Based on Metacritic's score and vids I've seen, Warhammer Online seems like one of the best options around. Also has a Mac client, but probably not native like WOW.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I don't understand WoW
- Thread starter nlr
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Based on Metacritic's score and vids I've seen, Warhammer Online seems like one of the best options around. Also has a Mac client, but probably not native like WOW.
Students seem to be most effected by the phenomena. But I know someone in her late 40's who is a hard core addict. I'm sure other older addicted types are around.
Often when ppl are young, it’s natural to want to get into the social/mating game. And you are also more pressured to “have a life”...in the social context. At least Americans and other “westerners” are like this. For examples, I think many Asians are like forced to study and do good in school otherwise they are worthless.
Well not all but it’s more culturally prevalent.And then when you’re old and been through it all…maybe even have older kids…or don’t want any, you don’t need a “life” anymore. And the sparse times you do “socialize” is like a major event like a 4th of July barbeque. Then afterward you part ways and don’t even talk to each other…until Facebook was invented…and you spam eachother one liners and mostly boring pictures. Lol But the ambitious adults make a difference in the World...of Warcraft!
Well, depending on your view, playing guitar can also be a useless accomplishment. heh I mean, unless you’re like real talented and become a rock star, what are you going to do with it? You can appreciate music more, but that’s just worthless entertainment too unless you’re in the recording industry or something. You can get “semi-good” and do some gigs with a band you assembled, but that’s not even a “living” in most cases. It’s just a hobby while you have another “real job”.
I think we as a society have to move away from the stigma of video games. The reality is that it is a mass phenomenon that is taking the place of many older forms of entertainment…from TV to poker to pot. It’s here to stay and it’s going to pervade our lives a lot more in the near future. Time Warner just recently even bought Turbine (Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Asherons Call). I mean, even the slow lumbering giants have caught up with the revolution and are making big moves to grab a piece of the industry.
<offtopic>
It is not native. It is emulated so it does not have the performance of the windows client. Warhammer Online has its own virtues. The problem is that in the beginning where it had all the potential attracting the bored gamers of WoW it had some issues which caused many people to stop and go back to WoW. In Europe after previous summer the English Realms dropped to just two. So while pvp (or RvR in Warhammer terms) is great and balanced in group, there are very few players in RvE and sometimes you can't find players even in RvR. Good game, nice ideas (many of them were familiarized by Blizzard) bad implementation and support.
I hope that now that Mythic got in charge of the European version things will get better in Europe. Gaming world needs two competitive mmorpg.
</offtopic>
Depends on your definition of useless. An activity does not have to make money to be usefull. It's totally my opinion, but expertise in playing a musical instrument is a real accomplishment. I love video games and am the first to defend them but when WoW closes it doors sometime in the future, all you and I will have done is entertain ourselves. Characters, rep, gear, the world, all gone.
Maybe more of a difference if the world was not STATIC. Only your character changes.
Ok, I'm just teasing, I know what you are saying and it's true. If I had not burned out I'd still be playing, but I can't say I made much of a mark except my guild loved me if that counts for anything. If you are new, start playing now. The capped players will all be running for the new zones when the expansion comes out. As someone said, why wait all most a year, when you might not even end up liking it.
Depends on your definition of useless. An activity does not have to make money to be usefull. It's totally my opinion, but expertise in playing a musical instrument is a real accomplishment. I love video games and am the first to defend them but when WoW closes it doors sometime in the future, all you and I will have done is entertain ourselves. Characters, rep, gear, the world, all gone.
What I'm saying is that yes...it's just your opinion. By the same argument, you can say that WoW can lead you to other games after you have "accomplished" mastery of MMO's, familiarity of Nordic fantasy concepts, increased your standard of gameplay... etc. But in the end, it really only matters to yourself (like your guitar)...and perhaps a few ppl (your guild) that you play guitar or games with for the now and the future. No one else gives a hoot (which is a determining factor of "making money" incidentally... just to bring up an alternative definition of "accomplishment").
