It helps that the quests in World of Warcraft are really, really fun. The majority, of course, are the standard MMO "Go out and kill X number of beasties" or "Bring me back Y number of monster pelts", although the game's philosophy of keeping the game moving means that the number counts on these quests aren't too onerous. The game's secret, though, is the window dressing that surrounds even the most mundane of quests. The text that accompanies quest briefings and debriefings is really interesting and well written. Completing a quest is also occasionally accompanied by a little mini-animation, a sort of play performed by an NPC, which works well as a reward almost as valuable as the money or items given out.

The quests also boast impressive variety. There are quests that revolve around stealth in order to acquire items guarded by monsters. There are escort quests in which players will have to bring an NPC back to a certain point. There are also "bread crumb" quests that bring you to new areas, and even separate "quest lines" that have the player follow multiple quests in order to complete a specific story or uncover an interesting bit of lore about the game's fictional background. There are also quests that dovetail together in interesting ways. One of the best is a series of quests in the Orc capital city that has the player follow two quest lines as a secret agent infiltrating the traitorous Shadow Council. The player must complete certain quests as a traitor while also finishing hidden goals within the same mission in order to ferret out the information their true masters need.

One of the greatest pleasures of the game is watching the way quests direct you from place to place. Just as a theme park like Disneyland is built around the rides, every structure in World of Warcraft is in some way tied to the questing system. Almost every location in the game's world is purpose-built, and as such, is home to a constant stream of questing players running around trying to fulfill some goal. As a result, role-players and social gamers may find it difficult to opt out of the questing system and find an out-of-the-way place to kick back and enjoy other people's company. Trying to do so is tantamount to setting up a picnic lunch on a bench on Main Street USA; it can be done, but eventually the Main Street Electrical Parade is going to come through and ruin your quiet enjoyment.

The world of PvP

One minor negative is that World of Warcraft may disappoint players who relish serious player-vs.-player action. The majority of the game servers set up for World of Warcraft are "PvE" or Player vs. Environment. On such a server, players are not allowed to attack each other save in "Duels" that can only be done by mutual consent, or by performing actions that turn on their "PvP" flag and open them up for attack. There are always small subsets of players who enjoy fighting other players, though, and it's for them that a limited number of "PvP" servers have been set up. Note, however, that even on PvP servers, the game doesn't degenerate into a free-for-all. Members of allied races still can't attack one another and true PvP combat only happens in certain fringe provinces.

Initially, there was supposed to be a system where players would get "dishonor" points for killing much lower-level players, but that was dropped at launch, meaning there's currently no effective behavioral regulator on jerks that seem to pop up regularly in these sorts of games. Imagine if Disneyland allowed patrons to shoot each other with Nerf balls in a "Nerf BattleZone" attraction. Then imagine what would happen if they allowed Nerf guns anywhere in the park. That's effectively what Blizzard is allowing on PvP servers.

The other issue is that there's currently little in the way of PvP content. The majority of the game's design is clearly geared toward PvE style play, and while there are currently plans for PvP-style "Battlefields," as well as tying high-level quests into PvP, very little of this exists in the game at the moment. Ultimately, this comes down to your view of PvP in general. In my own case, I don't really care much for PvP; it may not be implemented well, but it's not going to affect my enjoyment of the product one whit. I'll be over on the PvE and role-playing servers having fun and meeting new people, not squatting in my basement planning the digital equivalent of hitting kittens with rocks.

Naturally, an MMO is more than just the game itself. Unlike single-player titles, MMOs require an extremely elaborate back-end in order to function properly. There are billing systems, customer feedback systems, and constant server maintenance issues to deal with. After all, when players pony up $15 a month for 24-hour access to a game, it makes little difference how good the game is when they can't get in. Unfortunately, MMOs are notorious for launch problems, and this is where Blizzard's inexperience in the genre really showed. Somehow, Blizzard underestimated its own popularity by a massive margin, and after a rush first-week sales, there was a crush of players on too few servers. The results were angry players who often waited in 40-minute queues in order to log on, badly overcrowded zones where most of the indigenous wildlife had been wiped out, and nasty lag that caused everything from stuttering to a 10-minute wait in order to do anything with your inventory.

Blizzard, to its credit, acted quickly to rectify the situation. It added dozens of servers and tried to encourage players to join less crowded ones. It also offered credit on trial periods for days when servers were down for "maintenance". Some two weeks after launch, these problems are finally starting to subside as players give up characters and begin to migrate, and Blizzard learns how to better distribute the load. New players should have the easiest time of it, as their initial server choices will obviously gravitate toward a less crowded server. There will still be problems for a while, but Blizzard seems to be on top of the issue.

Everywhere players travel in the world; they'll be treated to displays of breathtaking scenery, beautifully designed buildings, and spectacular set-pieces that would make awesome desktop wallpaper. The game makes extensive use of color, with each zone having a dominant color scheme that lets you know exactly where you are, and provides subtle clues that help you find your way around. Despite the world's size, it's exceedingly rare to become lost in World of Warcraft because the handcrafted look of the landscape provides an abundance of visual landmarks.

The Final Word

The worst part of reviewing any MMO is that, because of their huge size, it's impossible to discuss every little nuance in the space of one review. As I look back over the things that really impressed me about the game, I realize that I haven't said a world about the beautiful simplicity of the game's interface. I haven't gone over the excellent auction system, or how brilliant the concept of an in-game mail system is. I haven't talked about the great NPC voices, or the music. I haven't gone over about a million little "Wow, they thought of everything!" details that demonstrate time and again just how good Blizzard is at designing games. That, alas, is the nature of discussing such a huge subject in a finite space.

Suffice it to say, though, that if you're a Blizzard fan, you will want to play this game. If you're a fan of MMOs, you'll want to play this game. If you're not a fan of MMOs, but are a fan of great games, you will want to play this game. Hell, if you're a gamer who's ever wanted to pull another person into the hobby, you'll want to play this game and share it with a non-gamer friend. Blizzard has once again lived up to and surpassed its reputation as one of the finest game developers on the planet. World of Warcraft is a stunning achievement destined to be become a classic.