Review: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

The second expansion to the world's most popular MMORPG is here, and the world of Azeroth has never been more fun.

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May I just say, a review very well done. More please!

ok dude...the review was ok...if i didnt already regularly watch projectlore weekly, It gave tons more info about the expansion, and the entire death knight starter area!

chickenlord:
ok dude...the review was ok...if i didnt already regularly watch projectlore weekly, It gave tons more info about the expansion, and the entire death knight starter area!

http://www.warcry.com/videos/view/wrath-of-the-lich-king-beta

We have covered it more in-dept as well :)

You use some form of the phrase "better than ever". A lot. I mean, every other paragraph. There may not be a whole lot more you can say about a second expansion pack, but did you really have to say it so often?

I didnt expect your voice to be like that..... It's not as American

I'm sorry but I just have to call this out:

WoW has always been comparatively light on the grind compared to many other MMOs, though there's no question that it still exists.

You're joking right? WoW is one of the most grind intensive MMOs out there.

TOGSolid:
I'm sorry but I just have to call this out:

WoW has always been comparatively light on the grind compared to many other MMOs, though there's no question that it still exists.

You're joking right? WoW is one of the most grind intensive MMOs out there.

I would say that World of Warcraft falls into the middle ground. It's gotten better through the years, some of the pre-Burning Crusade reputation grinds were mind numbing. A number of other MMOs come to mind with much worse and longer grinds: pre-changes Star Wars Galaxies, EvE Online, Everquest, Lineage and Final Fantasy 11, to name a few.

Some people find that if there is always a quest to do that is not grinding, yeaaaaaaaah about that.. The quests actually looks fun which is a nice change though, too bad Blizzard only implemented them now.

TOGSolid:
I'm sorry but I just have to call this out:

WoW has always been comparatively light on the grind compared to many other MMOs, though there's no question that it still exists.

You're joking right? WoW is one of the most grind intensive MMOs out there.

Final Fantasy XI is grinding. In WoW, you level pretty much by *doing stuff* - questing, instancing, whatever. At no point have I ever found myself going "All right, now my only option is to go kill these same mobs for hours on end." That's pretty grind-lite compared to others in the genre :P

Good review, my mates who I used to run Kara with have all been convinced back into it and went to pre-order this arvo. I was still sure I wasn't going too...

But this review... I may have to re-asses my monetary management and try and find an extra $60.

Slycne:

TOGSolid:
I'm sorry but I just have to call this out:

WoW has always been comparatively light on the grind compared to many other MMOs, though there's no question that it still exists.

You're joking right? WoW is one of the most grind intensive MMOs out there.

I would say that World of Warcraft falls into the middle ground. It's gotten better through the years, some of the pre-Burning Crusade reputation grinds were mind numbing. A number of other MMOs come to mind with much worse and longer grinds: pre-changes Star Wars Galaxies, EvE Online, Everquest, Lineage and Final Fantasy 11, to name a few.

I don't recall ever having to grind in EVE online, anyways well done review and I might have to take a look at it sometime down the road.

CantFaketheFunk:

TOGSolid:
I'm sorry but I just have to call this out:

WoW has always been comparatively light on the grind compared to many other MMOs, though there's no question that it still exists.

You're joking right? WoW is one of the most grind intensive MMOs out there.

Final Fantasy XI is grinding. In WoW, you level pretty much by *doing stuff* - questing, instancing, whatever. At no point have I ever found myself going "All right, now my only option is to go kill these same mobs for hours on end." That's pretty grind-lite compared to others in the genre :P

Although CoH/CoV kicks that into a tin hat.

I think the thing that keeps me away from WoW was summmed up very well.

"It's may just seem like another set of things to keep you up until 4 in the morning, but at least you'll be having fun."

The Achievement system promotes staying up 'til the early hours just to get intangible rewards. Especially as most of them seem to be either solo-work or guild-based, so non-casual.

Let's face it, even with the social side, if you and your 'mates' (some of whom have very disturbing tendencies) were playing football or any other passtime for 8 hours a day or so; wouldn't you really be missing out on basic...well...living?

i dont care about the grinding, any RPG has it but Blizzard does one thing good at least, it dosent make it supper obvious and adds a bit to the grind, at least it does that. At least theres a new class and there will be things to do, to bad i am working that night

good review man! please keep it coming!

The_root_of_all_evil:

The Achievement system promotes staying up 'til the early hours just to get intangible rewards. Especially as most of them seem to be either solo-work or guild-based, so non-casual.

