Thinking of playing WOW

[Mother Jingles]

GS has been getting pretty boring as of late and I was thinking of a new game. Is WOW worth inveting a buncha time in like I have with GS or is it like Asheron's Call which I got bored with after 3 months? I hated the fact I was always buffing in AC and I hate the down time in GS. Also, what servers are the GS people playing on? Is druid a good class for non-PVP? Any info would be great about the Pros and Cons of WOW.

[StrayRogue]

Most guilds are always desperate for druids to join.

WOW is good fun. It is, however, all about the end game. However hitting the cap is very easy, usually attainable in 2 or 3 weeks. Then you have MANY options, unlike GS. You can join a guild for PVE, PVP, a mix of both etc. You can do high end instances, grind honour or rep etc. I'd recommend it, especially if you're playing with people you know.

Whats bad with WoW I find however is that its very time intensive. You'll never be the best PVPer without putting in 16 hour days.

Doing the highest end instances also requires a good guild. Finding such a guild can be hard (though is easier as a healer class).

[AnticorRifling]

I, for one, would reccommend WoW. I play it and love it. Druids are great if you've got the patience to learn how to play them properly. They do well in PvE and PvP. As for GSers that play WoW if you want to go alliance I think Argent Dawn is the server if you want to go Horde then Dunemaul.

[Skeeter]

2 or 3 weeks for a new player to hit cap is a pretty large exaggeration.

Unless you plan on playing 24 hours a day and reading every guide you can get your hands on. AND having friends supply you with twinks and aid. then you could cap in 3 weeks.

Most people who play on a "normal" schedule will take 3-6 months to cap. Still very easy as compared to GS but long enough to give you a feeling of achievement.

Also the level of class you play makes a difference. I could cap a rogue in half the time I could cap a priest.

As to your question of Asheron's call. I played AC for a month during the trial period. It sucked so bad I had no desire to play another graphical for years.

I started playing WoW in December of 04 after so many reccomendations from people on here. figured after a few months I'd quit and go back to playing GS.

Cancelled my GS account last July and haven't looked back.

[StrayRogue]

3-6 months if you're a three fingered bumbling retard. Power-levellers have gotten the 0-60 time down to around 15 days or in game time. Christ, I don't think I've even played 6 months worth of WoW even after a year. I'll have to check /played next time I log.

[AnticorRifling]

You can get a toon to 60 in alittle under 8 days played once you know what you're doing. Your first time in you're going to want to take some time, learn the game, do the quests, etc. So yeah it will take alittle longer.

Me I didn't rush to lvl 60 I played to experience everything, I helped alot of friends along the way lvl up and I got to 60 in 22 days played.

[AnticorRifling]

And Stray he's not talking 3-6mo in game time he's talking 3-6mo of real life time playing a few hours every night or whatever adding up to about 15 days played would be a safe guess for someone with a decent knowledge of games.

[Sean of the Thread]

2-3 weeks is absurd for a first time player to attain cap.

Druids rock for both pvp and non-pvp. 2-3 weeks of PLAYED time (500 hours) with no fucking around thats different.

[StrayRogue]

Not really. I can't recall a point in the game where it was really difficult. With a good, helpful guild as well it would be even easier.

[Bobmuhthol]

3-6 months, I'm 99% sure, is realtime, not play time. His point is that people aren't going to play enough each day to level very quickly in realtime.

[StrayRogue]

3-6 months real time is still stupidly long.

[Mother Jingles]

Whats a good Guild to join?

[StrayRogue]

NFC. It is entirely dependant on your server, your playing style, the availability of certain classes on your server etc.

[CrystalTears]

I believe we're talking about real time of playing. Most regular, casual players, don't play 15 days straight, 24/7, it just adds up to equal 15 days worth of game time played in the end. 3-6 months seems about right. I think I have about 9 days played for my druid and I'm a very casual gamer, do most quests I come across, and do a lot of AFK to take care of RL stuff.

I had tried many different classes and wound up enjoying druids the most. I like how versatile they are, and it doesn't restrict me to just ranged or melee. They can heal, raise, fight well, PvP well. I wish I had played her first (she would be 60 by now considering how many others I have sitting around collecting dust).

[Sean of the Thread]

THE BARREN FURY!! oh wait.. HYJAL PROTECTORATE!! oh wait.. errm..

[StrayRogue]

Druids, while being useful in ways, do become second-class classes in the high end. They aren''t the uber healers, the uber damage dealers or the uber tanks. The only reason we include two in our BWL runs is for the buff. AND, you better believe they are NOT feral or (lol) moonkin specced.

[Sean of the Thread]

They pwn. At lvl 55 according to damage meters I was out healing like level priests consistently. End game is another story. As feral I'd consitently outdamage like level rogues/hunter and be back and forth with mages. Again end game is another story completely.. but up until endgame you can't go wrong with a druid.

Just need good gear (several sets) of the right stats and know wtf you're doing. Druids also pwn at escaping.. and you can't beat having all the skills needed to solo and stealth.

[StrayRogue]

At WSG. Little else.

