World of Warcraft...

[seawasp]

... actually downloaded and tried the free version for a bit yesterday. (Well, given how honkin' huge it is, I actually had downloaded it over the prior night).

I doubt I'll be playing it again. It's pretty enough, I guess, and the FMV to start it was impressive, but the controls suck (not surprising, I'm using a keyboard), the tutorial features aren't sufficient, the flexibility in creating a character was minimal, and the icons and text are printed in teeny-tiny print I can barely read even when holding the computer up near my face.

No character interaction or intro; I get more character in Oblivion. And the controls on the PS3 just are totally lightyears beyond anything on a keyboard. (yeah, I presume there's probably some awesome USB joysticks or something out there, but I don't have one).

But I'll leave it on my HD for a bit; I may change my mind and give it another shot. 

Comments

[ebartley.livejournal.com]

I would not recommend Warcraft for a laptop (except for serious Warcraft players logging on just to do a few quick things.) That said, shift-V makes names more prominent and there are a bunch of options in Interface and Key Bindings which might help you.

[seawasp]

So WoW really requires a desktop with a manly monitor?

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I play it on a regular size monitor and I play it on my laptop, too. Of course, it's way impressive on my youngest son's Alienware computer with the 23" monitor, but I don't have issues on either my 19" desktop monitor or my 17" laptop screen.

The new expansion coming out at midnight is very pretty. I played it for a couple of months. I enjoy the game, but I know lots of folks don't.

[seawasp]

Well, my laptop's a 13", so that's considerably smaller than even your smallest example.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I can see that a 13 inch screen would be very limiting, yes.

[argonel.livejournal.com]

Once I get my rebuilt desktop up and running I'll see how I like it on my compensating for something screen. I will have it connected to my theatre projector and putting it up on a 9 foot screen.

[ebartley.livejournal.com]

Well -- it doesn't require a large screen to play(*). I think for most people it requires a large screen to be fun. Lots of exceptions, of course (especially good eyesight, already hooked on Warcraft, lying in bed with the laptop screen a foot away, specialized interests in Warcraft where the screen size doesn't matter much, etc.) I would expect most people starting warcraft to have similar reactions to yours on a small screen.

That said, the camera zoom, angle, etc. can be adjusted, and I mentioned shift-V above to toggle the type of nameplate display.

(*) There are some specialized cases involving playing in groups where you really *need* a large monitor. But those aren't things you'd do just starting out.