**Warcrow's World of Warcraft Review**

[warcrow]

Whats up you monkeys! :beer:

As some of you here, I too participated in the WoW stress test for the last 9 days (9/3 - 9/12). Because the stress was only going to last about a week, I really wanted to try out a few of the races and classes to get a good feel for were Blizzard is heading with the game (you can find what classes and races I played listed below). I wanted to take this opportunity to try to see what the game has to offer. But now, I'd like to share with you my experience with the game, and some thoughts that might help some of you decide if its the MMORPG for you. I've decided to break this little review into sections by the class that I played, since they're all so different. I think its just a more organized way of doing things. So, if you're a player in the stress like I, I hope you find this an interesting read. Heck, maybe you've never tried out a MMOPRG yet, because none of them sounded interesting enough. Well my friends, read on!


My System Specs
[*] MSI K7N2 (nForce 2)
[*] 2800XP
[*] eVGA 6800 Ultra 256MB
[*] 1GB Kingston PC2700 (Dual-Channel)
[*] 2 - 120GB (8MB cache) 7200 RPM HDDs (Maxtor and WD)

MMORPG Experience
[*] Asherons Call 2 - Played for 3 months. Until WoW, the most fun I'd had playing a MMORPG
[*] Star Wars Galaxies - I played this game for roughly 2 weeks. Hated it.
[*] Everqest - I tried to give this game a shot at the end of last year, but just couldnt get into it.

Characters Played in WoW
[*] Undead Warrior Level 6
[*] Night Elf Preist Level 7
[*] Tauren Hunter LEvel 13
[*] Human Warlock Level 8



Undead Warrior Level 6

Home: The Undercity, and another found in Tirisfal.

Graphics
When it comes to graphic in WoW, you have to understand one thing. Blizzard is not, by any means, going for realism here. Its not going to look like EQ2, SWG, or any of the other "realistic" looking MMOPRGs. They went for a style that all WC fans are familiar with, due to WCIII's GFX engine. Personally, I absolutely loved the graphics. They are so stylized, have so much personality, it just completely drew me in. When playing as an Undead, the GFX were very dark and creepy. Cobwebs everywhere, wood rotting, tombstones sticking up on the sides of the road. It was constantly night time (or so it seemed). I didnt get too far into the Undead as you can tell, so take this as a first impression. But, it felt it was Halloween all over the land. It was GREAT! Fighting weak zombies and bats (instead of the traditional rats and mice of other MMOs) just seemed to fit the bill. I particularly liked one of the quest were you had to steal some pumpkins from a farmers pumpkin patch. Hehe, cool.

Sounds/Music
The music was quite fitting with very triumphant LORT type music. Not as "creepy" as I would have expected, but it did seem to sound right. The quality of the music for the entire game was incredible as expected.

Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3



Night Elf Preist Level 7

Home: Darnassus, found in Teldrassil

Graphics
The Elves were the most beautiful and elegant in every regard! This is, of course, to be expected and seemed to draw inspiration from the LOTR movies. Deffinitly not a bad thing. Trees were HUGE, stretching up and disappearing into the sky. Part of the housing/Inns/Taverns were either nestled on top on bracnhes that you could reach by running up wood roads (IE: huge branches cut in half) or they were cut in the base of the trees. Not everything was like that, but from what I could tell most where. I think one of the most amazing experiences I had with the Elves was when I was talking to an NPC and the ground started shaking. I mean, *BOOM*.....*BOOM*....*BOOM*...like Jurassic Park. I quickly turned around and it turned out to be one the Ancient Guardians partolling around the town (you saw them in WCIII, the ones that look like Ents). I couldnt beleive his size! He was huge! His leaves jostled and shimmered with every step. I ended up following him for a good minute just to catch an eye full.

Sounds/Music
The music for the Elves was very Enya-ish. Very mellodic. It was just so fitting and made me really soak up the whole "Elf" thing. Again, amazing quality and on par with everything else Blizzard has done in the past.

Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3



Tauren Hunter Level 13

Home: Thunder Bluff, found in Mulgore.

Graphics
Ah, the mighty Tauren. This was the character I had the most fun with and kept playing until the end (today). I dont quite know was it was actually. Was it the huge open plains stretching for miles? I felt like I was on the plains of Africa hunting. As opposed to the other Races, everything with the Tauren was very tribal. It was such a unique feel, sometimes I felt like I was playing a different MMORPG other than WoW. buildings were not buildings, but huge pavilons (tents) made of leather skin and held together by ropes. I absolutely loved it, and it was after starting my Tauren Hunter that I decided that I was 100% sure I was getting WoW the day it comes out. I managed to get this guy up to level 13, so I got to spend and see quite a bit more of the lands and Races had to offer. At level 10, I aquired a companion - A Wolf. As a Hunter class, you obtain the ability to "tame" one of the beast out in the feilds. Once tamed, he becomes your buddy. Although, you must feed him and keep him happy, it never felt like a chore and was actually kinda fun. You build a kind of compaionship. If he's kept happy (he has a happiness meter), then he does 125% damage and is ever so loyal. I couldnt get enough of it, and I'm actually bummed I won't be playing this guy for a few months.

Sounds/Music
The music for the Tauren is very Tribal. Drums in the background, creating a "CHARGE!" attitude. It was never dull, and it didnt even feel like it was ever repetitious. the sounds were dead on with the spells I would cast, to my pet occationally howling as we sat down to eat (recover health).

Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3



Human Warlock Level 8

Home: Stormwind, found in Elwynn Forest

Graphics
Not much to say here except for the fact that it was kinda ordinary themed (hey, its the humans, right?). Still looked good. The Warlock was an interesting class all in itself because earl in the game you get to a familiar you can summon (in this case, it was a little Imp). He hurdles fireballs and will even distract the creeps for you. It was a fun class, and I can see myself playing it in the future.

Sounds/Music
...again, not much to say. It was good and also never felt repetitive, but it also didnt stick out to me as anything extrodinary.

Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2 Screenshot 3


Overall Gripes
[*] I know as well as many of you that this game is more stable than most other MMORPGs. But my experience is very very different from everyone elses it seems. The game would crash on my atleast once every two hours on average. I only ran into one instance where it crashed 4 times in 2 minutes. It was particularly agravating because I was in a 3 person party and we were in the middle of a quest. Keep in mind that I have a 6800 Ultra, and this could very well be a driver issue.

[*] The only other gripe that I have right now is that the stress test was TOO short!


For those of you that are playing the game, I hope you enjoyed the read. For those of you curious about the game, I hope I was able to give some insight. If you guys have any questions, go ahead and ask and I'll let try to answer them.

Cheers! -:beer:

 

[Andvari]

Not a bad review. I had a blast playing the stress test. I have one gripe with your review, and a couple of gripes with the game.

I wish you would have used your own screenshots instead of ones from the Blizzard site.

As for the game, I have a few gripes about the graphics. Not that they need to be any better or more/less polygons, I just think some of them should look different. Namely the undead. I think they don't look nearly as intimidating as they should, and their faces/hairstyles are terrible. I'd love to play the undead, but they better get a makeover in the face department because they look too goofy. This is obviously my opinion, but anyway I'll keep going. The gnome faces weren't bad, but their hair and facial hair options were terrible. I hope they too get a makeover. I just think some of them face/hairstyles for the races look too weird.

Another gripe with the characters is that there aren't different builds. In EQ this wasn't a big deal since they were all realistically proportioned. But in WoW, my human mage was as built as a human warrior, and looked like he could bench about 500 pounds. I hope that in the final they have different body sizes, so when we pick casters we can have skinnier and more "physically feeble" types.

My last gripe was with the repetition of caves. My first two gripes were all a matter of preference, but this right here actually came off as Blizzard being lazy to me. I went into a cave to kill some kobolds as a human as one of my first quests. Later when I made my undead, I went into a cave (on a different continent) to kill some spiders in the same fashion. The cave layout was IDENTICAL. I didn't try it with other races, but that leads me to believe that every race's "noob cave" has exactly the same layout, just different enemies. That's pretty disappointing, because like warcrow point out, the undead had a great atmosphere with the myst and the zombies and the blight and etc. Then you walk into a cave that is exactly the same shape/size as a cave in the human lands, just with spider webs and stuff strewn about. If I play a different race, I won't a different experience, not a "remix." I hope they change that for the final.

Aside from those things, like I said, I had a blast. I can't wait to get it the day it comes out.

 

[warcrow]

Thanks, Andvari.

Yea, I agree with some of the points you made. I really wanted to use my own screenshots, but I'm at work right now when writing this review. I played up to the minute and didnt feel like loading up my other chars and taking screens, burning them to CD, taking them to work, and uploading. but I agree, it would have been more appropriate.

I didnt have any problems with the Undead and their look, I thought it was fine. Again, just my opinion as well. I didnt notice the "cookie-cutter" dungeon crawls in the beginning as well for the Undead, Human, and Elfs. It was not present with the Tauren though. I wonder if there is just more work to be done and they kinda did a copy/paste of the dungeon just for the stress. But lets hope that doesnt make it into the final, I agree!

About the builds, I completely forgot to mention that as one of my gripes because I'm in agreement with Andvari here. The mage's physic is identical to a Warriors. I would hope that Blizzard would only just fix that before going gold. It just seems so obvious.

 

[warcrow]

Head here for some in-game videos or WoW!

 

[warcrow]

^

 

[LeetViet]

True, your own screenshots would've been better

And Andvari is right, there are only a few cave layouts.

What I dislike, is the fact that every class has the same spell/stats regardless of race/faction. I find it hard to believe the Undead Priests and Human Priests worship the same name.

 

[slipONflange]

Looks great thanks for taking the time the write the review I might have to give this a try when it comes out!

 

[Andvari]

Originally posted by: LeetViet
What I dislike, is the fact that every class has the same spell/stats regardless of race/faction. I find it hard to believe the Undead Priests and Human Priests worship the same name.

Yeah. Some parts of it feel incomplete, as I guess a beta should. I just hope the parts that we feel are incomplete are the same parts that Blizzard feels are incomplete. heh

 

[skace]

The same cave gripe at the beginning of every race is really a moot gripe. The newbie areas are not meant to be unique but to be a good introduction to the game. The game really starts when you run past the gate out of your respective newbie area.

While the mage may have the same physical build as a warrior. You will quickly begin to tell the difference between the 2 as equipment paths go their own route. A mage running around in a robe does not look anything like a warrior running around in plate armor.


I plan to get some screenshots up as soon as I stop wasting time and actually do it.

 

[Malladine]

IMO the game offers little in the way of innovation. World of Warcraft is uninspired, generic and repetitive. I'm sure it will do quite well

 

[CVSiN]

lol Mall...
Thought you were digging most of it...
you only had a few beefs last week..
what pissed ya off over the weekend?

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Malladine
IMO the game offers little in the way of innovation. World of Warcraft is uninspired, generic and repetitive. I'm sure it will do quite well

I'm sure you are glad that opinions can be filled with innaccuracies. What are you comparing WoW to that is so non-repetitive and unique?

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: Malladine
IMO the game offers little in the way of innovation. World of Warcraft is uninspired, generic and repetitive. I'm sure it will do quite well

I'm sure you are glad that opinions can be filled with innaccuracies. What are you comparing WoW to that is so non-repetitive and unique?

There is really no relationship between opinions and objective accuracy, although it could be said, and rightly so, that all opinions are by definition accurate. In saying this, I'm not comparing WoW to anything in particular, except that of course my opinion is inevitably based on my past experiences, as all opinions tend to be.