From what I have seen many of the achievements are actually very casual in nature. Of course as with anything in MMOs you can grind them to the point of non-fun, but if you take them as they come along during the course of playing they are lots of fun to get. Really how can using a toothpick be non-casual? Yeah there is an achievement for it.

The_root_of_all_evil:

I think the thing that keeps me away from WoW was summmed up very well.

"It's may just seem like another set of things to keep you up until 4 in the morning, but at least you'll be having fun."

The Achievement system promotes staying up 'til the early hours just to get intangible rewards. Especially as most of them seem to be either solo-work or guild-based, so non-casual.

I don't know if I really agree with you on this. I think plenty of the Achievements are completely casual. Like, for instance, I've been going for "The Explorer" title, which requires me to fully uncover all the maps on all four continents (Outland and Kalimdor done, working on Eastern Kingdoms now). That just requires me to ride around the world for a while, I don't need anyone else, I don't need any help to get it done. And I end up with a title. Pretty casual, I think!

Sure, some of the Achievements are pretty intense (clear the Obsidian Sanctum with all three drakes alive, win Arathi Basin 2000-0 in 6 minutes or less, to name two) but that's why they're *Achievements*. You can get plenty of them just playing normally.

And of course, Tim beats me to it :P

chickenlord:
ok dude...the review was ok...if i didnt already regularly watch projectlore weekly, It gave tons more info about the expansion, and the entire death knight starter area!

http://www.warcry.com/content/wotlk

We've got more in-depth coverage as well :)

CantFaketheFunk:
Like, for instance, I've been going for "The Explorer" title, which requires me to fully uncover all the maps on all four continents (Outland and Kalimdor done, working on Eastern Kingdoms now). That just requires me to ride around the world for a while, I don't need anyone else, I don't need any help to get it done. And I end up with a title. Pretty casual, I think!

Given the small amount I know about WoW, uncovering four continent maps seems way less than 'casual'...Given two hours a night play, how long would you say it would take you to do that?

maybe a week, tops? Especially given that, as a level 70, you have a bunch of the map uncovered already and just need to make a few discoveries per zone to reveal it all?

Good too see they are getting rid of the grinders, for more original quests, although not completely, gotta get those rare items from incredibly unlikely somewhere.

CantFaketheFunk:
maybe a week, tops? Especially given that, as a level 70, you have a bunch of the map uncovered already and just need to make a few discoveries per zone to reveal it all?

I think part of the difficulty when discussing achievements is that some folks define "casual" as being a function of time investment and others think of it as being a function of difficulty. So while tooling around the map to unlock everything certainly isn't difficult, it's still relatively time-intensive.

What kind of achievements (if any) could someone get, say, in an hour or two?

Susan Arendt:

CantFaketheFunk:
maybe a week, tops? Especially given that, as a level 70, you have a bunch of the map uncovered already and just need to make a few discoveries per zone to reveal it all?

I think part of the difficulty when discussing achievements is that some folks define "casual" as being a function of time investment and others think of it as being a function of difficulty. So while tooling around the map to unlock everything certainly isn't difficult, it's still relatively time-intensive.

What kind of achievements (if any) could someone get, say, in an hour or two?

Aye, saying 'it's quite easy for a level 70' doesn't really count in all the time needed to actually get to 70.

I've been hitting TF2 for over two months now, and although Weenie Roast etc. is quite easy, I've still only done 100,000 points of fire damage.

In reality, WoW has more people than "New York City", but when people hear "NYC" they're usually thinking of the New York Metropolis - with a population of roughly 20 million... That point is somewhat misleading. :\

CantFaketheFunk:
"All right, now my only option is to go kill these same mobs for hours on end."

That's the exact feeling I had when I played WoW. Every quest involved killing dozens of mobs just to find one item, or killing tons of boars just for 5 steaks, as if somehow the other boars were actually tofu boars. Everything I did in that game felt like a grind.

Susan Arendt:

CantFaketheFunk:
maybe a week, tops? Especially given that, as a level 70, you have a bunch of the map uncovered already and just need to make a few discoveries per zone to reveal it all?

I think part of the difficulty when discussing achievements is that some folks define "casual" as being a function of time investment and others think of it as being a function of difficulty. So while tooling around the map to unlock everything certainly isn't difficult, it's still relatively time-intensive.

What kind of achievements (if any) could someone get, say, in an hour or two?

