FOFC WoW Group?

[The_herd]

Intro is freakin' awesome. Going to character creation now.

[superbama]

Server?

[The_herd]

I'm on the PvP server Mal' Garin...or something like that. I'm a Dwarf Warrior.

First impressions: unbelievable. Really smooth launch. No problems whatsoever. No lag. It took me about 2 seconds to get over the Cartoonish graphics. The game looks beautiful and is very user friendly. Quests are fun and worthwhile, too. Great game so far.


EDIT: Character's name is Kurigan for those that go for the PvP server.

[Calis]

Ok, my maybe has become a "yes, I now have it in my hands."

Installing now, some friends plan on playing on one of the Mountain Time servers, so I'll be picking one of those out.

[Anthony]

i looked at some screen captures of the game, and yes the game is cartoony, but...

they're very good graphics. almost to the point of like you're in a cartoon show and you're manipulating the characters. the character models look great in the mold of that cartoon show turned video game about a knight. Dragon Slayer i think the name was.

i could see the cartoony graphics not being a prob with me at all. they aren't any more cartoony than CoH. the environments looks awesome from the pics i saw.

i'm going to do some laundry tonite with the wife, then trade in some games and get WoW soon thereafter. i'll be on for a long time from about 9pm till whenever. i'll post the server i'm on as soon as i get that info, but like blacky it's most suredly gonna be a PvE server.

[Calis]

Actually from reading a little bit, it appears to me that the PvP server doesn't work ala a UO PvP server, it looks like it works more like a modified Dark Age of Camelot normal server.

Looks like the Horde or Alliance take over zones, so you're relatively safe in your own territories, neutral territories where most of the fighting would take place, and you're in hot water if you go to the other side.

Now if this is the case, I'd much rather do a PvP server. PvE does get boring after a while, but completely random PvP is a bigger headache imo. Anyone verify how this works exactly? Gonna snoop around some more and see if I can figure out for sure.

Sheesh, from looking at their main page, they opened 40 servers up today?! Step aside EQ. I've been very anxious to see just how many people buy this one. It won't be Lineage(crazyiness) numbers, but it should be impressive.

[The_herd]

Originally Posted by Calis

Actually from reading a little bit, it appears to me that the PvP server doesn't work ala a UO PvP server, it looks like it works more like a modified Dark Age of Camelot normal server.

Looks like the Horde or Alliance take over zones, so you're relatively safe in your own territories, neutral territories where most of the fighting would take place, and you're in hot water if you go to the other side.

Now if this is the case, I'd much rather do a PvP server. PvE does get boring after a while, but completely random PvP is a bigger headache imo. Anyone verify how this works exactly? Gonna snoop around some more and see if I can figure out for sure.

Sheesh, from looking at their main page, they opened 40 servers up today?! Step aside EQ. I've been very anxious to see just how many people buy this one. It won't be Lineage(crazyiness) numbers, but it should be impressive.

Yeah, you fight for control over areas. The lvl 20 and below areas are pretty much safe. But the higher level zones are what you fight for control over. There's also a fairly in-depth honor system to discourage killing those that way lower than you. High honor gives you access to special shop keepers, ect. It is in no way a free for all from what I've read.

PvE gets old for me very fast. I just can't do it.

If anyone jumps on a PvP server in the Central Time zone, I'm on Mol' Garin (something like that) and having a blast with my dwarf warrior.

[Calis]

Originally Posted by The_herd

Yeah, you fight for control over areas. The lvl 20 and below areas are pretty much safe. But the higher level zones are what you fight for control over. There's also a fairly in-depth honor system to discourage killing those that way lower than you. High honor gives you access to special shop keepers, ect. It is in no way a free for all from what I've read.

PvE gets old for me very fast. I just can't do it.

If anyone jumps on a PvP server in the Central Time zone, I'm on Mol' Garin (something like that) and having a blast with my dwarf warrior.

Awesome, I'm going PvP then for sure. We'd planned on playing on Deathwing on Mountain, but I'd only talked to one other person, so we might come over to that one.

[Anthony]

I've now heard enough to make joining up on a PvP serve tonite. if it gets silly i can always switch back. i guess if herd is in "Mol' Garin" and Calis will be joining up, i might as well have a looksy myself. i wish i bought the game during lunch so i could have read the manual on the commute home.

[Calis]

Ok, I've joined Mal'Ganis...

I'll either be on as Tacitus or Calis...one is a NE Rogue, and the other is a Gnome Rogue. I can't decide yet!

I won't be on for a little while, but I expect for the next week I'll be spending a lot of time there.

[sabotai]

I just got back from GameSpot. I got the last one.

I told my friends I'd play with them tonight so you won't see me on the server you guys joined (Mal'Ganis). I figured I'd wait until an organized group formed up or something. Dunno how you guys did it with CoH.

[Anthony]

what server are you going to be on sabotai?

