| World of Warcraft | 
| From: Blizzard Entertainment
Category: Video Games
List Price: $19.99
Buy Used: $0.99
as of 9/7/2010 00:42 CEST details
You Save: $19.00 (95%)
New (71) Used (140) Collectible (1) from $0.99
Seller: Arsenal PC
Rating:  991 reviews
Sales Rank: 997
Platforms: Mac, Windows XP, Mac OS X, Windows
Genre: online_massively_multiplayer_games
Color: Multiple
ESRB: Teen
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Full Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Region: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows XP
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.5 x 1.5
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 72212
UPC: 020626722124
EAN: 0020626722124
ASIN: B000067FDW
Release Date: November 23, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | This game requires a monthly fee, and an internet connection to play | | • | Create and customize your own hero from the unique races and classes of the Warcraft universe | | • | Explore an expansive world with miles of forests, deserts, snow-blown mountains, and other exotic lands | | • | Visit huge cities and delve through dozens of vast dungeons | | • | Adventure together with thousands of other players in an enormous, persistent game world |
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.com
World of Warcraft didn't invent the online role-playing genre, but it certainly benefits from the missteps of other titles that have come before. A mind-boggling array of improvements in graphics, gameplay, networking, and interface--really every category--makes this game the crown prince of the genre, a great starting place for newbies, and a challenge to any other MMORPG currently in the works.  | | The game's beautifully rendered locations are filled with small details, such as flying birds and flowing water. | A History of Conflict
WoW takes place just four years after the real-time strategy Warcraft series, which chronicles a 25 year struggle between the Alliance (humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves) and the Horde (orcs, tauren, trolls, and undead). Even though there's tons of accumulated story to the series, new players should not be daunted. The background is there for you to explore, but you don't have to tread a lot of Azeroth history to get into the action.
The makers boast 2,000 existing quests with more being added, many of them noncombat in nature.
| The game looks magnificent. There's plenty of detail and variety to the landscapes and interiors, and the artwork has a refreshingly playful style. There's not a lot of variety in the character creation process, but with all the skills and proficiencies to combine in the game, WoW focuses its customization not on the appearance of your character but rather on the character of your character. The game lets you adopt any two trade skills, regardless of character race or class, and combine those skills in useful ways. If you choose skinning and leatherworking, for example, you can fashion bags from the carcasses of monsters you defeat, which will allow you to carry even more inventory items. Expanded Commerce
You can sell the items you make, find, and loot through a variety of outlets. Like any role-playing game, WoW has merchants who will buy your cast-off items for fixed prices, but you can also sell to other players at your own price through in-game chat or by leaving it with one of the auction houses located across the map. This virtual free market is a game within the game, like Monopoly somehow inserted into the middle of Chess. Heck, you can even send items C.O.D. to other players via the game's mail system.  | | The game's Quest Log keeps track of up to 20 quests at a time. | In other online role-playing games, starting players have to invest dozens of hours whacking at small prey and doing other odd jobs one at a time to gradually "level up" to more interesting challenges. WoW lets players accept a variety of quests--up to 20 at a time without penalty for abandoning any of them before they're complete. The makers boast 2,000 existing quests with more being added, many of them noncombat in nature. Where some games only grant experience through battle, WoW grants experience for exploring and fulfilling quests too. A Level Playing Field
There's also a built-in handicap for casual players where your character enters a rest state when you log off from the game. The longer you're logged off (up to a week), the bigger the experience bonus you'll get when you return to battle. An enemy tagging feature--the player who lands the first attack on an enemy claims the loot for himself or his party--prevents onlookers from swooping in and pilfering items from a monster that you brought down. That resolves a common complaint of other titles.  | | Icons and pop-ups help put complex controls easily within reach. | Most games severely penalize players when they die in-game, usually by shaving experience points, funds, or both. In WoW, death just relocates your ghost to the nearest graveyard, and the only penalty is the time it takes you to get back to resurrect your character's corpse. All of this makes for a very complicated game, but the well-designed interface puts all the game's elements into icons either visible framing the action or within a simple keystroke. The enemy's artificial intelligence is quite strong too: Monsters will join nearby fights to aid their comrades, switch targets strategically midbattle, and ambush players. The map system fills in details on places you've visited, so you always know where you are and where you've been. Overall, World of Warcraft is a game that's easy to learn, challenging to master, beautiful to watch, and tons of fun to play. --Porter B. Hall
