My view is very similar to Thecla's view. My reasons for anticipating the game are much like his.
My main concerns with World of Warcraft are (given Blizzards history) - (1) (like Thecla) security and enforcement of legitimate play, and (2) adequate tuning of the high level game.
(1) In regards to security and stopping of exploits/dupes - That is why I hope I am paying my monthly fee.
D2 contained a free battle net service. They said they would try their best to make D2 secure - and it is quite obvious now what (their best efforts) + (no ongoing funds) = ($hit house security).
Now EverQuest has a monthly fee and it is clear that (their best efforst) + (monthly fee) = (quite good security)... a number of holes but orders of magnitude better than D2.
Now comparing Sony/Verant to Blizzard as a gaming company I know who I like better. I would hope that Blizzard at least has the same security as EQ does if not better.
(2) Tuning of the high level game. In D2 Blizzard thought (before release) that Hell difficulty was impossible to do solo. Someone then finished it before D2 even got released in Australia. In D2 Blizzard missed many overpowered combinations. Err... Whirlwind + leech? Seriously how the hell do you miss that?
So why do i have a modicum of faith for WoW? Well MMORPG character classes are usually a lot simpler than D2's. Also Blizzard have a number of people on their team that have large amounts of experience with the high end game of EQ, since WoW is an evolution of EQ one would expect they could tune the high end game better than D2.
Tigole, ex-GuildLeader of Legacy of Steel, uberguild of the Nameless server of EverQuest, is now lead quest designer and plays a large part in the design of WoW. This is a large selling point to me.
That is why despite their shocking record of game tuning/balancing with D2 I have moderate faith in their abilities for WoW.
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As for the whole debate about cost. I think comparing D2 which has no monthly fee to WoW which has a monthly fee is comparing 2 completely different genres. D2 while in the most literal sense is a Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game, it is not what people mean when they say MMORPG. A much better phrase is Persistant Online World. Meaining D2 is not persistant and WoW is.
Now D2 (quests in Hell Difficulty) was finished in under a weeks time. People then began to do the same things over and over again with different characters. It also had security problems + dupes/exploits galore. For this you paid zero dollars.
If all WoW quests were finished in a week, and there was the security level of D2, and I was paying a monthly fee I would scream bloody murder.
What I am paying my monthly fee for (apart from servers and bandwith) is - if I play as a casual gamer I will never reach the end of WoW, because by the time I do, the 'WoW live team' will have created more end game zones and more quests. And because when someone invariably finds a dupe/exploit the 'WoW live team' will stop it before it becomes common enough to wreck the economy of the game world.
There is a huge difference between my expectations of D2 and its free service, and WoW and its monthly fee service, and *that* is why I will pay the monthly fee.
There is no way Blizzard can make a popular, secure, free internet game. They cannot have that combination. They already tried and failed. Now I am not willing to compromise on security. I am also not willing to compromise on popular (because if it was unpopular that means it would be boring). So the only variable left to change is paying a fee.
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In regards to some people's views of MMORPGs being the 'hard drugs' of the gaming world. I have to agree. There is a greater chance for the correct personality type being addicted to a MMORPG. The game then ceases to become fun - it becomes an addiction, almost a job.
I stopped playing EQ because of this.
When World of WarCraft begins to feel the same way I will also stop playing. But I hope this will be after solid months (possibly years) of fun gaming. How will they achieve this?
EQ players 'grind' and 'camp'. They hunt in a predetermined 'good' location and kill monsters for the fastest exp gain. They sit around a spot they know where a unique monster will spawn and wait hours for him then kill him so they have a hope of getting his special loot.
The reason they do this is because they want to be max level and have the best items. This is addiction making them play rather than fun.
How will WoW break this? Instead of grinding for levels. you will quest for them instead. Questing will force you to visit scenic and exotic new areas, force you to encounter fantastic and awe inspiring monsters, it will force you to follow a story line rather than think about how fast you are gaining exp. Now that to me is fun. That to me would be playing for fun rather than playing because you are addicted.
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I guess I'm a World of Warcraft Fanboy (though I don't think i'm a completely deluded one). I'm certainly not a Blizzard fanboy.
WoW is going to have lots of bad points. Here is why despite this I still have faith:
The FPS genre is polished. It is hard for innovation to occur. You have to reinvent the genre to sell a new game now. (Eg Doom3 and its attempt to be a horror movie)
The RTS genre is polished. It is hard for innovation to occur. You have to have a cool new feature to sell a new game now.
The Street Fighter genre is polished. Ditto.
The MMORPG genre is NOT polished. The games out there are full of basic level design flaws.
World of Warcraft to me is like an average game being released amongst a sea of crude, rough, unpolished game.
WoW is going to have many flaws. However it is going to me more polished (scrubbed to a medium sheen) than any current MMORPG. And this is in a fledgling genre that sorely needs to be polished. Not reinvented like the geriatric genres of FPS, RTS and Fighting Games.
