WoW Announces Beta Race War Server

[Rasix]

He's neat, can we keep him?

[Soukyan]

there are something like tps

Do you mean "teleports"? As in, total reliance on a a specific class to get me where I need to go? 100 plat per ride? No thanks if that's what you mean. But perhaps you did mean native American dwellings. The mind boggles...

[Johnson101]

tp=town portal

[schild]

tp=town portal

I'm going to have to invoke the 1st grade English stick. From now on Johnson or Ubern00b, whatever you want to call yourself - speak in complete sentences, kkthx.

[Signe]

He's neat, can we keep him?

Stand back!  He's mine!  Did those pesky camels die yet?  I need a place to keep him.

[Rasix]

He's neat, can we keep him?

Stand back!  He's mine!  Did those pesky camels die yet?  I need a place to keep him.

You feed my camels, goddamnit.  Starting tomorrow I'm out for 3 days and they're starting to get low on straw.  

If anything, just make sure they don't die.  I think if you feed them 10 straw per camel every 24 hours they'll scrape by, but just won't poop or screw.

If you guys let them die, I'm going to do something very mean to one of the pottery wheels.  I'll set up a flax cannon and PK UR FLAX. I'll breed rabid beetles that will do my bidding and slay the first born of Egypt.  

But really, did everyone quit but myself and the lurker? It's getting awefully lonely in Egypt.

[schild]

roofles. No, just been busy.

I know if I play I'll play nonstop (quite the oppisite of CoH).

I got a good taste for what it was, and I'm excited about the second telling. I'll probably get some more time after this weekend to play.

[Rasix]

roofles. No, just been busy.

I know if I play I'll play nonstop (quite the oppisite of CoH).

I got a good taste for what it was, and I'm excited about the second telling. I'll probably get some more time after this weekend to play.

We're equipped now to do some different stuff.  We've got the ability to brew beer, make glass, bottle a vintage of Bat Country wine, slaughter beasts... etc.  So, you've got some more stuff to try out.

Second telling I'm guessing is another couple months or so off. Should be interesting, I know this stint in Egypt has made me a fan.

[Signe]

I haven't quit, Ras.  I'm just trying to get organised for our move in a couple of weeks.  I alternate between worrying that I haven't hired a mover yet, packing and lying down with a sick headache.  I've been in such a mood that I don't want to bother anyone with my unpleasant phiz.  I'll try and remember to feed the camels.  

Tear down my pottery wheel... I accidently put it in the wrong place, anyway.

[Volm]

And how long does a typical from Spot X to Town Y trip take? I'd be interested to hear time spent traveling from random current location to town by each of the methods if you can guesstimate an average. Travel time is not bad if I'm seeing a new area, but after the 5th time, running back and forth, it becomes a chore and Yet Another Time Sink, YATS ™.

Well, not really sure how to answer this, but here goes anyway.

First off, with the flight paths, you have to discover new paths (talk to an npc in a town who handles the transportation there) to be able to use the path later on. Like if I wanted to fly from point A to point B, I'd have to visit point B on my own first and talk to the proper npc to establish a flight path to that location. After that, whenever I want to go to that location again, I go to an npc who handles flights, choose my path, and pay the fee for traveling. Prices for flights are, from what I can tell, based on how far away a place is, and if it is a major city/outpost or not. For example, flying from Thunderbluff (Tauren capital) to Orgrimmar (Orc capital) costs 50 silver. But to fly to a place in between (The Barrens - Cross Roads) costs around 1 and a half silver. The time it takes to fly to each location varies upon the distance to that place, so it's hard to give any other average than the one I stated above.

Flights do go over areas you won't get to see first hand until higher levels, so it can be useful for gauging how tough an area is before you go there. I usually use that kind of travel (automated) as a good time to take a break.

When using your Hearth stone, trasportation is nearly instant (Casting time and loading times aside). Load times aren't long at all, and you only go to a loading screen when you enter an instance or travel cross-continent. Otherwise the world is seamless.

The majority of travel in game is running around, but it is usually running with purpose.

[Soukyan]

Thank you very much for the information, Volm.

[Johnson101]

If you were expecting a game that is nothing like any other game that was previously released, you're not going to get it.

The reason why MMO's fail is because they try to make some immaculate new whatever that has never been tested before, and they when it doesn't meet expectations there's nothing you can do to fix it.

WoW is using the best tried and tested methods from the best games to make a solid game that people can enjoy for a long time without worrying about the stupid amazing new features you've never seen before, and hence don't know how it's supposed to work, then whine because it doesn't work how people think it should.

