WoW
My son has been begging for a World of Warcraft account for ages. I told him absolutely not while school was in because the last thing he needed was something else to pull his attention away from homework. But now school is almost over and he’s not forgotten.
So what am I looking at here? I know nothing about WoW at all. What I’ve heard through the grapevine is that I’ll have to buy the game and then also pay around $15.00 a month for him to play online. Is that right? Are there other expenses too? And what about computer requirements and such. Is it a game that really sucks up memory and RAM and needs an expensive graphics card and all that stuff? I’d hate to get the game and then find out he can’t play it on his computer. The kids have a standard Compaq, though I seem to recall that Master did add extra memory to it once.
I figure the people who play it can answer better than the people trying to sell it. Whatcha think?
Uncategorized | kaya | 
Friday May 23rd, 2008 10:05am
you need at least dsl or cable internet speed. a good graphics card really helps.
personally, I wouldn,t do it. people spend hours and days playing it at one time.
if you do it, ask him to consider eve online. no game to buy, plus much better game play.
Hi, my name is ChickenMan, and I am a recovering WoW-oholic.
Yes, it is an addicting game, mostly because of the vast amount of fun you can have with your friends and the amount of new friends you can get.When I found myself living six hours drive away from my friends we could still meet up in the game, and use voicechat to meet and talk online every day.
I am sure you are sane enough to be able to put limitations on his use in case it does seem to get out of hand, but be aware that high level playing might require long gaming sessions and that this does not equal addiction – you just don’t want to quit in the middle and let down the 24 other people who took a chance on you and let you help out in a big raid.
So, that being said, you don’t really need ‘that’ hot of a computer to play it. the base requirements (which of course is good to overshoot for better playability) is a pentium III 800Mhz, 512MB of memory, a 32MB graphics card of decent quality, 6GB of harddrive space. For more detailed information about this I suggest wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft
As for game costs… yes. You will need to buy the game, preferably the expansion as well because he will want it pretty soon, and then they will ask you to pay them a monthly fee. The game can be had rather cheap these days, the expansion is newer so hasn’t dropped as far yet. There is one month of playtime included in the purchase of the game, but you must sign up for a payment plan (which will not be activated or charged until the free month is up) in order to receive it.
All in all a game with monthly costs is a weird thing to consider, but consider the cost per hour of fun and you will find it is cheaper than most hobbies kids pick up. After all it entertained me for over two years before I got married and otherwise distracted.
Last but not least, try the game for yourself as well. Not to play regularly but let him give you a guided tour and try your hand at a quest or two. It will give you a better understanding of the one thing he will talk about for the forseeable future.
Can you really be addicted to it? I didn’t like it personally.
My joke aside – yes, people do get psychologically addicted to computer games. Which one does not matter much, it is mainly in how much it offers that particular person.
The important thing to understand about WoW is that it is not just about the game it is about the social circle you step into when playing. To the outside world it seems like you are spending your days locked away in solitude, while in reality you spend hours and hours each day talking by text or voice to people from all corners of the world. I would count this as hanging out with the friends and as such I really don’t call it addiction.
Still, the game is built so that you always have more to acheive – it catches the part in you that want to be better (than others?) and it will have many people constantly looking for that next piece of armour they need or that next upgrade to their weapons, in order to look cooler and be recognized amongst their peers as a good player, or even the best. Most ‘addicted’ players simply spend hours and hours honing their skills or looking for equipment or even raising in the ranks of their ‘guilds’ and then leading teams of other people in the pursuit of equipment, points and bragging rights.
I have a friend who was in the leadership of one of the major ‘guilds’ on our server, she regularly organized groups of 40 people and got them to follow her instructions for several hours of gaming. It’s on her CV, and it was one of the things that came up on her interview and got her hired at her current job. She played more than 40 hours a week when unemployed, but with a job she is down to a handful. So it can be beneficial in the real world as well, it can be played for extreme amounts of time without being addicted, and when she couldn’t play as much she did lose some of her friends in the game because they just didn’t meet as often any more.