[Makkah]

ROFL @ "twinks" "toons"

Stupid graphical people :(

[CrystalTears]

It's a fun character to start with, as far as my preferences go. It's because you can do a little of everything with them to get a broad view of several classes. You can see if the rogue (cat form), warrior (bear form) or priest (healing spec) is more to your liking, then go on from there.

[DeV]

I had tried many different classes and wound up enjoying druids the most. I like how versatile they are, and it doesn't restrict me to just ranged or melee. They can heal, raise, fight well, PvP well. I wish I had played her first (she would be 60 by now considering how many others I have sitting around collecting dust).I've kinda been there. It took me leveling a shaman to 60, getting completely and utterly bored of playing him after running some end game instances with a severly disorganized guild, switching to Dunemaul to start a new shaman with TBF, getting him to 30 before realizing I couldn't bear the thought of leveling another shaman to 60, finally starting a hunter and finding my passion.

Playing a hunter has handicapped me toward other classes. Hopefully not for life. :(

<3 WoW

p.s. PvP pwns hard.

[AnticorRifling]

Druids, while being useful in ways, do become second-class classes in the high end. They aren''t the uber healers, the uber damage dealers or the uber tanks. The only reason we include two in our BWL runs is for the buff. AND, you better believe they are NOT feral or (lol) moonkin specced.


Why wouldn't you take a feral or balance druid? Any druid worth a damn knows when and where to use his/her forms. (Damnit this is going to sound like a druid board rant I hate you Stray) If you're only taking them for the buffs you're not using HoTs and NS + HTr10 Ohh shit buttons effectively. I go in feral specced but for any boss fight I'm in caster form wearing my healing gear and with the larger mana pool I'm in for the endurance fights.

[Sean of the Thread]

I think stray quit playing wow before they revamped druid and made them wtf pwnage. Bottom line is he doesn't know what he is talking about in the NOW WOW days.

[Miss X]

OMG I just started playing WoW last week, I have the cutest little Gnome Mage on Argent Dawn. It's a RP server obviously. Come and join the Guild Wezas and I are in, it's called Pure Virtue.

Really enjoying WoW so far, even though I said I'd never play! It's teh cool.

[StrayRogue]

Sorry Vic, but RP servers on WoW are totally missing the point of the game, which is mass pvp. Being within an enforced pvp zone really takes an element of fun (if you're a rogue) and danger out of the game. Plus there is little to no RP in WoW to speak of.

[Sean of the Thread]

I was talking non end game obviously since I stated it multiple times.

ps PVP only tyvm. It's the point of the game vic!

[StrayRogue]

None-end game makes up of 1% of WoW.

[Alfster]

I was talking non end game obviously since I stated it multiple times.

ps PVP only tyvm. It's the point of the game vic!

since you quit....

[Gan]

I've got an Alliance Warlock stuck at 38 because I've not had much time to play for the past month. :(

I enjoy playing, the graphics are a nice refresher and I've got a guild waiting on me to hit 40 that belongs to the friend who got me started in WoW.

Its fun, and I chose a Warlock first because I knew if I rolled out a rogue I'd never look at another class... their abilities are insane.

Amassing gold has never been an issue. I've managed to AH several blue level items I've found that were bind on equip. As far as instances, I've been on a few raids for my level and its fun, I cant wait until I get to end game raids if I decide to keep the subscription going.

[Shalla]

Makes me want to try the game now. How is it like for lower leveled players for PVP? I certainly don't want to get pwned left and right and people taking advantage and looting me :(

Can you be uberly good when capped? or is it balanced for everybody else who have reached their max level like gs? Many people obviously take the same quests, So naturally they get the same prize? what about training style and like clothing etc.? or will I have twins/clones running around?

[Hulkein]

3-6 months real time is still stupidly long.

A lot of people actually have jobs and social lives..........

[Wezas]

Younger ones don't usually have a problem with PvP. The start-up areas don't require you to go into any contested or opposite faction territories, so you can't be attacked at will.

I'd say most don't PvP until they're at least 20 or so and start to venture into contested areas.

Uberly good depends on gear. And you get the best gear by doing tons of end game instances. So it's all a matter of time.

But almost anyone can cap. It's just that their gear might not be quite up to snuff (like my capped rogue) with other uber players.

[Miss X]

My pink haired Gnome really couldn't be hotter.

[Wezas]

Bigger tits.

Had to be said.

[Miss X]

Her ass makes up for lack of tits!

[Wezas]

Keep telling yourself that :X

[DeV]

rofl

[Sean of the Thread]

Her ass makes up for lack of tits!

How bout some forbidden love on the tram baby! I'll bring my pantaloons you bring your hot lips.!!

[Mother Jingles]

So what is a good end game class?

[Sean of the Thread]

Anything but rogue or paladin.

[Mother Jingles]

Thanks, think I will start a warrior as it should be the easiest to learn the game

[heisagoalie]

can't go wrong with a DPS warrior, they have buffs, debuffs, and dps. Hmm, i played one for a little but got bored and always played GS more. I know the guild I was in always needed mages and priests. Supposedly Warlocks are the most broken (awesome) class, but thats just MHO

[Tsa`ah]

can't go wrong with a DPS warrior, they have buffs, debuffs, and dps. Hmm, i played one for a little but got bored and always played GS more. I know the guild I was in always needed mages and priests. Supposedly Warlocks are the most broken (awesome) class, but thats just MHO

DPS warriors, much like rogues and hunters, are a dime a dozen.

