AT World of Warcraft Thread (Warlords, Where do you play, General BS and all that)

[MustISO]

Got 24hrs left on my account. Taking a break until the next patch comes out. I don't have the self control to stop playing if I have an active sub. Kinda sad.

 

[Gryz]

Vanilla's content itself was a mess. .... It was convoluted and nuts ....

I played at launch in Vanilla. Leveling from 1 to 60 took me and my friends 3 months. And we were still (a little) ahead of the pack.

Those 3 months have been one of the best gaming experiences of my life. My friends think the same thing. Blizzard must have done something right there.

You will not find anyone in the world who will tell you that leveling in Cataclysm (or MoP or WoD) is worth your time. So there is no way you can look at leveling, and say that Cataclysm was an improvement.

The only exception are people who are not interesting in playing the game, but only in the results. If you could level to 60 in 3 months in the past, they will tell you that leveling to 90 in a week is an improvement. If you could farm 30 gold per hour in the past by playing your character, and now you get 3000 gold by clicking buttons in the garrison, they will say that is an improvement. You get the idea. It is my believe that the percentage of that type of player has skyrocketed compared to the first few years of WoW.

 

[Bubblehappy]

I really miss Vanilla WoW. I miss the days of raiding BWL (although I don't miss MC!) Def one of my favorite times in gaming.

 

[desura]

It is pretty amazing that when WOW was first released people said it was soooo easy compared to all other MMO's....and since then the game has been dumbed down even more. Before gaming got really mainstream, it was more sim-like and interesting.

 

[Phoenix86]

I really miss Vanilla WoW.

I have no idea how people can say this with a straight face. Not saying you're lying, I just don't understand at all how people this this is true.

Vanilla was by far the worst incarnation of WoW, imo.

 

[Gryz]

I just don't understand at all how people this this is true.

It is very simple.

Vanilla WoW was a world where you could roam around, have adventures, fight monsters, explore unknown lands, make friends, hear about stories, feel like you were in a wonderful fantastic world.

Current day WoW is just another game.

 

[lupi]

that's an era, has nothing to do with content of the game.

 

[Phoenix86]

that's an era, has nothing to do with content of the game.

I stared a reply and said fuck it.

 

[cronos]

I played at launch in Vanilla. Leveling from 1 to 60 took me and my friends 3 months. And we were still (a little) ahead of the pack.

Those 3 months have been one of the best gaming experiences of my life. My friends think the same thing. Blizzard must have done something right there.

You will not find anyone in the world who will tell you that leveling in Cataclysm (or MoP or WoD) is worth your time. So there is no way you can look at leveling, and say that Cataclysm was an improvement.

The only exception are people who are not interesting in playing the game, but only in the results. If you could level to 60 in 3 months in the past, they will tell you that leveling to 90 in a week is an improvement. If you could farm 30 gold per hour in the past by playing your character, and now you get 3000 gold by clicking buttons in the garrison, they will say that is an improvement. You get the idea. It is my believe that the percentage of that type of player has skyrocketed compared to the first few years of WoW.

You also have to consider that people grow up and their preference changes. So this 'type of player' may not be new people at all.

I started playing in vanilla too, and enjoyed the leveling then, but I have gradually changed since, and I felt that the game tried to change with me, and it was really good for a while. I believe it was when Cataclysm was announced that I started feeling that "why couldn't they just add an expansion content without increasing the level cap, because I really really hate leveling". They did turn out to make leveling easy and fast that time (and only five levels!), so I went through with it without too much annoyance.

Fast forward to today, they kept adding more content and increasing the level cap, but no kind of leveling is worth my time now, and I guess that's part of the reasons I don't play anymore.

You must not have changed at all in ten years, and still like the same thing that you liked back then. The result is the same though, we both don't play anymore. At least it's my assumption that you don't play anymore, otherwise what the heck are you doing playing the game you dislike so much

 

[desura]

If wow were like a normal franchise, then currently as it stands it would be like to play halo 4 you are required to first get thru halo 1-3.

That probably explains the problems with leveling.

 

[Bubblehappy]

I have no idea how people can say this with a straight face. Not saying you're lying, I just don't understand at all how people this this is true.

