Online Gaming - World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft or WOW as it’s commonly known is a series of massively multi player online role-playing games (MMORPG).  These games allow a number of players from around the world to play together in a virtual world at any one time.  WOW has been developed by Blizzard Entertainment and based on the WOW series success; the company has gained a massive reputation for developing and designing classic games.  The game is also a financial success for the company with an estimated 8 million players globally and is recognised as the world’s leading subscription based MMORPG.  There are different pricing requirements throughout the world and these can range from buying the software package that entitles the player to download the game and receive one month’s free game play.  Alternatively, purchase a prepaid game card which will provide an allocated number of day’s gameplay.

WOW is the fourth in the game in the series and is set in the World of Azeroth and the gameplay is directed by a character based in a persistent world.  A persistent world is often the base for this type of game and it’s a virtual world that is always accessible and world events are always taking place.  The virtual world is built around two continents, the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.  The players that are controlling the characters through these continents are able to visit various landscapes and perform quests along the way.  During the quests, characters may face monsters which they will have to fight in order for them to gain rewards which will help them at the next stage of the game.  These rewards can range from improvements in their characters skill and power, money and objects.  Gamers can play along through some of the early stages of the game; however, other parts of the game require assistance from other players.  This more difficult part of the game can be set in the dungeon area and there can be a maximum of 40 players during the more difficult raids in the dungeons. 

Players can choose their preferred method of gameplay via the realms that they select.  These realms are depicted by four types; Normal or PVE (player versus environment, PvP (player versus player), RP (roleplaying) and RP-PvP (roleplaying PvP).  There are various characters to choose from and these are tied to specific user accounts.  These accounts can be used in all realms and users can create up to 10 characters per realm reaching a maximum of 50 characters per realm.  Once the character has been set, these will act as the players’ avatar and will serve them in the virtual world of Azeroth. 

There are 8 different races and nine different character classes to choose from and the races are set in two factions, the Alliance and the Horde.  The Alliance faction consists of Night Elves, Dwarves, Humans and Gnomes.  The Horde has Tauren, Undead or Forsaken, Trolls and Orcs to choose from.  The nine classes to select from are Hunter, Mage, Druid, Paladin, Shaman, Priest, Rogue, Warlock and Warrior.  In addition to the classes, players’ can select a profession for their character.  There are two main professions which are gathering and item creation.  It is often best to select two relevant professions that can work together for the character such as Skinning and Leatherworking.

There are several expansion packs available for WOW which enables players to add new dimensions to their games.  WOW: The Burning Crusade is the latest offering and will be available to some consumers in mid January 2007.  The WOW series has become extremely popular and as such there have been other products available linked to the WOW brand.  These have been board games and trading cards which have capitalised on the WOW success.