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WoW Street Date Announced

Posted by Zonk on from the azeroth-here-i-come dept.

OneMadOgre writes "Ready or not, here it comes. Blizzard has announced that the World of Warcraft will be released to NA/AU/NZ on November 23, 2004."

91 comments

  1. WoW by weizur · · Score: 3, Funny

    Whoah I better give my 2 week notice and start stockpiling bawls!

    1. Re:WoW by space_jake · · Score: 0

      God has a use for me? I thought he gave us free will... Excuse while I go back to shooting CT's in CS Source.

  2. Excellent by jayhawk88 · · Score: 2, Funny

    That means I get Nov 26 to play this game all day. Thank you Blizzard!

  3. Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Razman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looks like Open beta is going to be fairly short, as it is still be be announced according to the world of warcraft website.

    1. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by glowimperial · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yeah, but it looks lke folks might get to keep their open beta characters.

    2. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Razman · · Score: 1

      Good to know.

      I was almost thinking of not signing up.

    3. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Issue9mm · · Score: 3, Informative

      The final stress test beta has been going on a couple days, and it's supposed to be a week-long, followed immediately by open beta, at which point the stress beta accounts will be migrated over.

      -9mm-

    4. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by antdude · · Score: 1

      Heh, Blizzard did that for Diablo 2 beta, test, or something. I think it ended before the day of the release.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    5. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by cowscows · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, this open beta isn't really a beta in that it's not meant to test anything. It's really like a demo. A few weeks to get us hooked so we'll all go buy it when it hits the shelves. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

      --

      One time I threw a brick at a duck.

    6. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by satoshi1 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yea, too many MMORPGs don't let you try the game out before you buy it. They give you a free month or so, yes, but there's no free demo version of the game. In allowing people to play this game in beta a week or so before release, Blizzard will have a lot more people lined up to buy the game upon release, which is always good.

    7. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Timber_Z · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I was one of the Open Beta Testers for Diablo 2,

      Man that was a blast.

      It was heavily restricted on levels, characters weapons and such, so the super rare stuff then was the stuff "No one " would bother with now.

      Also, no one had any clue to what worked and what didn't, so you couldn't go on the internet and find the ultimate build. At least not for several days. And even then there was tons of experminting you could do.

      I started playing diablo 2 again couple weeks ago, and man, totally different experience. Everyone has all the best combo's figured out.
      Heck even the game algorithons have all been published.

      No varity in the game ether, every one just rushes to get to baal, then spends endless hours killing his minons. Only thing that changes is trying out different ways to kill them. (Course almost every possible way has been tried.)

      Still I was reading the journels of one guy who went through the whole game without killing anything, that wasn't required to complete a quest.

      Now thats cool.

      More then got my money out of the game, but after awhile it gets (EXTREMALY) repetative.

      Hopefully WoW will keep this from happening.

      Heck if they can just put and end to dupes, that would well worth it right there.

    8. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Rallion · · Score: 2, Informative

      Open Beta starts November 8th. The servers are up -- they're the same ones people are playing on now in the final stress test -- they just have to start allowing new signups.

    9. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by kiddygrinder · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Offtopic, but i'd just like to point out that my sig also has a duck in it.

      --
      This is a joke. I am joking. Joke joke joke.
    10. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Squozen · · Score: 1

      Be that as it may, I've filed about 5 minor bugs for the game in the last couple of days.

    11. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Kris_J · · Score: 2, Informative

      This could backfire. I've been playing it since my download finished last night and at the moment I've found nothing that makes me want to go out and buy it. In fact, I've started two characters now that have both stalled at roughly the same place. While most of my friends have pre-ordered, I'm *currently* (though this may change) recommending against purchasing the game.

    12. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by cowscows · · Score: 1

      woo! you can be my new best friend.

      --

      One time I threw a brick at a duck.

    13. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Teh+Suq · · Score: 1

      Actually it is not likely that you will get to keep your open beta characters. Blizzard has said time and again during the beta testing process that they would never announce a character wipe until it was going to happen because it causes the testers to quit testing. They are just letting people think they might get to keep their characters in order to get some good solid stress testing in. I am confident they will start retail with a clean slate.