If you just plan on going for PvP, or are screwing a guild raid leader, your chances at anything better than .5 tier equipment are only slightly greater than zilch.

I don't play a druid, but in our end game raids ... druids are essential. Aside from healing and buffs, there are also debuffs that druids can remove ... and in the off chance that we lose several tanks in a short span of time ... druids are the raid saver in bear form. Maybe it's different from the bubble gum end of the game ... but druids are a necessity for the horde end game.

Time to 60, heh. It's ironic we sort of touched on this at the Hounds forum.

This guild, http://www.brimstoneguild.org , flopped servers and faction 2 months after downing Nef. 0-ZG (downing Hakkar) in 21 days ... Azuregos in 24. Granted, I play a hunter and went solo 99% of the time until the mid 50s ... but 0-ZG, that's half of your waking day with experience.

If you have absolutely no life and no responsibilities ... you'll hit 60 in no time. If you're smart in your class selection ... you'll be very popular with the full time raiders.

My suggestion ... go with whatever is fun for you.

[Wezas]

Anything but rogue or paladin.

60 Rogue.
50 Paladin.

Nobody else over 20.

I R Pwned.

[Skeeter]

on AD I've seen a lot of guilds recruiting rogues. Guess people put their rogues on the shelf to play other classes. Much like what happened to Paladins about 6 months into the game.

[Wezas]

Rogues are decent DPS and if they have improved sap I can see why they'd want to recruit.

But they'll still be fighting with hunters over gear.

[Tsa`ah]

They'll fight over very little. Some melee weapons and jewelry slots.

In a DKP setting, ranged weapons should have a hunter preference, melee should have a rogue preference (that is melee that hunters and rogues would fight over). A warrior wanting a brut blade over a hunter or rogue should be told to stfu ... and maybe /gquit.

[Hulkein]

/gquit imo

[Trouble]

Wow is defintiely sensory overload compared to GS, but it has drawbacks.

There is little to no RP and little to no character customization (fluff), so people who are drawn to GS for those would hate WoW. All toons look generally the same at similar levels (differences being in if someone aims more for PvP gear or raid gear).

There is also no "getting fried" or resting in the GS sense (one of the reasons why there's no RP). You can literally grind straight to 60 without ever having to rest to absorb EXP. That was the thing that jacked me up when I first started WoW... I got used to frying my ranger in GS then walking away from the computer for a few mins to do whatever (laundry, TV, *EAT*) then coming back and repeating. But with WoW, I'd get from from work, log in to WoW, and be glued to it until midnight. Yeah, I know, reroll higher DI, but at the time WoW really had a grip on me.

Leveling a toon on a PvP server sucks ass at times... it can be extraordinarily frustrating to get ganked and camped by a bunch of level 60s with nothing better to do but make your level 30 life miserable. With that said though, I imagine life on a PvE server would be really boring and easy. Doing rep grinds or quests without worrying about PvP would almost be like you playing a solo game. I've never actually played on a PvE server past levl 8 though so I dunno for sure.

As for classes/races/etc... I suggest looking around at web sites and guides that people have written. There are a few on www.worldofwar.net, a few on www.worldofwarcraft.com, and more at wow.allakhazam.com. I read all about WoW before I started playing, so I had an idea of what I was getting into as far as class and racial choices. There are conceptual things like "aggro" that were totally foreign to me as a GS player that are very important in WoW, and those guides helped a lot.

Definitely check WoW out. I resisted it for a while and finally caved and haven't looked back to GS for almost a year now.

[Wezas]

My suggestion: try them both.

Try a RP/Normal server and a PVP server. You can have up to 50 characters on any number of servers.

As for people on the boards, I'd say a majority are on Dunemaul(pvp) - Horde Side, with a few on Argent Dawn(roleplaying) - Alliance Side.

I played Alliance since I started, but a few months ago concentrated on my hunter on Dunemaul. It was fun, especially once my hunter was at an age where he could kill like-aged alliance in contested areas. I grew a bit tired of being camped in one area by capped alliance with nothing better to do than kill my level 34 hunter repeatedly.

So I went back to Argent Dawn, joined a n00b guild, and enjoy helping people in their questing and leveling up my little ones. I'm sure eventually I'll hop into a raid group with my older character.

Try them both, see what works. Keep an open mind, but also know that RPing in WoW isn't "enforced" as it is in GS4. Most of your RP will be found in small towns/cities or within a medium/heavy RP guild.

[Mother Jingles]

Got the game and logged in. I started a druid to get comfortable with the game and think it will make a great diversion from GS. I have read a bunch in the past couple days and have decided it will be a druid or a shaman. I like the fact they can tank, cast or heal. Still I worry about level endgame.

Any hybrid builds out there someone can suggest that won't make me a a healer 100% of the time on raids?

PvP seems to be the way to go as it will be alot more fun with interacting with others.

Good thread by the way.

[Sean of the Thread]

The thing with druid is once you get cat form you can stealth.. will be a great char for your first on pvp.

