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Second World of Warcraft Expansion Launched, Conquered

Posted by Soulskill on from the worldwide-caffeine-shortage dept.

The much-anticipated second expansion to World of Warcraft, entitled Wrath of the Lich King, launched on Thursday, introducing a new continent, raising the level cap to 80, and bringing a wealth of new items, spells, dungeons, and monsters to the popular MMO. Crowds gathered and lines formed outside stores around the world leading up to the release. Massively has put together a series of articles for players wishing to familiarize themselves with the expansion, and CVG has a piece discussing the basics as well. It didn't take long for the first person to reach level 80; a French player called "Nymh" reached the level cap on his Warlock only 27 hours after the expansion went live. Not to be outdone, a guild named "TwentyFifthNovember" managed to get at least 25 raiders to 80 and then cleared all of the current expansion raid content less than three days after the launch. Fortunately for them, the next three content patches are each expected to contain new, more difficult raids.

21 of 386 comments (clear)

  1. Everyone who cares.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...is in Northrend.

    1. Re:Everyone who cares.... by Arivia · · Score: 5, Informative

      The raids aren't anywhere near as big a part of WoW as you make it seem. The reason they get so much attention, I think, is because Blizzard's done them so completely and well, unlike other mmorpgs.

      New Quests: there's about 1000 across Northrend. (and fyi, the last big patch before WotLK content - 2.4 - added about 50, 30 of which were repeatable every day.)
      New Mechanics: that's an incredibly vague term, but there are the new phasing and knockback systems, and the new inscription profession. Also, Blizzard doesn't have a design philosophy that lends itself to including large amounts of whatever to the game. They add in consistent stuff that works with the rest of the game.

      The new expansion also adds a new class, revamps two others, adds ten more levels (and corresponding new abilities) for all characters, an entire new continent to explore and see new things in, more crafting options.

      And the design on all of this blows away what's come before. The new zones feel really alive - they look fantastic, sound wonderful, and offer interesting and new ways to get around them. Everyone who got off the boat or zeppelin just stopped and went "Wow." for a few minutes. And then we hit the dungeons - the third of the starter dungeons, Azjol-Nerub, has to be played to be believed. It's half an hour of terrifying beauty, of wriggling mummified *things* laying between two golden mushrooms in caverns man was never meant to see, had never seen. You look down vistas swarming with spiders crawling over the most beautiful architecture yet - and then you jump down to join them. It's lovecraftian and slasher-esque and Indiana Jones all at the same time. It's fantastic, and probably the best experience I've had ever in WoW, and one of the best in a game, period.

      --
      The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. -Anais Nin
    2. Re:Everyone who cares.... by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 5, Interesting

      really, how is this stuff that matters?

      If the game play doesn't interest you any more, then consider an IT client-server delivery system that manages 11 million customers on a daily basis, each of whom have up to 9 entities per x servers (I don't know how many there are now, but their are 3 major groupings of them) each entity with up to a hundred objects or so each with their own attributes, with those objects involved with a number of transfers, creations and disposals per hours-long encounters, and a similar number of entities living on the server (as PvE mobs).

      Think of 11 million customers and the absolutely monsterous OLTP system that allows for all that database management with a surprisingly small amount of lag overall.

      If the computer system that supports all that isn't "stuff that matters" then I suspect you may find spending your time on a different forum more profitable.

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    3. Re:Everyone who cares.... by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If the game play doesn't interest you any more, then consider an IT client-server delivery system that manages 11 million customers on a daily basis, each of whom have up to 9 entities per x servers (I don't know how many there are now, but their are 3 major groupings of them) each entity with up to a hundred objects or so each with their own attributes, with those objects involved with a number of transfers, creations and disposals per hours-long encounters, and a similar number of entities living on the server (as PvE mobs).

      The day someone throws up an article on this, I will be more than just interested, it will be a fantastic read I'm sure! That wasn't today though was it?

      --
      The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
    4. Re:Everyone who cares.... by duckInferno · · Score: 5, Informative

      Seconded on Azjol-Nerub. The first of them, aptly titled "Azjol-Nerub: Azjol-Nerub", is a 15 minute instance (!) yet so much effort and work has gone into the detailing of the level. It's a surreal vertical adventure. For half of it, think of a dungeon. Now, have a mass of spider webbing totally mess up all the paths, corridors, pits and doors to create a completely different spacial structure: you walk on suspended webbing rather than the dungeon paths. This was best demonstrated to me when walking along a bridge above a huge open pit, then hitting some steep webbing in the middle of it. Unable to proceed forward, I noticed.. that the steep webbing covers slopes down the pit. We slid down it and walked around above the sprawling dungeon below us. Truly surreal and the awesomeness is difficult to convey in text.

      The second, which I forget the name of, is some sort of deep "open air" city with a babylonian flavour to it, inside a gigantic abyssal cavern. Within 10 seconds of walking in you can see the entire thing. Everyone on ventrilo simultaneously went "whoa."

      Blizzard has really delivered.

      --
      Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, watch it -- I'm huge!
    5. Re:Everyone who cares.... by colmore · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The most popular game of all time is going to get written about. I don't care either, but I'm not bitching that the news isn't exactly tailored to my interests.

