World of Warcraft uses server clusters (known as 'realms') to allow players to choose their preferred gameplay type and to allow the game to support as many subscribers as it does. Users may have up to ten characters per realm and up to a maximum of fifty characters per account.[25] There are four types of realms: Normal (also known as PvE or player versus environment), PvP (player versus player), RP (a roleplaying Normal/PvE server) and RP-PvP (roleplaying PvP server). The latter two enforce a set of roleplaying rules - players can be penalized for not roleplaying.[26]
Blizzard posts announcements on the login screen of World of Warcraft and on the official forums about realm status or issues. The status for each realm can also be viewed on their main website.
Player versus Environment (PvE)
On the PvE (also known as Normal) realms throughout most of the world the PvP flag may only be enabled by actively turning it on, attacking a hostile player, entering a "PvP Territory" (such as a Battleground), entering an "Enemy Territory" (an enemy faction Capital City) or casting a positive spell on a friendly PvP-flagged player or NPC. The PvP flag will be removed after 5 minutes from the last PvP action. If the PvP flag was enabled using the command the player will need to turn it off using the same command and then avoid PvP combat for 5 minutes.
Player versus Player (PvP)
On a PvP realm, players are flagged for PvP by default. This flag is only disabled when a character is in a friendly faction city or a zone dedicated to newly created characters. All other zones are considered "contested territory" - players are automatically flagged for PvP upon entering a contested zone. Most players will not need to enter a contested zone until roughly level 20.
On PvP servers, a player is limited to creating characters on one faction. This is in contrast to PvE servers, where a player may create characters on both Horde and Alliance.
Roleplaying (RP)
The roleplaying servers use the same ruleset as PvE realms, with the exception that players must act and behave in character, and must follow "naming rules" when they name their character. This means that if players go onto one of these realms, those players act as their characters and anything that is not done in character is then out of character and usually in ((brackets)), or preceded by "OOC:". It is also against the rules to be off-topic in all public channels, such as General and Trade.[27]
However, it should be noted that this is very rarely enforced (unless brought to a Gamemaster's attention numerous times)[citation needed], and out of character chat is common on RP servers, though usually not in such a blatant manner as on non-RP servers.
Role-playing Player versus Player (RPPvP)
The role-playing PvP realms are an extension to the role-playing realms in that they use the PvP ruleset instead of the Normal (PvE) ruleset. Blizzard did not initially have this server type when the game was launched. It was added later, largely due to player request.
Races and classes
Main articles: Races in the Warcraft universe and Classes in World of Warcraft
Players create characters which serve as their avatars in the online world of Azeroth. When creating a character in World of Warcraft, the player can choose from ten different races and nine different character classes. The races are split into two diametrically opposed factions, the Alliance and the Horde.
The Alliance currently consists of Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Draenei (Draenei characters require The Burning Crusade expansion in order to be created.[28])
The Horde currently consists of Orcs, Tauren, Undead (also known as Forsaken), Trolls and Blood Elves (Blood Elves characters require The Burning Crusade expansion in order to be created.)
In addition to the ten playable races there are many NPC races including (but not limited to) Goblins, Ogres, Murlocs, and Naga.
The nine available classes are Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior. The Paladin class was previously only available to the Alliance, and the Shaman only available to the Horde. However with the release of Burning Crusade the Draenei (Alliance) are able to be Shamans and the Blood Elves (Horde) are able to be Paladins, thus removing the previous faction exclusivity. Classes are primarily limited by race: for example Night Elves can only be Druids, Hunters, Priests, Rogues or Warriors.
Professions
During the course of playing the game, players may choose to develop side skills for their character(s). These non-combat skills are called professions. Professions are divided into two separate categories, primary and secondary. Primary professions are those skills related to weapon/armor creation and/or enhancement (e.g., Blacksmithing). A character is limited to two primary professions. Secondary professions are skills that serve to enhance the player's experience (e.g., Cooking). The Rogue class has a unique secondary profession: Poisons.
Items and equipment
Player characters can acquire various items in the game. Items can vary from resources such as herbs or raw ores to items to be retrieved for quests. Player characters can also equip different weapons and armor, either to customize their character or improve abilities such as better attacks or defense skills. Item rarity is classified by the color of the item name: grey means poor rarity, white means common, green means uncommon, blue means rare, purple means "epic", orange means "legendary" and red means "artifact".
Mounts
Main article: Mounts (World of Warcraft)
A mount refers to an item that, upon activation, changes the character, to represent the player is riding an animal, as opposed to the normal movement of walking/running. Players of certain levels and skill ability have available to them the option of acquiring these mounts in order to increase their movement speed on land. Mounts can also be acquired via reputation with certain factions, completion of quests or through special items produced in related material, or as very rare loot drops obtained by defeating bosses in instances. In the expansion pack Burning Crusade, the ability to purchase or acquire flying mounts became available in the expansion areas.
World of Warcraft includes significant support for modifications to the user interface (UI) of a game, colloquially known as "mods" and "addons". At a simple level it allows full control over the content of toolbars and hot keys, as well as macros to automate sets of operations and the ability to script much more elaborate tools. The range of modifications that are available can be anything from ways to automatically advertise trade skills, to adding extra rows of button bars for spells, skills and more. There are also various humorous mods, including one that reproduces the infamous Leeroy Jenkins sound.[41]
As of the 2.0 release of World of Warcraft, certain modifications and "Addons" no longer function the way they were intended by the addon designer, as the way that an addon interacts with the game has been changed. This has forced all addons pre-2.0 to have to be rewritten. This is such a drastic change to the addons that all players must now download new copies of the addon that they were using. More information on this topic is available in this forum post, made by a Blizzard MVP (Most Valuable Poster).
Addons are created using one or both Lua and XML, and images used for modifications are created using the .TGA (Targa) and .BLP image formats. Blizzard has also released a User Interface Customization tool to support and encourage UI modders.[42] However, Blizzard is unable to endorse or provide support for third party interfaces due to issues that may be caused by them.
Some third-party programs that operate in a stand-alone mode, or independent of World of Warcraft, may be considered exploits, especially if they automate operation beyond that made available using the built-in macro functionality, or pass information in or out of the game. Use of these is against the Terms of Service agreed to when playing the game, and as such, may lead to possible suspension or closure of accounts. Blizzard has stated on the official forums that any modification that uses the Lua programming language will not be considered an exploit, though Blizzard reserves the right to change information available via the Lua language if the modification changes the nature of encounters in the game.
On October 28, 2005 Blizzard revealed that the first expansion pack would be called World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.[44] It includes an increased level cap of 70, a new profession (Jewelcrafting), the ability to 'socket' jewels into certain items for increased stats (a feature that originated with Diablo II), and two new playable races. The additional races are the Blood Elves for the Horde, residing in the capital city of Silvermoon, and the Draenei for the Alliance, residing in the capital city of Exodar. The expansion also features Outland as a new playable zone, as well as flying mounts usable only in Outland for high-level players. Some of the expansion's features will be available to all players, though the most significant additions, such as visiting Outland and creating characters of the two new races, requires the Burning Crusade expansion to be purchased and installed.
On July 21, 2006, Blizzard revealed that the new races will be able to use classes traditionally open only to the other faction, and that Blood Elves do not have the Warrior class open to them, making them the only race that cannot play a Warrior. These changes have received mixed feedback.