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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:32 pm
by Phoenix Red
Sheepdog: The Goon Squad looks to be Tetrad's guild, in his raid screenshot most of the people there have a Goon Squad tag. Some friendly jeering went on between the Goon Squad and Stabface, and Stabface is my buddy.

Woodchip: no, it's dynamic. You have full range of movement during combat and only two limiting factors on skill use, the global coldown (1.5 seconds, runs while casting so only relevant on instant skills) and ability cost (usually mana, rogues have energy, warriors have rage)).

Casting means you have to stand still (not for instant castspells though) until a bar charges up, after it finishes the spell effect will take place. Most spells take about 3 seconds to cast. Channeling works a little differently, the bar empties while the effect is taking place. In both cases being hit interferes, for casting it sets your cast bar bck 0.5 seconds (so get hit twice on a 2s spell and it will take you 3s to cast), for channeling it takes 0.5s off the bar, meaning the effect doesn't last as long. All spells have a range (often 30 yards), and require hard Line of Sight (no scenery in the way). Most spells require facing as well (target can't be behind you) so in PvP people will try to make you fail your cast by dodging about. You CAN turn while casting, with arrows or mouselook. Keeping a bead on someone shouldn't be a real problem for a D3er once you get the idea :)

Straightforward melee is an autoattack you can turn on and off, but it isn't going to get you far damage wise without using some abilities. You pick the target, hit attack, and get in range. Your attack delay and damage-per-hit is based on the weapon, character stats can boost DPH. Attack-based skills either give you a free swing with a bonus effect or add an effect to your next swing. All attack based skills have a short range and facing requirement. Most pets (warlock and hunter classes have minions which you can command) have melee based skills you can use on their behalf, I think only the imp does not and he has a ranged spell.

That's about as well as I can sum up combat in an overall sense. If you want to know things like class roles, tactics etc, send me a pm and we won't clutter up the forum.

ps don't read the WoW forums, most of the people there are BNet kiddies that whine about things they don't understand

edit: let me know what name you take sheepdog, if you roll horde I can probably lend you a hand. If you roll alliance, I might consider not ganking you heartlessly :p

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:23 pm
by MehYam
woodchip wrote:Looking at the wow forums, I get the impression combat is more you a turn based attack than action based. True?
Yes, it's got a lot in common with turn-based combat even though the moves are mapped out in real-time (you make a choice, wait a second for it to complete, then make your next one. Sometimes you'll interrupt them to do something different, or move or run somewhere). There are a lot of decisions to make as the combat is happening, and many different situations that need to be handled differently, especially if you're working in a group - that's really where the action is.

This isn't for everybody, but I'd be willing to bet that it's fun for most, as Blizzard tried to ++ the addictive parts of the game, like they always do.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:09 am
by Jeff250
Did anyone here try out the Guildwars beta this last weekend?

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:32 am
by WarAdvocat
Maybe combat is turn-based for other classes, but for the warrior, combat is realtime, with various timed actions and moves that can be executed. Each move has a "cooldown" wait (varying from 5 sec to 60 mins) until it can be used again, as well as a (much shorter) general cooldown after most moves until you can use any other another move.

There are 'instant' moves which can be used in direct retaliation to dodges (or hits) by the enemy, as well as various damage over time moves ("rend", "deep wound", bleeds, etc), interruption ("shield bash", knock-down etc) moves which halt the enemy mid-action, and many others.

I can see where it might seem turn-based but that's not the case at all. Treat it like it's turn based and die. Quickly. Work it right and you can easily fight over your level. Even more so with a priest as a companion :)

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:59 am
by woodchip
I guess I'd have to try it before buying. Anything out there in the way of a single player demo?
Warrior class is what I'd prolly go for...either that or a ranger.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:35 am
by Darkside Heartless
Jeff250 wrote:Did anyone here try out the Guildwars beta this last weekend?
Yep, bought it already :)

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:44 pm
by Tetrad
There is no demo to speak of but people who bought the CE version have a 3 day "Guest Pass" which allows you to install their copy of the game on your machine and create an account that works for a few days. Good luck finding one though; when blizzard says limited edition they mean it.

Edit: yay new skirt

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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:26 pm
by WarAdvocat
woodchip wrote:Anything out there in the way of a single player demo?
M(assively)M(multiplayer)O(online)RPG..."single player demo"...not ;)

Heh.

It's actually not as completely oxymoronic as it sounds...but close enough.

Woodchip: I recommend you find a RL friend who is playing and go level a newbie up to 7 or 10 or so on his account.

