WoW Stress test

[Nunul]

Has anyone else tried it out yet?

I played for an hour or so this afternoon and was mightily impressed. Was wondering if anyone else took the plunge and downloaded the 2+gigs.

[Himitsu]

I'm in it on the Tichondrius server as Himitsu. I'm a Gnome mage who fiddled with mining and engineering and am now going with tailoring and enchanting which go well together. I just wish I had the money I spent on all those mining and engineering recipes. :rolleyes: I'm really enjoying myself so far and it's a thrill to make something that I can use and then enchant it for some added bonus. For example, I just bought a new recipe for bracers which was better than the one I bought at the store. Then I used my new enchant ability I got when I became an enchantress and enchanted it with the ability to give me +5 health. Not a huge improvement but that's why it's called Bracers - Minor Health. I also made a Journeyman's Robe which has +1 to spirit and am using that now. Although I had to make a t-shirt which has no defense ability because it was a little skimpy in the chest area and I am not going around exposed. I then sold 2 6-slot bags for 5 silver and 30 copper which was good because getting the ingredients for my first couple enchants were really expensive.

I went on a bit longer than I thought but I'm not going to delete what I just wrote. If anyone else is on Tichondrius feel free to give me a holler. I'll be more than happy to help you out either by crafting cloth items for you to wear or making bags for you or enchanting some of your items. I'll also buy any linen cloth you have for 10 copper each. Feel free to send me them via COD.

[Konoko]

so what kind of requirements do you need?
I was looking at this test as a chance to try it but I'll wait a bit longer for the regular beta I think.

What kind of mac are you running it on?

I'm hoping my G4 with Encore 1.2GHz upgrade and an ATi 8500 will be fine. Anyone have an idea?


thanks

[Himitsu]

I have an upgraded 1 GHz PowerMac G4 with 768 MB of RAM and a 128 MB Radeon 9200 and the performance is excellent even with everything turned up and at 1024x768. Sometimes it's a bit rouger than I'd like but overall I'd give it a B grade. I'm sure the final version will be even smoother than it is right now since the client isn't optimized as fully as it can be.

If you have a good video card and enough ram, you won't have a problem.

[Nunul]

I am running it on my 15" 1.5GHz PB with 1gig RAM and a 128mb mobile radeon. I wish I could say that I have spent enough time trying all the settings out, but there is just TOO much to tweak...and only so much time left over to gawk at the beautiful landscapes and such. Like Himi said, there is bound to be some optimization prior to release. Even with settings at their lowest however, the game is still a beaut!

I need to get a new set of headphones just to enjoy the sounds better. There is a large dwarvish "city" which on my tinny speakers still sounds cavernous. The music is also quite good.

As far as WHAT one can do in the game, there is just a mind-boggling array...and as far as I have heard, much more on the horizon.

WoW...just, WoW :eek:

[Himitsu]

As far as WHAT one can do in the game, there is just a mind-boggling array...and as far as I have heard, much more on the horizon.

I concur and that's what I like about WoW. If you want PvE you can do that. If you want PvP you can do that. If you want to be an expert tailor/skinner/leathermaker/alchemist/enchantress/etc. you can do that. If you want to do every possible quest in every location you can do that. If you want to go on dungeon raids for experience and loot you can do that.

Unlike other games you aren't stuck having only a few options and I think WoW will have a much broader appeal.

[Therian]

Since people seem to be speaking favorably about it--

What's WoW and where would I find it?

--Therian [:D]

[Himitsu]

Since people seem to be speaking favorably about it--

What's WoW and where would I find it?

*facefault*

Uh... ok... have you heard of Warcraft from Blizzard? No, don't answer. I don't want my heart to implode if you answer no.

WoW stands for World of Warcraft and it's a MMORPG from Blizzard set in the, for lack of a better way to say this, the world of Warcraft right after the expansion to Warcraft 3.

Right now it's in the final stages of closed beta testing and it should be available soon. Whether that soon is this year or next year is hard to say but definitely sooner than later. I'm not in the closed beta testing but Blizzard opened up a week of stress testing for a couple thousand lucky souls.

For more information I suggest either going to the official WoW community site at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ or an excellent fan site at http://www.worldofwar.net/.

[Therian]

Uh... ok... have you heard of Warcraft from Blizzard? No, don't answer. I don't want my heart to implode if you answer no.

Well, I wouldn't want to be responsible for any heart implosions, so I'll carefully not answer, except to offer the extenuating circumstance that my PWC is a middle-aged fuddy-duddy college professor and would-be science fiction writer, and thus not up on all the latest gaming news.

So, is it really better than the (small number of) other MMORPGs I tried before deciding that the whole multi-player genre was a waste of time? (Until a friend got me to try ClanLord, that is.)

