Wow

[George Hallam]

Ok i have heard lots about it and there has also been adverts on TV about it..

Is it that good? I've heard it SERIOUSLY addictive..

Anyone able to shed some light please :D

[Ajmukon]

??
What are you talking about?

[Jiggy]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml

[Ajmukon]

That's not Wow, its W.O.W. (all caps)
And yes it is addictive..
have you ever played "WarCraft"
http://www.blizzard.com/war3/ ?
World of Warcraft is based indirectly in that world.

[George Hallam]

Sorry i mean World of Warcraft :p

[TheTree718]

i play for a about 6/7 hours at a time, from 8 am - 2/3 pm, then from 8 pm -3/4 am, but its only on the weekends, and not on sunday cause school on monday. during the week i stick it out and not play at all :-(, i play xbox during the week :-D

[Ajmukon]

You pay to get the CD of the software, then you PAY to PLAY the game- not for me.
(~$120.00 a year)

[odannyboy000]

Ya, I f'ing hate everything about W.O.W. First off, they make you pay a monthly fee to play. That is F'ing BS!!! They do this because kids get addicted to this **** easier that sugar.

I have personally lost a friend to that game. A friend of mine lost his life to the game...he flunked out of college, lost his girlfriend, family, friends....its really sad.

STAY AWAY FROM WOW.

[George Hallam]

Ya, I f'ing hate everything about W.O.W. First off, they make you pay a monthly fee to play. That is F'ing BS!!! They do this because kids get addicted to this **** easier that sugar.

I have personally lost a friend to that game. A friend of mine lost his life to the game...he flunked out of college, lost his girlfriend, family, friends....its really sad.

STAY AWAY FROM WOW.

:eek: i heard some stuff like that... thats why i thought i would ask first

Ok im not playing it... i like my social life :D

P.S. Good to see you back you haven't been around in a while

[saphalline]

That's not Wow, its W.O.W. (all caps)I usually type it as "WoW", but that's just me. I know a lot of players like WOW or W.O.W. or whatever, but that's just me.

You pay to get the CD of the software, then you PAY to PLAY the game- not for me.
First off, they make you pay a monthly fee to play. That is F'ing BS!!!The monthly fees model for MMO's has been around since the beginning. It is the original business model for such games. I understand that some players on the scene these days pre-date the golden oldies like Ultima Online and Everquest (before it got expansion-bloated) but just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it's some evil plot by Blizzard! They're out to make money, just like everyone else. You can disagree with how they do it, but you can't deny the right of any business to try and make money!

I personally like the pay-for model as it gives me a better gaming experience, but that's just my opinion. I tried playing Guild Wars once and gave up after a few hours. And I don't do that often with games! :eek: It was just never clicking for me as a gaming experience. Oh well, I'm only out $50, right? ;)

I have personally lost a friend to that game. A friend of mine lost his life to the game...he flunked out of college, lost his girlfriend, family, friends....its really sad.I'm sorry to hear that. I've heard many such stories, but to be fair it's not limited to WoW. A lot of them are related to online gaming in general, from WoW to Guild Wars to Texas Hold 'Em Poker! You can get addicted to just about any game, so this cannot be used as a generalized hit against WoW in particular. One personal experience can and should shape your ideas and emotions, but there's a fine line between a single personal experience and utter fanaticism!

Everything should be taken in moderation. Fatty foods and WoW alike. It's just a shame that obesity is commonly treated while gaming addictions are not. (Not yet.)


Now, all that being said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend that everyone should run out and buy WoW and play it forever! :p I like the game, but who am I to argue the points presented here? I myself admit to not liking Guild Wars, yet it's a very popular game. It's all personal preference. If you do want to see what it's like, it's easy to just ask a WoW-playing friend (or even a WoW-playing freak at school :D) for a free trial invitation. Or, if you really feel generous, buy a $2 trial CD in a store. You'll see what it's like well enough to know if you'd want it or not.

Just be aware that it is very addicting if you happen to enjoy it, like any other MMO. It can also feel like a second job if you're not careful. You may also feel like everyone else is always going to be superior to you (in the game) unless you join some RAID-loving guild and battle it out with the bosses and against other players in the battlegrounds 24/7. :rolleyes: These are some of the low points of the game, so if you're successful in playing WoW as a casual gamer (as I do) then these aspects of the game won't bother you too much. I play the game to enjoy myself, not to act like a baby with epic gear taunting n00b's with leet speak. :rolleyes: Then again, you can never really get away from that in any MMO...

