... Ahem.

Lemme know what server Donna and… possibly you… are playing on, and I’ll roll up somebody new. I actually don’t play WoW much anymore though I keep my account active… I find the grinding a lot easier on City. But would at least like to drop by and say hello.

Rann: I literally *JUST* started like yesterday. I haven’t a clue what in the hell I’m doing yet, but it’s fun finding out. And yes, I read the hell out of the manual and the forums and guides and everything else I could get my hands on, and I’m still trying to figure things out. I’m on one of the RP servers, Kirgin Tor (I hope I spelled that right). I’m a level 2 Undead Warlock named Valadise (derivation on the Scandanavian name for “high goddess of destruction) and just questing and desperately hunting for copper so I can train. If you want to stop by I should be on this afternoon running around the Falls killing whatever I can. I’ve got no mike, no idea how to work chats, and I still can’t get a handle on how to work my little imp, so I’m like REALLY REALLY NEW. *laughs*

I didn’t know if I could play it at all between my lackluster computer and being able to follow the game play without getting massive headaches, so I’m just trying it out. I’m still not sure but it’s fun so far! If you’ve got advice, I’m totally willing to listen!

Sweetness Jim! Sign up for the Greymane realm and myself, the missus, and the guild will get you powerleveled up to 70 in no time!

In any case, as for advice, I can help. The wife and I have been playing for nearly two years now and love the game.

First off, stay away from Alliance. Yeah, I might be inviting some flames, but Alliance is mostly little kids. Horde has a better adult ratio. Get to know your lock pet. It’ll be a very helpful little booger, and as you get more pets, you get more strategies and abilities. Later on, your dots will become powerful (dot = damage over time spell). Locks excel at dotting the hell out of targets and watching them drain away over a few seconds. Open up your spellbook (hotkey P) and put them in the castbar at the bottom so you can use hotkeys to cast. Fear is one you should put in there as soon as you get it. Fear is a powerful tool for a leveling lock. Lots of fun watching the baddies run around like hell. Do the quests in the starting zone, and when you level up at each even level, make sure you find the Warlock trainer and get new/updated abilities. When you hit level 10, you’ll get to use talent points, which will add/enhance abilities you already have. There are three talent trees depending on the kind of lock you want to be. Have a look at them when they become available and see. You can always respec later (clears the talent trees and gives you the points back) and put them elsewhere.

If the quest grinding gets old from time to time, don’t forget instances. Instances are dungeons designed to be run in teams of five. You get a group together and in you go. They’re filled with baddies that are far too tough for just one character to kill, but great for a good team to clear out. You’ll find lots of loot in them and the bosses always drop good loot. Make sure to discuss who gets what (you can only wear cloth gear, of course) before rolling need or greed, or at least establish loot rules before starting in. Then there’s PvP, aka, player vs player. At lower levels, it’s battlegrounds, where you and a bunch of other players (usually whoever joins the queue, it’s random) will run in an isolated area against the opposing faction. You kill other players and try to reach objectives, ie, capture the flag, or secure a resource point to win. It can be great fun, but be prepared to get killed a lot. It’s a good idea to get to know your class before going in and have a rough idea of other classes as well.

In any case, if you know some people who play (see above post), join their server and see if they can help you out. It’s easier when you can get advice from people instead of making forum posts (the Blizzard forums are a wasteland of asshats, sadly) and waiting for someone to post something useful. Most of all, have fun, because WoW is well worth it! Get those characters leveled up before Wrath of the Lich King hits in less than two months!

I am proudly a non-WoW user.  Never have been.  I simply cannot justify spending money every month on something I possibly might not use.  And my experience from other pay to play mmorpgs is that I won’t use it enough to justify it.

Rann: YOU RULE!!! Thank you for your help today. I’m now a fully trained and decently equipped level 6 Warlock. Those Scarlet Initiates were pieces of cake after your help with the spiders.

Noble: When I started I thought I would try to do as much as I could solo, since I wasn’t sure I would be able to play much and didn’t have a headset. I picked an RP realm because, well, I like RPing! I’m going to play a few classes through level 20 or so to see what I really like, but I’m LOVING the Warlock so far. I don’t have any decent DOTs yet so I’m relying on Immolate and Shadow Bolt and my lovely Imp to get me through. I’ve had no problems yet. I WANT DRAIN SOUL DAMNIT! *grrrrrr*

Once I settle on something I can switch realms to where you are - is Greymane PvP or PvE? I’m VERY leery of PvP at this stage, but perhaps as I figure things out I’ll feel more comfortable there. I know the Totally Rad Guild is on Executus, which is PvP, so that’s another choice I’m considering when I figure out what I like best. ‘Course the TRG is Alliance…. *sigh* I like The Hoarde! They’re SO much cooler!

I can’t worry about Lich King yet… I don’t even have Blood Crusade! Just the basics so far. But yeah… having fun. I can totally see why this is crack. I just need to get more comfortable with all the commands (and there are SOOOO many!) and I’ll be grooving. It’s not that much different as far as strict gameplay than Diablo, which I worship.

Looking good for me so far! your job now is to convince Jim to join me.

Thanks for the advice! And LOVE YOU RANN!!!!! *smooches*

Greymane is a PvE server, so you don’t have to worry about 12 year old level 70s running around starter zones and ganking the noobies.

And Jim, get yer steadily shrinking ass onto WoW, dammit! You don’t have to get addicted. Myself and the wife aren’t. We play a fair amount and do scheduled raids, but we do still have other things that we do. What else do you have to do for games? Making dick monsters in Spore?

