INTRODUCTION
Greetings, future Azeroth adventurers! If you’ve seen friends vanishing into their screens for hours, leaving the real world behind in favor of a fantasy realm, or if you’ve heard of Orgrimmar, Stormwind, and the Burning Crusade, you’re in the right place. This is a guide meant to navigate you through the exciting, often intimidating path that leads to World of Warcraft (WoW). Regardless of your gaming experience, this beginner-friendly guide will simplify the essentials of WoW for you.
WHAT IS WORLD OF WARCRAFT?
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created and maintained by Blizzard Entertainment. Released in 2004, it’s part of the Warcraft fantasy universe, a world teeming with humans, elves, orcs, dwarves and many more mystical creatures. In WoW, you’ll create your own character, choosing a race, class, and profession, and embark on various quests, exploring huge and beautiful landscapes, fighting dangerous beasts, and interacting with characters both non-player and player alike. WoW sets itself apart from other MMORPGs because it perfectly interleaves a deep storyline and lore with challenging gameplay.
HOW IT WORKS / HOW TO START
To begin, you’ll need to install the game from the official Blizzard site and create a Battle.net account, which would also give you access to other Blizzard games. Once this is done, you can launch the game and start creating your character. You’ll need to choose your faction: Alliance (noble races defending Azeroth’s order) or Horde (outcast races fighting for survival), your race, and class. Each race and class has its own unique abilities and advantages, so choose carefully!
Once your character is created, you’ll begin your journey in Azeroth at a starting zone specific to your chosen race and you can start questing! Quests often involve such tasks as defeating specific enemies, finding hidden items, or delivering messages.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY (SUPPLIES, GEAR, SETUP)
The only ‘physical’ item you need to play WoW is a good PC or a Mac that meets the game’s system requirements. Bear in mind that being a graphics-intensive game, an up-to-date computer, a high-speed internet connection and a quality mouse and keyboard will provide a more enjoyable experience.
TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
1. Learn the language: Knowing WoW slang, like aggro (the focus of an enemy’s attack), DPS (damage per second) and LoS (line of sight) will go a long way in helping you communicate with others.
2. Don’t rush: World of Warcraft is a game intended to be savored, not rushed through. Enjoy the ride!
3. Join a Guild: Sharing the experience with others makes it more enjoyable and joining a guild provides camaraderie and assistance.
4. Don’t forget your professions: Crafting and gathering professions can provide you with useful items and a solid income.
5. Get familiar with the Auction House: This is the core of WoW’s economy where you can trade with other players.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
New players can check out ‘Wowhead’, a site full of guides and game information. Also, the WoW subreddit on Reddit and its Discord server are teeming with excited players willing to help you in your travels. For personalized character data and a deep dive into your performance, check out websites like ‘Raider.io’ and ‘Warcraftlogs’.
GLOSSARY: COMMON TERMS EXPLAINED
1. Aggro: Refers to when a player has attracted the attention of an enemy.
2. DPS: Stands for damage per second and represents how much damage a character can deal.
3. Raid: A high-level quest challenging a group of players to defeat powerful enemies.
4. PvE / PvP: Player vs Environment / Player vs Player.
5. MMORPG: Massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
NEXT STEPS
Ready to embark on your Azeroth journey? Great! Your best next step would be to download World of Warcraft, familiarize yourself with the game interface and choose your first character. Remember to enjoy the journey as you immerse yourself in the rich lore of Azeroth. Good luck, new adventurer! And remember, be it the Alliance or the Horde, in World of Warcraft, you’re never alone.
