World Of Warcraft

Writing about World of Warcraft ? where should one begin? It's truly a title that needs no ample introduction, as the game shed enough ink on paper to drown a nation. Not even three years ago, Blizzard was synonymous with quality multiplayer oriented games and had already launched franchises that were doing great on the market, with Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo being the most important. The quality of their work was undeniable yet many were surprised when World of Warcraft development was announced. "Why MMORPG?" the fans asked. Apart from the Warcraft fantasy setting and lore, little could have been discerned since players were used to Blizzard's hack&slash or real time strategy games. Well, after a furious three month beta test, the game was released in the United Stated during fall 2004. It quickly became apparent that Blizzard surpassed even their wildest expectations. World of Warcraft sold 1 million units and thereafter, all subscriber thresholds fell one after another.

Story

When the devastating war against the Burning Legion came to an end, the following years brought a convenient truce as the races of Azeroth craved for peace and time to rebuild. The Horde thrived in Kalimdor, where Thrall and his Orcs consolidated the newly found home. Orgrimmar saw recognition as a great capital city. Horde's dominion was strengthened by allying themselves with Vol'Jin's Trolls and the native Tauren, ruled by Cairne Bloodhoof from the peaks of Thunder Bluff. In Lordaeron, The Scourge left many scars upon land and souls alike, but under the leadership of the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner, the Forsaken arose to challenge the sins of old and find a cure for the undead plague. Thus the undead Forsaken and the Orcs joined forces, both being former outcasts from the world of man.

Once hailing from seven great kingdoms, the Alliance lays in ruins as old allegiances are reforged. Humans gathered the remaining forces and rebuilt around the capitol city of Stormwind. Dwarves were left almost unscathed by the war and held strong within the walls of Ironforge and the surrounding areas. Facing troubles of their own in Gnomeregan, gnomish ingenuity was harnessed by the Alliance along with their able-bodied men and women to fight for their cause. Elves and their troubles were far from the Eastern Kingdoms. The old guardians of Kalimdor retreated to the western reaches, towards Darnassus, trying to cope with the destruction of The World Tree.

Gameplay Overview

There is one clarification to be made concerning the Warcraft franchise. While other titles usually go from movie experiences to the MMORPG environment, or simply create the world out of nothing, Blizzard did things differently. The Warcraft series were already successful on the market and their strength came from years of game-like experiences. Henceforth players related to the MMO world to a greater degree, with hundreds of thousands fans being aware of game lore. I remember starting the game as undead and eventually reaching the ruins of Lordaeron, known as Undercity. It all came back to me in flashes from the Warcraft III movies: Arthas returning home, victorious, entering the great light filled halls in the sound of bells ringing. Rose petals were falling from above and his father greeted him with joy when ? Through the eyes of the undead the castle seems desolate now, a pale shadow of its former glory, a cursed place where history's mark turned into a stain. Yet now I was part of the story too, walking in Arthas' wake, to the sight of Lordaeron's ancient magnificence. The feeling encompassed me as I have never before, nor again, experienced. It was beautiful, a promise of great deeds to come. Looking back, after almost two years, World of Warcraft still stands true to this legacy and has delivered in full. Maybe that's one of the reasons for its long life and prosperity.

The winning formula consists of eight playable races, nine classes and virtually unlimited gameplay possibilities. As an ex-Warcraft III player I was overjoyed to encounter some of my old acquaintances with the persistent MMO world. Pretty much all creatures from the RTS met their equivalent in World of Warcraft, be it Abomination guards, forest Dryads, Orc Shamans or Dwarven Riflemen. They're waiting to be discovered as one makes his way through the land in search of glory and recognition. Carefully plotted quests will sparkle your imagination and send you deeper into revealing the mysteries of old. It's not uncommon for players to start over with a different race, class. As I found out by myself, the pleasure of having a fresh start is enhanced by things you missed the first time. Maybe you simply didn't have the time to handle all faction quests as there always are some that were forgotten, unavailable or simply new. It's never the same.

