Be Excellent To Each Other

http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/06/29/b ... -level-20/

Urk. I've always avoided World of Warcrack. MAYBE THOSE DAYS ARE AT AN END.

I noticed this on Eurogamer today but didn't think there was much love/interest for WoW here at BEEX so didn't mention it

A free run to Level 20 should give folks a decent crack at the game, i.e. get a feel for the classes they like, do some questing, see a chunk of the world, run a couple of the lower level instances, have a go at the various roles (tank, healer, damage), play around with the professions, and so on.

Certainly by Level 20 you'll have a pretty good idea if the game is going to float your boat or not.

Also, with Patch 4.2 (gone live today) Blizzard have introduced a whole load more 'quality of life' improvements which make the game more accessible then ever. (It should be noted at this juncture that if you haven't played WoW for a couple of years, or three years, or whatever, it's changed MASSIVELY, with all the silly tedious shite having been stripped out to leave just 'pure game' behind.)

Do be aware there are restrictions on the free accounts, although nothing too onerous, they do limit a couple of aspects of the game. (I suspect the restrictions are far more to do with knobbling the gold sellers than legitimate players, but not being able to use the auction house is a pretty big restriction for example.)

http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/28/wow-g ... -level-20/

My two cents? For free, it'd be daft for folks not to have a go at it. Plus it's PC and Mac, plus the graphics engine is hardly cutting edge, so you'll be able to get a decent experience out of it from pretty much anything. (Although the more you can dial it up the lovelier it'll look, draw distance in particular is a nice one to be able to max out.)

EDIT - Just click on the 'PLAY IT FREE' graphic on this page - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/

Level 10 - you can still walk away.
Level 20 - Blizzard have your balls.

Tread carefully!

But I like my balls!

It's the same as any 'potential addiction' to my mind, there's certainly nothing unusually pernicious or evil about it, and in all fairness Blizzard put far more stuff into WoW to discourage compulsive play than not only all other MMOs, but most other 'mainstream' games now too. (Since levelling up and unlocking stuff and acquiring points and new goodies etc etc is now built into pretty much every game released.)

This game can indeed 'have your balls' if you let it, but IMO that's only because it's so fucking good, and not because Blizzard have been particularly malevolent with its construction.

Chill! I wasn't suggesting anything other than "it's addictive because it's great". It really is! Unfortunately, I find it eats too much into time that I could spend playing lots of other games, so I tend to dip in and out for a few months at a time every year or two.

I played WoW pretty solidly for a couple of years and loved it. It had the by-product of saving me loads of money as I didn't buy any other games

Gave it another go a few months back and turned it off after an hour, too much has changed since I played, I felt that it would be harder to unlearn old tricks rather than come to it fresh!
I did used to love Warsong Gulch(?), playing a healer in a small battleground was the shizzle...

I wasn't having a go, sorry if it came across like that

Maybe if a few BEEXers get into the WoW swing of things we can get a BEEX guild on the go?

I have to say I enjoy the social aspect of the game as much as anything else, the game is uniquely superb in that regard.

It's changed a lot but it's all for the better, but yes if you've not played for a while it's going to be a bit 'WTF' for a while, especially since every single class has had every single talent tree thoroughly shaken up, along with glyphs being added and the stat systems changed and just about everything else.

Then again, if there's one thing you can't accuse WoW of, it's being afraid of change

What's the gold situation like, is inflation rampant or is my L60+ with 1000 gold still a player in the markets?

Very much depends on the server and the faction, overall however 1000 gold certainly isn't a lot of cash these days I'm afraid.

That said, there's what you need in cash terms for 'the game' and what you need in cash terms for 'the AH and speculation' - when it comes to training, professions, riding skills, flying skills and mounts etc, you'll be able to make what's required from basic professions (even herbalism/mining/skinning at a simple level, and far more so if you go into the creation professions).

If you want get into the economy side of the game then you'll need more than 1000 gold, but TBH it's pretty easy to make thousands these days. And if all you want to do is resume a character and level up, then 1000 gold is plenty.

If you've got a character at L60 for example, get him mining and herbing on his way up, and by the time he gets to 85 you'll probably be sat on about 10K, which is plenty enough to start getting involved with the markets. (Plus the vendor prices are very generous, with even 'trash green' BoEs regularly vendoring for 10-20G, basically, the game doesn't make you struggle for gold.)

If you want to be constantly pimping out your character with all the best craftable gear, then you'll need tens of thousands of gold, but there's absolutely no need to do that (I certainly can't be bothered) and the game won't punish you in any way, all the gear you need to progress is available from a logical questing > instancing > heroic instancing > raiding > heroic raiding perspective, although you can always craft yourself some nice pieces or drop a few K on the AH if you're of a mind to.

I an currently going through a bit of a meh phase with WoW at the moment, unless I find a reason to stick with it I don't think I will be renewing sub after this months has run out. Quite a few guildies feel the same and have pretty much stopped which isn't helping. Not enough max level stuff to do now I'm not raiding due to lack of active guild mates.