    14. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by beders · · Score: 1

      Be nice if they let them keep their name and some sort of special "useless" artifact to show for the beta

      --
      Brocklesby Park Cricket Club
    15. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Strudleman · · Score: 1

      You are most definately not keeping your closed/open beta characters. But the Collectors Edition version of WoW will contain a special useless item that no one else gets.

      --
      Do it doug.
    16. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by Strudleman · · Score: 1

      That *stall* is designed on purpose. It's Blizzards way of encouraging you to leave your current area and go exploring. If you give me your race and lvl, I'm sure I can give you a few places to go which would make your WoW experience much more enjoyable.

      --
      Do it doug.
    17. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by NaugaHunter · · Score: 1

      Where have you stalled? What side are you on? I've been playing in Closed Beta since March, and I didn't start 'stalling' until the late 20's, but back then they simply hadn't done the zones I needed to quest in yet. Quests are pretty steady, though sometimes you have to go to entirely new areas to get more that are your level if you rush through some with higher level players.

      Frankly, one night of playing an MMORPG is not enough time to judge anything, let alone make recommendations. Why not let them play and judge for themselves? Maybe it's just not your kind of game if you can't get past one night; it's meant to last months if not years of playtime after all.

      --
      R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
    18. Re:Open Beta is going to be awefully short then! by NaugaHunter · · Score: 1

      Actually, it will test two areas. 1) Whether their servers are ready, since conceivably the Open Beta will be larger then the Stress Test. 2) It let's in a LOT more system configurations who will let them know if there are any glitches they hadn't caught yet.

      Also, come to think of it, it will provide a test for their GM's/support staff; no one is paying so they have a little leeway, but it will help them judge what to expect when people get in who haven't been playing for months on end, or even following the boards to know the answers to 'simple' questions.

      --
      R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
  4. First Patch by Iscariot_ · · Score: 3, Funny

    And the first update will be ready for download on... November 23rd!

    --

    Go here for teh [sic] funny.
    1. Re:First Patch by llefler · · Score: 1

      Patches for an online game aren't that big of a deal. I'm generally against game companies doing the whole release and patch thing (one of the reasons I've never been in favor of Xbox having a HD). But for online games you have to connect to their server to play anyway. So if the patch system is good, I don't have a problem with (even encourage) regular patches. Asheron's Call has monthly patches with new content, and although their patch system isn't very good, it has kept the game from getting old. It's nice to know that the monthly fee is contributing to the evolution of the game.

      --
      It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. -- Harry Truman
    2. Re:First Patch by NaugaHunter · · Score: 1

      This is almost certainly true. The last download breaks the install file into four CD-friendly chunks, and is almost certainly what's been sent off to be burned. We already know there are a couple of features to be patched in in the upcoming week or so, but in theory it will be a 'small' patch. I think I read that some of the features exist in the installation, but aren't enabled and would just need final values when ready. (e.g. For the missing talents, they already know what they will look like and be called and the animation files are in, it's just a matter of setting the values representing Cool Down time, Cast Time, Level, Damage, etc. they decide on from internal testing.)

      --
      R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
  5. $15/month? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Plus $50 for the game to start with... I can't play this game enough to justify the cost. Looks like they are taking their cues from the cable companies.

    1. Re:$15/month? by glowimperial · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you don't like their payment plan for the level of service you want, you don't have to buy their product. Most hard core MMO players probably spend less than folks who play many different games. In my house we have Gamefly for all of our console games, and we rarely buy PC games, since we mostly play a single MMO. We probably spend less on games than we did before we played MMOs.

    2. Re:$15/month? by Lord+Graga · · Score: 1

      $15 a month is only a lot to you americans in these days. *walks off to spend cash on teh intarweb with his wicked, but good money.*

    3. Re:$15/month? by I_Love_Pocky! · · Score: 1

      Most hard core MMO players probably spend less than folks who play many different games.

