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The new expansion is imminent and from what I have experienced as of yet of the new Cataclysm content there has never been a better time to start playing WoW. Blizzard has put in an immense amount of effort into freshen up the world and the things I have seen and the new quests I have done it is top notch so I thought I would do a bit of consumer information to everyone who enjoys CRPG gaming.

I have played most of the CRPGs that has been released in the last decade and although I have enjoyed most of them I have always come back to WoW. Why? Because it is so much better than any other CRPG MMO or not. I played ME2 and enjoyed it, I did most of the things in it and slacked around quite a bit and finished the game at 22h and that is ok I even enjoyed it so much that I had plans on playing it again but then I logged into WoW again and well even after five years and thousands of hours logged in the game it is still more enjoyable than a single player gamed I liked a lot.

The reason I am making this post is that a lot of the people on this board are doing themselves a disservice and are missing out on what is among the best gaming experience ever just because it is a MMO or because you have to pay monthly. Well with the raise of DLCs the monthly fee should not be much of an issue and if you really do not like the idea of being social while gaming it is quite possible to experience a large part of WoW without talking to a single human being while still having a lot of fun.

I like to consider myself as an intelligent rational person and I have given a lot of thought as to why I have spent so much time on this game and the single largest reason I keep coming back to is that it is such a good game. Other games appear as pale ghosts in comparison enjoyable as long as they are new and fresh but lacking the depth and polish of WoW. Other reasons of course are how Blizzard lures you in with new things and manipulate you to keep playing but I don't mind because I am having fun while being manipulated. The social part is of course a big thing, I have some of my best friends in that game people I have known and spent time with for half a decade now.

The Cataclysm expansion is a complete revamp of Azeroth (the basic WoW world) and I have been doing some of the new quests these last few days and just to give you an example as to why I love this game to such an extent that I am here preaching is a quest I encountered when I entered the area known as Hillsbrad Foothills. As always I run up to the quest giver to see what they want of me, seems like they want me to be a quest giver. My quest now is to stand still and wait for people to come get quests from me. Soon enough three NPCs come up one after the other to get quests and they are basically the three kinds of character you can encounter in such an area (the completely new player, the high level character doing low level stuff and the alternative character geared up with all the bling his main character could buy for him ) you give them a quest each and then you are done with your quest. As you continue to quest in Hillsbrad you encounter these three characters in different spots all of them in trouble which you help them with. Just one quest but I was laughing and smiling and having a blast playing the game. Oh and not to mention that there is actually a story while levelling now, it is not only "get to max level asap" but Blizzard is really trying hard to give you a good reason to kill those boars.

So for all of you who enjoys CRPGs but have scorned WoW I tell you, you are robbing yourself of some kickass gaming that put most other gaming to shame and with the release of the new expansion Blizzard has put in a lot of effort into making the level experience for new characters that much more enjoyable so I guess my point is that if you are looking for a game and waiting eagerly for DA2, D2 or ME3 you should give WoW a go. The only downside with the game is that it can be too much fun, it can be too addictive but really, is that a negative? I have learnt how to play the game "normally" as a game and not as a life and nowadays you dont need to play 10h a day to accomplish things, 4h a week can be more than enough.

This message was brought to you buy a former WoW addict and now simply a conniseuor of good gaming. Or something.

Edit: Think I can make Blizzard pay me for this post?

 

I smell a commission!

 

There are people that will NEVER be satisfied with anything for long, and a lot of the negative rep WoW has received is due to those people. No amount of reasoning with such a person is going to help, instead they'll just get even more adamant in their conviction that it's gotta be the worst game ever.

But what happens is that those people find a glimpse of hope on the 'Net in the form of a new flashy title and flock there with the other like-minded. They play like mad while the freshness still lasts, giving praise left and right, doing long laundry lists in how things are better in this new game. And when the freshness factor dies on them, they'll quit.

Only to return to WoW.

About half of my current guild is such players. Myself included. Okay, minus the "bashing WoW" part, but I took an 18 month break.

There are games that are better in one or maybe two aspects. Diablo is better if all you wanna do is to rack up body count fast. Icewind Dale 2 is better if you want to be able to control the tactics for several characters at once, a.k.a pause. Baldur's Gate has better connection between the big picture lore and what your character is doing most of the time.

But there's no other game (yet!) that can be made to suit my personal needs and wants is such a huge variety of situations. Relaxation? Go fishing. Action? Try to break my personal record in how many mobs I can kill at once. Tactics? Partake in a raid. Puzzle? Optimize a path for the dozen quests I just received from a group of NPCs. Adventure? Wall exploit/gfx glitch into areas that you're not SUPPOSED to get to. Drunken stupor? Troll the trade chat. Semi-afk activity while taking care of baby? Scan the Auction House for bargains.