CVSIN: yeah man, I became disgruntled this weekend
Essentially, i've realized my expectations are higher than I thought they were...WoW is certainly colourful, and potentially fun regarding pvp etc, but the following issues damage the experience irrevocably for me.
1. AI. NPCs are too dumb. Give a quest saying how much they care about such and such and he is dying. This person is 3 mins run away yet the NPC stands by the campfire and sends you to do it for her. Another example would be killing some terrible menace in the area, and being told by the quest giver that this will be a blow against evil, and then seeing it reappear to be slaughtered anew by another player. I know, this is no different than other MMOs. That's my point. Haven't seen this before: crazy high lvl guards, dumb as doornails, wandering the town, charging into combat, killing lvl 1 zombies in 1 hit then continuing their pre-planned wandering. I know, go play Morrowind or other single player RPGs if I want actual NPC ai right? Not good enough, I want a MMO with the NPC smarts of, say, Gothic (a years old single player RPG). I want at least the semblance of a real, living world. With hundreds, if not thousands, of real people running around why not use them? Allow players to designate their own quests, quests that actual alter the world to even a tiny degree. I am aware that control mechanisms must be in place to prevent players from damaging the world. How about permanently active GMs, in the world, whose job it is to protect important resources, areas, elements, etc. Ok, i'm getting carried away here, but I know there are alternatives to a near perfect rehash of past MMOs.
2. Quests in general are just a cover. Players all have tons of quests, but this in itself is not enough for me. I need something more meaningful than completing a quest I know 1000s of others have finish and will finish. I mean, how many handfuls of "rare earth" does that guy at the lake need and what is he doing with it all. I want to see progress, change. The world has no progress and no real change other than relating to players themselves. Not enough I say! :frown:


I was going to add much more but I'd rather give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt and assume the other issues (such as individuality to name one) will be fixed as Beta progresses.

I am willing to try the game once more, in Open beta but to be honest my hopes are not high.

I didn't write this to offend anyone, so don't get pissy people, if you're enjoying it/enjoyed it, great!

 

[CVSiN]

Ya i know what ya mean bro.. but is there a way to fix that? I play NWN and alot of other really great single player games when I feel like that...

I dont really see a way to do this except to have a random quest generator in the game... which is pretty much what missions in SWG and AO are...
and they pretty much stink too...

maybe in the future we will have the server power to actually run a mini AI capable enough to generate quests on the fly for each player that actually have a story etc...
stead of go to waypointx and kill 10000 of these for your reward..

that said bro the game does get better as you level up... the instances are pretty darn cool and so is being in a raid guild and doing the really high level stuff in wow..

 

[Malladine]

I'm to the point where I'm interested in MMOs to be immersed. The things I mentioned are contrary to immersion. I play to have fun, of course, but also for more than to obtain the best gear (in fact i don't feel there should ever be a best of anything, ever). To take part in an active, ongoing adventure, with plot and story, even if continued only by the players themselves, is what i'm looking for.

Instances are fine, I see the reasons behind them. However, i'd enjoy knowing the instance I was in, I could never enter again. The instance I was adventuring through with my friends/my wife was designed just for us and once completed will be done, finished. Nobody else could complete the same instance. Similar maybe, but not the same. Why not design instances which last weeks. Entire quests (real quests, epic quests) built around an instance where you travel, not just through a single dungeon, but through an entire area of the world. Through forests, across a sea. I want to be a hero from a fantasy novel. I believe it is feasible to imagine a game world linked by instances, into which players can invite others who wish to join in the fun. A world changed by the players. Make use of the players damnit!

Is this not what all who play these games want? Perhaps we aren't capable of this yet. But understand that all I've been writing is from 30mins of thought, from one mind...just think of what is truly possible with dozens, hundreds of minds over weeks, months and years. This genre has so much potential. It's a shame to see so little forward momentum.

