Any one still play WoW?

[Archibaldo]

So yeah I'm going to be starting WoW up again in a day or two and I was wondering if any one here still played and on what server. I figured it might be fun to have some people I sort of know playing on the same server. I'm mainly interested in an EST server.

Or you know, if any one has been thinking of re-rolling and just plain rolling an alt. I'd like to be Horde but if you guys play Alliance I'd be willing to bend that way.

So yeah, post with comments and stuff.

[ShadowTiger]

I know I've said it already, but have you considered playing on a Private Server? It's free, (Though this one does require 2.4.3) but check out the perks of it. (http://skr.sephiroth.ws/thread-667-lastpost.html)

I don't know how much you know about them, but the basic gist of it, is that the Private Server scene is as close to WoW as you can get, while having it as a "More personal" experience. It's a somewhat different play experience. You have few people to party with, but you also don't need to party nearly as much, as mobs are a bit easier. I personally have adjusted the stats of many of the mobs in the game to rebalance things due to the inherently lower population of the game that's online at any given moment. Nobody ever kill-steals. Nobody will stab you in the back for no apparent reason. It's good, clean, wholesome fun.

If you want a new item, just ask. I've got plenty of experience with the database, and can create virtually anything you'd like.


To copy and paste for the lazy, here are just a few of the reasons why I chose the Private Server path.

1. The rates are closer to Blizzlike than to Funservers, but are the perfect balance between having all of the fun of leveling properly lost, and tearing out your hair by having to grind many thousands of monsters just to level up once. You get to play World of Warcraft without it owning your soul forever and over. That alone is a wonderful reason to play here.
2. The GM Team does actual work. They're not the type to snap at you for anything you say. They're human beings, just like you, and are just as approachable as any friend you've ever had. They will stop at nothing to make you happy, as you are the reason servers like this exist. They will listen to what you have to say, and will always be open to any suggestions you have, be they new items you want to see added, or adjustments to mobs. They will do so in a timely manner as well, which is rare. They will also never assume you are less than intelligent, and won't hide facts from you. (You'll see when we get there.)
3. Items Stack far larger! Nearly anything that had previously stacked to 20, now stacks to 50!! That means far fewer trips to the bank for you, and less hassles with bags. This includes all cloth, jewels, mining items, leather, herbs, ... pretty much almost anything you'll commonly see.
4. Healing and Mana potions are now worth something! They have a 1.5 second cooldown instead of a 2 minute cooldown! They also stack to 50. Be sure to bring plenty of them with you wherever you go, as they'll definitely help you to survive.
5. Teleporters exist in the banks of all major cities, and all arenas, and in Shattrath City. There is also one in Modern-Day Hyjal. Speaking of which...
6. The server has a custom zone in Modern-Day Hyjal. It's called "The Hub." It is essentially the server hangout. It has a mini-mall, with new and interesting items.
7. Make your own houses! You heard me right. You have the opportunity to buy items and set them up wherever you want. Want to know more? Come in and get the gold, and ask!

[Brasel]

I'm on Wildhammer and Thunderhorn. I'm Alliance on Wildhammer, and Horde on Thunderhorn. I don't have many high level characters. Look for Brasel on either, as thats usually what I'm playing as.

[Archibaldo]

Aight Tony, I'll keep that in mind. Is Thunderthorn an EST realm?

And ST, I am not playing private server WoW. I don't care if it's free, it's lame.

[ShadowTiger]

o_o Lame, like "It's lame to wear your hat straight forward instead of to the side?" Or "It's lame that there are millions of Ethiopians starving and the world doesn't care" lame.

"Lame" is just insulting.

[Beldaran]

It's not lame, it's really fun.

[Brasel]

Aight Tony, I'll keep that in mind. Is Thunderthorn an EST realm?

Its a US realm, and its not very full I don't believe. Its also a PvE as opposed to Wildhammer's PvP. It all depends on if I'm in the mood to get my ass handed to me. I suck at one on one PvP.

[Dark Knight]

<lots of words about a medium rate private server>

64% dodge, 50+% Critical, what appears to be an insane level of Defense almost making you unhittable with 26k HP as a rogue. The only surefire way to murder you would be to stun you or somehow always stay behind you(can't block, parry or dodge while stunned or hit from behind). Now, I know once you exceed the level cap of a certain expansion(TBC in this case) stat increases become fucked up and formulas for calculating dodge/crit become wierd but wow...

Just curious but does your private server have an armory? Something about your stats in that little banner in your signature just screams either "Overpowered custom gear(not donation though that is always possible)" or "Game Master".

[ShadowTiger]

64% dodge, 50+% Critical, what appears to be an insane level of Defense almost making you unhittable with 26k HP as a rogue. The only surefire way to murder you would be to stun you or somehow always stay behind you(can't block, parry or dodge while stunned or hit from behind). Now, I know once you exceed the level cap of a certain expansion(TBC in this case) stat increases become fucked up and formulas for calculating dodge/crit become wierd but wow...

