Post by Gilvan Blight on Dec 21, 2006 12:52:45 GMT -5
Okay I've put about 15 hours into this so I figure I have enough of an idea of the game to write an impression. I'm certain things change the further into the game you get, and the more you get to explore.
Summary: the most popular MMO in North America, quickly heading towards the most popular in the World. A realm vs realm rpg where players play races from the Warcraft rts world. Two Factions are present the Good (Alliance) and Evil (Horde). 6 Playable races and quite a few classes.
The Good: Very similar to other MMOs but it dose everything just a bit (or sometimes a lot) better. The profession system is my favourite part thus far. Each characrter can only have two professions at once, and there are a whack of avaliable ones. There are Alchemists, Herbalists, Leatherworkers, Engineers, Enchanters, Blacksmiths, Miners, and a whole ton more. The coolest part is that most of these jobs rely on another job making all of them necessary and driving an interesting player economy as the Alchemist buys herbs off the herbalist, and the miner gives/sells to the Metalworker, who sells to the blacksmith, who then gives the new armour to the enchanter and so on. The interface is very nice and easy to use. Most things are acomplised with just the mouse, using the keyboard for talking and hot-keys. Combat is interesting and keeps you buys (about half way betteen the mad skill use of Guild Wars and the auto combat of Final Fantasy XI), The abundance of quests is staggering, which is great as thus far I have never felt I was 'grinding'. The amount of variety in items is a very welcome change form other MMOs. Your character has a ton of equip spots and I love that, plus I have found a ton of different arms and armour in a variety of colours to try out. It makes character personalization rather nice.
The Bad: the graphics. I know they are stylized and somewhat cartoony but I still expected more. I expected stylized and cartoony with some amazing lighting effects. The backgrounds are pretty boring. The Maps. The in game maps don't have nearly the level of detail I would want and are not labeled. Also, you cannot mark the map in any way which really stinks when trying to remember where something is. No quest direction arrows. Okay maybe I'm spoiled by NCsoft games, but I like it much better when I accept a quest and I get a navigation icon showing me which way to head. The size: this goes with the maps. I got to Orgrimar (main Horde City) and spent litteraly an hour just wandering around near lost. Sure it's cool and realistic having a city that big, but man it takes forever to get around and by the time I had been everywhere I couldn't remember where anything was that I may want to go back to.
The Ugly: waiting to get in. Okay I know the games big, but you would have thought that by now they would have put up enough servers that I wouldn't have to wait in a queue to play the game. I admit it's never been more then 10 minutes, but I still shouldn't have to wait to play a game I pay monthly for (actully still on a trial, but you know what I mean).
Overall: I can see why this is the most popular game over here. This takes pretty much the best parts of most MMO's improves upon each part (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot) and tosses it all in one game. I strongly suggest everyone try out the 14 day trial, how can you go wrong for $2. After that you can easily make your own call on whether or not you want to invest in the game.
Summary: the most popular MMO in North America, quickly heading towards the most popular in the World. A realm vs realm rpg where players play races from the Warcraft rts world. Two Factions are present the Good (Alliance) and Evil (Horde). 6 Playable races and quite a few classes.
The Good: Very similar to other MMOs but it dose everything just a bit (or sometimes a lot) better. The profession system is my favourite part thus far. Each characrter can only have two professions at once, and there are a whack of avaliable ones. There are Alchemists, Herbalists, Leatherworkers, Engineers, Enchanters, Blacksmiths, Miners, and a whole ton more. The coolest part is that most of these jobs rely on another job making all of them necessary and driving an interesting player economy as the Alchemist buys herbs off the herbalist, and the miner gives/sells to the Metalworker, who sells to the blacksmith, who then gives the new armour to the enchanter and so on. The interface is very nice and easy to use. Most things are acomplised with just the mouse, using the keyboard for talking and hot-keys. Combat is interesting and keeps you buys (about half way betteen the mad skill use of Guild Wars and the auto combat of Final Fantasy XI), The abundance of quests is staggering, which is great as thus far I have never felt I was 'grinding'. The amount of variety in items is a very welcome change form other MMOs. Your character has a ton of equip spots and I love that, plus I have found a ton of different arms and armour in a variety of colours to try out. It makes character personalization rather nice.
The Bad: the graphics. I know they are stylized and somewhat cartoony but I still expected more. I expected stylized and cartoony with some amazing lighting effects. The backgrounds are pretty boring. The Maps. The in game maps don't have nearly the level of detail I would want and are not labeled. Also, you cannot mark the map in any way which really stinks when trying to remember where something is. No quest direction arrows. Okay maybe I'm spoiled by NCsoft games, but I like it much better when I accept a quest and I get a navigation icon showing me which way to head. The size: this goes with the maps. I got to Orgrimar (main Horde City) and spent litteraly an hour just wandering around near lost. Sure it's cool and realistic having a city that big, but man it takes forever to get around and by the time I had been everywhere I couldn't remember where anything was that I may want to go back to.
The Ugly: waiting to get in. Okay I know the games big, but you would have thought that by now they would have put up enough servers that I wouldn't have to wait in a queue to play the game. I admit it's never been more then 10 minutes, but I still shouldn't have to wait to play a game I pay monthly for (actully still on a trial, but you know what I mean).
Overall: I can see why this is the most popular game over here. This takes pretty much the best parts of most MMO's improves upon each part (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot) and tosses it all in one game. I strongly suggest everyone try out the 14 day trial, how can you go wrong for $2. After that you can easily make your own call on whether or not you want to invest in the game.