Maybe a beex guild would tempt me to stay around! I have a fair bit of WoW experience to offer any new peeps, having played since just after it was released.

I'd give it a go just to see what the fuss is about, if you've ever wondered about why loads of people play it.

It's certainly worth levelling a character to 20 to see once and for all if it's your bag. Level 10 was never really high enough anyway - how long does it take? Like an hour or two?

Fortuitous timing in terms of the Eve Online mass-hiatus. I'm not saying Eve players will defect en masse but if I'd not played Warcraft and were boycotting my own MMO, I'd be tempted to fill the gap for free for a bit... and might just enjoy the feeling of doing well in an MMO.

Now, my mate Pat Badger plays on a specific server, would I be able to join him on raids during my free period if I were so inclined?

I played it up to Level 60... not a bad game but I did not see the appeal at that point.

Raids are level 60+ content, so no!

It will take about a week to lvl 20.. I think

Ooh, what's going on?

Drama over micropayments, I think.

Has someone set up another Eve that's nowhere near as good for everyone to go to?

I'd be happy to join a beex guild, how many people do you need to get the guild xp bonuses and stuff? Can't promise i'll be online every night though!

The main reason for me sticking with WoW past the first month or so was the epic UGVM guild (SSE). We played the game purely for shits and giggles, and having SSE over your head could save your life at times, as even some of the evil alliance loved us, must have been the naked tauren congas outside Stormwind, or the L1 gnome races, or playing hide and seek in Alliance cities

I gave up on PvP servers though, and stuck with PvE, so would want a PvE server. I'm happy to start again on a new server from scratch

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011- ... is-article

By all accounts they've lost about 5k subs for the month, at 13 quid a sub. Ouch.

EXCUSE THE IGNORANE: But didn't WOW previously have a trail that did the same thing? Is this essentially a rebranded trail?

Yup, this is essentially just a never ending version of the trial.

Hahha, I'm amused that I don't understand a single word of that... These games do look really clever but I'd never find the time to play them. I totally remember how fun it was to get utterly absorbed into the universe of a game like Monkey Island when I was a kid. I still have really evocative memories of being in those worlds, almost as strong as real events from my childhood. The closest I've got to that now is heavy watching of a TV series like The Wire/The Shield. I'm sure something like WoW is massively above and beyond that, though.

I'd better stick to WordFued, I think

I could have seen very getting heavily into it as a kid, not sure if I am lucky or unlucky that I had to contend with the more simple pleasures of the C64 and Amiga (plus BBSs and phone hacking, my true and occasionally expensive obsession)

Griefing+

Previous trial was capped on time (a few weeks) but not level. This one has unlimited time but a capped level. The latter approach is more attractive to casual players without lots of time to invest.

OBJECTION!

Previous trial was level capped too (in fact it had the same restrictions as the free-to-play) it was also time capped to 10 days (or possibly 14?) elapsed time.

Yeah it was capped at level 10.

I may well give this a try, if my computer can run it.

I am teh Cussfarmer, surely you remember me!

And yes, SSE was the glory days, after that it all got boring. Still on Twilight's Hammer with Rosemary but I think Gerplex rerolled somewhere else and stopped playing (or he needs all his spare time talk about transformers and SF4 on facebook).

Oh indeed, I had no idea that was you, I was Trollper

I rerolled on Draenor, too much ganking in the end on TH, especially as we were outnumbered 2:1.

SSE had everything, the random name change after we all voted for a new name and Gerplex completely ignored that and went for Shin Seiki Evangelion (or however it was spelt), luckily everyone thought it was hilarious
Was it Rosemary who killed SSE in the end after he got paranoid and high and disbanded the guild?
The days were having a L60 was still a novelty, and revenge for ganking came in the form of an SSE strike force, especially in bloody Stranglethorn.

Good days... <sniff>

I still play (tho not for the next month due to lack of interwebs except on my phone)
If anyone makes a char on Dragonblight, pm me on here & I should be able to wang you some gold & maybe a bag or two to help you on your way (trial permitting)

It'll run on anything that can do 3D graphics, even ancient laptop chipsets can manage the game at a low resolution in low detail, although that really wouldn't do the game justice.

Definitely spend a few minutes in the graphics options (there are a good number of presets that cover everything from 'really basic' to 'ultra' - just pick the best one you can that still runs OK). As a general rule shadows are the killer on low-end graphics cards and integrated chipsets, so you're better off losing shadows completely if it means you can have the other sliders up a decent way.

Well I suppose we'd have the option to all join an existing guild that a BEEX member is already a member of, or start our own BEEX guild from scratch, although if this thread is a reasonable guideline we wouldn't have many members

The guild XP system gives XP for just about all accomplishments in the game, so even if you're just the solo quester type, levelling up, doing professions and that sort of thing, you'll contribute XP to the guild.

I'm the guild leader of a guild on Frostwhisper (I took it over when the founder left), it's L16 (out of 25) with a nicely stocked guild bank. Very quiet at the moment as our best players went to a guild that could make decent raid progress and a lot of the other members then got a bit disillusioned as we couldn't raid. We could use that as a surrogate BEEX guild if anyone fancies it.

