Reasons why I thoroughly enjoy playing World of Warcraft....
Firstly, I want to make mention that I am a college student and I do have to apply myself to get good grades. So it is not as though I am either a student who gets away without studying nor a failing student - both of which I have ran into while playing World of Warcraft. Point being, with so many people playing the game, you can run across many types of people and make up various arguements about what types of influence the game has on individuals. It is my opinion that people are going to be whoever they want to be. So if they do not have it in themselves to take care of themselves and have a life outside of World of Warcraft (or any other online video game), it is not the video games fault.
Prior to World of Warcraft I played EverQuest, Anarchy Online, Star Wars Galaxies and Dark Age of Camelot. The last three I bought at release and played for less than a month. Their concepts were not terrible but the overall feel of the game and entertainment value just was not there for me. EverQuest was the king of mmorpg's back in its prime day but now I would shudder at playing it. In EverQuest you often "camped" in a group in ONE spot pulling mobs (enemies... monsters or whatever you refer to them as) and you might be there for four hours or whatever.. staring at the same scenary and barely progressing in the game. All of that time focusing on leveling your character. Also in order to get decent gear, you had to go on raids and hope you win a lucky /roll or earned enough points within your guild (by going to countless other raids) to spend on a drop. Essentially everything in EverQuest required a lot of time to achieve anything and tons of redundancy in what you did spend all that time doing.
I started playing World of Warcraft in 2006 when the Burning Crusades expansion had not yet been released. I tried out a few different classes getting them to around level 10 and deciding which I enjoyed most. I ended up going with a Warlock because I heard they can do a ton of damage but also were good at soloing. I was tired of having to group to do anything in EverQuest, especially when there wasn't groups available. So the idea of being able to adventure on my own or with a few other people, not needing an entire group to accomplish steady leveling, was very appealing. Little did I know that most all of the World of Warcraft classes could be solo'd.
Within the first 30 levels I discovered so much of the "world" including story plot, unique geography and how everything plays into the experience. This only continued more and more as I was able to explore more and more of the world as I leveled. Being able to choose from many different places to quest and not being stuck with one particular area, is amazing.
As difficult as a technical person might think World of Warcraft is to the more inexperienced users, it actually is not that bad. They progress the difficulties to allow time to absorb how the game functions. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why so many people play the game. Anarchy Online is a science fiction MMORPG and has all sorts of technobabble, it is no wonder that it no longer charges to play because they are fighting to retain its playerbase. Had they kept the science fiction theme but dummied down or been more creative in simplifying their technobabble, they would have a more diverse playerbase. The main reason why their playerbase diminished was their superbuggy launch with superdelayed fixes for paying subscribers, though.
Right away you can choose between a few different professions to work on if you like putting stuff together. There is some benefits to making many of the items, as they add stats to your player or aid players in some way.
One of the most exciting things in any MMORPG, definitely in World of Warcraft, is grouping with others to take on challenging situations. All of the dungeons (instances) and harder quests that require groups, are really well thought out with the story lines and how the monsters or characters give their "parts" to the storyline. It is not just running up to a big dragon and beating on it. It talks back at you and gets angry, all very well played out. An example of this is the introduction quests for the Dark Knight class. Those quests were breathtakingly amazing! It is like watching a movie but being in the movie instead.
Blizzard never fails to make all of the areas very unique and interesting to explore. They never repeat graphics for areas, aside from maybe some of the buildings... but the landscaping is all new and the lighting and colors... it's breathtaking..
I personally find it relaxing to play and explore in World of Warcraft. I like that if I end up being busy with school or some other activity and am unable to play for many days, I can come back to my character and she will have the ability to earn experience at a faster rate (called Rest XP) which was implemented so that players can level together and stay together even if one falls behind. That way if you actually have a life, you can come back and still jump in with your friends.
Speaking of friends... while I definitely have made many through the game, many of the people I know in "real life" (from school, work, etc.) also play and it is something to share, either by playing with them or talking about strategies and experiences.
Rather than make a pro/con list, though, just give it a shot and at least enjoy playing with your girlfriend. Perhaps it will be fun to work on quests or play in the battlegrounds together against the opposing faction!
Good luck with your decision. My guess is, after a few good days of playing it and getting to level 10 or so, you will either love it or hate it (though for some it is both) but you will be able to decide something in the end... my guess is you'll stay playing it.
Take care! =)
