The Art of Tech

A longtime friend of mine was part of the beta test for World of WarCraft back in early-mid 2004, so I had the opportunity to see the game several months before it came out. That is when it started grabbing my interest.

One of the main reasons, for me at least, that World of WarCraft is better is that unlike other RPGs (Role-Play(ing) Games) the level up system does not award "attribute points" that you must then decide how best to distribute. Attributes do increase with each level and those attributes do affect the performance of your character, but they do not play a role in deciding whether or not you can equip an item. If you have the "skill" to use an item type, like swords, two-handed swords, maces, guns, bows, mail armor, leather armor, etc. and you meet the level requirement, you can equip and use the item.

Unlike most other MMORPGs, World of WarCraft does leave the decission to fight other player characters up to the "honor system," or in other words, you are not at the mercy of everyone else playing, if you do not want to be. You can engage in PvP (Player v. Player) combat if you choose.

There is also more than one way to gain XP (eXperience Points). Killing monsters is one and you will do a lot of that. But you also gain XP when completing quests. You can also gain levels by participating in PvP [Ed: This has changed. Now, PvP only contributes Honor Points which let you gain Ranks. See the WoW site PvP info page for more details].

The questing system is excellent. There are a wide variety of quests that are well thought out and put together. I have run into a couple of quests that I could not complete because of buggy NPCs (Non-Player Characters) who were "unwilling" to talk to me (and that was the goal at that point). Blizzard is working very hard to find and eradicate all such bugs. The in-game reporting system is very nice and (usually) makes it quite easy to report issues like these.

In addition to XP and levels, your character can learn up to two professions. Some of these professions are closely related (in pairs) and so would make sense to learn together. For example, Skinning & Leatherworking; Mining & either Blacksmithing or Engineering. As you gain skill (up to an ultimate maximum of 300 skill points) in your chosen professions, you can learn how to create more interesting, useful and valuable items.

There is a very complete economic system, including a server managed Auction House, where players can put items up for bid and shop for things they need or can use. Many players create items through the sills afforded by their professions and then sell them in the AH. There are many items in the game that can only be created by players.

In addition to the two primary professions, everyone can also learn all three of the secondary professions: Cooking, First-Aid & Fishing. Cooking allows you to create food items from raw ingredients extracted from monsters killed and/or purchased, some of which can give temporary benefits (known as buffs) when consumed.

Starting when your character reaches level 10, you will receive one Talent Point for each level (up to the current maximum of level 60). Talent Points can be distributed amongst three Talent Trees, which are specific to each character class. You can not earn enough talent points to completely research any one tree from top to bottom (at least, not until Blizzard moves the level cap up). The talents selected make your character more proficient in particular ares and allow you to customize that character's makeup.

As you go on quests in areas of the World of WarCraft, you will gain (or lose) Reputation. As your reputation improves, vendors (which are NPCs) will give you a discount on goods purchased from them.

On top of all that, for PvP there is an Honor System. If you kill people way lower than you in level, weather player characters or NPCs, you will increment your count of dishonorable kills. As honorable kills rack up, you will gain in Rank. As your rank rises, other areas of the game open up, which are only available to players with Rank.

As you can see, it is a very rich and well thought out system. It is very easy to play and yet you can highly customize your experience for the way you like to play. This is not limited merely to the selection of race and class of character, either. For these reasons, among others, I purchased World of WarCraft and truly enjoy playing it.

One word of caution, however: It can be addictive. This game does such a good job of engrossing you in it's many facets that one can quickly & easily lose track of time while playing. I would suggest that when you go out to buy World of WarCraft, you also pick up a small electronic timer or alarm clock to mount next to your monitor while playing and set it for a reasonable amount of time.

Happy adventuring!