WoW Servers

[Slowtrain]

Can I play 2 or three hours a week and still get something out of the game? Or does it require a serious time commitment to get anywhere?

 

If you read the EULA, you will notice "your eternal soul" in fine print at the bottom. The expansion packs may also require your firstborn child and a sacrificial virgin.

 

 

 

I'm actually a little worried about that...

[Moatilliatta]

Don't listen to the people who exclaim the superiour maturity of people playing on their sever or their server-type or their class, it's all bull****.

 

I could say that a gnome warlock is the definite way to go, but I'd be lying. I did immensily enjoy my own though.

 

I could say that PVP servers are better than "carebear" PVE servers inhabited by people who read gardening magazines, but I'd be lying. I can say that I wouldn't ever play on anything else than a PVP server precisely because of the extra dimension that it brings to the game.

 

I can also tell you that you don't have to enjoy the endgame to enjoy the game. The endgame is where you'll need to invest a lot of time and you don't have to play it, I haven't and won't ever.

[Slowtrain]

Don't listen to the people who exclaim the superiour maturity of people playing on their sever or their server-type or their class, it's all I can also tell you that you don't have to enjoy the endgame to enjoy the game. The endgame is where you'll need to invest a lot of time and you don't have to play it, I haven't and won't ever.

 

 

That's cool. I'm really looking to approach at as a casual gamer. I know that's a horrible thing to say...

[Moatilliatta]

That's the exactly right thing to tell me, as it means you probably won't be bothering with the endgame raiding that I find mindnumbingly dull and stupid.

 

You'll need some kind of hook to properly appreciate the game, this is where the social guild part comes in for most people. Or I assume that as I never got much into that part. The following is going to sound cracy and masochistic, but for me that hook was the uncertainty of being around the other faction that could attack me at any moment and the crazy non-verbal interactions that it lead to.

[Darth Jebus]

Are there any particualrly strong classes? Any weak ones? ANyones to avoid?

 

It seems like priests are in high demand generally, though the class is not that powerful individually.

 

Keeping in mind I haven't played since September and don't even own WotLK, my own opinions may be a bit outdated. But the pecking order used to be (with talent spec type):

 

Affliction Warlocks

Restoration Druids

Rogues (Shadowstep used to own in absurd fashion)

Discipline Priests

Arms Warriors

Hunters

Mages

Restoration Shaman

Retribution Paladin

 

The above list is completely based on how well the spec/class performed in the Arenas. This was the primary reason I actually quit the game. Class balance became entirely based on the Arenas. Nothing else mattered. WoW became an e-sport, and the devs made no bones about moving the game in that direction. I myself am not a fan of arenas and never played in any of the seasons. I preferred the Battlegrounds and what little open world PvP existed. If you had an opinion, you were often times judged by how high your arena rating was. Not just your gear.

 

Don't let me try to talk you out of at least giving the game a try and seeing for yourself if you like it or not. After all, I have a few friends that continue to play the game and a number of co-workers that still play it and enjoy it immensely. In fact, from what I hear, if you are a casual gamer, WotLK is definitely the expansion for you. Also, in terms of powerful classes, it now appears the new Death Knights are the alpha class along with ret pallies and they are everywhere. (Which is another reason I quit playing the game - I always thought DKs should have been an extension of an existing class because it was billed as a Hero Class. I feared with DKs open to everyone, the game would become overwhelmed with them. Like how Jedi ruined SWG. And guess what's happening in WoW right now....)

 

Anyway, it all depends on what you want to do in the game and what your playstyle is. If you like tanking, Protection Paladins, Protection Warriors, Feral Druids and whatever the tanking spec for Death Knights is, is the way to go. For healing, Holy Paladins, Holy Priests, Resto Druids and Resto Shaman. I don't know if DKs have a healing tree.

 

For straight DPS, hunters, mages, warlocks, and rogues.

 

Each class can spec in a number of different ways to support your playstyle, though. And while you are leveling, it's best to spec in the talent tree that will increase your damage output to speed up the XP gain. I also hear they may be allowing dual specs at level 80 in an upcoming patch or something.

 

From my own experince, I played a druid to 60 over three years ago (when the class was gimped), a paladin to 70, a priest to 70, and a mage to 65. I have a thing for hybrids.