WoW is about the WarCraft Universe, in MMO form. It is not about breaking new ground in systems design. It's about breaking new ground in content, community events, GM participation and so on. I know how sick I get when I don't see anything happening in the game world in other games.

"The classes are all the same as EverQuest."

I got news for you, the classes are all the same as Diablo 2 as well, and DAoC, and DnD and LOTR too. You're not going to change the role of a Mage for one game and still expect to call it a Mage. A Warrior is a warrior, they have high hp and they fight well. A Rogue has low hp and does lots of internal damage. How many times do I have to explain to people that you can't call something a Warrior but have the play style be completely unrelated to their purpose.

Furthermore, why do you even use EQ as a comparison for classes anyways? Mages, Paladins, Priests, so on, all exist in the WC RTS!

Not every product needs to offer something amazingly new to the marketplace. The days of invention are long dead. When is the last time you heard of someone getting rich off inventing a blender (a nice new item at the time, but it by no means makes a home)?

It only needs to be of better quality than existing options. Quality is what WoW is offering.

[schild]

Holy crap. Did you remember you were logged in on a gimmick account? The coherency is mind blowing.

[Sky]

Self-pwnage!

[daveNYC]

The days of invention are long dead.

I disagree.

Otherwise you're quite right that a clean release of standard MMOG fare, just with Warcraft skins will probably make tons of money.

[Soukyan]

How many times do I have to explain to people that you can't call something a Warrior but have the play style be completely unrelated to their purpose.

The days of imagination and originality may be dead to you, but there are people in this world who still have it. Nowhere does it state that I cannot take a spellcaster in a game I make and call it a Warrior. You are just stuck on the D&D stereotype. Learn to think outside the box and you might see the possibilities.

As to WoW, you're right, as daveNYC said. It'll do well because it is what it is. It's certainly nothing groundbreaking or original. Even rampant use of the old "autoquest" mechanic does not make it any different or better than any MMOG to date. But I'm sure as far as the technical side of things go, it'll be a quality game. Stable, good art, etc.

[Johnson101]

If that's the case, then why is Hollywood remaking so many older movies? Yep, that's right, because everything has been done.

Why do most video games have bad gameplay now? Why? Because everything has been done, and the only thing they can do now is enhance the graphics. That's not the case for everything, but it probably will be soon.

The same could be said about the music industry, but it's just idiotic children that ruined that. I can't believe some unsophisticated buffoon is being paid for saying "Right thurr, right thurr." How anybody could actually like that type of "music" is beyond my belief.

If Blizzard can't do it, nobody can.

[Soukyan]

If that's the case, then why is Hollywood remaking so many older movies? Yep, that's right, because everything has been done.

Why do most video games have bad gameplay now? Why? Because everything has been done, and the only thing they can do now is enhance the graphics. That's not the case for everything, but it probably will be soon.

The same could be said about the music industry, but it's just idiotic children that ruined that. I can't believe some unsophisticated buffoon is being paid for saying "Right thurr, right thurr." How anybody could actually like that type of "music" is beyond my belief.

If Blizzard can't do it, nobody can.

Did I say any of those things were original? Well, right "thurr" might be original, but it certainly doesn't appeal to me. Apparently it appeals to some people out there though. *shudder*

Everything you mentioned may follow the "been there, done that" theme, but then again, you didn't bother to look and cite the fresh and original things out there. Of course, you need to open your eyes and see those things first. I'm not saying I'm enlightened or anything like that either, but there are certainly some interesting and creative things being done in many different industries. Perhaps some of those things have been done before in different contexts. Perhaps not. But history repeats itself and you'll die someday just like the rest of us. So as I said, WoW is nothing new or shocking or amazing. They may implement some systems in a different and creative way though.

[CassandraR]

The MMO genre is alittle new to have that philosophy about it.. Most things have most certainly not been done with it yet. There is still plenty of concepts to explore. The problem is some things have been successful and they have been copied. Its the ever present problem of people sticking with old and comfortable ideas instead of striking out with new ones.

[Alluvian]

Hollywood is remaking old movies because they are talentless fucks.  It has nothing to do with an worldwide absence of innovation.

Innovation is only dead to those who don't have any creativity.

Tell Peter Molynuex (can't spell that) that there are no new concepts.  His ideas may not always WORK, but he is certainly creative.  "The Movies" is certainly creative... not sure if it will work or not though.

