Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)
WoW is certainly a pretty game, I honestly never understood the complaints
about its "cartoonishness", I found it gorgeous. The PvP has great potential
(the kiss-of-death "p" word), although currently it seems a bit pointless.
The crafting system has some great ideas but isn't terribly fun imo. The
combat mechanics, however, are quite fun. I'd say that while my wife and I
played the game, this was the one thing that we enjoyed the most. Coming up
on a pack of mobs, her Rogue would Sap one and start wailing on another. I
would try and pull aggro with my Paladin and heal enough to get some good
ping-pong aggro happening. Backstab seemed weak in comparison to other
abilities but her other positional attacks were quite fun and effective. My
Seals were ok, my stun was fun, but mostly I enjoyed bashing things over the
head and managing Seals, Auras and Judgments, the tactical possibilities
were fabulous. Because the game supported soloing so effectively, we were
able to go through most of our quests and instances as a duo, pulling in
occasional groups for instance completion and other tough challenges. These
are the things I remember most fondly about the WoW experience.
But ultimately it wasn't enough to sustain interest. I won't go into all the
reasons, I think they've been pretty well covered by others and anyway the
discussion would inevitably degenerate into a flamefest and the temptation
will be too strong to respond and get defensive, so I'll just make my
comments and move on. I haven't run into too many posters here who've
reasonably articulated what they liked about the game while avoiding the
name calling and insults, but there are a few and to them I say Thanks for
the discussion and here's to a solid future of updates that continue to
deliver richer content and more stability. If WoW were my only choice for an
MMOG right now, I might very well still be playing. But at level 48 (of 50)
in EQ2, I'm far beyond the point of a meaningful comparison anymore, too
captivated by the challenges of Norrath and its astonishing content, and
unable (and I guess unwilling) to give WoW any more cycles at this time. The
WoW stability issues were a factor in the decision, too, after a while it
became too easy for us to turn a night that was planned for WoW into a
"Let's go finish that EQ2 quest instead" experience, particularly when we
couldn't log on, or had to wait in some bigass queue.
I've said it before and I'll say it this one last time as I wrap up my
involvement with WoW and cancel my two accounts: the biggest downside and
turnoff in my experience was the predominantly kiddie population. I think
without a single exception, every time my wife and I attempted to group with
others we wound up scratching our heads wondering how on earth these players
ever advanced as far as they had. It was truly astonishing the number of
morons, social misfits and just plain selfish brats we ran into on our
server. I suspect we mighthave had a better experience on one of the
roleplaying servers where more adults play; I wish in retrospect we'd done
that instead of trying to play on the server where our son and his friends
play.
When I'm in-game (in either world), I'm amazed at how one-sided each camp
seems to be about its preference. The WoW fanatics usually resort to
name-calling and childish insults when discussing EQ2 and there is
inevitable reliance on WoW's enormous popularity as a validation of its
superiority, while the EQ2 elitists condescendingly reference WoW's
"cartoonishness", shallow quests and legendary server problems. Both sides
overstate their case, and in the end I think the real differences have more
to do with the players going into the game and their expectations for a
community. There's the classic EQ crowd looking for lengthy, substantive,
challenging content, and then there's the action-oriented group that favors
dueling, PvP, quick battles and doesn't want to bother with a death penalty
or too much dialog. Kill-reward, kill-reward, that was actually the mantra
that Bill Roper once used to describe the formula behind Diablo's success,
and his successors have done an excellent job bringing that ethic into the
MMOG world.
My bias is plain and undisguised: I prefer EverQuest. But I also understand
why there are *many* more people who prefer WoW. To use an old analogy I
used during beta, EverQuest II is a classic vintage Bordeaux with depth and
complexity, a little tannic still and a bit of an acquired taste for the
young palette, but I'm dazzled by the complexity and flavor, and delirious
with enthusiasm over what it will become as it ages in the cask. World of
Warcraft is a cool can of Pepsi, refreshing, ice-cold, easy to chug and
sweet. I enjoy both and I think I understand why others enjoy their
preference but I prefer to sit at the wine-tasting table for this one. I
also realize how this comparison comes off sounding, but that's as honest a
comparison as I can make. ;-)
--
Redbeard, the Lore Seeker
<Veritas>
Dwarven Mystic and Alchemist
Loyal Citizen of the Antonia Bayle
Current resident of Qeynos Harbor
http://veritas.everquest2guilds.com
Descendant of the Elder Winterfury Thunderwolf
<Resolution, Retired>
Barbarian Prophet of The Tribunal
Retired Citizen of Firiona Vie
WoW is certainly a pretty game, I honestly never understood the complaints
about its "cartoonishness", I found it gorgeous. The PvP has great potential
(the kiss-of-death "p" word), although currently it seems a bit pointless.
