World of Warcraft: Worth starting now?

Laguna

Hey there, I was thinking of picking up World of Warcraft when I hopefully have broadband access in early september (according to www.permanet.ie, won't hold my breath though, I'd suffocate) and was wondering as it's not really a new game anymore and with the Warhammer MMORPG about to take its bow in the near future, is it still worth getting for someone just starting out?. I ask this as we all know what happens to these games when they've been out a while, everyone else is already level 60, folks aren't interesting in hand holding or helping out a new player to the game as they're more concerned with clan ****e.. general stuff like that.. what do you guys reckon?..

Another question is, I had a bad experience with Guild Wars (got it when it came out) and felt it was a poor enough game and was let down by a non friendly user base (i.e. no one helped/talked/co-operated with each other on the same level that I've experienced, say, playing EQII or Phantasy Star Online), my question is, is WoW a better experience than Guild Wars overall in this respect (community)?.

Thanks for your help guys, depending on the feedback here, you just might see Laguna strolling around Azeroth come September time!.

rainbow kirby

Well I only started 2 months ago, and I've really enjoyed it so far Which server you choose will determine a lot though. If you're on one of the older servers, you're going to have a very 60-heavy population and very few lower levels. On one of the newer servers (Kilrogg - my server, Aerie Peak, Jaedenar, Vek'nilash etc), you're going to have more people around the lower end of things and guilds only starting to make big raiding progress. I will also say that my server has a wonderful community, and most people I've met have been very friendly.

jonnybadd

Yeah its very worth starting if you have the time. Its like crack. But like was mentioned try pick one of the recommended or low population servers and there'll be a good few new people starting out and also older players rolling alternate characters.

tman

i started playing a couple of weeks back and i'm finding it to be an enjoyable experience so far.
just make sure that you pick a realm with plenty of boardsies and you should be fine. (i think they're planning on migrating to a new one soon)
but in fairness it's been different for me, i've started playing it with a mate who rolled a new character at the same time as me, so it's obviously going to be more fun playing with someone you know in rl. (plus he keeps dropping in with his level 60 char and topping me up with goodies:p )

seamus

Laguna wrote:

I ask this as we all know what happens to these games when they've been out a while, everyone else is already level 60, folks aren't interesting in hand holding or helping out a new player to the game as they're more concerned with clan ****e.. general stuff like that.. what do you guys reckon?..

Not really. Quite often you'll manage to find a group for a dungeon who have a 60 along helping them. This is great with the lower dungeons as the 60 just annihilates everything.

People are also constantly joining and creating new characters - even on older servers there's rarely a shortage of lower levels to group with (except for late at night on certain nights).
If you manage to get in with a guild, you'll be surprised to find loads of people at level 60 who log on purely to chat with their guildmates - if you ask the guild "Is anyone free to give me a hand in...." you'll get a 60 who's not actually doing anything who'll pop over and give you a hand.

As tman says, it's also useful if you manage to start with someone who already has a 60, but wants to start another character. If you check the WoW board you'll see that a few of us have already created new characters to eventually set up a boards guild. You can jump in there and we'll give you a hand. I'm not on all the time, so you'd quickly catch up with me

layke

WoW is a lot more user friendly imo, i've always been helped out by numerous people. Besides, feel free to join TS with myself or a few of the lads and we'll help you out. The tool tips are quite handy too but the majority of things in wow will be explained by other players.
Wow is constantly changing and getting updated with new quests and better game architecture, thats how an MMORPG stays alive. There is an expantion pack due out in November so you may want to get your level 60 character asap.

koneko

Merged the two threads.

amp

[Moved avec re-direct from Games.]

I'm still enjoying the WoW, currently my main is just gone 50 and I'm raising a healthy crop of alts. A lot of people when becoming a highbe, yearn for those days when quests were easy and a couple of them would level you up. And it's a good idea to pick a different side/race and profession which can make it an different experience.

I'd give it a go, sure there's a free trial available I think.

Edit: Damn, your fast Koneko

Manach

I've picked up the PC Zone sampler WoW DVD and started playing since last Fri. So far very enjoyable, and it helps that I know a few people online already, for advice and some backup. Definitely will be staying on after the trial period. Though I wish there was on off-switch as I need to get up for work most mornings.

Sidane

I've toyed with the idea of getting into WoW as well, but can't see what the big attraction of it is?

I played the beta for a couple of hours and was bored out of my tree in no time. From what I could see the game consisted mostly of running around looking for monsters, killing them, picking up their gear, run around some more, kill more monsters, get more stuff, rinse and repeat until you level up.

As i said, only spent a couple of hours doing that so I presume there's more to the game.....there must be if it is so damn popular.

Anyone care to elaborate on what makes WoW so special?

Evac101

Two words Sidane:

LEET EPIX!!11one!

Uhm, more seriously, there are some very entertaining quest lines (Are We There Yeti being my favourite by far, RARR!!!), challenging puzzles (which is how I describe PvE instancing) and, over time, a fairly enjoyable social aspect to the game. In my case I live in Dublin but play WoW with two old friends, one in Cork and the other in London

slade_x

http://wow-europe.com/en/serverstatus/

Blizzard recommends that you choose a realm denoted by a blue arrow to create a new character

zekiel

I recommend Eonar.. its fairly new and has a low/medium population.. horde side you will find a few irish players