Just curious but does your private server have an armory? Something about your stats in that little banner in your signature just screams either "Overpowered custom gear(not donation though that is always possible)" or "Game Master".

Luckily for the sake of this thread, this is not my playing character. This is the "Let's test the instances for functionality and form, and see if the items I just made actually work without crashing the server" character.

And yes, we do have an Armory. It requires registration to view, and I'm not sure that you'd care to bother to register the two names and E-mail validation just to take a look. The PvP is kept to those who desire it in the otherwise PvE nature of the world, as I focus more on custom PvE content than making new PvP Gear. (Making new PvP Gear for every class and spec is the most tedious thing someone can do.)




It my responsibility to ensure that the bugs and incompletenesses on the server are taken care off, and I do a very good job of it. The stats do not become fucked up beyond level 70 either. Maybe they do on other private servers, but not on mine. You can't judge one individual server by all the rest of the numbskulls who decided to upgrade to WotLK compatibility but failed to heed the warnings, and are now stuck with a useless piece of junk where the only thing that works right is peoples' ability to walk around the empty landscape of the frozen north.

[Majora]

The rates for those who cringe at registering for stuff just to see some basic info:


Server Rates
Experience Rates

Monster
7x Blizzlike
Quest
7x Blizzlike
Explore
7x Blizzlike

Item Drop Rates

Gold
6.5x Blizzlike
Poor
3x Blizzlike
Normal
2x Blizzlike
Uncommon
2x Blizzlike
Rare
1.5x Blizzlike
Epic
1.5x Blizzlike
Legendary
1.5x Blizzlike
Artifact
1.5x Blizzlike
Referenced
1.5x Blizzlike

Level Cap: 100
Reputation gains rate: 5x


I honestly am baffled how millions of others can bear to play a game that's nothing but one big grindfest with those abominable rates... seriously, I might as well watch paint dry, or corn grow. Now, I used to play on a server where the rates of everything was at LEAST 10x, and I think exp was 15x. Back then, it seemed reasonable because I had not been exposed to anything else, but these rates are better. It's a compromise between unholy grindfest and playing a game without taking too fucking long to get to level 30. And the traveling early on is just god awful, but I'll get to that later.

Enough ranting XD

Since the server is TBC, it's designed for a level cap of 70. But since the level cap is 30 above that, stuff was done. Namely, populating the summit of Mount Hyjal in the present day. It has been converted into a zone for players level 80+. Now, there is a hub, and that part of the summit isn't 80+ itself, you have to wander farther into the center of the zone. Monster levels range from mid 70's to upper 90's, and most of them are elites, and hit pretty fucking hard even on tanks.

I won't mince words, there ARE items that retail players ("if they know their stuff", whatever the hell that means) would consider overpowered, but there are things to consider:

1) These items all require level 80
2) They are quest rewards from a quest that consists solely of collecting 100 tokens (similar to badges of justice, except they're not called that) for a single item.
3) Said tokens can be acquired by completing daily quests
4) These quests consist of unholy grindfests that put even Blizz's developers/quest designers to shame. So don't expect to get one custom item on the first day.
5) "OP" items (but not oh-my-god-I-can-one-shot-illidan OP) are one of the perks of private servers.



Quests, zones, npcs/monsters, items. There are custom things of each. Oh, and two new instances are being worked on. Stormwind Vault, and the beta version of Scarlet Monastery. They're both full-fledged instances, they're just empty and inaccessible normally.

... I forgot, DOUBLE TALENT POINTS. No longer are you restricted to barely being able to pwn with pouring all your points into a single tree. Hell, by level... 72, you can have 40 points in all three. My level 85 warlock is spec'd for Affliction, Demonology, and Destruction. With a few extra points in Destruction (makes for killer DPS >;D)

Select few players who've shown to be friendly and helpful and all that also get the privilege of a teleport account. I can be on Darkshore one second, take about 3-5 to type ".tele Tanaris" and boom I'm there. I myself have one and holy shit does it reduce the frustration by 84.452634591234610234%


... I forgot where I was going with this but I think you get the point now.

EDIT: Also THIS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89H8hsXMPL8

Although I'm certain it's probably possible to solo Magisters Terrace (non-heroic) with a Death Knight. However, I'm not sure if it's possible to solo heroic Magisters (on retail).

[ShadowTiger]

4) These quests consist of unholy grindfests that put even Blizz's developers/quest designers to shame. So don't expect to get one custom item on the first day.Heheh, sorry 'bout that. ^^;; Quests take a bit longer to make than other things, I think. Possibly. Just because everything else needs to be in play before you can even test it out the first time.

So thanks for the video. It didn't look too broken, did it?

I just started Scarlet Monastery Past today. The basic story is, once you reach level 85 or so, you can speak to Andormu is the Caverns of Time, who will tell you that the Infinite Dragonflight are on the move again. This time, they have begun to infiltrate the early beginnings of the Scarlet Crusade, (Who at this point call themselves the not-so humbling "Scarlet Destiny.") in an effort to disrupt the timeline in their favor, and to gain a critical foothold into the acquisition of the Ashbringer in its infancy. (I'll be greatly enhancing the item to be of Legendary level 90 quality.)

