WOW never interested me, but I've had my eye on SC:G for a while now. It's looking great- can't wait to play it.
posted by kryptondog at 1:06 PM on October 28, 2005

Watch out for the plague.
posted by kika at 1:06 PM on October 28, 2005

WarCraft II: One of the most awesome games ever made.

StarCraft: One of the most awesome games ever made.

WarCraft III: One of the most awesome games ever made.

WoW: You want me to pay you money every month to hang out with a bunch of asshole twelve-year-olds? You must be out of your mind, son!

The sooner Blizzard gets back to single-player RTS campaigns, the better off we'll all be.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:08 PM on October 28, 2005

You want me to pay you money every month to hang out with a bunch of asshole twelve-year-olds? You must be out of your mind, son!

This is why I've taken to playing on role-playing servers. The 12-year olds get their accounts suspended for days at a time, and eventually banned, if they don't grow up (in attitude) or switch to a different server.

My 12-year old son plays WoW, but in comparison to some of these kids, acts like a senior citizen. I start to feel really old when I talk about the attitudes of "kids these days".
posted by thanotopsis at 1:12 PM on October 28, 2005

My girlfriend will be excited to hear that you can be evil and hot now.
posted by EarBucket at 1:13 PM on October 28, 2005

Faint - Don't hold your breath. Why sell someone something once for $50 and have it be obsoleted and on discount racks within 6 months and/or re-sold as used when you can sell them something every month for $10, over and over?
posted by phearlez at 1:14 PM on October 28, 2005

The sooner Blizzard gets back to single-player RTS campaigns, the better off we'll all be.

Oh, and you should really check out the specifications for the Alterac Valley Battleground area for the higher level characters. A mixture of quests, area controlling, and general warfare. It's as close to a classic Blizzard RTS that I've ever seen any MMO come.
posted by thanotopsis at 1:14 PM on October 28, 2005

For those of you who are interested and possibly missed the MetaTalk post, we're currently trying to organize a MeFi Alliance guild, JRun Refugees, on the new Cho'Gall server. Those of you who are interested can find more information here.

My money's on the draeni being the new alliance race. That way you'd have one "pretty" horde race and one "ugly" alliance race. Plus, it would be really stupid if it was pandaran.

On Preview: WoW is so spectacular that it's worth paying to put up with asshole twelve-tear-olds. In fact, with various filters in place and being selective in your group choices, you'll never even know they're there.
posted by emptybowl at 1:14 PM on October 28, 2005

WoW is a fantastic game. It's easy to ignore the kids, and you can usually find some cool people to play with. Or you can do solo stuff.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:32 PM on October 28, 2005

I've always found it entertaining in RP servers, the frequency of "twelve-year-old assholes" to show up when their PVP server is maxed out and they just need their fix. Their chat is offensive and horrendous; their age, mental or otherwise, obvious; and the speed at which they become so frustrated with RP etiquette (such as it is) both welcome and hilarious.

On RP servers (or at least the ones I play on), the "l33t d00ds" tend to trickle off after the noob zones. Not that I've run across much serious RP, but blatent violators of the RP code are typically dealt with pretty harshly, if ony in chat. Hehe, of course, there's always those wags who lie in wait for the opportunity to self-righteously scold newcomers to the RP experience, but heck, thats what /ignore is for.

And it really is a beautiful game.
posted by elendil71 at 1:34 PM on October 28, 2005

WarCraft II: One of the most awesome games ever made.

StarCraft: One of the most awesome games ever made.

WarCraft III: One of the most awesome games ever made.


Level 1: Yay! I get to build buildings, make units, and send them after the bad guys!

Level 2: Yay! I get to build the same buildings over again, make the same units over again, and kill the same bad guys!

Level 3: Uhhh . . . what's on TV?

Not saying this isn't fun for some, but for me playing these games felt like a job. It got old real quick.
posted by ToasT at 1:37 PM on October 28, 2005

I joined an RP server when I played WoW and when I finally got Skype I was shocked--shocked I say--to learn that all my guildmates were kids. They certainly didn't act like it.

