Breakfast Topic: Favorite things
by Eliah Hecht 
Mar 18th 2007 at 8:00AM
This simple question comes courtesy of my mother. What's your favorite thing about thig big game of ours? Me, I'd have to say I have two favorite things. One is group PvE, whether it be 5-man or raids; I just love working together with friends to defeat obstacles. From the rush of downing a boss to the hundred small interactions that contribute to the beautiful ballet of smashing one's enemies to a pulp, it's all good. My second in-game love is theorycraft. What can I say; I love math. Between analyzing talent builds, gear choices, and spells, I almost feel I don't have to actually play the game at all...but that's crazy talk. What are your favorite things about WoW, and why?Filed under: Odds and ends, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Deathlike Mar 18th 2007 8:20AM
World PvP. The aspect of surviving against other sentient people in a wide-open world just makes the game so much more interesting for me. I'm against ganking/corpse-camping, though.
And I enjoy the theorycraft as well. I like matching build against build and trying to find the best synergies between skills and talents.
Next!
Bradley Nash Mar 18th 2007 8:26AM
My favorite part is probably the social aspect of the game. I love running into a character, and it's a real person. But I'm playing a video game.... it's almost contradictory. I'm a big fan of the chat in the game. Alot of people complain about Barrens chat, but I love it. I get such a kick out it, sometimes I laugh so hard I have to stop whatever it is I'm doing at the time. Trading items and helping people out. I love it!
And I'm all for ganking/camping. Its just something I have to go through so I can do it later. /evil laugh
Thijz Mar 18th 2007 9:06AM
I have to agree with #2, i love the social aspect of this game. Me and my friend used to hang around in Goldshire for hours and hours straight, just watching new players getting their first few lvls and being happy about a 4.5 dps sword.
Nulmorr Mar 18th 2007 9:11AM
The joy of killing somebody who jumps you while you're fighting another mob, then killing the mob and dancing in front of their dead corpse. Period.
mindranor Mar 18th 2007 11:30AM
I, as a WoW player who never played the regular Warcraft games, love, LOVE, the lore. I enjoy knowing how the ten rats I'm kiling tie into the macro-story of Warcraft.
My second favorite thing is probably the micro-management aspect. I love comparing gear options, cross referencing enchants, gems, and armor kits.
Braz Mar 18th 2007 10:00AM
I'm probably going to differ with most people on this, but my two favorite things are the Battlegrounds, and soloing/exploration.
I have an alt specifically for Battlegrounds, in a guild with other hardcore BG-ers. There's nothing better than going into the Battleground with a solid team of trusted friends, and then defeating the opposing faction. Whether it's running the flag and defending the base in Warsong Gulch, or fighting for land in Arathi Basin, I love the Battlegrounds. I also like world pvp, to a lesser extent. The threat of attack adds an extra layer of danger and excitement to what would otherwise be fairly straightforward grinding, and each victory is satisfying (as long as you're not ganking lowbies, in which case you're just a coward).
I also like soloing, and exploring the world. I enjoy challenging myself and testing the limits of my gear, talents, and skills by soloing difficult quests and enemies. When playing my hunter, I especially like to hunt down and kill rare mobs. I also like to explore each zone, looking for interesting sights and secluded spots. For example, many people never explore the spider cave in the Wetlands, let alone follow it to its end. For those that haven't been, this particular cave is unlike most others in the game, with several unique features. Another favorite is the naga area of Stranglethorn Vale, with its hidden shrine in the hills.
Dungeon running comes in a close third. As with soloing, I enjoy visiting new instances for the first time more than anything. I used to really like finding new gear, but not so much these days.
Jackie Mar 18th 2007 10:42AM
I love leveling. That's the best part of this game. All the crap we do is to make our characters stronger and unique to our playing style. Even when we've hit the max, there are professions to level, reputations to increase, and pvp loot to earn.
Smutcakes Mar 18th 2007 11:16AM
that I need no blonde trophy wife and BMW to feel accomplished as I have my purple pixels to keep me company
Finnicks Daerkhiv Mar 18th 2007 12:11PM
Facemelting!
I was permaflagged out in the Bone Wastes the other day (65 Undead Warlock, 15/41/0) when two 65 Warriors (Human and Night Elf), unflagged, showed up and decided it would be fun to gank me while I was halfway through fighting a spectral Arakoa.
*grin*
After a gritty and exciting fight, involving two deathcoils, lots of spells and dots, three super health potions (they both used one), a major healthstone, and a Fel Domination Felguard resummon, the warriors were dead! I love PvP. They came back about five minutes later and managed to thoroughly stunlock me, and I subsequently died.
JMCampbell Mar 18th 2007 2:48PM
it probably seems silly, but one of my favorite things in the game is just to run around and kill squirrels and rabbits. Although, I did think it was a little cruel when they put killable kittens in the BE area.