Vanilla was by far the worst incarnation of WoW, imo.

Because it beat anything else available, and the first end game raiding was an incredible social experience. 40 person raids raiding 2-3 times a week for months to progress through MC then BWL. The initial journey through the lands, it was just fun.

 

[DarkRipper]

I was there in Vanilla, and I don't get all the nostalgia.

It was a convoluted grindfest of a mess of a game.

The game is way BETTER today.

 

[ewdotson]

I have no idea how people can say this with a straight face. Not saying you're lying, I just don't understand at all how people this this is true.

Vanilla was by far the worst incarnation of WoW, imo.

It's because it was new. People will say it's more complicated than that, but that remains my strong impression.

 

[lupi]

Because it beat anything else available, and the first end game raiding was an incredible social experience. 40 person raids raiding 2-3 times a week for months to progress through MC then BWL. The initial journey through the lands, it was just fun.

As I said, this is a lot about the era at the time of release rather than content of the game.

I remember being one of the first max levels locks in game even though I didn't manage to get a copy till a month after release and getting messages asking to join a group or help with something where one of the locks utilities would be useful. Also remember having fun raiding UBRS and strat. At the same time I can create a lengthy list of things that were just bad that didn't get fixed/revised till BC or later.

 

[Bubblehappy]

As I said, this is a lot about the era at the time of release rather than content of the game.

I remember being one of the first max levels locks in game even though I didn't manage to get a copy till a month after release and getting messages asking to join a group or help with something where one of the locks utilities would be useful. Also remember having fun raiding UBRS and strat. At the same time I can create a lengthy list of things that were just bad that didn't get fixed/revised till BC or later.

Oh, we all can. And it was a terrible grind to get to 60 no doubt. Bringing down Nef in BWL though for the first time still is my favorite WoW moment. I forgot how many attempts it took us and we all stayed in Vent afterwards drinking and celebrating for like 2 hrs.

 

[Phoenix86]

Because it beat anything else available, and the first end game raiding was an incredible social experience. 40 person raids raiding 2-3 times a week for months to progress through MC then BWL. The initial journey through the lands, it was just fun.

I get that, but we're not comparing WoW to other available games at the time, we're comparing WoW to itself over time.

 

[desura]

Things pioneered by vanilla wow:

1. Seamless world. You can run for hours across the landscape without encountering a loading screen. Even today, ten years later, games don't have this.

2. Abilities in aRPG's. At least the first time that I saw them in an rpg. Previously most rpgs just had you swing sword at monster until dead. Ditto the talent tree.

3. The art style. Seriously, never saw an art style like that before in a game.

4. Just the level of attention to detail, little stuff like how the tails flicker. Compare to other games in that time period and they are very blocky.

As I said earlier...the constant accumulative rpg nature of the game results in the weirdness that is you having to replay levels in order to get a different configuration for higher up. This is as if in order to play Halo 5, you first are required to play through Halo 1-4. Or, for that matter, as if the dragon age games required you to play Origins before you could even start inquisition.

 

[Sonikku]

1. Seamless world. You can run for hours across the landscape without encountering a loading screen. Even today, ten years later, games don't have this.

This is what kills SWTOR for me. It's several "worlds" but they're all very tiny, like a single zone, made all the more claustrophobic from the fact that they're practically on "rails" with the way everything is walled off. The constant bombardment of loading screens from your ship to the orbiting docking area, to the docking area to the "planet" are also very long, tedious and frequent and do much to break immersion. If it was the most expensive game ever made, I don't think Bioware got their value.

 

[desura]

This is what kills SWTOR for me. It's several "worlds" but they're all very tiny, like a single zone, made all the more claustrophobic from the fact that they're practically on "rails" with the way everything is walled off. The constant bombardment of loading screens from your ship to the orbiting docking area, to the docking area to the "planet" are also very long, tedious and frequent and do much to break immersion. If it was the most expensive game ever made, I don't think Bioware got their value.

Not just swtor, but most AAA action games are pretty much about jumping into specific choreography hoops. If you fail then you reload a checkpoint and try again. Meaning that they often are brief minutes of canned gameplay, or simple arena "kill all enemies on level before reaching cutscene" followed by a cutscene where you have no control over events.

