Become part of a massive online community, explore the diversity of races, factions, classes and customize your gameplay to fit your needs and style.

World of Warcraft holds option for everyone. You can be a hardcore gamer, pushing yourself and your character to the limit or you can be casual, enjoying an hour here and there. There’s raiding to be found, instances with brutally tough mobs to defeat and tons of land to cover and explore. The many different type of professions you can pick from is also plenty to keep most people busy – or, as a friend of mine does, you can unfold your financial talents and play the Auction House game. Regardless of what you prefer, one thing is sure. You’ll never run out of things to do!

The first game in the series was World of Warcraft, released in November of 2004. Amongst old players often referred to as “Vanilla”. The levelcap was 60 and raiding Molten Core, Blackwing Layer and Naxxramas was only for the really hardcore gamers. In January of 2007, The Burning Crusade hit the shelves, levelcap was raised to 70 and there were new raids to be found, new races to play and a lot of new lands to explore. In November of 2008, Wrath of the Lich King was released, taking players to a new zone called Northrend. A few “Vanilla” raids were revamped and fitted to the new level cap, so level 80 players could now re-discover Naxxramas.

The fourth expansion under the name of Cataclysm, was released this December, and as a WoW addict, I must say it is the most interesting expansion ever. Levelcap is now 85, all talent trees have been revamped, changed so much that even the oldies have to learn how to play our characters all over again.

The graphics have undergone some changes and the new zones – especially the underwater world of Vasjh’ir – really seem to make full use of the fact that WoW is a 3D game. The ingame UI is very intuitive and easy to use, customizable down to the tiniest details and there are websites (such as Curse) where you can download mods to make your gaming experience even more personal and perfect for your own needs. Every single choice you make sets you down a path of new options, starting from the character creation screen, to the types of professions you pick.

The online community is beyond anything you could ever expect. 12 million players worldwide, WoW holds about 60% of the online gaming markets attention. Regardless of which kind of server you pick, you will always be able to find likeminded people to play with, people who enjoy the same things you do. Are you into PvP? Peachy. There are plenty of PvP servers, or if you prefer, Roleplayservers are also an option.

Personally, I opted for a PvE server, because that fits my personal style best. Does the social aspect of the game mean a lot to you? Pick a good guild. Many types are available, from casual socialguilds to hardcore raidingguilds. All that matters is that you find a place that feels like “home” to you.

As soon as you get through the character selection screen, where you pick your faction (Alliance or Horde – good versus bad?) and tailormake your looks, you are plummeted into a cutscene that tells you about the history of your race. Word of advice – don’t skip this. Getting the backgroundstory on why you are in the world and what you can become is always fun.

Once the cutscene is over, you find yourself in front of some NPC’s, who has a series of quests waiting for you. Slowly they introduce you to the world around you, the monsters you’ll meet and slay and you get to know your skills and ability at a nice pace, giving you time to get to know your character and find it’s limits.
Soon, the quests will lead you to one of your faction capitols, where you can learn prefessions and train at your classtrainer.

Some never bother with professions, others, like myself, love fiddling around with them. Most players do learn first aid, cooking and fishing, and the new profession Archeology seems to be a big hit. Apart from these 4 basic professions that everybody can learn, you get to pick two specialized professions. And you have many choices.
Are you a crafter? A gatherer? Maybe a bit of both? I’ve always opted for one gathering and one crafting profession on my chars, so I’ve been able to support my own needs.

For example: A Leatherworker is smart to pick Skinning also, to be able to gather their own mats to craft things from. A character with Blacksmithing would benefit from having Mining, so would an Engineer. An Alchemist picking his own herbs saves a LOT of gold in the long run. And so on. Endless options, so you can do what you like best.

As you can tell, WoW is a very diverse game with more options and aspects than you can count. So again, there is something for everyone and your gaming experience will be what YOU decide it should be. There’s no “set” ending, no “beating every aspect of the game” – because there’s always things to do in this wonderful online world.

Enjoy! (I know I do…)