And even if you believe there is nothing truly new and will call something like "The movies" nothing more than combining different genres, then there is still a lot that can be done besides graphics.  The GAMEPLAY for one has been pretty much untouched since EQ.  There are some exceptions like Neocron, WW2OL/Planetside, MTG Online...  But for every gameplay model that exists, it could be made into a mmog.

[geldonyetich]

Since Johnson101 is late to the party, I'll bring to light what we've figured out about this months ago.

Lack of innovation in the computer game field is mostly just fear of no return investment.   It's a risk, investing money in what's a brand new game concept.   Where things which are considered tried and true, such as your average Dune-II-Esque Real Time Strategy or First Person Shooter, thats where the money tends to go.

It's not that there's nothing new to do.   Humanity certainly hasn't reached the end of what their imagination is capable of.   Rather, it's just considered not profitable to take changes on new ideas.

All hail the almighty dollar, hmm?

In any case, Blizzard (your heroes) are as guilty of plagurism as anyone else in the industry.   Might as well accept that a great deal of their success is based on following on the footsteps of others.    On the other hand, whose isn't?

Suffice to say, it's innovating, and innovating successfully, that actually gets my respect.    Even if that innovation is simply a better implementation of existing principles.   I need to see more to World of Warcraft for me to say it's really worthy of high acclaim.

The kind of work Raph is doing, now that's something to be impressed at.  You may not like how SWG currently plays, but I have to say I've a lot of respect at how much the game attempts to innovate.   It has a player based economy unlike any other, and has a top of the line dynamic content introduction system bar none, among other things.

[Murgos]

If that's the case, then why is Hollywood remaking so many older movies? Yep, that's right, because everything has been done.

Thanks that gave me a good chuckle.

edit:  It so obviously can't be true that 'everything has been done' it really puts into stark relief the crap coming out of main stream hollywood studios.  There was a show on the other night following the release process for movies and they had the producer of the recent Rollerball remake on there and she said possibly the funniest unintentional comedy thing I ever heard.  Basically she was ranting about the test screening system and said something along the lines of "You can trust those peoples opinions they can't even spell."

Like when they told you your movie stunk?

And then she went on to blame Harry Knowles for Rollerballs poor box office performance.

Yeah, so when is Rollerball 2 coming out?

[SirBruce]

Lack of innovation in the computer game field is mostly just fear of no return investment.   It's a risk, investing money in what's a brand new game concept.  

And there's really only one way to make rich people willing to invest in riskier projects... make more rich people, and give the existing rich even more money.  This is part of why so many companies were created during the dot.com boom.

The more you tighten the screws on the rich in order to help the poor, the tighter the rich will get with the remaining money they have.  This is how economics works.  This is why you should always be weary of "soak the rich" Democrats.

Bruce

[HaemishM]

As a writer and a creative person, I'd rather try to be interesting than original.

[Morfiend]

If that's the case, then why is Hollywood remaking so many older movies? Yep, that's right, because everything has been done.

Why do most video games have bad gameplay now? Why? Because everything has been done, and the only thing they can do now is enhance the graphics. That's not the case for everything, but it probably will be soon.

The same could be said about the music industry, but it's just idiotic children that ruined that. I can't believe some unsophisticated buffoon is being paid for saying "Right thurr, right thurr." How anybody could actually like that type of "music" is beyond my belief.

If Blizzard can't do it, nobody can.

OMG, it makes complete sentences. This is like watching that first fish crawl out of the sea, or monkeys learning how to use fire.

[Johnson101]

Since Johnson101 is late to the party, I'll bring to light what we've figured out about this months ago.

Lack of innovation in the computer game field is mostly just fear of no return investment.   It's a risk, investing money in what's a brand new game concept.   Where things which are considered tried and true, such as your average Dune-II-Esque Real Time Strategy or First Person Shooter, thats where the money tends to go.

It's not that there's nothing new to do.   Humanity certainly hasn't reached the end of what their imagination is capable of.   Rather, it's just considered not profitable to take changes on new ideas.

All hail the almighty dollar, hmm?

In any case, Blizzard (your heroes) are as guilty of plagurism as anyone else in the industry.   Might as well accept that a great deal of their success is based on following on the footsteps of others.    On the other hand, whose isn't?

Suffice to say, it's innovating, and innovating successfully, that actually gets my respect.    Even if that innovation is simply a better implementation of existing principles.   I need to see more to World of Warcraft for me to say it's really worthy of high acclaim.

