WoW is making me lonely

[Signe]

... where is everyone playing?  I'll start a new character as long as it's nasty.

[Mesozoic]

Nasty?

[Signe]

Mean. Evil. Hordey.

[MrHat]

Not playing till release.  Sorry Signe.

[Signe]

Obviously, Mesozoic has no intention of telling me where he's playing.  He was just hoping my definition of nasty was pervier.

Bastardy Boog-like Bloke.

[Mesozoic]

I'm out until the (truly) open beta.

[Liquidator]

I would be happy to play with you, but I've decided to not play anymore until release.  Trying to keep everything fresh. :)

[Viin]

I'll be on Guild Wars and EVE Online this weekend :)

[geldonyetich]

Alas, WoW will continue to make you lonely, because it's a game entirely focused on quickly progressing from one quest to another with very little social interaction.   It's even less social than City of Heroes.   It'll probably prove it's downfall once the gameplay wears thin.

So sayseth the WoW Doomsayer!   I probably wouldnt' be buying the game except a good buddy of mine is planning on playing.   Also, perhaps the PvP will make up the socialization that I've seen lacking in the PvE.

Oh, and I'm playing the stress test beta, Server 12 where all the PvP is.  However, I'm not on too often because of my "homework obligations" (which apparently include spending 80% of my time spamming boards to avoid homework but denying myself playing games because that's for after it's done.   DV's right, I am a patheticly lazy wrech, but at least I know it and am working on it).

[Mesozoic]

Racial traits are up, if anyone cares.

[Rasix]

Alas, WoW will continue to make you lonely, because it's a game entirely focused on quickly progressing from one quest to another with very little social interaction.   It's even less social than City of Heroes.   It'll probably prove it's downfall once the gameplay wears thin.

Yet it has group-only instances starting as early as level 20.  Also, no one SAYS you have to treadmill and group alone and I probably won't come final due to having a core group of friends.   And LESS social than CoH? Last time I checked it had a functioning economy and a base world that wasn't instanced.

Do you ever tire of being horribly wrong?

[Rasix]

Racial traits are now available for all races. Each race receives at least 4 traits (several passive and at least one active trait per race). Undead racial traits have changed to be more consistent with the new traits and Undead players are now considered Humanoid targets rather than Undead targets. The following is a full list of traits

Bye bye paladins/priests pwning all undead players.  I'd heard this could get quite bad in certain pvp situations.

I hope most of these are just minor improvements and nothing completely game breaking.  I know I'm already considering switching my shaman from troll to tauren (troll ones seem a tad lame outside of regen).  

I'm not sure I like this, it definitely will pidgeon hole the min/maxers into certain race/class combos.  I liked the diversity I saw in races/classes last time I played.

[geldonyetich]

Do you ever tire of being horribly wrong?

About politics, perhaps, but not games.

Sounds like it's the post-20 game in which my whines about socialization do not apply.   Guess who didn't take the time to get level 20 during the Stress Test.    Wrong I indeed be there.

However, under 20 is just as I described - groups are at most fledging experiences that dissolve the moment an overly difficult quest is finished, unless you're grouping with people you know from outside the game.

[Signe]

Hey, I'm lonely here!  Stop arguing and pay attention to ME!

[geldonyetich]

I'm hiding on server 12 and I don't play that often, so I'm afraid the best I can offer is moral support.

If it's raw attention you're looking for, you could always try playing a dark elf female and tapping the space bar in public places.    The no doubt male-dominated Blizzard has decided to put some physics-accurate polygons up front.  However, that kind of attention would probably run thin after awhile, and given the average age level of the Blizzard.net patron, the activity is akin to putting on a naughty puppet show for the kids.

In retrospect, I may have ended up offering immoral support instead.  Whoopsydaisy.

[Signe]

I really prefer to be loved for my mind, but I suppose jumping could work.

[geldonyetich]

Well, if you're looking for getting loved for your mind in WoW, you might be out of luck.   These poor fans have been grinding Diablo II and zerging in Warcraft and Starcraft for years and wouldn't recognize a mind if you blugeoned them with it.

[Signe]

I'm sure they'll notice my mind if I jump up and down fast enough.