[sabotai]

Server name is Lothar (an East server)

[Blackadar]

Ditto Sabotai - what server?

This is taking freakin' forever to load on my machine.

[sabotai]

Still installing...disc 3....SLLLLOOWWWW installation.

[Calis]

Yeah, longest frigging install I've ever seen.

Then you get to DL the 20 meg patch for the patcher, and then patch the game.

[sabotai]

On disc 4....

[Calis]

Hmm, think I'll end up playing on Deathwing on Mountain instead of Mal'Ganis afterall.

Mal'Ganis went up in Pop quick, and now it's about a 15-20 minute wait for my friend to get in, so we'll prolly end up switching over.

[sabotai]

Downloading the patch now. Hope I can get into Lothar. Haven't decided what I'll start out as. Either a Dwarf Hunter or a Night Elf Druid.

[sabotai]

Ok, I'm on Lothar (Low population, Eastern Time). My char is Sabotai, a Night Elf Druid. I'm heading in. Bye for the next month.

[Blackadar]

I'm also on Lothar (and like Sabotai, a Night Elf - but a Warrior). Made it to level 6 tonight before I got tired and some motion sickness (to be expected).

[Blackadar]

public thanks to Sabotai for helping me out!

[sabotai]

No Prob Blackie

[Critch]

I was also on Lothar (I think). Critch the Dwarf, Level 7 Warrior. Impressed so far, but I'll have to work out how to block the General chat. Too many "How do I do this quest?" type questions. I suffered no lag at all, which is pretty impressive and will hopefully still be true as the servers get busier. Only real problem I've had with WoW so far was finding it in Best Buy as they'd hidden it away from the other games, only noticed it as I was about to give up and leave the store.

Tomorrow will be an early leaving work day, so a whole afternoon as a dwarf sounds like a nice plan.

[Blackadar]

See on this afternoon, Critch.

[Calis]

I might fiddle around on Lothar a bit this afternoon as well.

Critch- Just right click on the chat tab and you can go in and turn on/off all the channels.

Had a blast last night playing though and got my little Gnome Warlock up to 8th lvl.

[Anthony]

i'm getting the game today. by the time the wife and i were finished doing laundry and eating the only game store around here that sells PC games closed.

it makes no fucking sense. wouldn't it make more sense to open a game store later than usual so that you could stay open past 7pm? you'd have to think there'd be more customers available at that hour than, say, 3 in the afternoon.

the few stores around here that sold gasmes didn't take trade-ins and didn't sell PC games. today is a short work day so i'll have the entire afternoon to get jiggly wit' it.

[Blackadar]

No, you'll have the entire afternoon to install it.

Slowest friggin' install in history.

Let me know when you get on and what your character is.

[Critch]

Calis - thanks for the info. Really should have read the manual, it's good and thick but I'm sure I could have read it from cover to cover during the install. Sloooooow.

[Calis]

Gertbeef is now a Human Paladin on Lothar.

Might reroll him as a Priest, can't decide for certain yet, I should be on here and there most of the day.

[kingnebwsu]

Keep posting guys. I'm curious how this game is. I have zero time to play it now, but down the road I'd like to get into a MMORPG.

[The_herd]

A quick overview so far. I'm a Level 12 Warrior now. The game is so polished its unbelievable, especially when you consider that in this genre games usually take a couple months to reach where they should have been from the start.

Travel- Instead of the clunky horse routes that DAOC has, alliance characters get to use griffons (not sure what the mount is that Horde characters use) and watching them fly is worthwhile just so you can see the terrain. The detail is really smooth-looking and believable too. I expected flight to be a crappy looking, jumpy auto-pilot thing. There is auto-pilot, but you wouldn't really know it by watching the griffons move.

Combat- Easy to learn, but takes a good bit of skill to master. The skills and talents system is great for MMORPGs. Basically, you pay for your skills from your trainer when you reach high enough level to unlock them. Your skills are your basic abilities. Warriors get shouts to help in combat and various other damage enhancing things. You acquire 1 talent point at level 10 and get 1 more for every level after that. Talents are used to enhance your skills and can also add new abilities. I suggest finding a talent tree somewhere online to plan what direction you want to take your character. There are ton of directions you can take your character and it's good to have an idea what type of character you want to make by the time you hit level 15-20. For instance, Warriors can be damage absorbing meatshields, damage doers, or a balance of the 2.

Questing- the best way to get equipment in the game. Also, the experience is worthwhile. I've gotten as much as 20% of a level from one quest (not the norm, but it happened).

PvP- haven't even seen a horde character yet. But just judging from the combat system, skill will be very important in how well you do. Killing a character a few levels higher than you seems well within reason. This is not an UO free-for-all.

Soloing- I've gotten over 90% of my experience from soloing. So soloers should rejoice. I'm only level 12, but not feeling the need to group yet is a big change from other MMO games that cram grouping down your throat.