On the other hand, if you've ever played an MMORPG before (EQ,AC,AC2,DAOC,SWG,HZ etc) you pretty much know what to expect...but done right. WoW is a solid product.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:20 pm
by woodchip
Alas Warman, I have never tried such games on line.

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:56 pm
by Unix
Me neither. I don't happen to know anyone who has the game and I'm more that a little hesistant to spend the money on the game and then pay for a subscription and end up not liking it at all.

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:29 am
by Tetrad
First month is free if that's any consolation.

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:17 am
by WarAdvocat
but be warned: World of WarCrack is addicting!

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:23 am
by Unix
Are there any free MMORPG that I could try before I invest in WoW?

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 10:08 am
by Tetrad
MapleStory is free, but I can't really say that it's the same game or even anything near the same experience really, given that it's 1) Not WoW and 2) I've never played it myself.

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:37 am
by snoopy
Unix wrote:Are there any free MMORPG that I could try before I invest in WoW?
Yeah- I'd say find a friend who has WoW and get him to let you play a new character up to like 5 or 6 to try it out. It isn't really a question of if you will like it, it's more a question of if you want to sink all the time it will take once you get addicted to it.

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:22 pm
by Phoenix Red
grats on the kilt Tetrad, I'm looking forward to doing temple again as a priest. My groupmates are a bit low still though. We're in maraudon right now :)

WarAdvocate: warriors are the only class with a cooldown on almost every skill, because warriors are the only class that can generate ability juice faster than they can use it. If I got free mana every time someone hit me my heals would have cooldowns too.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 12:03 am
by Defender
WarAdvocat wrote:I haven't tryed FFXI, but it looks kinda washed-out, although rich in detail, the colors don't look nearly as vibrant and alive as WoW. Hope you're having fun either way.
Those screenshots I posted are from a washed-out looking area, devoid of most life.
There some absolutely, jaw-dropping landscapes in FFXI.
I'll see if I can't take some SS's in the better areas there.

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:07 am
by Plebeian
Defender wrote:
WarAdvocat wrote:I haven't tryed FFXI, but it looks kinda washed-out, although rich in detail, the colors don't look nearly as vibrant and alive as WoW. Hope you're having fun either way.
Those screenshots I posted are from a washed-out looking area, devoid of most life.
There some absolutely, jaw-dropping landscapes in FFXI.
I'll see if I can't take some SS's in the better areas there.
You have to remember that the in-game screeshot capture sucks horribly. If you use an external program, you'll get much better captures. Only when it's the middle of the day do the in-game shots ever turn out okay. (At least in my experience. Those shots look like they've had the brightness turned up on them after they were taken, to offset said problem.)

I hoped to get a link to one of the shots my LS has on our boards, but no dice -- people usually use the in-game capture, and the other interesting shots are almost all at night. And a shot at 2am just isn't the same as a shot at noon....


(But no matter what, the colors are more a "realistic" palette rather than the "vibrant" palette of WoW. Taste is subjective, but I prefer the look of FFXI to that of WoW, but others may prefer it the other way.)

Sick

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:49 am
by Delirium
Bah horde

this game is completely sick..it's about the richest game i've seen in a while. Graphics are incredible. I don't know if i've ever had so much fun sitting in one place for 2 hours raising my fishing skill level to a place where the fish can actually make my pet cat happy.

As you can see i'm a bit partial to the alliance, but in my defense, the alliance chicks are so much hotter it's not even funny. plus our dancing is better. and well gnomes are just fun. A few nights ago i saw the funniest thing. Apparently a gnome made a campfire in front of the auction house in ironforge, then unexpectedly takes off all his clothes, throws on his deep sea diving helmet (unique helm) and cape and runs around the fire with blunderbuss in hand..it had me cracking up for hours. i should post the screenshot.

If anyone decides to get it and wants to roll a char on a low pop. limited pvp server. Go Llane!

Llane Server (Limited PVP)
Nocturnum
Lvl40 Night Elf Hunter (herbalism/alchemy)
Delirium
Lvl23 Human Warlock (Enchanting/Tailoring)
Necate
Lvl31 Night Elf Druid (Skinning/Leatherworking)
Cahandair
Lvl10 Dwarf Paladin (Mining/Engineering)
Kinnatia
Lvl10 Gnome Rogue (Mining/Blacksmith)

Spinebreaker (PVP)
Tauris
Lvl36 Tauren Hunter (Skinning/Leatherworking)

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:29 am
by Phoenix Red
We're attempting Lucifron again friday, pretty damn confident too. Before I have a victory screenshot, here's a new shot of my priest and his whelpling buddy.