Having said this, there are many more MMOs in development, some, no doubt, with intriguing ideas. Innovation is on the way, don't hold it back! Expect more, demand more, and you, we, shall receive more!

 

[warcrow]

I understand your point, Malladine, and its a good one. But I beleive later on (like in most MMORPGs) the quest become "greater" and are much farther away. Its not, "we have a bad rat infestation, please kill them...*whack!*...thanks....*level up!*".

But I think with the early on quest, and having things so close, it helps with instant gratification (especially for newbies) and makes you feel like you're acomplishing something. Can you imagine a level 1 warrior take a quest on that requires you to run half way across the gaming world? The developers are working you into the character, building up abilities, and doing it slowly because there is a monthly fee.

All kidding aside, I think its the right pace. Like I said, I understand your point, but I also understand where/why the developers do what they do. I think if there is a company out there that could paradigm shift the whole MMORPG formula, it would be Blizzard. They've been working on this game for years now, so I'm sure alot of ideas were scrapped.

 

[CVSiN]

1 word for ya bro...
Fable..
coming to an Xbox near you tomorrow
thats about as close in todays technology as you can get to what you want..

What you want sounds great but do you have any idea the amount of programming or the server power this would take to support 100k+ players at the same time all needing quests?

just not possible..
maybe our kids will have this kind of technology but right now thats the realm of single player games..
or limited multiplayer games with a personal GM/DM to set the quests etc..

 

[Andvari]

Originally posted by: Malladine
Is this not what all who play these games want?

Actually, no, I don't think it is. The first thing that comes to mind when you describe all this is the "Sleeper" event in EverQuest. For those of you who don't know what that is, It was the only event in EverQuest, that I'm aware of, that was as Malladine described it. One guild did the event, and nobody else got a chance to. Furthermore, the zone where the event took place was changed so that the mobs dropped "dummied down" loot from then on out after the event.

Did the players like that? Sure, the players that were lucky enough to participate in the event did. But the other 95% of players on the server were upset and pissed. This Sleeper event wasn't a mediocre event either. At the time, before newer expansions came out, The Sleeper event was the biggest event of the game. It was as close to the "end" of EverQuest as you could get (obviously the game had no definite ending though).

I mean, I guess it did have it's cool aspects knowing that the world was permanently altered by the players. But at the same time, it was a disappointment that everybody else didn't get to experience it as well. And in the end, I think the players care more about getting a chance to experience the same thing as everybody else more than they do the realistic aspect of a dynamic world. Otherwise everybody would scream unfair.

Maybe, just maybe it could be different if there were hundreds/thousands of quests like this, that way everybody would get their own, instead of one group getting it while everybody else complains. But still, I'm not sure if people would even want that. A lot of people would feel that the quest they happened to be given wasn't as cool/rewarding/fun as a quest somebody else got. Again, the game has to be fair to everybody.

Increased AI is something that would be nice, and will probably come over time. By the final, by expansions, by patches, etc.

But as for individual quests for everybody that change the game permanently? A) Most people wouldn't want it, B) that's what single player games are for, and C) like people have said it is technologically impossible for now. Well, unless you plan to be charged maybe $50 a month to play. Think of thousands of people doing a different quest all at the same time, and implementing all those changes when they finish a quest, then coming up with thousands of new quests for those people to partake in. Every day the world would be changing, new quests would have to be invented, etc. It would take MASSIVE amounts of upkeep/maintenance. I'm satisfied with world changing coming in the form of "dude they found a way to take out so-and-so mob we previously thought was unbeatable!" or "man, some guy got the first drop of whatever-item on the server" or just plain economy change. I find the economy interesting, how an item can be worth so much at first and so little months down the line. And GM events like every weekend or something would be nice. That would be the only feasible way of acceptable permanent change I can think of. And all this is change enough for me.

