Warcraft III

[Prometheus]

IsInstallingWarcraftIII(x) -> Cool (x)
TRUE -> IsInstallingWarcraftIII(ME)

Sorry, just a bit of humor from my CS background.

[Lord_of_Me]

That was humour?

[EUOL]

Only to CS people, Me.  Only to CS people...

[Prometheus]

The humor of it comes sometime after you do your first few hundred problems involving those things I think. Sort of like watching cows. (Which really can be funny if you watch them now and again over a period of years. They do some odd things.)

[Entsuropi]

ooooh kaaayyy...
cows. my god. this website is cursed
though it has to be said that its really funny when u get out of ur car to have a wee and a bunch of em wander over and watch. its amazing how people suddenly become really self conscious and hurried when a bunch of cows are staring at their genitalia...

[Lord_of_Me]

mooo
cows are actually quite funny if you think about it

this brings about a question that has plagued manlkind since the dawn of time:
why moo?

[Prometheus]

They, um...cows don't actually moo. It sounds nothing like that.

[Prometheus]

Only slightly unrelated news for those who have been anxiously watching World of Warcraft: Blizzard posted recently that they expected to begin the beta in 2003. I have a conflict here. Typically I would expect this date to be moved back to a later time, prolonging the interminable wait. At the same time, however, I have to note that Blizzard has grown more and more reluctant to name dates for ... well anything more than a 2-4 weeks in advance, if that.

The only semi-logical explanation I can think of is that a MMORPG might need a more extended beta test, and Blizzard might also be thinking that since they will have a continuing development team, the balancing might go without quite as much fine tuning. They have also stated before that WoW was announced much later in development than most Blizzard games. The game really does look to be quite far along to me.

So, what do people think. Might we have a new Warcraft game in perhaps two years from now? Or less? Do we really believe Blizzard this time, or will we simply conclude that the beta projection will fall to Blizzard's mushy timetables?

[GuJiaXian]

I finally got Warcraft 3, and I've been playing through the single payer campaigns.  I was part of the on-line beta, and I'm a litle burned out on the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Anyway, I'm almost through the first campaign, the Humans.  The story is interesting, but it seems *identical* to that of Neverwinter Nights!  Undead swarm a city, and a mysterious plague must be stopped before an ancient evil awakes and returns.  I'm a little disappointed in this "parallel" between the games.  I've beaten NWN already, and as I'm playing through WC3 I'm thinking, "Haven't I played this already?"

Has anyone else noticed this?  Perhaps it's just me, but I think I remember seeing someone else mention it on the official NWN boards.

[Prometheus]

I can't comment on Neverwinter Nights, but on the whole, the plot of an undead army overrunning a town isn't original at all anyway. If it's a problem, it lies in both of them.

One thing I do recommend for the Warcraft III single player campaign, however, is to read the background material in the manual first. There's a lot of stuff in there that would help one figure out what's going on. There is some history behind everything that the game itself doesn't bother explaining.

[GuJiaXian]

Having almost beat WC3, I have to say that it's just WC2 with a facelift.  Sure, the fmv's are MUCH better, as are the graphics in general, but the gameplay is virtually identical to the earlier Warcraft titles.  I heard that Blizzard wanted WC3 to concentrate on smaller battles, ones involving only 3-4 units, but having played through the single-player campaigns, I see no evidence of this.

Interestingly enough, my favorite levels in the single-player campaign are those that involve no "building" whatsoever.  You start the level with your hero and a few other supporting combat units and have to make your way through the level with the resources that you start with.  There have been three or four of these levels, and they're fun because I don't have to stress about building a big enough army or fighting off the enemy as they invade my town.  The whole level is at my pace, and I enjoy that.

Can you tell that I'm not a big fan of rts titles?  

[GuJiaXian]

Okay, I just beat WC3.  Very standard Warcraft plot.  Demons invade, various factions fight and then kiss and make up, and then the enigmatic Night Elves kick some demon butt and save the day.  Blah.

The cinematics, however, were incredible.  I watch the fmv's on these Blizzard games and wonder why other companies even bother releasing the crap they do.  Every game Blizzard puts out shoots to the top of the charts and stays there.  The rest of the gaming world should take a hint or two.

Well, WC3 left the plot wide open for an expansion, true to Blizzard's usual form.  Yes, the demon hordes are destroyed, and the undead Scourge is stopped, but that demon-infested Night Elf hero-dude is still off rampaging somewhere, and fallen-paladin-blackguard-deathknight-dude Arthus is still rampaging somewhere, too.  Yay.

Well, I have to admit, while the game ate up some time and had its moments, I'd recommend Neverwinter Nights over it any day.  Yes, I know they're completely different genres, but NWN is just a better game.

Okay, I'm stepping down from my pedestal now.

[Prometheus]

Yes, sadly Blizzard did back off somewhat on its previous intention to make battles small squad and made the game much more like Warcraft II then was originally announced. I was thrilled by the early statements of the roleplaying strategy game blizzard said they were going to make. Some of the elements are still there, but...it ended up a very very good RTS instead of the intended RPS (they even used that acronym for a while).

There are a good deal more innovations that Warcraft III made that make it a true giant among the RTS games available, but I'll hit those in our upcoming review. Overall, I'd say that a comparison between Warcraft III and Neverwinter Nights isn't terribly fair to either game, although people have been sorely tempted to do so by their concurrent release and popularity. Warcraft III is a RTS and Neverwinter Nights is a RPG. They're just totally different beasts.

[GuJiaXian]

Yes, they are different, just as I stated.  I know, apples and oranges.  I still enjoyed NWN significantly more than WC3.

[Prometheus]

Hehe, that hardly seems fair since you already stated you don't have a taste for RTS games.  

If Warcraft III isn't your taste, I'm still curious if playing the game still made you more or less interested in World of Warcraft. At first this seemed a bit off-topic, but upon further thought, I think that World of Warcraft is a very relevant Warcraft III topic. It's quite odd for a game to have its sequel approaching release (in Blizzard terms) when it first comes out. In a way, Warcraft III can be seen as simply prepping the gaming community for Blizzard's MMORPG. (which I expect to make them far more money than Warcraft III will) Then again, you might be averse to MMORPGs as well. There's certainly a number of reasons to be.

Additionally, was the plot in Warcraft III sufficient that you think you might buy the expansion? If not, borrow/beg it from someone else? You didn't seem excited about the storyline of Warcraft III (a sentiment I somewhat agree with) but I'm curious about whether you have continuing interest in what happens next. If experience holds true, the expansion plot may be much more fullfilling. (In the same way that Brood War had a better plot than Starcraft)