Going really, really hardcore with WoW
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 2nd 2007 at 2:58PM
Tobold linked to a new blog about MMO gaming called Hardcore Casual, and the first entry is a nice one-- it's all about the differences between a "carebear" game like WoW, and the much more hardcore games of the past. His big example is Ultima Online, where players could gank each other and actually loot the corpses. Playing a game where others could steal your armor is very different from playing a game where BoE means it's yours forever.But you don't have to go back that far to find a really hardcore game-- in Blizzard's own Diablo 2, you could play "hardcore mode," which meant that when your character died, that was it. Game over, no respawns, nothing. Either you lived and beat the game, or you died and lost the ability to play your character and everything with it.
To tell the truth, I'd love to see a server like that in WoW. Not because I'd love to play it (what are you, crazy?), but because the stories coming off of that server would be terrific-- we could all just stand in awe of the character who made it to 70 on the Hardcore server. Or would that even be possible? Especially if the server was PvP (and it would be, wouldn't it?), it seems like an impossible challenge to keep a character alive that long, especially since the other side would be gunning for anyone who got too high. Would you play on a hardcore server, where you could lose your life (and/or your gear)?
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Michel Jul 2nd 2007 3:03PM
I would play sometimes for the challenge and the fun
but I would continue to spend the most time of wow in my regular server. quiet and nice :)
martinavila Jul 2nd 2007 3:09PM
Stop, just... stop.
Sylvina Jul 2nd 2007 3:09PM
Our guild had a 'hardcore' mode where we rolled alts on a PvP server and tried to see who ended up with the highest level before dying. It was pretty awesome.
Sensei Jul 2nd 2007 3:24PM
You'd probably see a lot more group play, practically no Instances, and a bunch of rougues who would vanish and Hunters who would play dead when things got tough, leaving the other party members to their fate :)
Tigraine Jul 2nd 2007 3:14PM
That was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard about the WoW Ress system back in Beta.
"Damn, I would love hardcore mode" ..
After having played beta, and having played about 2 days straigt to get do lvl 18 or so (with dying every hours twice), i just started thinking.. hmm.. maybe hardcore mode wouldn't work here..
So .. hell yes, hardcore would be great. But not in WoW.. Not with this community. Getting ganked is hard. Getting really killed is just insane.
Think about one lvl 60 guy. Having played since server start 24 hours a day for 2 days. He would be lvl 50, sitting in Westfall killing every guy coming from elwynn ..
What can you do against a lvl 50 char with mere lvl 18?
nothing.. If he has 5 friends who do the same. . that server is just nuked.
Krishan Jul 2nd 2007 3:15PM
Omg lol when i think of how much gold/time/effort spent on getting all my gear I would just cry if it all went- and to then lose your character! Unless levelling was really quick (like gettign to 70 is as quick as getting to 30) and gear was easy that would just be terrible!
Jason Jul 2nd 2007 3:16PM
Sounds like a recipe for hypertension to me. The mild disappointment of watching your profile portrait go red would be replaced with the sheer panic of potentially losing hours and hours of work due to an untimely crit or a bad patch of lag. And I can't imagine running an instance under these circumstances unless it was with guildies. There is absolutely no way I would trust my character to a PUG with such dire consequences for failure.
James Jul 2nd 2007 3:18PM
Everyone that is paranoid about the armory would actually have a reason to be. You would have to always make sure to log off with a fake set of gear on. Furthermore, twinks would have to stay inside the capital cities at all times (okay, that probably isn't any different than now). You would not be able to carry gold on your toon--that would have to stay at the bank in case you did get ganked and needed to re-buy armor and weapons. People would have to stockpile armor and weapons as well.
Solo gameplay would be a thing of the past, and guilds would have a use beyond just socializing and raiding. To do any quests you'd probably need a full 5 man, and even then, it would just escalate to full raid parties hunting down smaller groups and taking all of their stuff.