 

[CVSiN]

well said.. thats what I was trying to say =)
I was one of the few that did get to experience the sleeper...
we didnt wake the sleeper for months till everyone in our guild had every high level char they had with all the uber items..
then 1 group from our guild decided another guild was getting too close to being able to do the sleeper and they woke him...
the fall out on Fen Ro from this event was enormous..
our once elite of the uber guilds split up pissed at the small group that did this..
and the entire server hated anyone associated with this guild for doing it...

1 time events are neat... but in the end like he said others just resent that your group was the one to do it.

 

[skace]

The funny thing is what Malladine is asking for has never been done. EVEN FABLE cannot live up to that kind of demand. It would take you a thousand years the make the game you are asking for. A living breathing game with its own AI that shapes and changes, creating its own quests as the need arises and giving each person in the mmorpg a unique experience. It just won't happen. And guess what, when it DOES happen, the game will suck. The classes will be unbalanced, the quests won't be that rewarding, there will be little plot, and you will have more things to bitch about. Why? Because developers, like most human beings, have to make compromises based on the one truely unreplenishable resource, time. So if they spend that much time making an AI, the game built for the AI will be that much worse. Look at Black and White. Amazingly awesome AI, you could sit and train your pet for hours, but at the end of it all there was nothing else to your game but your pet, the plot sucked, the maps sucked, there were very few gameplay elements.

Ok, now lets take your second suggestion. Having player-made content. Sounds awesome, lets review the successors of this grand idea: Shadowbane and NWN. Shadowbane was relying on player made content to keep the game afloat and it just didn't work (Yes, I played it, 2 rank5s). NWN is not exactly the same way, but it had a greatly heralded feature of allowing ingame gms, which created a large abundance of sucky mods and GMs that were rarely online or played favorites. Ignoring this fact, NWN wasn't even close to having the number of people that mmorpgs support per world. The reality of it is, 85% of the people who play a game do not want to be the ones making the content, they just want to enjoy it. Out of the 15% you are left with, only 10% of those even make good content, the rest make crap.

You keep waiting for your pipe dream. I will continue enjoying possibly the best mmorpg to date.

Oh and Warcrow, I wouldn't say they are working you into character slowly, at least at this point. Someone on my stress test server made it to level 45 .

 

[Andvari]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
then 1 group from our guild decided another guild was getting too close to being able to do the sleeper and they woke him...

Haha, that's similar to how things happened on Cazic-Thule. The two compeating uber guilds had a fairly friendly relationship, always trying their best to accomodate for each other in certain events. Relentless/EoD (uberest) were supposed to allow SS/DA (second uberest) a chance at Sleeper after they had both worked on it for a while, but Relentless/EoD worried that SS/DA would actually succeed so they woke him before SS/DA got their chance. Needless to say this caused some big uproars throughout the server, but things sooner or later smoothed out again.

I guess SS/DA got their revenge when they whooped Relentless/EoD in the PvP Test of Tactics 3 (I think that's what it was).

(I was part of neither of these guilds, and had friends in both. I just find their quarrels funny heh.)

 

[CVSiN]

45 in a week... thats completely insane...
ive been playing since the Alpha and my highest single char is 35
i play alot too... every day for at least 4 hours a night...
on weekends alot more..
i dont undertsand how this is done...

 

[HardcoreRobot]

good post warcrow.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: warcrow
I understand your point, Malladine, and its a good one. But I beleive later on (like in most MMORPGs) the quest become "greater" and are much farther away. Its not, "we have a bad rat infestation, please kill them...*whack!*...thanks....*level up!*".

But I think with the early on quest, and having things so close, it helps with instant gratification (especially for newbies) and makes you feel like you're acomplishing something. Can you imagine a level 1 warrior take a quest on that requires you to run half way across the gaming world? The developers are working you into the character, building up abilities, and doing it slowly because there is a monthly fee.