In the beginning, from beyond the lush forests, stealthy Night Elves had an affinity for hunting and druidic activities. There were so many human paladins roaming the land that one could think they plan on cleansing Lordaeron from the undead threat by themselves. Strangely enough, Gnomes took to a warrior's life and often enough wielded swords larger than they were. Alliance casters grew to hate the infamous Undead Rogues for the Will of the Forsaken and it's no secret Horde players loved Shaman so much, that on the battlefield one could mistake totems for daisies. As time passed archetypes changed and with them, character preferences. Unfortunately statistics show the Warlock and the Druid to be the most underplayed classes as opposed to the all time popular Hunter and Warrior and Rogue. Just the same, Human and Elf avatars cover almost half the player base, as can be shown from Warcraft Realms' census.

Every day brings more and more players taking up WoW, partially due to Blizzards intensive campaigns and benefits of inviting your friends over to the ever growing adventure. In having to deal with the massive intake of gamers, Blizzard had to put up with problems never before encountered. Due to the Horde Vs Alliance faction play style, players were forced to choose sides. It became apparent that, on an overall level, Alliance was favored over Horde with a 1.7:1 ratio. I can't stress how important this is, especially on the PvP servers, since it directly affects gameplay on each realm. Basically, as Horde, you will always find an overwhelming number of enemies walking around the area, paired up mostly, and no allies to help. This leads to ganking, namely when one or more enemy characters attack a single player while he is already fighting a monster. In addition, battlegrounds often enough see an over abundance of Alliance players and since these arenas are capped on the highest number or participants, not the lowest, it is a critical factor.

Team PvE challenges are represented by dungeons, instanced areas of the world where groups of up to five players venture at their own risk. These are available as early as level ten and will prove to be a mandatory experience throughout the game. Quests will lead the brave into perilous dungeons, where monsters are too tough for any one man to subdue. Rare items are to be found here, guarded by even more powerful bosses, creatures that require team work and coordination. Once you get all geared up, there is always the possibility of matching up against other players in a raw display of force (or cunning strategy). In Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin or Alterac Valley characters can cross swords for honor, gold and item rewards. The massive quality of these encounters fundamentally changes gameplay as we knew it. Enemy players have wit and can very well make their own luck through skill and anticipation, proving to be quite a challenge. These unique game modes are native to WoW and were the results of the honor system being implemented. There is a lot to be gained from fighting in the battlegrounds, starting from superior equipment, potions and eventually reaching very fast mounts and epic item rewards. This by no means implies that PvP is limited to these restricted areas. PvP-wise, no level restrictions are found throughout the game, except for the starting areas, where players are safe till approximately level 20. The system has both good and bad parts, but in the long run has proven to be a winning ticket.

On the course of the past two years, Blizzard gradually released new max-level weapons and armors. In the beginning everyone craved for random world drop epic items. It was a crude time in retail, when solo play was treasured and the necessity of guilds was just starting to emerge. Onyxia was the supreme challenge as no-one had killed the great black dragon yet. Then Tier 1 epic class sets were created, ripe for the picking in Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair. But that wasn't enough, as the launch of Black Wing Lair pretty much covered the introduction of Tier 2 sets. Purple is the color WoW teaches you to appreciate, the epic material. Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas brought Tier 3 to the loot table and knowing Blizzard, it won't end here, not by a long shot. WoW is a loot game and in the end, the availability of better equipment is one of the greatest motivations available for the paying customer.

Sound and Video

It's no secret WoW runs fine even on older machines. The greatest problem I encountered was not having enough RAM to swiftly load all those textures, be it a raid or simply when entering a capital city. While it can be argued that characters have a cartoonish likeness to them, due to the inhumane looks and colorful clothes, on high-end systems the game runs smooth and full graphical features become relevant. One can sample both blinding beauty and detail by inspecting epic items textures. Designers and animators put a great deal of work into the end game equipment since it's of paramount importance to players, although through statistics rather than good looks.

