the programming sense) of the quest area is generated that is only enterable by that group. The quest area has an entrance that is in the MMORPG world, but once the group has crossed that entrance, it is like playing D1 or D2 in a closed game. Now, Blizzard has said that there will be quests that will take hundreds of hours. If one of these is an instanced quest, then I hope that the instanced dungeon is persistent between sessions. More questions than answers at this point.
11 [edit] - How DO you stop the trading (or other) spam?
Somebody told me, but I forgot :( Need to jot hings down on a medium more dependable than my memory.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?