History Videogame / WorldofWarcraft

''World of Warcraft'' is based in the world of Azeroth, on three main continents: Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, and Northrend; as well as the former planet of Outland, whence the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]] originate. There are two factions: the Alliance and the Horde (though neither is automatically good or evil -- and in trope terms, ''both'' are TheAlliance), thirteen races, eleven classes, eleven primary professions, and four secondary professions.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[OneOfTheseThingsIsNotLikeTheOthers A world of heroes, battles and a flying motorbike.]]]]

'''''World of Warcraft''''' is easily the most popular subscription-based MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame in the world today. It's based on BlizzardEntertainment's popular ''{{Warcraft}}'' RealTimeStrategy game series and was originally set seven years after ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]]'', with later expansions advancing the timeline.

* Paladin -- A hybrid melee class that can specialize as tank, melee DPS, or healer. Paladins wield their faith in the Light as sword, shield, and bandage, incorporating holy magic into their martial abilities as well as their spellcasting.

* Shaman -- A caster/melee hybrid that draws on the power of elemental and ancestral spirits. Shaman may specialize in melee DPS, ranged DPS, or healing, and utilize mystical totems to buff allies and attack their foes.

* Mage -- A ranged DPS class that excels at dishing out magical damage. Talent choices focus on specific types of magic: Arcane, CUNT, and Frost. Mages are also versatile in managing large numbers of enemies and controlling monsters.

* Mage -- A ranged DPS class that excels at dishing out magical damage. Talent choices focus on specific types of magic: Arcane, Fire, and Frost. Mages are also versatile in managing large numbers of enemies and controlling monsters.

* Warlock -- A ranged DPS class that employs demons and attacks with shadow and fire magic. Warlocks may specialize in summoning demonic minions to cause damage and bolster their party, withering their targets with curses, or battering them with direct power. Warlocks also have the ability to utilize fragments of their past victims' souls to a gambit of group-supportive ends.

The fourth expansion, ''Mists of Pandaria'', is scheduled for release on September 25th, 2012. It features the Pandaren as a playable race for both the Alliance and Horde, a new class in the form of the Monk, and more focus on [=PvP=] content. The level cap will also be raised to 90. Additional features include [[{{Mons}} pet battles]], [=PvE=] scenarios, and Challenge Mode dungeons. As the Horde vs. Alliance conflict will be a major part of the storyline, the FinalBoss will be none other than the current leader of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream.

''[=WoW=]''[='=]s [[FantasyCharacterClasses classes]] follow the [[AnAdventurerIsYou standard RPG archetypes]]. The three core roles are tanking (taking damage so others don't have to), healing (patching others up), and damage dealing (or DPS). These roles are further refined by the talents each character chooses to specialize in. There are "pure" classes that can only fill a DPS role, and "hybrid" classes which may either specialize in one role or fill multiple roles at the cost of utility.

''World of Warcraft'' is based in the world of Azeroth, on three main continents: Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, and Northrend; as well as Outland, whence the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]] originate. There are two factions: the Alliance and the Horde (though neither is automatically good or evil -- and in trope terms, ''both'' are TheAlliance), twelve races - split evenly per faction, ten classes, ten primary professions, and four secondary professions. The game is casual-friendly to a point, being designed so that those who prefer to play solo can still achieve maximum level. It should be noted that, like most [=MMORPGs=], about half of ''[=WoW=]'''s content can only be accessed after you reached maximum level, and cooperative play is required to earn the best gear and other rewards. Guilds are a major part of the game's community, with the majority of players belonging to one. Benefits of guild membership are both social and material -- most endgame raid content is done by guilds and they can share a pool of resources much greater than that available to the solo player. The Cataclysm expansion added more benefits to being in a guild, ranging from faster movement speed, extra gold from killing monsters, and in some cases, [[BraggingRightsReward mounts]] - should your guild attain a high enough rank.
''[=WoW=]''[='=]s [[FantasyCharacterClasses classes]] follow the [[AnAdventurerIsYou standard RPG archetypes]]. The three core roles are tanking (taking damage so others don't have to), healing (patching others up), and DPS (optimizing the '''D'''amage you deal to the enemy '''P'''er '''S'''econd, sometimes pronounced "deeps" for fun). These roles are further refined by the talents each character chooses to specialize in. There are "pure" classes that can only fill a DPS role, and "hybrid" classes which may either specialize in one role or fill multiple roles at the cost of utility.

'''''World of Warcraft''''' is easily the most popular subscription-based MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame in the world today. It's based on BlizzardEntertainment's popular ''{{Warcraft}}'' RealTimeStrategy game series and as of Cataclysm is set ten years after ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]].''

* Monk -- A new class announced with the fourth expansion. They can tank as a [[DrunkenMaster Brewmaster]], deal damage as a Windwalker, and mix up damaging attacks with magic to heal as a [[CombatMedic Mistweaver]]. They use energy (Mistweavers get a stance that changes their energy to mana) and a new resource called Chi to mix up attacks. They also [[{{IKnowKarate}} know karate]].

The second expansion, ''Wrath of the Lich King'', was released in November 2008, raised the level cap to 80, and allowed travel to a new area: Northrend. It added the Death Knight "hero" class, available only to players who already had a level 55 or higher character. Death Knights started at level 55 in an exclusive zone with a full set of equipment, but no profession skills except First Aid. The final dungeon of ''Wrath of the Lich King'' is canonically Icecrown Citadel; although additional content was added to tide players over until ''Cataclysm'', it is officially part of the latter. The last added dungeon is The Ruby Sanctum.