The crafting system has some great ideas but isn't terribly fun imo. The
combat mechanics, however, are quite fun. I'd say that while my wife and I
played the game, this was the one thing that we enjoyed the most. Coming up
on a pack of mobs, her Rogue would Sap one and start wailing on another. I
would try and pull aggro with my Paladin and heal enough to get some good
ping-pong aggro happening. Backstab seemed weak in comparison to other
abilities but her other positional attacks were quite fun and effective. My
Seals were ok, my stun was fun, but mostly I enjoyed bashing things over the
head and managing Seals, Auras and Judgments, the tactical possibilities
were fabulous. Because the game supported soloing so effectively, we were
able to go through most of our quests and instances as a duo, pulling in
occasional groups for instance completion and other tough challenges. These
are the things I remember most fondly about the WoW experience.
But ultimately it wasn't enough to sustain interest. I won't go into all the
reasons, I think they've been pretty well covered by others and anyway the
discussion would inevitably degenerate into a flamefest and the temptation
will be too strong to respond and get defensive, so I'll just make my
comments and move on. I haven't run into too many posters here who've
reasonably articulated what they liked about the game while avoiding the
name calling and insults, but there are a few and to them I say Thanks for
the discussion and here's to a solid future of updates that continue to
deliver richer content and more stability. If WoW were my only choice for an
MMOG right now, I might very well still be playing. But at level 48 (of 50)
in EQ2, I'm far beyond the point of a meaningful comparison anymore, too
captivated by the challenges of Norrath and its astonishing content, and
unable (and I guess unwilling) to give WoW any more cycles at this time. The
WoW stability issues were a factor in the decision, too, after a while it
became too easy for us to turn a night that was planned for WoW into a
"Let's go finish that EQ2 quest instead" experience, particularly when we
couldn't log on, or had to wait in some bigass queue.
I've said it before and I'll say it this one last time as I wrap up my
involvement with WoW and cancel my two accounts: the biggest downside and
turnoff in my experience was the predominantly kiddie population. I think
without a single exception, every time my wife and I attempted to group with
others we wound up scratching our heads wondering how on earth these players
ever advanced as far as they had. It was truly astonishing the number of
morons, social misfits and just plain selfish brats we ran into on our
server. I suspect we mighthave had a better experience on one of the
roleplaying servers where more adults play; I wish in retrospect we'd done
that instead of trying to play on the server where our son and his friends
play.
When I'm in-game (in either world), I'm amazed at how one-sided each camp
seems to be about its preference. The WoW fanatics usually resort to
name-calling and childish insults when discussing EQ2 and there is
inevitable reliance on WoW's enormous popularity as a validation of its
superiority, while the EQ2 elitists condescendingly reference WoW's
"cartoonishness", shallow quests and legendary server problems. Both sides
overstate their case, and in the end I think the real differences have more
to do with the players going into the game and their expectations for a
community. There's the classic EQ crowd looking for lengthy, substantive,
challenging content, and then there's the action-oriented group that favors
dueling, PvP, quick battles and doesn't want to bother with a death penalty
or too much dialog. Kill-reward, kill-reward, that was actually the mantra
that Bill Roper once used to describe the formula behind Diablo's success,
and his successors have done an excellent job bringing that ethic into the
MMOG world.
My bias is plain and undisguised: I prefer EverQuest. But I also understand
why there are *many* more people who prefer WoW. To use an old analogy I
used during beta, EverQuest II is a classic vintage Bordeaux with depth and
complexity, a little tannic still and a bit of an acquired taste for the
young palette, but I'm dazzled by the complexity and flavor, and delirious
with enthusiasm over what it will become as it ages in the cask. World of
Warcraft is a cool can of Pepsi, refreshing, ice-cold, easy to chug and
sweet. I enjoy both and I think I understand why others enjoy their
preference but I prefer to sit at the wine-tasting table for this one. I
also realize how this comparison comes off sounding, but that's as honest a
comparison as I can make. ;-)
--
Redbeard, the Lore Seeker
<Veritas>
Dwarven Mystic and Alchemist
Loyal Citizen of the Antonia Bayle
Current resident of Qeynos Harbor
http://veritas.everquest2guilds.com
Descendant of the Elder Winterfury Thunderwolf
<Resolution, Retired>
Barbarian Prophet of The Tribunal
Retired Citizen of Firiona Vie
but wow, what a fun experience. In the end,
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