      And they probably spend more on games than people who don't play games. What is your point? You don't have to justify the cost to anyone. If you enjoy it, it is worth it to you. I occasionally like to drop $100-$150 on a nice meal. Who cares if other people pay less for something they may like more?

      In response to the parent of the parent poster. If Blizzard thinks they can get that price, then they should charge that price. The first poster obviously wants to play the game or they wouldn't be complaining about the price.

      For the record, I doubt I would ever enjoy any game enough to pay a subscription to play it. I won't be buying this one.

    4. Re:$15/month? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The sticker price for the retail CD package includes a free month of play.

    5. Re:$15/month? by Rallion · · Score: 4, Informative

      Plus $50 for the game to start with... I can't play this game enough to justify the cost. Looks like they are taking their cues from the cable companies.

      Actually, they're taking cues from their players, and from other similar games.

      If everybody played WoW, well, it wouldn't work -- the servers couldn't function at release-quality if they did. The goal isn't to get as many people as possible, it's to make the most money possible.

    6. Re:$15/month? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The first poster obviously wants to play the game or they wouldn't be complaining about the price.

      I am a bit curious, but I was mearly lamenting the trend. I haven't played a subscription based game since Everquest because I don't like trying to cram my enjoyment into a confined period of time, nor pay for something I'm not using. It's more about the principal and being a responsible consumer. I don't pay $10 for 50 cents worth of popcorn and soda at the movies, either...

    7. Re:$15/month? by NaugaHunter · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The $50 upfront pays for the past ~4 years of development, printing, boxes, advertising, etc.

      The $15/month goes towards active storage, backups, GM/support, internet fees, and, most importantly, active development and fixes.

      Here comes the math: Over one year, WoW would cost $50 + $15x12 or $230, which would break down to just over $20 a month if you only play one year. How much do you spend on movie/game rentals, concerts, books, or whatever entertainment you do in a month? Hell, one nice dinner with drinks could cost 20 bucks. If you end up playing just 5 hours a week, you're active entertainment cost is $1/hour. Given that a movie cost $7-$10 for ~2 hours, and you aren't in charge, it works out pretty well.

      Sorry for that math rant, but it's kind of pointless to say 'can't justify the cost' if you don't actually do the math.

      --
      R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
  6. Re:This kind of attitude really upsets me by escher · · Score: 0, Troll

    Crap, I fed a troll.

    My apologies! Really! No, not the 2x4! Ow ow ow ow!

  7. Re:This kind of attitude really upsets me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I like to think I'm a little more complex than that.

    - God

  8. Re:This kind of attitude really upsets me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a larger cock than you.

    - Satan

  9. Yay... by Cutriss · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And hopefully that means that the number of gilsellers in FFXI will go down on November 24th!

    --
    "Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
    1. Re:Yay... by Moo+Moo+Cow+of+Death · · Score: 1

      Please don't bring up the subject of ebay sales, it's not a topic you want to start because it NEVER ends... P.S. There's nothing wrong with selling Gil :P

    2. Re:Yay... by _xeno_ · · Score: 1

      Hah! Hahahahaha!

      Oh, that gave me a good laugh. It'd be nice, wouldn't it?

      What would be nicer is if Square actually gave two shits about their customers and actually did something about it, considering it violates the terms of service and all. Then again, they don't do anything about people MPKing or scamming, so why should they do anything about this?

      But if you dare to go AFK while fishing...

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  10. Oh hell! Now I have to decide by shaka999 · · Score: 1

    All my friends are playing EQ2 but I like the looks of WoW. Decisions ... decisions...

    --
    One should not theorize before one has data. -Sherlock Holmes-
  11. Re:This kind of attitude really upsets me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All you Christians will be first up against the wall after you die.

    -Zeus

  12. Less for more by orthancstone · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you buy more months of play at a time, it costs less per month.

    It is still a lot though. But I'll surely pay up without too much complaint ;).