Image

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 8:04 am
by Warlock
Defender what server r u on cause im on Fenrir

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:57 am
by Tetrad
Been 60 for a while now. Look pretty much the same as I did at 54 except I have purple boots (the end game druid set pair).

Here's something you don't see every day:
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ARCANE MISSLES (inside the Molten Core, a level 60 raid instance), we had 49 people all level 60 on that raid.
Image

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 11:33 am
by Max_T

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 5:56 am
by Phoenix Red
you need more wildheart tetrad :( what's your MC progress looking like?

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:43 am
by WarAdvocat
I must say, after playing other games, the in-game moddability of the WoW UI is disappointingly sucky.

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:30 pm
by Tetrad
Wildheart is ugly, but when I can I join in on raids on the bosses that drop the set stuff. I just don't have the time to play like I used to.

And the in game UI modability is bad? How so? It's all done with events and XML. There is some really sick stuff people have done. There's this mod called FlexBar that is really flexible (hence the name). For example if you're a mage and get clearcasting (free spell) you can set it up so flexbar puts a giant ARCANE MISSLES button over your head.

The ability to do things is there, it just hasn't been done in an easy packaged form yet. If you want something done right you usually have to hack it together yourself.

Granted the only other game I've played is FFXI which has pretty much no UI mods that I knew of.

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:00 pm
by STRESSTEST
Anyone on Killrog?

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:45 pm
by WarAdvocat
Tetrad wrote: And the in game UI modability is bad? How so? It's all done with events and XML. There is some really sick stuff people have done. There's this mod called FlexBar that is really flexible (hence the name). For example if you're a mage and get clearcasting (free spell) you can set it up so flexbar puts a giant ARCANE MISSLES button over your head.

The ability to do things is there, it just hasn't been done in an easy packaged form yet. If you want something done right you usually have to hack it together yourself.
In-game...as in...umm...while you are IN THE GAME, IN-ENGINE, whatever. Not by externally coding a modification, and populating the interface folder with your mods.

Examples from Horizons follow:

Basic, very sparse UI, shuffled around but otherwise not changed much...

Somewhat more modified, but still fairly standard UI ONE TWO

Heavily modified, highly functional UI's ONE TWO

All of the above UI changes were could be accomplished without downloading a third-party UI, or writing your own mod. It was a built in functionality that you could just add a tool bar/hotkey bar, or a chat window or whatever, drag it wherever you wanted it, etc.

It's one of those little creature comforts that you get used to. I must say, Horizons really shines in this regard, despite it's other failings.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:52 pm
by WarAdvocat
aww and I was so hoping you'd have some intelligent response as to how I was, in fact, mistaken...

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 2:34 pm
by Tetrad
Dude I was asking you why you thought that way out of curiousity, not trying to be confrontational.

Personally I think any in-game stuff is going to be less flexible than rolling your own, but hey, to each his own.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 3:21 pm
by Phoenix Red
My ui:

Image

sorry for posting the public forum version, I have a gag order on our onyxia progress

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 3:56 pm
by snoopy
Tetrad wrote:ARCANE MISSLES (inside the Molten Core, a level 60 raid instance), we had 49 people all level 60 on that raid.
Ugh @ 49 people. I remember raids and exactly how much I disliked them. (at least it's not 200-250 that I had to endure)

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:01 pm
by Phoenix Red
Tetrad made a typo too, maximum people you can cram into a raid instance is 40. I assume he meant 39.

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:43 am
by Phoenix Red
ONYXIA DOWN!
fourth guild, second horde guild, first PvP guild... ever!

Image

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http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/threa ... ID=1489308

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 1:52 pm
by snoopy
is Onyxia like the toughest mob in the game?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:00 am
by Phoenix Red
second toughest. Ragnaros has never been killed.

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:38 am
by DarkHorse
It looks remarkably similar to Guild Wars but with more complex gameplay/GUI and slightly worse graphics.

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:46 am
by snoopy
Ragnaros next for u guys PR?

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 2:09 pm
by Phoenix Red
Darkhorse: it's the other way around. Guild Wars was designed to be a dumbed-down MMO style game with a dash of diablo 2, with the cut-the-crap style thinking that lead to the 1/4 mile drag race (why bother with the first 10 laps anyway?).

Snoopy: we're hard at work getting the prerequisites down to spawn him, but it's going to be a little bit. Quite a few guilds have a head start on that, but we'll still be up there I'm sure.