Why You Should Play World of Warcraft

by Tom Diedrichs

Since 2006, I have been playing World of Warcraft on and off. Despite what people say, it's one of the few MMOs that always draws me back. I don't know if its the content, the familiarity of the game, or the fact I love logging onto my level 90 hunter, flying into lowbie areas and ruining someone's day (Yea, I'm THAT guy). But regardless, there is something captivating about the game. Most people who do not like it say things like "It's over rated" or "the PVP system is rigged." Whatever your reason being for hating it, I guarantee there is one thing that maybe you haven't tried that could instantly bring you back.

For me, its the entire experience of creating your character and going through all the rigorous quests, which I may add, Blizzard has done a fantastic job making them more interactive. Currently, I am going back through the game as a Horde Pandaren Warrior Tank (literally a walking talking panda). My character just looks like a giant goof, but in a way that is an extension of myself. If you look up the lore behind them, you might actually bond with a certain race. One of my good friends always plays as a Tauren (Basically a giant minotaur looking creatures) and another friend of mine has 4 lvl 90 Orcs (basically small versions of the hulk). I can say I had the most fun playing the game in a long time as I went through the Eastern Kingdom Undead quest line. Through Silver Pine Forrest, there is quite an epic quest chain where you follow the Banshee Queen and help her try to obliterate the Worgen (Essentially a race of werewolves). The only complaint I can even make about the new quests lines is it doesn't help you understand anything prior to the Cataclysm expansion. With that being said, there's no harm in going to WoW Wiki, and looking it up yourself. But If your new to the game it doesn't matter to much.

PvP is as active as always and continues to be the main reason I play WoW. The satisfaction of beating the opposing faction into the ground or playing ranked battle grounds and yearning for the new title so everyone can see you as "Senior Sergeant Chowmein" or whatever your name may be. Everything nowadays has mount or pet rewards for specific achievements. If you love hunting for achievements on Xbox Live, try knocking some of these out in WoW. There are about 1,937 in WoW where a typical game on Xbox Live has roughly 40.

The raids in the game are comparable to any other MMO. There is not to much of a difference, but the achievements are what makes raids hard. Just going in and nuking a boss is no big deal, but when you want a Heroic mount, now that takes a little bit of skill, especially for 25-man raids.

If you haven't played WoW in a while, come back and try it. If you're new, I recommend joining a random guild in order to get started. Just pay the $15 and play for a month. All of the servers are still active and have plenty of die-hards. Tired of raiding? Try PVP. Bored of socializing with other people? Go collect Pets. Yep, WoW has a version of Pokemon and its flippin awesome. Or just become an achievement whore. There is at least one part of WoW you will find fun. Make a few friends and enjoy the game.