| System Requirements | | Minimum | Recommended | | Operating System | PC: Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista (with latest Service Packs)
Mac: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer | | CPU | PC: Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlong XP 1500+
Mac: PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core Duo processor | PC: Dual-core processor, such as Intel Pentium D or AmD Athlong 64 X2
Mac: Intel 1.8 GHz processor or better | | Graphics Hardware | PC: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transfor and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM, such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce2 class card or better
Mac: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 64 MB VRAM, such as ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 class card or better | PC: 3D Graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capabilities with 128 MB VRAM, such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT class card or better
Mac: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM, such as ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA 7600 class card or better. | | Memory | PC: 512 MB (1 GB for Vista)
Mac: 1 GB | PC: 1 GB (2 GB for Vista)
Mac: 2 GB | | Hard Drive Space | 15 GB of free space | | All Platform Requirements | Keyboard and mouse, required for controls. Other input devices not supported. Active broadband Internet connection required to play. |
Amazon.com Product Description
For the first time, players can experience the lands of WarCraft's Azeroth from a new, in-depth perspective. As heroes, they explore familiar battlefields, discover new lands, and take on epic quests and challenges in Blizzard's massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Blizzard has taken care to make the game accessible and fun both for hard-core 60-hour-a-week players and for more casual adventurers.
Product Description
Vivendi (72212) World of Warcraft PC
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 991
 Awesome Game, Even For Older Players September 15, 2004
Walter Milford (Vancouver, WA USA)
536 out of 601 found this review helpful
This game is, quite simply, the best Fantasy MMORPG I have ever encountered. Having played during the entire 11 day Stress Test, I can honestly say it will probably be around even longer than EverQuest. This work of art has all the magic of EQ, without the many frustrations that finally caused me to give up on EQ (such as extreme grind, a very punitive death penalty, and being forced to group at high levels).
The graphics in WoW are awesome. Some people complain about the "cartoonish" colors, etc. I find these graphics to be very pleasing to the eye, and extremely well detailed and arranged. Guess this just shows that it isn't possible to please everyone, particularly those who go out of their way to find a flaw in other people's creations. To me, it is just right.
I won't elaborate on the basics of the game, such as the 8 races and 9 classes. Others have already covered them. Rather, I will focus on some other areas that are important to older players (I will soon be 60 years old, and no longer have the lightning-fast hand to eye coordination and sharp vision I once enjoyed).
There appeared to be no need for extremely quick reflexes in this game, but instead a player needs to use strategy and planning to avoid getting in over one's head. The wonderful hotkey bar across the entire bottom of the screen was very helpful and well thought out. Kudos to Blizzard for making such a great interface. The screen is not all cluttered up like it is in most games.
The game runs on a 24-hour clock, so it is dark nearly half the time. Blizzard wisely chose to not make the game black as night in most locations. It is possible to play effectively in caves and other usually extremely dark areas, without benefit of an external light. I thought this was a very wise decision and really enjoyed playing in those locations for the first time ever in an MMORPG. Some players complain that it is too bright. I would say to them: Turn down your Gamma control in the game if you like. Many of us do not have your young night-vision, and we are paying customers too. I think that Blizzard got this part just right.
The quest system in this game is better than I have ever seen. I actually liked doing quests, something I haven't previously enjoyed. Also, quests give lots of experience, and since they can usually be done on a casual basis, they don't require the same level of one-track focus that they do in other games I have played.
During this "way too short" Stress Test, I decided to try a variety of different characters and locations, so played the following characters: Night Elf Druid, lvl 12; Tauren Hunter, lvl 13; Human Mage, lvl 8; Human Warlock, lvl 6; Gnome Warlock, lvl 6; Troll Shaman, lvl 6. Unfortunately, I have a full-time job and could only devote about 40 hours a week to the game. The initial leveling rate is quite quick, with it slowing down a lot at about level 12. Just about right, IMO.
The game is bug-free, for the most part. It is way more bug-free than SWG is even today. I would be willing to pay a subscription now, if it would "get me my game back!". There are only two problems I see with this game:
1. Even though the Stress Test ended at 6pm Sunday evening, three days later I am still going through withdrawal and still have no desire to play on my two City of Heroes and three SWG accounts.