What I found cool is that most of them played with an older sibling and/or a parent. WoW: addicting you AND your family since 2004.
posted by WolfDaddy at 1:42 PM on October 28, 2005

I play on an RP server, and it's not as bad as I thought it would be (obnoxious kid-wise).

What's bad about WoW is the feeling of despair I get as I watch my friends -- all of whom signed up at the same time as me -- advance 10+ levels above me because I don't have 6-8 hours a day to grind.

Typical WoW night for me:

Wife (wakes up at 1am to find me hunched over my PowerBook): "What are you doing?"
Me: "Running."
Wife: "Is that all you do in that dang game?"
Me: No. I do this sometimes (types /dance).
Wife: That's really dumb.
Me: I know.

But damnit, I'm 35 years old and this is the most addicting game I've every played. I'll buy the expansion.
posted by magnificentsven at 1:43 PM on October 28, 2005

Why sell someone something once for $50 and have it be obsoleted and on discount racks within 6 months and/or re-sold as used when you can sell them something every month for $10, over and over?

As someone who works for a company that has been in the MMORPG business since before anyone called them MMORPGs, I can answer that:

Operating costs.

Bandwidth, servers, tech support, billing, customer service, and constant development of new content all cost money.

Also, MMORPGs have the longest and most expensive development cycles for their initial release.

It's a tough industry to be in. I know it's hard to look at WoW and see that, but imagine the sucktitude of working overtime on a project for 4 years for substandard pay only to have it cancelled by your corporate masters, or to have it tank and be forgotten the week it's released. Right now there is only one Wow-level success story and a whole lot of failure.

Without the monthly fee, there would be no "M" in MMORPG. Neverwinter Nights, Diablo, and amateur efforts that barely squeak by on donations and volunteerism would be the limit.

(Guild Wars may have no monthly fee, but leeches NCSoft's spare bandwidth and was designed very deliberately to be low-maintenance. It's basically subsidized by City of Heroes, Lineage et al.)
posted by Foosnark at 1:59 PM on October 28, 2005

magnificentsven,

Yeah, being an adult sometimes sucks. Stupid responsibility.

And I got at least 5 min of belly laughter from the scenario. I have sooooo been there.
posted by elendil71 at 2:08 PM on October 28, 2005

Mag7 and Elendil71: My wife calls it "the running game." She comes over and looks at the computer and sings a little song: "running, running, running . . . "
posted by The Bellman at 2:20 PM on October 28, 2005

I'm glad to see the Blood Elves added as a player race (and even more glad to see that their men look less like shaven gorillas than the male Night Elf models - I always wanted to play a male Nelf Druid, but was rather put off by the floppy ears and enormous, swinging arms).

I honestly hope to god the Alliance don't get Dranei - I'm all for an 'ugly' or monstrous Alliance race, but the Dranei are so utterly mind-numbingly boring to look at that I couldn't summon the motivation to play as one, or even hit one on the head when I'm playing Horde. I'm sort of quietly hoping for the Pandaren (even if it doesn't make any sense, lore-wise), because I really do appreciate WoW's silliness level, the Naga (unlikely, I know, especially since the Blood Elves are Horde) or a completely new species. It's worth noting that the FAQ on the Burning Crusade site hints that there might be more than one new race per side in the expansion, too.

As for the rest - Outland, flying mounts, level cap increase, new talents and spells for all classes? Yes please. I've played fairly casually on an RP Realm (EU Earthen Ring) since the game launched, and while the kid-level is certainly lower, I have to admit to becoming a bit disillusioned with the arrogance and intractability of an awful lot of self-described roleplayers. I've just rolled a Troll on EU Draenor (A PvE realm) and it honestly feels like a breath of fresh air.
posted by terpsichoria at 2:26 PM on October 28, 2005

Addicted WoWer. Reaction so far to expansion: Meh. Can't stand NE's art or style. So I don't know if having a Horde NE will be any good unless their light bulbs don't make that horrendous humming sound. Flying mounts? Meh. Cap to 70? Er, I've had WoW since release , and, er , I haven't managed to get a character up to 60 yet. So I'm in the casual group I guess, but, well, meh.

Outland looks pretty kewl, conceptually.
posted by cavalier at 2:34 PM on October 28, 2005

"we're currently trying to organize a MeFi Alliance guild, JRun Refugees, on the new Cho'Gall server."