If you are fan of the Warcraft series and like/interested in MMORPGs, I highly recommend the game based on my experiences so far. Sorry this is rushed, but I wrote this on the way out the door.


EDIT: for those that don't know: hxxp://wowvault.ign.com/

An invaluable resource for the game. Especially if you can't decide what class to be or want to know what talents other classes get. At the bottom of each classes guidbook is a talent calculator.

[Capital]

I thought that the install crashed since the install of the Terrian on the first CD is enormous. It creates the impression that the install was "not responding".

[Calis]

Ok, I lied..my playing on Lothar didn't last long..think I want to stick with a PvP server for now until I know for sure it ain't my thing.

Did however start up a Dwarf Hunter on Deathwing(MTN) as well and have been spending some time working on mining and engineering! Pretty fun, I'm just exploring around now trying to find nodes to mine out of to make bullets for my blunderbuss.

Having fun though, just been doing quests which I much prefer to just "camping" a spawn. It's all rosy now, ask me in a couple weeks and I might hate the game, the wonder of MMORPGs.

[Blackadar]

Critch, you're not on Lothar - or your character is named something different.

[Critch]

Nope, I'm not on Lothar. Wrong server.

Guess I'll start again on Lothar, watch out for Critch the level 1 Dwarf coming to a server near you in the near future.

[Blackadar]

See you there! I'm 9th level now, so I can start to move around the world a bit easier.

[Calis]

What the heck, I'll jump over to Lothar.

No one I know is on Deathwing right now, and I've spent the last half hour fishing over there...not sure I can take much more.

Since Calis is taken I'll be Gertbeef the Dwarven Priest!

[Anthony]

installing now. Lothar it is.

[Blackadar]

Lothar just hit a lag spike. Hope it stops soon.

[Critch]

Is it just me, or has everything gone funny over at World of Warcraft?

Can't retrieve my character list and when I try to change server, no servers show up on the list.

[sabotai]

Pretty much all the servers just halted. The game is down for now.

EDIT: Must have been HA. He did something.

[Critch]

Well that was a disappointing afternoon and no mistake. Hardly got to kill anything.

[Calis]

Yeah I went ahead and went to Lothar to check it out, and ended up making a NE.

Horrible lag, was crazy. Gave up after about 20 minutes or so.

Managed to play on Deathwing some more, seems like the Mountain servers haven't got hit as hard, but now that the others are down people are flocking to them so they're halting now as well.

Sucks to, I had just found a great spot to get trade supplies for my Dwarf.

[The_herd]

Does anyone else think that the time zone servers were a bad idea? I don't want to knock the game too much because this is the smoothest launch of a MMORPG that I know of. But they had to have known this would lead to big problems with population in the East Coast servers.

I have faith in Blizzard, though. They have an excellent reputation for quality work and I'm sure they'll have this fixed as soon as possible.

[The_herd]

Dola

I really hope the general chat spam dies down over time. There seems to be way to many 8 year olds running cursing about lag and then a idiotic freedom of speech argument that I'm sorry to have witnessed. I've had to turn of general chat twice and it sucks because there is some good info there occasionally.

[LionsFan10]

Originally Posted by The_herd

Dola

I really hope the general chat spam dies down over time. There seems to be way to many 8 year olds running cursing about lag and then a idiotic freedom of speech argument that I'm sorry to have witnessed. I've had to turn of general chat twice and it sucks because there is some good info there occasionally.

Can you believe there's idiots on the WoW messageboards that feel they should be compensated for the last two days? Unbelievable, if you've played ANY MMO's since '99 you know how these launches go. And I agree completely that this is the smoothest MMO launch so far, and there's STILL bitching. People just bitch to bitch now-a-days, I think.

[Blackadar]

If it lasts more than a day or two, then I'd expect my free month to be extended. But all in all, it's been pretty smooth until about 3:30 PM today. Then something got awfully slow.

[The_herd]

The 2 MMOs that I've played at launch, EQ and DAoC, were terrible. EQ was a laggy, buggy pile of trash. If it launched like that today, it wouldn't last more than 6 months. DAoC's launch was ok. Not too much lag, but the classes were buggy as hell and Hibernia wasn't even close to being finished. They were running low on cash and had to get the game out in stores and fix as they went. This game is nice. I love it. Just wish I could play it right now.

[Calis]

I actually think Dark Age's launch was slightly better than this, at least from my experience.

It went well yesterday, but today has bad. I've seen too many MMORPG betas and launches to get worked up about it though, it happens..that's a given.

I do think Blizzard will fix things up soon, just a weird deal. The problem wasn't that they didn't have enough servers, they just can't really force people to spread out or there'd be a ton of bitching. Sorting them by Timezones really did make the problem worse though.

I guess it's a good sign that I can't wait for it to get resolved so I can jump in and play again, as I'm having fun. Also the first MMORPG I've been excited about a tradeskill, and spent most of this morning working on it.