Wow's Expanshon has had the exact opposite effect on me. I'm taking a break from wow since it seems like anything I do is going to get wiped again, more so then normal with the vast redesign of the class and game mechanics their planning.

So I'll be playing champions for a bit. I'm a little disappointed you gave up at level 6 giving that it takes all of 20minutes to get to that level. You probably spent more time installing and patching then you gave to actually trying the game.

I understand the idea that games should be fun from the moment you log into them, but we all know that that is rarely the case in MMO's.
 

I don't know if it was the plan either, but I resubbed as well (probably out of nostalgia).

As I had already preordered Champions I will probably play both throughout September - and maybe Dragon Age as well.

So much for the gaming drought.
 

I'm a little disappointed you gave up at level 6 giving that it takes all of 20minutes to get to that level.

I gave up at level 7, not level 6. And it took 2 hours and 22 minutes to get there, according to /played. Plus that was already the second character, with customized powers, so I played another hour or so on one with a standard fire power set.

If a game isn't fun when you start playing it, from where is the fun later supposed to come? I don't like CO combat, and that is something I'd need to do over, and over, and over, if I kept playing longer.
 

I'm kind of torn at this point. Blizzard finally understood that Spirit is not a mage stat, but if the majority of new content can't be experienced with my main, 40€ is kind of a steep price. Especially when there's GOG, Steam and XBox Live Marketplace around, where at worst I'll get a full game for that 40€ and four full games at best.
 

I had a similar experience. I only got to level 6 or 7, and I just didn't like it and had no desire to play anymore. It's really more of a console game than a MMO-style. But, a lot of people do like that. I loved COH - and really wanted to like it.
 

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
relax, said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

Welcome back, Tobold :)
 

It does not take 20minutes to get to level 7. It's about one hour from start and to get through the tutorial. Then you go, get your new powers, and go get lost learning crafting for a bit, or questing through.

Problem is, even THATs not how the game plays.

I got to level 11 so far, and I'll be posting my experiences. I must say that I REALLY like CO, for what it is, a console style MMO. I compare it alot to Phantasy Star Online, and I think that that's a good comparison.

As for WoW... waiting for patch 3.2 made me feel like doing instances wasn't worth it, and since 3.2 came back, I'm having fun with instances again (by far my favorite part of WoW is instances, raids are ok, but they take too long).

Thing is, I'm torn now with WHAT to do in WoW. I'm earning badges to get more Heirloom gear, ultimately I'm planning to replace my Tauren Shaman with a Tauren Paladin, and level up a Goblin Shaman. So I guess for right now I'll just be leveling my Undead Mage, and keep doing Bgs on my Shammy.
 

I also resubbed again, a week or so ago, mainly triggered by a few news/rumor posts on various blogs and because i was curious about the experience gain in battlegrounds. I did several BG's (got my 25000 kill achievement), a bit of alchemy and some quests. Somehow -after so many years- i still like the gameplay (this is on a L72 mage), albeit in small doses, casually and with a tendency to prefer pvp (even though, according to the experts, the pvp in WOW is abysmal, a joke).

My preorder of Aion still stands though, and i will probably play this more than WOW in the foreseeable future. WOW will remain on my harddisk though, as something i can always go back to and have some fun.
 

I had no interest in Champions Online until they offered the Star Trek Beta for six months discounted subscription but I've been pleasantly surprised. While WoW will still be my main game for the time being, CO will take over from Guild Wars and then DnD as my second game, (at least for the next 7 months).

The very reason I like CO is because it isn't WoW or a WoW clone or WoW Re-imagined, or WoW Re-dux, I'm actually playing a different game.

I've tried a lot of MMOs since it became clear the June release of Jumpgate Evolution was never going to happen and this has been the most fun.

I like the fact there is no phoney North America/EU split. There's none of the Low, Medium or Large population nonsense. They have the outdoor mission soft grouping about right. The character customization is perfect, none of the WoW multi colour clown outfits, unless you choose the clown outfit option of course lol.

The bad: there are A LOT of bugged missions less then a week from release which is rather worrying.

In a couple of weeks I will be back to just logging into WoW for the Wintergrasp battles and it's great to know I'll have something to fall back on.
 

Tobold, Im concerned that your hiatus will be detrimental to your endgame progress. One thing I've noticed on the few servers I play on is that it's really hard to jump the gap these days from fresh level 80 to endgame raider. Even in the heroics, people are checking to see if you have Ulduar gear before they'll take you in!! The new badges that are available in heroics have caused them to become completely taken over by T8 wielding overpowered raiders. Anyone in blues would have a very hard time getting into a heroic, which of course, is problematic since that's the next stage of gear progression.

Leveling alts shouldn't be an issue. I couldn't do it again...ugh.
 

Everyone ends up going back to wow :) I was really excited about Champion's online when it was first announced, but my initial burst of exuberance rubbed off after a few announced. It all seemed nice, but it lacked that spark that would have made it great, even though I haven't played it. You know from the first minute if a game is great or not ( you said it yourself ). I now tend to rely on that instinct much more than before, and it has proven to be true from the results I see in the ensuing months : company in bad shape, subscriber numbers are down, bad reviews. Initial hype is nothing. On the contrary, I feel hype is detrimental to the success of a mmo, as it builds up unrealistic expectations.
 

Welcome back Tobold. I, for one, don't think you will have any trouble getting into heroic runs or most other end-game content for that matter. The gap is not that difficult to bridge, particularly so for veteran players, and as usual with WoW there are many paths to the same goal.

I did want to take a moment to thank you for your honesty and integrity. Most bloggers would not say things like "I was wrong..." or "I'm not sure if I'll write than Champions Online review after all." Instead they would skirt around the issue or blame someone or something else or not talk about it all hoping that it goes unnoticed. Kudos for being direct.
 

My mage is 15 days /played, 3 days /played at 80 and I have no problem at all to find groups.
I have already 3xT8. 2x via heroics and the legs dropped in Archavon 25 (that was a lot of luck ;).

Getting equipped is very easy nowadays. Actually I fear it is too easy...

Yesterday I went thourgh naxx 10 and naxx 25. Today I'll visit the colloseum.

And that is a non-twinkled char that had no social contacts with this server at all.

I have to admit, however, that this was only possible, because I used lvl71-80 to lvl via BGs and that produced enough honour for a quite good 'pve' equip.
 

This works for you, Tobold, since you can play a few months of WOW, take a break, and be fresh for the next expansion.

= # # =
 

Cataclysm has me more excited than I have ever been for WoW. Though, I'm not interested in leveling through the old content again (done that too many times) am excited about prepping some heirloom gear for the new characters I will start and level when Cataclysm hits.
 

"You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!"Someone has either been listening to the Eagles, watching Being Human, or both!

Welcome back to the world Tobold ;)
 

Thank you, Tobold, for proving my point within just a day of it being made! And that's only fair, because it was your wording, that inspired me to make that point in the first place ;)
 

After watching all the news from Blizzon I have been tempted to go out and pick up Wotlk. I have barley touched the game since Wrath came out but leveling to 80 then waiting for Cataclysm seems almost fun.

Once the nex ex-pack hits I will be rolling myself a worgen, though goblins do look very tempting.
 

Hmm... Nostalgia seems to be a driving force for seeing some of the old content before it disappears. I wonder if this was expected by Blizzard.
 

Everytime I try to leave....they pull me back in!

Tobold Correlone


^__^ I already have plans to level one of my horde toon so I can experience all the differenece.
 

@Anonymous

Are you kidding me? Gearing up a toon has never been easier in the entire history of WoW. My druid hit 80 on the 2nd day of the 3.2 patch and less than a week later he was already in full purples, just from chain running the new 5-man and a few heroics. I've never had any issues with finding groups whatsoever. I'm still working on completing my 8.5 set, but I'm halfway there at least.
 

My wife and I play tank/heal pair - and since we're after the new Emblem of Triumph (get 2 per daily) - we're always pugging for 3 DPS.

There are times I lament we picked up crappy DPS - and I've felt like we carried them... but honestly we didn't mind it that much - we still got our emblems.

Oh, watch out for the new cross-server LFG rumoured to come in 3.3 - that will make pugging awesome.

Have fun in WOW and don't get burned out. If you ever feel it's getting boring - take a break and play some other games from time to time. This has worked very well for wife and I for the last few years :-)
 

@Anon - "hard to get geared"

I understand your point that some PUGs require an achievement, or gear checks to get an invite. I do feel that only a minority of PUGs do this. This mostly applies to 25 man raids, but occasionally I see it for heroic dungeons.

Gear checks/achievements for heroics are a total joke and watching the backlash of players yelling "you don't need to gear check heroic UK, NOOB" tends to show me that a lot of players agree.

My warlock just hit level 80 2 weeks ago and I'm about 75% to full epic. I spend a lot of time crafting and enchating so I could be full epic had I chosen to run more heroics. The first heroic I ran was ToC. Man did my PUG group give me sh*t when I got the achievement for collecting my first heroic badge. They then commented on my 1.5k dps, but they still let me stay in the group. Why? Because heroics are easy. They are in no means difficult. I tanked heroic ToC on opening night, knowing none of the fight, and we finished in with in 30 minutes with only one wipe after the first dismount.

Lastly, heroics let you gear up to the point where anyone who wants to should be able to enter icecrown when patch 3.3 hits, and I think that is the way Blizzard wants it.
 

I resubscribed about a month ago. Had I not resubscribed then, I certainly would now. I'm in the process of collecting hierloom gear to send to my future worgen. I just don't know what class to make him?

Any ideas?
 

re: Cataclysm - good stuff, but I'm afraid it's 2 years too late for many players. That said, I plan to still be playing by that point. :)

re: Champions Online - spent the weekend playing the open beta and I have to say that it's everything CoH isn't and that's a good thing. It's a little hinky when moving from the start zone, the second leveling areas, then the open zones. I think that's because the animation that helps tell the story is clipped or lagged and you end up being ported to a new spot without any clue what to do next.