[AcidCat]

I'm not sure I like this, it definitely will pidgeon hole the min/maxers into certain race/class combos.  I liked the diversity I saw in races/classes last time I played.

I like the traits because it adds more diversity - if players desperate for the uberbuild want to limit themselves to certain combos, that's their problem.

[Lum]

I like how Boog is now the gold standard for nastiness.

[schild]

I like how Boog is now the gold standard for nastiness.

Edit: Ya know, I shouldn't be blaming you for creating Boog. But, I would like to know when he Wasn't the gold standard for nastiness. Despite being a geniuinely smart human being, I think I'd rather crawl into bed with Hitler than deal with him on a daily basis.

[Signe]

I like how Boog is now the gold standard for nastiness.

Not for nastiness, really... more for perviness.  I've always said Boog isn't so mean if he thinks there's tits involved.

[dotter]

Do you ever tire of being horribly wrong?

About politics, perhaps, but not games.

Sounds like it's the post-20 game in which my whines about socialization do not apply.   Guess who didn't take the time to get level 20 during the Stress Test.    Wrong I indeed be there.

However, under 20 is just as I described - groups are at most fledging experiences that dissolve the moment an overly difficult quest is finished, unless you're grouping with people you know from outside the game.

It sounds to me that you like forced grouping games.  EQ is right up your alley.  I like having the choice of soloing or grouping.  There are some nights that I am antisocial and I want to play a multiplayer game solo.  ;)  I also had enough of sitting on my ass looking for a group.

I haven't soloed at all during the stress test however, having a husband we are an instant duo :)

[Signe]

I'm not sure if Geld like 'forced' grouping, but I have to admit, it's not east finding a group in WoW.  I'm hoping that my husband will play, too, because I really do enjoy being an instant duo.  He's still fiddling with the SWG expansion, at the moment, so I haven't even ordered him the game yet.  I'll be doing the GW weekends and so will he, however, and plan to share my time between that and WoW when it's released.  Nice for a change.  Two PvP games for the price of... well... three.

Hey, Dotter... Horde guilds full of married couples could wipe out those happy, frolicking goody-goodys pretty quickly... or sky rocket divorce numbers.  Either way, we'd accomplish something. ;)

[Merusk]

I haven't had any problems finding a group in WoW.  I'm just having to be a bit more proactive about it than I have in other games.  Starting the groups up myself, asking who's working on this quest or that and then massing to get it done.

Right now the game is filled with bnetters and MMO refugees who seem to have been more the asocial type than the social type.  I've found a few good players who didn't have their heads up their asses, but that's always been the case at the newbie levels.

  Moving out of the newbie areas in ST1 I found even more competent people, as the fuckheads would get bored, frustrated, or slow down because they were slowed by their desire to not group at all, ever.   I've gotten 2 characters to the Westfall/Dark Shore levels (11+) in this test, and its been the same.

I like the more casual grouping style of WOW.  You can get together do one quest, or group for a few and get them all done at the same time.  I've done both and haven't ever felt the pressure to not leave because we're in the middle of something.  It's actually a litle bit more friendly than COH, becuase everyone can do the same quest at the same time, whereas in COH you can only do one person's mission at a time. (Unless it's the "arrest X of Y" missions) and you look like a dick if you leave before you've helped everyone with at least one mission.

[geldonyetich]

I like heavily encouraged groping (I mean, grouping).   Some people would say that this means I like forced grouping, since I think that ideally grouping would be so advantagous that soloing would be an activity the average player would commit to only if there were no other choice or they absolutely insist.    

My observation has revaled that soloing hurts MMORPGs more than helps them for many reasons.   The lack of overall socialization berifts a MMORPG of a powerful purpose that transcends the gameplay alone.   Not just on a guild level, or a group level, so much as being able to ask another player for the time of day.   In every MMORPG I've seen where soloing is a very viable activity, most players act as though they'd prefer not to acknowledge eachother's existance.

And so it is that City of Heroes operates at a definate disadvantage, at least up to the level 23 I played it to.   Perhaps World of Warcraft does better post level 20.   Yet, I'm left thinking the sooner a game gets players to group, the better.  (Well, maybe give them 10 levels to themselves just to get the controls down pat.)