2. World of Warcraft is still not out, so my pre-ordered copy hasn't arrived, nor do I know when that will happen. The sooner, the better, IMO. There is no doubt in my mind that this game will be way more popular that EQ2, which I also plan to try. Hopefully WoW will arrive first.
I for one really appreciate these Reviews that Amazon has. I find them very helpful. The only problem I see with them is that there are only FIVE stars in the rating system. This is a shame, for World of Warcraft certainly deserves a TEN.
WoW is more than it's cracked up to be September 15, 2004
Seth Mclagan (Florida, USA)
635 out of 718 found this review helpful
I just spent the last week playing the World of Warcraft Stress Test Beta, and I can tell you that it was better than I expected. Even though the game wasn't finished, it still has many features that make it head and shoulders above every other MMORPG I've played.
Now, I, like many others, have been waiting in ancicipation for this game to come out, and when I had the chance to play the stress test, I was elated. Considering the majority of my MMOG experience is in EverQuest, I will list a few of the improvements (at least what I see as improvements) over the MMORPG "norm."
1) Experience from completing quests is noticable, and the rewards from completing them are worthwhile. I was always frustrated with EverQuest's quest structure, and the only reason to do a quest was for the item quested for, not for the experience gain. In WoW, it is possible to gain more experience from completing a quest than from killing a monster.
2) Experience progress is anything but vague. Every time a character kills a monster or completes a quest, the experience points are clearly given, and a meter with the character's progress within a level is clearly marked with numbers. So it's impossible not to tell how much experience killing a monster was worth. No more questionable meters with random values.
3) The world is easy to get around in. And it doesn't take an hour to get where you need to be, if you know where you're going. This was one of my biggest problems with EverQuest, because, as a semi-casual player, sometimes I don't have the time to run for an hour to complete a quest, or, in some cases, die, then have to make a corpse run and take twice as long as it originally was supposed to take. Which leads me to my next point.
4) Death is reasonable. If your character dies, its ghost spawns at the NEAREST graveyard, so there is no need to manually bind your character somewhere. Also, there is no XP loss if you choose to run your character over to its corpse. In my opinion, the death system is one of the best, as you can choose to lose XP by ressurecting right at the graveyard, or just run to your character's corpse and revive there with no experience loss. And before you can ressurect your character in a graveyard, it will let you know exactly how much XP will be lost. This replaces the 3 hours of grinding time needed to replace the lost XP.
5) An XP grind is perfectly possible, but not necessary. It is very possible to level up consistently without having to play for 5-7 hours a day. Between XP from killing monsters and the great quest completion XP, I was able to level a character to 17 in 3 days of semi-casual play. Now granted, those were the first 17 and the easiest, but it's also possible to gain a level a day, almost unheard of in EverQuest.
To make a long story short, this will be a great game, but there is still a lot of work needed to make it release-ready. Since there is no official word yet on its release, I wouldn't hold my breath, but it's certainly something to keep an eye on.
-Bullroar
Surprisingly good game! September 19, 2004
BlindTyldak (Watertown, SD United States)
84 out of 94 found this review helpful
I've played by subscription or beta tested ten MMO's now, and I was very shocked to find that World of Warcraft blew them all out of the water. I seriously only checked the game out at first because a friend of mine was going to play, but the more I read into it, I was hooked (so much so, that I now work of the Stratics staff for this game!). I was lucky enough to get into the stress test, and I do not believe I am exagerating when I say that every other MMO out there is going to have a serious run for its money.
Even in Beta, this is the single most stable, lag-free game I have ever played, and I am on a three-year old gaming system. I did find the learning curve a little steep for first timers, but I think that will be rectified with a manual. The questing system is so far beyond any other game, it is truely in a class by itself. Grouping is optional, and does need some work (its actually harder to get XP in a group than soloing) but the implementation of all group members receiving quest items practically eliminates the need to camp an area to get your quest drop, if everyone in the area is smart enough to group up, that is! And as items only drop if you have the quest, there's no people hanging around just to make money.
The PvP system is INCREDIBLE, and this is coming from someone who completely avoids PvP unless there is a true point to it. WoW has implemented a full ranking system with real rewards, such as special mounts, titles, weapons, even elite barracks for high-ranking PvPers. There's even a useful honor system, where you are punished in rank for killing people below your level, or non-violent NPC's. You're a jerk? No goodies for you!