[George Hallam]

Im going to stick with online FPS for now... and offline RTS like oblivion

I know i will get addicted and im not up for screwing up my education/social by being stuck in my room for longer than i am already..

My brother (who doesn't usually play with PC's hes useless :p) has got addicted to the game "runescape" i played it a few years back but then found other better games :p has anyone else played that?

[Ajmukon]

Saph argued some pretty good points, but it is still 30 dollars to buy the game, another 30 to buy a 60 day timepiece card...
it adds up.. and fast.

if it was lower, like 2 dollars a month... then i might consider buying the game.

i do like online games- i have enjoyed "America's Army"- (free to get, free to play)

[odannyboy000]

I'm with you George. I know I would get addicted, that's why I have stayed away from it. I WON'T let myself play it. That's my personality.

I was addicted to Diablo II for about 6 months, something I'm not proud of. It eats your soul away. I hear WoW is ten times the game that D2 is.

I came on a little strong in my previous post...sorry about that. You can probably tell I'm passionate about this game, especially since my friend lost his soul.

It all comes down to how you can handle game. I personally stick to FPS, because they are very easy to walk away from, and you don't lose anything. It's not like your are earning experience, or trying to get the best equipment, which was my problem with Diablo II...I had to be the best.

Right now I pretty much only play single player games, and TF2. Again, they are easy for me to walk away from.

[saphalline]

but it is still 30 dollars to buy the game, another 30 to buy a 60 day timepiece card...
it adds up.. and fast.Very true. Blizzard is incredibly prolific in adding new content and tweaking the experience (in that sense I feel the money is well-spent) but I wonder if a smaller scale pay-for model would be more appealing, especially since the MMO crowd has expanded in demographic. Perhaps if it were $50 for the game + 3 months free, then just $5/month after that - or something. The content could then be suitably less complex and maintained for the cheaper price, which would be perfectly acceptable to those who are used to games like Guild Wars! :p Well, except for the part about having to pay... but it would still be cheaper than WoW...

It also might appeal more to parents of gamers, which seems to be the growing demographic right now. And the game developers need to pay attention to the young'uns! They are the potential future gamers! It's easy for me to sit here and spout cliches like, "you get what you pay for" (even if I believe it ;)) but what if you can't pay? For a teen who mows lawns to buy games and hardware, how do you support WoW?? I think there's an acceptable middle-ground here, between Guild Wars and WoW, that would be a more desireable balance.

I'm with you George. I know I would get addicted, that's why I have stayed away from it. I WON'T let myself play it. That's my personality.I completely understand. I've known many people like that. My personality works differently. I get engrossed in something new for a little bit - like say, 2 months on average. After that, it gets a bit old and I pull back. Good games keep me coming back for short jaunts here and there. Great games keep me coming back for years and not always short jaunts! :D

StarCraft is one such epic game for me. I've put more hours into that game over the years (wait, no, DECADE now! :eek:) than any other 3 games combined! I fire it up several times a year for a week or so. Then I put it away and leave it alone for months at a time. But because I play it so often and consistently, it's a permanent resident on my HDD. ;) Kinda weird, too, since I suck at RTS's! (I cheat. :D)

Oblivion. Now that was quite the game! 6 months of "what time is it?"... That was practically a burn-out for me, but my God did I love it! I don't play it like I used to... Just isn't as fun anymore. But I have so many fond memories that I will revere that game until the end!

WoW has been different. It's been a casual type of Evercrack. Addicting, yes, but not in a bad way. I can walk away from it for a couple weeks at a time, crank on it for an entire weekend, play it 3 times a week for only 2 hours at a time... whatever! It's almost as if it doesn't matter how much or little, how often or how infrequently, I pay attention to it. WoW is always fun, always productive. A bit odd given my previous attachment to Evercrack, but it's quite enjoyable.

I came on a little strong in my previous post...sorry about that. You can probably tell I'm passionate about this game, especially since my friend lost his soul.Oh not at all! No reason to appologize. I was just warning you about proclaiming WoW to be evil incarnate if only because I am an example of a well-balanced WoW player (if such a thing can exist). It's not bad for everyone, just some people. And even in that, I was merely arguing the fact that an addictive personality can become addicted to anything, not necessarily predisposed to WoW over Guild Wars, etc.

