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World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on November 23, 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is a fantasy game, borrowing from the stories and traditions of authors such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and based on the universe that was created in 1994 in the Warcraft: Orcs and Humans real-time strategy game. The game was announced in 2001 and was released for the tenth anniversary of the Warcraft franchise. Since launch, World of Warcraft has had eight major expansion packs: The Burning Crusade (2007), Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Cataclysm (2010), Mists of Pandaria (2012), Warlords of Draenor (2014), Legion (2016), Battle for Azeroth (2018), Shadowlands (2020) and Dragonflight (2022).
The game reached a peak of players in 2010, with around 12 million subscribers, becoming the most popular MMORPG of all time. By 2014, the game had over one hundred million registered accounts, with over $9.23 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time. Furthermore, the game has often been cited by gaming journalists as the greatest MMORPG of all time, with some suggesting it is one of the greatest video games of all time, in part due to its long lifespan and continuing support from developers.
Launch trailer for World of Warcraft 2022 expansion
Set in the Warcraft fantasy universe, World of Warcraft takes place within the world of Azeroth, a large world consisting of three known continents and populated by various races, including humans, gnomes, dwarves, night elves, dranei, orcs, forsaken (undead), tauren, trolls, and blood elves. These different races are arranged around two factions: the Alliance and the Horde. On entering the game, players choose a race, a faction, and their class or role in the game. Classes include druid, priest, mage, shaman, warlock, warrior, paladin, and hunter.
When choosing their race and class, players then create an avatar with which they explore the sprawling game and interact with nonplayer characters (NPCs) and other real-world players (PCs). They engage in various quests, battles, and missions, completed either alone or in guilds, with the rewards for succeeding in these different objectives including gold, weapons, and valuable items, all of which are used to improve the player's character. As well, players earn experience with which they gain levels to increase their characters attributes.
The game offers players a choice of twenty-three playable races. The thirteen core races, which include humans, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, trolls, undead, taurens, blood elves, draenei, goblins, worgens, pandarens. It offers ten allied races including void elves, lightforged draenei, nightborne, highmountain tauren, dark iron dwarves, mag'har orcs, kul tirans, zandalari trolls, mechagnomes, and vulperas. The choice of race brings a character with different attributes, bonuses, and unique skills that can help them toward specific classes and professions. For example, in the more modern game, humans are able to break out of stun effects. The choice of race also dictates which faction a player will be part of.
One of the more daunting decisions for players can be the class they choose. The game offers twelve classes, each with between two and four specializations that determine the abilities they have and the role they play in a group. These classes can also switch between specializations outside of combat, so each class can have up to four different playstyles. Classes include the following:
