I really want to like World of Warcraft... But the road is long, and the trials hard...
MMORPGs represent an area of gaming that could be considered controversial and not for the faint of heart. Casual gamers are deterred by the prospect of paying money to play a game online, while the hardcore don't bat an eyelid and just get on with the game.
So, let it be said that World of Warcraft is not a bad game, but it isn't outstanding either. The depth of the game is almost unfathomable; hundreds, if not thousands of hours could be expended in Azeroth and you still will not have seen everything it has to offer. I wouldn't call it a game so much as I would call it an experience. Contrary to belief, no, you cannot change the literal "world of warcraft"; yes, you can kill the King of Stormwind, or turn Jaina Proudmoore in to a pincushion for your crossbow, but 10 minutes later, the character will respawn, and nothing but gloating rights will have been achieved.
So, the best way to look at World of Warcraft is a tour of Azeroth. An impressively deep tour in which you can earn many things and battle alot of people who represent epic creatures. Yes, you may enjoy it, but getting to that point can take a very long time as you grind away to get to level ten, and then twenty, and thirty, and so forth and so on until you finall manage to work your way to level 60 (or 70 with the expansion) and start causing untold havoc on those around you.
Is it satisfying? If the investment of time needed to get there is worth it for you, then World of Warcraft isn't going to disappoint, but for this gamer, there were a thousand other titles in the world that offered just as much reward, in a lot less time. Your reasons for playing could be many; from the theme of medieval/fantasy combat to the story of warcraft itself, but from a gaming standpoint, World of Warcraft feels more like a job than a game.
If you're willing to spend alot of time with it, then jump in and appreciate one of the deepest, largest RPGs ever made for the Computer. If you're a casual gamer, you might like to try something which isn't quite so demanding of your time. If this is the case, then MMORPGs probably aren't for you.