  13. Easy Decision by Wheaty18 · · Score: 1

    I've played both the EQ2 Beta (for about 1.5 months) and the WoW Beta (for about 4 months). EQ2 is just another MMORPG money maker from SOE that has been rushed through the doors around 6 months too early to "beat" WoW to the market.

    WoW has felt quite polished for a month or two now.

  14. Introduction Cutscene! by antdude · · Score: 4, Informative

    WOW!

    Blue's News has links for the awesome introduction cutscene (DivX from World of Warcraft game. Also, FileShack (registration required; free or subscription required) has it. It is about 46.5 MB; AVI; 2 minutes and 49 seconds long).

    Apple has this introduction cutscene in QuickTime format (non-saveable) as well.

    The introduction was almost like watching The Lords of the Rings movies. Amazing! I can't wait for the free open beta! :)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    1. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by Swanktastic · · Score: 0, Troll

      The introduction was almost like watching The Lords of the Rings movies. Amazing!

      This is because it's a blatant rip-off of the Lord of the Rings! I mean dwarves? Elves? Jeez, gimme a break...

    2. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by UWC · · Score: 5, Funny

      I mean dwarves? Elves? Jeez, gimme a break...

      I find it immensely amusing that this comment was moderated "Troll."

      --
      Honor Among Slackers. A veri
    3. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by Rallion · · Score: 1

      Yeah, when I first ran the game (it's in the Beta), after seeing that cutscene, I just sat there for a while, not moving. Which was nice, the menu music is also fantastic.

    4. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by The-Bus · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, the Apple movie is saveable. Just right clicky link here.

      --

      Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

    5. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by YOU+LIKEWISE+FAIL+IT · · Score: 1

      Right... click?

      I keed, I keeeed...

      --
      One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
    6. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by Halloran · · Score: 1

      And there isn't a single gnome to be seen in the intro movie. Cooincidence? Or perhaps he was punted!

    7. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      You would have been able to save it if you had Quicktime Pro. But downloading it is still easy enough if you view the source. You can typically find it easier by doing a search for ".mov". In this case, the link is http://images.apple.com/movies/us/games/worldofwar craft/world_of_warcraft_m480.mov

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    8. Re:Introduction Cutscene! by tntguy · · Score: 1
      That's control-click, you...you...you insensitive clod!

      /loves his G5 with its 4-button mouse

  15. Re:Oh hell! Now I have to decide by fanboy19 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here is some data for you. The WoW games are going to come with region codes built in. Meaning, if you buy a North American version of the game you can only play against or with people in North America. Many gamers are protesting WoW because of this. The reasoning behind the protests is that a majority of clans out there are made up of gamers from all around the world. Putting a region code in a game that restricts gameplay with other regions would make it so these clans can't play together. All in all, a pretty shotty move by Blizzard if you ask me.

  16. November 23rd! by Aggrazel · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're releasing it on the 41st annaversary of Doctor Who!? HA! They will fail utterly, everyone is going to be watching hours of Doctor Who marathons and won't even think about playing a silly video game! ...

    I'll ... go ... sulk in my geek corner now.

  17. Not Yet Ready by HeavensTrash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been in the closed beta for some time, and seeing this announcement earlier today made me cringe. There are TONS of things yet unimplemented and I don't see them being put in by the 19 day release. For example:

    Paladin/Hunter talents haven't been put in the game yet. Other classes have had talents for a while and have had time to test/rebalance... Pally/Hunter will be thrown in and then instantly nerfed at retail because of no time for testing.

    Warlock pets aren't finalized yet.

    Battlegrounds aren't in whatsoever.

    Hero classes have yet to be put in as well, and blizzard won't give any information on them.

    Racial traits aren't in yet

    No raid content yet.

    Tradeskills aren't complete yet

    Horde lacks quests and content, especially high level content

    Numerous quests still missing rewards/are bugged

    I was upset to hear Closed Beta had ended as soon as it did - Honestly Vivendi is rushing this one out the door to compete with EQ2. Blizzard usually takes their time in games and are notoriously late, but... Guess it's gonna be just like every other MMORPG where the first 6 months are a paid beta test.

