Hey, some class help =]

[RikWo]

Hey guys.

I was wondeing if you could help me with a certain question.

I got this game yesterday, and tomorrow, I'll be installing my new computer so I'm waiting for that before i start playing it (So I don't loose out on subscription time.)

I was wondering if I was able to make a Blood Elf Mage straight away. I only have the starting game, no expansion packs. Do I need the expansion pack to make a Blood Elf Mage, or not?

And if I do, what is the best race to play a mage with?

Thanks for any help!

Rik

[Valas Azuviir]

Do I need the expansion pack to make a Blood Elf Mage, or not?


In order to have access to either Draenei or Blood Elves, then your account must be upgraded to TBC level. Meaning, no expansion, then no Blood Elf or Draenei characters for you.



And if I do, what is the best race to play a mage with?
Rik

Dwarf*.



Seriously, there is no best race thing. At the end of the road, the differences are merely cosmetic.

*: Removed from the game prior to WoW itself going gold.

[RikWo]

So, No blood elf, suckage! I might buy the burning crusade then.... with my next pay cheque...

Wait, so Dwarves were removed from the game? I'm thinking of just being a Human...

[Aerath]

So, No blood elf, suckage! I might buy the burning crusade then.... with my next pay cheque...

Wait, so Dwarves were removed from the game? I'm thinking of just being a Human...

Dwarves weren't. Dwarven Mages were.

You've the choice of Humans or Gnomes on Alliance side, Undead and Troll on Horde. Wonder if Orks can be mages - can't remember, but don't think so :ponder:

[RikWo]

Oh, I geddit =]

Yeah, I'll probably just go with a human... Sounds good to me!

I'll probs be here more after I start playing the game and get totally confused by everything, lol.

[elsegundo]

just sign up for a trial today. you get some limits though.

after you get your new rig set up, you just go to their website and give them the cd key that came with your game and you're all set.

also, you might want to see if someone wants "credit" for refering you. when you get your regular subscription going, they'll get a free month of play time.

[Valas Azuviir]

You've the choice of Humans or Gnomes on Alliance side, Undead and Troll on Horde. Wonder if Orks can be mages - can't remember, but don't think so :ponder:

Classes currently open to the Orcs are: Rogues, Warriors, Hunters, Shaman and Warlock. No druids, paladins, mages or priests.

It's one of the reasons why the dwarven mages were removed. Class/race combo parity with both sides having the same number. Even now with the addition of the Draenei and Blood Elves, still the same parity on total number of combo's and still both sides have just as many races who can become mages.

[Zendarin]

Seriously, there is no best race thing. At the end of the road, the differences are merely cosmetic.



That may be true at the end of the road... but I will tell you this much - the healing ability of the Dranei is a god send to the leveling mage.

[Aerath]

Classes currently open to the Orcs are: Rogues, Warriors, Hunters, Shaman and Warlock. No druids, paladins, mages or priests.

It's one of the reasons why the dwarven mages were removed. Class/race combo parity with both sides having the same number. Even now with the addition of the Draenei and Blood Elves, still the same parity on total number of combo's and still both sides have just as many races who can become mages.

... Hunters :P

Dwarf / Elf vs Ork / Tauren / Troll

Even with TBC, both sides gained an additional race that can be Hunters. I do think there's a few more skewed choices but just got out of bed so not entirely awake yet.

[Valas Azuviir]

... Hunters :P

Dwarf / Elf vs Ork / Tauren / Troll

Even with TBC, both sides gained an additional race that can be Hunters. I do think there's a few more skewed choices but just got out of bed so not entirely awake yet.

Well, was referring more to the total number of combo's, not if one side had more of something than the other.

I mean Alliance has: Night Elf, Draenei, Human and Dwarven Priests.
Horde has: Troll, Forsaken and Blood Elf

Mage wise they're equal at three a piece.

Formerly racially specific classes they're equal.
Alliance has three races which can be paladins and one that can be shamans.
Horde has three races that can be shamans and one that can be paladin

Druid wise they're equal at one a piece.

Hopefully, you get what I mean.

That may be true at the end of the road... but I will tell you this much - the healing ability of the Dranei is a god send to the leveling mage.