      --
      In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
    6. Re:Everyone who cares.... by duckInferno · · Score: 5, Insightful

      WoW has a bad rep from a very small minority of players who can't manage their lives. I'll treat the argument of whether or not this is WoW's fault, or whether any other fun activity would have done it, as out of scope... I'd like to set the record straight on a few things that may be found insightful by some.

      Myth 1. WoW is a diabolical money sink

      Untrue. At its most expensive, factoring in the initial cost and its expansions to date, WoW averages to about US$18 a month (conservative estimate). I'm not too familiar with costs in America but two trips to the movies and you're spending more. A gourmet pie a week and you're spending more. A few drinks with friends once a month and you're spending more. These activites are once-off entertainment and I highly doubt a pie a week is the extent of one's monthly entertainment bill.

      In addition, there are hundreds of servers, each servicing tens of thousands of players and all of the maintainence, hardware and bandwidth costs that come with it. There's a huge development team fixing the most trivial of bugs and developing new content every couple of months. There's a huge support team consisting of the usual helpdesk drones as well as in-game game masters (who aren't just any old gamer off the street; they're veritable WoW gurus). All of this isn't cheap. All of this isn't possible with a standard once-off $40 game. On the side, a once-off $40 game that captures my attention for more than a month is a rare thing these days.


      Myth 2. WoW is a giant grind

      While this is subjective, I have to argue against it. It is true that the first 50-60 levels of WoW are definitely repetative and while I'm sure Blizzard are aware of this, I don't think their steps to fix it are the right ones (they're just making it faster). However, once past this hurdle you are in the clear. BC raised the bar with quests that capture your interest. Wrath has redefined the bar with some extremely fun quests; they appear to have redesigned their whole philosophy on questing for the latest expansion.

      But that's quests. You can grind if you want, nothing is stopping you, but there are all sorts of things you can do -- especially with the new achievements. There are battlegrounds. There is exploration. There are dungeons. In the middle of doing anything, world PvP can erupt - my favourite kind. At end game you don't need to worry about quests if you don't want to. It's an MMO; there's more things to do than you can shake a stick at. But I do agree on the repetativeness of questing pre-50's before your character has a chance to gain most of its class-defining abilities and gear.


      Myth 3. There is not enough content

      This should probably get merged into #2 but whatever. I was standing outside a fort the other day wondering what I should do. It was Hallow's End, a halloween event that adds a swathe of seasonal content to the game, and I was struck by a thought: if I were to roll a brand new character, I would have more things to do than I could fathom. The achievements system ensures that there's an extra layer to everything you do. The dungeons and reputations and achievements and pvp and large number of unique class/talent combinations would keep you busy for years. The true scope of the game, pre-wrath, suddenly hit me like a stapler hitting the balding head of an IT consultant as he enshrined the virtues of domain-centric networking infrastructure to a technical executive in a large services corporation that delivers banking and financial services to leading institutions across the globe.


      Myth 4. If you play WoW you have no life

      A catch-all argument that can encapsulate any game or non-mainstream entertainment activity on the planet. If you watch anime you have no life. If you collect stamps you have no life. If you go tramping you have no life. It's fun. It's social. It's not getting tanked in a bar at 2am. Get over it. As an aside, I'm a

      --
      Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, watch it -- I'm huge!
    7. Re:Everyone who cares.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Everyone who got off the boat or zeppelin just stopped and went "Wow." for a few minutes. And then we hit the dungeons - the third of the starter dungeons, Azjol-Nerub, has to be played to be believed. It's half an hour of terrifying beauty, of wriggling mummified *things* laying between two golden mushrooms in caverns man was never meant to see, had never seen. You look down vistas swarming with spiders crawling over the most beautiful architecture yet.

      Visit the nearest botanic garden in your city, you'll see that caverns, spiders and ants are much more detailed than that. And there are no dragons.

      And real water bump mapping? Oh.. such a beautiful thing.

      And real women? They cast lots of invisible spells. And are much more beautiful and detailed than ever.

      Oh, that and you need to get laid.

  2. Addicts indeed by Uglypug · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's always comforting to be reminded that there are people out there with even less of a life than you.

    1. Re:Addicts indeed by philspear · · Score: 5, Funny

      Amen. To all you wow players: Shut that computer down and go out get some fresh air. Life is much too short to waste it on playing a bloody game.

      And this comes from someone who is posting to slashdot on his laptop as he is skiing down K2 being chased by ninjas while nailing the new Bond chick.

      Fixed that little bit of hypocrisy there for you.

  3. Rush to completion by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've never understood people who feel the need to rush to complete game content. After paying for a game, I like to take my time and enjoy it. I guess maybe people see it as another way of competing with each other? Or is it just obsession?

    Maybe I have a slightly different perspective than most. I'm a game developer, so I guess I'm slightly more aware than most of how much work goes into every single game. It's slightly depressing sometimes, because you've put a year or more of work into a product, and you've still only produced enough content to last a long weekend.