So long, Jim & Donna - it was nice knowing you

As a longtime Wow player, I welcome you to your new addiction. I have to disagree with Noble, as it seems on my server the adults are the Alliance, and the twelve year olds are mostly Horde, but I think this is just a perception based on what happens to you in the game. It’s probably very balanced, but when your being ganked by a Undead Rouge for the fourth time you do begin to hate the other side.
Also, if your just starten out do the PVE realms instead of the PVP. It is much much easier to build your character up if you are not always looking over your shoulder. I have always played PVP, but that’s not for everyone. I’m on the Azhara server if you want to try it over there.

Hey Noble… shoot me an email with your character name, guild name and some info. I’m thinking of starting my Warlock over again on Greymane and I might be calling on you for a little assistance in the very near future.

Oh… and yeah… I’m totally fucking hooked. I just ordered the Burning Crusade expansion. I’m not a melee player at all in games like this - I’m all magic - so if I’m going to try out a Mage (which I will) it’s GOT to be a Blood Elf. I’ll probably try out Druids and Shamans as well, but methinks it will come down to a choice between a Warlock and a Mage as my main… or both! You never know!

Oh, and can someone explain to Jim that you aren’t supposed to have just ONE character in games like this? I’m a veteran to MMORPGs (text or line graphic ones, not graphical ones like this) - he isn’t. He’s now stalling about playing saying that everyone seems to be spread out over different servers and with that the case how can he play with all his friends? My response of “well… you make new characters for each realm for each group of friends you want to play with” isn’t working. I don’t think he’s grasping the concept of alts and secondary mains. I need back-up!

*ducks and runs from Jim*

I’m an active Wow player and I have no idea what Emmy-chan is scared of.. oh Wait yes I do.. competition for Skynet.

Seriously it could beat skynet to the punch by simply insuring that no one has time to breed anymore..

On a related note I will be lucky enough to attend Blizzcon. I humbly offer the red robot’s services in producing a con report for Made of Awesome.

Becasue let’s face it.. WoW is definitely Made of Awesome.

.. and alliance 733t kiddies

.. and horde greifers

.. and time sucked down a hole….

.. but lots of awesome

[Oh and the red robot has toons on Sisters of Elune if anyone cares]

I’m on Greymane as Weztix. You might also find me as a couple of alts, possibly Cthulhuftagn or Coprolalia. My guild is Sixty Seconds to Wipe, a great bunch of guys and the usual token girls. We have several couples on, so you and Jim would fit right in, not to mention a sick sense of humor.

I’m on Greymane as Weztix. You might also find me as a couple of alts, possibly Cthulhuftagn or Coprolalia. My guild is Sixty Seconds to Wipe, a great bunch of guys and the usual token girls. We have several couples on, so you and Jim would fit right in, not to mention a sick sense of humor.

Coolness! I totally couldn’t sleep last night so I did in fact start another Undead Warlock in Greymane named Aeglaecia. Right now she’s level 8, in Brill and doing rather well. There’s a mailbox at the Inn there so I’ll send a letter in game to Weztix. I’d love to join up, but you should know that I do want to do as much as I can solo. However… I wouldn’t mind some help or a few coins here and there, y’know?

Now I’m totally excited!

WoW, eh? Well, when you’re done w/ the training wheels and want to move onto bigger and better things, FFXI is waiting for you. ^.~

Not that its perfect. EQ circa 7-8 years ago was great, but even that once great franchise has fallen off the deep end with its extreme hp inflations. FFXI used to have a stronger focus on strategy, but now tp and manaburn parties seem to be the popular route. -,-’ My friends and I still focus on strategy and its a lot of fun. I also like the option of trying out a bunch of different classes without having to make a new character each time. ^.^

Have fun. ^.^’

Donna, don’t listen to those lies. He is a demon sent to lead you astray into a world of killing rabbits that will rape you up the ass for hours just to make second level.

No, seriously, only people who are in love with grinding, who ENJOY it, play FFXI. (Or who are desperate enough to stare at catgirl butt that they’ll play one of the most sadistic MMOs out there.) For a good example, check out the newspost connected to this comic.

Eighteen hours for a boss fight. EIGHTEEN HOURS.

The thing about the Pandemoniom Warden, as well as other boss type fights and capped battles is that there is a strategy involved in defeating them. The main boss from the first game switches halfway through and becomes invincible to melee so you have to make sure your party can deal out magic damage as well. Strategy is not a bad thing.

There is another fight where there are 4-6 slime mobs that slowly make their way to the middle of the room. If they make it to the middle, they combine to become a very powerful Royal Jelly, so the general strat is to kill the individuals BEFORE they combine, and slow them down to give you more time to kill em.

Another battle involves 3 crabs with only 25 hp each, but you can only do 1-2 dmg per hit, so you have to put out a bunch of little hits to whittle em down while their hits can absorb health back 20-40 hp at a time. So you focus on an evasion build for your gear, you use quick weapons, you cast spells that add an additional dmg element to your attacks.

Problem w/ PW is that no one seems to have figured out WHAT the proper strategy is, which is why people wasted 18 hours trying to grind it down.

I LIKE that you can’t just try to power your way through fights. I LIKE that you have to make plans and focus on weaknesses and actually THINK about what you’re doing as opposed to Zerg rush your opposition. Thats also why I like PvP (which is sorely lacking in FFXI) because you have a thinking opponent who will be trying to cover their weaknesses while exploiting your own. ^.^

And Rann, of anyone on this blog, I never thought that YOU would have an issue with catgirls. ^.^’

Hey, I love the catgirls, but the thing about Mithra is that I can go look at the copious, copious, COPIOUS amounts of fanart of them rather than paying 12.99 a month plus an additional dollar for every extra character I want to play after the first so that I can be raped in the ass by rabbits.