For many general gamers, online gaming is an escape; an opportunity for a daily break from your active lifestyle; a way to unwind after a long day. For the serious gamer, the word ‘game’ takes on new context and is no longer merely a win/lose variable in the form of entertainment; it evolves into a distinct trait of the user’s identity and can take up hours, if not days, of the individual’s week. Jamaica, Costa Rica, Europe? No. These gamers would prefer to escape to (or rather live in) an online platform inhabited by science fiction landscapes and fantasy characters. They cannot deny themselves the overall feeling of epic purpose through whatever plot the role of the gamer takes upon themselves. This happens a lot in relation to role-playing games, especially true with MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games).
Role-playing games intend to mirror physical reality in terms of allowing the gamer to become completely immersed in the game. They do this by drawing in interest with advanced avatar customization and a non-linear storyline. Creating a game that is based on having a non-linear storyline enables the user to interact with everything in the world, with no scripted or predetermined gameplay; in essence it allows the gamer to ‘live’ in the game in a somewhat organic state. This gives the person choice and freedom. One of the most popular and expansive examples of this type of environment is undeniably brought to us by World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft, commonly referred to as WoW, has developed into one of the biggest networks of online gaming in the world. With a whopping subscription base of 10 million users worldwide, WoW has evolved not only into an alternative reality and a digital ‘world’ for some, but also erupted into a gigantic global social network. People from all over the world are brought together in the form of guilds. Guilds are smaller groups of gamers, almost like clubs or memberships, that resemble the structure of hierarchical families. This allows each gamer to work independently, but also be a part of a team with the purpose of achieving goals and strategies.
When a gamer is introduced to the specific game, they are given the task of creating an avatar to represent a fictional character that usually exists in some sort of a fantasy or science fiction themed realm. In most of the popular and large MMORPGs, like WoW, the user must choose between races and types of characters before any advanced customization can begin. In WoW, the gamer, before even creating the character, must choose between joining the ‘Alliance’ and the ‘Horde’, which are the two battling allegiances of the game. Within each choice/selection/decision, the user has to further choose a race to be born into. With the first editions of the game, in the ‘Alliance’ side, the user can be spawned into a Human or a Dwarf; on the ‘Horde’ side, the user can be spawned into an Orc or a Troll.
After this, the choices becoming more and more involved, affecting each component of the game. For example,applying a class to the avatar is permanent and will determine a large portion of how the user’s character will interact within the platform. This all happens before the gamer even gets to play the game so you can imagine, how complicated and intensive it gets pretty quickly. The more time the user invests in the game, the more the character continues to evolve and ‘levels up’ (becoming more powerful); the more leveled up a character is, the more respect the gamer and gamers avatar earns from the gaming community.
In today’s world, with digital technology continuing to advance and intertwine itself in all aspects of life, the physical and digital reality begin to become blurred. MMORPGs have grown into vast worlds upon themselves, allowing individuals to not only ‘play’ the game but to become a part of a larger realm that defies location and physical restrictions. It is important to understand that MMORPGs, like World of Warcraft, are much more than a game in themselves. They enable an escape and release for the gamer. Purpose and teamwork are essential, all the while crossing international boundaries, supporting the formation of global communities.
Dugi’s Leveling Guide have been around since classic World of Warcraft back in 2005 and over the years we have continuously upgraded our wow leveling guide to meet our customers demands. We have manage to evolve from a written step-by-step guide to a easy to read in-game guide to a sophisticated fully automatic guide that we called Dugi’s Guide V4, which is it our 4th generation of in-game leveling guide since we first started.