Monday, February 14, 2005
WOW!
WoW ... World of Warcraft. The best MMORPG I've played. Granted, I've played only Asheron's Call 2 and beta-tested EQ2. Still ... it's the best!
A lot has been commented on the graphics seeming "lo-tech". For example, EQ2 made a big deal about how their game was developed with future tech in mind. This is a noble concept, but it also means that most people with average systems are not going to be able to enjoy the game. I suffered massive lags and load times, even when I reduced the graphics options. WoW has amazing landscapes that really seem lush and vibrant. Kudos to their art teams! Each race has their own unique look - humans for example live in a very medieval forested landscape. Dwarves live in a frozen tundra. Taureans (high minotaurean creatures) live in open praries (their artworks resemble Native American). The Foresaken live in a gothic nightmare. It's beautiful!
The gameplay is very simple. Most common actions have dedicated hotkeys. The most frustrating thing I've encountered about gameplay so far has been my multiple deaths. Death in WoW is handled beautifully. There is no penalty for death, except for time. When you die, your spirit appears at a graveyard in the nearest village, and you begin a long trek back to your body. When you come close to your body, you can "re-enter it" and take control. There's no loss of XP. equipment, or money.
Money is a bit of a doozy though. It's not very easy to come by. I've slaved and slaved with my mage - put in perhaps 7 hours in all - and racked up about 30sp. Now that can buy you a lot of low-end gear, some pieces of mid-level gear, but a tabbard (that's a piece of clothing you wear to identify your guild) costs 1gp (thats 100sp). To form your own guild and design your own tabbard, you need 10gp (1000sp). So I guess this means you really have a sense of accomplishment when you get a new weapon or spell, etc. ... but the flip-side is that you can get frustrated with the process of accumulating so much wealth. A new feature in WoW is the ability to get mounts at level 40 ... training to ride costs 10gp and a mount itself costs 40gp. Thats a LOT of money! But it looks oh, so cool!
I've got 3 characters right now. My primary character is a (currently) 11th-level human mage, my second is a 7th-level dwarven fighter, and my third is a 7th-level taurean druid. The only reason I have so many is that I wanted to get a look at the other characters and artwork. The taurean look is gorgeous!
Anyway, to heck with Halo 2. WoW rocks!
A lot has been commented on the graphics seeming "lo-tech". For example, EQ2 made a big deal about how their game was developed with future tech in mind. This is a noble concept, but it also means that most people with average systems are not going to be able to enjoy the game. I suffered massive lags and load times, even when I reduced the graphics options. WoW has amazing landscapes that really seem lush and vibrant. Kudos to their art teams! Each race has their own unique look - humans for example live in a very medieval forested landscape. Dwarves live in a frozen tundra. Taureans (high minotaurean creatures) live in open praries (their artworks resemble Native American). The Foresaken live in a gothic nightmare. It's beautiful!
The gameplay is very simple. Most common actions have dedicated hotkeys. The most frustrating thing I've encountered about gameplay so far has been my multiple deaths. Death in WoW is handled beautifully. There is no penalty for death, except for time. When you die, your spirit appears at a graveyard in the nearest village, and you begin a long trek back to your body. When you come close to your body, you can "re-enter it" and take control. There's no loss of XP. equipment, or money.
Money is a bit of a doozy though. It's not very easy to come by. I've slaved and slaved with my mage - put in perhaps 7 hours in all - and racked up about 30sp. Now that can buy you a lot of low-end gear, some pieces of mid-level gear, but a tabbard (that's a piece of clothing you wear to identify your guild) costs 1gp (thats 100sp). To form your own guild and design your own tabbard, you need 10gp (1000sp). So I guess this means you really have a sense of accomplishment when you get a new weapon or spell, etc. ... but the flip-side is that you can get frustrated with the process of accumulating so much wealth. A new feature in WoW is the ability to get mounts at level 40 ... training to ride costs 10gp and a mount itself costs 40gp. Thats a LOT of money! But it looks oh, so cool!
I've got 3 characters right now. My primary character is a (currently) 11th-level human mage, my second is a 7th-level dwarven fighter, and my third is a 7th-level taurean druid. The only reason I have so many is that I wanted to get a look at the other characters and artwork. The taurean look is gorgeous!
Anyway, to heck with Halo 2. WoW rocks!