This one will be very worth checking out. A word of warning, the newbie zones get very crowded when a new phase starts and its easy to give up at first based on that. If you are planning on checking this game out in open Beta, wait two days, THEN log in if you think this will be an issue. You will get a much truer population level to play with at that point.
Best MMORPG Ever -- Buy NOW! December 4, 2004
Dmg (Southern California)
33 out of 35 found this review helpful
World of Warcraft is simply put, the best MMORPG ever created. Blizzard spent a good amount of time creating and testing this masterpiece, and it shows off. No matter what type of games you like to play, you'll like playing WoW. Even if your PC isn't blazing fast, you'll get perfect quality out of WoW. Everything in the game just feels right.
Let me split my review into sections;
GRAPHICS
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The graphics in WoW are a splendor to behold. The textures and geometry are excellent and really show how much detail Blizzard put into this game. The visuals aren't DOOM 3 or Half-Life 2 in extreme quality, but this is a MMO with quite a bit of people and low system requirements. The shadows, weather and particle effects, and 'bonus' graphical work (such as footprints in the snow, etc) are above average. With all the visual settings maxed out, along with my graphic card's hardware AA/AF maxed, the game does not stutter, even on my mid-range PC. I'm amazed I can have everything maxed, having my screen look gorgeous, and have perfect v-sync frame rates constantly.
SOUND/MUSIC
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Music in WoW is, of course, spectacular. Blizzard is known for having awesome scores that are dynamic and suiting. There's a ton of different scores that dynamically change depending on where you are and what's going on, and they're all near-godly and memorable. The sound design is also great: each individual sound effect and voice sounds like what it should. No complaints in the sound department.
SERVERS
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Blizzard has a good amount of servers setup. Quite a lot of them, in fact. Not only that, but there's specific servers for PvP, so you can be on one of those if you enjoy dueling. PvE servers can have PvP game play as well, but both parties need to agree beforehand. The servers are lightning fast and I've yet to have downtime.
COMMUNITY
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So far, I've experienced a nice community in-game. I've played three different races and the communities in each of them (almost each race has its own starting location in the world of the game) have been very nice, considerate, and helpful. Granted, not everyone acts as they should, but I've had an enjoyable time with the community so far.
INTERFACE
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I really can't think up a way Blizzard could improve WoW's interface. It's mildly complex and takes a bit to get used to, but once you get over those first minutes it feels like second nature. Chatting is simple and fun, with numerous functions. Everything about the game is clearly described, explained, labeled, and shown in the manual and in-game. There are also tips that help you with just about everything as you experience it the first time.
GAMEPLAY
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The most important part of a game and WoW does it great. There's so much to do in the GIGANTIC world that you won't want to stop. Just a few of the 'professions' you can do: cooking, fishing, mining, blacksmithing, first aid, and alchemy. Besides all those you can just do the 2000+ quests, level up your character, join groups, create or join a guild, and more. It really is like an online world, and it's addicting. The quests range from extremely simple to very advanced, with plenty to choose from. The races are distinct but balanced, and each one has its own feel and flavor. The classes are well balanced also (except for Warrior, which is pretty underpowered, but Blizzard has said they're already working on it for the next patch). There's enough classes and races to suit anyone's taste, and there's definitely enough so that you can have multiple, different characters without feeling bored. The pace of the game feels just right; not too fast, not too slow. Death isn't a huge hassle, quest rewards are actually rewarding, the races are cool and different, the classes are exciting and aren't disappointments or unbalanced, the game is as simple or nearly-overwhelmingly complex as YOU want it to be, Blizzard's support is fantastic, and there isn't a single feature left out of the game. In a word: perfection.
All in all, WoW is definitely one of the best gaming experiences I've had, and I haven't even come close to experiencing it all. If you like Blizzard's previous games, role-playing games, and/or other MMOs, you'll love WoW for sure. Even if you don't like those, there's still a very high chance of you falling in love with it, since it's just so damn fun to play.
The monthly fee is well worth the countless hours of bliss you'll receive, and they provide discounts when you pay in bulk, like 3-months and 6-months.
I recommend buying the strategy guide (more like strategy tome, it's over 400 pages!) if you're new to MMOs, since there's a lot to learn. The game's manual is thick too, and there's plenty of in-game and online resources available.
If you can find it, purchase the Collector's Edition since for $30 more you get quite a lot (the game on 4 CDs, the game on 1 DVD, the soundtrack, a large making-of book, an exclusive in-game 'pet,' and more).