    All that aside though, WOW in it's current form is STILL the best MMORPG out there. Crazy

    1. Re:Not Yet Ready by Cosmik · · Score: 1

      "Hero classes have yet to be put in as well, and blizzard won't give any information on them."

      I'd say that's being kept for an expansion.

    2. Re:Not Yet Ready by Taulin · · Score: 1

      That's actually a pretty small list compared to most MMORPG's release day missings. At least it's nothing like SWG which included a basic thing like transportation, and SPACE. In AO you could barely leave your city for the first month or two. I can live if a zone or skill isn't available yet.

    3. Re:Not Yet Ready by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Paladin/Hunter talents haven't been put in the game yet.

      These will be patched in during open beta, which starts on the 8th. this does not leave much time for testing, so I hope Blizzard gets them right the first time.

      <I>Warlock pets aren't finalized yet.</I>

      The Felhunter and Infernal will also be added in the open beta patch. My main character is a warlock, so I am definitely looking forward to this. =)

      <I>Racial traits aren't in yet</I>

      Racial traits will be added in the open beta patch...

      <I>No raid content yet.</I>

      The Onyxia raid will be added in the... you guessed it... open beta patch. I'm willing to bet that other raid areas have been completed, but Blizzard is saving them for release.

      <I>Tradeskills aren't complete yet</I>

      Blizzard promised to have the tradeskills "smoothed out" in the upcoming patch. Tradeskills have always been a work in progress, so it remains to be seen how much will change here.

      <I>Horde lacks quests and content, especially high level content</I>

      The Kalimdor revamp should be hitting next patch as well. Are you detecting a theme here? As for high level content, there's plenty of that. If Azshara, Blasted Lands, Burning Steps, Eastern and Western Plaguelands, Felwood, Un'Goro Crater, and Winterspring can't keep you busy, well, then you play too much. ;)

      <I>Numerous quests still missing rewards/are bugged</I>

      All of the NYI and Needs Reward quests should be completed in the... hell, you should know what I'm going to say by now...

    4. Re:Not Yet Ready by TheOnlyJuztyn · · Score: 1

      To be fair, Blizzard has commented on nearly all of those. Talens, Warlock pets, Racial traits, Horde content updates, and NYI quest rewards are all supposedly in the next patch, which should be out sometime before open beta. Raid content is supposedly being saved for retail (so people will have something new to do). Hero classes as well. And as you said, even in it's current state, WoW is ten times better then some games that have been out for over a year. I'm looking at you, SWG.

    5. Re:Not Yet Ready by Halloran · · Score: 1
      Paladin/Hunter talents haven't been put in the game yet. Other classes have had talents for a while and have had time to test/rebalance... Pally/Hunter will be thrown in and then instantly nerfed at retail because of no time for testing.


      One would have thought Paladin talents would have been implemented by now as the class was one of the first to be activated back in Friends and Family days. From what I've seen it still had major issues with keeping agro, and providing overall group use.

      Warlock pets aren't finalized yet.


      It has, however, been announced that the two remaining pets, "Felhound" and "Infernal" will be pushed out with the Open Beta push roughly Monday of next week. But, then expect several weeks after that for tuning and "balance".

      Hero classes have yet to be put in as well, and blizzard won't give any information on them.


      The idea here is to provide players with some incentive for playing the game after its released. The same thing applies to raid content, with only one actual raid "Onyxia" being implemented prior to release.

      I'm largely concerned that raid content will be of the same quality of EQ's last two expansions, i.e. full of bugs.

      Racial traits aren't in yet


      Well, partially implemented. Undead qualities are in, which is a major reason there will be a stupid number of undead players on the PvP server. Being immune to fear is good stuff.

      I imagine the rest of it will trickle in.

      Tradeskills aren't complete yet


      With the exception of Enchanting past 280, I'd say everything is largely there. They may add specializations later at some point, akin to what they've done with Blacksmithing, but we'll see.

