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World of Warcraft Questions

prism

prism

Senior member
I was into Star Wars Galaxies for a few months, but eventually the sameness of it all got to me and I quit. I've been looking hard at WoW, and was wondering if some of you experienced WoWers could answer some questions for me.

First and foremost, will it run faster than SWG? I have an older system and SWG ran at about 12-15 fps through most areas, and I'm hoping that this will run better.

Is the character creation system pretty deep? I like customizing my own character alot and while I don't expect it to be to the level of SWG, I hope it's still good.

Any word on when Blizzard will start fixing the heinous qeue problems?

Thanks for any and all info
 
Post your system and we can tell you how it might run...it's really forgiving for system requirments though.

No. Choose your character, male/female hairstyle/color facial hair/color skin color

I've been playing since day one and haven't hit a queue yet.
 
Here's my rig, maybe someday it will be a collector's item 😉

AMD Thunderbird 1.34 Ghz
512 MB PC-133
GeForce4 FX5200
384 Kbps DSL

EDIT: Does anyone else think that it's pretty unfair that MMORPGs still have a sticker price as well as the monthly fee? I would say the max retail price for an MMORPG should be 29.99.
 
Originally posted by: Prism

EDIT: Does anyone else think that it's pretty unfair that MMORPGs still have a sticker price as well as the monthly fee? I would say the max retail price for an MMORPG should be 29.99.
Click to expand...

I do. This is the closest I've ever come to picking up an MMORPG, but I can't justify spending $XX initially and then having to spend $XX each subsequent month of my expected addiction. Perhaps, in that manner, Blizzard is actually doing me a huge favor.
 
Just choose a server that isn't populated. I have yet to ever wait to get into any of the servers that I have characters.
 
There's not much in the way of character customization, if you mean setting initial stats, choosing which stats to gain when you level up, etc. The main thing that distinguishes players other than looks are equipment and talents.
 
Is the character creation system pretty deep? I like customizing my own character alot and while I don't expect it to be to the level of SWG, I hope it's still good.
Click to expand...

It's nothing like in games like Baldur's Gate and such were you specify the values for intelligence, strength, etc. In WoW you just pick a race, class, visual traits, then play. The race and class will determine your physical attributes, so you should look that info up before choosing.

Any word on when Blizzard will start fixing the heinous qeue problems?
Click to expand...

As far as I am concerned, they did. I played on Mal'Ganis the first day, and the queue basically made it so I couldn't play for a few more days. Blizzard fixed that server and a few other major issue servers and now there is no queue for me. As long as you pick a server that doesn't have a HIGH number of players, you won't see a queue.
 
Originally posted by: Prism
I was into Star Wars Galaxies for a few months, but eventually the sameness of it all got to me and I quit. I've been looking hard at WoW, and was wondering if some of you experienced WoWers could answer some questions for me.

First and foremost, will it run faster than SWG? I have an older system and SWG ran at about 12-15 fps through most areas, and I'm hoping that this will run better.

Is the character creation system pretty deep? I like customizing my own character alot and while I don't expect it to be to the level of SWG, I hope it's still good.

Any word on when Blizzard will start fixing the heinous qeue problems?

Thanks for any and all info
Click to expand...

#1 only retards that wont move to a server thats not full are getting ques...
there is no problem if you move to a server that is not overpopulated...

#2 char creation is nowhere near SWGs... pretty simplistic

#3 if you could run SWG your system will shred WoW... SWG = system hog POS...
 
Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz
Originally posted by: Prism

EDIT: Does anyone else think that it's pretty unfair that MMORPGs still have a sticker price as well as the monthly fee? I would say the max retail price for an MMORPG should be 29.99.
Click to expand...

I do. This is the closest I've ever come to picking up an MMORPG, but I can't justify spending $XX initially and then having to spend $XX each subsequent month of my expected addiction. Perhaps, in that manner, Blizzard is actually doing me a huge favor.
Click to expand...

You do know that 15.00 bucks of the purchase price is technically your first month subscription..
it is NOT free it is INCLUDED if you read the boxes on MMOs these days..
it costs Millions of dollars to maintain these servers networks and personnel that maintain games like EQ WOW AO etc.... this is not a cheap undertaking like a single player game or a end user hosted server game...

