newbie-zones
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The Daily Grind: What do you like about the early game?
One of the reasons that I can't seem to resist rolling new alts is that they give me an excuse to become reaquainted with an old friend: the early zones. In my experience, these zones are above the cut due to a longer period of polish back in beta, a friendlier atmosphere, and a more relaxed pace. They also bring back memories of my first steps in the game, and I'm always up for a hit of pleasant nostalgia. Of course, that isn't the only good part of the early game. While we sometimes seem to be so focused on what the, ahem, elder game offers, there's something to be said about the charms of the beginning. So what do you like about the early game? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Road to Mordor: Six wonders of the newbie world
As I reported last week, I've recently rerolled as a Hobbit Minstrel in an effort to refresh my attitude toward the game, to get a different perspective, and to continue my series in which I go through all of the single-player quests in the game. It's been, in a word, smashing. Having been away from the tamer lands of Eriador for so long, I had forgotten the charm and serenity that these lowbie areas exude. Plus, it's always fun leveling up a brand-new character, since there are plenty of goals and ways to develop your character that your level-capped toons have long since surpassed. As I've been plugging away at Bree-land quests, I began to make a mental list of exactly what's so special about the low-level game in Lord of the Rings Online. The mental list became an actual one, and after a period of milling and refining, I've baked it into a nice loaf of observations to share with you.
Ten levels of RIFT: A guide to your first day in Telara
With two RIFT beta events under my belt, I was given the supreme honor of creating a guide to the first 10 levels of the game. Naturally, I fell apart under the stress, assumed the fetal position for a couple days while whimpering about "frame rates," and then was prodded into action by our editors. That's quite literally "prodded," mind you -- Massively purchased a pair of cattle prods last year at a police auction. It's going to be years until the scorch marks fade from my spine. The purpose of this guide is two-fold. First, we want to give anyone who's interested in RIFT but couldn't get into the beta a chance to vicariously experience RIFT's newbie path. Second, while RIFT is careful to hold your hand during your first steps into Telara, there are always a lot of things that can be easily missed while one is partaking in the wonders of a new virtual world. So this guide is here to share a few tips and pointers that beta testers may have missed. What are you waiting for? Roll up a new character by hitting the jump!
Breakfast Topic: The starting zones you most love or hate
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. With Cataclysm looming, I find myself tearfully saying goodbye to the game as I've always known it. I have leveled (well, at least partially leveled) a character of every race on the Horde side (except an orc), and I've leveled a night elf out of the starting zone on the Alliance side. Now, everything has changed. The starting zones that I grew to love or hate are already different, and I'm not sure what to think about that. I loved the tauren starting experience, and I hope that it only gets better with the new expansion. However, I quickly tired of the orc/troll starting zone. Likewise, I did not have the urge to go through the blood elf starting experience with multiple characters. But once I gave it a chance, I enjoyed the undead experience quite a bit. I think what I enjoyed about the tauren and undead experiences was that I felt like I was involved in the lore. Additionally, I found that the scenery of Mulgore and Tirisfal Glades made the leveling experience more enjoyable. Which pre-Shattering starting zones do you think were the best, and which ones were the worst? With the world having undergone such a drastic change this week and more still to come, which new leveling experiences are you looking forward to the most?
Hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara at Gamer Day II
As part of its recent Gamer Day event, Trion Worlds invited Massively back to its studio for another look at Rift: Planes of Telara. Having now been to two of these Gamer Day events, I can say without a doubt that last week's was the more festive -- the player-community leaders and swarm of devs certainly made the whole experience much more wild than the first and reminded me that I was supposed to be having fun (not just studiously taking notes for you lovely readers, although I did that too!). Since this was my second day-long hands-on with the game (the first being last summer when I got to check out Rift's dynamic content), I thought it best to focus on two areas: improvements to systems I'd seen before, and totally new elements I hadn't seen at all (like the Guardian starting zone, PvP, UI enhancements, Deepstrike Mines, and several new souls including Riftblades, Bards, and Wardens!). Follow along after the break for my second impressions of this MMO that continues to surprise me with its glittering shine of polish.%Gallery-101448%
WoW Rookie: Alliance newbie zone revamps in Cataclysm
New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. Spoiler alert: Today's WoW Rookie is nothing but one big spoiler of the changes Cataclysm will bring to existing Alliance newbie zones. If you're aiming to hit the expansion spoiler-free with fresh, unsullied eyes, you'll want to re-join us two weeks from now (since next week's WoW Rookie will look at Cataclysm newbie zones Horde-side). But for those of you who are itching for a glimpse into what's in store for newly created Alliance characters in the expansion, we've got brief highlights and screenshot gallery samplers of the gnome, dwarf, night elf and human starting experiences. There's not much new to report for draenei in the Exodar, save that their flight point has been moved inside the city. And as for the new Alliance race, the worgen, we've given them their own detailed gallery and write-up, and you can head over to our YouTube channel to watch video of several worgen gameplay segments. Come back next week for a similar look ahead at the newbie zone revamps for Horde races. And now, screenshot galleries (one last spoiler alert for the road -- Cataclysm spoilers abound!) of each starting area plus written highlights, after the break.
Blazing through the newbie zones
I hate the first ten levels. When I say I hate them I mean I really, really hate them. Oh sure, they may only take an hour or so, but how many times have most of us done them by now? I've been playing the World of Warcraft since the day it launched. Earlier than that if you count the beta testing period.The first ten levels are so, so boring. I have done it dozens and dozens of times by now. I have ten characters of varying levels, and I've had many many low level alts I've deleted over time to make room for new ones, due to my Altoholism. Redoing the starter levels after you have a 70 are as if you are riding your bicycle, and when you decide to take a street you haven't taken before for the adventure of it, someone comes along, pushes you off of your bike, and puts your training wheels back on. Then straps floaties to your arms just in case you ride through a puddle. After that you will probably want to just turn around and go home.I've taken to solving this predicament with fire. Fiery, to be specific. My good friend Dirk has been with me on many alts now, preventing me from quitting yet another class within 10 levels due to sheer boredom. Dirk does quite a bit for me, one and two-shotting mobs straight out of the newbie zone. He doesn't Bind on Equip, so he is a friend that will last forever. I know that others put Lifestealing on their Dirk, but it just isn't the same. What is life without fire? Not a life for me, that's what.