 

Of those classes, the paladin was probably my favorite. At high levels, they are pretty badass.

[Moatilliatta]

I would definately recommend chossing a class from what seems fun rather than which one is supposedly stronger/more balanced/has a larger ****.

 

Blizzard games aren't unbalanced to the point of being ruined unless you're pedantic.

 

I choose a warlock because they could trap souls in gems and control demons i.e. they are badass. I choose engineering as a profession because the things I could create, while not necessarily spectacularly powerfull, contributed to me having loads of fun.

[Hurlshort]

I agree with Moatilliatta, just choose what you think is fun. It will greatly increase the chances of you getting all annoyed by the treadmill effect of MMO's.

 

I played WoW for two years and never got anywhere near raids or battlegrounds. It didn't appeal to me, and there was plenty else to do.

[Aristes]

Well, Moat started with a rant about folks opinions about servers and whatnot. I guess that references the earlier conversation, but when someone asks a question that lends itself to a wide variety of answers, a wide variety of answers is what you'll get. I mean, I didn't take it personally since his comments didn't seem aimed at me, but it didn't strike me as illegitimate for someone to say that he thought that Alliance players were more immature any more than I thought the heated but civil response defending alliance players was out of line. We're telling folks about our experience. ...and since the question explicitly asked what server Crashgirl should join, answers based on servers folks had played was... well... what the hell else would people cite? The servers they hadn't used?

 

The PvP versus PvE thing is a different story. PvP adds a dimension to WoW, but PvP in WoW has always struck me as lackluster anyhow. That's why so many folks in these threads have pointed serious Pvp players to W:AR and other PvP centered MMORPGs. I must not be the only one who feels this way, although I don't know that it really matters what I think of WoW's PvP. Like I said earlier, I'm just giving my opinion based on my experiences. Sure, I try to back up my observations, but I don't present them as gospel and I don't expect anyone to take them as such. I will say that most folks should start on a PvE server and then, when they have had a chance to learn how to play, they can switch to a PvP server with the understanding that level 80s will often rampage through a level 17-22 town and kill everything in sight. Hey, it's a MMORPG. Someone, somewhere, will grief you. If you can't accept that, you probably shouldn't even play multiplayer FPSes. Hell, you find player killers in Left4Dead for crying out loud.

 

On the other hand, I agree with Moat wholeheartedly in regards to his central point, which is to find the place you want to inhabit and have some fun there. ...And the game is big and a lot of folks find that they start playing out of curiosity, enjoy the game for one reason, and then find other reasons to enjoy the game later. I have done a lot of PvP over time, just not at the same times. I've got a rogue named Perikles on a PvP server, and the reason I chose the PvP server was because I thought it would be interesting and add that extra dimension Moat cites. I chose a rogue because I figured it would be nice to be able to avoid conflict when it was not to my advantage. I don't play the character any more largely because I don't play with anyone outside my guild nowadays, but I could always go back and I'm sure I would enjoy it. The point is, you never know where your interests will take you. I think approaching the game as a casual gamer makes a lot of sense.

 

Like a lot of folks here on this message board, I've played a lot of different races and classes. I think I've played every race and every class up to at least level 20. I think that the horde races used to have an advantage on their racial abilities, although I'm not sure that's the case with some of the major changes in WotLK. I think the alliance has a numbers advantage. That was generally true when I last saw anything I judged as a reliable source for Alliance/Horde populations. It is still specifically true for Gilneas where the horde side is like a ghost town half the time and the alliance has had a rather big numerical advantage. Once again, I don't think that's a reason to choose Gilneas, but Crashgirl asked a wide open question about the narrow topic of servers.

 

As Moat said, choose the race/class you want! Huzzah! However, you asked a question, CG. You solicited advice. Weird that folks would actually answer with advice. Yes! You should play the race/class you like. However, not all race/class combos are equal in terms of the game. The real question is, what do you want? Calax' post above is a pretty good indication of the classes, as is Darth's. The thing is, you might not really understand exactly what your role will be. What I would suggest, casual gamer style, is read the descriptions in game. Click on the gnome race. Select warlock. Read what the game tells you. Play for a while. I'm almost certain that, unless you 'always play class x,' you will end up making at least a few characters and the one you like best at level 10 might not be the one you like best at level 40. The dynamic changes a lot as you advance in levels. I thought my protection warrior was dreadfully dull and boring at level 40. At level 80? I love him. My mage is too squishy and I thought she was a pain. Get a new spell (iceblock) and Blizz changes the effects and cooldown on a spell (invisibility) and I love how I can let fly and still live if my threat goes a little too high.