Am I missing something? Cho'Gall is a maxed out PvP server. I'm expected to start a new toon so I can wait in a queue?

On topic - If Blizzard does the expansion the way they do the rest of WoW development it will be launched with 10x as much stuff as we see here. They announced half the convention stuff after tickets were sold out. I think the expansion will be huge.
posted by y6y6y6 at 2:57 PM on October 28, 2005

I have 2 Lv 60s on Icecrown. I must be in the "needs a twelve step program" portion of the population. Flying Mounts seems interesting... level cap + new abilities... yes please. There is too much to do in WoW right now as it is... farm Molten Core, get faction with the Trolls for Zul'Gurub, farm Onyxia, make further attempts into Blackwing's Lair, battlegrounds. I get no free time.

I thought something cool (don't know if they have the intent to implement it), might be that once you cross over to Outland, Horde and Alliance can group. Even if simply for the aesthetic of being "united against the outworld enemy".
posted by thanatogenous at 3:19 PM on October 28, 2005

y6y6y6,

We used to have a guild on another realm, but that died due to disinterest. The PVE realm (I think Silvermoon) was stupidly inbalanced at the time, and most of the population was 50+, leaving the other areas pretty empty.

Cho'Gall has queues now, but they'll get less as a. people get bored in The Race to 60, and go back to their home realms, and b. newer realms get opened up. Cho'Gall is also PVP, and so far pretty well balanced, both Good Things in my book.

(And I can understand the addiction part, definitely. I took a break from playing for a while, and it was much needed.)
posted by spinifex23 at 3:29 PM on October 28, 2005

MeTa thread on the latest attempt at a MeFi WoW guild. FTW.
posted by spinifex23 at 3:39 PM on October 28, 2005

Am I missing something? Cho'Gall is a maxed out PvP server. I'm expected to start a new toon so I can wait in a queue?

Yeah, sadly there are queues, but they didn't start until after we made toons there. And like spinifex said, we're hoping they'll die down once the "newness" is gone.

Personall, after playing on both PvP and PvE servers, I will accept NOTHING other than PvP. PvE is SO boring.
posted by emptybowl at 3:41 PM on October 28, 2005

Typical WoW night for me:

Wife (wakes up at 1am to find me hunched over my PowerBook): "What are you doing?"
Me: "Running."
Wife: "Is that all you do in that dang game?"
Me: No. I do this sometimes (types /dance).
Wife: That's really dumb.
Me: I know.

Unfortunately I know this all too well. Although my convo usually goes like this:

Wife (walking by): Why is that game all black and white and stuff?
Me: Because I'm dead...we're all dead. Stupid rogues...
Wife: huh.

15 minutes later

Wife (walking by again): Hey you're dead again.
Me: Yes I know
posted by aaronscool at 3:50 PM on October 28, 2005

"Mag7 and Elendil71: My wife calls it "the running game." She comes over and looks at the computer and sings a little song: "running, running, running . . . ""

Hehe, that it is. Then again, I recall the early days of SWG, before character vehicles (and before it just plain sucked in general)... I think I literally sometimes spent HOURS running across Tatooine and Lok. Whole game sessions were spent just getting somewhere so we could play the next day. Oooog.
posted by elendil71 at 4:01 PM on October 28, 2005

Draenei as the Alliance race is unlikely at this point, as Blizzard is keeping them a secret - and why would they, if not to unveil their starting area at a later date? If their starting area is Outland... well, already dropped that one.

Pandaren is very likely. More than an ugly race (dwarves, especially female dwarves, already qualify here) alliance need a hulking brute one, because gear looks much sexier on Taurens than any other race. Pandaren starting area, Pandaria, will be another item for Blizzard to unveil later on.
posted by mek at 4:02 PM on October 28, 2005

I finally almost get to 60 (well, 54, but at least 60 seems within reach)... and... they... up... the... level... cap... GAH!
posted by jlub at 4:02 PM on October 28, 2005

*sigh* My deadite mage has been 60 since the end of last December. I took a several month break from the game (farming MC every week got boring), but the promise of a raised level cap, blood elves, more PvP, BWL and other things have me quite rejuvinated.
posted by kaseijin at 4:24 PM on October 28, 2005

also: I have it on very good faith that the Alliance race is Pandaren.
posted by kaseijin at 4:24 PM on October 28, 2005

I don't play anymore, but it occurs to me that the existing instances will become trivial. Players will grind up from 60 to 70 in a week or two, and then raid parties will be able to do their instances in minutes instead of hours.