End game raiding would only be done by the most organized guilds, as they are the only ones that would be able to defend themselves against others. But once they did get decent gear, they'd pretty much be able to rule the server, or at least have very few contenders. You'd have cases of full 40-mans showing up at places like Gruul's Lair or Karazhan waiting to ambush other parties going in to raid. It would be nuts.
That would not be a pleasant server, except that Chinese gold farmers would be extinct. They'd never make it out alive thanks to everyone showing up to kill them and take their gold every 5 minutes.
Ahoni Jul 2nd 2007 3:35PM
I can see it now. You manage to make it to 70. You get into the Hardcore's Hardcore guild and are just about to go into an instance ..
When you have to cancel because the main tank got ganked outside the instance. Damn, try finding a tank or healer in that environment ... LOL
Twalname Jul 2nd 2007 3:39PM
Sooner or later, a server would either become a Horde-only server or an Alliance-only sever. First faction to get a 70 twink (And yes, it would happen would own the server, and there would be no point in the opposing faction to roll a character there.
Elbows Jul 2nd 2007 4:00PM
The reason that something like full loot in UO worked is because even though it sucked at times to lose your stuff, gear was for the most part inconsequential. The best magic items (vanq, suprm acc) in the game only gave you a moderate damage boost. Usually the most you lost were some regs and pots. No big deal. You res, go stock up, grab a hally and get back out there.
UO was the greatest game ever made.
The Cannabis Connoisseur Jul 2nd 2007 4:03PM
Dumbest thing I'd ever heard. WoW subscriptions would plummet to 12 users...
Gene Jul 2nd 2007 5:16PM
Just make it so you could role a level 70 in the character gen screen with a set amount of gold to start with. You would not be allowed to transfer in or out. Awards and records would be given based on time played and how many fights you got in. Death would not mean the end as long as someone could rez in a set amount of time and limit the amount of gear per kill that could be taken. (ie. if you down a boss do you get every piece of gear that he is carrying or wearing) Their could be records given for class, race, faction and guild honors. It would be fun solid group play.
chaz Jul 2nd 2007 4:13PM
There would have to be a lag-out safety net. Otherwise you'd never want to play.
darkicon Jul 2nd 2007 6:54PM
Well the "hardcore" server wouldnt be the type of server as we know it now. It would be a much faster paced world. I would definitly roll on the server for the fun and excitment of it all. But again this server wouldnt be the wow style of a standard server. Its just more of a hunt and kill type.
Freehugz Jul 2nd 2007 4:18PM
The whole server would be rogues and locks! But still, I'd love to give something like this a try.
(#12 read the whole article, not just little pieces, it makes you look like less of an idiot)
Jason Jul 2nd 2007 4:20PM
This post reminded me of my favorite idea for a new realm type, which is an All Out PvP server. More or less, it would be just like life in Gurubashi arena 24 hours a day. You could kill members of the opposite faction for your standard honor points, etc, but you could also kill members of your own faction. Killing members of your own faction would result in a loss of friendly faction (SW, IF, Darn, etc...) so that if somebody was anti-social enough to do this sort of thing on a regular basis, they would eventually be shut out of major cities and ostracized into the periphery of neutral cities. Of course, there would need to be a farmable rep turn in to give these outcasts a chance to rejoin society. I've always liked this idea because I've found that I get more fed up with members of my own faction at times than members of the other faction. Ninjas and trade channel spammers would cease to exist in this kind of realm.
Metaphyzxx Jul 2nd 2007 4:26PM
Now THAT'S a server where guilding would matter. Only bad point I see would be people would level a character and never play them for fear of them dying. Maybe having limited respawns per fee cycle or something... 1-2 per zone per month... then you're stuck as a ghost until next month.
Saphia Jul 2nd 2007 4:33PM
I'm trying to count how many times the server crashed on me only to find myself dead when I can finally log back on. Ah no thanks. It angers and offends me enough having to pay gold to fix my armor after an incident like that.
Baluki Jul 2nd 2007 4:39PM
Oh, hell no. I won't even start a character on a PvP server.