World of Warcraft is a game I very highly recommend for everyone to buy and experience, even gamers who don't like online play.
GET WORLD OF WARCRAFT NOW!
A review from a first time MMORPG player November 22, 2004
David West (Marysville, WA)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
I casually stumbled upon the open beta while surfing the web at work one day. I signed up for an account and waited for the 2.7 gigabyte download to complete (yikes!). I had an expectation about MMORPGs that they were addictive (and thus "wrong"), but I wanted to try one anyway.
I customized the look of my character and decided to be a Tauren Hunter (as far as I could tell later on, all the races/classes are meticulously balanced, and ALL can solo!). I then entered the world. The first thing I noticed were little "!" icons on the bottom of my screen giving me help and telling me what to do. Later on they appear less and less and you can turn them off if you want. They (in conjunction with looking at the manual occasionally) were extremely helpful in getting me started. The user interface was very intuitive considering how much it was capable of.
My first few quests were easy, fun, and short. As I quested I noticed the game was absolutely beautiful. It had such atmosphere and detail. Blizzard has raised the bar for "big" games. I am used to "big" games meaning "vast tracts of empty land".
I leveled up very quickly. I was at level 10 in just a few hours! I noticed this game rewards beginners very well. You start to level slower as you get higher up, but this game continually rewards you. You can be a casual, 2 hours at a time gamer who likes to play by yourself and you will do *just fine* in this game. I never played for an hour stretch during which I did not gain or experience something cool. I introduced my wife to it (she being a very casual gamer) and she likes it so much we're getting a new computer just so we can duo together.
The world is very big but travel is rarely a problem. There are dragons and zepellins that are willing to fly you to major locations, as well as a "hearthstone" that transports you to the innkeeper you spoke with last. Later on in the game I hear you can get mounts of your own to ride.
The gameplay is very diverse. I never felt bored because there was always an opportunity to go do something I hadn't done before. There are many tradeskills and these tradeskills are also easy to level up. For instance, to max out the fishing tradeskill, it requires about 275 skill points. After 30 minutes of fishing, I had about 30-40 skill points, had caught a bunch of nice fish to eat, and a few nice items too! Perfect for the casual gamer who does not want to spend their whole life playing a single game to master it!
Death in this game is handled superbly. You are transported as a ghost to the *nearest* graveyard. In ghost form, everything has a white glow to it (check out the sky!), you can run very fast, and to resurrect all you have to do is find your corpse (helpfully marked on your map). If you died in an extremely bad area that you don't want to revive in, there is a "spirit healer" at the graveyard who can revive you for a slight experience penalty (you will not lose any levels) and 25% item durability penalty (a mere token of money to repair). Your corpse cannot be looted or exploited in any way. The game makes sure you don't actually want to die, because it can take 2-3 minutes to get to your corpse, but otherwise prevents you from being frustrated.
All enemies are helpfully marked with a name and the level they are next to them, so you don't accidently try and take on a level 21 Kodo Barrens Beast when you're only level 11. Also, if an enemy is enormously strong for its level, it will be marked as "elite", as in a "Level 21 Elite" Kodo Barrens Beast. Watch out for elites! :-)
The game is in "real-time" depending on your time zone so if you only play the game at night, it will always be night in the game. This can be good or bad. I personally loved it. I would get up early in the morning to play the game so I could watch the sunrise. And then in the evenings I might play to watch the sunset.
My system is an Athlon XP 2200+, 768 megs of ram, and an ATi Radeon 9200 videocard. The game ran very smooth at medium detail and only slightly stuttery on the highest detail settings. If you have an ATI 9000+ videocard (or 5200+, for those with nVidia Geforce cards), your main bottleneck will be your RAM. The official requirement is 256 megs. I played with this much before I bought a 512 stick. If you have 256 megs you have to turn down all your detail settings and avoid crowds of people because otherwise your computer will constantly be loading textures from the hard drive. With 768 megs of ram the game runs seamlessly and there is no great noticeable loading of anything anywhere! It's all one big world (except for major dungeons, which load separately).
The game mentioned it had "dynamic weather" but I did not notice any in the areas I played. I did not notice the absence until someone else mentioned it. Perhaps it was turned off for beta purposes. The game was sunny everywhere I went, although sometimes with fog or partial clouds.
Overall, one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. It looks like Blizzard has another game of the year on their hands. See you there!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 991
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