[Trouble]

I have read a bunch in the past couple days and have decided it will be a druid or a shaman. I like the fact they can tank, cast or heal. Still I worry about level endgame.

Shaman are fun in certain stages, but boring in others. I guess that could be said of any class though.

They can tank up until around level 45 or so effectively, depending on gear and spec, but having no AoE taunt makes it tough on multi-mob pulls (fast weapon, rockbiter buff, and rapid target switching can work though). Druids make better tanks generally.

Shaman will have a hard time main-healing an instance group past around 45 too. If you have a very cooperative group (DPS watches aggro and doesn't chain pull), you might be ok. You'll need to drink a lot.

Shaman are decent secondary DPS and healing, but will have difficulty healing as well as a druid or priest or DPSing as good as a lock/mage/rogue. The main reason they are brought along to end-game raids is for totems. If it weren't for totems, in most cases you'd rather have an additional priest or druid instead. The shaman self-rez is important in some cases though (a wipe near the end of a long instance), if you don't have a warlock for soulstones.

Having very specialized gear sets or spec can help, but shaman spells are generally the least mana-efficient so expect to spend a lot of time drinking between pulls. Like druids, expect to carry more than one gear set as a shaman. You'll want lots of Agi/Stam/Str for your melee set and lots of Int/Stam/Spi (and +heal) for your healer set. If you go mage shaman, you'll want a pure Int/Stam (and +dmg) set too.

I recommend a 30/21 Enh/Resto build for general purpose. You have lots of melee abilities so less reliance on mana, but can still pull off an emergency instant heal/bolt if needed. If you look on the WoW official shaman boards there is a stickied topic with many detailed explanations of various builds.

PvP is where shaman really make a name for themselves, but I don't have a whole lot of PvP experience on my shaman yet. The only thing they really lack in PvP is a stun/fear. Their ability to interrupt spells and push out lots of burst DPS drives alliance mad sometimes.

Druids face some of the same problems as shaman (good at lots of things but can usually be outdone by a non-hybrid, need multiple gear sets, will get overlooked for a "pure" class), but they are much stronger in their hybrid forms than a shaman's general one-form versatility. The drawback they face is that while a shaman can both DPS and heal in the same fight without missing a beat, Druids will usually have to change forms to do this. Simlarly, shamans will generally have higher armor all the time, while druids armor will vary greatly depending on form. Druids have the very valuable combat rez, but are restricted in that they can only use it once per 30 mins, where a shaman can chain-rez like priests.

If I were to do it over again, I think I would have picked a druid over a shaman. It's possible I just need to lern2play though.

[DeV]

Tauren Shaman do have the *war stomp* racial trait ability. 2 second stun that can strike up to 5 targets within 8 yards. Not very effective for raiding instances, but it has its benefits in PvP. It's better than nothing. Then again If I had to do it all over again I'd probably roll an Orc Shaman over a Tauren.

[Alfster]

the biggest downfall to tauren is in instances because they're so freakishly huge (NC style)

[StrayRogue]

A lot of people actually have jobs and social lives..........

I work 50 hours a week, do freelance jobs, have a girlfriend, and still find time to do instance runs. Whats your point?

[StrayRogue]

Don't worry about End game mother jingles. Pretty much anyone can be useful (some more than others) if they find the right guild.

[Some Rogue]

If you listen really closely, you can almost hear someone's epeen growing in this thread.

[Sean of the Thread]

rofl

[Sean of the Thread]

I did AQ40 the day it opened with my main priest.... if you need innervate you're fucking noob.

[StrayRogue]

rofl, he thinks his guild is so great but they need druids for innervate

rofl
rofl
rofl

Trust me, the guild I belong to is great.

Our status..

Saturday March 4th AQ Gates opened by Nightsong @ 22.00
Saturday March 4th Skeram the Prophet, and Battleguard Satura died.
Sunday March 5th Vem,Kri, and Yahoo + Fankriss the Unyielding died.
Tuesday March 7th Princess Huhuran got killed.

I'm doubting you even know who any of these people are.

[StrayRogue]

I did AQ40 the day it opened with my main priest.... if you need innervate you're fucking noob.

English please Xcalibur.

If you did Aq40, you'll know that priests need innervate in AQ40, dumbass.

[Skeeter]

or C'thun can be killed in 17 minutes, based on the latest posted video

[Trouble]

Tauren Shaman do have the *war stomp* racial trait ability. 2 second stun that can strike up to 5 targets within 8 yards. Not very effective for raiding instances, but it has its benefits in PvP. It's better than nothing. Then again If I had to do it all over again I'd probably roll an Orc Shaman over a Tauren.


the biggest downfall to tauren is in instances because they're so freakishly huge (NC style)

Yeah, my shaman is a Tauren and I do love the WS, but hate the size. I carry around a lot of Deviate Fish and Noggenflogger though. I'd probably reroll orc if I was serious about PvP.

[StrayRogue]

or C'thun can be killed in 17 minutes, based on the latest posted video

You realize he's been recently nerfed right?

http://www.myspace.com/cthun

[Some Rogue]

And was never killed before that nerf.

[StrayRogue]

Correct.

[Alfster]

Trust me, the guild I belong to is great.

Our status..