I mean, are you satisfied with learning to play guitar? That's a really old instrument and it's like mastering PnP D&D. Now if you were to say you get to a point where you now compose your own music and sing and dance, and play all sorts of electrical guitars in he latest musical compositions, then it's like saying now you have increased your level of gaming...even as, with gaming, basic guitaring is also something that ppl may leave behind and close the door on. Everyone has their own standards and what "level" they want to reach personally of course. But whether or not you think it "improves yourself" or not, is just an opinion. There are ppl who spent their whole lives without "a life" coming up with ways to cure cancer. In the end, most of them actually fail with no "entertainment outlet" to call their own from that sacrifice. But just to get to that point where you are given the opportunity to do that...is considered a major accomplishment.
You know this started out with me saying that since I started playing guitar, I play less games and I consider a real world skill as more of an accomplishment vs excelling in a video game and for some reason you want to debate the merits of guitar playing vs playing a video game. I never said it qualifies me as a better person, but it does qualify as a stand alone skill, such as learning a language, commercial art, programming, or wood working. It's not something tied to an artificial environment that evaporates with your subscription and I stated it as my opinion. As you are entitled to yours.
Yes mastery of a class in WoW will most likely help you with your next game and maybe not. Depends on the mechanics. And still it's just entertainment and socializing. You're not suffering guitar envy are you?
Huntn, ------> I am not sure why you are bringing it up to begin with. I see your logic, but it's almost like comparing incomparable things. You could downplay the idea of ever watching a film or TV, and instead do something with more brain activity - Like playing Sudoku in a cave for 10 years, or suggest you start doing some sports instead of playing guitar, as it will be better for your healthy and increase your life expectency.
Doing one thing, does not need to cancel out the other, which brings me to the idea that one would just happen to manage their time between playing games and guitar.
I don't like the notion that people try to outplay some activities and things as more or less meaningful than others. I would rather be a fool who "wastes" his life according to academic popculture beliefs, than a creative genius on the drums and a master of the arts, who has a sad life.
In the end we're all going to die, and just enjoying yourself in the moment is all that matters. That WoW will some day be gone? Yes, but that's irelevant - That's missing the point, and a flawed logic you could also use to diminish the worth of the guitar - Because one day you will be to old to play guitar, and you will suck, and all the hours learning it will be wasted.
Or will it?
Original poster:
It's funny how this off track discussion perfectly leads into the WoW discussion about the journey versus the end. People who play WoW and these kinds of games seem to be mixed, on what they prefer. For some it's all about growing, developing and discovering. For others it's about reaching their max(end game) and be all they can be at it.
I think a combination of both is at the best point.
This is why I saw to the Original poster, that waiting for the Cataclysm expansion would be a perfect time to start. Save up your money and buy the game and the expansions, and be ready for it when it comes out. Most likely in November or something!
The game is getting something that has never happened to a 5+ years old game before... A Renaisscance!
The original world is being altered, 3000 new or tuned quests are being added, level experience is being improved, with less boring repetitive quests, and more fun storylines.
Not only that, but many old players will return to play the two new races, Goblin and Worgen, and play the new race class combos. Now many races can be classes they could not before(Tauren Paladin, Blood Elf Warrior, Night Elf Mage, Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Troll Druid to name a few...).
Not only this, but the guild aspect is being improved, as now you can level up in your guild. Your guild is getting levels now, and actual abillities that help everyone in the guild.
I would suggest seeing Total Biscuit's beta videos to give you an idea of what is in store for Cataclysm and how it will change WoW in a very dramatic way: http://www.youtube.com/user/TotalHalibut#p/c/03E7FB07FE01D6F4/0/kpdLsNQJnvc
So if I were you, I would get ready for WoW when Cataclysm comes out, but in the mean time, maybe you want to play some of the other great Blizzard games that works fine on Mac? Warcraft 3 is a great RTS RPG, that has a cool story - From there you can try DOTA that inspired it or the free to play League of Legends that is a retooling of that, with a Mac client coming soon < All free 2 play.
You could also play Starcraft 2 which just came out, to rocking reviews; http://www.giantbomb.com/starcraft-ii-wings-of-liberty/61-20674/reviews/
When you create a Battle.Net account, you can talk over Starcraft 2 and WoW. It's like their own stab at a Blizzard community. I haven't tried SC2, but I can really vouch for that Warcraft 3 is a cool game, with a great story, and it's expansion is really fun. It can really set you in the mood for WoW, as you see this cool story with cool characters and a fun world.
