WoW

 World of Warcraft (often abbreviated as WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994.[7] World of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft world ofAzeroth, approximately four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous Warcraft release,Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.[8] Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001.[9] The game was released on November 23, 2004, on the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.

The first expansion set of the game, The Burning Crusade, was released on January 16, 2007.[10] The second expansion set, Wrath of the Lich King, was released on November 13, 2008.[11] The third expansion set,Cataclysm, was released on December 7, 2010. At BlizzCon in October 2010, lead producer J. Allen Brack announced that there would be a fourth expansion set for the game, though the developers did not yet know what it would be about.[12] On October 21, 2011, the fourth expansion set of the game, Mists of Pandaria, was announced at BlizzCon 2011 by Chris Metzen.[13]

With 10.2 million subscribers as of December 2011,[14] World of Warcraft is currently the world's most-subscribedMMORPG,[11] [15] [dead link] [16] and holds the Guiness World Record for the most popular MMORPG by subscribers.[17] [18] [19] [20]

Setting
World of Warcraft is set in the same universe as the Warcraft series of real-time strategy games, and has a similar art direction.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_review_20-1">[21] World of Warcraft contains elements from fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction: such as gryphons, dragons, and elves; steam-powered automata; zombies, werewolves, and other horror monsters; as well as time travel, spaceships, and alien worlds.

World of Warcraft takes place in a 3D representation of the Warcraft universe that players can interact with through their characters. The game world initially consisted of the two continents in Azeroth: Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Two separate expansions later added to the game's playable area the realm of Outland and the continent of Northrend. As a player explores new locations, different routes and means of transportion become available. Players can access "flight masters" in newly discovered locations to fly to previously discovered locations in other parts of the world.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_1.10_37-0">[38] Players can also use boats, zeppelins, or portals to move from one continent to another. Although the game world remains relatively similar from day to day, seasonal events reflecting real world events—such as Halloween,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_1.8_38-0">[39] Christmas, Children's Week,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_1.4_35-2">[36] Easter, and Midsummer—have been represented in the game world. Locations also have variable weather including, among other things, rain, snow, and dust storms.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_1.10_37-1">[38]

A number of facilities are available for characters while in towns and cities. In each major city, characters can access a bank to deposit items, such as treasure or crafted items. Each character has access to personal bank storage with the option to purchase additional storage space using in-game gold.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_bank_39-0">[40] Additionally, guild banks are available for use by members of a guild with restrictions being set by the guild leader.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WoW_Guild_Banks_40-0">[41] Auction houses are available for players to buy and sell items to others in a similar way to online auction sites such as eBay.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_ah_41-0">[42] Players can use mailboxes, which can be found in almost every town. Mailboxes are used to collect items won at auction, and to send messages, items, and in-game money to other characters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_preview1_25-2">[26]

Some of the challenges in World of Warcraft require players to group together to complete them. These usually take place in dungeons—also known as "instances"—that a group of characters can enter together. The term "instance" comes from each group or party having a separate copy, or instance, of the dungeon, complete with their own enemies to defeat and their own treasure or rewards.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-instances_42-0">[43] This allows a group to explore areas and complete quests without others interfering. Dungeons are spread over the game world and are designed for characters of varying progression. A typical dungeon will allow up to five characters to enter as part of a group. Some dungeons require more players to group together and form a "raid" of up to forty players to face some of the most difficult challenges.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_preview2_43-0">[44] As well as dungeon-based raid challenges, several creatures exist in the normal game environment that are designed for raids to attack.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_1.8_38-1">[39] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-gamespot_1.3_44-0">[45]

Credits
World of Warcraft Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft

World of Warcraft Universal Guide: http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Main

World of Warcraft Universal Guide, Wikia: http://hu.wow.wikia.com/wiki/Kezd%C5%91lap

All references, information, and citation are on these Wiki's.