f13.net

Firstly, great web site you've got here.  I can't believe I found a gaming forum that's not awash in d00dz.

From reading various stuff here, I think I'm what you call a "casual gamer."

Everquest is really the only MMOG I've ever played.  I really liked it at first, but it became a real drag after a while.  Being a sad and lonely loser, I never amounted to much and was never part of a non-loserish guild.

Problem is, I had some moments in that game that almost rivaled real-life experiences, and that left me with a serious hankerin' for more.  So I bought AO.  That was never fun.  So I bought a second box and tried to get the wife hooked, but she's not really a computer person so she didn't get it/couldn't drive it/didn't care.

So I've been thinking about WoW, but reading the forum here makes me think I cannot devote the time to it that would be needed for me to have fun on a PvP server.

Is it possible for a 4-hour a night max player to play WoW on a PvP server and have fun?

Yes, very possible. If you had fun in EQ, then more than likely you'll have fun in WoW. I myself have decided to quit for now, but I can still see that it's very good at what it does. The only game better is City of Heroes, but if fantasy is your thing, then WoW would be the best choice.

Some classes are much better off than others etc., but if someone tells you that leveling on a PvP server is harsh, they're really overblowing it imo. Getting to max lvl at your pace will take a couple of weeks, maybe shorter than that (4 hours a night is actually quite a lot for this game).

No, it will take a couple months.  Maybe 3 or 4 if you play casually.

Things slow down later on.

But ya, you'll be fine on a pvp server.

Wait, is this the WoW we're talking about? I never got past 30, but I was under the impression that even the most casual player will hit 60 in a month or so. I'm almost sure I would have, if I hadn't procrastinated and got tired of the game.

The people I know who still play were approaching 60 by the time the free month was over, and they were barely catassing. I figure 3-4 hours a night, 6-7 days a week is actually a lot of time played.

If you're playing four hours a night you're not going to hit 60 in a month. Two maybe, possibly three, but not in one. Things do slow down post-40. Can't comment on post-50 just yet.

However, it's MUCH more playable than EQ. As stated previously, the only thing that rivals it in this regard is CoH.

I haven't got very far either, but then I'm the most casual player in the world right now... ever.  I've been on a bit of a roller coaster ride with real life for the last few months and my concentration level is shite.  It's good fun, though, and your wife might even like it.  It's about the most simple game to learn that I've played.  I know people who let their very small children play  (supervised, of course) and they have very little problem with it.  You might think that would make it lame... but it doesn't.  It's a relief.

Righ plays a lot and his highest level is 45.   You remember him, don't you? :)  He isn't what I could call a power player as he's leveled up all his primary and secondary tradeskills pretty high.  He also has several alts.  I've seen him do all day stints and he generally plays every night.  He takes the time to enjoy every aspect of the game, however, and he's a explor-a-holic.   I don't know how much longevity the game has for me, though... I get that CoH feeling from it.  I'm pretty fickle when it comes to games and tend to tire of them quickly, too.

I think switching to a PvP server when they beef it up will extend the life of the game for me.  I'm not very interested in PvP the way it is now.  Come on, JMQ... give it a try!  

Dammit, I've over excited myself by watching Spiderman 2.

They said they were barely catassing. I guess they had some sort of image they wanted to protect. It takes 10 days to get one character to level 60 if it is played 24/7 by a wunch of bankers (Xenif on Stormreaver). So, somebody can grind to 60 in a month playing "only" eight hours a day, every day and not partaking of questing or other time wastes. Most people will take two or three times as long, as they'll play less and will quest and advance trade skills.

Hmm..So it is then. Maybe I catass more than I'm even willing to admit to myself. Quick question though: Do you guys spend a lot of your in-game time "fishing" instead of "grinding"? That may be the difference.

Yikes!  My hubby posted at the exact same time I did!  I knew when I picked him up almost 12 years ago he was soulbound.

Only a couple of hours of fishing here, its the worst of my secondary skills - still a few points shy of the artisan quest. I'm a hunter so it has some value. However, I have 275 leatherworking, 300 skinning, 280 first aid, 275 cooking. I also mostly quest rather than just kill loads of mobs to get xp. This involves much travelling, a fair amount of exploring, etc. I've also wasted a few dozen hours in raids, which in terms of progression is just a time and money sink. Not skinning does make my alts progress much quicker (and reduces the number of trips to town from full inventory).