The kind of work Raph is doing, now that's something to be impressed at.  You may not like how SWG currently plays, but I have to say I've a lot of respect at how much the game attempts to innovate.   It has a player based economy unlike any other, and has a top of the line dynamic content introduction system bar none, among other things.

ROFLMAO SWG LMAO LMAO LMAO omg that game is so boring... I played that game for 6 months and I can officially say it's the worst game I ever played. It's an online chatroom that you have to pay for lmao, and soon everyone is going to be a Jedi because those devs are retarded.. I bet the space expansion will be laggy as hell and I'm sure there will be one space ship that pwns them all and then everyone will just use that 1 cuz they have no idea how to balance a game

[schild]

Don't overstay your welcome.

[Murgos]

It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, only on a message board and without the coherency.

[Johnson101]

wow this is the internet u dont have to be smart

[Sable Blaze]

I'd say that would be self-evident.

[Sable Blaze]

I'd say that would be self-evident.

[geldonyetich]

ROFLMAO SWG LMAO LMAO LMAO omg that game is so boring...

Oh dear, he's relapsed!   I should consider breaking out the translator.

[SWG]played that game for 6 months and I can officially say it's the worst game I ever played.

It took you 6 months to realize this?  Heck, most of us bailed out in 1 or 2.   While I wouldn't say it's the worst game I ever played (, I've apparently played many more than you), I will say that the existing game experience is not enjoyable unless you happen to like crafting on a wide-scale.     (Though as they continue to tweak the game, it may yet become more enjoyable in the swashbuckling combat aspects many of us prefer.)

My point was only that Raph was willing to take a chance on innovation.  

World of Warcraft, on the other hand, is simply Everquest in the Warcraft Universe.  

Just like FFXI is Everquest in the Final Fantasy Universe, Anarchy Online is Everquest in a Sci-Fi universe, Earth and Beyond is Everquest in Space, ect ect.

I'm not going to tell you that WoW will automatically suck if you're bored of Everquest, but I will tell you that the odds are pretty high that this is the case.    

There is something to be said for implementation, however.  FFXI was considerably more enjoyable than any of the half dozen or so EQ clones I've played prior to that.

[Sable Blaze]

I'd argue that AO wasn't originally an EQ clone. It is now, but in the early days Funcom did try to be different. Kind of like now when many CoH players are crying to Cryptic for EQ-style character differentiation, itemization, and so forth. Fortunately, Cryptic seems to be made of sterner stuff than FC--at least so far.

WoW impresses me more as a DAOC clone. You can argue that that in itself is an EQ clone, but every time I see WoW screenshots I get DAOC flashbacks. It just reminds me of DAOC a LOT for some reason.

[geldonyetich]

I'd argue that AO wasn't originally an EQ clone. It is now, but in the early days Funcom did try to be different.

Nah, not really.   The 14ish professions were largely modeled after EQ, with minor differences due to technology.    Replace spells with nano-technology except with a reduced overall variety, and the game was essentially the same.   The skill allocation was different, there were apartments, and other forms of  instancing - that was about it.

[Johnson101]

ROFLMAO SWG LMAO LMAO LMAO omg that game is so boring...

Oh dear, he's relapsed!   I should consider breaking out the translator.

[SWG]played that game for 6 months and I can officially say it's the worst game I ever played.

It took you 6 months to realize this?  Heck, most of us bailed out in 1 or 2.   While I wouldn't say it's the worst game I ever played (, I've apparently played many more than you), I will say that the existing game experience is not enjoyable unless you happen to like crafting on a wide-scale.     (Though as they continue to tweak the game, it may yet become more enjoyable in the swashbuckling combat aspects many of us prefer.)

My point was only that Raph was willing to take a chance on innovation.  

World of Warcraft, on the other hand, is simply Everquest in the Warcraft Universe.  

Just like FFXI is Everquest in the Final Fantasy Universe, Anarchy Online is Everquest in a Sci-Fi universe, Earth and Beyond is Everquest in Space, ect ect.

I'm not going to tell you that WoW will automatically suck if you're bored of Everquest, but I will tell you that the odds are pretty high that this is the case.    

There is something to be said for implementation, however.  FFXI was considerably more enjoyable than any of the half dozen or so EQ clones I've played prior to that.

have u ever played the game? no so stfu n00b gg no re thx

it doesnt rly matter newayz all MMOS are boring but WOW is made by blizzard so its definitely gonna be good

my friend told me the game pwns all and hes played all the MMOS