Gameplay

Unlike previous games in the Warcraft series, World of Warcraft is not a real-time strategy game, but is a MMORPG. As with other MMORPGs, such as EverQuest, players control a character avatar within a persistent gameworld, exploring the landscape, fighting monsters, and performing quests on behalf of computer-controlled characters (also called NPCs—non-player characters). The game rewards success through money, items, and experience, which in turn allow players to improve in skill and power. Players level their avatar from level one up to level 60, level 70 if they have The Burning Crusade expansion (released on January 16, 2007), or level 80 if they have the Wrath of the Lich King expansion (yet to be released)[citation needed]. In addition, players may opt to take part in battles against other players of an enemy faction, in PvP battlegrounds or in normal world zones subject to the rules in place on the particular server (see World of Warcraft Player versus Player for more details). Duels can also be fought between members of the same or opposing factions, although these do not provide tangible rewards. The majority of the quests during the early and middle stages of gameplay can be completed without the help of other players, particularly if the player is at a higher level than that which the quest suggests. Other portions of the game such as dungeons (also called instances) are designed to require cooperation with other players for success. Dungeons are designed either for groups of two to five players, or for raid groups of up to 40 players for the larger and significantly more difficult dungeons. At the highest level, these complex dungeons (and some outdoor encounters) are designed to take raiding guilds a number of hours to complete, usually after many attempts over a period of a few weeks or months before success is achieved. Raid dungeon progress is saved on the server, to allow completion of the dungeon over a few days.