I'm not in a rush. My pal at level 60 says that most of the time is spent fishing and chatting while waiting for a group, since nothing worthwhile (other than ganking) is available at the end for solo play.

8 days played (actual time in game) and I'm level 50. Now, the last couple of levels have been slower due to the somewhat dearth of soloable quests at 50 horde side (I have no idea how this pans out for Alliance).  I'm also an armorsmith, which means I've done all of the mithril order armor quests and the armorsmith quest.  This takes roughly around 300 or so mithril.   I've got 240+ blacksmithing and 260+ mining but haven't worked on my other trades.  I quest exclusively, I've only sat down and ground it out a couple of time for mining and saving up for my raptor.

Leveling 1-20 is fast.  It's just usually dependent on the flow of the quests.

20-30 I'd say is anywhere between 2 and 4 hours per level.

30-40 is around 3-4+ per level.

40-50 is around 6 plus per.

50+ is shaping up to be around 8 hours per level.  

Combine this with trades, instances (which are good leveling too), and travel/fuck around time and only the really dedicated powergoon is hitting 60 in under a month.

One powergoon in my guild managed it in 3 weeks.   Apparently he was using crib notes from beta that told him how to maximized doing all the coinciding quests at once.

IMHO, you've already lost the race if you've decided a MMORPG is one.

I'm on a PvP server, and play definitely less than 4 hrs a night on average.  I'm 28 now and I do fine.  I don't gank and pwn yet, but I'm still having fun, even with the occasional run-in with the enemy.

Couple of thing. Its a bit slower to level on a PVP server, due to having PVP fights, or getting killed, or having your quest spot taken over by the oppisit faction. Also, getting to max level takes around 15 days (360 hours)  /played, at 4 hours a night thats 90 days or 3 months if you play 4 hours every day.

Also, I personally consider 4 hours a day a bit more than casual. I would think casual is 5 to 10 hours a week max.

On another note, if you are looking for a guild on a pvp server, send me a PM and I will give you the URL to my guild. Right now we have a mix of casual and hardcore members, with about 80 active players and 30 semi active (as in play at lease 4 times a week).

World of Warcraft is outstanding for casual players, especially casual players coming from Everquest.

The best part is viable soloability with grouping that works when it needs to (quests that are too hard, instances, etc.) You can log on for a short play session and progress your character.

The levelling curve is relatively short, but my highest level is 36, with a little more play time than I anticipated spending.

If you play it like EQ and grind exp, you can level-up quickly. Why you'd want to do that in such a fun game is beyond me, but folks do it anyway.

After two months of steady play, more than I've played any game since UO actually, I just hit level 30 last night.

I quite enjoyed the Rest system last night.  Have not logged in for several days - and benefited from the 200% (I assume 100% bonus) exp gain on kills since I was "fully rested".

So then I decided to finish several quests I did all the kills for - but had not returned to the quest giver to complete.  Double exp on all those quests in a matter of minutes.

Nice. Nice.

Definitely a great idea. Makes leveling at higher levels much more tolerable- do all your grinding (if you are so inclined) in the first part of your play session to take advantage of the double XP, then go about the rest of your business when the bar turns purple. I dig it.

Another good idea is to alternate alts. Rest one in an inn one day while you play the other.  You will benefit from a lot of rest exp bonus.

Hmm.. I thought the rest bonus was per account - not per avatar?

It's per character, not account. I have a hunter alt I only play occasionally so his meter is always blue.

If you play 3 or 4 hours a night you should be able to advance at a very decent pace this is about how much I play on weekdays and I only typically play 2 or 3 nights a week and already have one character over 20 and a couple at 20.

To maximize your xp if you care for such things just make sure you camp out at an inn. The rest bonus really is a big help if you build up enough of it. I hadn't played my druid in a while so when I pulled her out I had about 2 levels worth of rested xp I could get so I went from 16 to 18 in about 3 or 4 hours without even really trying. I mainly logged on for skinning and a lil questing.


kaid

Somehow I am reminded of the seedier options in Fallout where you could get laid or get a prostitute.  In WoW that could be implemented as Rest+ :P