Anything important and needing the speed hasn't had any other option. I for one hope the progression of wireless standards provide such an option and fling us further forward on the path to a cableless society.
Bring on the 802.11n and then show me the 802.11Tesla.
I think it would be much more worthwhile and relevant for BBC to cite a study on the percentage of websites which alienates individuals with disabilities. I am guessing that number would be a bit larger than 10%.
Being one employed in the academic realm, the source of your undergraduate degree certainly plays a role when it comes to being employed in the academic realm, or going to graduate school.
Likewise, if you plan on pursuing research in computer science (in which graduate school is pretty much a necessity), whether in academia or in the private sector, your undergraduate school could have some importance in that.
Otherwise, as long as you do not attain your degree from St. Baliwack's Questionable Online School of Programming, you are probably just fine.
Like a large number of folks who gush over WoW, I was involved in beta, and this is by far not my first MMOG.
And now I will say, while hordes of you pummel my puny skull, WoW was not impressive. It very much left me with the impression of it being a pretty standard MMORPG, with a few differences. Namely, it is is set in the Warcraft universe, and it is supported by the all-powerful Blizzard machine who, according to the gaming community, can generally do no wrong with their Warcraft + Diablo line.
WoW is solid, and fairly enjoyable. It's a decent MMOG. But that's it. It is difficult for me to understand what makes people drool over its mention.
I find it interesting that your review has a mix of "if you've played an MMOG game before, WoW is better!" and "I assume you've never played an MMOG before, check this out!"
The way you describe the concept of quests, NPCs and creatures having AI, learning how to effectively battle with your chosen class, and the chat and guild sytems are as if Blizzard had come up with these unique featuress. Unfortunately, that's not even remotely the case, and in playing the game, I did not see how they implemented these standard elements in a vastly superior way.
As for some other items in your review...
"Character creation is a straightforward process."
Great. Way too straightforward, actually. How many customization options do you get in the look/feel of your character? Oh, not many. It's the same kind of basic process that most MMOGs have implemented. You get to choose a small number of attributes, each having a small set of options. This is not really character customization, but rather character selection. WoW is behind in this aspect (and they are not the only ones -- let's not discuss Lineage II), especially with the character customization allowed by City of Heroes, and even Everquest II.
"The visual quality of the world and the introductory voiceover at your character's creation begins the process of drawing you into the game world, a task which World of Warcraft does more meticulously than any other Massive game I've had the opportunity to play."
That's a rather strong statement. And probably one that will vary from person to person due to the subjectivity of such an experience.
You go on to describe the quest system, which I think is decent, but only decent. It is the minimum of what should be provided to players, but is by no means groundbreaking as far as I can tell. Quests still fall along the normal lines of what one would expect: go fetch, go talk, go kill, etc. then come back or talk to somebody else and get your reward, which is a combination of loot, experience, cash, and/or other quests. And this is all done in a pretty predictable fashion. A level 40+ quest of "fetch a reagent" is pretty similar to a
While there are a number of MMOGs that don't provide quests, I don't see how WoW's quest system is far superior than others. I can still go to any number of web sites and find a quaint list of quests to perform from start to finish, know where to find them, and know how to complete them.
In my crazed lunacy, I want dynamic quest systems that *actually* change and/or evolve with each player, that *actually* have an affect on the way people play the game -- I want to make choices, damnit, and live with those choices.
Although it's convenient to have the color-coded excalamation/question mark pop above NPC heads, and WoW does have some non-run-of-the-mill-quests (e.g. puzzles, escorts), IMHO WoW's quest system doesn't really stand apart from anything else.
Regarding visual quality, I thank you for being up front with the fact that WoW is not at the top. That's fine. (Other people can roll out their "great graphics != great game" and "great graphics are essential to great gameplay" arguments if they so desire.)
Ya know what the most annoying thing was for me? The identification text
I would generally agree that many distribution reviews are lacking in actual content. However, I don't believe this review is pointless.
The guy tried four different systems, two of which were 'hot-rodded,' one of which was a pretty standard budget PC config, and the last of which as an older laptop. I think it's a valid point to illustrate that he couldn't get the thing to successfully install on any of those systems.
And, further, I think it's a valid point to describe the support structure and quality of support he received when trying to resolve the problem.