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This post rambled. I apologise.
My main concerns with World of Warcraft are (given Blizzards history) - (1) (like Thecla) security and enforcement of legitimate play, and (2) adequate tuning of the high level game.
(1) In regards to security and stopping of exploits/dupes - That is why I hope I am paying my monthly fee.
D2 contained a free battle net service. They said they would try their best to make D2 secure - and it is quite obvious now what (their best efforts) + (no ongoing funds) = ($hit house security).
Now EverQuest has a monthly fee and it is clear that (their best efforst) + (monthly fee) = (quite good security)... a number of holes but orders of magnitude better than D2.
Now comparing Sony/Verant to Blizzard as a gaming company I know who I like better. I would hope that Blizzard at least has the same security as EQ does if not better.
(2) Tuning of the high level game. In D2 Blizzard thought (before release) that Hell difficulty was impossible to do solo. Someone then finished it before D2 even got released in Australia. In D2 Blizzard missed many overpowered combinations. Err... Whirlwind + leech? Seriously how the hell do you miss that?
So why do i have a modicum of faith for WoW? Well MMORPG character classes are usually a lot simpler than D2's. Also Blizzard have a number of people on their team that have large amounts of experience with the high end game of EQ, since WoW is an evolution of EQ one would expect they could tune the high end game better than D2.
Tigole, ex-GuildLeader of Legacy of Steel, uberguild of the Nameless server of EverQuest, is now lead quest designer and plays a large part in the design of WoW. This is a large selling point to me.
That is why despite their shocking record of game tuning/balancing with D2 I have moderate faith in their abilities for WoW.
-----------------
As for the whole debate about cost. I think comparing D2 which has no monthly fee to WoW which has a monthly fee is comparing 2 completely different genres. D2 while in the most literal sense is a Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game, it is not what people mean when they say MMORPG. A much better phrase is Persistant Online World. Meaining D2 is not persistant and WoW is.
Now D2 (quests in Hell Difficulty) was finished in under a weeks time. People then began to do the same things over and over again with different characters. It also had security problems + dupes/exploits galore. For this you paid zero dollars.
If all WoW quests were finished in a week, and there was the security level of D2, and I was paying a monthly fee I would scream bloody murder.
What I am paying my monthly fee for (apart from servers and bandwith) is - if I play as a casual gamer I will never reach the end of WoW, because by the time I do, the 'WoW live team' will have created more end game zones and more quests. And because when someone invariably finds a dupe/exploit the 'WoW live team' will stop it before it becomes common enough to wreck the economy of the game world.
There is a huge difference between my expectations of D2 and its free service, and WoW and its monthly fee service, and *that* is why I will pay the monthly fee.
There is no way Blizzard can make a popular, secure, free internet game. They cannot have that combination. They already tried and failed. Now I am not willing to compromise on security. I am also not willing to compromise on popular (because if it was unpopular that means it would be boring). So the only variable left to change is paying a fee.
-----
In regards to some people's views of MMORPGs being the 'hard drugs' of the gaming world. I have to agree. There is a greater chance for the correct personality type being addicted to a MMORPG. The game then ceases to become fun - it becomes an addiction, almost a job.
I stopped playing EQ because of this.
When World of WarCraft begins to feel the same way I will also stop playing. But I hope this will be after solid months (possibly years) of fun gaming. How will they achieve this?
EQ players 'grind' and 'camp'. They hunt in a predetermined 'good' location and kill monsters for the fastest exp gain. They sit around a spot they know where a unique monster will spawn and wait hours for him then kill him so they have a hope of getting his special loot.
The reason they do this is because they want to be max level and have the best items. This is addiction making them play rather than fun.
How will WoW break this? Instead of grinding for levels. you will quest for them instead. Questing will force you to visit scenic and exotic new areas, force you to encounter fantastic and awe inspiring monsters, it will force you to follow a story line rather than think about how fast you are gaining exp. Now that to me is fun. That to me would be playing for fun rather than playing because you are addicted.
-----
I guess I'm a World of Warcraft Fanboy (though I don't think i'm a completely deluded one). I'm certainly not a Blizzard fanboy.
WoW is going to have lots of bad points. Here is why despite this I still have faith:
The FPS genre is polished. It is hard for innovation to occur. You have to reinvent the genre to sell a new game now. (Eg Doom3 and its attempt to be a horror movie)
The RTS genre is polished. It is hard for innovation to occur. You have to have a cool new feature to sell a new game now.
The Street Fighter genre is polished. Ditto.
The MMORPG genre is NOT polished. The games out there are full of basic level design flaws.
World of Warcraft to me is like an average game being released amongst a sea of crude, rough, unpolished game.
WoW is going to have many flaws. However it is going to me more polished (scrubbed to a medium sheen) than any current MMORPG. And this is in a fledgling genre that sorely needs to be polished. Not reinvented like the geriatric genres of FPS, RTS and Fighting Games.
-----
This post rambled. I apologise.