New to World of Warcraft

[Gern Blanston]

Well, I bought this game thinking that there would be a single player mode. It says that I have to create an account for "billing". Am I right in thinking that I'm going to be charged every time that I play this game? Is it only playable online with others?

Thanks

 

[Noema]

Yes.

It's an MMORPG. As in, Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game.

It takes place in a persistent world shared by all the players who are in the same server. Like pretty much every other MMO out there, it has a monthly fee ($15 a month), as the servers you play in have to recieve regular mantainance to keep the game going 24/7. This fee also entitles you to recive the quasi-monthly patches that add new content to the game.

In other words, no single player mode.

 

[Schadenfroh]

WoW can be a single player game if you want it to be, solo all the way to max level, but you will have to deal with other people running around. They charge a monthly fee to maintain servers and add new content. WoW is designed for you to interact with thousands of people, but should you not wish it... well..... perhaps you should have gotten a differant type of game than an MMO.

 

[Mellman]

if you can't afford the $15/mo then go buy guild wars for $50. It requires no monthly fee.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Mellman
if you can't afford the $15/mo then go buy guild wars for $50. It requires no monthly fee.

From what he was expecting from WoW, guild wars would probably be better for him than WoW. Since he can hire NPCs to quest with him and everything is instanced so he can avoid other players while questing and get a more single player experience out of it.

 

[Noema]

At any rate, perhaps it would be better for him to get a straight out single player RPG, like the KOTORs, or maybe Fable when it comes to PC.

Though WoW is, to an extent, very soloable, there are very few things as boring for me as that. _That game (and Guild Wars too, I'd imagine) is designed to be played with others.

 

[Gern Blanston]

Thanks for the info. I tried to determine from the packaging whether or not this game had a single player mode. From reviews that I read, it seemed to indicate that this was the case. I had no idea that a monthly fee was involved. Since Battlefield 2 has a single player, no fee option, I guess I assumed that WOW would be similar.

Anyway, I got it at Costco, and they'll take it back.

Thanks again.

 

[Glib]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
WoW can be a single player game if you want it to be, solo all the way to max level, but you will have to deal with other people running around.

Was talking to a buddy recently who does pretty much that. He has a lvl 53 warrior that is almost exclusively solo, and almost only with the rested xp bonus. In our conversation:
"Yeah that's not for me. Less talkin, more killin."
"I just love killin those turtles. I must have killed 2000 of em."

Hehe.

 

[Yanagi]

I dont know how you missed it was an Online game. At least in Europe it clearly states monthly fees and etc.

 

[Sunner]

Also I kinda doubt they'll take it back considering the activation code is in the package, and that's all you really need, the software in itself isn't really worth anything.
Oh and I too have a hard time understanding how one could miss the fact that it's an online game...but maybe the boxes are different in the US...

 

[HardcoreRobot]

you cant be serious...

to answer your questions, $15/month for unlimited access to the game servers, you will play in a world with a couple thousand people.

 

[Gern Blanston]

I did see that it was an online game, and I assumed it also had a single player option: Battlefield 2 is also an online game, but it also has a single player option. Sorry if you find it hard to believe, but it was an honest oversight. I'll know to check more thoroughly next time.

 

[exilera]

Originally posted by: Sunner
Also I kinda doubt they'll take it back considering the activation code is in the package, and that's all you really need, the software in itself isn't really worth anything.
Oh and I too have a hard time understanding how one could miss the fact that it's an online game...but maybe the boxes are different in the US...

Nope, the boxes are the same. It clearly states what kind of game it is on the package. The OP is just incredibly dense

 

[Bateluer]

It does list an internet connection, under the minimum system requirements on the box, 56k Modem.

 

[biostud]

Sound like I made the right decision and invest in Guild Wars, my first MMORPG.
I'm not that interested in group play yet, so it sounds good. The free play was definately also a deciding factor, since I don't know how much I'll be gaming.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: biostud
Sound like I made the right decision and invest in Guild Wars, my first MMORPG.
I'm not that interested in group play yet, so it sounds good. The free play was definately also a deciding factor, since I don't know how much I'll be gaming.

[canofworms]

Guild Wars is not a MMORPG

[/canofworms]

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: biostud
Sound like I made the right decision and invest in Guild Wars, my first MMORPG.
I'm not that interested in group play yet, so it sounds good. The free play was definately also a deciding factor, since I don't know how much I'll be gaming.

[canofworms]

Guild Wars is not a MMORPG

[/canofworms]

hehe, what do I know

 

[Gern Blanston]

Ok, whatever, I'm incredibly dense. Geez, lighten up. I said that I realized that it was a multiplayer game, but I assumed that a single player option was available as in BF2.
Go lose yourself in your silly games. This whole dialog made me realize that this kind of stuff is so meaningless.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: biostud

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: biostud
Sound like I made the right decision and invest in Guild Wars, my first MMORPG.
I'm not that interested in group play yet, so it sounds good. The free play was definately also a deciding factor, since I don't know how much I'll be gaming.

