Introduction

Who hasn't heard of World of Warcraft (or as us players refer to it as Wow)? I am an avid fan and current player of Wow. In fact, I've been playing for a little over a year. I have two active characters, Lorreia and Calarina. Lorreia is my first character I ever made and she is my work of art. She is a human priest and Calarina is a Night Elf Hunter with her lovely Lola white leopard pet. Now for all you non-players you might have already clicked out of this hub, but let me explain.

Realm Type

When you finished the long download, you have to choose the kind of gameplay you'd like to experience. This is integral because it is difficult to change afterwards and will cost money. Here are the different kinds of realms you can choose from:

1. Normal Realm - Normal realms you can complete your quests, harvest materials and go about your mary way without worry about being attacked by other players. (Non-computer players) You can attack or be attacked by players if you are "flagged" for PvP (Player versus Player) and we will go into that in another realm. You can also create Horde and Alliance characters on this realm. There is no zone that is "contested", which means that you won't be losing or gaining territory and if it isn't Alliance or Horde it is neutral. This is the kind of realm I play in.
2. Player vs. Player (PvP) - This realm has similar attributes to Normal except for the following: you can only create Alliance OR Horde not bothand there are specific Game Policies that Blizzard Entertainment (Owner/Creator of Wow) has made so please make sure you read them before picking this kind of realm. There are some advantages to this realm, because there is always a thrill of danger because a Horde may attack an Alliance anywhere, anytime, which means that you have to be on your tip toes or you will be killed, often. This can be fun for a lot of people, but maybe not your cup of tea.

3. Role Playing (RP or RP-PVP) - This is a realm I aspire to play in when I feel I have become a bit more experienced in Wow. This is where you create a character like everyone else but your character has a story and you must remain "in" character the whole time. When you are speaking to others you aren't speaking through yourself but you are speaking as your character. This can be fun if you have a knack for creativity and role playing. Role playing realms can be Normal Realms or PVP.

Class and Race

When you join Wow, and undergo the grueling download of the game, (I won't lie, it is LONG but so worth it!) you get to create a character. There are two factions, Alliance and Horde, almost like Light and Dark or Good and Evil. Many, even the Horde themselves, would refer to themselves as the Dark or the Evil aspect. At least thats a personal opinion. Both of my characters are Alliance. When you choose your faction, you can then choose your race, and in the Alliance you have:

1. Draenei
2. Dwarves
3. Gnomes
4. Humans
5. Night Elves

And for the the Horde they are:

1. Orcs
2. Tauren
3. Trolls
4. Undead
5. Blood Elves

Since this hub, is supposed to generally be an introduction I won't go into specfic traits of each race, that will be left for another hub and another day maybe? Each of these races as I mentioned have different traits and you must weigh them for your specific goal, because you after picking your race you must choose your Class. Your Class will add even additional attributes to your character. If your goal is to be a figher, you might want to choose a Race and Class that are generally geared towards them and has a fighting-class associated to their Race. Before I get into the complications of choosing Race and Class, here are the Classes:

1. Druid
2. Hunter
3. Mage
4. Paladin
5. Priest
6. Rogue

Again, being this an introduction I won't go into the nitty gritty of the Classes, but I do want to say that not all classes are available for all races so you must keep your goal in mind when picking a race. For example, I am a big fan of healers and mages and the sorts like that. I determined that human (being the first character I made) was easiest to understand and easier to apply the healing Classes to. I picked Human Priest. Priest is only available to Humans, Dwarves, Night Elves, Undead, Trolls, Blood Elves, Draenei. I had to consider the Race traits of the others before I picked Human. I hope I haven't lost anyone so far!

Leveling & Reputation

You finally have a character! You've picked your realm type, you've picked your character's Race and Class and now you're ready to play! There are many things that you can do with your character but usually it is to Level them, espicially if this is your first character.

The way a person levels is to gain a certain amount of XP, also known as experience points. You gain experience points through killing beasts, mosters and mobs. You don't have to be on a quest to get XP, but whenever you turn a quest in you can additional XP for completing it.

Quests are missions or objectives a character in the game needs you to do. They appear as yellow exclamation points above a person's head when one is available. (Or when two or three are available) You approach the person and right click on them. You can read the quest and its objective and choose to accept or not. There are few quests that I have declined, because of the money and XP you earn. Money, ie, gold, will be talked about later. Quests are an integral part of learning the story behind Wow. They are also fun and this is where you gain Gear or clothing for your character as well.

Whenever you enter a land there is something called your Reputation meter. Whenever you achieve quests or favors for the people of the land you gain reputation. There are many benefits for getting reputation in particular lands. If you want to get a certain mount (for example a horse) you have to have a certain level of reputation within the lands that sell horses. You gain reputation by completing quests in each land. You can also buy exclusive items from merchants in that land if you have a high enough reputation and these items can include very very expensive and rare weapons or gear.

Gold (Money)

Money is a major aspect of Wow. You have three denominations, such as our dollars, quarters, and dimes. There are copper coins, which is the least amount, similar to a penny. There are silver coins which are similar to our dollars and then you have gold coins. Gold coins are high end coins, such as 100 dollar bills.

Without any gold you cannot achieve very many things. Gold will buy you great gear, clothing and transportation. You might be wondering how to earn gold. There are many ways to earn gold.

A simple way to earn gold is to kill creatures, many enemies carry a few copper coins with them or even up to a few gold coins when you level higher. Another way is to simply quest. When completing a quest, there usually is a small amount of money given to character for compensation.

Collecting gold in this way is not sufficient. You must learn to sell the excess trash gear to the merchants (the gear you can't wear or the ratty clothes that is picked up from loot) and also learn to keep gear that is valuable to sell in the Auction House.

Thats right, you can sell high end gear in the Auction House. This is where gold is made! You can collect high end gear from loot in your kills or from your professions. A little about professions because I won't go into the details as that is for another hub, you can pick a profession such as Tailoring or Mining or Alchemy. When you create the items within that profession you can sell in the AH for money. This is where your income is when you are trying to earn money. You can also buy from other players their items.

End of Part 1

I will conclude this part of the Wow Guide, because if it gets any longer you will not one to play! There are more convlutions and complications that simply here, and will plan to extend into them as the hubs grow, but these are the basics for now.

If you are interested in get a free 10-day trial of Wow, please feel free to contacting me so that I can send you a key.

I hope you enjoyed it and am looking forward to hearing from your Wow experiences!