Saturday March 4th AQ Gates opened by Nightsong @ 22.00
Saturday March 4th Skeram the Prophet, and Battleguard Satura died.
Sunday March 5th Vem,Kri, and Yahoo + Fankriss the Unyielding died.
Tuesday March 7th Princess Huhuran got killed.

I'm doubting you even know who any of these people are.

Regardless of your guilds accomplishments, you're still missing the point that you don't know wtf you're talking about when it comes to druids.

[StrayRogue]

I do know that any guild worth a damn would take a DPS warrior, hunter, rogue, mage, healing druid or warlock over a damage dealing druid. To take a feral druid on a high end raid would mean you're either A) desperate for members, B) taking an alt or C) going on an easy instance.

[Skeeter]

STay. if you killed Huhu 2 months ago, what's the hold up on vicidious?

Twin emps are a bitch aren't they

[AnticorRifling]

I do know that any guild worth a damn would take a DPS warrior, hunter, rogue, mage, healing druid or warlock over a damage dealing druid. To take a feral druid on a high end raid would mean you're either A) desperate for members, B) taking an alt or C) going on an easy instance.


A) False

B) False

C) False


I go as a feral specc'd druid. Why? Becaue I can:

A) Heal

2) Decurse

L) DPS + Buff


You're making the assumption that a druid that is feral specc'd is going to dps primary and doesn't know how to heal. Any druid worth a shit has a healing set and a feral set on them regardless of spec. With my +healing gear I can spam HTr4 all freaking day because my mana pool is so large thanks to Heart of the Wild, my HoTs do the damn thing, and I can decurse most if not all of the raid solo. Not to mention I do more DPS than any other class when you take into account I'm giving every rogue/dps warrior in my party a 3% chance to crit. All those crits they do are belong to me.

Again if you're taking a druid that doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground, sure I'll agree with you. But if you're taking a GOOD druid then your statements are just spitting into the wind.

[Hulkein]

I work 50 hours a week, do freelance jobs, have a girlfriend, and still find time to do instance runs. Whats your point?

Has nothing to do with instances, I was addressing you saying 3 months is a 'stupidly' (or however you described it) long time to cap.

Based on what you just said about your situation, you're either lying or you don't sleep and all time spent with this girlfriend is spent playing WoW.

[Alfster]

Anticor is spot on

[Sean of the Thread]

Anticor is spot on

X2

[Axhinde]

All I know of druids is they're extremely good at running away in 9/10 PvP encounters, and are the permanent flag bitches for WSG. Now I'm sure a good druid could knock down the "run away" factor by about 10%. Either way, they're a bitch for a mage to kill :(. Usually, I don't even waste mana.

[Sean of the Thread]

All I know of druids is they're extremely good at running away in 9/10 PvP encounters, and are the permanent flag bitches for WSG. Now I'm sure a good druid could knock down the "run away" factor by about 10%. Either way, they're a bitch for a mage to kill :(. Usually, I don't even waste mana.

Double true... catch me if you can allied bitches!

[Alfster]

especially nice for lazy days and redridge

[Gan]

I just play the game because its fun. None of the bullshit spewed in the past page or two is ANY factor in why I play wow and if I play Horde/Alliance or what profession I play.

Play it, if you enjoy it, keep playing. If not, play something else.

[Mother Jingles]

Well I tried a warrior, a hunter and a druid. The druid is my favorate and the hunter is real cool too. The warrior is a little boring so far, but he is still real young so that will change.

I like the game alot. The quests are sweet, ( some are real hard! ) I like that there is no down time, I like the professions as well. Thanks fer all yer input folks.

[Some Rogue]

Yeah, warriors can be really boring at the lower levels. Your best bet is to find someone to quest with on a regular basis. A priest or druid is ideal. Many people say we don't hit our stride til 60 because we are so gear dependant and that's when you start getting the good gear but I did fine at lower levels mainly because I had a priest to quest with all the way through.

[crazymage]

played wow over a year.. no 60s OH NOZ

[Wezas]

I'd also suggesting trying a rogue. I started off as a Paladin, got all the way to 49 before I was BORED OUT OF MY MIND (right-click once, go upstairs, pee, get something to drink, come back and the enemy is dead).

I started a rogue and capped him before the Paladin even got to 50. Lots of fun trying to strategize what to do against certain enemies. Should you backstab/ambush them, or maybe cheapshot and stun them a few seconds, or sap them and just walk past. Give em a nice kick if they're preparing a spell, Vanish if the situation is getting too hairy, etc.

Lots of fun, and especially since you seem to prefer melee/fighters.

[Nieninque]

played wow over a year.. no 60s OH NOZ


ADHD ftw

[crazymage]

ADHD ftw

H8er

[Tsa`ah]

Ya, hunters rock. WoW, in my experience, has been the only game to put more than a second thought into some sort of physical based ranged combat.

I have tried every class at lower levels, and hunters are really THE best for the solo grind PvE aspect of the game. We're lacking in PvP until mail armor becomes an option, and then we're holy terrors by 60 if you play the class right.

In the end game experience, hunters are one of the better choices for DPS due to aggro control. We lack healing, real crowd control, and raid beneficial spell effects, but we can pump out a shit ton of damage and never pull aggro from a tank if we play the class right.