And it's also like 5 or 10 bucks! Even though it's over 8 years old it's still among the most played games out there.
Doing one thing, does not need to cancel out the other, which brings me to the idea that one would just happen to manage their time between playing games and guitar.
I don't like the notion that people try to outplay some activities and things as more or less meaningful than others. I would rather be a fool who "wastes" his life according to academic popculture beliefs, than a creative genius on the drums and a master of the arts, who has a sad life.
In the end we're all going to die, and just enjoying yourself in the moment is all that matters. That WoW will some day be gone? Yes, but that's irelevant - That's missing the point, and a flawed logic you could also use to diminish the worth of the guitar - Because one day you will be to old to play guitar, and you will suck, and all the hours learning it will be wasted.
Or will it?
Original poster:
It's funny how this off track discussion perfectly leads into the WoW discussion about the journey versus the end. People who play WoW and these kinds of games seem to be mixed, on what they prefer. For some it's all about growing, developing and discovering. For others it's about reaching their max(end game) and be all they can be at it.
I think a combination of both is at the best point.
This is why I saw to the Original poster, that waiting for the Cataclysm expansion would be a perfect time to start. Save up your money and buy the game and the expansions, and be ready for it when it comes out. Most likely in November or something!
The game is getting something that has never happened to a 5+ years old game before... A Renaisscance!
The original world is being altered, 3000 new or tuned quests are being added, level experience is being improved, with less boring repetitive quests, and more fun storylines.
Not only that, but many old players will return to play the two new races, Goblin and Worgen, and play the new race class combos. Now many races can be classes they could not before(Tauren Paladin, Blood Elf Warrior, Night Elf Mage, Gnome Priest, Human Hunter, Troll Druid to name a few...).
Not only this, but the guild aspect is being improved, as now you can level up in your guild. Your guild is getting levels now, and actual abillities that help everyone in the guild.
I would suggest seeing Total Biscuit's beta videos to give you an idea of what is in store for Cataclysm and how it will change WoW in a very dramatic way: http://www.youtube.com/user/TotalHalibut#p/c/03E7FB07FE01D6F4/0/kpdLsNQJnvc
So if I were you, I would get ready for WoW when Cataclysm comes out, but in the mean time, maybe you want to play some of the other great Blizzard games that works fine on Mac? Warcraft 3 is a great RTS RPG, that has a cool story - From there you can try DOTA that inspired it or the free to play League of Legends that is a retooling of that, with a Mac client coming soon < All free 2 play.
You could also play Starcraft 2 which just came out, to rocking reviews; http://www.giantbomb.com/starcraft-ii-wings-of-liberty/61-20674/reviews/
When you create a Battle.Net account, you can talk over Starcraft 2 and WoW. It's like their own stab at a Blizzard community. I haven't tried SC2, but I can really vouch for that Warcraft 3 is a cool game, with a great story, and it's expansion is really fun. It can really set you in the mood for WoW, as you see this cool story with cool characters and a fun world.
And it's also like 5 or 10 bucks! Even though it's over 8 years old it's still among the most played games out there.
The last thing I want to do is start a big fight in the forums. Was my original statement that objectionable? All I've said is I found another activity I consider more worthwhile to pursue. That does not mean I've stopped playing games, that I look down upon those who do play games, that I belittled WoW, or that I even expect you to agree with me? Besides I spend most of my time in WoW related forum posts fawning over it. It qualifies as the probably the best social game I've ever played. Peace.
You know this started out with me saying that since I started playing guitar, I play less games and I consider a real world skill as more of an accomplishment vs excelling in a video game and for some reason you want to debate the merits of guitar playing vs playing a video game. I never said it qualifies me as a better person, but it does qualify as a stand alone skill, such as learning a language, commercial art, programming, or wood working. It's not something tied to an artificial environment that evaporates with your subscription and I stated it as my opinion. As you are entitled to yours.
Yes mastery of a class in WoW will most likely help you with your next game and maybe not. Depends on the mechanics. And still it's just entertainment and socializing. You're not suffering guitar envy are you?
