World of Warcraft - Gamespot review

the graphics are an oxymoron...

the polygon counts are ridiculously low, and the textures in most cases are an "ok" resolution at best...

but god damn if this game doesn't have THE SINGLE GREATEST art direction of any MMORPG to date. This game just oozes style and character.

I can agree with the 10 in graphics (because they don't give out percentages on individual scores). I would probably give it more like a 9.6 or 9.7.. but if I had to give it a whole score I would give it a 10 instead of 9... any flaws in the low polys and low textures are more than made up for in the simply stunning art direction..

the first time you enter Ironforge or Ogrimmar you are just floored by the actual architecture, yes, real honest to goodness architecture...
 
Anyone on the fence really needs to give this game a try. Even if just for the free month. Think you dislike MMORPG'S? Think again. Prepare to be digitally bitchslapped into gaming bliss, because you're gonna find yourself sucked right in. I can practically bet money on it. Blizzard must have made some voodoo game code or some shit. Seriously. 100% of everyone I know who tried the game is completely hooked right now. You will be hooked too.

Believe it.
 
borghe said:
the graphics are an oxymoron...

the polygon counts are ridiculously low, and the textures in most cases are an "ok" resolution at best...

This is good for people with older computers.... No doubt they they wanted WoW to work on the widest range of comps as possible...

Who plays MMOs for graphics anyways.
 
we play games to be pulled into them. the better the graphics the easier this is. The worse the graphics the more it stands out...

but it is regardless because if you would have quoted the rest of that it would show that I am still in awe of the graphcis thanks to AAA class art design... Blizzard has always had gorgeous art direction and this game trumps them all.... just beautiful.
 
borghe said:
the graphics are an oxymoron...

the polygon counts are ridiculously low, and the textures in most cases are an "ok" resolution at best...

but god damn if this game doesn't have THE SINGLE GREATEST art direction of any MMORPG to date. This game just oozes style and character.

I can agree with the 10 in graphics (because they don't give out percentages on individual scores). I would probably give it more like a 9.6 or 9.7.. but if I had to give it a whole score I would give it a 10 instead of 9... any flaws in the low polys and low textures are more than made up for in the simply stunning art direction..

the first time you enter Ironforge or Ogrimmar you are just floored by the actual architecture, yes, real honest to goodness architecture...


IAWTP!
 
borghe said:
the graphics are an oxymoron...

the polygon counts are ridiculously low, and the textures in most cases are an "ok" resolution at best...

but god damn if this game doesn't have THE SINGLE GREATEST art direction of any MMORPG to date. This game just oozes style and character.

I can agree with the 10 in graphics (because they don't give out percentages on individual scores). I would probably give it more like a 9.6 or 9.7.. but if I had to give it a whole score I would give it a 10 instead of 9... any flaws in the low polys and low textures are more than made up for in the simply stunning art direction..

the first time you enter Ironforge or Ogrimmar you are just floored by the actual architecture, yes, real honest to goodness architecture...

I very much prefer the art direction in FFXI over WoW... simply if for no other reason, the characters models look much less goofy (overly exaggerated).

That said, WoW is still a very well put together cohesive piece of work from an art POV.
 
The problem with giving it a 10 in graphics is that it pretty much says it couldn't be significantly better (from a technical perspective.)

Something that is very wrong. WoW's art assets with a fantastic engine would look incredible. It was certainly made with low end users in mind and that's fine, but it could've looked significantly better (technically) for sure.
 
Did anyone read the manual? They put a lot of the backstory in there, and there's one part that I don't remember from WCIII or Frozen Throne (cause I assume it took place afterwards).

and thats apparently where Jaina Proudmoore's father comes to Kalimdor and threatens the peace, and Jaina is forced to hill him.

And I guess the game is also setting things up for Warcraft 4 because the manual mentioned that at this time Arthas/Ner'zuhl is busy rebuilding IceCrown and that Kel'thuzad is still overlord of part of Lorderon. Also, I found it interesting that in the manual, it didn't actually say that Illidan actually was killed by Arthas, but that he was driven back to the Outlands.
 
