world of warcraft Introduction
World of Warcraft draws heavily upon the lore of the Warcraft universe. Long-time fans of the Warcraft games are finally able to step into the world from a player's perspective, and experience the universe firsthand. People, places, and units from the strategy games are finally brought to life in World of Warcraft.
You can visit such places as the Burning Steppes, where Grom Hellscream fell in battle against the demon lord Mannoroth, and Ironforge, where the dwarves make their home below the mountain. Legendary heroes, such as Thrall, Cairne Bloodhoof, and King Magni Bronzebeard, are also in the game, presiding over their respective peoples as leaders in their race's capitals.

Guards in the human city of Stormwind look just like footmen from Warcraft III, peasants in the human town of Hillsbrad look exactly like their counterparts in the strategy games, and orc peons shuffle about the farms of Go'Shek in the Arathi Highlands. Night elf players can even see gargantuan Ancient Protectors patrolling the elven lands of Teldrassil, while a towering Ancient of War waits to greet all visitors to Darnassus.

When choosing a character to create in World of Warcraft, there are many choices before you. There are eight races and nine classes available, but the game's primary choice when it comes to character creation is the faction you wish to fight for. You can join the Horde or the Alliance, and your choice here determines much of what you can and cannot accomplish in the world.

You can only group and talk to players in your own faction. You also can only view and befriend players in your faction when using the in-game social commands. The intent is to make you feel like a member of one enormous team, while at the same time setting up the other faction as an enemy or, at best, a rival. Thus, if you wish to play with your friends, you will want to all join the same faction. Other content, such as the zones you can visit and the quests you can accomplish, are also organized by faction. Some quests can only be completed by Horde players and others can only be completed by Alliance players. Some zones offer cities and interactive NPCs for one faction, but are completely hostile to the other.

The Horde side includes the orc, tauren, troll, and undead races, while the Alliance side includes dwarves, gnomes, humans, and night elves. All classes are equally well-represented on both sides, with the exception of the shaman and paladin classes. Shaman can only be played by Horde players, and Paladins are exclusive to the Alliance side.
World of Warcraft

On the Computer Trade Show floor in London, September 2, 2001 "World of Wacraft" was announced. A massive multiplayer game based on their best-selling Warcraft series. The announcement was met with great anticipation, communities were born and fansite after fansite went online. Currently, more than a hundred thousand players are inside the world of Azeroth and experiencing the Warcraft universe from the grunt's perspective.

WoW takes place in a world with a long history of thrilling and exciting many players throughout the last decade -- few if any other MMOPG can compete with that. Finally, players can live and die in the ever-changing world of Azeroth along with up to 6000 players on some of the most popular servers.

Most critics agree that Blizzard has yet to release a game that is below perfection. Be it Diablo or Warcraft, everything Blizzard has done has been a complete success. World of Warcraft was released to store shelves Wednesday Nov. 17, 2004. The game servers have experienced some lag, and the first day of release was shakey to say the least, but also to be expected. As of Jan. 20, 2005 the stability of the most popular and troublesome servers is greatly increased. The Blizzard staff worked tirelessly for a couple of different weekends over the last two months to upgrade the game and beef up the hardware we depend on. Checkout the current server list; it is pretty impressive. ( Server Status ) There are anywhere from 2000 to over 5000 players on a server during primetime.

Warcraft: Orcs and Humans

Warcraft, Orcs and Humans. With those simple words, a new era in computer gaming was born. Blizzard Entertainment was a fairly small company on the PC scene. Though they had created several games across several platforms, including DOS, Mac, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, they were by no means among the top companies on the market. Westwood considered them no threat, nothing more than a mere nuisance. The game followed the same pattern as their Dune. However, where Westwood's game was science fiction and had the marketing appeal of Frank Herbert's Dune, Blizzard had what looked like nothing more than standard fantasy. Analysts dismissed Blizzard's chances as next to none.

Then something unexpected began to happen.

Copies of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans began to fly off the shelves. The game met with both critical and commercial acclaim. The appeal of the game was unquestionable; playing as either the steadfast humans or the treacherous Orcs gave the game something that Dune did not truly have, a personality. From the simple premise of the first mission to the unending battles of the last, the game grabbed hold of its players and did not let go. A compelling storyline took the humans through a terrible war with the Orcs, untill finally, the Orcs were defeated, captured and killed by the humans of Azeroth. One game was not enough, however. Players clamored for more. Knowing that they had a successful franchise on their hands, Blizzard delivered with Warcraft II: The Tides of Darkness.

Warcraft II: The Tide of Darkness

Warcraft II picked up where Orcs and Humans left off. Where the first Warcraft game was their entry into the genre, they knew that they were established enough to have a little fun with Tides of Darkness. It showed throughout the game, whether in the bickering of the Ogre's two heads, or the famous lines of the Footman. It was obvious that the game had been created in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Following the fortunes of the humans from Azeroth, the game showed every aspect of the Orc versus Human conflict, from the initial victories of the Orcs to the end of the Dark Portal that allowed the creatures into the lands of the humans. At the finale of the game, players were treated to a cut scene depicting the closing of the portal, a magical force that obliterated it. An expansion pack, Beyond the Dark Portal, depicted the final victory over the Orcs, entering their homeland and crushing them.

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

In 2002, Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos, was finally released, a good year after it's original release date. But all that was forgotten when fans all over the world went back into Azeroth, this time to stop the invasion of the infernal "Burning Legion". The campagin was divided into four parts, each increasingly difficult, until the alliance of humans and orcs finally defeated the undead and their necromancers.

Although the single player missions were built upon a great storyline and the scenarios were thrilling and exciting, what really held the players glued to the screen for days and weeks was the multiplayer part. Clans and websites, made purely for the multiplayer part of Warcraft 3, appeared rapidly, and a large community was quickly established.

Game Features:
Live in a seamless, persistent world set in the Warcraft Universe.
Visit familiar landmarks and explore uncharted lands.
Experience a dynamic world with constantly changing events and situations.
Meet, adventure and trade with thousands of other players simultaneously.
Engage in fast paced combat against multiple opponents.
Enjoy hundreds of hours of gameplay created by a rich and dynamic quest system.
Manage characters and navigate the world using a simple and intuitive interface.
Play as several different races, including orcs, humans, dwarfs and taurens.