Addicting? Well yes, it can be. To some because it is a good game, and to some for the same reason they like dropping down the local pub – all the friends are there.
And for kaya:
A lot of people here have been suggesting other games and I do agree several of them are good games – but first ask him if all his friends are already playing world of warcraft, because that is the most usual reason to start and in that case no other ‘game’ will be worth the money you spend on it. The social part is what it is all about.
an addendum on my note on hardware:
this game can be played on dialup and an old dusty computer in the corner, I’ve done it myself. People telling you different are either selling you something or gaming at such a level that their skills is no longer limiting them but the hardware is. This happens, similarly to how you can not expect a guys first cricket bat from the local super market to last throughout his career as a player. As he gets better he will run up against the wall created by equipment constraints, and this is frustrating.
Dialup and the stats I quoted is the bottom line – it WILL work on that, but it might be frustrating. Double it and you will feel a lot better, but soon after that you will be running up against the wall created by the game instead and further upgrades will do little good – objectively.
As for what DSL speed, you will not get much improvement by fast speeds compared to slower speeds. The game is made to be able to play at a modem of 56Kbps – I’ve played on 10 times and 100 times that speed with no measured difference between the two. Dialup will get old quickly, but if you have DSL you should be fine. Mostly in games it is not the speed but the latency that bothers gamers, and that can rarely be upgraded much at all.
My eleven year old son plays it and loves it. All told, the game is pretty cool, and the violence is minor and mostly incidental to his “quests” (completion of which increase his.. umm.. levels? something?)
The key – the absolute most important part – is to use the parental controls, set the hour(s) that he’s allowed to play the game, and refuse to negotiate on them.
Our kid would play constantly if allowed and I’m totally not joking. He’d never sleep. He’d never go to school. He’d stop interacting with the humans around here! So he gets ONE hour per week night and THREE hours on each weekend day. We hold the parental control password, of course!
As for the monthly cost, he has to save his allowance to buy the “game” cards. You don’t need a credit card to sign up, thankfully, so he just heads to the store with his money and buys more time. The cards also make for a GREAT birthday/christmas/whatever gift..
Yeah my roommate admits to playing for 14+ hours a day. It is WIERD and she does nothing else. She even put a mini-fridge in her room since she can’t be bothered to walk to the kitchen to get a drink/food when she’s “In world” I’m so anti-WOW it’s not funny. Buy him a book, or tell him to go build a fort or something. WoW makes you all anti-social and it’s unnatural. He can have conversations with real people rather than in voice chat. He’s too young to start chipping away at his social skills already.
Serioulsy, it’s a slippery slope. Don’t do it.
Let him join the SCA instead!!! Then you guys will have an excuse to come visit me. I almost had your master talked into coming to Pennsic.
Love you and we need to chat soon!
Danielle
A WoW alternative…
http://www.archlord.com
Its free to play, free to download and equally addicting! I spend FAR too much time playing it and I blame Master for getting me hooked into it!
M and I are hardcore WoW players–we raid twelve hours a week, and then play casually on top of that. He started me playing when we started going out, and it’s something that we use as a bonding experience.
Basically, you have to buy the game, which lets you play the main races and gets you to level 60. In order to have the full experience (ie, the new continents and levelling to 70), you have to buy the expansion as well. I honestly don’t know what they’re going for price-wise these days, but it shouldn’t be godawful. I’d recommend buying both the game and the expansion, because there’s nothing more irritating than realizing that you have to have the expansion to experience some of the coolest shit (like flying mounts).
You’d have to check the graphic requirements on the game as to what your computer requires. And yeah, it works out to about 15 bucks a month, and you can either pay by credit card, or buy game cards. If you do the game cards, he can buy them himself, and if you do the credit card, if it turns out he’ll be playing long-term, you can buy time in six month increments and save yourself a bit of cash that way.
And clearly, I completely forgot about the parental controls, but yeah. Like Violet mentioned, just use them, and that way, it gives you the ability to control how much/little he is able to play. I’d recommend that–the game is pretty addicting.