      Horde lacks quests and content, especially high level content


      I've always felt the Horde starting areas are largely undeveloped compared to the Alliance lands. The goal it seems at higher levels is consolidation of quest paths. Folks move from their racial specific areas into "contested areas" then into "neutral" territory run by goblins.

      All of the high end areas I've seen fit this profile, i.e. Winterspring, Felwood, Plaguelands, etc.

      Numerous quests still missing rewards/are bugged


      It was announced on the forums that the Open Beta push will see the removal of all and flags. Guess we'll see if that holds up.

      Personally, I think the big thing to be concerned with is the quality of the Blizzard downloader, which seems to be based on a rather poor implementation of BitTorrent.
    6. Re:Not Yet Ready by NaugaHunter · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm also in closed beta.

      They test everything in house, and they've had these talents for some time. They will get a tweak if in two weeks it's obviously unbalanced, but it's not as if they just came off the blackboard yesterday.

      Again, they've tested Battlegrounds internally. Basically most of the testing here is for PvP balancing, which we've been doing for months.

      Hero classes aren't until level 60. They have a couple of months. (I'm not getting into a power leveler vs. casual player tangent, but keeping a casu

      Racial traits are in in internal builds and have been for a while; they've been commented on the boards by Blizzard employees.

      They've said repeatedly on the boards that they weren't sure if they would show raid content in the Beta, as they want to keep it as a surprise.

      Trades skills, warlock pets, Horde content, unfinished quests - going to play the 'internal build' card again.

      Before I get labeled a Blizzard apologist, I too was surprised at the suddenness of this announcement, though I'm starting to think they've known for a while but didn't want people to slow their testing with a possible character wipe coming. But on the flipside, with 90% of an intended release done having your internal testers testing the last 10% is not that bad. You have thousands test everything until you get to the point where what you are changing can actually be tested by dozens effectively. Then you release it with a couple of weeks left to check for gross problems, and you're done.

      I will agree that there are a couple of things that didn't get done (e.g. weather), but I think the few things that you've listed that are needed by launch will be there.

      --
      R: That voice. Where have I heard that voice before? B: In about 365 other episodes. But I don't know who it is either.
    7. Re:Not Yet Ready by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Racial traits aren't in yet

      Racial traits soon to be in.

  18. Re:This kind of attitude really upsets me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought you guys were all dead! -- Nietzsche

  19. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Ready or not, here it comes. Blizzard has announced that the World of Warcraft will be released to NA/AU/NZ on November 23, 2004."

    Any local methods of paying our accounts for us non-credit-card people in NZ?
  20. Re:Oh hell! Now I have to decide by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 1

    I'm glad they restrict it. It will be nice to have the ingame population mirror the real world population, so that late at night fewer people are on (not just a ton of asians.)

    --
    Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
  21. yeeha by ssand · · Score: 1

    Like many games on release I bet that WOW will have some issues. My exams are over mid December, followed by winter break. Sounds like a good time for me.

  22. Best Cutscene: Dawn of War by Killswitch1968 · · Score: 1

    If you haven't seen the Dawn of War cutscene for Relic's new WH40K game, it's terrific. Trumps any and all that have come before it, including the best of Diablo 2 and Warcraft. Unfortuntaely I do not believe it is available for download, except on torrents of course.

    --

    Corporations: your universal scapegoat for all society's ills.
    1. Re:Best Cutscene: Dawn of War by antdude · · Score: 1

      If it is the same one in the playable demo, then yeah it was cool!

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    2. Re:Best Cutscene: Dawn of War by seafortn · · Score: 1

      Cutscene available here:
      http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/wh40kdawnofwar /

  23. Not too impressed actually by Alcimedes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I played the Beta for a while. It was fun for about the first week. Then, the grind started to get to me.

    I know a lot of people seem to like this type of game, but really the fact is I don't want to feel like I'm working while I'm playing a video game, and to me most MMPORG's feel like work, not play.

    That, and the PVP aspect of it felt very broken. The classes had serious balance issues, and level was almost everything. (i know, it was beta, maybe it will get better but i'd be surprised).