 

So, by all means play what sounds best, but you asked a question and folks are answering. Surprise! They're answering based on personal experience!

 

EDIT:

The above list is completely based on how well the spec/class performed in the Arenas. This was the primary reason I actually quit the game. Class balance became entirely based on the Arenas. Nothing else mattered. WoW became an e-sport, and the devs made no bones about moving the game in that direction. I myself am not a fan of arenas and never played in any of the seasons. I preferred the Battlegrounds and what little open world PvP existed. If you had an opinion, you were often times judged by how high your arena rating was. Not just your gear.

 

I think WotLK went a long way back to PvE. So much so that a lot of folks complain about it. I've done some arenas, but I rather don't enjoy them. That means, even winning, I hate arenas. I want to go and do questing, so time spent standing around the city is not fun for me. I don't have anything against arena, per se, and I think good arena players are probably the best in the game altogether, but WotLK has really shifted back to good ol' PvE fun. At least from my perspective.

Edited February 14, 2009 by Aristes

[Maria Caliban]

Are there any particualrly strong classes? Any weak ones? ANyones to avoid?

 

It seems like priests are in high demand generally, though the class is not that powerful individually.

 

Shadows priests aren't that hard to level.

 

You might want to try a druid. Their bear form plays like a warrior, their cat form like a rogue, and their regular form like a spell caster.

 

But the best thing to do is just pick a class, level it to 10 or 30, pick another class and level it to 10 or 30, and so on. Once you lplay around with a few classes, then settle down.

 

huntards

 

 

And they call retribution palidins retardidins. At least the 15 year old who think [Word] + Retard = Lulz.

 

And if you play a warlock, people will complain about your fear effects. And if you play a rogue, people will complain about your stun.

 

Every class has three talent trees, and one of them is usually the best for leveling. Also, someone listed talent trees/classes that dominated the Arena. PvP is cool, but most of your gameplay will be PvE.

 

That's cool. I'm really looking to approach at as a casual gamer. I know that's a horrible thing to say...

 

The funny thing is that when World of Warcraft came out, the intent was to make it an MMO for the casual gamer.

Edited February 14, 2009 by Maria Caliban

[Hurlshort]

A good couple questions to ask also is:

 

Do you like to blow stuff up?

 

Do you like to sneak past stuff?

 

Do you like to survive battles for long periods of time?

 

Figure out what you like best, and you'll be able to figure out a class.

[Maedhros]

I would definately recommend chossing a class from what seems fun rather than which one is supposedly stronger/more balanced/has a larger ****.

 

Agreed. Also, by the time you'd leveled that supposedly strong class up to 80, it probably wouldn't be among the "strong" classes anymore. My own class, warlock, was one of the best classes in TBC, but in WotLK we've been one of the weakest classes in pvp, it's all about the burst damage now. In TBC I was usually around 1700-1800 rating, now I can't even get over 1500..

Edited February 14, 2009 by Thingolfin

[Calax]

I would definately recommend chossing a class from what seems fun rather than which one is supposedly stronger/more balanced/has a larger ****.

 

Agreed. Also, by the time you'd leveled that supposedly strong class up to 80, it probably wouldn't be among the "strong" classes anymore. My own class, warlock, was one of the best classes in TBC, but in WotLK we've been one of the weakest classes in pvp, it's all about the burst damage now. In TBC I was usually around 1700-1800 rating, now I can't even get over 1500..

I don't know about PVP but in PVE the focus has been shifted from damage over time to massive amounts of damage in a short period. They're trying more technical fights in the raids and dungeons. The mana changes they're putting in (have put in?) are designed because they were finding that in dungeons the mana for healers was becoming a non issue, and thus the only way they could start putting pressure on healers was to force them to heal a LOT more damage (meaning the bosses had to hit like a truck, train, and airplane, all at the same time in the same spot). Naxx itself is easier because they don't force gear checks as much as they force the raid to not be asleep. In Kara/gruul/Mags lair usually the biggest thing preventing you from continuing on in the instance was that your raid's overall gear level wasn't high enough, Naxx you could run in there with half lvl 70 gear and kick the crap out of the entire thing if you knew what you were doing.