Right now I'm bringing up a priest to use as backup for our end game raids and I've been able to reach level 22 doing the whole part time thing without any help. It's fun, but not as much fun as I had with my hunter. I'll probably bring up a druid when the priest is done as it would also be raid beneficial to the guild, I just hope it's a bit more fun than dot spell, dot spell, shield, blast spell, blast spell, shield, heal, wand, wand wand, shield, wand wand wand.

[Wezas]

I had a druid experience last night. My capped rogue was just hanging out in Stormwind when there was a group looking for either a rogue or druid for a stealthed run of LBRS for the Shadowcraft Gloves.

We had 5 at first, then 4 (2 druids, 2 rogues). One druid healed, the other druid tanked, and we rouges sapped and pwned. We did at least a dozen runs (each run taking maybe 10 minutes). Ended up with quite a few blues noone needed, 2 shadowcraft gloves, a few unbound greens and greys worth close to 2g. Unfortunately I was not one of the 2 who had a successful roll on the gloves, but they all added me to their friends list for future runs.

We created a "stealth" channel for druids/rogues for future runs and are debating what other instances to stealth through and pwn.

::edited because Stormwatch <> Stormwind and I am not a druid::

[StrayRogue]

Certain BRD bosses can be taken with a rogue and druid for those all important MC/BWL blue FR items.

Other than that and LBRS, its generally much easier to get a normal group together for the other instances.

I for one think it would be impossible to do the two man scholo or three man UBRS runs with a druid group.

[Miss X]

Well, Wezas took me to Deadmines today and let a total RETARD join us. Was still fun though and I got some cool stuff for when my rogue is older! :)

[Wezas]

He paired up with Tayre last night for some quests/hunting. Maybe he thought what Tayre does is what is supposed to be done in instances (agro 15 mobs and run towards your group)

[Miss X]

Yeah, I blame Tayre for the whole thing. This retard kept going on about wanting to show us a trick he learnt from Tayre too, I dread to think what that was.

P.S.
OMG <3 Drew rly.

[Wezas]

After hunting last night in Silithus with Tayre, I can say that it likely wasn't my guild leader's fault. Tayre is an agroing bastard.

I'm battling a big ole scorpid and Tayre runs off, agro's another, and brings him back to me and shields. Fun times.

[Wezas]

Instead of deleting the pissing match/Druid/End Game discussion I moved some of the posts to http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?t=19514.

They just didn't seem to fit the purpose of this thread very well.

[Wezas]

Mother Jingles, which server are you on? There are a few of us from the boards (myself, Miss X, Skeeter, Tayre, CrystalTears) who are on the Argent Dawn server (alliance side RP server) and almost all have newbies that we play and would be happy to invite you into our guild.

[Mother Jingles]

I am on Eonar? Think thats it. Got my Druid to 20th level solo in around a week or so. I like WOW so much I may have to put a hold on my GS accounts.

[Wezas]

That seems to be the way things go.

If you'd like company, come on over to Argent Dawn. You can have up to 50 characters on any number of servers.

[DeV]

What's the name of your guild on AD Wezas?

[CrystalTears]

Pure Virtue, for the time being. Wezas can invite. I'm secretly hoping he creates his own guild for us and we can drop the real n00bs. :D

[Wezas]

ya, I see that happening in the next few nights.

[Miss X]

Some people in the guild arent too bad and Im a real n00b!!

[AnticorRifling]

Pure Virtue? Horrible name.

Might I reccommend a few I've got planned...

<Dude where's my kodo>
<ET PWN HOME>
<Midgets with widgets> (gnome and dwarf engineers)
<Bad Touch>
<Gnome Or Tears> That's my Ozzy Ozborne guild :)

[Skeeter]

might I suggest

Naga Please

[Sean of the Thread]

Naga stole my bike..

[Numbers]

Kind of off-topic, but it's looking like a movie based on WoW may be in the works.

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/705/705796p1.html

[Skeeter]

how about an engineer guild.

The goggles... They do nothing!!

[Miss X]

hnjenhjnhetjkhnjkhnert


HATE TUESDAYS OMG!

[AnticorRifling]

You'll soon learn Tues is not the day to call in sick.

[Wezas]

Ya, unfortunately it seems Tuesdays is always the day that my kid is sick and is my day to stay home with him.

FTL

(not today though, at work)

[Wezas]

So we don't further clutter up this thread with name suggestions for the guild, a new thread has been made:

http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?p=476300#post476300

[Phydra]

Ya, unfortunately it seems Tuesdays is always the day that my kid is sick and is my day to stay home with him.

FTL

(not today though, at work)

Heh I have Tuesday mornings off, so yeah it sucks when I sit down for WoW time and remember "Oh yeah, it's Tuesday" :(

[DeV]

Ha, my gf was pouting to me this morning about WoW being down. Poor babies.

[Bobmuhthol]

Playing GemStone for a month costs less than playing World of Warcraft for a month.

[Artha]

Playing World of Warcraft you get 50 character slots (per server?). That's like a $65 GS account.

[Bobmuhthol]

50 character slots per server? What happened to 8?

[StrayRogue]

Heh, I think Artha made a bit of a mistake.

