World Of Warcraft: New WoW preview

Welcome to a world filled with worthy dwarfs, mighty magicians and frightening warriors. Your dream of entering the virtual world of Azeroth can finally become a glorious reality, and according to Blizzard you do not have to be a fanatical role-player to be able to keep up. User-friendly is a vague term, containing misunderstood simplicity and frustrating choices. Ease of understanding is a key concept in World of WarCraft. Entering Blizzard's magical world will feel completely natural, a seamless transition from the desire to compete with your friends in a fantasy world. Gamer.no visited Stockholm, Sweden to have a look at Blizzard's upcoming title World of WarCraft in development.

The first steps...

To finally be able to take part in the world of Azeroth is from a role-playing perspective an overwhelming thought. Feel the battles fought through the course of time, and soak in the smell of dirt and blood. Battles shall come; wars will take place, and you will be placed in the midst of it all. Bill Roper, the vice-president of Blizzard, ends his presentation of The Frozen Throne and launches World of WarCraft. He does this very casually, making it seem like he has done it a thousand times. He probably has, but the rest of us are slightly overwhelmed by this exciting moment. As of today it is possible to create ten characters per account. At the top of the list we find a mighty Orc armed with an axe that looks ready to kill. A few moments later we find ourselves out in the field throwing "buffs" - which are spells that improve the character. It is very simple to use spells, and they are activated by the easily recognizable icons which fans of the series know so well from earlier titles. There is a lot to take in here, but what stands out first and foremost is the magnificent nature, the incredible moods caused by the changing weather and the sheer impressiveness of the size. The fields with giant hay balls simply suggest role-playing, but at the core as always lay the battles. Roper says that battle has always been the foundation of WarCraft; consequently this will also be the focus of this MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). "Player Killing" will not be tolerated, though it is not yet clear exactly how this will be prohibited. "Player versus Player"-battles will on the other hand be encouraged, and Blizzard imagines certain areas with several battles taking place simultaneously. The less warrior-minded players will also be able to take part is this universe, but nobody is denying that battle is part of the foundation of World of WarCraft. "And no load times" Bill Roper proudly announces. This is demonstrated to us as the mighty shaman wanders from Westfall to Duskwood. Seamlessly the lights change inside Duskwood, allowing you to gaze around and observe the new surroundings.

Choosing a race combined with class and skill points is not always easy at first. Blizzard wishes to make this as straightforward as possible, and the characters you can choose between are classical archetypes. If you want to play as a wild warrior, running around with a masculine sword and a "panzer light" shield, then you should choose a "tauren". These are some terrifying creatures gamers know from previous Blizzard-games. Standing at the top of the tower, gazing out over the terrain you realize that a trip to the mountain seems appropriate during these Easter-times. The mountaintops you glimpse in the horizon are just for embellishment, right? Not in World of WarCraft. Every mountaintop you see can be climbed, even though it may take you some time to get there. Nothing in this world is added for adornment, and you can look forward to grand discoveries during your trips. Blizzard wants to avoid "Junk loots", which are objects that are of no use except to sell for money. Each and every object you find during your travels will be of use for someone in this world. It's up to you whether you want to search out that someone or just sell the object as is.

In case you want to search you should set course for the nearest city. There you can talk to people and shop for shoes, if that is what tickles your fancy. Bill Roper uses an attractive female character to demonstrate to us the details of communicating with other players. The way your character behaves will be directly linked to how you articulate yourself. A question mark at the end of a sentence will result in open arms and querying maneuvers, while the exclamation-variant causes overwhelming execution. Everything from dances to bye-bye waves is exceedingly animated, making it easy to understand what your fellow players is trying to tell you. The internet has been blamed for removing facial expressions from conversations, but with Blizzard's exquisite animations we are taking a huge step back to the future.

Not every person drooling to take part in World of WarCraft is skilled at role-playing. Blizzard is aware of this and wants to make it as straightforward for beginners as possible to enjoy the game. Their first steps will be taken in a little outpost away from the big cities. Characters that have something important to tell you, new assignments to offer you, or who maybe represents the next step in your current quest will have an exclamation point above their head as we recognize from Diablo 2. An outpost was introduced to us through the eyes of a sturdy midget. The snow lay newly fallen on the ground and with flabby steps our hero wanders around. Tiny rabbits scurry around with bloodthirsty wolves on their trail. This led to the humorous high point of the presentation, which was Bill Roper saying "I like little bunnies. I will make the wolf pay." Consequently the wolf is attacked and obliterated. "Ha-ha!" Justice has been served, and the crowd bursts out laughing.

Source link: Gamer.no