 

They're constantly retooling classes, and often the OP character from yesterday will be the underdog the next day. In the beginning of BC Arms warriors were the kings of the arenas with Holy paladins because Mortal Strike + heals + Plate= murder. Then we got nerfed (by we I mean warriors). As to viable tanks they only really made protection paladins worth it near the end of BC, prior to that they didn't have enough Umph to get through half the fights. Now Warriors and Paladins seem to be getting punished for having shields, and lower life pools to draw on. The hardest fight in the game (Sartharion with three drakes up) can only really be tanked by a druid or DK because they have a very high base health to start with, and their overall mitigation (I mean complete mitigation, where the hit doesn't touch them) is higher than a warrior or paladins.

[Darth Jebus]

I think WotLK went a long way back to PvE. So much so that a lot of folks complain about it. I've done some arenas, but I rather don't enjoy them. That means, even winning, I hate arenas. I want to go and do questing, so time spent standing around the city is not fun for me. I don't have anything against arena, per se, and I think good arena players are probably the best in the game altogether, but WotLK has really shifted back to good ol' PvE fun. At least from my perspective.

 

I've actually considered giving WoW another shot because of this, and how I keep hearig that casual gamers are having a blast playing it. Well, that and Jeff Kaplan, the lead designer, is gone now. I really didn't like the direction he took the game in. With a new guy or gal in his spot, maybe WoW will return to its roots of being a PvE game first, with PvP mini-games acting as both a different aspect for players to explore and experience and as an alternative form of end-game.

 

Get away from this e-sport crap.

[Calax]

I think WotLK went a long way back to PvE. So much so that a lot of folks complain about it. I've done some arenas, but I rather don't enjoy them. That means, even winning, I hate arenas. I want to go and do questing, so time spent standing around the city is not fun for me. I don't have anything against arena, per se, and I think good arena players are probably the best in the game altogether, but WotLK has really shifted back to good ol' PvE fun. At least from my perspective.

 

I've actually considered giving WoW another shot because of this, and how I keep hearig that casual gamers are having a blast playing it. Well, that and Jeff Kaplan, the lead designer, is gone now. I really didn't like the direction he took the game in. With a new guy or gal in his spot, maybe WoW will return to its roots of being a PvE game first, with PvP mini-games acting as both a different aspect for players to explore and experience and as an alternative form of end-game.

 

Get away from this e-sport crap.

They tried something different in the new expansion. They created a story line that's got three acts to it, Act one starts when you get there and ends in the only ingame cinematic. Act two starts right after and goes beyond the end of the current content. Wrathgate and the Battle for the Undercity have got to be the funnest parts of leveling thus far.

[Aristes]

He actually got me with that one. Bastard. Teaches me not to read the names on the links.

[Aristes]

In the hopes that the bot post and mine are deleted, I'm posting here. In the event they are, the mods may feel free to edit this part out of my current post as well.

 

Anyhow, I like the way they've included PvP into WotLK. It really has the fun of PvP without the old structure. ...and I think Calax is right about the fun of doing the Wrathgate story line. You've hit it dead on, Darth:

 

"...maybe WoW will return to its roots of being a PvE game first, with PvP mini-games acting as both a different aspect for players to explore and experience and as an alternative form of end-game.

 

Get away from this e-sport crap."

[Mamoulian War]

I think WotLK went a long way back to PvE. So much so that a lot of folks complain about it. I've done some arenas, but I rather don't enjoy them. That means, even winning, I hate arenas. I want to go and do questing, so time spent standing around the city is not fun for me. I don't have anything against arena, per se, and I think good arena players are probably the best in the game altogether, but WotLK has really shifted back to good ol' PvE fun. At least from my perspective.

 

I've actually considered giving WoW another shot because of this, and how I keep hearig that casual gamers are having a blast playing it. Well, that and Jeff Kaplan, the lead designer, is gone now. I really didn't like the direction he took the game in. With a new guy or gal in his spot, maybe WoW will return to its roots of being a PvE game first, with PvP mini-games acting as both a different aspect for players to explore and experience and as an alternative form of end-game.

