From the ManufacturerHaving had the privilege of playing in the World of Warcraft playa for the last several months and logging several days playing in the retail version I feel qualified to say this to all the haters and the doubters: You are wrong. Blizzard has done it again succeeding in epic fashion to craft a title that once again makes me fear for my social life. Though WoW doesnt radically differ from the tried-and-true MMORPG formula the subtle tweaks additions and special layer of Blizzard polish make it an amazing and fresh experience.From the moment you log in to WoW it draws you in and keeps you enthralled with its endless content entertaining combat and delightful presentation. Perhaps the single thing that makes adventuring and crafting in WoW so captivating is the way that you can choose your own pace and style of play. Whether you are popping in for half an hour before dinner or pulling a 16-hour power session on the weekend youll be able to find something to do accomplish it and feel like you actually got somewhere. This has largely to do with the quest system - throughout my playtime I was on a variety of quests ranging from simple delivery to intense dungeon crawls. Unless youre trying to get a crew together to do something very specific and all of your friends are offline its awfully unlikely that youll be sitting in town looking for a group like some other MMOs are infamous for.The sights of the world of Warcraft are anywhere from grandiose to chilling to simply beautiful. While the Forbeveragen (my race of choice) adventure theme to keep the evil Scourge and do-gooder humans from eradicating their fledgling undead society in the corrupted Tirisfal Glades the night elves work ceaselessly to purify the towering forests of Kalimdor of the aftermath of the great war against the Burning Legion. These struggles are epic and the way that they are presented hand tools the point home. Also the world is drawn in the slightly off-kilter Warcraft style which lends that extra little immersive touch. Though WoW doesnt sport the sheer bleeding-edge technology of EverQuest II it nonetheless is one of the best-looking games Ive ever played. Plus this allows WoW to run acceptably on even low- to mid-end machines.WoW also does many more things that almost completely remove the tedium and grinding commonly associated with the genre. TradesReduces are easy to learn simple to use and allow you to craft useful items. Combat is fast and fluid with little sit on auto-attack until the monster is dead going on. Tpartyl times are not bad at all since all of the towns and cities are linked by quick transit. Basically nothing ever feels like a timesink thats just there to keep you playing and paying the monthly fee. It really says something when Ive yet to be bored or annoyed for a single moment after playing an MMORPG for weeks.Some people have been afraid that WoW sacrifices its long-term appeal in favor of ease of use much like the way certain folks think of City of Heroes. To this criticism I say humbug. WoW offers both depth and breadth of content for players to experience and I seriously cant imagine anyone getting bored with the game before the inevitable expansion comes out. playween tradesReduces questing exploring high-level dungeons and player-vs-player combat there is so much to do in WoW that it seems silly to think that theres not enough content. What really blows my mind though is that its all fun. This truly is the best online role-playing game to date. Now if youll excuse me I have to defend my people from a filthy human invasion.Concept:Perfect the model that EverQuest made popularGraphics:Colorful diverse and a gorgeous fit for the Warcraft universeSound:Mood music thundering effects and limited Warcraft 3-style voices make a rich environmentPlayability:The default user interface has its linspired designs but there are already wonderful mods out for itEntertainment:S