I think that by seeing it as an "evaporating virtual world", you ARE putting it in a more trivial class of activity, if you catch my drift. No...WoW will not let you throw a fireball in real life when it's gone. THAT'S the virtual aspect of it. But you will keep the gaming experience and hand-eye coordination, and literature aspects, memories, etc. of it when it's gone.
That's what I'm saying. The problem is that there is a stigma associated with video games because originally it was some "geek/loner/hot-pocket" paradise. But it's rapidly being recognized as mainstream. Much credit to the pervassion of easy to use and affordable technology. So, you must break away from that mentality!
Although I would agree that overdoing pure entertainment at the expense of responsibilities is not a good thing, I wouldn't classify video games as some of the more "wasteful" entertainments.
Neither would I. It's great fun! For someone who claims to be out of WoW, I can't seem to stop talking about it. No, I'm not going back.
I think my attitude regarding relative merits originated one day when I got aggravated looking at my toons, all the work that I put into them, their gear, their accomplishments, their reputation and it hit me squarely on the noggin that one day they would all evaporate, although I have very fond memories that will stay with me. I can still picture myself flying across Azeroth looking down at other players battling the local beasts and I'm still impressed. I think my favorite zone is Stranglethorn Veil or Ungoro Crater, but I digress.
My intent is not to pick on virtual skills nor to demean the experience. I was happily hooked for a long time. Another analogy might be spending 1000 hours to learn to play guitar and then one day all the guitars disappear! My point was that a real world skill like learning a language is something that won't evaporate on you unless you chose to let it go. This seems to be the basis of my categorization of WoW (any MMO) as just entertainment/socializing. But it is not something that I would argue is a reason to avoid the game, especially the best MMORPG made (so far). Despite it's flaws, it's an incredible world to explore. I've been into escapism my whole life. First it was books, movies, then... video games.
Right now I'm not sure if I should but I'm getting all hopeful about Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I'm gonna give it a shot. WoW is the benchmark I'll be comparing it with.
And back to the original topic of this thread (I think
) for those people who describe WoW as a repetitive grind. I can see that. It's not suited to everyone.
No, I'm not going back.
The best thing about WoW is that your characters are still on the Blizzard servers and you can pick up where you left off years after you stopped playing the game. Many people pick it up for a few months during the winter and then stop playing the rest of the year. I'm still holding out hope that Huntn will return to WoW for a bit when Cata comes out
.
Biggest thing to consider.
Make SURE the server you are on has a good pingtime. If you join a server in a different part of the world the players will be asleep when you're awake.
And the ping is very important. I learned that the hard way.
One server I was on had such a long pingtime I was buffing when they were killing.
Make SURE the server you are on has a good pingtime. If you join a server in a different part of the world the players will be asleep when you're awake.
And the ping is very important. I learned that the hard way.
One server I was on had such a long pingtime I was buffing when they were killing.
Not a quick way per se. since wow servers usually don't allow pings. It slows down the servers. But there are a bunch of add-ons that do it.
http://www.squidoo.com/wow-world-of-warcraft
Here's the ping test :
http://www.smoothping.com/pingtest
The best thing about WoW is that your characters are still on the Blizzard servers and you can pick up where you left off years after you stopped playing the game. Many people pick it up for a few months during the winter and then stop playing the rest of the year. I'm still holding out hope that Huntn will return to WoW for a bit when Cata comes out
I appreciate the kind word. It's virtually assured I'll be floating around somewhere in the virtual world.
Are you a current WoW player or off and on?Sorry in advance for veering off topic. For SW:TOR one thing I've done is join a large perpetual general gaming guild in advance called OldTimersGuild with the hope that as time goes by I'll be able to maintain more continuity for online friends than I have in the past. I'm curious does such a general purpose gaming guild exists for Mac Gamers?
While playing WoW, you can just mouse over the computer icon in the bar at the bottom of your screen and it'll show your ping time. I play on a server in my timezone and it's usually under 80ms.
Yea, I'm guessing if you just choose one in your time zone you should be fine. That's what I'll do.
What's considered a good ping by the way? Anything under 100?