Warcraft Worlds -PC-

Warcraft Worlds -PC-

World of Warcraft is the most immerse and rewarding game that I’ve ever played. I’ve always said that the problem with World of Warcraft is that its just too good of a game, there’s not enough time in a human being’s life span to play WOW and lead a regular life. Regardless, for every level of gamer, gender, race, or age, you’ll enjoy and find a niche in the world that is the World of Warcraft. The game is an extraordinary feat, and Blizzard has been rewarded handsomely the past 6 years for their efforts.

When I was earning my Bachelor’s Degree at Brigham Young University, I took a level 300 English writing class. At the beginning of the semester we were assigned an “Educated Research Project” that was due the last week of class. It was to be between 10-15 pages, full of tons of research and quotes. Fast forward to the last week of class and the huge project was due. I hadn’t even started on the paper let alone the massive amounts of research required. So I took a moment and thought to myself “what have I been doing a ton of research on?” I looked down at my computer and all my tabs currently opened in Firefox referenced to something Warcraft related. “I’ve done tons of research on Warcraft this semester” I thought to myself “I’ll just frickin do it on Warcraft”. 10-15 pages of gibberish later I landed myself a “C”.

World of Warcraft is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. To play the game, you’ll need to create a character and give him/her a name. You start out as level 1 with limited spells and abilities. You’ll level up as you kill creatures and complete quests that are given to you. Also, You’ll be able to play with friends if they’re on they have the game too. There are dozens of these types of games out there, but what is it that makes World of Warcraft so special?In our recent podcast dedicated to Blizzard (found in the link to the right) I talked about what I thought made World of  Warcraft so appealing.

1. Blizzard brings its rich Warcraft lore from previous games and fully fleshes it out. WOW is so rich with Warcraft lore, and it continues the storyline right it it left off from Warcraft 3. I’m a huge fan of all of the Warcraft RTS games and WOW brings it all to life in a current state.

2. An enjoyable Leveling experience. While I played I leveled up 3 Characters from level 1-80. It’s a very rewarding experience watching your experience bar rise as you work your way through each zone. As you level up you’ll gain new abilities and spells and new areas of the world are opened up to you. Each geographical zone is has so much character just filled with brilliant artistic style.

3. Deep endgame: Once you’ve leveled up your character to the max level, that’s when the game really becomes playable. There’s an endless amount of things to do. Player vs. player battleground (capture the flag like games), dozens of dungeons filled with dragons to slay, professions, world events, social aspects, and so forth. WOW has the deepest of any game’s endgame, and its constantly evolving.

4. Continued support through patches. World of Warcraft is constantly changing. Every couple of months a new dungeon opens up, or a new battle ground is opened, in-game features and interfaces are updated. The class talent system and abilities are revamped and tweaked every couple months. On Major holidays, the main towns are filled with fun seasonal art and decorations. Its crazy how often things are updated and how much new content there is. There is a $15 monthy fee, but there is new content almost every month that you’re not charged for. No other game does what Blizzard does in this aspect.

5. Popularity. The masses that play or have played Warcraft are many. There is a good chance that you know someone that plays. And WOW is 10 times funner with a friend at your side.

6. Depth of gameplay. There are 10 character classes in WOW. Warlock, Priest, Mage, Rogue, Druid, Shaman, Hunter, Warrior, Paladin, and Death Knight. Every class is unique and has a different play style. Blizzard spent so much time on each class to make them distinct and to fill a specific role within the game. Each one of these classes are ever evolving. Playing a different class is a whole new experience. You could make 10 different video games from each class they’re so different.

7. Attention to detail. There are so many small things in the game that make up the whole experience. It would be hard to name them all, but Blizzard has really churned out a gem with this game. The game is so big! I feel like WOW is so big it’s really like 50 games in one, and it’s ever evolving!

I actively played World of Warcraft for almost 3 years (February 2007 – October 2009). Original WOW was first released in November of 2004, then a little over 2 years later in January 2007 its first expansion “The Burning Crusade” was released. The second expansion “The Wrath of the Lich King” was then released in November of 2008, and it’s projected that the third expansion “Cataclysm” will be released at the end of this year 2010. About 13 million people play WOW with the $15 monthly fee.

I myself fit in on the time line starting just as The Burning Crusade expansion was released. For the next month or so I leveled up a Blood Elf Paladin. I played the game almost nonstop. Eventually I started playing other classes and leveled them up too. I played a Warlock, Priest, Mage, and Druid.

I never joined a raiding guild that did any hardcore dragon dungeon kills. I mainly stuck with the Player vs. Player aspect and working with profession leveling. Being part of a dragon killing guild meant that many hours on a nightly basis had to be dedicated to killing dragons. That’s not to say that I wasn’t dedicated to the game.

Unfortunately for a game this massive and expansive, it does require a ton of your time. Once you’ve leveled up to 80, you’ll need to constantly be upgrading your armor and weaponry in order to really compete in either the player vs. player aspect or the dragon slaying dungeons. To get the latest armor and weapons, I spent hundreds of hours grinding away in battlegrounds and arenas. Not to say that they weren’t fun, but it’s just such a big time investment that it starts to become monotonous.

I eventually quit the game because I felt like I had seen everything I wanted to see. Also, I set some in-game goals for myself and I told myself that if I completed them, I had beat World of Warcraft(collecting 100 mounts). But for someone who hasn’t seen the World of Warcraft for themselves, it’s an adventure to be had from head to toe. When the new “Cataclysm” expansion comes out, I’d like to see what new content that they’re offering and try out some of the new player vs. player modes available. We’ll see what happens.

There are a couple of games that I really enjoy spectating, and one of those games is World of Warcraft. Even though I havn’t played the game for a while, I enjoy watching the tournament video streams, and staying current with the who’s who. There is a massive community for all aspects of the game. It’s is really a whole nother world. Seriously. Best game I ever played. 5/5

Review by Pete