[canofworms]

Guild Wars is not a MMORPG

[/canofworms]

hehe, what do I know

What to the devs no?

http://www.guildwars.com/faq/default.html

Is Guild Wars an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)?

Guild Wars has some similarities to existing MMORPGs, but it also has some key differences. Like existing MMOs, Guild Wars is played entirely online in a secure hosted environment. Thousands of players inhabit the same virtual world. Players can meet new friends in gathering places like towns and outposts where they form parties and go questing with them. Unlike many MMOs, when players form a party and embark upon a quest in Guild Wars, they get their own private copy of the area where the quest takes place. This design eliminates some of the frustrating gameplay elements commonly associated with MMOs, such as spawn camping, loot stealing, and standing in a queue in order to complete a quest.

Guild Wars takes place in a large virtual world made up of many different zones, and players can walk from one end of the world to the other. In Guild Wars much of the tedium of traveling through the world has been eliminated. Players can instantly return to any safe area (town or outpost) that they have previously visited just by clicking on it in the world overview map.

Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game). Guild Wars was designed from the ground up to create the best possible competitive role-playing experience. Success in Guild Wars is always the result of player skill, not time spent playing or the size of one's guild. As characters progress, they acquire a diverse set of skills and items, enabling them to use new strategies in combat. Players can do battle in open arenas or compete in guild-vs-guild warfare or the international tournament. Engaging in combat is always the player's choice, however; there is no player-killing in cooperative areas of the world.

Players in Guild Wars can play with or against players from around the world in the global tournaments and arenas. And while players are initially placed in a region based on their selected language (so that there is a greater likelihood that others will be speaking their language) they can join up in the always-available International District to form parties and to play with anyone from anywhere in the world.

/plays CanOfWorms advocate

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Gern Blanston
Ok, whatever, I'm incredibly dense. Geez, lighten up. I said that I realized that it was a multiplayer game, but I assumed that a single player option was available as in BF2.
Go lose yourself in your silly games. This whole dialog made me realize that this kind of stuff is so meaningless.

Don't sweat it, I'm sure you aren't the first person who has bought an mmorpg without understanding the monthly payment plan.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Is Guild Wars an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)?

Guild Wars has some similarities to existing MMORPGs, but it also has some key differences. Like existing MMOs, Guild Wars is played entirely online in a secure hosted environment. Thousands of players inhabit the same virtual world. Players can meet new friends in gathering places like towns and outposts where they form parties and go questing with them. Unlike many MMOs, when players form a party and embark upon a quest in Guild Wars, they get their own private copy of the area where the quest takes place. This design eliminates some of the frustrating gameplay elements commonly associated with MMOs, such as spawn camping, loot stealing, and standing in a queue in order to complete a quest.

Guild Wars takes place in a large virtual world made up of many different zones, and players can walk from one end of the world to the other. In Guild Wars much of the tedium of traveling through the world has been eliminated. Players can instantly return to any safe area (town or outpost) that they have previously visited just by clicking on it in the world overview map.

Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game). Guild Wars was designed from the ground up to create the best possible competitive role-playing experience. Success in Guild Wars is always the result of player skill, not time spent playing or the size of one's guild. As characters progress, they acquire a diverse set of skills and items, enabling them to use new strategies in combat. Players can do battle in open arenas or compete in guild-vs-guild warfare or the international tournament. Engaging in combat is always the player's choice, however; there is no player-killing in cooperative areas of the world.

Players in Guild Wars can play with or against players from around the world in the global tournaments and arenas. And while players are initially placed in a region based on their selected language (so that there is a greater likelihood that others will be speaking their language) they can join up in the always-available International District to form parties and to play with anyone from anywhere in the world.

/plays CanOfWorms advocate

Who reads that stuff anyway

I don't really care, well actually it sounds better to my kind of playing style than WoW, so I think it was good I bought this and not WoW.

 

[apac]

Originally posted by: biostud
Sound like I made the right decision and invest in Guild Wars, my first MMORPG.
I'm not that interested in group play yet, so it sounds good. The free play was definately also a deciding factor, since I don't know how much I'll be gaming.

$15 a month is only a deciding factor if you still live with your parents. That's the equivalent of dinner and a movie for 1, and double that since you're probably with a lady friend.


edit: And for the storm of "not everyone has money!" accusations if you have a high enough calibur PC to play Guild Wars or BF2, and can pay $50 for the game itself, the money spent on those alone probably means 1 of 2 things:

1) Your parents bought them for you.
2) You bought them yourself, and therefore a $15 a month fee is chump change compared to a $1500-$2000 PC.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Gern Blanston
This whole dialog made me realize that this kind of stuff is so meaningless.

Posting on Anandtech? Trust me.... they went easy on you.

 

[AdamSnow]

WoW Comes with a free month... if I were you - I'd give it a shot... It's a great game!

I bought it in December, and another copy in February for my Fiance... every weekend we play at least a couple hours and a few times per week... we still have a blast with it to this day!

 

[Wingznut]

The monthly fee doesn't bother me at all for one reason...

If I had never gotten into WoW a few months ago, I would've easily purchased five or six games in that timeframe. So actually, I've spent LESS on gaming than I normally would've because of WoW.