|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Advertisement «
|
|
|
 |
Untitled Document
A while back I said I was going to focus on the aspects of WoW that disappoint me. In the mean time I have written two guides. This brings a smile to my heart, especially considering my experiences beta testing past MMORPGs. With other games in this genre I have had issues so irritatating that they forced themselves to vomit out of my fingers, through my keyboard and on to the Beta Forums. However, even though I have written six beta reports and two guides, trying to write about problems with WoW has been the hardest yet.
Blizzard has essentially taken the MMORPG genre and refined it. They've taken all the best aspects of the other games in the market and grabbed what worked and shelved what didn't. They then added some polish and huge dose of artisitic care and given us WoW. For the most part this is great, but not entirely. For people who have played MMORPGs for years I think we're similar to an avid fan of high school sports. We're like a fan who has watched high school football for five or six years and now gets to watch pro football. The game is faster, harder hitting, more intense with hotter cheerleaders, but essentially it's the same game he has always watched. If he needed a fundamentally new experience rather than switching to the pros, it is not going to do it for him. However, if he just wanted to see the game he loves perfected, then he'll love it. The same is true for WoW. The game pretty much embodies the phrase “evolutionary not revolutionary”. For me this isn't bad. Much of what I love about MMORPGs is still here and most of what I hate about them is gone. However, there is no single aspect of WoW that will "rock the industry".
I am not going to waste my breath with the Rest issue and other tweaks placed in with the latest patch. My reasoning is based on the fact that this is still a Beta test. Ideas deserve to be fully tested before half formed opinions start swaying the masses outside of the Beta nucleus. If these tweaks stay in the game and become major points of contention for me I'll say so later. For now I will focus on the big picture and areas that seem likely to make it to release.
I will start off with a complaint about something that should be easily fixed. MAKE IT DARK AT NIGHT! I know it isn't fun in games where it gets so dark you cant see to play, but honestly I have trouble even telling that its night time. At 2:00 AM in the gameworld it looks like sunset in most zones. I don't want to be stumbling over rocks, but at least make me squint a little to see a monster a hundred feet away. Come on Blizzard just a little darker, the game engine is so beautiful at night show it off a little more.
My next complaint involves a problem with the economy that was created after they solved a number of problems from other games. Level caps on gear keeps twinking to a minimum. Cash sinks by paying trainers for skills helps keep gold hording to a minimum too. When it comes to gear, player created weapons and items are truly valuable and you can create items that you can actually use at your level rather than always making stuff for less experienced players. However, the problem is finding anyone who will actually buy your wares. Enchanting is an exception but for the most part trade crafts are valuable to you and your group but rather difficult to make any money by selling. Mostly this is due to a low demand.
There are a number of reasons why there are more sellers than buyers. First off, many people turn off the auction channel, which is fine and a welcome option. The big culprit is the impact of quest gear. It is plentiful and usually only a few steps below the quality of stuff that you can afford from a smith. This doesn't mean that craft gear isn't better. It certainly is better at almost any stage in the game I have seen up to level 20. The problem is this voice in the back of your head that tells you if you just wait a level you'll get something just as good from a quest.
I lost money as a cook. I always had stacks of meat in my inventory. I made numerous bank runs on Griffs so I could save up meat I would need later when my skill improved. Many times I would be forced to give up decent loot because my bags were full of meat. Cooking did have advantages. I could solo as a warrior and have zero downtime, since I always had food to almost instantly heal myself. However, selling any of it was out of the question. Food is dirt and I mean DIRT cheap through NPC vendors. I sat in front of a town offering to cook meat for free and only had one taker in nearly two hours. Smithing wasn't much better. I probably spent a gold piece on plans for different items, yet only was able to actually sell 20 silver worth of merchandise by level 20 and with a 110 skill in blacksmithing. Ore and stone took up slots in my bags as did the items I crafted and would try to sell. This meant that I had less and less room to loot items off creeps to sell after a round of gathering experience. The stuff I was making was decent for me to wear but only for a level or two (which is a few hours in WoW).
To me, trade skills means that someone should be able to devote large amount of their effort or time to perfecting them and receive some sort of monetary benefit. However, after having said all that I want to stress that trades definitely have value. Having an alchemist in your group hand you a strength potion as a warrior simply because he found an herb on the trail is great. Since the items made have little resale value they instead become a value you can add to your group by sharing rather than charging. Maybe its the Role Player in me who despearately wants to be a merchant of some sort that I cast this shadow over the system.
The last area that bugs me is the theme park nature of the world itself. Just like my first complaint there are pros as well as cons to my view about this issue. However, it is something I think Blizzard could easily mend so I figured I would voice it. Areas to explore in WoW are far more elaborate than those you have seen in any other MMORPG period. You can actually navigate by the lay of the land in ways you couldn't in games like EQ and AC. I can't tell you how many times I got turned around in Innothule swamp in EQ due to the trees, water and hills all looking exactly the same. WoW is like Disneyland in that when you are in an area of interest they drop little easter eggs all over. In the Westfall there are skeletal cows strapped to broken down wagons. The shores have half eaten carcasses with vultures circling them. In mines you find over turned carts and steam engines. Basically when in an area of interest you can see the attention to detail put in to make the place look alive and unique. There is a downside to this. The downside is for those of us who like to explore off the beaten path.
I've tried to purposefully go places no one explores. Up mountains, or diving off dams and waterfalls. For the most part I have been disappointed. I came to learn that most zones at least up until level 30 are a lot like Disneyland. There are specific places of interest that have been shaped and molded which are a joy to explore. There are more trees, more bushes and more little knick knacks lying on the ground that give it flavor. However, they will also have players crawling around them. When you adventure off the beaten path there are areas of nothingness. To be fair they look a lot like areas in other games ( a hill and some rocks and trees), but compared to the “attractions” they look that much more devoid of life. One area outside Lakeshire looked like it was still being molded by the game gods. It seemed like the edges of a half finished WC3 map where the designer stopped caring about well placed trees, grass and old drying cattle bones and just left the generic ground tiles with half finished mountains. I admit this is a little bit of nit picking since I am essentially saying that WoW has areas so cool that “normal” areas look excessively boring. Disneyland after all is pretty fun. However, don't we all wish we could find a special little ride that was so hard to find that only a handful of people take the time to get there? I found a vendor on a mountain outside Dun Murough near a waterfall but that's as close as I have come. The reason for this is that quests direct people to most of the attractions, so people who would normally not explore in other games are directed to do so by their quests. I just hope that going forward (or maybe with the higher level game) that Blizz makes some spots that explorers can find and enjoy the experience (even if it isn't true) of feeling they found something few others had.
I hope this wasn't as painful to read as it was to write. Finding stuff to complain about was a chore with this game. The last two I played (Anarchy Online and Star Wars Galaxies) were most certainly not as hard to whine about. World of Warcraft is an awesome game even in its early Beta state. I would gladly pay for it even in its current condition. Hopefully I got across my own conflicted feelings about my complaints. I almost feel like someone who has gone back to the kitchen for seconds or thirds and yet been forced to critique the meal. By the way, if any of you would like to say hello, look up Orok. I'm the grumpy Warrior trudging around Orgrimmar. Next time I think I will focus on what I know best, Warriors!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