As it was with the storyline, audio format bears Blizzard's unmistakable mark. It's almost like they made a point in porting the haunting yet enchanting sounds from previous games into WoW. If you played at least one Warcraft title, it'll come back to you with a vengeance and immersion will by no means be an issue. If you are new to this whole universe, the deep care towards detail will impress you as even the slightest walk in the forests of WoW turns into an enriching experience.

Visual appeal is unmatched as hundreds of screenshots can't do it justice. Buildings expand on several levels, ranging from life filled cities to tall and secluded mountain spires inhabited by wise wizards. The constant wandering will take you to the forest floor and the highest treetops in Ashenvale. Hot will be the long days spent in The Barrens and even deadlier the salt flats of Thousand Needles. Tanaris is a desert you'll soon call home and the jungles of Un'Goro Crater will sooth your pains with its many wondrous crystals. Eventually, upon the icy reaches of Wintespring you might consider returning home. Will you think of the quaint charm of Elwynn Forest, or maybe Dun Morogh? Would Mulgore spark hope in thy warrior's heart?

Community

When your title sells more than six million copies, the community building around the game is bound to be booming. Due to WoW's massive raid content, the PvE experience now has a mandatory dependency on strong guilds emerging from the player base. Guilds are made of players that share similar goals, aptitude and availability in the game world, based on the principle that the whole is better than the sum of its parts. Hardly a novelty in the MMORPG world, guild development and success is solely dependant on the players' social and gaming skills. It is impossible to access the high-end raid content without the guidance of an experienced group of fellow adventurers. In turn, the game offers high motivational value, in both epic loot and a deep sense of achievement. Although a fifth of all WoW players already are level 60 or will soon reach this maximum level, only a precious few are able to taste the delights of Ahn'Qiraj or Naxxramas. These are the latest developments in 40-man raiding dungeons, an important part of the new content steadily added by the developers.

Various fan sites made fun of WoW, nominating it for the "Easiest MMORPG to Cap Ever" award, but considering the great amount of time and dedication players need to invest in order to reach high-end content, WoW becomes one of the most serious titles up to date. With great sacrifice come sizeable rewards. Monster guilds of over 200 players provide a sense of security and self confidence in unlocking new content. Some have been reported to have as much as 600 players joined under the same banner. Since a fair amount is not active on the realm anymore, rerolling is common among WoW users. Blizzard regularly releases new servers, cleans realms that in the first three-four months are battlegrounds for power leveling, efficient climbing up the PvP ladder and the ever present clash of egos, as guilds fight for the first Onyxia and Ragnaros kill. Since Wow requires a monthly fee, overall the game would have seen far lower account lifetime expectations if it weren't for this. Hardcore players enjoy competition above all. I came to realize it's a toss up. Skilled players change servers very often, so on older realms, guilds have problems in keeping their experienced and well equipped members active. In turn this leads to massive recruiting campaigns where players need to be outfitted and taught the new dungeon mechanics, basically setting back schedules for conquering Naxxramas by weeks.

Support

Hat's off to Blizzard on this one, as World of Warcraft has one of the best customer supports I've seen to date. Each possible issue can be addressed by filing an in game request with a Game Master, or by using of a web form. Environmental issues, bad quests, bugs, account problems, payment trouble - chances are your request will be promptly answered with the usual neutral tone Customer Support is bound to offer: "I hope you enjoy your stay in World of Warcraft. Is there anything else I can help you with, today?"

Conclusion

It's always good to give the Caesar his due, and World of Warcraft takes the jackpot by far. A fine blend of existing MMORPG elements, Warcraft lineage, jaw dropping landscapes and innovative gameplay gives flavor to the already seasoned title. Blizzard plans on releasing The Burning Crusade, an expansion pack heralding The Burning Legion's return to the lands of Azeroth. Being consistent with the whole of Warcraft lore, new adventures, two playable races, incredible dungeons and a brand new level cap of 70 are among the features. We can only wait and see what time has yet to unfold.