(massive multiplayer online roleplaying game) that has millions
of players.
Like many in MMO's, there are three types of styles;
PvP (player versus player)
Here you can only be safe from the attacks of your enemy
faction in friendly territory and neutral cities like Shattrath,
and Dalaran.
PvE (player versus enviorment)
Here you can only be attacked by your enemy faction in enemy
zones, battlegrounds, requested duels and special free-for-all
zones like the Gurubashi Arena, and the grand arena in
Nagrand.
RP (roleplay)
Here you cannot go OOC (out of character) in the Say, Yell,
Trade, and Emote channel, you have to be IC (in character).
This is often ignored, but, you're bound to stumble upon a chest
of roleplayers, you'll be just fine. Roleplaying servers can be
PvP, or PvE.
Even though WoW is a popular game, it is often cussed at and
mindlessly bashed, as we can expect on the web..
Let's talk about the playable races and classes if you feel like reading this wall of text.
Some information copied from http://www.wowwiki.com, a helpfull site from game statistics to the most detailed lore.
RACES, warning, the races have ALLOT, and I mean, ALLOT more history, I tried to place a general view.
THE HORDE
Orcdom;
The green-skinned orcs (aka Orcdom) are one of the most
prolific races of Azeroth. Born on the world of Draenor, the
orcs were brought to Azeroth through the dimensional gateway
known as the Dark Portal and waged war on the humans while
under the influence of the Burning Legion.
The orcs once cultivated a noble, shamanistic society on
Draenor. Tragically, the proud orc clans were corrupted by the
Burning Legion and used as pawns in the Legion's invasion of
Azeroth.
The orcs managed to rebel, however, and they were
ultimately able to help turn the tide against their demon
masters. Led by the young Warchief Thrall, the orcs have
reclaimed their strength and honor. The orcs moved from the
Eastern Kingdoms to Kalimdor, and there they founded the
nation of Durotar.
Now, the orcs stand ready to fight not for the sake of conquest,
but for their very right of survival in their adopted world.
Trollkind;
Trolls (aka Trollkind) average seven feet in height and two
hundred pounds in weight, save for two tribes, the Drakkari
and the Zandalari, who tend to be somewhat larger than their
kindred. As with other races, there are also scattered trolls
who far exceed the normal size range.
There are several races of troll.
Many trolls have no loyalty except amongst their own tribes,
with the exception of the Darkspear tribe, the Shatterspear
tribe, and the Revantusk tribe, the former two being part of the
Horde, while the latter being allies of them.
Darkspear are the playable trolls in World of Warcraft; statistically,
they are the least played race in the game.
Although the Darkspears are the weakest and smallest of all the troll races,
even amongst jungle trolls, they are the most cunning and intelligent.
Trolls are easily the most diverse sapient race in Azeroth, and
can be found in every part of the world.
The Tauren;
Tauren (shu'halo in their native language of Taur-ahe) are huge
nomadic creatures who live on the grassy, open plains of
Mulgore in Central Kalimdor. Tauren are large, muscular
humanoids and bovine in appearance, complete with hooves
and horns. They stand anywhere from six and a half to nine feet
tall and weigh anywhere from 400 to 700 pounds.
Their immense bodies are covered with fine, short fur that ranges in
color from black to gray to white to red to brown to tan and any
mottled combinations or variations thereof.
After generations of nomadic existence, the tauren have recently made
permanent settlements in Mulgore and the Barrens.
The Forsaken
The Forsaken (aka Forsaken Undead, undead Forsaken, or
Undead) are a race and faction of undead who broke away
from the Scourge and took control of much of the kingdom of
Lordaeron, destroyed during the Third War by the death knight
Arthas.
They are currently allied with the Horde, but in an
alliance of convenience only. The Forsaken are led by their
Banshee Queen, Sylvanas Windrunner, the former
Ranger-General of Quel'Thalas. Their capital is the Undercity,
in the royal catacombs beneath the ruins of the City of
Lordaeron. Undercity is the faction for the playable Forsaken
in-game.
The Sin'dorei
The blood elves (aka sin'dorei which means "children of the
blood" in Thalassian) are a race composed of former high elves
who renamed themselves in honor of their people that were
killed during the siege of Quel'Thalas by the Scourge during
the Third War.
The Blood Elves of Azeroth have joined the
Horde in the Burning Crusade expansion, seeking to reunite
with Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider in Outland. They have since
reclaimed their capital of Silvermoon City, situated in Eversong
Woods. Lor'themar Theron led them in Kael'thas's absence.
Now, having discovered Kael'thas's true objective to summon
Kil'jaeden to the world, the blood elves of Silvermoon have
abandoned him. Lor'themar Theron, Halduron Brightwing and
Grand Magister Rommath have been presiding over
Silvermoon in the absence of any officially appointed leader.