Quite the sad tale, though, to be sure. I have seen it before, or at least heard of it. I have a friend right now who gave it up after being sooooo addicted for a straight 2 years!! That was quite the feat to give it up. He was the one who got me into it, actually, but he was much deeper than I will ever be! RAID's almost every night, high up in his guild, multiple 60's, then 70's, epic gear all the way, thousands of Gold, etc. It was crazy! Then one of his friends went into a depression because her boyfriend was totally gone into WoW, just like you described your friend to be. Like totally gone. Irretrievable. Long story short: he had to help her get away from him and start over. He did only two other things that weekend - he quit WoW and he quit smoking. He's one of the strongest people I know...

[Nutchaya]

This reminds me a lot of the Southpark episode World of Warcraft. Quite hilarious, seeing those guys becoming all fat and addicted. Didn't know people actually become like that though :( . I never get that addicted to any game. Max I've ever played a game continuously was I think 6 hours, and that was during the summer where I have absolutely nothing else to do.

[SufferWell1396]

That is pretty sad.
The only game ive ever gotten even close to becoming addicted to was Diablo II
I loved that game online, but i kept losing my character's, so i just gave up haha.
Then again, i never do much gaming, all i ever do really is use Firefox, Winamp, and AIM. Sometimes Word to compose lyrics for the band, or Guitar Pro to compose music itself. Otherwise, thats about it.

[saphalline]

I have a theory that the term "gaming" should be used more extensively to describe how people have fun. I think of PC games when I hear the word "fun", but many other people use something else. Whether it be console games or sports or music or reading, all of it can be considered "gaming" in the sense that it is fun and articulate to the senses.

When you non-gamers think about how you have fun, doesn't it go beyond just participation? Isn't it more like a "game" in the sense that you're always trying to get better, paying attention to the little details, streamlining your experience, etc? It's not all good, just like WoW isn't always good. It's no fun to break a guitar string or blow a cheap amp, but it is something that you nevertheless persevere in doing for the joy of it.

That's how I think of "gaming" in general.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

When you non-gamers think about how you have fun, doesn't it go beyond just participation? Isn't it more like a "game" in the sense that you're always trying to get better, paying attention to the little details, streamlining your experience, etc? It's not all good, just like WoW isn't always good. It's no fun to break a guitar string or blow a cheap amp, but it is something that you nevertheless persevere in doing for the joy of it.

That's how I think of "gaming" in general.
Gaming, skateboarding etc, except for the elite few does not put food on the table and a roof over your head.

Breaking a guitar string is a business expense...

[saphalline]

I don't know what you're talking about! Gaming puts food on my table! :D

Or rather, my obsession with gaming has lead me to learn so much that I ended up in IT. :p Strange where life takes you sometimes...

[teqvet]

I'm with Saph on the WoW discussion. It's money well spent imo. Cheaper than going to the movies when it costs 20 bucks for my wife and I just to get tickets (this is before you factor in sodas/popcorn/candy's etc)

We can also play a few hours a night or 20 mins. We get more than our share of time in throughout the day throughout the week. If you have no self control, then you shouldn't be on the PC period. My mother spends hours looking on allrecipe.com It's just recipes right? It still affects you the same way, rather playing a game, gambling, or reading news articles.

It's a cheap form of great entertainment, and just pure fun ;)

[odannyboy000]

But it is so fun for some people that it gets in the way of their normal lives.

[odannyboy000]

sorry double posted on accident.

[awaj]

Playing computer games should be kept into perspective. I don't have to worry about it too much because I have a life and friends who will say something if I stop having a life. I personally started playing Rappelz. It's not that bad in comparison to WoW. Infact, I think it's better, but that's only my oppinion.

I heard that it's possible to create your own server for WoW, and avoid the payments to play online, but I don't even know how to go about doing something like that.

[saphalline]

But it is so fun for some people that it gets in the way of their normal lives.Yeah, but the same can be said for drugs and alcohol and work. There are many many things that can be addictive. We have laws for things like drugs and alcohol, but what about work and video games?

