Will WoW keep me interested?
 

My new PC should be arriving sometime in the middle of November and I already have a host of games I want to play. (The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, The Witcher, New Vegas) but when I am finished with these I would like to try my hand at an MMO. I played guild wars back in 2005 for a couple of months and really liked it. The only problem was that it was a bit linear… if that's the right word for it. But I really enjoyed collecting differant items for crafting and the ability to customize your characters armor with dyes.

My question is this: What are the non-combat aspects of WoW and how much apart of the game are they? If I get bored Questing am I free to roam looking for items to craft? and if their is a crafting system is it deep? If there is a smithing profession can you make magical weapons?

What other things can you do besides crafting? (If you can do that)

I find things like this greatly adds to the immersion of the gameplay experience and I really have a lot of fun doing odd things around the world.

I played it like 4 or 5 years ago. It should keep you entertained for a few months, since there are a lot of classes to play, lots of races, etc. Very simple gameplay.
As far as crafting goes, there's a lot of crafting you can do until about level 45 or so (well I guess you can go all the way) but to make the best items, you usually need to learn the recipes from trainers that are deep in raid only zones, something I hated since I wasn't in any guild.
But still, it should be ok for some 3 or 4 months, and if you get into a good guild, you could even be there for years.

How does one go about joining a guild? I am downloading the free trial version right now to see if I like it at all.

No! No! Don't! Seriously, wait until December or next year before trying the game. Cataclysm is going to make massive changes to the game, so what you experience now won't be what you experience in a very short while.

I think there's plenty to keep you going if you're not interested in the end-game raiding content or PvP, but be warned that they're the major parts of the game. You can get by on crafting, but to make some of the higher end recipes for each expansion, you will need resources that you gain from dungeons/raids, so if you don't do them then you'll be stuck with the poorer recipes, but they're often good sellers.

Basically, WoW revolves predominantly around instancing and group play. If you want certain recipes, you'll either be grinding mobs in certain areas or you'll be farming dungeons. If you want resources for certain recipes, you'll be doing the same. If you want to take a break from questing there is gathering (I believe Sony's Vanguard is the best for crafting, but I could be wrong), exploring (Which brings benefits in Cataclysm with a new profession) and roleplay, which you'll really only find on roleplay servers. It's either really good roleplay or it's absolutely horrific, so you'll need to bear that in mind. If you want to be a respected roleplayer then you need to seriously research the lore and how races act and speak.

I would wager that Lord of the Rings Online or Vanguard are more to your tastes if you want to do the secondary aspects predominantly.

I just re-subbed after being away for 3+ years, the main reason being all the changes coming because of the new expansion whether you have it or not.

Most people are starting new characters because of this in my guild, so if you want some help to start off with and are in North America, start a character on the Sisters of Elune server and look up Warrek(my new character) and I can help get you going.

Having played Lord of the Rings Online for over a year, I'd have to disagree with it being a good starter MMO. I think WoW other than the monthly fee is the most accessible of these type of games, I know more people who have never played an MMO before who have really enjoyed WoW, even my aunt who is in her late 60's plays it and is in a guild lol.

I'm not denying WoW is one of the most accessible, and I agree completely that it is even if it's just because of the scope of the player base, but I was thinking more about emphasis on the secondary features of the game.

To me LotRO is more friendly towards solo play and features like crafting and gathering, but also customisation of one's character.

Thanks a lot man I will deffinitly do that. My new computer won't even arrive until late November and I want to play through The Witcher before I get into WoW but I will definatly look you up. I'm not sure what my name will be. Probablly Skweetis like it always is when I name a charector.

Sorry for the double post, but I have tried downloading LOTRO several times on my home office computer and for some reason I can't access the servers. Maybe when my gaming PC gets here I can give it a go. at least I have an account.

Sure you bet, like Dwagginz said above, after Dec.7 when all the new changes hit will be the best time to start playing.

I have read that changes will occur, what changes will be made? and do I need CAT to benefit from them? I planned on just buying the BAttle Chest, that is if I like the 10 day trial, only have 5gbs left of the download.

Edit: Are you Alliance or Horde? from what I've read I can't join up with you if we are on opposing factions. and how do I select your server?

The changes that come in Cataclysm will basically change the whole world, the items you get and a myriad of other massive changes. I've not experienced it for myself via a test realm, but it looks as though it's almost going to be a new game.

You don't need Cataclysm to get the changes, but I'll list the major features allowed with each expansion.
The Burning Crusade - Raises cap to 70, adds Outland (58-70). Makes Draenei (Alliance) and Blood Elves (Horde) playable.
Wrath of the Lich King - Raises cap to 80, adds Northrend (68-80). Makes Death Knights (All races; Both factions) available to play.
Cataclysm - Raises cap to 85, adds revamped zones and a number of new zones for 78-85. Makes Goblins (Horde) and Worgen (Alliance) playable.