THE ALLIANCE
Mankind
Humans (aka mankind or humanity) in Warcraft are a resilient
species native to the world of Azeroth. Many live in the Eastern
Kingdoms, once known as the Azotha, they founded seven
kingdoms that banded together in the Second War. Humans
native to Northrend where often turned into slave labor in the
Magnataur kingdoms of ancient history.
Since the Third War,
the kingdom of Stormwind has led humanity, and is a powerful
member of the Alliance.
The Dwarves
In past ages, the dwarves rarely left the safety of their
mountain fortresses. However, when the call to battle sounded,
they rose up to defend their friends and allies with unmatched
courage and valor.
The titans created the earthen to help shape the world of
Azeroth after they were gone. When the Well of Eternity
imploded, causing the Sundering, the earthen were deeply
affected, feeling the pain of the earth as if it were their own.
They retreated to the places of their origin … the titan cities of
Uldum, Uldaman, and Ulduar … and hibernated for almost
eight thousand years. When they awoke, they found that their
powers over stone and earth had waned and their rocky hide
had softened to smooth skin. Those who had awoke from
Uldaman migrated to the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh and
built the city of Ironforge.
The Gnomes
The ingenious gnomes, masters of technology and the former
denizens of Gnomeregan, are a race of diminutive humanoids
who now live in exile in Tinker Town in the dwarven capital of
Ironforge in league with the Alliance.
The gnomes had a city, Gnomeregan, built into Ironforge
Mountain; but invading troggs destroyed it and slaughtered its
citizens. Many survivors moved into Khaz Modan and now live
with the Ironforge dwarves, and a few traveled with their
dwarven friends to Kalimdor.
Gnomes are
long-lived and take a fatherly approach to other races,
particularly humans. Gnome society is loosely organized. Most
live in Khaz Modan and mix freely with the dwarves, sending
representatives to speak to the dwarven king on their behalf.
Those few gnomes who traveled to Kalimdor live in a similar
fashion in Bael Modan.
The Kaldorei
The night elves of Darnassus are a faction of playable night
elves in World of Warcraft. They start in Shadowglen, an area
located inside the great tree Teldrassil.
For the Alliance, the druid class is exclusive to the night elves.
The Kaldorei were an ancient and reclusive race born during the waking of the world. Their ancient heritage has shaped them into a devoted warrior race, with a reverence for nature and animistic mystical forces. The Kaldorei are practical but superstitious, and often a paradox.
They are a people possessed with a deep spiritual passion and a desire to find solace. In the time before, the Kaldorei were immortal. Their powerful magic was recklessly unleashed by the Quel'dorei, who believed they were superior to other Kaldorei and practiced magics far beyond the considered norm.
This careless use of magic may have allowed the Burning Legion to invade the world, and finally led to a catastrophic battle known as the War of the Ancients. This battle changed the face of Azeroth for all time, and resulted in the creation of the continents of the world, tearing the land apart and forming the vast nexus of energy at the center of the ocean known as the Maelstrom.
The night elves are honorable to a fault, and they are a just and sometimes compassionate people. Still, they do not trust many of the lesser races of the world, whom they see as foolish and too short-lived to recall the mistakes they made in the past.
Many of the night elves consider it their duty to ensure the safety and balance of the world. Because of this perceived air of superiority, many of the younger races mistrust the night elves, if not for their shadowy magic then for their aloof and judging demeanor.
The Draenei
The draenei of Exodar start in Ammen Vale, situated on
Azuremyst Isle, a landmass belonging to a cluster of islands
called the Azuremyst Isles located off the northwestern coast
of Kalimdor. The main base with civilization in Ammen Vale is
called Azure Watch. Bloodmyst Isle can be found as the
adjacent zone, a level 10-20 area.
Velen and the remaining draenei survivors gained control of
one of Tempest Keep's satellite structures and used it to
escape to Azeroth.They searched for allies in their
never-ending battle against the Burning Crusade, and finding
such allies within the Alliance.
They have no capital city, instead they make their main
dwelling on a crashed dimensional ship, the Exodar, which is
overseen by their leader, Velen. The draenei's choice of mount
is the elekk, a creature similar in appearance to a war
elephant. Their chosen language is Draenei, while they are
also able to speak Common.
Classes
Druid
Druids are versatile hybrids. They perform different roles using appropriate shape-shifting forms. They can have high armor and rage like a warrior in Bear Form, stealth and fight in melee like a rogue in Cat Form, or heal and nuke with spells in humanoid form. Through talents, they can enhance one or more of these roles and even gain a new form for healing (Tree Form) or nuking (Moonkin Form). With roughly equivalent gear, talents appropriate to the role, and in the hands of a skilled player, they can be just as effective as one of the classes dedicated to each role. They also bring certain additional utility, such as battle resurrection with Rebirth, and emergency or additional healing or tanking, should one of the people filling the primary role die, go offline, or otherwise be unable to fully manage with their role. Certain key differences do still exist, giving them both advantages and disadvantages in any given role.
