Why You Should Play World Of Warcraft (Or return to it)

Liam here (the literate one), and I suppose it's my turn to write an article. I'm a Warcraft player, and if you haven't tried the massively popular game already, then here's why you should:

The are GNOMES. LOOK AT THEM. THEY ARE SMALL. This is my character actually, as I would feel weird to nab a screen shot of someone else's character. He's only a random alt I made, but he can dance. Boy, can he dance.

Gnomes aren't the only race in the game, which is the serious reason behind this screenshot of my dancing gnome. The races are pretty diverse, each with their own stats, perks and abilities. Gnomes, for example, make better engineers (a profession that lets you make anything from guns, to mechanical squirrels, to explosives, to motorbikes). There are two factions, the Horde and the Alliance. Each is divided up into 6 races, meaning you have 12 playable races (provided you own all of the expansions.)
The races are as follows:

• Humans (Like gnomes, but less awesome.)
• Dwarves (Slightly bigger gnomes)
• Gnomes (Enough said)
• Night Elves (Mohawks)
• Draenei (If I spelled that correctly)
• Worgen (Werewolves!)

Now, the Horde races:

• Orcs (Like gnomes, but huge and green)
• Undead (Zombies ftw)
• Tauren (Giant badass cow things)
• Blood Elves (Like Night Elves, but with less blue, and less mohawks.)
• Goblin (Little green gnomes.)
• Trolls (The most chilled out race in the game!)

There are also a tonne of classes to choose from:

• Warrior (Tanks; take the most damage. Can wear any armor type.)
• Paladin (Can heal and deal damage (though not at the same time)Can wear mail, and later on plate.)
• Rogue (Deal loads of damage, can use stealth. Wears leather.)
• Hunter (Can tame wild beasts that help them fight, deal damage. Wears leather, then later on, mail.)
• Mage (Spellcasting damage class, wears cloth.)
• Warlock (Spellcasting damage class, has a minion that defends them. This is my main character's class. Wears cloth.)
• Priest (Spellcasting healer and damage. Wears cloth.)
• Shaman (Summons totems that buff players, heals and does damage. Wears leather, later on mail.)
• Death Knight (A hero class. You have to have a level 55 character to create one; that's the level they start at. Deals damage, or acts as a tank. Wears any armor type.)
• Druid (Can change into animals, and take on all 3 roles: Healer, damage, and tank. Wears leather.)

Those are the basic character creation options, but there is a lot, lot more to the game.

There are thousands upon thousands of different quests for each faction. Some of them may require you to get a group of people with the same quest to accomplish a usually impossible goal, such as kill a powerful boss. 

There is a PvP system, and even PvP servers for those of you that have to prove you're the best through pain. You get rewarded with Honor Points, which you can spend on various rare items and rewards. You can join a random battle ground from anywhere at level 10, where you will fight people within certain level brackets (to keep it fair.) So if you're fighting as a level 10, you'll be fighting people up to level 14. *Sorry if I'm incorrect with that fact, it could be 15.*

Concept art of the first dungeon you can enter, the Deadmines.

Dungeons become available at level 15, where you join up with a random group (or join with a group of friends) to go through a whole area of powerful enemies that drop better than average equipment. They're great for levelling - just as good as questing - and very enjoyable, provided you're with friendly people.

There are hours upon hours upon hours upon hours upon hours of immersive and addictive gameplay. The community is simply the best you will find on any game (although there are always those few nobs that think they're better than you) and there is literally a whole world to explore. You can have up to 50 characters across different servers, and I have no doubt that a lot of people have actually filled that limit. 

I AM A SAIYAN ELITE!

For players "retired" from Warcraft, the content is constantly changing. Whether you stopped before Cataclysm at level 80, there are five more levels for you to achieve, with new dungeons, new gear, new areas, and new quests. With every patch there is something new (even if it just your favourite class being nerfed.... Poor, poor warlocks. *bursts into tears*) and you'll often find yourself trying to catch up with the latest content. 

Can't be arsed playing because of the expense? Well, Blizzard have done many things to rope in new players. The original game, and the first expansion pack The Burning Crusade have been merged into one, so you can get both at no extra cost. They have also made the game free until you reach level 20, with no time limit. You could always head over to the WoW website and check it out.

If you happen to be on the server Azjol-Nerub, then add my highest character, a level 80 human warlock named Zemore. I'm not quite at the top yet, but I'd still be happy to help you out as much as I can. Or, you can add my GNOME Mezzerkin. See you guys in game.

-Liam