Flagship - The Independent Magazine for Gamers

Ok no-one has posted in here so Ill make a first post, and make it on obvious game. World of Warcraft.

Wow dosnt really need any Introduction by me. Its the Biggest and Best MMORPG Out there.

It is a very compelling very addictive game. The social side of it is also Amazing.

I created a Character called Putridflesh, An Undead Rogue and set forth into Azeroth. Since I was undead I started an undead only guild which was sworn to protect the undead leader the Dark Lady Sylvanas Windrunner. This guild grew to large numbers and we spent many many nights raiding the various dungeons and instances that are in the game.

The professions available your character are unmatched in any game I have seen, Alchemy, Leather Working, Blacksmith, Enchanter, Tailoring, Jewelcrafting, and Engineering. My character opted for alchemy mastery.

Having took my Character from Level 1 to Level 70, I have to say whilst the game is amazing and great fun it does become at the later stages world of Grindcraft. Later on your not so much playing as just grinding... just playing to get Reputation or working towards getting more pvp points for another better item.

I have found myself bored of it now.. and dont play My character any more. I can see why Blizzard have Done the Burning Crusade expansion and why more expansions are planned.

Having said this if your new to the game, and have a LOT of time to throw away, I would give Wow a Huge recommendation.

John May.

I will include a picture of my Rogue if the website can handle it.

I started WoW back on March 2005, and I am still hooked. I could write a book on it, but for the purposes of this thread, I can make a short summary to those who do not know the game.

Category : MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game - more about MMOEPGs here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG).

Theme : Fantasy-role playing, set up by the World of Warcraft series and story line
Cap Level : 70
Factions : Alliance, Horde
Classes : Warrior, Paladin, Priest, Mage, Warlock, Druid, Rogue, Shaman, Hunter
Races: Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Drenai (alliance) Orcs, Trolls, Undead, Tauren, Blood Elves (Horde)

As in all MMORPG, progression of your character is the issue. There are thousands of quests, multiple factions, many territories and multiple Dungeons to explore. The game usually hooks up the leveling player with a vast variety of options of a living and breathing world, and the many players around to interact with, and make 5 men parties for the various dungeons (called instances) of the world. The PvP (Player versus player) option and the ongoing struggle between Alliance and Horde gives another parameter that excites players, but it is mainly the PvE (Player vs Environment) content that make it such a good game.

May I also note here, that although it is a great game while still leveling and exploring, World of Warcraft’s main success was the ability to retain the interest of players even after maxing out their level. Personally, due to limited time it took me 5 months to get to level 60, and another 1 and a half month to get to 70 in the expansion. So out of the over 2 and a half years of playing, only about 6 months of them I was leveling, the rest of the time I playing at max level. (I know people who have gone from level 1 to 70 in 2 weeks, to give you an estimate of the speed if you can afford doing nothing but playing)

So what do you do when you reach max level ? Here is where I disagree with my friend Squiggymonster above, once you reach max level, its “Raiding” time.

Raids in WoW mean large numbers of players (ranging from 10 to 40, but typically 25 in the expansion) gathering in an organized force and trying to explore the hardest dungeons of the game. The monsters/end bosses of such instances need strategies and specific raid compositions/consumables/tactics/talents/gear build etc, making it a real challenge to coordinate many players to achieve a common goal. There are long pages and whole websites dedicated to plans and discussion on how to progress in such instances, and it takes a lot of effort to defeat a boss, before proceeding to defeat the next one deeper in the dungeon.

Those bosses drop extra powerful equipment, that the characters can use to increase their stats and therefore progress to the next more difficult Dungeon. The grinding Squiggymonster mentions does happen indeed, but you mostly do it in order to make money to maintain the expenses of you characters in raids (in potions/scrolls/flasks/gems/enchants/regents/repair costs etc) so that you can raid again. Of course there are other ways to make money as well, and they mainly come from your proffesions and the loot you acquire in dungeons. (As I play a healing class, I cannot kill fast, and therefore I almost never grind at all. I make money by selling what I make with my professions.)

Other than raiding, the game also has a very good PvP system, both indoor (Arena, Battlegrounds) and outdoor, and you can engage in combat with other players with many rewards (which is a whole different game than PvE)

Furthermore, after the Burning Crusade expansion, there are instances for smaller guilds with only 10 players, or heroic versions of the same 5 men instances for even greater challenge (and rewards).

If you ask me for the pros and cons I would say

Pros : Good graphics, good player communication, good game support, extremely good game play, balanced races/classes/skills, long life before becoming boring, continual updates/game fixes/new instances/new content.

Cons: Can be very addictive and make people spend a lot of time on it, and it can become boring if not in an organized guild after some time. Also some of the new MMORPGs coming up (Like Conan Online and Warhammer) have features WoW has not (yet) developed like destructible buildings, the ability for players to make their own buildings/cities, naval battles etc

If you try a google search you will find virtually tens of thousands of websites dedicated to the game, giving information, selling gold, helping players, guild sites etc. The economy & support behind the game is not big, it is massive, and WoW is rather a phenomenon of our time rather than a simple game. Current player base is over 8 million players, and continues to break all records in online gaming, succeeding in introducing to the gaming world players who have never played anything before.

Overall, WoW substituted PBEM and many computer games for me, because after some time you make many friends and like to hang in there chatting, fighting, exploring or making money. It is easy to log in and play when you come back from work and always find someone online to play with you, and the open ended content means you can set your own objectives and play at your own pace.

I will eventually get bored of WoW of course, but as my first online MMORPG it opened my eyes to just how easy it can be to play at a very low cost (13 euros a month – I used to spend as many for a single PBM turn in the past) at any time and I guess I will remain in online gaming for a good while.

I have thousands of screenshots, but only give you a sample below

My character is in Silvermoon EU server

Ack a bubble boy! this explains much

J.

Squiggymonster Wrote:Ack a bubble boy! this explains much

Haha, especially the fact that rogues can rarely beat us

Few classes can. Thats why Alliance and bubble boys are hated so.

Maybe the hatred died down a little since Horde now have loladins, but not much :-)

J.