All I can say is WoW

I've been meaning to write a long and flowing post about how amazing World of Warcraft is, but... I find that I'd rather spend that time playing the game! I feel like I really should post something about it though, since it is the most incredible game that I have ever experienced. This game is from the next generation, all other games before it pale in comparison, it is THE game. A game that I couldn't imagine was even possible and now while playing it, I scarcely believe is real. I'm not joking, this isn't just Game of the Year, this is Game of All Time.

Ok, let me see if I can calm down and describe this rationally. The amount of content in this game is literally incomprehensible. The world that they’ve created is just enormous. Here, look at this map. All of this land is actually represented in this game. Now see that smallish island in the very upper left? That is the only region that I saw for the first 15+ hours I played, and there was tons of stuff to see and do there. Since then I've since spent WAY more time with the game, and I've still only seen a miniscule fraction of what is available.

I mean, think about the length of an average game... you're lucky to get 10 hours out of a platformer; a solid RPG can take up to 40 hours to beat. I've spent 108 hours - 108! - with World of Warcraft in the last month, and I've barely scratched the surface. The first character I created is only level 24 out of 60, not even half way to maxing out (and my friend Carl has said “the game starts at 60”). In addition I've created two other characters, each with their own unique race, class, professions, starting areas, etc. And the start-up time (15 or so hours) of each one of these characters has felt like an entirely new game! And even after the start-up time, the play styles of the different races/classes are drastically different. And there are 4 more professions, 5 more races, and 6 more classes that I haven't even touched yet! Like I said, the amount of content is incomprehensible.

An unending game full of fantastic content... that’s it? Nope. This baby is online like no game you’ve ever experienced. (Ok, that’s not entirely fair, seeing that this isn’t the first MMORPG to hit the market. So if you’ve played a MMO, then I’m guessing you have an idea what the experience is like. But the fact is that before WoW, I only knew one person that ever played a MMO game. We’re all skeptical, right? I mean, I was there too. Thinking that it sounds like a freaky meeting ground for people into D&D. Or, thinking, why the hell would I pay $15/month to play a game once I already bought it? I’m telling you now, once you try it, you’ll understand. If you own a Tivo, you’ll know what I mean. You try to tell people how great Tivo is, and they just don’t understand. There’s this dam in their minds that words alone just can’t breach. But you give those people a Tivo, and then just try to take it away from them a year later... no way. So it is with WoW, you’ll have to trust me, but you will be SO glad that you did).

So, revolutionarily different and indescribable, but let me try anyway. When you play the game, you share the game world with hundreds and hundreds of other players (here’s a graph of the number of active players on my server alone) . These other players, for the most part, are working on their own quests, killing their own monsters, accomplishing their own goals. However, you see these people and are completely free to interact with them. Say you see a guy getting his butt kicked by 2 or 3 monsters, you can stand there and watch, you can help the poor guy out, you can laugh and taunt him as he heads to the grave, or you can just ignore him and continue on your merry way. And here’s why that’s awesome... you become part of the game experience for that person (and likewise others provide game experiences for you). Now that was just a superficial example, the game allows much deeper levels of interaction. One of my favorites is they way players take the place of NPCs of other games. For example, you’re supposed to get some item from some dungeon, but you don’t know where to go. In a game like Zelda, you head to town and start talking to every NPC you see until you find the right one that spits out the scripted text that you are looking for. In WoW, you simply ask people for directions. I don’t know how many times I’ve been running down a path, not really knowing if I’m heading the right direction and I’m relieved to see someone coming the other way. I stop and ask him “Is this the right way to town?” or “What’s up this way?” or “Do you know where this certain monster is?” Almost every time, people will respond. A real response, not scripted unchanging text, so who knows where it’ll lead. Maybe he doesn’t know. Maybe he knows and has an additional helpful tidbit of advice. Maybe he’s looking for it too and we’ll decide to group up and look for it together. The possibilities of that one chance encounter are virtually endless; something that could NEVER be scripted into a game.

And that’s just interaction with strangers... since I started playing, my ranting and raving has persuaded Billy and David to buy the game as well. We often form a group and work on quests together, and it is without question the best cooperative game I’ve ever played. We each play different classes (Warrior, Rogue, Warlock) which means we all have drastically different strengths and weaknesses. So we fight together, doing our own things but also supporting each other. Dave can make health potions, so he shares them with us. Billy has serious armor, so he draws the attention of the enemies and takes the abuse. I sneak around to gather intel and launch surprise attacks. This interplay between the play styles of the different races & classes create an incredibly rich cooperative experience.

Well, I could just keep going on and on. I really haven’t even begun to describe all of the awesome things in this game. And new stuff keeps popping up all the time, last night (even after 100+ hours of playing) I had my first dungeon experience and it was completely different than what I expected. Amazing.

So, you need to get on this game. I’m telling you that there should be no doubt in your mind, this is the ultimate game experience. I’ve got my copy of the trial disc and between Billy, Dave & I, we have three 10-day guest passes. I think my guest pass is already spoken for (Scott?), and I don’t yet know if Dave has a plan for his, but I do know that Billy has offered his up. So, let me know if you want to try this thing out (for free, even!) And even if you can’t get a free trial from me, you really should just buy the game. If the thought of paying the $15/month fee is causing you to hesitate, think of it this way: The game costs the standard $50 which includes the first month of play without any additional charges. So, say you only play the game for 5 hours a week for one month and then never play it again... that’s $2.50/hour for what I’m telling you is the best form of electronic entertainment that I’ve ever seen. Even if you play for only one month, I can almost guarantee that you’ll get your money’s worth out of the game. And after that month, you can judge whether it’s worth paying $15 for the next month. I bet it’ll be one of the easiest decisions you’ll ever make.