The install process is important. I've personally grown tired of encountering install processes which require pseudo-arcane knowledge, loads of custom configuration, and hours of hand-holding. Show me something that offers an install that is functional, intuitive, while still offering options for customization, and I'll be impressed.
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Anything important and needing the speed hasn't had any other option. I for one hope the progression of wireless standards provide such an option and fling us further forward on the path to a cableless society.
Bring on the 802.11n and then show me the 802.11Tesla.
I think it would be much more worthwhile and relevant for BBC to cite a study on the percentage of websites which alienates individuals with disabilities. I am guessing that number would be a bit larger than 10%.
Well, at least someone was able to say this without getting mod'd into oblivion.
Being one employed in the academic realm, the source of your undergraduate degree certainly plays a role when it comes to being employed in the academic realm, or going to graduate school.
Likewise, if you plan on pursuing research in computer science (in which graduate school is pretty much a necessity), whether in academia or in the private sector, your undergraduate school could have some importance in that.
Otherwise, as long as you do not attain your degree from St. Baliwack's Questionable Online School of Programming, you are probably just fine.
And now I will say, while hordes of you pummel my puny skull, WoW was not impressive. It very much left me with the impression of it being a pretty standard MMORPG, with a few differences. Namely, it is is set in the Warcraft universe, and it is supported by the all-powerful Blizzard machine who, according to the gaming community, can generally do no wrong with their Warcraft + Diablo line.
WoW is solid, and fairly enjoyable. It's a decent MMOG. But that's it. It is difficult for me to understand what makes people drool over its mention.
I find it interesting that your review has a mix of "if you've played an MMOG game before, WoW is better!" and "I assume you've never played an MMOG before, check this out!"
The way you describe the concept of quests, NPCs and creatures having AI, learning how to effectively battle with your chosen class, and the chat and guild sytems are as if Blizzard had come up with these unique featuress. Unfortunately, that's not even remotely the case, and in playing the game, I did not see how they implemented these standard elements in a vastly superior way.
As for some other items in your review...
Great. Way too straightforward, actually. How many customization options do you get in the look/feel of your character? Oh, not many. It's the same kind of basic process that most MMOGs have implemented. You get to choose a small number of attributes, each having a small set of options. This is not really character customization, but rather character selection. WoW is behind in this aspect (and they are not the only ones -- let's not discuss Lineage II), especially with the character customization allowed by City of Heroes, and even Everquest II.
That's a rather strong statement. And probably one that will vary from person to person due to the subjectivity of such an experience.
You go on to describe the quest system, which I think is decent, but only decent. It is the minimum of what should be provided to players, but is by no means groundbreaking as far as I can tell. Quests still fall along the normal lines of what one would expect: go fetch, go talk, go kill, etc. then come back or talk to somebody else and get your reward, which is a combination of loot, experience, cash, and/or other quests. And this is all done in a pretty predictable fashion. A level 40+ quest of "fetch a reagent" is pretty similar to a
While there are a number of MMOGs that don't provide quests, I don't see how WoW's quest system is far superior than others. I can still go to any number of web sites and find a quaint list of quests to perform from start to finish, know where to find them, and know how to complete them.
In my crazed lunacy, I want dynamic quest systems that *actually* change and/or evolve with each player, that *actually* have an affect on the way people play the game -- I want to make choices, damnit, and live with those choices.
Although it's convenient to have the color-coded excalamation/question mark pop above NPC heads, and WoW does have some non-run-of-the-mill-quests (e.g. puzzles, escorts), IMHO WoW's quest system doesn't really stand apart from anything else.
Regarding visual quality, I thank you for being up front with the fact that WoW is not at the top. That's fine. (Other people can roll out their "great graphics != great game" and "great graphics are essential to great gameplay" arguments if they so desire.)
Ya know what the most annoying thing was for me? The identification text
I would generally agree that many distribution reviews are lacking in actual content. However, I don't believe this review is pointless.
The guy tried four different systems, two of which were 'hot-rodded,' one of which was a pretty standard budget PC config, and the last of which as an older laptop. I think it's a valid point to illustrate that he couldn't get the thing to successfully install on any of those systems.
And, further, I think it's a valid point to describe the support structure and quality of support he received when trying to resolve the problem.
The install process is important. I've personally grown tired of encountering install processes which require pseudo-arcane knowledge, loads of custom configuration, and hours of hand-holding. Show me something that offers an install that is functional, intuitive, while still offering options for customization, and I'll be impressed.