Eric-GCA said:
Did anyone read the manual? They put a lot of the backstory in there, and there's one part that I don't remember from WCIII or Frozen Throne (cause I assume it took place afterwards).

and thats apparently where Jaina Proudmoore's father comes to Kalimdor and threatens the peace, and Jaina is forced to hill him.

And I guess the game is also setting things up for Warcraft 4 because the manual mentioned that at this time Arthas/Ner'zuhl is busy rebuilding IceCrown and that Kel'thuzad is still overlord of part of Lorderon. Also, I found it interesting that in the manual, it didn't actually say that Illidan actually was killed by Arthas, but that he was driven back to the Outlands.
do the orc/"bonus" campaign in frozen throne... I don't recall Jaina having to kill admiral proudmoore but Thrall and Rexxar did, and it led to basically the breakdown of the peace between Theramore and Orgrimmar.
 
If I decide to be an Orc can I still play w/ humans & vice versa? Or are Orcs / Undead always agains Humans / Elves / Dwarfs?
 
Unison said:
If I decide to be an Orc can I still play w/ humans & vice versa? Or are Orcs / Undead always agains Humans / Elves / Dwarfs?
the horde and alliance can't group together.
 
firex said:
do the orc/"bonus" campaign in frozen throne... I don't recall Jaina having to kill admiral proudmoore but Thrall and Rexxar did, and it led to basically the breakdown of the peace between Theramore and Orgrimmar.

LMAO, I totally forgot about the Orc Bonus campaign in the Frozen Throne. I rememer when I got it there was only one part released, but I guess Blizzard released more since then huh? Oh well.
 
This and FFXI are the only 2 MMORPGs Ive ever played,and WoW just makes FFXI look foolish,IMO.

You couldn't do ANYTHING in FFXI without a full group,fighting a fly took you down to the last of your health,then you got to sit for 5 minutes while you regained health,meh.I like how I can fight about 10 level monsters consecutively and not have to worry about sitting down or anything.
 
Unison said:
If I decide to be an Orc can I still play w/ humans & vice versa? Or are Orcs / Undead always agains Humans / Elves / Dwarfs?
the horde and alliance are always against each other.

also, as I have found out, your mules need to be similarily aligned.. there are other sorts of goofy problems as well, but frankly if these problems didn't exist the game would be worse for it.

You can email your mules. This makes things VERY easy. Get some nice items that you can't where yet? Email them to a mule until you can where them (if you are out of bank space).

Find an item that another one of your characters can use? Email it to him.

The downside though is that you can only email players in the same side (Alliance or Horde). So if your main is alliance and your alt/mule is horde, you can't email him.

Also, if you are making alts, you can only put same side players on your friends list. So if you have a buddy that is playing horde and you make a dwarf hunter alt, you can't add your buddy to your friends list.

It is a little complicated and slightly cumbersome, but frankly that delineation makes the game significantly more interesting than the minor annoyance that is the GCW in SWG. :\
 
IJoel said:
So that Night Elves don't have to board 2 boats, and pay 3.5s for a Gryphon just to get to the damn AH in IF.
"Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P. shouldn't we keep the P.C. on the Q.T. 'cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could become a M.I.A. and then we'd all be put out on K.P. "
 
explodet said:
"Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P. shouldn't we keep the P.C. on the Q.T. 'cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could become a M.I.A. and then we'd all be put out on K.P. "

AH = Auction House
IF = Ironforge

The only place for the Alliance to place bids or auction items in the entire WoW world. They either need transports from all major cities, or add more AH.
 
IJoel said:
So that Night Elves don't have to board 2 boats, and pay 3.5s for a Gryphon just to get to the damn AH in IF.

My friend was playing that G and he said when you get to the S there's nothing to do except talk to R and do some L's.
 