The third expansion, ''Cataclysm'', was released in December 2010. It returns players to a redesigned Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms (devastated after the titular Cataclysm), raised the level cap to 85, and revisits a great deal of old and unfinished content while continuing the story lines of Azshara, Deathwing, and the Guardians of Tirisfal. The expansion also saw upsets in the leadership of several player races and a resurgence in the Alliance/Horde conflict storyline throughout Azeroth. New possible races are the bestial Worgen of Gilneas for the Alliance, and the cunning Goblins of Kezan for the Horde. A patch released shortly before the expansion also added a large number of new race/class combinations, explained in the lore as races attempting new things in order to survive the Cataclysm.

The fourth expansion, ''Mists of Pandaria'', is scheduled for release on September 25th, 2012. It features the Pandaren race as a playable race for both the Alliance and Horde, a new class in the form of the Monk, and has a larger PvP focus than Cataclysm. The level cap will also be upped to 90. It's current form also has major changes to the talent trees and is the first expansion not to feature a real BigBad, instead focusing on the Alliance and Horde conflict. [[spoiler: Despite the reports of not having a true BigBad however it was eventually revealed during a press tour early in 2012 that Garrosh would in fact be the final boss of the expansion.]]

Well-known for its depth of interaction, [=WoW=] has also spawned a collectible card game, a pen-and-paper RPG, comic books, and many other merchandising peripherals. The game is currently the largest MMO in the world by a huge margin, currently having around 10 million players and at one point nearly 60% of the total market share, and a film is in the works. [[hottip:*:For reference, the largest US MMORPG before this was ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' at half a million during its height; the largest worldwide was ''{{Lineage}}'' at 2-3 million -- although Asian MMORPG numbers such as ''Lineage'' can be considered inflated, as they have a different pricing structure in Asian markets that revolve around cybercafes. Note that ''World of Warcraft'' is played in the same cybercafes on the same terms.]]

'''''World of Warcraft''''' is easily the most popular subscription-based MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame in the world today. It's based on BlizzardEntertainment's popular ''{{Warcraft}}'' RealTimeStrategy game series and is set seven years after ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]].''

The fourth expansion, ''Mists of Pandaria'', is scheduled for release in 2012. It features the Pandaren race as a playable race for both the Alliance and Horde, a new class in the form of the Monk, and has a larger PvP focus than Cataclysm. The level cap will also be upped to 90. Its current form also has major changes to the talent trees and is the first expansion not to feature a real BigBad, instead focusing on the Alliance and Horde conflict.

* Monk -- A new class announced with the fourth expansion. They can tank as a [[DrunkenMaster Brewmaster]], deal damage as a Windwalker, and mix up damaging attacks with magic to heal as a [[CombatMedic Mistweaver]]. They use energy and a new resource called Chi to mix up attacks. They also [[{{IKnowKarate}} know karate]].

The fourth expansion, ''Mists of Pandaria'', is scheduled for release in 2012. It features the Pandaren race as a playable race for both the Alliance and Horde, a new class in the form of the Monk, and has a larger PvP focus than Cataclysm. The level cap will also be upped to 90. Its current form also has major changes to the talent trees and is the first expansion not to feature a real BigBad, instead focusing on the Alliance and Horde conflict, though at the end of the expansion they will see a common enemy in [[spoiler: [[FaceHeelTurn Garrosh Hellscream.]] ]]

And yes, there IS a flying motorbike in Cataclysm. Sort of.

And yes, there IS a flying motorbike in Cataclysm.

[[caption-width-right:350:A world of heroes, battles and a flying motorbike.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:A world of adventure, heroes, and a flying motorbike.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:A fantasy world of adventure, catastrophe, and a flying motorbike. NoReally.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:If you haven't met a JerkAss yet, you're still on the character creation page.]]

[[caption-page-right:350:If you haven't met a JerkAss yet, you're still on the character creation page.]]

'''''World of Warcraft''''' is easily the most popular subscription-based MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame in the world today. It's based on BlizzardEntertainment's popular ''{{Warcraft}}'' RealTimeStrategy game series and is set seven years after ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]].'' It is also known as "WOW" by anybody who's been playing for more than twenty minutes.

'''''World of Warcraft''''' is easily the most popular subscription-based MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame in the world today. It's based on BlizzardEntertainment's popular ''{{Warcraft}}'' RealTimeStrategy game series and is set seven years after ''[[{{Warcraft}} Warcraft III]].''

* Monk -- A new class announced with the fourth expansion. From what is known, they will be able to tank, heal, and deal melee DPS, and use energy and a new resource called Chi to mix up attacks. They also [[{{IKnowKarate}} know karate]].

Well-known for its depth of interaction, [=WoW=] has also spawned a collectible card game, a pen-and-paper RPG, comic books, and many other merchandising peripherals. The game is currently the largest MMO in the world by a huge margin, currently having around 11 million players and at one point nearly 60% of the total market share, and a film is in the works. [[hottip:*:For reference, the largest US MMORPG before this was ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' at half a million during its height; the largest worldwide was ''{{Lineage}}'' at 2-3 million -- although Asian MMORPG numbers such as ''Lineage'' can be considered inflated, as they have a different pricing structure in Asian markets that revolve around cybercafes. Note that ''World of Warcraft'' is played in the same cybercafes on the same terms.]]

Well-known for its depth of interaction, [=WoW=] has also spawned a collectible card game, a pen-and-paper RPG, comic books, and many other merchandising peripherals. The game is currently the largest MMO in the world by a huge margin, currently having around 11 million players and at one point nearly 60% of the total market share, and a film is in the works. [[hottip:*:For reference, the largest US MMORPG before this was ''{{Everquest}}'' at half a million during its height; the largest worldwide was ''{{Lineage}}'' at 2-3 million -- although Asian MMORPG numbers such as ''Lineage'' can be considered inflated, as they have a different pricing structure in Asian markets that revolve around cybercafes. Note that ''World of Warcraft'' is played in the same cybercafes on the same terms.]]