Collateraldmg Mar 18th 2007 4:33PM
Downing new bosses. They don't have to be world firsts or server firsts or even guild firsts (only been there for the latter two), but downing a new boss (especially in a raid encounter) is always fun and exciting. We just downed nightbane last night and it was the most fun and exciting thing since our time in Naxx.
roguedubb Mar 18th 2007 5:15PM
Theorycraft: I love playing with concepts. And what I love most about it: when they get tested and destroyed in World PVP.
Ariel Mar 18th 2007 5:29PM
I agree with JMCampbell, those dead kitties just break my crazy-cat-woman heart. :( I'm not much for killing critters, but I will occasionally earth shock a cow if I'm in the mood for burgers.
chris poloncic Mar 18th 2007 6:15PM
I have two favorites:
1.) Responding to Crossroads is under attack! messages.
And my true favorite:
2.) Near wipes in instances or any other situation. I play with a friend that I've played mmorpgs with for a couple of years, so we have a synergy that let's us play without having to communicate. Nothing beats a bad pull, the stress of the long fight with every cooldown blown, pots used, and whatever else clever trick anyone can come up with. Empty mana, low life, true skill. The feeling you get when you avoid a wipe is awesome. I'm not saying I like to roll around with crappy groups, but I do enjoy the near wipe.
Firefly Mar 19th 2007 6:27AM
I often find i enjoy *not* playing the game more than i do playing it. I'm heavily into twinking (no... not because i can kill nothing on my main (even though there may be some truth in it)) but because i love pushing the game to the limits. I enjoy researching which quests can and cant be done by a *9 level character, how much agility it is possible for a hunter at *9 to have maximum etc... This said, it wouldnt be the same without my ingame friends. Thrasing the same-looking computer graphic over and over again isnt my idea of fun, but throw in 5 guys who make you laugh consatntly while doing so and its sudenly my favourite way to kill time. The social aspect of the game is by far its greatest feature (i could do maths on my own but it wouldnt be as fun). I enjoy theorycrafting in general too though, hell... i even spent an hour compiling conditional probability formulae for shaman dual-wield dps when they had the whole fiasco about WF5/WF4 on different hands... all this and i've never leveld a shaman past 13 ^^
social aspect, dynamic content and theorycrafting keep me hooked on this game and i bet its what keeps one hell of alot of others hooked too.
/end
Keith Mar 18th 2007 7:35PM
Ditto on the tension of avoiding a near wipe. Playing a rogue with engineering means I've had a few wipes averted through a carefully timed vanish followed by Rezzing the Paladin in the party.
Twalname Mar 18th 2007 11:28PM
My WoW experience is very limited. I levelled a mage to 60 some time ago, but never got past UBRS. I've since restarted on a new realm, and am up to level 55. In both realms, with all of my characters (since I DO have a lot of low leveled ones as well), the best thing about WoW is playing with friends. Be it me and my few friends going through Undead Strat to try to get me the magister's pants (Which I never got...) or me and my other few friends on my other server essentially questing all the way to level 50 together, WoW is always so much more fun with others (Granted, I may be a bit biased as I have so much more free time than anybody else I know, so I'm stuck playing by myself most of the time - I made a level 52 pali an alt when I solo'd a druid to level 55).
Zuuler Mar 19th 2007 8:30AM
I found my most favorite thing when I got sick of looking for groups for group quests. No one ever seemed to be out to kill that elite I needed to kill. One day I accidently ran into an elite I was out to kill and even though I lost the surprise attack, I still won. Since then I haven't been afraid to try and solo a group quest before I go looking for a group. Sometimes I can be immediately successful. Sometimes it takes a few tries to learn the strategy to do it. And sometimes its obvious that its impossible to solo.
This has also led to me trying quests and mobs that are red to me. Its almost just like fighting elites except its a little harder because higher lvl mobs can resist more than equal level (to your charater) elite mobs.
Its even more fun when in a group, you solo an add so the group can take out the main target without being harassed.
Chris Sutherby Mar 19th 2007 11:14AM
Coming over from FFXI, where everyone is stuck into a cookie-cutter mold or gimp, I really love WoW's customability. So many different equipment models and characters, talents, and so on. Also the classes do very distinct roles, yes even the hybrids, unlike FFXI which was crowded with DPS classes. Also, as much as some people decry who gimp they're job is, WoW has done an amazing job with class balance, solo and in group. I don't tend to get the same rush that I got from my early 11 days, camping NMs and boss fights, but i'm every bit as addicted as I was...
...for good or bad.
Flit Mar 19th 2007 11:43AM
Bad Pulls.
Nothing is more fun than having 5 people working on 6 elite 72 mobs and being able to pull it off. it takes quick reflexes, quick thinking, and full attention. I can solo while surfing the internet on my other computer, but dungeons are the best for testing skills, especially bad pulls.
Also, the social aspect. I loved Oblivion before i played wow, and now when i go play oblivion, it's almost unbearable, because i feel so alone and the game kind of feels pointless now.