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    1. Re:Rush to completion by wild_quinine · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I've never understood people who feel the need to rush to complete game content. After paying for a game, I like to take my time and enjoy it. I guess maybe people see it as another way of competing with each other? Or is it just obsession?

      If you're this good at warcraft, lording your level above more casual plays is all you've got. You're going to want to reach the top fast!

    2. Re:Rush to completion by MartinSchou · · Score: 5, Funny

      The dating scene?

  4. Re:65 hours... by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That's actually an idea I've been campaigning for. These raiding guilds like to show off how great they are, yet they're just incredibly dedicated. Your average guild can't even get people to log in for scheduled events on time.

    So up the ante, make the raids insanely hard even for pro's. Make them unfair (like Naxx), require a distorted balance of classes, designed to engender social infighting. Give them some really hard problems to overcome inside and outside the game. Plant a few CSR "reps" in these guilds, have them create chaos, fan the flames of egos. Basically get them to play the game like normal people so the dev's can focus on the 99%, not the 1%.

    Then gradually ease up as your main player base starts to reach the top. "Patch" content that was "harder than anticipated", etc.

  5. Re:Please keep me informed by myrdos2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find the Penny Arcade comic sums up my feelings on the expansion: clicky

    Seriously - how many areas are just the same area over and over again with different graphics? The towns and mountains and such are in different places, but by level 10 you've pretty much seen all the gameplay there is to see.

    I predict Northrend will have individual monsters slowly roaming back and forth over small areas of ground. Occasionally there will be a few monsters standing together. Virtually every quest will involve killing X of them. To step things up, you can kill difficult elite monsters while in a group. The combat will be so simple that an 8-line perl script can do it.

    When you try to imagine the game without the graphics, you realize how little gameplay there actually is. It might be feasible to make a nethack-style game that captures every element of WoW gameplay, but that would be a very dull game indeed.

  6. Eventually by Organic+Brain+Damage · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the sun will go nova and the earth will cease to be and all human endeavor will vanish forever. Nothing lasts. Nothing is worth doing except enjoying the small bit of time we get on this planet. If you get your joy playing WoW for 27 hours, being first to level 80, good for you.

  7. Re:Athene by andersa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    To be precise, it was Darus, another Paladin, that they were power leveling. Athene and the other people in the group didn't get any XP at all during the experiment.

    Athene did a full half hour video report on it on his website, including the part where his whole party were disconnected by Blizzard GMs and got their accounts suspended temporarily.

    It seems to me that Blizzard were monitoring the attempt throughout, and in the end decided that the game wasn't meant to be played this way after all and decided to break up the party. Maybe they were afraid of the publicity that would come out if Athenes group claimed the record. Perhaps they thought it would look bad, that the game that they had spent years to produce was demonstrated to be beatable in less than a day.

  8. Re:Please keep me informed by EvolutionsPeak · · Score: 5, Informative

    They didn't demolish new content. They demolished content they've been playing for months on the beta server.

  9. Re:Please keep me informed by Kjella · · Score: 5, Funny

    The combat will be so simple that an 8-line perl script can do it.

    Considering you could write an operating system in five, I guess that's pretty complex.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  10. Closed Beta Raiders kill Live content? No wai... by Cookie3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This story is not news.

    TwentyFifthNovember is a guild made up of Nihilum and SK-Gaming (aka Curse). Both guilds had members that experienced Naxxramas at level 60 (when it was originally released), and most of the bosses in Naxxramas (retuned and re-released for level 80) are largely unchanged since that time. Both of these guilds had very significant presences in the Closed Beta, where this raid content was available for anyone who could gather enough players. Many of them killed these bosses for weeks and months, before the game went live. The slight differences between these bosses at level 60 versus these bosses at level 80 is minor enough that even those who DIDN'T see the retuned content would still know how to get past it.

    Raiding in World of Warcraft is more about skill than gear (although there are a few hard gear checks, such as needing 8.5k HP to survive Naj'entus area-effect nuke). These guys certainly are skillful, but there was never any doubt that they would steamroll all of this content as soon as they hit 80. The slightly bigger concern is that they managed to get 25 members to level 80 in ~65 hours of gameplay. Still, with the first 80 after 27 hours, it wasn't unexpected. People were hitting level 70 in Burning Crusade in about the same amount of time, and once the strategy for doing so was optimized, anyone (with a lot of time, and/or friends) could grind out the levels.

    One thing to note is that these guys don't yet have the ultra-rare achievement awards, for example:
    http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2138

    Heroic Glory of the Raider involves a series of moderate to very hard challenges in Naxx, with the reward being an exclusive Proto-Drake mount. Until they get that, it's not news.. and even if they do get that, they've STILL got the qualifiers mentioned earlier.

    --
    present day... present time... hahahaha...
  11. Re:Please keep me informed by cratermoon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mod Parent up. For whatever cracked reason, these guys took their guild to the beta server and spent hours and days learning the content and getting them cleared. To say they conquered all the raid content in 3 days ignores that they already knew how to do it, they just repeated it "live". Anyway, good for them, with the completion of all the starting raid content by unrealistic obsessives, we can now start paying attention to the progression of the guilds that still live in the real world and started learning the content from live release day.