late comer to the mmorpg thang, should I go WoW?

[riddlermarc]

Okay, I'm a little behind the times I only just got into this, I tried the WoW trial account and loved it so I am inclined to sign up fully. However, I don't know what other similar/future games there are out there so I am a little worried about investing time/money in a game that is getting a little long in the tooth - are there "newer" games that people are getting into along the same lines?

 

[Chaos]

Im just messing about in wow untill warhammer online comes out.
Im sure wow will be fine if you liked it, seems to be pretty popular still.

 

[Andy100]

I've got to say I'm really really enjoying Vanguard now.

It's only been out a while and still has it's problems but the gameplay is superb.

It's designed by the guys who originally wrote Everquest and that had me hooked for 7 years. From the way things are going so far I think this could be the same.

 

[chimaera]

Personally i can't see anything coming close to WoW within the next 2 years, it has 8.5 million subscribers and rising, it will gradually decline over time but unless blizzard screw up big time like SOE with star wars galaxies then it'll be the market leader for a long time.

 

[peetee]

I personally never understand how wow did get so popular, it was never THAT good. Played through betas and subscribed, just wound up becoming tedious! Nothing THAT special about it. Atleast others had novelty things

 

[FrenchTart]

Just to chime in with the usual - REALLY DON'T take up playing WoW or any other MMORPG. They're so very very addictive

Seriously, avoid like the plague if you want to maintain any kind of social/love-life.

If you absolutely have to take one up, take on a beta-testing role. At least then you're limited to how much time you can sink into it and you'll prob have to stop playing in a few months.

 

[PariaH]

i wouldn't worry about wow being long in the tooth, its recently had the burning crusade expansion so there stacks of new content, and loads of new dungeons / arena pvp to keep you busy for a long time. In fact i recently re-subscribed after having a break for a couple of months,

Of course they are plenty of other choices available most can be tested on a trial basis, www.mmorpg.com is a good place to start to see what else is available,

Out of the upcoming games i'd guess age of conan and warhammer online are the 2 that might make a dent in wow's popularity. but they wont be out for a while yet

 

[Reeve]

despite the bugs(well providing the bugs arent game breaking) mmorpgs are always at their best when everything is fresh and new and not everyone knows everything about the items and quests, atleast it was that way for me. it may also seem a bit intimidating for you when most people have a whole set of epics and are lv65+.

you could try out vanguard i guess but i havent played it myself so i cant really recommend it , wow is a solid choice if you decide not to try something new and it still has plenty of life in it

 

[Velocity219e]

So much for putting an end to the WoW trolling eh?

You have to put up with it from Eve players, there is so much dead time while you are hyperspacing ... they have nothing better to do than to **** of other people that don't think watching a spaceship floating through a void is the most exciting thing ever.

I mean honestly everyone has their preferences when it comes to MMO's I still love wow for all its faults there is still tons to do even now I am seventy (Kara tonight hopefully )

Vanguard is okay imo, a helluva lot of bugs but release games are always a little rough around the edges, tbh vanguard is very rough atm, and you need a really good machine to run it well, and frankly the way it looks on lower settings doesn't really line up with older games to be truthful, it looks fantastic with things tweaked up somewhat, but it looks incredibly ugly and plain on low specs ...

Eve was okay for a few months, its got some great concepts and loads to do with a good player base which it has. Its a suck it and see kinda game really, you'll either love it or hate it, personally I think it is laughably boring with the occasional combat to liven things up. Perhaps try the free trials they are always pushing down peoples throats.

I hate slagging off other peoples gaming choices but it seems that the Eve zealots really do have nothing better to do at the moment
Go back to 0.0!

 

[riddlermarc]

Just to chime in with the usual - REALLY DON'T take up playing WoW or any other MMORPG. They're so very very addictive

Seriously, avoid like the plague if you want to maintain any kind of social/love-life.

If you absolutely have to take one up, take on a beta-testing role. At least then you're limited to how much time you can sink into it and you'll prob have to stop playing in a few months.

lol I have read the stories and seen the evidence for myself!

I am a 34yr old programmer, engaged to be married next year and with a five-year old son in a new house.. I definitely won't have time to become addicted And surprisingly the other half was quite interested when I was playing the 10-day free trial, might even get her into it too

Seriously, I am not really that interested at getting to lvl50 before person X or Y, I just want something that I will enjoy playing probably three or four times a week (also working in IT means I can bypass the proxy and be able to play on my work lappy at lunchtimes if I get bored surfing)..

I know WoW has fans and enemies alike, but I am not a seasoned gamer like most of you guys and to me it fits the bill nicely - in which case it doesn't make it a bad/poor game if it satiates the needs of a person?

I played the EVE free trial too, whilst I did like it I found it a bit "warp/fight/warp/fight".. never heard of Vanguard but I might check it out later.

Vanguard is okay imo, a helluva lot of bugs but release games are always a little rough around the edges, tbh vanguard is very rough atm, and you need a really good machine to run it well, and frankly the way it looks on lower settings doesn't really line up with older games to be truthful, it looks fantastic with things tweaked up somewhat, but it looks incredibly ugly and plain on low specs ...

What sort of spec is "acceptable"? I have a P4 [email protected], 2Gb ram, 256mb X800GTO2 @ X850GT (or is it XT?) speeds, will that cope?