IJoel said:
AH = Auction House
IF = Ironforge

The only place for the Alliance to place bids or auction items in the entire WoW world. They either need transports from all major cities, or add more AH.
:lol

Thanks. Figuring out MMORPG shorthand is pretty tough if you don't play the game.
 
Ferrio said:
You only need 1 boat. And 3.5 silver is nothing....

It's mostly the deal that it's time consuming and well, ridiculous that there's only 1 AH in the entire world.

And you HAVE to take 2 boats if you part from the main Night Elf city.
 
IJoel said:
It's mostly the deal that it's time consuming and well, ridiculous that there's only 1 AH in the entire world.

And you HAVE to take 2 boats if you part from the main Night Elf city.


Take the hypogryph instead.

And if you're staying in darnassus longer than past lvl 10, something is wrong.
 
Ferrio said:
Take the hypogryph instead.

And if you're staying in darnassus longer than past lvl 10, something is wrong.

I hate condescending people.

I am past Darnassus anyway. It's still a chore. Simple as that.

God forbid you mention an apparent game flaw to some people. They just combust internally.
 
IJoel said:
I hate condescending people.

I am past Darnassus anyway. It's still a chore. Simple as that.


I agree with you the AH stuff is stupid, but I don't think it is as bad as people make it out. I kinda like it in the fact it MAKES people go to ironforge. So there's always a good number of people there, which makes trading outside the AH a lot easier.
 
Ugh, I told myself I wouldn't, but it looks like I'm going out to buy this tonight.

My only worry is that my wife gets more hooked on it then I do, and then I have to get a second computer for her and her own account. :lol
 
jett said:
What's the difference between this game and every other
(worthless)
MMORPG?

Fundamentally none.

Biggest difference is how easy it is to play and get into it.

Battle is easy, deep and doesn't force you into groups.
Crafting is just fantastically implemented. Very painless and fulfilling.
The world is immense and varied.
Production values are just superb.

It's really more of the same, fundamentally, but in a very polished manner.
 
Razoric said:
great score

World of Warcraft and MGS3 are the games of the year. This is a FACT. Sorry. :)


You changed your mind about GTA:SA?

Thought you said it was one of your fav. games ever.
 
we play games to be pulled into them. the better the graphics the easier this is. The worse the graphics the more it stands out...

Just wanted to touch on this. I find old text based MUDS to be 10 times more absorbing in terms of atmosphere. Nothing beats imagination.
 
MrAngryFace said:
Just wanted to touch on this. I find old text based MUDS to be 10 times more absorbing in terms of atmosphere. Nothing beats imagination.


Tycho said:
The second part was interesting though, because it details the vast cataract he had to develop and maintain in order to keep playing his game. He said that Everquest looked bad on purpose, and that this purpose was explicit: so that unlike WoW, the graphics would not obscure the rich gameplay. Also, he noted, the graphics being bad made it so you could invest the characters you created with your own notions as opposed to some (apparently evil) artist at Blizzard who is trying subconsciously to subvert your imagination.

I have some experience with World of Warcraft, so this is a topic I can speak on. I did not find my character looking fly to hinder my investment in any way. I would submit that it is probably not Blizzard's fault if you are so inert creatively that you can't identify with your little analog on the screen. I loved my avatar in World of Warcraft so much that I actually stopped playing, knowing that they'd just wipe him, no better than the rest of that stale data. I recognize that makes me the worst sort of beta tester, but it was quite real. I knew they would take him away. I couldn't bear to like him any more than I already did.

Thought it was fitting.
 
as for graphics

character designs are pretty shitty and everything, but the first time you walk upon the gates of ironforge its like :O :O :O
 
IJoel said:
It's mostly the deal that it's time consuming and well, ridiculous that there's only 1 AH in the entire world.

And you HAVE to take 2 boats if you part from the main Night Elf city.
You'll find at higher levels that Ironforge is like the central hub for the alliance, being almost literally connected to every area they have quests in. It's the same with Orgrimmar for the horde.

before they isolated the auction houses, everybody went to Stormwind and the Undercity instead, so it didn't make a huge difference that there was an auction house in each capital city.

not that I don't see where you're coming from, I just wanted to let you know it'll be less of an issue later on.

edit: there's also a neutral auction house, but it's in Gadgetzan, which is hard to get to unless you're around level 35 or 40.
 