15.00 bucks for an entire month of unlimited play..
I spend more than that on 1 days food..
thats not even 1 brand new DVD which is only 1-2 hours of enjoyment..
if you are that cheap you really shouldnt even be buyign games at all..
 
Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz
Originally posted by: Prism

EDIT: Does anyone else think that it's pretty unfair that MMORPGs still have a sticker price as well as the monthly fee? I would say the max retail price for an MMORPG should be 29.99.
Click to expand...

I do. This is the closest I've ever come to picking up an MMORPG, but I can't justify spending $XX initially and then having to spend $XX each subsequent month of my expected addiction. Perhaps, in that manner, Blizzard is actually doing me a huge favor.
Click to expand...

the thing is most other games you are going to be "done" with them after you beat it once or twice

you pay the same for say max payne 2

has no multiplayer and you can beat it in say 15 hours of play or less

so essentially you are paying greater than $3 per hour

sure you can play through it again but IMO what is the point

people will gladly shell out $50 a pop for 12 games a year each that more likely than not they will never touch after they beat (Doom 3 cough)

the exception is multiplayer FPS games like Counter-strike and Strategy games like Warcraft
but they don't have any new Content

it is the same thing albeit fun but game to game it is not that different

WoW has so much content to go through that it will take you months if not years to experience everything and once it starts getting old than you can quit

since i'm playing 20 hours / week + than i know i am getting my money for it
and there is no other game other than probably Warcraft 3/ starcraft / diablo in terms of "funness" that can compete for me and they just so happen to be blizz games but even these don't let you even 1/10th the different things you can do in WoW
 
1. It will run faster, because SWG had huge city load lag problems.

2. There is no character creation at all in WoW...initially 🙂 You pick 1 of 8 races, and a class. Later, you can customize by using different professions and items, but it's not as deep as SWG. It is a perfect balance of deepness and ease of play (what Blizzard i known for).
 
Originally posted by: CVSiN
Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz
Originally posted by: Prism

EDIT: Does anyone else think that it's pretty unfair that MMORPGs still have a sticker price as well as the monthly fee? I would say the max retail price for an MMORPG should be 29.99.
Click to expand...

I do. This is the closest I've ever come to picking up an MMORPG, but I can't justify spending $XX initially and then having to spend $XX each subsequent month of my expected addiction. Perhaps, in that manner, Blizzard is actually doing me a huge favor.
Click to expand...
15.00 bucks for an entire month of unlimited play..
I spend more than that on 1 days food..
thats not even 1 brand new DVD which is only 1-2 hours of enjoyment..
if you are that cheap you really shouldnt even be buyign games at all..
Click to expand...
I agree with that, like 12737862358%. That is almost sig material!
 
Originally posted by: mchammer187
Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz
Originally posted by: Prism

EDIT: Does anyone else think that it's pretty unfair that MMORPGs still have a sticker price as well as the monthly fee? I would say the max retail price for an MMORPG should be 29.99.
Click to expand...

I do. This is the closest I've ever come to picking up an MMORPG, but I can't justify spending $XX initially and then having to spend $XX each subsequent month of my expected addiction. Perhaps, in that manner, Blizzard is actually doing me a huge favor.
Click to expand...

the thing is most other games you are going to be "done" with them after you beat it once or twice

you pay the same for say max payne 2

has no multiplayer and you can beat it in say 15 hours of play or less

so essentially you are paying greater than $3 per hour

sure you can play through it again but IMO what is the point

people will gladly shell out $50 a pop for 12 games a year each that more likely than not they will never touch after they beat (Doom 3 cough)

the exception is multiplayer FPS games like Counter-strike and Strategy games like Warcraft
but they don't have any new Content

it is the same thing albeit fun but game to game it is not that different

WoW has so much content to go through that it will take you months if not years to experience everything and once it starts getting old than you can quit

since i'm playing 20 hours / week + than i know i am getting my money for it
and there is no other game other than probably Warcraft 3/ starcraft / diablo in terms of "funness" that can compete for me and they just so happen to be blizz games but even these don't let you even 1/10th the different things you can do in WoW
Click to expand...

I'm just saying the price is a deterrent [one of them], that's all. I never buy game when they first hit shelves (more frugality on my part - permits me lower system specs and the retail price drops after a few months, and even picking up used copies). I'd like to play the game, but in addition the investment is more than money ...