At least, that's what it was like when I was level 60 and grouping for Dire Maul or Blackrock Depths. being level 70 and griding Stratholme two or three times an hour until everyone int he guild has their setpiece will become de riguer. There will be no more failed Molten Core runs. Everyone who wants any boss drop int he game will be able to get it with very little work.

The old game will, essentially, be obviated six months after the expansion is released.
posted by solid-one-love at 4:51 PM on October 28, 2005

FOR THE HORDE!
posted by Voivod at 4:54 PM on October 28, 2005

Heh. I got sucked into this as part of the Mefites guild on Shadowsong, and I'm still there. (Anyone want in on an Alliance MC run tomorrow night?)
posted by Zonker at 6:11 PM on October 28, 2005

I am a little amazed by some of the posts here (and especially on the WoW forums). I've been playing since February, and I'm only at level 45. Yes, I've had a few alts here and there, but I can't imagine playing so much as to be at level 60 already. I just can't sit in front of a computer for that long.

I love the game and play when I can, but some people are obsessed.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 7:15 PM on October 28, 2005

Wife (wakes up at 1am to find me hunched over my PowerBook): "What are you doing?"
Me: "Running."

Yeah. I used to play Final Fantasy XI before I played World of Warcraft, so when I started playing WoW I had conversations like:

Dad: Playing Final Fantasy XI?
Me: No, World of Warcraft
Dad: Looks the same. Lots of running.
posted by dagnyscott at 7:21 PM on October 28, 2005

My s/o plays WoW, but it seemed distinctly boring and pointless to me until she started getting near the max level. Now, it seems somewhat interesting, but still not enough to motivate me to play it myself.

Really, the wide variety of things you could buy/create in Ultima Online interested me far more.

Besides, the new game which really interests me the most right now is Diplomacy.... and the new Civ, of course.
posted by insomnia_lj at 8:36 PM on October 28, 2005

I, for one, welcome our new warcrack expansion overlords.
posted by vagus at 8:47 PM on October 28, 2005

Okay. I'll bite. What clsses does the guild need, and who do I send a tell to for an invite?
posted by y6y6y6 at 11:16 PM on October 28, 2005

finally almost get to 60 (well, 54, but at least 60 seems within reach)... and... they... up... the... level... cap... GAH!

from my understanding (at least of how Blizz expansions usually go)... we have at least a year before we see Burning Crusade. You should be able to proudly tout your 60 status for quite some time.
posted by thanatogenous at 11:24 PM on October 28, 2005

y6y6y6,

Whatever you want to play, I guess. We haven't sorted out classes yet.

I don't have the charter, and the charter person is away for the weekend, so maybe Monday night would be a good time to hook up?
posted by spinifex23 at 10:14 AM on October 29, 2005

So what's going to be the next big mmorpg release? I've been playing FFXI for almost 2 years now, and would like to get into another one at its start (I skipped EQ2 and WOW).
posted by neuron at 3:15 PM on October 29, 2005

neuron -- WoW opens up new servers every month or so. If you get in when one of them goes live, it's like being at the opening of the game. Sony, on the other hand, has already consolidated EQ2 servers once. Can't be a good sign.

As for what's on the horizon, there are a lot of titles, but I haven't really seen news of anything out of a major developer in the near future. Sure, there are big names in the game for a year or two from now (the purchase of the license to Warhammer by Mythic comes to mind), but nothing for, say, this holiday season.
posted by thanotopsis at 4:56 PM on October 29, 2005

Besides, the new game which really interests me the most right now is Diplomacy....

Ooh, I played the board game a bunch of times with friends in high school. Unfortunately my memories of those games primarily consist of me negotiating an alliance and then getting backstabbed.
posted by apeiam at 8:11 PM on October 29, 2005