If you know a guy, chances are you have heard of World of Warcraft. First introduced in 1994, Blizzard Entertainment hit the jackpot with this now hugely popular multiplayer game. And with the advent of high speed Internet and the price of computers dropping, more and more people can log on and play World of Warcraft. This isn’t a game, many gamers will tell you, it’s a way of life. So, those kids who play for hours a day, literally losing themselves in an enchanted world must find something enticing. Video games have always been an escape, but what is it about World of Warcraft that gets people so fired up?

“World of Warcraft is one of the most addicting games you’ll ever play. Blizzard’s first foray into the MMORPG genre puts you in the position of a member of one of 8 races and 9 classes,” explains Link006, a videogame blogger. Andrew Moffat, a World of Warcraft enthusiast says,” The first thing I look for when buying a game like this is the size of the world you are playing in. At first, when I opened the world map I thought the world looked quite small, but then I realized I was viewing only a 20th of the map.” He continues to say, “The actual game play is fantastic too. Your character is part of a hugely impressive world, where learning curve is right on the spot. Your character advances at a rate, that is neither too fast nor too slow and tedious, meaning you can be hooked to the screen for hours.”

And while it might be hard to not judge that these kids sit on their computers for hours a day, there is something to be a said about a game that can create a global community. But how does game play work? I went to Wikipedia to find out:

“There are two types of characters in the game: Player Characters (PCs, or simply "characters") and Non-Player Characters (NPCs). A Player Character is an avatar in the world of Azeroth that is controlled by a player. The color of a PC’s name tag can be blue, green, yellow or red depending on faction and Player vs. Player (PvP) status. Non-Player Characters are controlled by the game software and can only interact with PCs through scripted events or artificial intelligence (AI).”

Ok, so let me get this straight, you are a PC and everyone else is an NPC, and this world of Azeroth, what is this place? I think before I continue I should play a little myself. My goal: For my next blog I will have played World of Warcraft for at least 10 hours so I can see what all the hype is about. It may not be the biggest or most important plan I have resolved to do, but hey..why not?

Beryl S.