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john riweaew To be honest, when I first heard of World of Warcraft when it was feature on Techtv, I was not impressed. The graphics didn't make me jump out of my seat, and the thought of trying out another MMORPG did not really interest me. One of my sorority sisters recently got the game from a friend in the mail, and invited me over to check it out. Being a very long and devoted fan of Dark Age of Camelot, she was skeptical as well, to try something new. The first night she started playing, she was hooked. I watched her play the game for about an hour, and immediately went back to my dorm room and ordered the game off of Amazon for myself, and received it two days later. I'm an avid fan of MMORPGs. I enjoy being able to group up with my friends and get help on my quests. I had played Dark Age of Camelot for a month, and while I was impressed with that interface, it felt like something was missing from the overrall picture. I had even gotten my own copy of Final Fantasy XI, which couldn't have been a bigger mistake. The game was a complete hassle; just thinking about how much of a hassle FFXI was makes me tense! But the beautiful thing about WoW is that there is very little hassle; installing the game is easy, patching and downloading the necessary new files at the beginning of the game isn't even nearly as bad as some of the other MMORPGs I've played. And while WoW has some negative aspects to it (Which I will get to in a bit), overrall I think it is quite frankly, the hit of the year. The Gameplay The gameplay in WoW is simple enough for ages 13-70. There are 8 races total in the game, and two different factions. The Alliance faction consists of humans, night elves, dwarves and gnomes. The Horde consists of orcs, tauren, undead, and trolls. Depending on which race you choose determines on your starting point in the game. For example, if you choose a gnome or dwarf, you will start off in a small village full of snow, wolves and other dangerous creatures. As you explore your surroundings, there are people who will give you various quests. These quests can be anything as simple as running around slaying 6-10 beasts, collecting the items the creatures have dropped, to travelling all the way across the continent. The higher level you are, the easier taking on different quests will be. There are many different difficulty levels to the quests, making gameplay fun and always challenging. There are also many classes to the game. For example, I have a level 11 Hunter and a level 11 Warlock. Each class brings something different to the table; My hunter specializes in agility and using her "pet" to aid her in battles. My warlock uses spells and fear to gain victory. The gameplay is great for anyone--whether you're an MMORPG aficianado or just starting out. The Graphics Like I said, the graphics didn't blow me away when I first started playing it. On a 1-10 scale, I would give them an 8. And while the graphics could possibly be a little better, the rest of the game content more than makes up for it. The Sound WoW has a beautiful soundtrack. The choruses of tenor male voices that greet you as you enter the human city, StormWind, are breathtaking. The whimsical, often mysterious melodies of the Elven lands of Darnassus are reminiscent of Lord of the Rings. No matter where you go in WoW, a gorgeous soundtrack is sure to follow. The only problem I have with WoW is some of the technical difficulties and constant matinence. On slower PCs, there is frequent latency. You're going to want to make sure you definitely meet the system requirements for this game, otherwise playing it may get frustrating. What makes this game so much fun is that whether you are in a guild, grouping with your friends, or going solo...the game is a blast. There is always something to do. My sister's father was recently introduced to the game, reluctantly (he plays another MMORPG), and has now gotten his own account so he can play with his daughter. If you want an MMORPG that brings everything to the table, give WoW a try!