World of Warcraft – WoW is This Really the Best MMORPG
Aside from content World of Warcraft really doesn’t have much to offer. For those of you who have played more graphics intense games such as Everquest or Everquest 2, you will be appalled by the look of this game. The graphics are well below today standards. Your surroundings look like a page out of a sur-real cartoon. Well, that may be overstating it a bit. If you are looking for realism in an MMORPG, stay far away from World of Warcraft.
After creating an account you will have to choose a realm types to join. World of Warcraft offers 3 different types of realms. PvP, PvE, Role-play and a combination of PvP/PvP with role-play. PvE stands for player versus environment. This style will let you play through the game and make choices of whether or not you want to engage in killing members of the opposing faction. PvP stands for player versus player. This style of play forces you fend for yourself while you are in neutral areas.
The worst part of PvP realms is that players well above your level can kill you in 1 move which makes questing almost impossible. Role-playing realms are pretty self explanatory. The game offers role-play/PvP and role-play/PvE. This plays like their respective realms with the added sense of role playing.
Upon creating your character you will immediately notice that there are not a lot of options to choose. Sure, it may be enough for you but this is an MMORPG! There are over 1million people playing this game on a daily basis. Tell yourself that during the character creation screen and you will agree. Character creation has to be the most lack luster part of the entire game. The biggest choice you have to make while creating a character is which faction you want to be a part of.
To sum up the major difference between alliance and horde; if you enjoy epic and grand scenery then play alliance, you the scenery doesn’t bother you and sloppy structure designs do not bother you play horde. After you choose a faction and create your character and pick a class (you sane gamers should be done in a few minutes) you can finally begin taking part in what matters the most in this game, CONTENT.
Generally, when you start in your home town you may see others around you. Take your time, wave at a few people (it has only been a few seconds and you have probably seen someone who looks exactly like you) and make friends if you want. Maybe you will get lucky and find a wow-long friend. You might as well get used to grouping now anyways because it is going to be pretty much the only way to break up the drudgery of doing quest, after quest, after quest, after quest��.you get the idea. All MMORPGS do one of two things a) require you to go out into the vast world and kill stuff till you level up or reach the max level or b) complete quests to help make grinding not seem so tedious.
World of Warcraft takes the ladder option. On your way to the max level, 60, you will be doing more quests than you can image. Of course there are enough wandering creatures to keep the ‘seek and destroy everything that moves to level up’ players very occupied. But the most valuable tip that can be given is that if you play through 60 solo, you may find a hard time getting accepted to a guild. Joining a raiding guild should be your ultimate goal when you reach level 60. So long as you don’t play horde side, finding a guild should be no problem.
Chances are that several players you will meet have 1 or more characters at level 60. Why would someone want more than 1 level 60? You will quickly find after you have reached max level and still play for a month or two after that. Actually, getting to level 60 can be the most fun part of the game if you meet the right kinds of people or join a temporary guild for the purpose of getting help questing.
While most of your time spent getting to level 60 will be done questing in solo or small groups there are a few 5 man group raiding dungeons for you to explore and do more questing. The 5 man raiding dungeons are a completely different game play experience. If your new to the MMORPG scene make sure you let everyone in your group know. Most people are nice about it if you let them know before you start making silly mistakes that end up getting everyone killed. 5 man raiding dungeons require a lot of teamwork and a lot of patience.
They usually consist of a warrior, healer, mage, a backup healer and 1 of any other class. As long as your group can do consistent damage and not end up dying every pull then your group will succeed. In these dungeons your targets are usually attack in groups of 2 or more. Bringing them down and coming out alive will require some sort of strategy or plan. Be vocal and talk about a recommended course of action before each and every pull. Throughout these dungeons you will encounter 1 or more bosses. Bosses are great for two things, 1) getting better gear for your character and 2) to finish impossible quests to solo.
While you won’t find many of these 5 man raiding dungeons below level 60, when you reach level 60 that is pretty much all there is left to do. If you haven’t joined a guild by now, start looking to join a raiding guild. End game raiding dungeons range anywhere from 20-40man dungeons. The battles and boss’s here are much stronger and require careful planning. If everyone is not on their toes, disaster will not be far. So make sure you know your class well before tagging along in one of the end-game dungeons.
There are many epic quests and items that you will be hoping to collect after your guild kills one of several bosses in these end-game dungeons. They offer nice stats and abilities and can really make your character stand out from others. But keep in mind, everyone in a raiding guild that plays the same class as you will eventually be wearing the same items. Aside from raiding, gaining epic items and farming gold to pay the bills there is one last unique addition to world of warcraft that really makes it stand out among other MMORPG’s, battlegrounds.
There are three main types of battlegrounds. The first is a capture the flag game. Each faction starts on opposite ends of the field. The main objective is to capture the flag at the opposing faction’s base and return to yours without dying or loosing the flag. The first team to do that 3 times in a row wins.
The second type is about controlling specific points on the map. Once again, each team will start on opposing ends of the map. The first team to accumulate 2000 resources wins. You accumulate resources by the amount of time you spend controlling one or more resource point on the map. Resource points are declared by a flag post. If the spot is controlled by neither team, the flag will be gray and low to the ground. The first team to activate the flag will have to hold off the opposing team for a few seconds while the flag is raised. When the flag is raised, your team controls the resource point. The more resource points your team has, the faster they will earn resources.
The last type is the most unique. It requires 40 people from both factions to start one of these battles. These battles can go on for an entire day or longer. It’s basically a combination of the second type with extra players allowed and a bunch of really neat quests. If certain quests are completed, you will be able to summon a variety of different AI forces. Ranging from reinforcements on foot or mount to gigantic mobs of various types. It is really a unique experience to see one of these events.
During the whole time you are doing battlegrounds, you gain what they call honor points. A unique thing about earning honor points is that it will allow you to buy better items from specific vendors. Some items listed can be as good, if not better, than the stuff that can drop in end-game dungeons.
It can be a lot to take in. The amount of things to cover in this game would take more than this simple review. Once you get involved with the right players, this game will rip you away from reality and you will feel like a part of this game. Don’t over do it and forget about real life issues. Playing MMORPG’s is never a good way to solve real life issues.