[Parkbandit]

Playing GemStone for a month costs less than playing World of Warcraft for a month.

They don't charge you what, $3.00 for every extra character?

For what you get, WoW is a far, far, far better deal.

[StrayRogue]

WoW is incredibly pointless unless you have around 5 hours a day to play it. Unless you just want to chat and run around being douchebags. To actually accomplish anything though, you need to put in time more intensively than GS.

[Sean of the Thread]

Stray has somewhat of a point however.. you can also enjoy WoW on the casual level if you just don't expect the bells and whistles. Hell I get my monthly fee's worth just for logging in and sending PB or Anticor some slimy fish in the mail once every few weeks... To each their own.

WoW truly pwned the gaming model for most player types and thus why they are richer than holy shit.

[Artha]

Heh, I've never had even 8. Maybe it's 50 total? The number 50 is definitely involved with how many characters you can have somehow.

With rest exp, it's totally possible to enjoy WoW playing just on the weekends or just after work or around your schedule. This holds true until you need to go on higher end raids, but for someone playing a few hours a week, that won't be for a long long time.

[Wezas]

Playing GemStone for a month costs less than playing World of Warcraft for a month.

WoW = $14.99/mo, $13.99/mo (3 month pre-pay), $12.99 (6 month pre-pay)
50 characters, up to 10 characters per server.

GS4 = $14.95/mo
1 character, each extra character slot is $2.50/mo

So, I guess if you're a person who needs to pay month to month, yes. Gemstone IV is $0.04 cheaper each month.
And if you're factoring in the price of the game, it is now $30 for the game.

[Bobmuhthol]

<<up to 10 characters per server.>>

I swear to God it's 8.

[Artha]

Let's find out. One minute.

[Artha]

It's 10.

edit:
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/9175/its10kx7.jpg

[Bobmuhthol]

:(

[Wyndshadow]

Playing GemStone for a month costs less than playing World of Warcraft for a month.
That is only true if you only have one character on a Standard account.
If you have more than one character WOW is cheaper

[Wyndshadow]

<<up to 10 characters per server.>>

I swear to God it's 8.
It is 10 characters per realm and 50 per account.

[Wyndshadow]

You'll soon learn Tues is not the day to call in sick.
Yea they bite . I hate regular maintnance (did I spell that right? *shrug*)
day.

[Wezas]

I'll take one day/morning of maintenance if it means that once or twice a month we'll get enhancements and new skills/fixes.

Alot better than waiting for RSN or HSN.

[Wyndshadow]

true. And atleast when Wow promises something new, it is no later than within the same year they promised. Unlike GS4 promis of new things.

[Wezas]

I think one of the main problems with people not wanting to try WoW is the price. It was $50 when it first came out, then $40, and now I see Amazon has it for $37.

Plus people are poo-pooing on the idea of an expansion pack costing more money down the road.

[Sean of the Thread]

Isn't the first month free with the game?

Not a bad bargain.

[CrystalTears]

How long has the game been out now? Almost 2 years and it's had (well going to have) one expansion? What about games like EQ and DAOC that's had more expansions and are actually more expensive monthly? How many extras do you need to pay in GS, such as characters, events, premium?

For graphic games I don't understand why people complain over initial cost for the software. I mean you need the software to play most graphic games. I don't get the outcry.

[Artha]

The update rate in WoW is so much better than GS's RSN/HSN/We'll wait for an event standard that it's not even close. Their class balance philosophy's also better, in that they don't nerf classes so much as buff other things to balance it out. And they listen to their customers, instead of deleting dissenting posts.

[Wezas]

Or the Sims, who just go f'n crazy with the expansions. And people like Michiko & CT buy them all up.

[CrystalTears]

Heh true. I still don't have the business one. :(

[StrayRogue]

WoW is a fine game. But unless you really want to achieve something within it, as RP fame and glory is out of the picture, you really need to be able to put in a lot of time and fairly intentesively as well. This is where GS trumps WoW. I can log in any time of the day into GS and actually achieve something in 2 minutes. With WoW you cannot. You need to spend 5 hours doing a shitty raid most days for the chance to maybe get some nice gear. Getting such nice gear allows you to go on other, more challenging 5 hour raids. And so on.

Everything in the game, post cap (which is what the game is all about) takes tremendous investments of time and usually in big, fat, unsociable chunks.

[Artha]

No arguments with that. But how long in GS does it take people (without the MAing and character buying and coin hunting) to get a million silvers? And then how long after that does it take them to buy something really uber, like Sorrow or something of Tsin's or Ardwen's?

The time investment's split up, but I bet it takes way longer to get really good items in GS.

[StrayRogue]

It took me 8 months to get Sorrow. And I didn't do the 12 hour day thing either.

The difference with getting something uber in GS and in WoW is that you don't need to in GS. You can advance and hunt whereever you want. The same cannot be said of WoW.

WoW is all about the items. And nothing much else. I really, really liked the prospect of massive challenges, like the raid system, but the game relies too heavily upon it.

Plus, I hate, hate, HATED having to team up with some people on some quests. I prefer to be able to solo when I want to solo. A lot of quests (and the entire endgame) of WoW is not soloable.

