MMORPGs will be copying things off of World of Warcraft for years to come.
User Rating: 8.8 | World of Warcraft PC
World of Warcraft is a beautiful game filled with personality and polish. That is beyond amazing coming from a game that is big even by MMORPG standards. In this light, you may happen to accidentally overlook just how revolutionary a lot of aspects of it are. As soon as you begin to play World of Warcraft, you'll know that it's going to be good. There are separate servers for the purpose of different time zones, and also the three different kinds of servers which are Player Versus Player, normal, and roleplaying (more on this later). When you create a character, you'll have a choice of race, class, gender, and visual customization. One of the most interesting things about World of Warcraft is how it is completely divided, as the two factions at war, the horde and alliance, cannot speak in the same language, or enter eachother's towns without getting attacked, and tend to kill eachother rather than try to communicate. You'll find quickly upon playing World of Warcraft that the Horde and Alliance have very different communities, what each community is like depends on the server though. The race choices for horde are Orc, Troll, Tauren, and Undead. The race choices for Alliance are Human, Gnome, Dwarf, and Night Elf. This may make it seem like the Horde are the bad guys, but actually, other than the undead (who they allied with out of desperation) it's a bit more complicated than that. Depending on the race you choose, your starting location will be completely different. As a Tauren you will Start out in a Native American-esque environment, complete with totems and tribes, as a Dwarf you will start out in a snow covered mountain, and as a Night Elf you will begin the game in a lush forest where everything seems to glow purple. You will soon find that the World of Warcraft has very few popular fantasy cliches. No matter where you start out, you'll always be able to find quests if you look hard enough. They are abundant, and seem to be in every corner of the world. Just when you think you've beaten one, it will end up continuing on to another quest (this is usually more annoying than satisfying). However, the quantity of these quests does nothing for the quality. It is almost always "kill this many " or "find this many ". The quests do end up varying enough, but barely. There are nine classes in the game: Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Hunter, Warlock, Warrior, Paladin, and Druid. They all have useful abilities and are welcome in a group. Though there are a few balance issues, (Warlocks are still rumored to be weaker, and Blizzard has been tweaking the warrior since the beginning) it's not like it's something that can't be fixed with time. There are Player versus Player, normal, and roleplaying servers. In normal servers, there are no extra additions or subtractions, it's just the regular game. Role Playing Servers are meant for people who like to pretend that they really are their character, and want to immerse themselves in the world. They have much stricter rules than PVP or normal servers and players get banned easily. In Normal or RP servers, you cannot attack a member of the opposing faction unless they are "flagged". Flagging occurs when a player attacks an NPC or a flagged player from the opposing faction. As long as you are flagged, people can kill you. In PVP servers, however, alliance players will automatically be flagged by stepping into Horde territory, and vice versa. In addition to this kind of Player Versus Player, there is also the Battlegrounds for players that are level 21 or higher. It's basicly what you get when you combine World of Warcraft with Halo, and it's very fun. Of course, what would World of Warcraft be without Player versus enviroment? Computer controlled enemies are driven by something commonly refered to as "aggro" or "threat". If multiple players are facing them, they will attack whichever player they feel the most aggro towards. You build up aggro toward yourself by causing damage on the monster or healing a player that the monster is attacking. Spell casters usually tend to build up the most aggro, so the Warrior meat shields may not be as shieldy as they appear. Out of the many amazing things in World of Warcraft, the World itself is definetely causes the most awe. This is a huge game. You will often need to run for at least 10 minutes to get anywhere (thank god for the game's various ways to fast-travel) yet there isn't a single empty, flat space with just the gound and the skies. Every nook and cranny is polished and detailed. Overall, if you've played MMORPGs before, World of Warcraft is what you've been waiting for, and if you've never played an MMORPG, then this is the perfect game to start with. 