That's a tall order to beat. Like, ever.

 

/Me raises hand/

I tried a free trial of WoW years ago. And while I liked it, it didn't have the WOW factor (no pun intended) that I expected from what I had heard from others. In other words, I think my expectations were too high. I didn't like interacting with other characters, because most characters - just like pretty much everyone else in the real world - are jerks. No offense to all the SP members, but you guys are the exception to the rule. I have no real interest in interacting with other people in a game, when I know there's a better than 90% chance I won't like you, and won't enjoy interacting with you. Which I guess makes me a jerk, but whatever.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is if I am going to pay a monthly fee to play a game, it has to be a game I really enjoy playing. And from the 20 or so free hours I got from the trial, I didn't love it - I just thought it was OK. Therefore even though the monthly fee was modest, I said "thanks but no thanks".

 

You don't have to talk to people if you don't want. I rarely ever say a bloody thing in dungeons or whatever. Just get on with the business at hand. I do notice that players are lower levels do tend to be a bit more 'aimless' and talk more. That does my head in, because they're usually idiots.

Whilst I don't like the addictive side of WoW (I definitely monitor how 'into it' I get!) I think it's certainly worth giving a fair crack of the whip, as it's got a lot to offer.

 

So you spent 20h on something you didn't love? Tastes differ and the game has changed a lot now but if you absolutely don't want to interact with people socially when you play then a MMO is probably not for you even if it is possible to squeese out a few thousand hours without interacting with other humans. One tip could be to start on an RP server the rules of behaviour are stricter there.

For me WoW wow factor is something that has grown on me, when I first started playing I was mostly just spending time between finishing my studies and getting a job. Then I stepped away from the computer three years later 20kgs heavier and without a job. I still didn't really get the wow factor until I started playing other games and then especially Dragon Age and Fallout3 good games but they made WoW look really really awesome. You get value for that monthly fee, if of course you enjoy it and play.

 

Don't get me wrong, I liked WoW, I just didn't LOVE it. I tried the free trial (two of them actually, each 10hrs long, once when the game first came out, and then the second some years later). And with that much time playing, I thought I was able to form a decent opinion of the game.

For me, 20hrs isn't that long of a time. I game for a few hours each week, so 20 hrs is not even a month. I spent way more than 20 hrs on Starcraft II when that came out, just to site an example. I wouldn't even want to guess how many hours I spent on BG and BGII - seriously, I've played through that game with dozens of different combinations of characters.

 

You don't get very far in WoW with 20h played either so I could say that you haven't given it a chance but that wouldn't be fair. A game that doesn't hook you in the first 20 hours probably isn't for you even if 97% of the game still remains. They have streamlined everything now though so I would venture to guess that the vast majority of things you didn't love are now changed.

I also spent loads of hours on BG and BG2 but in hindsight I think that was as much due to lack of options as them being great games. Now I have the money to buy any game I want while time is a bit more lacking and I keep getting surprised at how fast I return to WoW and how much fun I have which is why I am here preaching the gospel according to Blizzard.

 

Nah, no need for the gospel either. If anything, that's just going to get people's expectations too high and expect nirvana from the word go.

As much as I like to taste all sorts of mysterious sorts of tea (why hello there Rooibos, After Eight Mix and Indian Chae), nothing but Earl Grey has the property of me falling back to it time after time again. Nothing flashy, nothing fancy, just effin' good tea, that's all. I guess since I didn't get fed up on it after the first 1,000 litres (yes, a cubic meter - about 1-2 year's consumption by my standards), the next 1,000 l won't either. Just keep it comin'.

Same with games and WoW.

 

@OP, I thought you're going to comment how Cataclysm ads are chasing me all over the net.

Damn Google and their re-marketing list. One visit to battle.net and you're chased by dragons all over the place.

 

Odd signature you have there but your post gives me the chance to update.

I am having the most fun I have had in WoW for years. I am playing with good friends, the content is very well balanced and raiding is a joy again. That feeling of achieving things as a group as you get when you and nine friends beat some monster after a few hours of trying is damn nice. I can see where people are coming from when you say that you do not want to play with others and want to be able to control your gaming alone but the reward of giving up that independence can be well worth it. When you join a raid you committ to a few hours of gaming with minimal afkness but how is that different from playing football with your friends? To leave the goal as a goalkeeper to answer a phonecall is frowned upon just as it is frowned upon to leave a raid in the middle of something.