An introduction

Released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. The story and myths continue from previous Blizzard games. Burning Crusade expansion was released in 2007 Wrath of the Lich King expansion was released in 2008 Cataclysm expansion was released in 2010 Mists of Panderia will be released in 2012 It is commonly referred to as WoW

As of December 2011,it currently has 10.2 million subscribers

Massively – huge, persistent world Multiplayer – many players all playing at once Online – can only be played online Role-Playing – you have an avatar that you build in experience and ability Game – it’s fun, it’s objective-based, it’s emergent. Ultima Online was the first MMORPG (1997) and Everquest was the most notable in the U.S. (1999) until WoW was released.

When signing up, you are asked to put your character on a realm (sometimes called a server). There are limits to some of the interactions across realms, although you can also chat with RealID friends. 236 Realms  Between 100 – 1500 people play per faction per server a day. The realms are organized into 13 Battlegroups Realms are classified as PvE, PvP, or RP  Player versus Environment, Player versus Player, Role-Playing

Two primary factions:  Alliance (dwarves, draenei, humans, gnomes, night elves, worgen)  Horde (orcs, tauren, undead [forsaken], blood elves, trolls, goblins) Common enemies include demons and undead [scourge]. However, it is not so cut-and-dry. There are sub-factions within the races, so you will end up fighting all races. There is no “good” and “evil” here—both factions have their share of the noble and honorable as well as the selfish and power-hungry.

In WoW, you can play one of nine classes, and most classes can be “speced” (talent specification) in different ways. There are three primary specs: DPS (damage per second) – these specs do the most damage. Tank – in a dungeon, you need at least one tank; a character who can take a beating without dying too quickly. Healer – in a dungeon, you need at least one healer; a character who can keep the party or raid from dying. The Classes Death Knight (dps, tank) Druid (healer, tank, dps) Hunter (dps) Mage (dps) Paladin (tank, healer, dps) Priest (healer, dps) Rogue (dps) Shaman (healer, dps) Warlock (dps) Warrior (tank, dps)

World of Warcraft Beginners website: Wowwiki and WoWpedia– wikipedia, but for WoW: or Wowhead – information about items, quests, and objects in the game: Curse Gaming – a resource for addons (small additions that change the interface of the game):