I guess my main point is that it's not ruining my life, so I'm going to keep playing it. And I have in fact warned everyone that it can be addictive since my first post. If things get worse than that for other people, it's no really our fault. Like awaj said, friends are your support group, just as you should be for them. If you have no support group, what life do you have that could be ruined? Maybe I'm wrong...

I heard that it's possible to create your own server for WoW, and avoid the payments to play online, but I don't even know how to go about doing something like that.Ummm... that's kind of illegal...

At the very least, it goes against Blizzard's EULA. And, having accepted the EULA, you are legally bound to its restrictions. So, basically, it's illegal.

[Variable]

I used to play Everquest, it was called EverCrack for a reason. All the MMO's are basically treadmills, you have to put in the time to level up and learn how to play your character well, you are always working to attain something new.

If you are a single person and have limited money, pay-for-play MMO's are a great deal. I have friends who are addicted to golf (I call it flog ;p )
Golf or bowling are MUCH more expensive hobbies than MMO's. But they get you out of the house, which is good. The big addiction I see now is online gambling. Very addictive it seems. MMO's are tame by comparison. A certain percentage of people will become obsessed with something.

I have thought of getting an account of WoW so my boys and I could play the same characters, split the treadmill time that way.

You cannot compare high level MMO's to other games, I used to lead raids in Everquest with 140 people. Lots of organizing, planning and strategy goes into high level runs, you have to have good leaders. It was fun for me running my guys (warriors) in our guild, keeping the guys focused, outfitting them with gear and planning and executing raids. I played PVP, so you were not just fighting dumb mobs but fighting other players. The best/elite players were RARELY under 18. Dunno how it is now, but Evercrack took massive amounts of Exp grinding time. Most people didn't have the will power/time to max their level. Once you max out you can slow down.

If you have to be home most of the time, 10-12 bucks a month for a hobby is dirt cheap. Are their better ways to spend your time, probably. But few are cheaper.

[saphalline]

I used to play Everquest, it was called EverCrack for a reason.Yeah, no kidding! :eek: I had to quit that game. ;) Never really got far, either. I like WoW much better! It's actually possible to advance your character without needing to group! What a concept!

All the MMO's are basically treadmills, you have to put in the time to level up and learn how to play your character well, you are always working to attain something new.Well, you know, that's what an MMORPG is all about. It gets addicting because there's always something to do. Until there isn't, by which time another good game or two has hopefully been released. :p

Golf or bowling are MUCH more expensive hobbies than MMO's. But they get you out of the house, which is good.Bah! The outdoors is a scam!! :p

[mxer394]

This reminds me of Yatzee's hatred of "mummorpugers".

(Clarification: MMORPGs)

God I love Yahtzee.

Way off topic. Oh well, so shoot me.

[Ajmukon]

http://www.rf-onlinegame.co.uk/splash.php?return=index.php?

better Graphics than WOW, 100% FREE to play AND download...

An reactive economic system.... (prices change based on how much is spent)

[Mikeo64]

I heard that it's possible to create your own server for WoW, and avoid the payments to play online, but I don't even know how to go about doing something like that.

Yes it is possible to create your own private server i know because i have one and i have never been caught out and from all that i have read private servers are not illegal. I have heard this, Blizzard gets so much money from the per month and game sellling fees that they cannot be bothered with stopping private servers. As long as they get their money from the game thats all they care.

But anyway all i am saying is private servers are legal!

Also you can make your own server and other stuff at http://ac-web.org/

My server is DestructoWoW. Thanks for reading (sorry if i bumped this thread).

[mxer394]

I don't understand that Mikeo64, how are they not illegal. Essentially you are robbing money from a company by not paying for your subscription. Because they can't be bothered shutting down your server doesn't make it right. If I go and shoot someone during a national emergency, and nobody bothers to stop me, does it become not a crime that I killed them? Of course not.

Piracy is killing the PC gaming industry, and illegal servers are one of many ways piracy is eating at the foundation of the industry.

Back on topic, WOW destroyed one of my friends brothers college career. 2nd year in college, started playing WOW, he dropped out a year later. All he does now is sit at home and play WOW.

[hellawacked]

not exactly legal but if u don't want to pay just look up private servers there actually pretty good i use a funserver fast leveling is like 10 times more fun althought one thing about wow is it takes forever to get from one place to the other didn't notice i was behind only looked at the first page but o well