[Artha]

I prefer to be able to solo when I want to solo. A lot of quests (and the entire endgame) of WoW is not soloable.
Agree on both points. I pretty much grinded from 30ish - 58, so the end game instances are a nice change of pace rather than same old, same old.

[StrayRogue]

Yeah, I fucking hated pug groups for most pre-endgame instances.

[Parkbandit]

WoW is a fine game. But unless you really want to achieve something within it, as RP fame and glory is out of the picture, you really need to be able to put in a lot of time and fairly intentesively as well. This is where GS trumps WoW. I can log in any time of the day into GS and actually achieve something in 2 minutes. With WoW you cannot. You need to spend 5 hours doing a shitty raid most days for the chance to maybe get some nice gear. Getting such nice gear allows you to go on other, more challenging 5 hour raids. And so on.

Everything in the game, post cap (which is what the game is all about) takes tremendous investments of time and usually in big, fat, unsociable chunks.

What can you achieve in 2 minutes in GS that you can't achieve in WoW?

[StrayRogue]

I can make my character harder post cap.

[Tea & Strumpets]

I can make my character harder post cap.

Yeah, nothing more fun than playing a shit ton more hours to make a character that is in every way inferior to a GS3 character.

I can't believe people buy into that stupid fucking carrot that GS threw out there to sucker people into continuing to play the game after they nerfed everyone and everything.

Personally I'd rather have another 60 levels of training points than hunting the same creature for 6 years for a completely shitty reward (Yay, I have 20 extra ranks of ambush that I didn't have at 100!). I'll give Gemstone this, they took a gamble and hoped the majority of the population (lower than lvl 50) would not be aware of the giant nerf bat beating them about the head. It was only the characters lvl 100-160 that would lose a shit ton of levels, training points, secondary skills, and flexibility. I guess people don't look beyond the nose on their face.

Somehow they pulled it off, and now those characters that were lvl 50 spend far longer playing the game for very little reward (in comparison to GS3). A lvl 100 character in GS3 is superior (better stat growth and far more training points) to a lvl 100 character in GS4, and the GS3 character has a shitload worth of training points yet to come to continue personalizing their character.

I really still don't even understand WHY they did it. The game is nowhere near as fun.

P.S. - I lost 40 levels worth of training points on the switch to GS3, do I sound bitter? :)

[Sean of the Thread]

Agreed GS is no where near as fun now.. coulda swore they shoved "easier to make balanced new hunting areas" down our throat as one of the top reasons for GS4 .. and my 80+ chars are still hunting OTF and the RIFT.

[HarmNone]

I know absolutely zilch about GSIV, except what I read on these message boards. I've always thought, however, that Simutronics had to make a decision; whether to play to their rapidly growing new audience of younger players who were minimally interested in roleplay, or to work to maintain their long-time players, some of whom were not much more interested in roleplay than the new players coming in.

They chose to play to the "crowd" rather than to settle for being a niche game (which I believe they are and cannot avoid being) and concentrate on the players who had been around awhile and weren't going anywhere as long as the status quo remained fairly close to "quo". Sure, they griped. Sure, they wanted some changes. Problem is, many didn't want what ultimately resulted...a completely different game.

Some of the more tolerant of the long-time players have hung on, bless their hearts. Yet, many more have left than have stayed. Some still show up for special events, but don't play on a regular basis. Some, like me, walked away and never looked back. Our disappointment and sense of loss was just too strong for us to maintain interest.

A game like WoW holds absolutely no interest for me. I don't like graphical games and I don't like the "kill everything you see and WIN, WIN, WIN!" mentality. I'm not into items or power over others. It's the roleplay that drew me; not the drama, not the quests, not the merchants, and not the "look at me, I R uber rollplayer!". It was more the interplay of personalities and the effects of those personalities on the world, and the individuals, around them.

[Tea & Strumpets]

Agreed GS is no where near as fun now.. coulda swore they shoved "easier to make balanced new hunting areas" down our throat as one of the top reasons for GS4 .. and my 80+ chars are still hunting OTF and the RIFT.

Don't worry, you still have the same "relative power" that you had in GS3 according to Melissa*. Once you got to those higher levels in GS3, you really had a lot of freedom in how you wanted to train your character in regard to secondary and even tertiary skills. That's all gone in my opinion.

The diversity and abundance of skills my GS3 character had make my GS4 character look like a decrepit POS, and I was only around lvl 120 at the time of the switch.












* Please ignore the nerfing of stat growth, randomizing the combat system so specific endrolls have random results, nerfing damage and crit padding, and the 60 less levels of training points--all of which make the statement completely false.

[StrayRogue]

I imagine, however, that GS will be around longer than WoW will.

[Tea & Strumpets]

I imagine, however, that GS will be around longer than WoW will.

They aren't in competition. Simu might continue to be able to keep a loyal player base of 200-300 people in the entire world, who knows... I just don't understand why they cut their own throat with mechanics changes. It's obvious not nearly as many people are playing. Maybe they console themselves by pretending it's the draw of graphic games that they can't compete against, rather than facing the harsh reality that they drove half their player base away with poorly thought out changes.

Anyway, the Gemstone I enjoyed playing is already gone.