(Unfortunately it's (a) On a PvP server and (b) Is the wrong faction (Alliance), Horde are so much cooler than Alliance.)

I'm happy to go with the flow really. My preference would be PvE but PvP servers do add a real spice to the proceedings, and besides which the opposite factions tend to leave each other alone if it's clear you're just out and about to do peaceful questing.

Hmmm...this could be interesting, I've not looked at it since Burning Crusade came out. Level 20 would be tempting as I can never be arsed seeing a character through to the end game in these MMORPG things.

10.47Gb!!

It shouldn't need to download all that before you can start playing, IIRC it'll let you play in the starting area whilst it downloads the rest of the game world in the background.

Well, I have made a character, and am currently collecting collars. Hmmm.

What faction and race have you chosen?

On top of that, what's available in the free version? I'm guessing the Worgen/Goblins aren't available as they were added in Cataclysm, which is a shame as they have superb starting zones.

Blizzard completely revamped all the olde worlde for Cataclysm so all the original races have excellent starting zones, but I'm not sure they revamped the Draenei and Blood Elf starting zones, which were from the Burning Crusade expansion, so they might be the crappiest of the lot now.

I am a warlock blood elf, and it did say "Burning Crusade" when loading. You are correct, the Worgen/Goblins were not available.

Ack, if they haven't revamped the Burning Crusade starting zones, they'd be the worst choice to start with along with the Draenei, certainly the rest of the Burning Crusade stuff (L60-70) hasn't been touched, and it's all looking a bit old now.

I'd suggest one of the original races might be a better place to start, Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, I believe the revamped Undead starting zone is very good but I haven't played it myself.

Also, the classes are very much geared towards particular roles, so it'd be worth looking into what suits your play style.

Warlocks are a 'pet class' (i.e. you have your little minion buddy at your side) and are raw DPS (Damage Per Second), so a good choice to solo quest and level with (Hunters are even better at it though), also a good class to start out on the game with.

I'd be quite up for starting from scratch on a new PvE server, be interesting to play the game with a few people who are in exactly the same position and no twinking is available.
PvE only though, I love battlegrounds more than any other part of the game, but PvP servers can make certain areas a complete chore in my experience.

However, having said that, I have no idea how much I am likely to play it again for, it could be 30 minutes, it could be 30 weeks... So don't make any decisions purely on my account Either way, I won't be playing at all next week as i'm on holiday (I may have mentioned that already )

Oooh, checking my account I have 7 days free game time to claim... Kate is out all day Saturday, that might be the kick I need to give it another go

only needed a 100mb patch to let me login again.

Shattrath City is dead
I have 12 characters! Forgot I had so many
I really need to start again, logged in with my L64 priest and had absolutely no idea what any of the spells did, let alone what buttons to press.
I forgot I had a mini guild! "Look at my hat" is still going strong. 10 players in it, last person logged on 2 years ago

I assume I need to buy both Wrath and Cataclysm if I want to be up to speed with everything, I can't just go straight to Cata?

(I can't quite believe i'm about to spend all this money on upgrading my PC to shit-hot level, just to end up playing WoW again )

To deal with those points in reverse order

1) WoW is a very beautiful game on 'ultra' settings, and on your crazy resolution iMac screen, it'll be positively wondrous. (Plus you'll have loads of screen real estate for all the add-ons....)

2) Yes you'll need Wrath and Cata to get all the new stuff, but it's worth getting Cata just for the Goblin and Worgen starting areas TBH, they're both hugely enjoyable.

3) If you've not played for a long time, then levelling from scratch might be a decent option, or at least spending some time reading up on the million different ways that your class has changed since you last played. A bit of questing should get you back into the groove, certainly don't jump straight into an instance

4) Shattrath is dead, and so is Dalaran, which was the Wrath capital city. For Cata they've put the focus right back on Stormwind and Orgrimmar (there is no Cata 'capital city'), so the 85s (80s in Wrath, 70s in BC) don't have a sort of 'exclusive city' to hang out in. A nice design decision IMO, and one that was very deliberate.

5) The patching is pretty intelligent these days, it'll bring down the minimum required to get you back into the game, and then do the rest in the background.

I'm not playing the game much at the moment, got my four raid-geared 85s ready to go but not prepared to mindlessly spam heroics with them for points and gear, so I'm just logging in with my mage (80 and climbing) and my warrior (52 and climbing) to play with rest XP when I'm in the mood.

The idea that it's 'WoW and nothing else' isn't correct, my recent playtime on GTAIV, DiRT3 and Frozen Synapse on Steam make that pretty clear.

I think it's possible to enjoy WoW as part of a 'balanced gaming diet' if you will, yeah it's easy to get a bit obsessional about it if you're that way inclined, but it's certainly not mandatory.

I shall be giving this a go in the coming weeks. 'Kragnarth the Undresser' shall wield his mighty hammer of noble justice and flex his muscles beneath hidden velcro seams before the month is out!

Do we still need to have 10 players to setup a guild, or have they made guild setup less restrictive these days?