A ? re WoW an endgame . . .

[Attika]

I’ve been reading the WoW Beta reports with interest, and have a question.

Is there some “end-game” finale to the game or to a particular land mass or continent or island? Or to the game itself? In Classic D we had to kill Diablo, and in D2 there was the big boss finale at the end of each act. Is there anything comparable in WoW? Or do the quests simply get harder and harder, and you level up your character to be able to take on those more difficult quests.

Or is there some mega-boss or mega-horde at the end of the toughest quest you can undertake?

Or is this simply unknown at this time?

Attika

[--Pete]

Hi,

The idea behind MMORPG is that it is an alternate world where you live through an avatar. A way to spend lots of time that you would otherwise waste reading trash fiction, watching TV, or playing other games. Just as in the real world, there is always something else to do (at least in the ideal case).

Now, Blizzard has said that they plan to keep adding content, and that there will be some "lifetime" quests. Whether they do, and whether the content they add is enough to keep people playing remains to be seen. However, from what I've seen of the world so far, it looks like one can play there for a year or more and still be finding new things.

But, if you are looking for a reason for your avatar to exist, sorry. MMORPG as just as existential as the Real World. After all, if there were an "end", the gods wouldn't be able to collect their $10 a month forever. And we all know what happens when gods get hungry ;)

--Pete

[Cryptic]

Apocalyptic endgames are quite rare in MMORPGs; you'll usually only find them if the "2" version of the game has been announced (cough).

I do know that the Blizzard development team has been watching the high-level success of DAoC, because there, the "endgame" is what everyone shoots for and plays constantly, and the endgame never ends.

There, they've established that there are three warring realms, constantly at war with one another. So they battle it out, in huge epic confrontations; gains by faction A could result in story changes for that realm, additional territory, etc. (That's theoretical; it's been so long since I've played DAoC that I don't know if that was ever implemented.)

Basically, think of PvP that's voluntary only, with a couple dozen enemies and a couple dozen allies. It's pretty fun if you have the bandwidth.

This seems very likely to appear in WoW to me, since we've seen the "World," and none of the "Warcraft."

So that's one option ... I bet they'll also have a few level 60 epic quests that take weeks to complete as well.
B)

[Bolty]

Unfortunately with the beta *so far*, we can only speculate on an end game.

If Blizzard does not, by the end of the beta, start opening up more "end game" possibilities, then it's buyer beware. We'll only have their word that things will remain interesting once you reach an uber state. Level 35 (the current cap) is not uber. What's the highest level monster anyone has seen in the beta?

-Bolty

[BEEFMOTRTON]

There are level 90 Treants walking about the Night Elf lands :)

Plus, there is Arthas/The lich king to deal with, though the continent he's on isn't in the game yet. Most likely that'll be added in an expansion.

They have announced that players will be able to open the dark portal, and once this is done, all players on the server will be able to access Outland where the blood elves fled.

So all in all, plenty of possibilities, we'll see what they end up doing with them.

[Tal]

Level 100 on a NPC - it should hold that critters could get that big.

[Drasca]

Level 100 on a NPC - it should hold that critters could get that big.

or higher. I've been in the now dead Earth and Beyond, and the level of the mobs easily exceeded the maximum levels of the players at high ends. Then it became an equipment and organization game. Also profit... PROFIT! I made and lost big money, bought big artificts there, and participated in the big events that could be mind numbing. I have no doubts that the character leveit limit certainly isn't the monster level limit.