World of Warcraft

Tried of the history of this planet? Then come into our world, World of Warcraft.
it is an
MMOPRG: A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is an online computer role-playing game (RPG) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world. As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a fictional character (most commonly in a fantasy setting) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world, usually hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to exist and evolve while the player is away from the game.
MMORPGs are very popular throughout the world, with combined global memberships in subscription and non-subscription games exceeding 15 million as of 2006[1], [2]. Overall, revenues for MMORPGs exceeded $1.1 billion in 2005 and are expected to reach $3.5B by 2009.[3]

WOW is: World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment.
It is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. The Warcraft games are set in the Warcraft Universe, a fantasy setting introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994. World of Warcraft itself takes place within the world of Azeroth, four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. World of Warcraft's release celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.
Although its initial release was hampered by server stability and performance issues, problems which still intermittently recur,[1] the game is widely regarded as a success, being the world's leading subscription-based MMORPG. On November 9, 2006, Blizzard announced that the subscriber base for World of Warcraft has reached a new milestone, with 7.5 million players worldwide. [2] An expansion pack called The Burning Crusade has been announced for release on January 16, 2007.

ITS WORLD IS: Geography


World of Warcraft World Map
The current virtual world is built around two main continents: The Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. While not all of the history of the four years between the end of The Frozen Throne and the start of World of Warcraft has been revealed, it is known that the conflict between the Horde's forces and the marines of the Theramore Isles at the end of the Orc mini-campaign were the kindling for the current conflict. This forced the Horde to reside mainly in Kalimdor, and the Alliance to settle predominantly in the Eastern Kingdoms.
There are three main cities for each 'side' and four neutral (goblin) cities. Horde cities are Thunder Bluff, Orgrimmar, and the Undercity. Alliance cities are Stormwind, Ironforge, and Darnassus. Neutral cities are Booty Bay, Ratchet, Gadgetzan, and Everlook. There are also neutral outposts controlled by various other factions, such as Cenarion Hold in Silithus and Light's Hope Chapel in the Eastern Plaguelands.
Some of the notable landmarks and locations in the game that were featured in previous Warcraft games are featured in the game. They are:
The Undercity, which resides under the Ruins of Lordaeron, is the main city of the Forsaken, ruled by Sylvanas Windrunner and Varimathras. Here they are engineering a new plague to wipe out the Scourge and all humans in Azeroth.
The Eastern and Western Plaguelands, including places such as Andorhal, the place of origin of the Scourge and the Plague of Undeath, and Stratholme (an instance), the site of Arthas' initial fall into insanity.
The Blasted Lands, home of the original Dark Portal out of which the Orcs first came into Azeroth.
Kalimdor, home to the Tauren, Orcs, Trolls, and Night Elves. Areas to the north include Ashenvale Forest, Felwood, Winterspring, Azshara and the Moonglade. These regions surround Mt. Hyjal, where the final battle against Archimonde took place and the fall of the Burning Legion's Second Invasion.
As of early 2006 a number of regions in the virtual world have yet to be implemented. Some examples of this are:
Gilneas, which is southwest of Silverpine Forest, past the Greymane Wall.
Region beyond Grim Batol to the east (Thin strip of land, east of Wetlands and Loch Modan).
Mount Hyjal.
Quel'Thalas, which Blizzard has announced as the starting area for the Blood Elves in the upcoming expansion, The Burning Crusade.
The regions to the east and west of Burning Steppes.
The region directly north of Eastern Plaguelands, in between Western Plaguelands and Quel'Thalas.
The Ironforge airport (small runway with gnomes and dwarves fighting trolls, viewable when flying north from Ironforge.) According to Blizzard, this area is designed for flavor only and not intended for player access.
It should be noted that many of the unopened areas in the game are off limits to players. However, using exploits or outright hacks, players have managed to enter these areas. Blizzard Game Masters can and do monitor this and have simply asked players to leave the banned areas or in some cases, banned them outright.
The Dark Portal will reopen and lead to Outland, remnants of the Orc homeworld, Draenor, according to Blizzard game designers, when the expansion set is released. Further, opening the Dark Portal will not require the defeat of Kel'Thuzad in Naxxramas Necropolis (Jeff Kaplan, as quoted in the New York Times, May 11, 2006). The Necropolis Naxxramas was added to the game in the 1.11 patch.
The other four portals in Ashenvale, Duskwood, Feralas, and the Hinterlands are connected to the Emerald Dream. Each one of these portals is guarded by a corrupted green dragon. The Emerald Dream itself is not yet accessible.
The 3rd major continent, Northrend, which was featured in Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne expansion, does not appear in the World of Warcraft at all. This might be added in a future expansion for this game.

Wikepedia WOW virtual world source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_warcraft#The_world

Wikepedia source for MMORPG:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPGs

WOW homesite
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/