anyone played a MMORPG before

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Thu May 15, 2003 12:06 pm

KidD9873492374917239492798, Nippy, Vayne and others:

You guys ever play an MMORPG before? I haven't because of fear of addicition and loss of touch with reality. This one I feel I am going to have to try though.

Just curious how things work, that is, if you have a week or two hiatus from the game, will your environment be different when you return (uncompleted quests, etc.)

Is there competition, i.e. different players not in the same party offered the same quest. This generates possibilities like being forced to play to complete in fear of someone else doing it first, or, in a true PVP environment running into the other group perhaps on the same quest and slaughtering you.

How does the realm change politically and socially? Are there ongoing cohesive theme affecting all players in the virtual realm which leads back to the questions of taking too much time off.

This is enough for now.

Nippy · Post by **Nippy** » Thu May 15, 2003 12:56 pm

Sorry I'm answering all the questions, but I can't help it, I dig this game way too much for it to be healthy.

I've not played an MMORPG before, unless you count EverQuest (read Crack) trials, and thats about it.

In WoW, however, I can explain some things.

In terms of quests and enviromental changes, Blizzard plan on giving the player a lot of freedom. Some quests might be time based - if you don't complete the quest, it might reset. Whilst others are continuous, for example, respawning Kobolds or Spiders in a cellar, and you can grab the quest by re-clicking on the person issuing the quest, and ask to do it. The quest type is dependant upon the exclamation mark over the NPC quest giver. They change depending on type, like the Gold and Silver scrolls in Black and White, or the exclamation marks over the heads of the NPC's in Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos.

You mention conflicting quest givers, and slaughtering other parties, and if you see the other thread, it can't really happen. PvP has to be mutual and in a certain area - maybe you do have a quest in those areas, so it might happen, but you'll know swiftly if it is one of those areas.

Blizzard have an on-going storyline in WoW, and that is essentially that the Dwarven mountains of Dun Moragh are being ravaged by the Frostmane Trolls and Rockjaw Troggs. As far as I can tell, the storyline originates from there. I think there is a more detailed background of the story on the two updates Vayne has placed in the forums.

Any help? Or have I avoided the questions entirely?

Ned Flanders · Post by **Ned Flanders** » Thu May 15, 2003 2:09 pm

You've answered them pretty well. It just seems like if a quest keeps repeating itself, lots of people in the game world are doing the same thing. This can be good, I guess. I am just trying to figure out if there is an overall contiguous flow of the game world with an evolving plot or if it just a bunch of different players on the same server doing similar things.

I suppose they have to try and find some balance since some players will spend a majority of their waking moments playing the game while others, like myself, will have time to maybe get on once or twice week for a couple of hours at a shot.

However, at some point, if I really like; I could see myself taking a break from reality and really immerse myself in the game for a couple of days or two.

Nippy · Post by **Nippy** » Thu May 15, 2003 3:32 pm

Hmm, it's completely understandable. The monthly fee Blizzard will introduce is (they say this) to be used for creating new content, so it looks like they'll be keeping it all quite updated and flowing. They'll also have servers around the world, so we don't run the risk of being all stuffed by one server in the US.

Beefeater · Post by **Beefeater** » Sun Dec 28, 2003 9:26 am

I've played quite a few MMORPGs. EverQuest, Anarchy Online (2½+ years), Lineage, StarWars Galaxies, Final Fantasy XI, Earth & Beyond and I'm playing Dark Age of Camelot atm.

In regards to your first question about losing touch with reality. I have to say that the danger is definatly there.
When you get home from work and all your friends are suddenly 5 levels higher then you, and you know you cant play untill the weekends, it hurts

I wont say that the environment of the game will change if you're away from the game for 2 weeks, but your playing experience will most likely have changed.
Alot of your friends will have outleveled you and you cant play with them, new stuff might have been introduced (mobs, quests, etc.) that you dont know about, new guilds have been formed, leveling spots might have changed etc. None of these are major changes, but when added up, you'll definatly notice it.

The competition that you're refering to is definatly there. It's always fun to be the first at something, but if you want to be the first you also have to put in the time and effort to get it.
If you're only gonna be able to play the game for a couple of hours each week you wont have to worry about this because the powergamers will be so far ahead of you that it wont even be an issue

MMORPGs are the best thing that has happend to computergames for a long time IMO and the possibilities of the genre isn't used to the fullest by the gaming companies yet. I've been powergamer in some mmorpgs and casual gamer in others and I've enjoyd both styles.
Unless there comes a BG3 or a Fallout3, I'm sticking to MMORPGs

Chanak · Post by **Chanak** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 10:08 am

@Ned: My man, we are talking about a Blizzard game here. Blizzard creates some of the best, and subsequently most addictive, games on the market. If you are in the least bit concerned about addicition and losing touch with reality, then stay away from WoW.

I'm going to make an educated gamer's guess here. Looking at Blizzard's track record over the years, I have no doubt that they will deliver on content to the game. So IMO, a monthly fee to them is worth it. My experience with SWG tells me that an utter absence (and lack of subscription) for a few months shouldn't do much harm. For example, on SWG, your character and the possessions in your inventory are saved for 90 days after your subscription expires, making it possible for you to resume your subscription within that period with your character and the possessions in his inventory intact. External posessions, such as houses (and the items stored inside of them), on the other hand, are a different matter. On SWG, if you don't make arrangements with a friend, your house and all the items inside of it will be gone by the time you return from a lengthy absence.

Common gamer's sense tells me that more than likely, WoW will function in a similar manner to this. The biggest difference I see: WoW is likely to be a more bug-free experience than SWG.

@Beefeater: What SWG server are you on?