WORLD
OF WARCRAFT
"WoW"
redirects here. For other uses, see Wow.
World
of Warcraft (WoW)
is a massively multiplayer online
role-playing game(MMORPG) created by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth
released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe,
which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in
1994.[ World
of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft world
of Azeroth, approximately four years after the
events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previousWarcraft release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Blizzard
Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2,
2001. The
game was released on November 23, 2004, on the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.
The
first expansion set of the game, The Burning Crusade,
was released on January 16, 2007. The
second expansion set, Wrath of the Lich King,
was released on November 13, 2008. The
third expansion set, Cataclysm, was released on December 7,
2010. The fourth expansion set, Mists of Pandaria, was
released on September 25, 2012.
With
over seven million subscribers as of July 2013, World
of Warcraft is currently the world's most-subscribed MMORPG, and
holds the Guinness World Record for the most
popular MMORPG by subscribers.
Contents
[hide]
Gameplay
Main
article: Gameplay of World of Warcraft
Starting a character or play session
As
with other MMORPGs, players control a character avatar within a game world in third- or first-person view, exploring the
landscape, fighting various monsters, completing quests, and interacting
with non-player characters (NPCs) or other
players. Also similar to other MMORPGs, World of Warcraft requires
the player to pay for a subscription, either by buying prepaid game cards for a selected
amount of playing time, or by using a credit or debit card to pay on a regular
basis.
To
enter the game, the player must select a server,
referred to in-game as a realm. Each realm acts as an individual copy of the
game world, and falls into one of four categories. Available realms types are:
- Normal – a Player Versus Environment (PvE) realm where the gameplay is more focused on defeating monsters and completingquests, player-versus-player fights must be consensual, and any roleplay is optional.
- PvP – an environment where, in addition to defeating monsters and completing quests, open player-versus-player combat is the norm, and a player can be attacked by an opposing faction's player at any time.
- RP – a variant of PvE, where players roleplay in-character.
- RP-PvP – roleplay-PvP – a variant of PvP, where players are in-character and cross-faction combat is assumed.
Realms
are also categorized by language, with in-game support in the language
available.
Players
can make new characters on all realms within the region, and it is also
possible to move already established characters between realms for a fee.
To
create a new character, in keeping with the storyline of previous Warcraft games,
players must choose between the opposing factions of the Alliance or the Horde.
Characters from the opposing factions can perform rudimentary communication
(most often just "emotes"), but only members of the same faction can
speak, mail, group, and join guilds. The player selects the new
character's race, such as orcs or trolls for the Horde, or
humans or dwarves for the Alliance. Players
must select the class for the character, with choices such
as mages, warriors, and priests available. Most
classes are limited to particular races
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