Plenty! I mean, there's more of a comprehensive list here: http://www.wowwiki.com/Achievement but... just off the top of my head:

Get a tabard, get a vanity pet, visit a Barbershop, complete 5 Daily quests, win a duel, kill a player in PvP, get a Honorable Kill on all five of the enemy races (easy in a Battleground), win any of the Battlegrounds, /Hug a fallen enemy before they release their spirit, so on and so forth. Also stuff for the different holiday events, like for the Halloween one you got an achievement for using a toothpick :P

...that then makes me think that the Blizzard Staff were ...

Actually no...how many flags would that take up? If you were to get all of them....that's gotta be over a year of play...

Buhhhhh...I just like 'kill monster, loot body, find next monster' not 'chop at monster with an overhead cleave for a badge, drop to your knees and beg for mercy for a badge, fireball at ground zero for a badge and then kiss monster before killing them and then loot the body whilst holding your bum with both hands. for a badge'

Especially as I give it a month before someone works out a way of getting over a hundred in one move.

The_root_of_all_evil:
...that then makes me think that the Blizzard Staff were ...

Actually no...how many flags would that take up? If you were to get all of them....that's gotta be over a year of play...

Buhhhhh...I just like 'kill monster, loot body, find next monster' not 'chop at monster with an overhead cleave for a badge, drop to your knees and beg for mercy for a badge, fireball at ground zero for a badge and then kiss monster before killing them and then loot the body whilst holding your bum with both hands. for a badge'

Especially as I give it a month before someone works out a way of getting over a hundred in one move.

Then you aren't really asking for information, you are just asking for features to tear down.

SonofSeth:

Then you aren't really asking for information, you are just asking for features to tear down.

I was giving my opinion on why I thought that building a game geared to you spending time there whilst you're not actually gaming is not a great thing.

Features I'm all for, but there comes a point where the features are more than the actual game. That's when the rub starts.

The_root_of_all_evil:
...that then makes me think that the Blizzard Staff were ...

Actually no...how many flags would that take up? If you were to get all of them....that's gotta be over a year of play...

Buhhhhh...I just like 'kill monster, loot body, find next monster' not 'chop at monster with an overhead cleave for a badge, drop to your knees and beg for mercy for a badge, fireball at ground zero for a badge and then kiss monster before killing them and then loot the body whilst holding your bum with both hands. for a badge'

Especially as I give it a month before someone works out a way of getting over a hundred in one move.

Oh please :P The only thing close to that on the list is the "Make Love, Not Warcraft" where you need to /hug an enemy player before they release.

CantFaketheFunk:

Oh please :P The only thing close to that on the list is the "Make Love, Not Warcraft" where you need to /hug an enemy player before they release.

Strangely enough, I was more expecting a "Make Tea(bag), not Warcraft."

Susan Arendt:

What kind of achievements (if any) could someone get, say, in an hour or two?

Well as they launched the achievements with the 3.0.2 patch a few weeks ago, you could actually get an achievement for clicking using your pet, or for trick or treating. Oh and if you got toothpicks for your treat you got an achievement for that.

Then there are fishing achievements (which I have to complain about as I have a 350 fishing and well they only have me recorded for the 100 or so I have caught since the patch. If you have a 350 fishing skill you have caught at least 350 fish), achievement for learning recipes, etc.

Tons of stuff can be done without even trying. Yeah there are some "grindish" style achievements, but on the whole many easy one. Oh here try this one - Go to Thunder Bluff and jump off the platform. Take you 30 seconds and you should get an achievement (especially if you survive the jump).

CantFaketheFunk:

Oh please :P The only thing close to that on the list is the "Make Love, Not Warcraft" where you need to /hug an enemy player before they release.

My favorite is while in the battlegrounds getting the achievement for throwing weighted pumpkins onto people. Both sides of the war.

Delmar Wynn:

CantFaketheFunk:

Oh please :P The only thing close to that on the list is the "Make Love, Not Warcraft" where you need to /hug an enemy player before they release.

My favorite is while in the battlegrounds getting the achievement for throwing weighted pumpkins onto people. Both sides of the war.

Haha. I managed to get that one within a few minutes of heading to Shattrath, but your way sounds more fun.

Just saw the vid part of the review. First vid I've seen that was not Yahtzee related. Very informative. I would have liked more insight into PvP in the game these days as a guy who loved PvP back at release, and grew to hate it around the time arenas were introduced.

*edit* read the full review from WarCry.

Looks like I can safely sit this expansion out.