Hunter
Hunters are the only class that can effectively use ranged weapons (bows, guns, or crossbows) as a primary source of damage. Very adept at kiting, they have plenty of tools to allow them to avoid melee combat, where they are fairly weak. Hunters may tame many varieties of beasts to serve as combat pets, which along with an array of scouting, tracking, and survival abilities make them excellent solo characters. The three talent specializations for hunters are Marksmanship, Beast Mastery, and Survival.
Mage
Magi are ranged magic damage dealers with very powerful direct and area effect damage spells, but weak armor and health. They also feature a variety of utility spells, including crowd control, teleportation and group portals to capital cities, and conjuration of food and water. Because of spells with good burst damage, they are often effective at PvP even with their relatively low armor and health. They can specialize through talents into ice, fire or arcane magic, each having different strengths.
Paladin
Paladins are Holy Warriors and are a hybrid class. They can melee DPS, tank, or heal. Paladins also have very strong group support and buff abilities, arguably one of the best buffing and group support classes in the game. They can wear heavy plate armor and carry shields, but are also efficient single target healers, which combine to produce their renowned durability in combat. With talent specialization and equipment selection, Paladins can fill the role of melee DPS, tank, offtank, or healer and excel when called upon to spot-fill all these roles in a group setting. While Retribution Paladins DPS is less than a Rogue's, they make up for it with their extremely useful utility spells, buffs and auras.
With the release of the Burning Crusade, Paladins are no longer exclusive to the Alliance. Blood elves (Horde) can now play as Paladins.
Priest
Priests can be powerful healers, healing a single character or many allies at once. Priests have a variety of utility spells, along with a few tricks, such as Power Word: Fortitude, Mind Control and the extremely useful Dispel Magic and Cure Disease. Priests can also specialize in offensive shadow magic, gaining the ability to assume Shadowform, and at higher levels regenerating mana quickly for their entire party.
Rogue
Rogues excel at dealing melee damage and incapacitating their foes, particularly low health and low armor targets such as casters. Stealth gives them a tactical advantage and allows them to start a fight on their own terms. Other important abilities include lockpicking and the handling of poisons. Also, a huge power is the Rogue's ability to stun and incapacitate for a large period of time. This, paired with the rogue's high damage, gives him a huge edge over his opponent. Rogues do not use mana for their combat abilities. Instead they use energy and generate combo points which are used to execute finishing moves.
Shaman
Shamans are one of the most versatile classes in the game as they can switch seamlessly from offensive caster to healer to melee DPS as needed, though at later levels they often specialize in one of these roles. Shamans can provide good support to a party, with the ability to step in and fill any role that may be lacking at the moment. Their high burst damage and healing also make them quite good at PvP. They are able to drop stationary totems on the ground which provide a variety of effects, many of which are useful to the entire raid. They are unique in that they can provide complete wipe recovery by self-resurrecting and then resurrecting the rest of the party.
With the release of the Burning Crusade, Shamans are no longer exclusive to the Horde. Draenei (Alliance) can now play as Shaman.
Warlock
Warlocks enslave demons and call upon dark magic and curses to dominate and destroy their foes. Like hunters, warlocks employ combat pets, but these are summoned demons rather than tamed beasts. They are primarily ranged magic damage dealers with a focus on damage over time in addition to nukes and AoE, but lack the extreme burst damage capabilities of a mage. Demon pets and fear spells give them a variety of tactical options, and they have several utility spells and abilities, including summoning party members and creating healthstones and soulstones.
Warrior
Warriors are close-combat fighters and usually fill the role of primary tank or offtank, as they are able to both withstand and inflict fierce physical punishment and have the most versatile means of generating threat and keeping aggro off other characters. They can also contribute very strong melee DPS when needed. Warrior abilities use rage, which is generated by dealing and taking damage, but decays over time while not in combat. Warriors are highly dependent on their gear, as their ability to deal and take damage is controlled directly by the quality and effects of their weapons and armor.
Hero classes
Death Knight
The Death Knight combines martial prowess with dark, necromantic energies. It is the first hero class in World of Warcraft. Having a non-hero-class character at level 55 or above is (the only) prerequisite to be able to create a death knight. Death knights start at level 55 in a new starting area in the Eastern Plaguelands with multiple spells and abilities ready to use.
They are a hybrid class, able to tank and/or deal damage. They are a melee class with casting abilities like the Paladin, and can raise Undead minions. Although they will have minions, they will not be a pet class, but will use some of their mechanics. They are the only class to use the Rune resource system. It is also notable that Death Knights have their own talent trees comparable to current classes.
There are a million more things to know, even about these 3 subjects, but.. I'm tired. :p
<- By TS ^^ thx