And some folks deem the int boost that gnomes have to be invaluable, or the ability to resist fear/cannibalize foes like Forsaken do, or the extra speed that Trolls have when beserking, or the mana tap ability of BE.

You get the idea.

[RikWo]

Well, in the end I went out and became a hunter anyway >.< It just seemed more fitting to me, lol.

Anyway, I downloaded the trial version, but, I have some trouble. See, I only have a CD-ROM drive, NOT a DVD-ROM because my dad forgot to install it. So, I'm kinda stuck at the moment, because the Free Trial is only gonna take me so far. I have a 60 day pre-pay card ready for me to use and everything, so it's pretty annoying.

Is there any other way of getting the game onto my PC? I tried downloading it, but its going to take FOREVER.

[elsegundo]

you have the trial version? good.

take the cd key from inside your box, log on to warcraft website, activate your account with that cd key. your trial account should now be a fully functional account now.

[RikWo]

But I will only have the trial version on my computer, not the full version...

[elsegundo]

the trial version IS the full version!

you need to go to the website, like i've said, and enter in your cd key. then log into the game again and you can play for another month, plus be able to trade with others, whisper them, and use the AH.

[RikWo]

Sweet! I've done that, So now I can play as normal? Right?

I signed up on the wrong region. I'm EU and I signed up on the USA webpage, so it means I'm gonna have to get my hunter to level 10 again, but no biggy. Thanks for the help!

[elsegundo]

what the heck? you might want to call them up to talk about that. if you're EU, you wont be able to log into US servers. i think you got a bit too excited. you need to call some one to get this fixed.
but if you have no problems logging into US servers, then sure, pick a US realm and go at it!

and you cant really activate your account if you've signed up originally in an EU realm, and then go to a US realm to activate. it wont work. there's some holes to this story.

[Valas Azuviir]

:ponder:

EU CD keys cannot be used to activate a US trial account or vice versa afaik.
Nor can the gamecards of the respective regions be used as a payment form for the other region.

I'm with Elsegundo on this one, something is not adding up.

[RikWo]

I know, thats what I meant. I originally signed up on the US server, but when trying to activate my account with my key, it didn't want to know, because I hace a EU CD Key, so I had to make a NEW trial account in the EU, which now means I have to make a new hunter and get it to level 10 again.

So I made my EU one, upgraded THAT account, so I got the extra month of play time =]

I'm gonna go out and get TBC soon, probs sometime this week.

Oh that reminds me, can you use a headset on this game? like a microphone etc. Because I can't see any option to set one up or anything.

[Valas Azuviir]

I know, thats what I meant. I originally signed up on the US server, but when trying to activate my account with my key, it didn't want to know, because I hace a EU CD Key, so I had to make a NEW trial account in the EU, which now means I have to make a new hunter and get it to level 10 again.

So I made my EU one, upgraded THAT account, so I got the extra month of play time =]

I'm gonna go out and get TBC soon, probs sometime this week.

Oh that reminds me, can you use a headset on this game? like a microphone etc. Because I can't see any option to set one up or anything.

Now it makes sense. :grin:

And yes, you can use a headset. There should be a toggle for it in the options screen somewhere. Audio section, I think. WoW does have integrated voice chat these days, although a lot of folks still prefer their separate Vent/Teamspeak channels.

And then you've got grognards (am referring to the classical definition of this word, not the slang one) like myself, who don't use it at all.

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

It would be under the sound & voice options screen. Kind of obvious when you think about it...

[Wintrow]

how does one "think" ?

[RikWo]

how does one "think" ?

Precisely =]

It's all good now. Without realising I left the download running anyway, so I downloaded the full version >.< I did wonder why my internet was so slow.

Anywho, thanks for all the help guys, I'm finally on and playing, So maybe I'll see some of you in there. If any of you are EU-ers, of course =]

[elsegundo]

I know, thats what I meant. I originally signed up on the US server, but when trying to activate my account with my key, it didn't want to know, because I hace a EU CD Key, so I had to make a NEW trial account in the EU, which now means I have to make a new hunter and get it to level 10 again.

So I made my EU one, upgraded THAT account, so I got the extra month of play time =]

I'm gonna go out and get TBC soon, probs sometime this week.

Oh that reminds me, can you use a headset on this game? like a microphone etc. Because I can't see any option to set one up or anything.

