Playing World of Warcraft
RPGs, or role-playing games, have been around for a long time (think D&D), but the internet has really changed how games can be played. Instead of just small parties of players, you can now have thousands of players online at once, able to easily interact with each other.
World of Warcraft was first released in November 2004 and there are already more than 15 million subscribers. Developed by Blizzard, WoW has some relationship to Blizzard's previous games based in the Warcraft universe, but it really can't be considered a sequel. It is its own thing.
Since 2004, Blizzard has released two major expansions to World of Warcraft. The Burning Crusade was released in January of 2007 and it brought the Outlands to WoW. It also increased the number of levels in the game to level 70.
The next expansion was just recently released in November of 2008. It is known as the Wrath of the Lich King and this expansion increased the number of levels to 80. It also brings with it a new continent, called Northrend, and it ads a lot of content to the game.
To get started playing World of Warcraft, the first things you need to decide are whether you want to play against other players or against the AI. Based on your decision, you'll pick from four types of realms.
The two main realms (also just referred to as servers, as that is what they are) are PvP or PvE. PvP stands for Player vs Player and PvE stands for Players vs Environment. If you are completely new to the entire concept of videogames or MMORPGs, you may want to start with PvE just to get a feel for things. Player vs Player is more about combat with other players. And Player vs Environment is more about doing quests, fighting monsters, etc.
Now, once you decide either PvP or PvE, you also have the option of deciding how much roleplaying you want to do. So you can either pick just a straigh-up PvP server or an RP-PvP. The RP servers are for the hardcore players who want to always play "in character".
Once you pick your server, then it's time to pick your faction. You can either play for the Alliance or the Horde. Your decision will probably depend a lot on who you are playing with (if your friends are Horde, you likely will want to be Horde too since Alliance can't communicate with Horde), and what race you want to play. Each faction has its own races so you'll want to take a look at the features of each before making your decision.
After that, then it's time to look at professions, talents, etc. If you've played role-playing games before, you know that half the fun is designing your character with the best traits possible. If you've never played an RPG before, you may be in for a surprise. It can take some time to just get your character created before you even start playing World of Warcraft. But be patient and spend the time getting your toon (that's another name for character) just right. It's worth it in the long run.