Andormu will bring you to the portion of the Caverns of Time where there is a pedestal surrounded by inanimate Scarlet Destiny models, (Much like the inanimate Crocolisks and Saber Tigers around Black Morass's entrance.) and on the pedestal is a ghostly representative from the Silver Hand who will teleport you to the past.

When you arrive, you are immediately assailed by a Scarlet Legionnaire and a Scarlet Berserker. Upon their defeat, you will converse with a member of the Bronze Dragonflight and a cadre of the Argent Dawn and the few remaining Knights of the Silver Hand. The leader of the Bronze Dragonflight will give you a quest to slay an Infinite Dragon Leader, which can only be done with the aid of the Argent Dawn captain.

You proceed through the instance, (Which looks like a retooled Scarlet Monastery, though it includes about 3/4 of the total Scarlet Monastery if it were all one big piece, though mostly the right half.) fighting the Scarlet and keeping the Argent Dawn cadre and their captain alive, until you reach the Infinite Dragonflight Leader. If the Argent Dawn captain is still alive, you can speak with him to complete the quest. Otherwise, too bad, gotta redo it.

Or, if you want, you can ignore those goals completely and go off on your own in search of the Ashbringer. There will be a rather long and overly complex quest to get it, which will bring you all over historical points in Azeroth. Can't spoil much more than that for now though.

Isn't time travel fun? ^___^










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EDIT: On a sidenote, I found this. Copied/Pasted from that other area.

I was following up on some links someone got us for some AddOns, and one of the AddOns that was happened across was of the Goblin Therapist (http://thefroze.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=104). It's basically an AddOn that takes all the whispers off of your hands, and lets you sort them into ones you want to deal with, and ones you don't.

For the ones you don't, you have the chance of watching the "Goblin Therapist" deal with them instead of you. It's basically a series of automatic replies.

1 (http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgb7xtgh_17hhh53gf9&hl=en), 2 (http://www.scherbenweltkorps.de/agt/codexconv.html), 3 (http://www.scherbenweltkorps.de/agt/convXieje.html), 4 (http://www.textdump.com/v/?k=MjM1MA==), 5 (http://www.scherbenweltkorps.de/agt/jicy.html). Enjoy. :p

[Dark Knight]

Luckily for the sake of this thread, this is not my playing character. This is the "Let's test the instances for functionality and form, and see if the items I just made actually work without crashing the server" character.

And yes, we do have an Armory. It requires registration to view, and I'm not sure that you'd care to bother to register the two names and E-mail validation just to take a look. The PvP is kept to those who desire it in the otherwise PvE nature of the world, as I focus more on custom PvE content than making new PvP Gear. (Making new PvP Gear for every class and spec is the most tedious thing someone can do.)




It my responsibility to ensure that the bugs and incompletenesses on the server are taken care off, and I do a very good job of it. The stats do not become fucked up beyond level 70 either. Maybe they do on other private servers, but not on mine. You can't judge one individual server by all the rest of the numbskulls who decided to upgrade to WotLK compatibility but failed to heed the warnings, and are now stuck with a useless piece of junk where the only thing that works right is peoples' ability to walk around the empty landscape of the frozen north.

I'm not knocking the server and yes, ST, stat formulas DO become distorted above a certain expansions level cap(71+ for TBC, 81+ for WotlK). Your server might not have it(if at all) to the degree that most do but they do distort. It's not a bad thing by itself but combined with custom gear that gives obscene amounts of stats and you have a problem. I'm not judging your server based on any one server I've played on. I'm judging it, at a glance, based on the hundreds of private servers I've played on, each and every one of them containing the stat formula problem. I took a look at the server the other day though, and it seems to be an alright server. Really no bugs or glitches inherent to emulation that I could see.

Btw, not all WotlK servers are created equal. I've played on a few that, while Northrend was pretty much empty, most of the other expansion features function as they should and can be played just like any TBC server. The only problem with wotlk emulation is that it needs alot of custom work as, from what I can gather, the wotlk compatible emulator doesn't contain much by default. Give it awhile. The transition from "vanilla" wow to TBC wasn't graceful either. In about 6 months or so you'll be able to rock Northrend as your grossly overpowered Death Knight fairly glitch free.(yes, DK's are vastly overpowered on many private servers that have them.)

Anyways, I guess I'll respond to the actual topic. I still play from time to time on retail wow servers provided I can afford to do so at the time or have access to the internet.

[biggiy05]

I still play. Not a hardcore raider or anything. Maybe a raid once a week or so. I'm on Gorgonaash though and it's a pst server. Boo.

[Archibaldo]

I ended up rolling on Shattered hand, its an EST time zone server and they guy at work who recruit-a-friended me plays there.

I'm up to 49 and I've been playing for about 2 weeks. It's super easy to level now that you get your mount at 30 and the amount of exp needed to level between 20 and 60 was nerfed.

That and quest helper alleviates a lot of the pressure. ;)