Wiki Entry

WoW Wiki Entry

Gameplay:
World of Warcraft maintains an intuitive game environment that provides a very congenial experience for new and veteran gamers alike. The ease of play allows players of all skill levels to become immediately engrossed in the world that is Warcraft, and drastically reduces the traditionally steep learning curve found in MMOGs.

The time to reach max level can vary dramatically depending on the player’s experience. One individual “power-leveled” a character from 1 to 60 in 4 days and 20 hours of played time (www.powerleveling100.com/1-70-Horde-Leveling-WoW). More casual players can expect a leveling time of 20+ days of played time.

Census Data: (new section)
In depth census data can be found at http://www.warcraftrealms.com/census.php
A WoW modification is available that tracks character information across, potentially, every server. This is a unique tool that can provide dynamic population info. Accuracy of the data is dependent upon the distribution of the mod. The more individuals that use the mod and submit data the more accurate the data becomes. Census data only reflects characters "seen" by the mod in the last 30 days.

Census data for level 70 characters April 2008
Total Characters: 2.722 million.
Faction Split: Alliance 1.512mil. (56%); Horde 1.210mil. (44%)
Most popular race is the Human (513k.) followed by the Night Elf (457k) and the Undead hold third (339k).
Most popular class is the Warrior (352k) followed closely by the Hunter (348k) and the Mage class holds third (333k).

Market Info: (new section)
2008 Market Info
World of Warcraft currently holds 62% of the MMOG market at 10 million subscribers. The current subscriber base for all MMOGs is 16 million.
Expansive MMOG market info can be found at www.mmogchart.com

Characters:
Guards can also provide directions to common locations within their city.

Items:
Items improve character effectiveness to such a degree as to make acquisition of these items necessary and highly desirable for progression. World of Warcraft’s item mechanics are very complex and have undergone many changes in an attempt to keep the system balanced. Items play a significant role in the outcome of all confrontations within the game and a character’s effectiveness is directly linked to the quality of gear currently equipped.

Instances:
Instances are level and group specific. An instance is designed around specific level ranges or group setups. Instances are currently (BC-patch 2.4) designed around 5-person groups, 10-person groups and 25-person groups. Instances designed for 25 or more players are referred to as raid instances. In the Burning Crusade (BC) expansion, Blizzard created a heroic difficulty for many of the 5-man instances found in Outland. Heroic difficulty is designed around max level characters.
Generally, to complete an instance, a group must be comprised of players that fill three roles. The “tank” (withstand and hold a direct onslaught), “healer” (heal the damage caused by attacks), and “DPS” (Damage per Second, used in this context refers to a class whose main concern is causing damage).
World of Warcraft currently (BC-patch 2.4) maintains 57 instances. These instances are broken down as follows: (http://www.wowwiki.com/Instances_by_level)

Pre BC 5-man instances-24;
Pre BC raid instances-8;
Post BC-patch 2.4 5-man instances-16;
Post BC-patch 2.4 raid instances-9

Blizzard will be adding twelve new instances with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, seven new 5-man instances and five raid instances. (http://www.wowwiki.com/Instances_by_level)


Quests: (new section)
Quests are tasks given to PCs by NPCs. The completion of quests provides many different rewards to the player, including reputation, experience, items, and gold. There are a variety of quests available, from single objective tasks to epic multi-step endeavors. Currently (BC-patch 2.4) there are more than 2000 quests in World of Warcraft (http://www.wowrush.com/quests.html ).


WoW TCG/Loot Cards: (new section)
The WoW TCG (Trading Card Game) was released by Upper Deck Entertainment in August 2005. Rare versions of loot cards were made available that provided a scratch-off code. The code could then be redeemed for an item within the online version of the game. These items provide aesthetic upgrades to characters. Many unique items are available and include tabards, pets, mounts, and costumes. Upper Deck Entertainment has released three different loot cards with each TCG expansion pack. A list of loot cards and their effects may be found at www.ude.com/loot.