--Therian [:D]

[Himitsu]

So, is it really better than the (small number of) other MMORPGs I tried before deciding that the whole multi-player genre was a waste of time? (Until a friend got me to try ClanLord, that is.)

Yes, it is.

[Konoko]

WarCraft (and the space based StarCraft) have long been favourites in the real-time strategy type games. Get resources, build up defenses, and build an army to go and take over the bases of the other players (either humans online or cpu-controlled).

I have a couple various warcraft games (i think i have 3) but haven't played them really. The original warcraft goes back several years. Starcraft is even a number of years old. I played that one the most until I had a bad experience playing a net game with a number of people. Playing against the computer is one thing but when a snot-nosed young punk who is definitely a "poor" winner pretty much destroys you a number of times without even giving you a chance to make it fair - well let's just say I don't think I've ever really gone back to playing. That sort of ruined it for me :(

Anyways, the World of Warcraft is an MMORPG thing that takes place in the universe of warcraft: same land, same creatures, etc.

I'm looking forward to it!

Blizzard's a good company for doing hybrid releases (are they still called that?). They develop both rather than developing one and have someone else port the mac version months later.

[Konoko]

IMG has a recent preview of world of warcraft:
http://www.insidemacgames.com/previews/view.php?ID=168

[Himitsu]

The only problem will be the intermenable wait after the stress test ends and World of Warcraft begins.

[Nunul]

Just picked up the pre-order reservation box for the game at GameStop. For a paltry $5, you get a box with a shiny new novel based on the WoW world. (of course, the $5 counts towards the game upon release too!)

Announced a few days back was the Open Beta, for which signups would happen "soon". (sound familliar? [;)] )

[Himitsu]

Just picked up the pre-order reservation box for the game at GameStop. For a paltry $5, you get a box with a shiny new novel based on the WoW world. (of course, the $5 counts towards the game upon release too!)

I ordered the Collector's Edition since the 200 page hardcover art book was too good to pass up in addition to all of the other goodies it includes. It's a bit pricey for me but since I haven't purchased a game in quite some time I figure I can afford it.

Announced a few days back was the Open Beta, for which signups would happen "soon". (sound familliar? [;)] )

The words are the same but Helpful GM has a much smoother delivery. [:p]

[Nunul]

I ordered the Collector's Edition since the 200 page hardcover art book was too good to pass up in addition to all of the other goodies it includes. It's a bit pricey for me but since I haven't purchased a game in quite some time I figure I can afford it.[:p]

Aye...it IS pricey. I couldn't (no matter how I flip-flopped them in my pea brain) make the "goodies" add up to what $30 extra? The map would be nice (I like maps more than Bilbo himself), but I doubt it would remain accurate very long. The artbook...no doubt that it will appear in bookstoors. The pet? Virtual widgets don't do it for me.

I got the preorder box from a retail store. I hope folks get them before the switch is flipped on. I suggested a distribution a few days before "live" on the WoW forums, but very few could see the reasoning.

Himi, we need to keep in contact once we appear in our new toons...if only to lean on each other and comisserate about the b.net kiddies 8)

[Himitsu]

Aye...it IS pricey. I couldn't (no matter how I flip-flopped them in my pea brain) make the "goodies" add up to what $30 extra? The map would be nice (I like maps more than Bilbo himself), but I doubt it would remain accurate very long.

I am thinking it will just be a map of the continents and major cities so it will be accurate for quite some time unless the capitals get moved or part of the continents get destroyed in some cataclysm destruction. Besides, it's something to put on my wall no matter whether it's accurate or not since I'm sure it'll look really good.

The artbook...no doubt that it will appear in bookstoors.

Possibly, but I didn't want to take the chance.

The pet? Virtual widgets don't do it for me.

If it's a cute pet the extra money will be worth it.

Himi, we need to keep in contact once we appear in our new toons...if only to lean on each other and comisserate about the b.net kiddies 8)

I'll be a Gnome X and although I was a mage in the stress test I might be a Warlock because that looks interesting as well. I just don't know if being a Warlock suits my naturally cute and inquisitive and friendly nature. I'll have to decide. If you're a Dwarf we can maybe do some quests together while I practice to become stronger to free Gnomeregan! [:D]

[Bob the Archer]

SWC Jeanne has been in on the stress test, has posted some nice screenshots and comments on her blog (http://pics.livejournal.com/harukaba/gallery/00002pff)

[Nunul]

SWC Jeanne has been in on the stress test, has posted some nice screenshots and comments on her blog (http://pics.livejournal.com/harukaba/gallery/00002pff)

a. Jeanne is EVERYWHERE! 8)

b. Hard to believe, as good as screen shots are, the game is even more impressive when "in motion".