Wrath of the Lich King

[phil_]

Shouldn't there be someone her like "Hey, man, don't gang up on Invisible Queen; that's just her opinion?" Should I be that guy? I don't wanna be that guy. I don't care abour WoW.

[Nikose Tyris]

I'm not ganging up. I'm totally telling her about Warhammer Online. It's a fun game. She should try it if that's her alley.

[Revising Ocelot]

Originally Posted by 01d55

My biggest concern is that World Phasing won't be implemented aggressively, as it is in the DK starting zone. That it wouldn't be used for the little touches - once you kill a named NPC for a quest, you don't see that NPC anymore - and instead be reserved for big events like the one linked above.

I think this kind of phasing shouldn't be implemented for minor quests, actually. There's plenty of stuff that requires more than one person to help. It'd be rather unfair if a high level player wanted to help their low level friend complete group quests but couldn't because phasing is all over the place. Leave it for the major elements.

I play WoW casually, delving into the occasional late-night raid as my schedule won't allow for anything else. Made some decent progress too. I don't think I'll be buying Wrath though, simply because it's extra money on top of the subscription fee (which would have been a major problem if I hadn't stopped playing console games before tinkering with WoW). Then again, Christmas is around the corner, so eh. I got to play the beta at least, so I know I'd enjoy the game if I played it, that's a good advantage.

[Amake]

Originally Posted by Lord Setheris

What would you prefer?

Originally Posted by Invisible Queen

WoW might as well reintroduce Diablo 2's game making lobby and single player mode. . . actually that's a good idea, it might improve the immersion by several magnitudes I think.

Originally Posted by Lord Setheris

And if you really just don't enjoy your experience, I suggest not getting Wrath of the Lich King and quitting.

Originally Posted by Invisible Queen

I do welcome new lands to explore and sights to see.

I try to assume good intentions, but the attitude of your post reads to me like you're upset because I'm disrespecting your beloved game and you're arguing I'm stupid for not liking WoW the same way you do in order to pay me back. So I'm answering your concerns in a snippy manner by quoting my own posts preceding yours. Enjoy.

Everyone else has a good point. The story plays as a single player game and I shouldn't expect the world to be dynamic. But then the question remains, what are they running those massively multiplayer-sized servers for?

[POS Industries]

Because it's a little bit of both. It's a single-player styled storyline operating within the mechanics of a multiplayer game. This is basically because the game didn't really start out this way. There was some sense of a passage of time throughout the first 60 levels before the Burning Crusade expansion, but all in all the basic premise was just, "Okay, you're in the Warcraft universe. Do whatever. It doesn't matter."

With TBC, they decided to emulate what is probably the only appealing feature of Final Fantasy XI: It is incredibly plot-driven. Despite the questionable game mechanics and largely terrible community, FFXI has a devoted following because the players that bothered to get anywhere became enthralled with this grand narrative they'd gotten to be a part of and were on the edge of their seat wanting more. So Blizzard incorporated elements of it into their game.

Basically, the idea is that you and your friends can get together and experience the often-lauded story and encounters of a Warcraft game from the perspective of the units on the ground instead of an omniscient master looking on from above. And so that's WoW.

Also, don't mind Setheris. He's easily excitable and just his own, erm, special little snowflake, I guess.

[Funka Genocide]

I don't like to kid myself, I play so much WoW because I'm addicted to the grind. It's the same reason I played the final fantasies and various other "role playing games". Because I like the orderly acquisition of power in digital format.

I haven't played Warhammer yet, but it seems to be a bit more free wheeling with it's pvp intentions, which of course sounds great on paper but really sounds like it would negatively impact my ORDERLY ACQUISITION OF DIGITAL POWER. I don't want the guy who bought the game a month earlier than me just so that he could rain on my parade to have the ability to... rain on my parade.

To me the concepts of completely open conflict and level based character progression will always be inimical to one another. Someone will always use their powers for evil, and someone will always be left feeling unsatisfied because of said evil.

I think it all boils down to the lowest common denominator. If we wanted absolute parity we would push networking technology a bit further, increase server response time and make combat mechanics reflex based, however that would leave the slower people unable to ever experience the thrill of victory, and so an artificial system of hierarchy is invoked in which everyone can eventually attain similar levels of power so long as they invest enough time in the grind. Thusly introducing free for all type war scenarios would seem contradictory to this overall aim. And yet for the sake of immersion, many would like to "feel" at constant odds with their foes.

So the real challenge of a faction based MMO is to engender the illusion of conflict while allowing all of us slow witted types to go about our ORDERLY ACQUISTION OF DIGITAL POWER.

god I play too much WoW...