I think it’s a great game, but I’m biased–M and I have been spreading WoW among our friends like the plague, and part of the reason we enjoy it so much is that most of our friends play as well, and we use it to keep in touch with everyone.
My twelve year old plays and would probably be glad to show him the ropes. If you will.
If you don’t have a ‘good’ graphics card (or aren’t sure what ‘good’ would be), I can tell you how to adjust some stuff to make it run a bit better. Just let me know if he complains of it being kinda slow or jerky.
Also free: Rappelz. http://rappelz.gpotato.com/gameguide/index.php.
We all play it now in our family. My 13yr old son seemed addicted for while, but after a year, the novelty has worn off. My 14yr old daughter is addicted (or at the least, super keen) at the moment, but she spends lots of time chatting to her friends from school who also play, just as she would on msn.
I think it’s loads of fun, and it teaches kids how to be team players and leaders as we have to group together to complete certain quests and raids.
Thank you all so much. This is exactly the kind of information I needed.
Or try Guild Wars- similar to WoW but you buy the game at wal-mart (40 bucks) or bestbuy and that’s it. No monthly fee, just net connection and the game.
You can meet your friends online there as well- great graphics and quests.
Hi S and kaya
Most of the responses have been about the games themselves. Doing tech support for a major DSL ISP the biggest complaint we get with games is that they are not responding correctly or too slowly. They usually think it is due to their internet connection but it is ususally turns a computer based issue of not enough RAM or processor. my suggestion is before you buy any game check the computer system properties. Verifiy the operating system, any upgrades or service packs, what processor is in it, how much RAM you have, as well as sound, video and graphics cards. Take that information with you to the store when looking at games. Remember that anytime you read minimum system requirements that it refers to that piece of software only, not taking into account anything else that may be running on the computer at the same time such as the operating system itself, security software, such as antivirus, antispyware, firewall programs. The fewer things you have loading on start up and running in the background, the fast the computer is going to work for you. As for internet speed you will probably want at the very least a 1.5 meg pacakage whether cable, FiOS, DSL or HSI connection. i hope that helps a bit with the technical aspect of the game buying process.
Have fun playing
jewel`
Might ask about City of Heroes. Probably no cheaper, but maybe more ‘fun’ for other folks in the household – the appeal seems to be a bit broader. It’s not as popular as WoW, though.
Hey kaya. I work for the geek squad for best buy. wow is a great game that does require a monthly fee. one thing you should understand is that the game does require dedication. as he progresses in it over time the tasks he is required to do will need cooperation from other people and that takes time. a 2 hour quest can easily take 6 hours, so limiting his time will really disable his ability to progress in the game. also as far as requirements go. a 256 graphics card, 2 gigs of ram and a 3.0 pentium 4 or better is what I would recommend. he can try and play with the basic requirements but it will become frustrating and most likely make the game unplayable. if you have any questions shoot me an email. =)
Just wanted to give my two cents if I could
I personally love the game World of Warcraft, I have played it for quite some time. The game can be played on a fairly old computer, more RAM and a video card will make the game run smoother but is not needed. The only thing I do not care for about the game is that you have to find a good server and at the early stages of the game it can be difficult to form teams (which in my opinion is one of the better parts of the game)
But I would also like to say that I also play a game called City of Heroes/City of Villians. This game I have played since it first came out and I love it the most of all the games I have played. It is a very easy game to learn, extremely easy to play alone or to form teams with people all over the world. The bonus to this game is that you get both City of Heroes and City of Villians and you can play both games for the one monthly fee of $15 (same as World of Warcraft) plus every three months or so the developers create free expansions to the game as well as each holiday they bring in themed events and new missions for every level of character. Also, where else can you create and act and interact with others as the super hero or villian that you always wanted to be *grin*
I’m actually playing WoW in my other window right now. I play casually, but the husband, and even my dad are pretty serious players.