Remember when you get TBC, DO NOT INSTALL it. just take your CD key and go to the website and register it. you'll be able to see TBC content after that. you do not need to install it.

[Successful]

Yes, you need the Expansion in order to create a Blood Elf Mage. As for the best race, it all depends on which factions you go with. I usually just pick a race that looks good. In my opinion, don't look at the characteristics that each race gets.

[teacake]

Remember when you get TBC, DO NOT INSTALL it. just take your CD key and go to the website and register it. you'll be able to see TBC content after that. you do not need to install it.

May I ask why you should not install it?

[elsegundo]

May I ask why you should not install it?
everyone should be playing the same version of WoW. unless im wrong and there's some content inside the CD that needs to be installed, then i guess you'll have to install it. but for me, i just downloaded the whole thing a long time ago and never looked back.

[Gorny]

everyone should be playing the same version of WoW. unless im wrong and there's some content inside the CD that needs to be installed, then i guess you'll have to install it. but for me, i just downloaded the whole thing a long time ago and never looked back.

Not quite,

There are two trial versions available. One is a WoW trial and the other is a TBC trial for those that already have Classic version.

Link here (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/trial/index.html?referrer=WORLDOFWARCRAFT&source=wowhome&promo=1)

So if he has the classic trial he has to install and patch to the current version of TBC that we are running, if he has the TBC trial, all he has to do is go to Account Management (https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/login/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldofwarcraft.com%2Faccount%2Findex.html) and upgrade his key.

[elsegundo]

:wave:

ok thanks for clearing that up.

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

Not quite,

There are two trial versions available. One is a WoW trial and the other is a TBC trial for those that already have Classic version.

Link here (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/trial/index.html?referrer=WORLDOFWARCRAFT&source=wowhome&promo=1)

So if he has the classic trial he has to install and patch to the current version of TBC that we are running, if he has the TBC trial, all he has to do is go to Account Management (https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/login/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldofwarcraft.com%2Faccount%2Findex.html) and upgrade his key.

The difference is in the account's functionality and access, not in the software. Blizzard has just one set of Client code, not two.

[Gorny]

The difference is in the account's functionality and access, not in the software. Blizzard has just one set of Client code, not two.

I knew that, just wasn't sure how Blizzard handled the seperate trial versions, since I installed TBC the day it came out.

[Wintrow]

The difference is in the account's functionality and access, not in the software. Blizzard has just one set of Client code, not two.

Well, that's not true either (I speak from experience)... When you install WoW Classic and install every single patch you'll still not have several files (don't ask me which ones). Then you install the TBC-disk and your wow-folder gains several GB's of weight.

I assume it's stuff like the cinematic intro and possibly Karazhan's inners and ow, all of Outland :grin:.

BUT it IS possible they are no longer offering the classic-only download.

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

Well, that's not true either (I speak from experience)... When you install WoW Classic and install every single patch you'll still not have several files (don't ask me which ones). Then you install the TBC-disk and your wow-folder gains several GB's of weight.

I assume it's stuff like the cinematic intro and possibly Karazhan's inners and ow, all of Outland :grin:.

BUT it IS possible they are no longer offering the classic-only download.

The code doesn't change. There is no code difference between WoW classic and WoW:TBC. Blizzard does not keep two sets of code independently from each other. Those GB of weight are cinematics and other content that are inaccessible to WoW Classic, not programming code (which wouldn't weigh in even remotely that much anyway).

Honestly, there should be no real reason someone gets the "WoW Classic" trial account client as opposed to the "Burning Crusade" one... not that I think there is a difference like that any more from Blizzard. It is the same game. One just has access to certain things the other does not.

[Zendarin]

Hmmm... I upgraded to TBC online and I had a couple of hours of patching that it went through before I could log in again... (this was about 6 months ago I think).

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

Hmmm... I upgraded to TBC online and I had a couple of hours of patching that it went through before I could log in again... (this was about 6 months ago I think).

Because of content. Content is not programming code. It is data. Data is a significant portion of the filesize/space that WoW's client uses. Music, zones/models/polygons, cinematics, etc... these all take up probably 90% of the storage space WoW's client uses. Only about 10% of it is actual honest-to-god compiled programming code, and Blizzard only has a single set of code they use for WoW, not two different sets. If there was a different set of code for each version of the game with each combination of expansions, it quite honestly would be a programmer/debugger nightmare.