[CassandraR]

I like WoW a fair amount because of the the easiness. I don't want to struggle, to be challenged, or have to learn some arcane gameplay mechanics just to enjoy the game. I go out by myself turn off all the channels except tell and say and enjoy the game. In general I don't acknowledge the existence of the other players, and only play with friends I know outside the game.

I treat it much like a single player game in that after I have experienced all the content I will quit until there is more to experience and that is how I want it. I don't want to be tied down by other people in the game and feel that for the most part they just get in the way. I am not interested in virtual worlds or complex social interactions, just a fun game to play when I want to.

Not to get to off track but I would play with you Signe if you like. I was kinda cutting down on my play time so I wouldn't be burnt out for when I buy it but I like to play with other people on occasion also.

Edit:On Test 3, forgot to say. Don't currently have any horde characters though.

[Signe]

I'm ok with solo, though I prefer a group.  My ideal group number is 2 - 4, and WoW looks like it'll be good for that sort of numbers.  I get a bit nuts if the groups are much larger than that, unless it's a GvG or raid situation.  I enjoy large group PvP, just as long as it's not a constant thing.  I was always much better in skirmishes than full scale war.

Thanks, Cass... I'll probably start making characters on some other servers shortly.  I'll give you a shout when I do.

[Kageru]

I would be very interested to hear if some or all of you do an instanced dungeon (start about high teens I believe) as those are explicitly designed for groups. The design of having open plains hunting being solo (or for really gimpy groups) and instances for groups (or really gimpy raids) seems extremely clever. It allows the player to dynamically dial the difficulty of the game. Although it does increase the demand for content even further.

[Riggswolfe]

Instances tend to be where you seperate the vets from the newbies. Even the early teens ones are damn hard if you don't have a smart group. The alliance has one called Van Cleef. It took me 3 tries to beat it.

Once because we had another warrior who appeared to be an ADHD poster child. He kept pulling aggro like crazy, would run off while our mage was recovering mana, etc.

 Another time because we simply didn't have enough firepower. (A warrior, a rogue (back when they were gimped), and two paladins.) We were able to get almost to the end but got overwhelmed.

The final time, we weren't even a full group, myself (a warrior), a rogue, a druid, and a mage. It was very dangerous because we had nobody able to rez. Still, the mage had done the dungeon a couple of times already and was able to act as our tactical leader. ("You stand there, I'll pull, ok, you let him get aggro, then heal, you rogue, back up the warrior once he gets aggro.").

[MrHat]

Tyren, the WoW community rep just posted this:

"I'm not sure that we promised battlegrounds prior to launch."

Draw your own conclusions.

For me, this is a deal breaker.  If this isn't in by the time my first month is up, I will not play longer.

[Morfiend]

I have been through all the pre 50 horde instances, except for the very lowest one that was just added (lvl 13-16 i think).

The instances are defenetly what seperates the casual gamers from the powergamers. Depending on your group, most instances can be done in around 1 1/2 hours to 4 hours if you have a really bad group.

The best instance IMO is Scarlet Monistary, it is a lvl 30-40 dungeon. it is for both alliance and horde, and is broken up into 4 parts, with each part taking between 20 minutes (with a high level or really good group) to an hour and a half. The first to parts would be possible to do with a good group of lvl 30 people, but the second two parts your group should really be in the high 30's.

I really like it for several reasons. 1) I can do one part of it, and not be locked in to a big time investment and 2) if you wipe out badly, you dont lose a ton of time invested to get to the end. I really wish they would have made more instances like this.

[Volm]

I'm on test 6 (pvp) if you want to play there. I'm mainly on my warlock but I have a lower level warrior if you need some grouping.

/whisper Immok or Tusk (<--- Hey, the name_randomizer2000 suggested it).

[Signe]

I started a character on 6 the other day.  An undead priest, for the contradiction, but I'm not crazy about her.  I think I'll reroll.  I have a higher level Tauren on another server and I really like the race.  I'm big for a change!  I might roll one of them.  There seems to be a lot of people from here on 6.  I feel warm and fuzzy knowing that.  I especially like fuzzy.