Imagination is all good and well... but wouldn't counters be a better way of solidifying all that textual based information?

what about simple sprites in place of those counters?

and wouldn't a bit of animation with those simple sprites be cool?

what about higher res sprites with more animation?

2D is out? Lets make it 3D!

...

lets go back to text. graphics sux!
 
Nothing will ever replace the text based MUDs I used to play. Unless they somehow manage to turn my imagination into a graphics card.
 
Ramirez said:
It has a much more Diablo like feel to me...I just hate all the downtime you had to do in FF...


You really hit the nail on the head with this discription. It is exactly a 3D diablo set in the Warcraft universe. It actually feels much more like Diablo then Warcraft.
 
Gamespot's review completely sold me on the game. I just picked it up and am impressed with the interface so far.

Installation was dreadfully long, though.

After that it's smooth as hell. Loading is literally almost non-existant.
 
Docpan said:
You changed your mind about GTA:SA?

Thought you said it was one of your fav. games ever.

Didn't change my mind about GTA:SA.... just spoke too soon.

WAY too many good games this year. Amazing.

:O
 
Damn game won't install. I was on disc four when I got a file error so I said OK and deleted my WoW folder to try again. Now whenever I try to run the installer it tells me "No installer data could be found. If this problem persists, please contact Blizzard Technical Support."

I hate you guys. If you hadn't made me get all excited about this game I wouldn't be crying in a corner hugging my pillow because the game doesn't install. I'd just be crushing people with furniture like all the other good PC players. Curse you, GAF!
 
This thread is useless without pictures of my character:

WoWScrnShot1.jpg


WoWScrnShot1b.jpg


WoWScrnShot2.jpg


WoWScrnShot3.jpg


WoWScrnShot4.jpg


WoWScrnShot5.jpg


I guess it should be said first of all that I am a total MMORPG noob. I tried Everquest once for 2 days about 4 years ago, didn't like it and never gave the genre a 2nd thought until WoW started getting near-universal raves.

Eventually, its siren's call was too much to resist & I caved in.

I started tonight, got up to level 9 in one semi-long gaming session. I joined the GAF-Guild on a server and created an Undead Warrior.

The game really does feel like Diablo in the way that it always makes you feel you are accomplishing something. I haven't done much adventuring yet (I've only been to 3 or 4 main areas), but you can see from the screens above that everything in the game is gorgeous. It's a pleasure to explore this world, even when questing alone (I haven't teamed up w/ anyone yet).

The game is set up so you really have to do something boneheaded to die at first. It's obvious from the get-go where the no-go areas are, and you start out far away from them that you basically have to have a death wish to end up dead.

That being said, dying barely matters in this game. You die, you come back to life in a cemetary and have to walk back to your corpse. You can respawn anywhere near your corpse as long as it's in sight, which allows you to get out of harm's way. There are no penalties beyond a scenic walk for dying.

Overally, I'm hugely impressed. While I can't say that I will want to play this in a year or anything yet (Probably because I truly cannot comprehend the scope of the thing yet), I have had a near-total turnaround on my stance on the genre.

Fantastic game... easily one of the best of the year.
 
If you want to transfer items from a Horde to an Alliance character, you should be able to set up an auction in Gadgetzan with a buy it now price and get it immediately. I don't understand the hate of the AH. What's wrong with it? I think it's fantastic. The only problem is buying skills is so expensive that people don't have a lot of disposable income, so most items are not fetching a high price now.

To the early players, you don't get your classes primary abilities until doing the class-specific quest at level 10. That's also when you start earning talent points (this is where the Diablo-like tech tree/character customization kicks in). Warriors don't become men until level 35 with Mortal Strike. Mounts become available at level 40. So most of the good stuff comes much later on.
 
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