    Dunno, but after playing games like Vendetta for a while, I see less of a reason to the WoW angle. Vendetta does something that every game should aspire to. The better skilled player wins the battles, not the highest level player. A very low level play can clean up against much higher level unskilled players, which is how it should be.

    Guess I just don't have to time to dedicate to get to be one of those highest level characters running around, and I'd rather not get my ass handed to me just because someone doesn't have a job and can put 10 hours a day into a game.

    1. Re:Not too impressed actually by Richard+Whittaker · · Score: 5, Interesting
      The better skilled player wins the battles, not the highest level player.

      That's the difference between an online game and an online role playing game. In an RPG the player (that's a real person) takes on the role of a character - it's the characters skill and level - NOT THE PLAYERS - that is supposed to determine how good the character is at things (fighting, for example).

      Remember:
      Player : the actual person playing the game, this person doesn't necessarily actually know how to shoot a gun, fight in melee combat, pilot a spaceship, etc.
      Character : The in game "person" that the player controls. This should be considered a completely seperate persona that is not necessarily related to the player in any way. A single player can "posses" multiple characters, who may actually have opposing agendas, goals, etc.

      That's why it's called a role playing game.

      Perhaps this kind of game (RPG) just isn't for you - many people hate them and want their own skill to make the difference, but thats not how an RPG is supposed to work - the characters skill is everything. In an RPG, the way a players skill comes into play is in knowing how to make use of the characters skills in any given situation.

      --

      XML Database

  24. Re:Oh hell! Now I have to decide by ajd1474 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Oh yeah, thats right... everyone outside of North America is asian!

    --
    I refuse to have a sig... dammit!
  25. Re:Oh hell! Now I have to decide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yup, Korean, specifically.

  26. No fair... by kasek · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    World of Warcraft Release Date Set Thursday November 04, @16:29 Rejected

  27. Collector's Edition by Quobobo · · Score: 1

    Question: does anyone know how the guest pass in the Collector's Edition is supposed to work? As far as I know, Blizzard hasn't released many details, but I'd like to know more about it. How does the "guest" install WoW, do they just borrow the install disc from the owner? After the 10 days, do they have to buy the retail copy or do they just have to start paying the monthly fee?

    (Yes, I'm cheap and I want to go halfsies on the collector's edition with a friend. Thanks if you know anything about it!)

    1. Re:Collector's Edition by DigitalDemon617 · · Score: 2, Informative

      The collector's edition comes with the game on CD's and on one DVD. I assume you can just give them one of those to install for the friend trial. Then they just start paying afterwards. I think I heard that the Stress Test 2 version and open beta version will be the retail version, so those that buy a boxed copy and played in the open beta will just have to use their new key and won't have to reinstall.

    2. Re:Collector's Edition by hpavc · · Score: 1

      Your get two registration keys, one for you and one for your friend. When your friend fires up their key it expires in a short amount of time. Much like the beta tester keys do.

      --
      members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
    3. Re:Collector's Edition by Quobobo · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but can the friend start paying the monthly fee so that key doesn't expire? That's what I'm really wondering about, whether or not the friend has to buy their own copy of the game.

    4. Re:Collector's Edition by hpavc · · Score: 1

      Yes, they install the software (from you/ bittorrent/ etc) and they use your 'guest key' and then when that expires they can just signup with a credit card.

      There is no need for the media unless they want to reinstall.

      --
      members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
    5. Re:Collector's Edition by hpavc · · Score: 1

      Guess i was wrong ...

      Collector's Edition Details: Special Pets & 10-Day Guest Pass Explained - Tyren on 11/08/04
      We've received a number of inquiries requesting further details about the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition, which will be available along with the standard edition at launch on Nov. 23. To answer the most popular questions that have come up, we'd like to provide the following additional information about the pets that Collector's Edition owners will be able to choose from, and how the 10-day pass that comes with the Collector's Edition will work.

      Collector's Edition Pets

      The special pets included with the Collector's Edition are the Panda Bear, Zergling, and Mini-Diablo.

