hey, i put this one down a long time ago. i had played it for like 3 hours a nite, practically 7 days per week for about a month. i then cancelled my subscription before my free trial ended. i had tried to sell the game at 2 separate gamestores, but since it was a subscription-based online game they wouldn't let me trade it in. so now i'm left looking at it in my desk drawer.

my question is - is it worth getting back into? i liked how the world was huge and stuff. didn't like the lack of role playing though. have there been any significant changes to the game to make getting back into it worthwhile, or should i just throw it away?

Don't throw it away - send it to me.

the point of the thread isn't "should i keep it or throw it away". it's "i'm considering getting back into the game - has there been any changes to make it a better experience than the last time or is it more of the same"?

and if i can't get any money for a game i'd throw it away or give it to a friend, unfortunately none of my other friends are into MMOs.

Well, the players still don't role play. No MMO has figured out how to make that happen, though. Was that your biggest beef with the game? There have been changes, but most of them have been tweaks - the basic mechanics and feel of the game remain the same.

and it has Leroy Jenkins

you can't put a price tag on that

i guess it was the repetetive nature of any MMO that got to me. always seems like people are working towards something - getting a stronger weapon, to kill better enemies, to increase level, to be able to wield even stronger weapons. people moved around much to quickly in WoW - always busy, always going from quest to quest, not enough exploring and taking it slow. MMO are all about culminating to the highest level, in WoW's case - level 60. so if everyone works hard and gets to level 60, then what do you do from there? everyone being level 60 is the same as everyone being level 1. (not to say WoW is full of level 60s, but you gotta assume people who've been w/ the game from Day 1 are at least level 50 if not higher, and if noobs powergame enough they too will have maxed out in less than 3 months).

i guess maybe my question should be "how is Avlis (from Neverwinter Nights), these days?". that was my favorite MMO experience ever, the level of role playing in that server is what i compare everything else to.

getting back to WoW, maybe i'm wondering "if you've been playing WoW all this time what has kept you involved and continuing to come back?"

and if i can't get any money for a game i'd throw it away or give it to a friend, unfortunately none of my other friends are into MMOs.
I'm not one of your friends?

:(


I was kidding before, cha-cha.

getting back to WoW, maybe i'm wondering "if you've been playing WoW all this time what has kept you involved and continuing to come back?"

I really haven't. I just started to play again last week after probably 6 months of very sporadic playing. But, not accomplishing anything does not really bother me, nor does the repetitive nature, to me all computer games suffer from those maladies. As for accomplishments - we never truly accomplish anything in gaming - the only thing we can hope for is to be entertained. All games have some sort of virtual accomplishment as thier "carrot" to keep people entertained. In WoW, it is getting the next level, piece of equipment, or quest, in FOF, its winning the Bowl. In other games its finishing (say a RPG), or winning (strategy game).

I play games as long as the pursuit of the carrot keeps me entertained, then I stop. Good games do this longer than bad games, and really good games have me come back to revisit them.

I really haven't. I just started to play again last week after probably 6 months of very sporadic playing. But, not accomplishing anything does not really bother me, nor does the repetitive nature, to me all computer games suffer from those maladies. As for accomplishments - we never truly accomplish anything in gaming - the only thing we can hope for is to be entertained. All games have some sort of virtual accomplishment as thier "carrot" to keep people entertained. In WoW, it is getting the next level, piece of equipment, or quest, in FOF, its winning the Bowl. In other games its finishing (say a RPG), or winning (strategy game).

I play games as long as the pursuit of the carrot keeps me entertained, then I stop. Good games do this longer than bad games, and really good games have me come back to revisit them.

very interesting perspective.

i guess what i seek in games, perhaps specifically MMO games, is "what would i do if i was actually in this universe?". i know if i was in the WoW universe, i would spend a lot of time travelling, going off the beaten path and hoping to find some out of the way Inn, bump into a random stranger and listen to his adventures. the randomness of walking on a road, and simply turning right into the woods and seeing what you find there - that's what fascinates me. in real life i'd love to just walk and get lost and see what lies out there, but for safety reasons it's not smart for me to do so, so i seek to replicate that in MMORPGs.

i can't do such if all i hear from people is "have you done [insert quest name here]?" or "selling [insert item name here] for 20 gold!".

just wondering, i guess, if people have settled down in WoW to the point where bona-fide RPG servers have floated to the top?