Your update downloaded that data which is irrelevant to non-TBC WoW. Like the TBC intro cinematic (very large), things like Quel'Thalas, Azuremyst/Bloodmyst, Outland... creatures/models/textures/sounds/music exclusive to those areas, etc.

[Zendarin]

Because of content. Content is not programming code. It is data. Data is a significant portion of the filesize/space that WoW's client uses. Music, zones/models/polygons, cinematics, etc... these all take up probably 90% of the storage space WoW's client uses. Only about 10% of it is actual honest-to-god compiled programming code, and Blizzard only has a single set of code they use for WoW, not two different sets. If there was a different set of code for each version of the game with each combination of expansions, it quite honestly would be a programmer/debugger nightmare.

Your update downloaded that data which is irrelevant to non-TBC WoW. Like the TBC intro cinematic (very large), things like Quel'Thalas, Azuremyst/Bloodmyst, Outland... creatures/models/textures/sounds/music exclusive to those areas, etc.

That's about what I figured - I paid attention to the file names that were being downloaded - nevertheless it is additional content which has to be loaded so the advice NOT to install the TBC disc makes little sense to me.

The TBC discs don't include the original game files so it is additional content and needs to be installed. You are not re-installing the game code but rather installing the character models, sounds, items, and terain features of the additional TBC content.

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

That's about what I figured - I paid attention to the file names that were being downloaded - nevertheless it is additional content which has to be loaded so the advice NOT to install the TBC disc makes little sense to me.

The TBC discs don't include the original game files so it is additional content and needs to be installed. You are not re-installing the game code but rather installing the character models, sounds, items, and terain features of the additional TBC content.

And, if you are doing a fresh install, I would recommend, rather than scrounging around and installing the original game disks and then TBC disks, and then all the patches (hours of time wasted), download the trial TBC client. Install it, and then patch it (the patch will be.... significantly smaller). You probably will cut the total time for install down to 1/3 of what it otherwise would have been... unless you're on dial-up.

[Wintrow]

The code doesn't change. There is no code difference between WoW classic and WoW:TBC. Blizzard does not keep two sets of code independently from each other. Those GB of weight are cinematics and other content that are inaccessible to WoW Classic, not programming code (which wouldn't weigh in even remotely that much anyway).

Honestly, there should be no real reason someone gets the "WoW Classic" trial account client as opposed to the "Burning Crusade" one... not that I think there is a difference like that any more from Blizzard. It is the same game. One just has access to certain things the other does not.

Well, You're right, technically content <> code and WOW Classic's code and TBC's code is one and the same. There is only ONE code-version. Any other differences are (like you said) textures, localisation strings, cinematic trailers.

There IS however a reason to download the classic one instead of the TBC one. If you don't know anyone who has the game and you have a crap internet connection.

Sure, in student environments, it's common to know ppl who play wow as well. But in my current situation (married w children), was it not that my brother and brother in law also play I'd have been stuck w downloading. And when you got a crap download line (speedwise) it pays to only dload what you REALLY need.

[Xlorep DarkHelm]

Well, You're right, technically content <> code and WOW Classic's code and TBC's code is one and the same. There is only ONE code-version. Any other differences are (like you said) textures, localisation strings, cinematic trailers.

There IS however a reason to download the classic one instead of the TBC one. If you don't know anyone who has the game and you have a crap internet connection.

Sure, in student environments, it's common to know ppl who play wow as well. But in my current situation (married w children), was it not that my brother and brother in law also play I'd have been stuck w downloading. And when you got a crap download line (speedwise) it pays to only dload what you REALLY need.

Well, if you are on dial-up, that is a whole other issue...

[Kasal]

Precisely =]

It's all good now. Without realising I left the download running anyway, so I downloaded the full version >.< I did wonder why my internet was so slow.

Anywho, thanks for all the help guys, I'm finally on and playing, So maybe I'll see some of you in there. If any of you are EU-ers, of course =]


Welcome to WoW, RikWo. Be prepared for other questions to arise as you proceed through the game, and feel free to come to us for the answers.

You're our kind of people. :grin: