Hi. I am a prospective player, I do not yet play WoW but I've been asking around because I am considering it.
I've been playing Maple Story since the end of 2006 and I got to lvl 200. However, I've noticed that despite the "free" pitch of games such as Maple Story, they demand extensive use of paid features to get anywhere in the game as a "competitive" player. Blizzard has a much much less shady reputation, and beyond the games and the 15 dollar subscription fee it requires nothing but actually playing the game. Everyone I've spoken to can agree on that part.
However, I have heard a couple things about WoW that concern me. One, some people claim that the advanced players of this game are not welcoming of new players. Two, people speak of WoW addiction as equivalent to addiction to hard drugs. One guy described it as a "crack delivery system hardwired to your bloodstream." I have a girlfriend, a job, friends, and a manuscript I've been writing for a few years... I'd rather not lose all that to a game.
Having wasted probably 10,000 usd on "free" games, I am ready for a change to something a little more sane. But if some of you could address these things I've heard I'd really appreciate it. Please don't laugh at me or flame me for making this post, I know literally nothing about this game and I just want to get matters straight before I commit to it. Thank you!|||Quote:
Hi. I am a prospective player, I do not yet play WoW but I've been asking around because I am considering it.
I've been playing Maple Story since the end of 2006 and I got to lvl 200. However, I've noticed that despite the "free" pitch of games such as Maple Story, they demand extensive use of paid features to get anywhere in the game as a "competitive" player. Blizzard has a much much less shady reputation, and beyond the games and the 15 dollar subscription fee it requires nothing but actually playing the game. Everyone I've spoken to can agree on that part.
However, I have heard a couple things about WoW that concern me. One, some people claim that the advanced players of this game are not welcoming of new players. Two, people speak of WoW addiction as equivalent to addiction to hard drugs. One guy described it as a "crack delivery system hardwired to your bloodstream." I have a girlfriend, a job, friends, and a manuscript I've been writing for a few years... I'd rather not lose all that to a game.
Having wasted probably 10,000 usd on "free" games, I am ready for a change to something a little more sane. But if some of you could address these things I've heard I'd really appreciate it. Please don't laugh at me or flame me for making this post, I know literally nothing about this game and I just want to get matters straight before I commit to it. Thank you!
Generally i find the community is unforgiving, and not willing to accept a new player. However there are hundreds of guilds across all of the realms that have leveling clans which will totally help you and familiarize you with in game lingo (there is so much), how to do things, and what is what. I started 6 months ago and was in a really friendly guild who raided and did dungeons together etc. Most players not in these friendly guilds will expect you to pull your weight and drop you from group if you aren't living up to the wow expectations. It's a harsh but brutal situation. The have done the same instance and raid over and over again so they expect things things to go smoothly.
The other thing is wow has a million things to know and i find i to be way more confusing then the most sandbox of mmos. It's not hard to learn just there is an endless amount of info to gander.|||I would say the biggest issue as far as attitudes towards new players go is that people tend to be impatient and expect everyone to instantly know everything and be in the very best gear. However, 12 million people play the game, so all you really need to do is find a few people to hang out with while you learn the ropes. There are plenty of nice and helpful people that play, the jerks just tend to be louder. It's not a hard game to learn, and it's generally pretty easy to catch up in gear when you hit the max level, no matter how late you start playing.
As far as WoW addiction goes, it's not any different than anything else. You just have to be able to force yourself to play in moderation. I've managed to balance the game with my life just fine. It's about taking your game time from the appropriate activities. For example, my WoW time pretty much came from what used to be my TV time. In your case, though, I would think about it very carefully. If you really have spent as much money on progression in those free games as you mentioned, it could be a warning sign that you aren't currently in a place in your life to handle any progression based game, especially WoW, in a healthy manner.|||As in real life you don't need to get along with everyone, you just need a couple of friends who like the same things. So when you play WoW you try to find and join a guild that welcomes new players and whose members are supportive and mature.
Addiction can be a problem for some players, but as you've said you've already spent $10,000 on a 'free' game I expect that it won't be worse for you when you switch to WoW.|||Quote:
I would say the biggest issue as far as attitudes towards new players go is that people tend to be impatient and expect everyone to instantly know everything and be in the very best gear. However, 12 million people play the game, so all you really need to do is find a few people to hang out with while you learn the ropes. There are plenty of nice and helpful people that play, the jerks just tend to be louder. It's not a hard game to learn, and it's generally pretty easy to catch up in gear when you hit the max level, no matter how late you start playing.
I would respectively disagree about wow not being tough to learn. To play the game is not hard, but to grasp the excessive information takes a long time imo. New players can easily become frustrated with the massive amounts of gear that is available, i know because I am new, so I am not talking out of my arse. I had to ask 8 million questions because frankly I didn't know where to start. True, is the fact that a nice clan will certainly help you, but if you don't know anything about the game then even a pug can be a nightmare as people (the asses) will always badger you about: low dps, poor gear choices, why you didn't realize that the green slime below you would kill you in 5 seconds, why you attacked a boss and didn't realize you had to wait 5 seconds etc etc.
Lets not even talk about raiding, as I have yet to raid and not been kicked or killed within 5 minutes of the raid.
The gear isn't hard once you understand item level, although you can easily farm 2k jp (which is a ton of farming) and spend it on an item that you think is right, meanwhile you should have bought another piece of gear yada yada yada.
Overall there is an overwhelming amount of information for a new player. I have played open world mmos before and they were far easier to grasp then wow.
Overall wow is a great game and totally worth playing imo, as long as you can take the heat about not knowing whats what, and as long as you don't mind asking questions.|||You will find quite a few of the "unforgiving ones" are players in their early teens and when you explain to them the error of their ways, they go "off on one", thinking they're being clever by swearing (cursing).|||Hey there, I�ve played Maplestory on NA/Global since late 2004 off and on. Congrats on 200, my highest level is a 40ish beginner and 30ish cleric on the Broa server. The main thing you�ll notice game play wise is that leveling isn�t a giant grind fest and is actually pretty enjoyable if you read the quests and enjoy storyline. Even if you don�t, it�s still like a hot knife through butter comparatively.
Community wise I�d say that it depends on your server choice. I play on an RP server, so raiding is not a big thing, and people aren�t as concerned about your gear and seem more open and friendly at all levels. PvP server communities generally are not quite as welcoming, but some people form friendships and guilds so they can group level together safely. PvE servers are relatively welcoming, but they�re generally all over the place, and high end progression servers can get fed up with less experienced players. Generally this means that they want you to know the dungeon fights and be able to squeeze out the best gear and DPS/Healing/Tanking possible. This isn�t all that hard really, as long as you know your classes� stats and use resources such as wowhead, etc. to find suitable gear locations, or youtube so you can learn the fights beforehand.
Generally, I�d say the general community is more welcoming than Maplestory�s.
As for addiction, it�s up to the individual. Wow is a very deep game with a lot of content and things available to do that are glossed over by many players. Its lore alone spans quite a few books as well as thousands of in-game quests. For instance, there are over 400 rare spawns, quite a few of which drop unique and rare loot while others have a guarantee to drop some normal uncommon items. There are also tons of easter eggs that refer to pop culture. The combat is also relatively interesting. It is sort of like performing combos in a fighting game, but more like �If I use this move and this move, it will power up this move or add on an effect�. I dislike the whole auto-attack thing, I prefer to have a more active system such as DDO�s, but it�s still pretty nice.
All in all, I�d say picking the right server for your tastes is key, as well as looking for a friendly leveling guild to start out (/4 I believe is the channel in the capital cities, its labeled Guild Recruitment). They�re more likely to help you learn your class and provide some assistance on harder quests, but the leveling for the most part is 99% solo friendly.|||This might seem a little weird, but if you're looking for a server that is generally going to be on the more welcoming and nicer side, try an RP server. I'm quite serious. There isn't nearly as much raiding that goes on, but it does happen. Not everybody on an RP server is there to RP. In fact, with the exception of the Moon Guard server, most people prefer RP servers for just that fact: they're far more laid back, forgiving and welcoming.
All RP realms do have a few raiding guilds. Just ask around.
As for addiction, that's up to you. If you let the game consume you, it will. Discipline yourself, and it won't be that bad. One thing I found that limits me is I don't have alts. I have one character at level 80. After a certain point, I find there really isn't a lot I can do on that character as things get old, and I find myself falling away. In fact, over the past few months, I haven't been on all that much. Mainly just to raid, which I haven't been doing all that much of either recently.
You've already stated that you have a number of things you don't want to lose over a silly game. That's a good sign. There are a number of things you can do yourself and even with the help of friends to prevent the addiction from getting out of hand.
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Overall wow is a great game and totally worth playing imo, as long as you can take the heat about not knowing whats what, and as long as you don't mind asking questions.
QFT. This here, is extremely good advice. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Learning WoW is one thing, learning to play WoW well is another. Ask questions about your class, where to go with your leveling, anything. If you find people unwelcoming to your questions at one place, try another.
People here are generally very helpful.|||If you find you want to try an RP server, I play on Sisters of Elune US and wouldn't mind helping you out. I've played just about every class to 40+ besides priest and warlock, so I do have at least some experience in them. I play alliance side by the way. If you're interested I'll PM you my character names.|||Quote:
I would respectively disagree about wow not being tough to learn. To play the game is not hard, but to grasp the excessive information takes a long time imo. New players can easily become frustrated with the massive amounts of gear that is available, i know because I am new, so I am not talking out of my arse. I had to ask 8 million questions because frankly I didn't know where to start. True, is the fact that a nice clan will certainly help you, but if you don't know anything about the game then even a pug can be a nightmare as people (the asses) will always badger you about: low dps, poor gear choices, why you didn't realize that the green slime below you would kill you in 5 seconds, why you attacked a boss and didn't realize you had to wait 5 seconds etc etc.
Lets not even talk about raiding, as I have yet to raid and not been kicked or killed within 5 minutes of the raid.
The gear isn't hard once you understand item level, although you can easily farm 2k jp (which is a ton of farming) and spend it on an item that you think is right, meanwhile you should have bought another piece of gear yada yada yada.
Pretty much all of the stuff you listed only a concern at the end game. You have 80 (soon to be 85) levels where gear isn't a huge concern where you get to learn the mechanics of your class. As you level, you can start reading up on the end game stuff to get a feel for how things work. Once you get there, it's really not that hard to pick up the basics on how gear works. Yes, you would have to have the initiative to actually go out and read up a bit on it (and ask questions as you did) but it's really not overly complicated.
You also have to keep in mind that you came in at a very strange time. The end of the expansion is always a time of chaos, and even the long term veteran players don't always know exactly what is going on. I also think it's a bad idea to try to jump into raiding if you don't feel that you understand the gearing system. If you want to raid, you are going to have to spend the time to get to know how the game works on a more intimate level. Wrath raiding got a bit too easy at the end, and a lot of people forgot that raiding is supposed to involve a bit of commitment, which includes character research and looking up the fight mechanics. Raiding isn't for beginners. It's for players who have been around a bit and learned the ropes.
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