Opportunity cost, plain and simple. By spending 1 hour playing WoW, how much are you losing? Knowing how much I'd probably play (honest and sad estimate of 20-25 hours a week, so 80-100 hrs per month, for $15 ), I'd be spending the equivalent of .20 per hour on the game subscription, at most. But it's more than that - I could be spending the time working (I am offered very flexible hours, and I fear this addiction would cut into those). From that Point of View, the cost of an MMORPG for me would be staggering. What if it encroaches on my study time, and jeopardizes my grades (and the tuition and time that went into them )? It would cut into my already minor social life, my other hobbies, and the time I spend with loved ones. And those are worth a lot to me.

That's why I used the term addiction in my post. I have no doubt the game is one of the Great Games, a landmark. And I would like to play it. But knowing what that addiction could cost me, I choose not to take the first hit =)
 
Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz

Opportunity cost, plain and simple. By spending 1 hour playing WoW, how much are you losing? Knowing how much I'd probably play (honest and sad estimate of 20-25 hours a week, so 80-100 hrs per month, for $15 ), I'd be spending the equivalent of .20 per hour on the game subscription, at most. But it's more than that - I could be spending the time working (I am offered very flexible hours, and I fear this addiction would cut into those). From that Point of View, the cost of an MMORPG for me would be staggering. What if it encroaches on my study time, and jeopardizes my grades (and the tuition and time that went into them )? It would cut into my already minor social life, my other hobbies, and the time I spend with loved ones. And those are worth a lot to me.
Click to expand...

The risks you outline (reduce work and screw up your grades) are inherent with any title whether single player or multiplayer. I say go for it if you're interested. The monthly fee doesn't bother me so much anymore. My fear goes back to my last 3 attempts to break into MMORPGs. My first was the original UO: ran out an bought it the day of release, tried to play for a few weeks-- it truly lived up to the CGW Coaster of the Month title it was given. Then after getting broadband I went and bought the original EQ. After all the hype I figured why not? Was bored by it. I think that game needed more time than I could give it anyway. That and the graphics were just bad. Finally, came the rerelease of UO with updated graphics. As it turns out, it wasn't any different than the original incarnation: laggy, too many d00dz and PKs, crashing servers every 5 minutes, couldn't buy anything at the merchants except daggers and tricorner hats. Whee!

From what I've read, though WoW has what I like in a single player game, so I think I'm going to pick it up. God help me.
 
The initial price really isn't in the control of the developer. If blizzard was going at it alone, I wouldn't be surprised if they used only a monthly fee system, and provided the initial game as a download, like in the beta. But if you want to sell a game in a store, and it's an AAA title, it's going to be sold for $50 no matter what.
 
Originally posted by: EvilManagedCare
Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz

Opportunity cost, plain and simple. By spending 1 hour playing WoW, how much are you losing? Knowing how much I'd probably play (honest and sad estimate of 20-25 hours a week, so 80-100 hrs per month, for $15 ), I'd be spending the equivalent of .20 per hour on the game subscription, at most. But it's more than that - I could be spending the time working (I am offered very flexible hours, and I fear this addiction would cut into those). From that Point of View, the cost of an MMORPG for me would be staggering. What if it encroaches on my study time, and jeopardizes my grades (and the tuition and time that went into them )? It would cut into my already minor social life, my other hobbies, and the time I spend with loved ones. And those are worth a lot to me.
Click to expand...

My first was the original UO: ran out an bought it the day of release, tried to play for a few weeks-- it truly lived up to the CGW Coaster of the Month title it was given.
Click to expand...

Yeah UO was definatly the coast of the month 😕 pre UO:R the best PVP MMO.


Wow is very simplistic, and very entertaining.
 
Well I think they just price it that way because they can. If 90% of people are going to buy the game at 49.99 as opposed to 100% at 29.99, then that means they are making (50x.9=45, 45-30=15) 15 dollars more per game. (based on potential customers and rough estimates)

I myself will buy the game and I have absolutely no problem with the monthly fee. Why? Replay value.
Doom3=25 hours @ $50. Thats about 2.00/hour of gameplay.
WoW= say 50 hours a month avrg @ $15 = $ .30/hour of gameplay.
(approx $ .46/hour over 6 month play time if you include the price of the game)

Ofcoarse many people will spend a whole lot more than 50 hours a month (probably closer to 100)

Anyhow that's my mini analysis, but basically to sum it up, you get what you pay for.

