Question for World of Warcraft players (or those familiar)

[vois2]

Finally after some years of waiting, I've decided to bite the WOW bullet. In the past I have always found folks here at Subsim to be able to accurately offer info on gaming, any gaming.

So I have the original game, the new Burning Crusades expansion, and a 60-day card coming by mail soon.

One thing I wondered about is servers. I've never been much of an online gamer, so I have some questions. In the more thorough reviews of WOW from players, I read alot of comments about server lag. A LOT of server lag. These reviews were mainly from early to mid 2006. Do you know if such lag still exists, or have the problems been fixed now?

Also, am I limited to using Blizzard's servers? Or are there other sets of independent servers out there that I can choose to link up with when playing WOW.

Thanks for any advice, info or opinions!

[Chaotic42]

The servers will probably be bogged down due to the new expansion pack that just came out. Normally they're not too bad if you pick a low population server. I think that you can play on other, non-Blizzard servers, but there will probably be hacks and whatnot.

As for the game itself, I will just say this: It's done very, very well for the complexity involved, but I found it mind-numbingly boring. When I say boring, I mean *boring*. It's kind of fun until you figure out how everything works, then it's just a math equation that you pay $15/mo to solve. By the time I got to level 60, I was making up excuses to use on my friends (we had a guild) so that I could get time away without "letting the guild down".

Lots of my friends have become addicted.

[NeonSamurai]

Yep its highly addictive, its very boring and tedious, and the grind in it is endless. You grind out levels for a couple of weeks to months, then you grind out elite gear, then you grind out pvp levels (either of which can take many many months of doing the same crap over and over).

WoW turned Blizzard from being one of the cooler companies out there to one of the worst, most greedy and corupt imho.

[The Noob]

WoW is a dangerous drug, a disease. Dont play it. I know a friend who plays this like 24/7. The risk of an addiction and serious RL issues IS there. WoW was designed to be like that. And thats why it sucks.

[Tikigod]

Yeah, I recommend Eve Online if you are into MMO's....its alot of fun but, less demanding as far as grinding. The only grinding in the game is mining and its not so bad since its only resource harvesting. Your character gains experience whether you are on or offline. But, its pretty much and industrial space game. You have to be either into business or space in order to enjoy it. I never really understood the cult following of world of warcraft....not really into outlandish fantasy or cartoons....WoW's crafting is ok.....but, the original starwars galaxies was far better.

WoW is a dangerous drug, a disease. Dont play it. I know a friend who plays this like 24/7. The risk of an addiction and serious RL issues IS there. WoW was designed to be like that. And thats why it sucks.