Yep, I understand this although perhaps i'm not as convinced as you are that Blizzard are the ones to trailblaze a shift in the genre. And yes, I also understand that others, not just newbies, are looking for a simple, easy experience akin to, as CVSIN has mentioned in another thread, a MMO Diablo. Certainly Blizzard have done well on that score. I also understand the need to edge players into their characters. I just feel that WoW is, as i played it, too close to what has already been done - what i've already done.

CVSIN mentioned high lvl stuff is awesome. That may be, but if the points I made earlier do not change I won't be making it that far.

Originally posted by: CVSiN
1 word for ya bro...
Fable..
coming to an Xbox near you tomorrow
thats about as close in todays technology as you can get to what you want..

What you want sounds great but do you have any idea the amount of programming or the server power this would take to support 100k+ players at the same time all needing quests?

just not possible..
maybe our kids will have this kind of technology but right now thats the realm of single player games..
or limited multiplayer games with a personal GM/DM to set the quests etc..

yeah, I have some idea and I am aware we're not there yet. I'd like to see more progress in that direction is all. As far as Fable goes, it's still a world, although designed by humans, that is left to the computer. What I am talking about requires human interaction in the game world.

I love the idea of Fable, though I do not own a XBOX.

Andvari: Like i said, if that's what you want, good for you. Everyone wants to have fun, and if you're having it, awesome man. But consider what could be changed to make the experience better?

Yes I heard of the Sleeper quest. You're right, that is unfair. Such an epic, world changing quest that only 1 guild had a chance to participate in. Y'know what? I think developers need to realize that 99% of people playing MMOs will not become heroes. They are designing all these essentially meaningless quests to make players think they are heroic. How could a player be heroic when the monster they just vanquished comes back 1min-1week later to be vanquished again by another player. Everyone is the same in this endless gameplay loop. Sure, there are heroic acts, whereby a player suvives alone from a large group of other players to claim victory, but how often does this happen? I remember in Everquest when my wife and I fought Broon for the first time. We enlisted another player to help us and he ended up fleeing at the beginning of the fight, leaving us alone to battle the brute. My wife ended up dying at his feet, and I survived with very little hp left. I felt heroic then, sure.

<Just had an idea: how about a character moving slower when injured? Limping? Hit boxes so if my arm is hurt it hangs at my side useless (until healed of course). Healing can still be 100% effective and a character wouldn't be disabled long enough to make it frustrating for the player but wouldn't you agree that this adds a lot to a character, to the character of the game?>

Anyway, my point is (on the way to a reality of some kind of perma change, etc i've already mentioned) how about designing a game keeping in mind the fact that trying to make every player a hero doesn't work? Make it fun, make it challenging, but stop trying to make every player central. IMO this does not add anything except another layer of falsity.

"Yeah right Lord Draconis i'm, what, the 589th person to slay this demon for you? I'm no hero, i'm just another dude rolling around this (presumably) awesome world slaying monsters in a (presumably) fun and challenging way with my (presumably) fantastic assortment of equipment. Just hand that reward over and i'll be on my way."

Leave any hero making that takes place to the players themselves. Let the players decide if their fellows deserve the title "Hero". Wouldn't that mean so much more?

<EDIT> Response to Skace who wrote while I wrote this: instead of trying to shoot down my posts why don't you put some thought into decent responses. I said I wasn't trying to offend anyone and you're behaving quite offended. If you're unwilling to respond reasonably and without bias please don't respond at all. Just because it hasn't been done, doesn't mean it can't be done. I'm not suggesting a sudden break-through, I know the industry better than that. It will take time - failed attempts, backtracking, near misses, the rest. In the end, whether you accept what I've said about WoW or not is irrelevent. This is, as you've so clearly wrote, my opinion.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: Malladine
IMO the game offers little in the way of innovation. World of Warcraft is uninspired, generic and repetitive. I'm sure it will do quite well

What are you comparing WoW to that is so non-repetitive and unique?

UO 97-00