World of Warcraft: The World Game Craze

First off, allow me to apologize to my loyal readers. All six of you. I haven't updated in a while. Suffice to say, an errand I went on wound up taking a little longer than I expected it to. Anyhow, I'm back now so let's kick this thing off already!



World of Warcraft. Eleven million people, myself included, play it worldwide. Hundreds of countries, different religions, children and senior citizens alike all log on to play. The company that produces it(Blizzard) makes billions of dollars yearly because of the people who pay to play it. The game has its own economy, sociology, and language. Players enter their characters in arena matches to see who is the strongest. The game is only five years old, but already has two expansion packs, and one more on the way. What is so entertaining about this game that millions of people find themselves so drawn to it?

The answer lies in good old fashion research. I'm going to create a new character and take you step by step through what you do in the game. Stay tuned, this could be good!



Michael's commentary: Alright, my character is a level one Dwarf warrior named Thorvor and he appears to be in a Dwarven stronghold. First things first. Let's talk to our captain.

"Thorvor," he says, "I am cold. Go out and kill five starving frost wolves and retrieve their pelts for me so that I may make a blanket."

Michael's commentary: What? Go get your own damn wolf pelts, you lazy Dwarven popsicle. I thought I'd be killing Orcs, not wolves that are barely surviving because we drove away all their food. This is a lame quest. But... I guess I can't progress the game unless I do it.

Thorvor kills a starving frost wolf. Thorvor searches the corpse and finds no pelt.

Michael's commentary: Wait a second. This wolf looked like it had fur. Why can't I take it?

Thorvor kills four more starving frost wolves. He finds one pelt.

Michael's commentary: So only one of these wolves had a pelt? That makes no sense to me.

Thorvor kills twenty seven more wolves and find four more pelts. He gains a level.

Michael's commentary: How are these wolves surviving when they run around without skin?

Thorvor returns to the captain.

"Thank you Thorvor. Here is one copper piece for your work."

Michael's commentary: ...one copper piece? For all that work? That's bull crap.

"Now go across the country to my brother and deliver a letter to him. Then come back because by that time, I'll have another letter I want to send as well. If you do this for me, I will give you a rusty long sword."

Michael's commentary: So you want me to spend hours traveling across a monster infested countryside to deliver a letter, come back and deliver another one, and if I do this you'll give me something I can find in a junk pile? I hate this game. But I can't stop playing...



There you have it. The reason everyone plays this game: Mind Control.

Well.. maybe not.


Although the fictional story of Thorvor accurately depicts some of my least favorite quests in World of Warcraft, there are many good things about the game too.

It is beautifully rendered. Everywhere you go looks as if it could be a real place. Rolling green hills, snow peaked mountains, red desert canyons, and dark mysterious forests. Exploring is my favorite thing to do in World of Warcraft.

Easy to use and understand concept and controls. I personally know a three year old and a seventy-seven year old who play World of Warcraft. Neither are particularly computer savvy (Damn it! I told myself to stop saying "savvy"!), but both of them love jumping into the game.

Cooperative play is what gets most people. Fighting along side your friends on a quest to finish off an evil demon? Now that's fun! Fighting along side your friends to finish off another group of friends? That's even more fun! Plus it's entertaining to watch.

Professional World of Warcraft players form up into teams of three and square off with each other in the arena. There are real life tournaments where these "Pros" go to compete against one another for a chance to win up to $25,000 cash! I had the pleasure of meeting one of these "Major League Gamers" and he tells me that when he goes to the tournaments, he gets to stay in five star hotels, eat at fancy restaurants and he doesn't even have to pay for any of it. Makes me want to just play video games all day.

Well, it may be ruining America's youth, but they aren't complaining. Not as long as Blizzard keeps coming out with new stuff for them. I think the game is fun, but you should definitely play it in moderation. Too much of a good thing, you know.

Don't worry. I'll be back tomorrow.