 

Get away from this e-sport crap.

 

leveling till lvl 80 is awesome, also all the lore about the quests, but raiding is a joke... after we put our feet first time into 25 manned content we cleared it all in 3 raid resets, and we are guild who killed Kil'Jaeden two weeks before release of Wrath of the Lich King...

[Calax]

I think WotLK went a long way back to PvE. So much so that a lot of folks complain about it. I've done some arenas, but I rather don't enjoy them. That means, even winning, I hate arenas. I want to go and do questing, so time spent standing around the city is not fun for me. I don't have anything against arena, per se, and I think good arena players are probably the best in the game altogether, but WotLK has really shifted back to good ol' PvE fun. At least from my perspective.

 

I've actually considered giving WoW another shot because of this, and how I keep hearig that casual gamers are having a blast playing it. Well, that and Jeff Kaplan, the lead designer, is gone now. I really didn't like the direction he took the game in. With a new guy or gal in his spot, maybe WoW will return to its roots of being a PvE game first, with PvP mini-games acting as both a different aspect for players to explore and experience and as an alternative form of end-game.

 

Get away from this e-sport crap.

 

leveling till lvl 80 is awesome, also all the lore about the quests, but raiding is a joke... after we put our feet first time into 25 manned content we cleared it all in 3 raid resets, and we are guild who killed Kil'Jaeden two weeks before release of Wrath of the Lich King...

Hell my old guild (who's officers are probably having to deal with a lot of infighting due to a couple of the officers being to worried about their raid spots than they are about the guild itself) killed Illidan 2 weeks before Wrath and they've cleared 25man naxx.

[Mamoulian War]

Now i just got info that my previous guild stopped to raid, because like 75% of them are bored with how easy the raid content is and just quit the game Never killed anything in Sunwell Plateu before WotLK... they dont have enough people to make 10manned raids now

[Calax]

Now i just got info that my previous guild stopped to raid, because like 75% of them are bored with how easy the raid content is and just quit the game Never killed anything in Sunwell Plateu before WotLK... they dont have enough people to make 10manned raids now

Have they tried Sartharion with drakes up? Sarth with 3 drakes up is harder (and this is in the words of the top guilds in the WORLD) than Mu'ru from Sunwell Plateau.

[Mamoulian War]

Now i just got info that my previous guild stopped to raid, because like 75% of them are bored with how easy the raid content is and just quit the game Never killed anything in Sunwell Plateu before WotLK... they dont have enough people to make 10manned raids now

Have they tried Sartharion with drakes up? Sarth with 3 drakes up is harder (and this is in the words of the top guilds in the WORLD) than Mu'ru from Sunwell Plateau.

 

From the words i heard, they got to bored from the Naxxramas, that most of the people quit before they was able to start on 3 drakes. My current guild has killed them and they start to have problem with attendace aswell not even "Immortal" Achievemet is big enough motivation

 

EDIT: If our guild was able to kill them, there is seriously something wrong with WotLK raid difficulty...

Edited February 16, 2009 by Mamoulian War

[Gfted1]

Wrathgate and the Battle for the Undercity have got to be the funnest parts of leveling thus far.

 

 

Those two were superb. Hell, I still fly down every once and a while to rewatch the cutscene at Wrathgate. I wish there was a was to redo the Battle for Undercity.

 

My guild raids Naxx daily but Ive never been. Just cant seem to summon the motivation to go to the guild website and sign up so Ill pick up a PuG one of these days.

 

What Im dying to do it the one in the Wintergrasp relic room. Which one is that?

[Mamoulian War]

Archavon

[Gfted1]

Thats what I thought. How is that as an instance? It cant be too hard because prior to every WG battle the trade chat is lit up with PuG calls.

[Calax]

Thats what I thought. How is that as an instance? It cant be too hard because prior to every WG battle the trade chat is lit up with PuG calls.

It's really simple, everyone needs to have above 1600 dps (I think it might be lower than that) on 25 man and all dps has to do is not move when it's raining rock spikes on them specifically (DBM/Bigwigs will tell you when that's happeneing) and stay out of the "fart clouds". Tanking is a little more complicated in that the main tank will get picked up and the OT has to taunt fast.

 

That's really it.