 

[Rhezuss]

I really miss Vanilla WoW. Def one of my favorite times in gaming.

Yeah same here. I never experienced the vanilla raids but I did many PvP BGs and lost of dungeonning with the guild. It was so awesome and rich for a gaming experience, never thought i'd see something lke that.

The crafting was what pulled me in the game, loved how simple yet effective it was and a bit innovative for it's time.

 

[Sonikku]

If Blizzard made Vanilla servers today it wouldn't be the same experience it was a decade ago. Maybe one in ten would be healers and almost everyone else would be Warriors. Warriors for tanking, Warriors for dps. Warriors were simply the best at everything they did. A Fury warrior in dps plate did the same damage as a Rogue while all the other hybrids were 40% or more behind. The only reason you didn't see more dps warriors is because they were already too busy being the worlds best tank. Remember Tankadins back then? I sure as hell don't.

If someone wasn't a warrior, the only other real choice would be Warlock so you could kill basically anyone in pvp, even if they managed to kill you first. Engaging an Affliction Warlock was suicide, regardless of the outcome. Everyone would be running mods and hybrids would basically be kicked out of the group for not pulling ultra high dps. Wouldn't even matter if the content didn't need high dps, impatience alone in getting the cheese would clinch it.

Content as a whole would be easy peasy. Naxx 40 would be squashed, everyone keeping their eyes glued to icy-veins for the best rotation. Absolutely fucking everyone would be at the top of their game, bringing their WoD mindset to what was comparably much easier content. For that matter much of the content would be practically impossible to find groups for. People wouldn't want to run anything but the most "lucrative" places as dictated by the internet, making the same stomping grounds repetitive. Vanilla was even worse than TBC when everyone would seemingly run Heroic Mechenar every single day. (while avoiding places like shattered halls like the plague) Think about that a minute.

It wouldn't be the paradise people seem to think it is.

 

[polarmystery]

Things pioneered by vanilla wow:

1. Seamless world. You can run for hours across the landscape without encountering a loading screen. Even today, ten years later, games don't have this.

2. Abilities in aRPG's. At least the first time that I saw them in an rpg. Previously most rpgs just had you swing sword at monster until dead. Ditto the talent tree.

3. The art style. Seriously, never saw an art style like that before in a game.

4. Just the level of attention to detail, little stuff like how the tails flicker. Compare to other games in that time period and they are very blocky.

As I said earlier...the constant accumulative rpg nature of the game results in the weirdness that is you having to replay levels in order to get a different configuration for higher up. This is as if in order to play Halo 5, you first are required to play through Halo 1-4. Or, for that matter, as if the dragon age games required you to play Origins before you could even start inquisition.

All except for item 4 I believe Asheron's Call had. Wow even stole the interface from the sequel to AC (AC2, which bombed terribly, but the first game was awesome) and made it their own.

 

[desura]

All except for item 4 I believe Asheron's Call had. Wow even stole the interface from the sequel to AC (AC2, which bombed terribly, but the first game was awesome) and made it their own.

I played Asheron's Call. AC had the seamless world part, but the world wasn't near as stylized as wow. Spell casters had spells of course but Melee and archers had no abilities, just variable strength attack. The only things AC did better was the in game economy. Other than that, Wow was by far the better game.

 

[ewdotson]

I played Asheron's Call. AC had the seamless world part, but the world wasn't near as stylized as wow. Spell casters had spells of course but Melee and archers had no abilities, just variable strength attack. The only things AC did better was the in game economy. Other than that, Wow was by far the better game.

I can't imagine they were saying that AC was the better game. Just that the cited concepts weren't pioneered by WoW. Which isn't a criticism, per se. Blizzard certainly refined the heck out of them - which has always been something they've excelled at. (e.g. Dune II pioneered an awful lot of the fundamental RTS concepts, but I don't think anyone would suggest it was a better game than WC2.)

 

[Sonikku]

Keep trying to reset my password but the reset email never makes it to my inbox. (or my junk folder, or my spam folder) Battlenet even confirms the email they're sending it to so it's a mystery.