Anybody still playing WOW?
 

I haven't played since May, but resubscribed last night after a long poker session that left me too drained to get into anything. Downloaded the patch overnight, and fired it up today to take a look at it.

It looked kinda boring. Maybe I'm just getting tired of these kind of games.

Has the game changed much since May? I know they have the battlegrounds out, but don't know what that's about. Anything else interesting as far as gameplay changes go? Is the battlegrounds a success or a bust?

If I play it at all now, it will be just a little here and there. I'm wondering if the game has gotten fun enough to be worth even that much.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

I gave up on it a while ago. CIV 4, which is supposed to have an excellent multi-player format, ships next Tuesday.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

The problem I have with the Civ games is that they can take weeks to play a single game, and you can find out on hour 48 of a game that you made a critical mistake back in hour 12 that you can't get out of. That's just cruel.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

I think you just suck at Civ games, Blarg. No offense.

Swede

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

I'm sure I do, but that doesn't mean they don't take a hell of a long time. It doesn't seem to mean that mistakes early don't turn into disasters later that you only discover after spending an ungodly amount of time developing the game.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

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I'm sure I do, but that doesn't mean they don't take a hell of a long time. It doesn't seem to mean that mistakes early don't turn into disasters later that you only discover after spending an ungodly amount of time developing the game.

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I don't understand the problem. Isn't the game supposed to be about playing a long game, looking back on your mistakes, and then learning from them?

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

I played it for awhile up to about 30 then stopped. Just found the challenges very lackluster and the content spoonfed. Grouping aspects of the game at least at lower levels also left me cold. Felt alone in the game world when RL friends weren't on-line. Soloing's too easy I suppose. Class distinctions are bland and there is little interdependency. End result is boredom and feeling like I'm on a guided levelling treadmill versus playing a game. Far inferior to early EQ imo, which is where I started with mmorpg's. Obviously the graphics were nice though and they added some neat innovations to the genre.

My plan is to hopefully channel my gaming itch into longer poker sessions until Vanguard SOH comes out next spring/summer. Looks like the only thing on the horizon that is likely to be worth the kind of time investment these games ask of their players.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

[ QUOTE ]
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I'm sure I do, but that doesn't mean they don't take a hell of a long time. It doesn't seem to mean that mistakes early don't turn into disasters later that you only discover after spending an ungodly amount of time developing the game.

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I don't understand the problem. Isn't the game supposed to be about playing a long game, looking back on your mistakes, and then learning from them?

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When it takes as long as Civ does, it's more grueling than your average game you make a mistake in and start over. The tremendous amount of time investment makes mistakes extraordinarily punishing, sometimes even small ones. It doesn't feel anywhere near as bad to make a mistake in any other game I can think of.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

For all its faults, EQ spoiled me too. The level of organization and competence required to do even little things meant the lunatics weren't running the asylum. When I group in WoW it can be very frustrating, because the players are just so disorganized and impulsive. I'm always waiting for yet another dude to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and ruin the experience of the whole party.

I'm kind of hoping people have started being a spaz less now that I've been away from the game for half a year, but I doubt it.

Some noodling around soloing seems like it might work after my brain is fried from poker. But then again, there are probably much better games out there for that, too. A MMORPG session always seems to involve 20 minutes of travel each way.

I think I need a really good RTS. I saw some very critical posts on Age of Empires III, which is a real disappointment. I need some sort of strategy game I think.

Re: Anybody still playing WOW?
 

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I think I need a really good RTS. I saw some very critical posts on Age of Empires III, which is a real disappointment. I need some sort of strategy game I think.

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It's a little old, but I have really enjoyed Rise of Nations. Fun game in the AOE mold.