and as far as accomplishment is concerned - i do think there is tangible thing to accomplish: having a strategy and using your wits to solves problems. that's all games are, really, a way to virtually/digitally solve problems. whether you're a GM for a football team, an axe-carrying dwarf or a rail road tycoon - we're presented problems or challenges and it's up to us to utilize the correct strategy to overcome said challenge.

so in that regard, yeah, we're not actually winning championships or defeating mega level 60 dragons or becoming the best rail road businessman, but the accomplishment in these games is at least on par with the sense of accomplishment of completing a crossword puzzle or a game of chess or doing major home renovations...here is the set of obstacles and challenges, now go find the best way to overcome them.

the entertainment aspect of games is what makes the ride fun and worth continuing. without the entertainment value, then we run the risk of suddenly saying "i don't care much about trying to win this championship", or "it's no longer worth it for me to try to get the +2 sword of smite so i can defeat the Blood Dragon of Volcano Island".

Have you tried the role playing servers? I've been playing around in Twisting Nether, one of the new pvp role playing servers that have opened lately. Not a lot of role playing in the general chat areas, but there does seem to be a concerted effort by some to RP. The guild in the following thread has particularly impressed me, enough that I'm probably going to be applying to check it out closer.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-realm-twistingnether&t=12013&p=1&tmp=1#post12013

I do think your best bet will be to find a guild, there seems to be much more rp there than when working with the general population.

much appreciated, ryche.

and as far as accomplishment is concerned - i do think there is tangible thing to accomplish: having a strategy and using your wits to solves problems. that's all games are, really, a way to virtually/digitally solve problems. whether you're a GM for a football team, an axe-carrying dwarf or a rail road tycoon - we're presented problems or challenges and it's up to us to utilize the correct strategy to overcome said challenge.

so in that regard, yeah, we're not actually winning championships or defeating mega level 60 dragons or becoming the best rail road businessman, but the accomplishment in these games is at least on par with the sense of accomplishment of completing a crossword puzzle or a game of chess or doing major home renovations...here is the set of obstacles and challenges, now go find the best way to overcome them.

the entertainment aspect of games is what makes the ride fun and worth continuing. without the entertainment value, then we run the risk of suddenly saying "i don't care much about trying to win this championship", or "it's no longer worth it for me to try to get the +2 sword of smite so i can defeat the Blood Dragon of Volcano Island".

I agree. I was just wondering why MMOG's were specifically called out for it however, when it applies as well to other games. By non-believers, they are seemingly belittled far more than other genres that some do not enjoy.

The accomplishment of attaining the next level is as tangible to those who enjoy those games as winning a championship (the goal of all sports games), or taking over the world (the goal of all strategy games) or defeating the evil tyrant who is keeping you from your birthright of kind (the goal of all RPG games).

I say this not as a MMOG nut either. Granted, EverQuest had me more addicted, held my more of my attention, and held it longer than any game I have ever played. But since I left, I have been trying to recapture that experience, but most MMOG's (even WoW) have fallen far short. It has just always struck me as interesting and unfari how they seem to have gotten such a bad rap when they are really asking gamers to do the same thing most games do.

I think the reason these games get called out is because you are paying a subscription fee. So when you get to a point where you feel you've accomplished everything, you can't just put the game in a drawer. You have to actually stop paying the subscription, otherwise it's money down the drain.

So far WoW has done a better job of keeping me interested than EQ1 or EQ2 did. Not sure why, my guess is I feel like I'm accomplishing more as I play. But I'm still having a blast.

good points you have. i think MMO gets a bad rep because of it's very nature - they don't ever end. you would think the finality of a MMO would be reaching the top level, or obtaining all the best weapons, but it's not. it's a never ending cycle, one that i touched on earlier - needing better weapons to defeat better monsters to get more XP to get higher levels to use better weapons, etc...

so the sense of accomplishment is always delayed in MMO, because just when you think "i wield the mightiest sword in this universe because i alone defeated the difficult Dark Troll", there is another Troll who drops even better swords, you get the point. you're always working towards something for a neverending series of challenges and obstacles. and the obstacles and challenges wind up becoming repetitive - delivering packages or defeating a pack of bandits so they drop the ingredient so that the little old lady in the forest cottage can make her potion of vigor.

I've experienced a generally very high level of roleplaying playing on one of the RP servers, Scarlet Crusade. Not everyone does, of course, but even those who don't RP accept and respect that a lot of people do (unlike playing on a server where PVP and RP elements mix, I've had that experience, ugh.) If you find the right guild you can have a very good roleplaying experience, and having a lot of activities and stuff going on with your guild breaks up the monotony of the level grind.