 
Originally posted by: jimmy43
Well I think they just price it that way because they can. If 90% of people are going to buy the game at 49.99 as opposed to 100% at 29.99, then that means they are making (50x.9=45, 45-30=15) 15 dollars more per game. (based on potential customers and rough estimates)

I myself will buy the game and I have absolutely no problem with the monthly fee. Why? Replay value.
Doom3=25 hours @ $50. Thats about 2.00/hour of gameplay.
WoW= say 50 hours a month avrg @ $15 = $ .30/hour of gameplay.
(approx $ .46/hour over 6 month play time if you include the price of the game)

Ofcoarse many people will spend a whole lot more than 50 hours a month (probably closer to 100)

Anyhow that's my mini analysis, but basically to sum it up, you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

Maybe I have a skewed view, but HL cost me ~$50 and I've been playing it since 1999. StarCraft is very similar (~$80 for 6 or 7 years of play, after BW). I just can't justify paying 1/3 the price of a decent internet connection to play ONE game for ONE month. Not when I get the same amount of play out of my current games (WC III / HL2 / HL Derivaties).

Even if you put my skewed view of games aside, they are completely gouging you on the price. How many people subscribe? I hear > 500,000. That's ($15 * 500,000 =) $7.5 Million dollars a month. It just CAN'T cost anywhere NEAR that much to provide an improved version of a service that has been free for years (Battle.net). They aren't serving that many more people at a time. Well, ok, it's quite a bit more complex than simple matchmaking but where are the costs?

Storage costs? Psshaw! It probably costs them an infintesmal portion of a cent to store each player's characters. And that's a one-time cost, and negligible cost for occasional hard drive replacement.

Server costss? That's a one-time cost that has more than been covered by selling boxed copies.

Further development costs? Uh huh. Unless they have a full time staff dedicated only to WoW (which they might), you can't even argue this one. And there would have to be quite a few people making quite a bit of money to even put a dent in that $7.5 million.

Bandwidth costs? This is only area where I can even see an argument begin to form, and I highly doubt their bandwidth costs put too much of a dent in their monthly revenue.

The point:
They COULD charge $5 or $10 a month and still rake in the cash, but people are willing to pay more, so they charge more. It makes me sad.
 
Originally posted by: EpsiIon
Maybe I have a skewed view, but HL cost me ~$50 and I've been playing it since 1999. StarCraft is very similar (~$80 for 6 or 7 years of play, after BW). I just can't justify paying 1/3 the price of a decent internet connection to play ONE game for ONE month. Not when I get the same amount of play out of my current games (WC III / HL2 / HL Derivaties).

Even if you put my skewed view of games aside, they are completely gouging you on the price. How many people subscribe? I hear > 500,000. That's ($15 * 500,000 =) $7.5 Million dollars a month. It just CAN'T cost anywhere NEAR that much to provide an improved version of a service that has been free for years (Battle.net). They aren't serving that many more people at a time. Well, ok, it's quite a bit more complex than simple matchmaking but where are the costs?

Storage costs? Psshaw! It probably costs them an infintesmal portion of a cent to store each player's characters. And that's a one-time cost, and negligible cost for occasional hard drive replacement.

Server costss? That's a one-time cost that has more than been covered by selling boxed copies.

Further development costs? Uh huh. Unless they have a full time staff dedicated only to WoW (which they might), you can't even argue this one. And there would have to be quite a few people making quite a bit of money to even put a dent in that $7.5 million.

Bandwidth costs? This is only area where I can even see an argument begin to form, and I highly doubt their bandwidth costs put too much of a dent in their monthly revenue.

The point:
They COULD charge $5 or $10 a month and still rake in the cash, but people are willing to pay more, so they charge more. It makes me sad.
Click to expand...

HL forces server hosts to foot the bill for you. Starcraft is Peer to Peer.

Now lets take your skewed view of administrative costs.

Storage Costs = Backup costs. And while SATA hard drives are cheap, they are most likely buying SCSI drives and backing them to tape.

Bandwidth Costs = massive.
 
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