Considering buying WoW

[Iniamyen]

Sorry to make a new thread when a few WoW threads already exist, but this seems like it needs one.

I was just wondering whether those of you that play WoW consider it a "casual gamer's game." I know that Blizzard's rhetoric has been that's who it's geared towards, but I think this may just be to sell more copies. The reason being, I was an EverQuest player for about 2 years, 4 years ago. And Stopping it when I went to college was an achievement, because it was so addicting and sucked up so much time. Now that I'm going to grad school next year, I want to make sure I don't get into another mess that leaves me with no time to do schoolwork. My brother got it, and I created a new character and got to level 5 in about 2 hours, and it seemed simple enough to put down, as well as fast-paced. However, this may not be what it's like at higher levels.

All I'm wondering is, if I have an hour of free time, will I be able to get something done, and feel satisfied with the time spent? I realize people who put in more time should naturally get more reward, but I just want to be able to play some game in a short amount of time, even if it's correspondingly lesser in scope than a week-long binge.

Thanks for all your opinions in advance.

[Propain]

no it is addicting and an hour here and there wont work , sometimes it takes 30 minutes just to get to Kalimdor. and if your gonna try to make money or bid on items in the Auction House ,well you have to spend a few hours there only . Your right about it beeing wicked at 40+ , I guess its cause you have a mount then and the higherlevel guys dont have to wait for you as much :P

[spyder003]

It...will...consume...you Buy it

But yeah, an hour here or there won't really get you anywhere. A short run is 3-4 hours.

[Iniamyen]

Okay, this is good to know. I thought there was something to do even at high levels for an hour at a time. I'm still interested in getting it -- I may just pay month to month so I can get a good idea if it will be feasible for me to play. It definitely looks fun and addicting, but addicting is exactly what I don't necessarily want

[Byte 2.0]

if you want to find out, PC Gammer has a Demo, 14 day trial this month. I am on the trail, played 3 days, I am a lvl 14 paladin now.
trial is limited, no trade with other players, not all chat features available, can't take in many channels. Tell , party, guild chats work say works, no talk in general for example, yell is disabled.

Over all I am enjoying the game and I ordered the retail so I will be able to upgrade my account to full.

an hour a night, not going to go far.

I am currently in Dark Iron realm.

You do want to play on a PVP server when you join.

[Force Flow]

IMHO, if you *do* get it, set a limit for yourself. Almost everyone I know who has played it has gotten so sucked in and addicted to it that they are never heard from again unless the servers go down.

[David M]

Put a coin slot for quarters on your computer. Four quarters for an hour. This will take care of the problem and save money for your tuition.

I think this is a device many parents could use. Give your kids as many tokens as time they want their kids playing video games. It could fit right in an optical device slot.

[Yuanji]

an hour or two while going to 60 might not work but later on, an hour or so every few days will work because by then, all you will do is something like run Warsong gulch, go grind for items, etc. The things you really have to devote time to are end game instances which most guilds do on the weekends anyways.

[Propain]

Originally Posted by Force Flow IMHO, if you *do* get it, set a limit for yourself.

you cant set a limit , theres always something to do and see . Thoses who havent played dont understand till they try it, its a phenomenon that Ive never seen in my 20+ years of gaming, Ill probly never play another game for a few years to come. Ive joined an awesome 100+ member guild and I am currently ranked archbishop (4th in ranking and guild officer) . Just imagine grouping with 39 of your best friends and going on a raid , 40 people! Ive only done a 20 man raid so far but thats cause main raids are 55+ and it was sooo fun (especially with a good priest watching your back :P ) You can become a blacksmith , alchemist, enchanter , miner ,tailor , herbalist , cook , fish , do first aid , etc etc. You can hook up witha few buddies and attack some members of the horde (you can chose Alliance or Horde). People might go ya ya sure Pro , but hey dont dog it till you try it....oh yeah and 3.5 million paid subscribers cant be wrong.

cheers

Bawb

[spyder003]

Originally Posted by Propain oh yeah and 3.5 million paid subscribers cant be wrong.

And speaking of a bunch of subscribers... Here is what I just got when I couldn't log in, I go to account management and see this

[ztx]

Looks like a server side problem, too many users connected, just try reconnecting to it at a later time. Or hammer it.

[Propain]

Originally Posted by spyder003 And speaking of a bunch of subscribers... Here is what I just got when I couldn't log in, I go to account management and see this

ok everyone gets that error , when you get that , click on account management in the left column and itll bring you right to your account , glitch I guess


cheers

[skipper]

Iniamyen,
I've watched two sons play Everquest and now WoW. Like you, one had a very tough time stopping EQ. Seriously tough. He stopped playing for about 6 months. Now he is getting into WoW and about to start college. I am going to stop his account to save a few bucks to pay his tuition. (not the real reason....) The other son was in college and is now out (without graduating). I am not saying these games were at fault. But, when school stress kicks in (and it does) and you think about getting away from it for awhile by playing the games, priorities do get fuzzy. Before you know it, that exam arrived while you were relaxing the night away getting to the next level (but never winning.)

Re-read your first paragraph after reading your responses to this point. Why risk Grad school performance over a game? (Congrats on Grad School by the way.) Sounds like you know the answer is to hold off on the games. (Others may handle it differently.)

And, of course, every person has their own issues - if any - with games. At least you recognize yours.

[Siberian Bear]

I used to play but I've become really disenchanted. The professions in the game are really quite bad and most of the time the economy ingame is up the creek. If you have good friends you are going to level with you'll probably enjoy it, however if you end up lagging behind them it certainly doesn't feel great. If it wasn't for my guild I would have stopped playing long before I did.

Personally I find that up to about level 20 is good fun, between 20 to 40 (and especially the 30 to 40 stretch) is really quite boring. I've only ever got a little above 40 before becoming completely bored. Getting anywhere is slow (as has already been said) in terms of geography and levels and to be quite frank I don't find leveling that rewarding.

Good points - I've generally found that support is quite good - Gamemasters do get back to you quite promptly (though not always at a good moment).

It certainly does suck up your life and it really isn't a good thing to install if you've got exams around the bend.

[Iniamyen]

Originally Posted by David M Put a coin slot for quarters on your computer. Four quarters for an hour. This will take care of the problem and save money for your tuition. I think this is a device many parents could use. Give your kids as many tokens as time they want their kids playing video games. It could fit right in an optical device slot.

That's actually an exceptionally good idea. I'm amazed I haven't though/heard about/been forced to use that before. I Think I'm going to try it out -- maybe $0.50 per hour

I think if I can manage my time and not get sucked in, I may end up being a more efficient person out of it, just because it's another thing that I devote my time to. I think I will resist the things that take a lot of time, since I know I won't have it. And if I can't manage my time, maybe I wasn't meant to go to grad school (as fun a game as it may be.) Hopefully I'll be able to keep it to an hour-a-night hobby.

[super_rip]

I hate paying monthly for games like wow or everquest. Before getting that try out:

www.kalonline.com its a korean game pretty cool.

then this one has free online play, i like it a lot:

www.guildwars.com

just some alternate options.

btw, i really like the coin idea. Especially for the kids! its like genius. if they run out of tokens, no more games till they get some more or something.

[Jaggannath]

I'm going to start playing Guild Wars at the end of the year... atm it's just sitting on my shelf waiting for my last year of uni to finish