You need to own all the expansions - You can't go from TBC to Cataclysm, you have to buy Wrath of the Lich King to go between. Each time an expansion comes out a number of features are added for those without it, such as Cataclysm's world-wide revamp, but the expansion is needed for the end-game content and to access the new races.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like I should hold off getting any of the expansions until I reach level 58. If I understood you correctly, cataclysm will make all those changes irregardless as to wether you have the expansion or not. Correct? If I am wrong please inform me, I have been playing the trial version and I am having a ball. I don't mind buying all the expansions.

To say it bluntly:

You should be aware that you will probably stop playing anything else if you enjoy WoW. We're talking 1000s of hours. Your backlog will get longer and longer.

So if you want diversity, don't even start playing MMOs.

Guilds are the blessing and the curse of these games. If you are lucky and join a good guild, then it's a great experience, but if you join a bad guild, you'll probably uninstall the game a week later.
Basically, guilds are nothing more than a group of people with a private chat channel, in essence. But what it means is that now, whenever you need to do something that requires several people (like doing a dungeon), it's much easier to find people to do it with, than if you're not in a guild. That's the blessing… Now, the curse is that, if that group of people is not 'good', you're in for a lot of trouble. You start to get into the guild dramas. People who've been longer in the guilds expect more attention. You're expected to do everything with your guild, etc.
How do you join a guild? can be as simple as (totally not recommended) playing for a few hours, chances are someone will randomly ask you to join their guild. Not recommended because that means they have no 'filtering' process, i.e. they invite everybody. Remember this game is played by a huge amount of teenagers (and I'd bet in the low teens), so imagine all the teen angst you could experience.
The best way would be for you to get to know other people, and if you meet someone you like (not in the 'hey that's a hot paladin chick' way), and if he's in a guild, maybe ask him about it, if he likes it, if most people in there are like him, etc. Hopefully, if the guild is respectable, they'll want to know you first, maybe even group with you a bit before they actually invite you. This is good, it means that they do filtering.
Another way is to look in the official forum for your server and look for the lists of guilds, usually leaders leave a post about their guild, their style of play, etc.

Gorath: I am aware of this. That is why I have the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, The Witcher, Crysis, and FO:NV to play BEFORE I start playing WoW. it will keep me busy until WItcher 2 and Crysis 2 come out in mid-to-late spring, and then I'll pick right back up where I left off.

Wolfing: It sounds like you have to run the same quality control checks that you did in Guild Wars. Thanks for the info.

Run while you still can!

Its not a "true" game. Its a game designed to take a loooooong time in order to keep you playing. They dangle a carrot in front of your face, then another then another…

Pretty much every addiction mechanism ever studied has been incorporated. Personally, I think children should be kept away from this game in the same way they are kept away from slot machines.

As for crafting you'll find better items in your questing before you can make them.

Its kind of like a group of drug addicts. No one will ever break the fantasy and admit they have a problem and are not really having fun anymore because everyone would yell at them. But they've been addicted and neglecting their real lives so long theres really nothing much to go back to anyway. You'll soon come to know "wow players" as a separate group to the "gamers" you thought they were.

No, you don't need to hold off at all. Wrath of the Lich King is the only one that has nothing for low level players. The Burning Crusade gives two new levelling zones (One for Blood Elves, one for Draenei) and they're arguably the best of the lot - I'd say that they're pretty well balanced for new players as the older ones suffer from years of tweaks and game changes. You could, if you wanted, get the battlechest and be fine until around level 68, at which point you can either get to 70 in Outland (the continent added in TBC for 58-70) or you can go to Northrend at 68, but I would argue that staying in Outland until 69/70 is better - But that's irrelevant for you at the moment.

Cataclysm comes in two parts:
1. World change happens for everyone. Class tweaks have partially happened, but the biggest chunk and greatest balancing will arrive closer to the release date. The quests will change, the rewards will change - It will be like a different game. The expansion is not needed for this.
2. Some new zones, dungeons and content opens up if you have the Cataclysm expansion, along with two new races and two new levelling zones.

If you're still unsure about the game, even though you're enjoying the trial, I suggest that you finish the trial and get the battlechest. Install it and patch it up but I would really recommend you don't add the key to your account until the world change has happened (I think it's patch 4.0.3a that does that, which will come around the time of Cataclysm's release) because I think any progress you make now will be moot and rendered pointless when the cataclysm hits. There'll be a wave of players rerolling, old players coming back and new players joining around that time, and I think it would honestly be the best time for you to get started properly as there'll be help left, right and centre for you and you won't be struggling to find a guild to join or players to group with.

Of course, if you want to start now then that's your prerogative, but I think that really you're going to be best waiting until December.

Excellent information. Thank you. I am deffinatly going to wait until after December because my new rig wont arrive until mid-late november and I have to play through The Witcher first. I have been drooling over that game for three years. I also want to play through the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and New Vegas, but I believe I am going to hold off one New Vegas until the GotY edition comes out when more mods are available. Sitting that one out will be tough for me though…

Play DDO instead. First, it's free and second, quite a few from here play a lot, and finally we have our own RPGWatch Guild on Khyber!!