I won’t bore you with gameplay, etc. But it does sound like you might need to invest in some upgrades for you computer to run the game well.
Also, just as a sidenote – His account will have parental control options so that you will be able to limit his gameplay – which sounds like it would be of some interest to you once school kicks in.
Another alternative to Wow but free.. http://www.guildwars.com
You basically buy the game (and expansions/addons) and then can play for free. No need to buy anything else, no gaming time you need to buy etc.
I play that game myself and like it a lot. WoW put me off because the pay to play thing.. dont like it.
If you aren’t sure what your computer specs are try Belarc.com, It is a program that searches your computer and gives you an easy to read list of what you currently have. Also I have played Guildwars and found that the new upgrades make it impossible to play alone. It has a big focus on team play which is great but it can take 30-60 minutes to get a team together if it is not preplanned. WoW also requires team play to be successful, but if his friends are all playing that shouldn’t be a problem.
Well, there’s my 2 cents
https://signup.worldofwarcraft.com/trial/index.htm 10 Day Free Trial
Give it a try and see how it works.
My whole family (wife, 2 boys, and I ) started with EverQuest, progressed to WoW in closed Beta, then open Beta, then played for a couple years after it went live. We enjoyed it immensely for quite some time but became bored with what’s referred to as “end-game” play. I assume the expansion has added enough play to relieve some of that end-game angst.
We also have played a variety of other MMO games (Ultima, Eve, EQII, etc, etc) and despite what others have said, for a kid his age I’d still recommend WoW as it’s highly popular and not hard to play at all.
Its a time sink. You’ll need to understand that aspect and deal with it. I’d suggest(as has at least one other) playing some yourself and getting an idea of what the game is about. In other words don’t think you can give him 30-45 minutes of game time at a stretch. Limit the play, but expect the play that is allowed to be measured in hours.
We have made friends all over the world through MMO games and treasure them as much as those we see on a regular basis. Our EQ guild ( an in-game club, team, group whatever word fits) was Scandinavia based but played on U.S. time. We are still quite close to those folks. Give it a shot, monitor as you would any online chat activity, and he’ll have a blast.
Chickenman (2nd post) mentioned some minimum computer specs to be able to run WoW.
Thought I’d throw out this link for you to try if you like. It’ll let you test a system to see whether or not it meets the minimum/recommended requirements for a rather considerable list of games.
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest
You probably will need a new graphics card if he’s on an old compaq. Perhaps ram as well. He definitely needs to be on at least dsl but preferably cable.
I almost offered to let him join our guild (Master and I are level 69 hunter and druid well on our way to 70!) but then I remembered that it’s… sort of an adult guild.
There are expansions (one live, the other due to be out soon) also, but you don’t have to buy the first expansion until he’s hit level 60 because he can’t actually get to the areas in it until he’s level 60. And I’m pretty sure the second will require him to be level 70. It seems like a small jump but it’s taken Master and I longer to get from 60 to 69 than it took us to get to 60!
If he’s wanting to play so he can play with rl friends of his, make sure to have him find out what server they’re on before he creates a character. If memory serves, it costs money to switch servers unless Blizzard has another free server migration to lower load.
WoW also has a feature that other online games don’t have. The less you play the more experience points you get when you do play. Soooo you could say “Sure you can play on weekends. That way you’ll have X amount of rest bonus when you play and you’ll level faster!” Not that that will work… but it’s worth a try!
I won’t lie and say it’s a children’s game. It’s not. The language is foul and the outfits suggestive. There’s a language filter that’s on by default… at least until he figures out how to turn it off. But you seem to have pretty mature kids so that might not be an issue. Plus, if I remember correctly B-man’s pushing the teen years or older.
In any case, it’s a lot of fun. I’m sure he’ll enjoy it.
Although having the first expansion all along wouldn’t hurt if he wants to experience any of the new races or new professions.
Shhh! Somehow psychically he’ll know someone said that somewhere and use it against kaya to guilt trip her into buying it for him! Kids are tricksy like that :/