      Players who have purchased the Collector's Edition will be able to obtain their special pet by submitting the gift voucher found in their character's inventory to a special NPC located in each starting area. Players will then be able to choose from one of the three special pets.

      Collector's Edition 10-Day Guest Pass

      Players who will be accessing the game through the 10-day pass will create their account for that exactly the same way as a normal player, by visiting the account-creation webpage.

      Those who wish to continue playing the game once the 10-day free period is over must first visit their local retailer or online store to purchase a copy of World of Warcraft. Once they have obtained a copy of the game, they can log in to WorldofWarcraft.com using their 10-day pass login information and then enter the authentication key that came with boxed copy into the field found at the bottom of their account page.

      That's all that's required to activate a full-fledged World of Warcraft account once the 10-day free period has expired. Any characters that players have created during the 10-day trial, along with all their items, will be available for them to continue playing!

      --
      members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
  28. Re:Oh hell! Now I have to decide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Between friends and WoW? Now that is an easy decision.

  29. Pricing Strategy by Dinoysis · · Score: 2

    One thing I would love to see for online games would be more variety in pricing strategies. For example, I am not a hardcore gamer, I tend to pick up games, play a lot of it for a week or two, and then move on. Now, if the game was good, I will probably come back in 1-2 months and play some more. My style of playing games makes MMO games very unappealing because on the monthly subscription costs. What I would love to see on MMO games is something where you pay $10-15 or whatever if you want to actively play a game. However, if you're going out of the country for two months, or you don't want to play the game for a few months but you're still interested in playing the game in the future, you could pay something like $.50-$2 to merely store your character. One would not be able to play the game, without making your account active (the $10-15 a month charge), but there would be very limited cost to the game when I'm not playing it.

    Now there are a few more issues to work out, i.e. you can't play actively for two days, then go to storage for the next 29 days in the month, then go back to active for 2 days, etc etc. But there should be a workable solution for companies. Sure, they want us to keep paying the full charge, but if it's between cancelling my account for good, or paying $.50 a month if there's a chance I might play in the future, I'll definitely pay the $.50 for the chance I can keep my lvl 30 character for a few months..
    Oh well.. I doubt we're going to see any improvement in the payment plans, so I am just wishing..

    1. Re:Pricing Strategy by Lady_Deb · · Score: 1

      Actually, the way this generally works now is that you stop paying, but your character remains in storage indefinitely. In EverQuest, they only guarantee characters for 3 months or so, but I've known of people who have stopped playing for a year or more then started paying for their account again and their characters are still there, fully equipped. I don't know if Blizzard will do occasional character purges, but I haven't heard anything to suggest that so far. So you can cancel your account for your month-long vacation, and not have to worry about losing your characters. But,they haven't officially said anything at this point.

      --


      Please don't feed the mobiles.
  30. Re:Oh hell! Now I have to decide by Baikala · · Score: 1

    Well, not every body who plays MMORPG's ouside North America is asian. Just the 95% of them.

    --
    16,777,216 comments ought to be enough for any forum!
  31. Re:Oh hell! Now I have to decide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It would at least make sense if they restricted it based on continent not country. I live in México and the bastards tell me I need a US billing address to play. Not like they are going to create a server for the like 2,000 people in all of "Latin America" that would like to play it.

    I wish they would at least give the real reasons why they are choosing to do this the only thing they are saying is it's because players might not get an "optimal" playing experience if they are too far from the servers. I played FFXI and I never had any lag problems and the servers are in Japan, Blizzard is just being racist.

  32. Not true. by Strudleman · · Score: 1

    Closed beta tested the game. Now Open beta is testing the servers. We went from 5k people to 400k in a week. Open beta is definately more than just a demp period.

    --
    Do it doug.
  33. November 23? by Phocas · · Score: 1

    November 23? Just before my exams???
    Damn you Blizzard, DAMN YOU!!!

  34. WoW site down by BGJayR · · Score: 1

    It's not even the end of the first day of Open Beta and Fileplanet has ran out of keys and the www.worldofwarcraft.com site is down.