Thanks guys, oh and expect some real newbie questions whichever route I go

 

[Velocity219e]

What sort of spec is "acceptable"? I have a P4 [email protected], 2Gb ram, 256mb X800GTO2 @ X850GT (or is it XT?) speeds, will that cope?

Thanks guys, oh and expect some real newbie questions whichever route I go

TBH I'd try it, should run pretty well, although I've kinda lost track of graphics cards and I'm a bit of a Nvidia snob so I dunno about ATI

personally if you are totally new to the MMO market getting a wow trial and downloading the client might be best, vanguard will probably shape up to be a pretty great game in time, but for someone new to the genre I reckon wow might be a safer bet as I said before lotta bugs, the system is a lot more complex than Wow with the diplomacy and crafting systems being quite in depth (I still kinda like wow's tbh tho )

if you want to try world of warcraft out there are quite a lot of people on here that play, IIRC a few people recently started new characters on a new server, whereas I prefer my old plump release day server even for all its flaws and random crashes

if you want to though you are welcome to join Thunderhorn and look me up, I'll give you the grand tour, although you'll have to be careful twinking is rife on this server at low levels

 

[Sleepery]

I am a 34yr old programmer, engaged to be married next year and with a five-year old son in a new house

On that basis I'd warn you off WoW on the basis of the community. I loved the game itself, think it's one of the best out there, but my god, it's full of ignorant kids. Find one with a decent (or at least adult) community. EQ2, Vanguard, Saga of Ryzom or Eve.

 

[HeX]

I can reccomend EVE, I started played about a month ago and it really is very good.

The community is great, far more adult, you don't get (or at least havn't seen) comms channels full of:

'zOMG! noob!'

'STFU Phag!'

etc. etc.

The game economy is one of the best models i've seen.

And the best thing for me is the skill training system, which is just perfect for people with kids and families, I can set a long skill training while i'm at work/spending time with the kids etc. then when I have chance to play I can logon and use what i've learnt while I was away, and set something else off training while i'm playing.

 

[Metalface Mark]

Just to chime in with the usual - REALLY DON'T take up playing WoW or any other MMORPG. They're so very very addictive

Seriously, avoid like the plague if you want to maintain any kind of social/love-life.

If you absolutely have to take one up, take on a beta-testing role. At least then you're limited to how much time you can sink into it and you'll prob have to stop playing in a few months.

It depends how addictive your personality is, i started playing wow a few weeks ago again, its taken me 2 weeks to level up to level 13, i play half an hour some days, maybe a couple of hours at weekend, my playtime is about 11 hours.

I know im not going to be levelling to 70 anytime soon, but i dont want to let it get in the way of real life either.

 

[Tical]

I personally never understand how wow did get so popular, it was never THAT good. Played through betas and subscribed, just wound up becoming tedious! Nothing THAT special about it. Atleast others had novelty things

So true. Its a great game but I can't see how it has become so popular, it is very limited.

 

[afraser2k]

Okay, I'm a little behind the times I only just got into this, I tried the WoW trial account and loved it so I am inclined to sign up fully. However, I don't know what other similar/future games there are out there so I am a little worried about investing time/money in a game that is getting a little long in the tooth - are there "newer" games that people are getting into along the same lines?

World of Warcraft is easy to get started with and hasn't got too much of a learning curve to enjoy it. You can find yourself playing for half-an-hour or six hours depending on what you're wanting to do. I find a lot of other MMORPGs don't offer the same amount of casual friendly gaming. At an early level you can experience your first instance for decent gear, which might increase the enjoyment you get out of it. WoW is a good game to get into MMORPGs to see if they're really for you then you can have a look at others when it gets boring, which it will do from time to time. Lots of people say WoW is rubbish but there must be some reason why 6 million+ players enjoy it.

One thing I'd warn you about is the immature community in Warcraft early on in the game, though you usually skip that about 30th level as the kids don't seem to enjoy the grind for mount gold, or when you leave The Barrens (if Horde). After that you tend to get the more serious players. Personally I prefer playing as Horde to Alliance.

For newer games you should take a look at http://www.mmorpg.com as it has a lot of information on them (nor very surprising really ). Personally I'm waiting for Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online and Pirates of the Burning Sea to see what one I want to play. There's another few sci-fi games as well but they aren't out for ages yet.

 

[FrenchTart]

Well, I started with the best intentions but it went downhill from there.

If you manage to resist then great - you've got more willpower than me Personally I just steer clear now as WoW especially I've seen 'consume' lots of people.

As MMORPGs go, though, WoW is one of the better ones - accessible and with a good (read: large) community. Can't really ask for more without being willing to make sacrifices in other areas.

 

[Moley]

I'm between contracts at the moment and able to put in about 12 hours a day on Warcraft. Trying out different characters and going to new places, great fun.

But I'll be back to work soon and all that will end!

Oh well.

 

[Cuchulain]

WoW is the biggest and best, ok so the graphics aren't exactly cutting edge but they fit the game perfectly and let's be fair, only a spacker would judge a game solely on how it looks.

 

[chimaera]

Its perfectly possible to play WoW without getting sucked into it, i play about 5 hours a week and enjoy every second of it, i'm getting married in a few weeks and i know my gf worries about me playing it non stop but as long as you know where your priorities lie then its not a problem.

Only those with weak willpower get sucked in so far that they can't keep up their life / responsibilities