Account Security

When players create World of Warcraft accounts, they are asked to choose a username and password. Afterward, whenever they play World of Warcraft, they are asked to supply the same username and password in full. This is also the case when using account management facilities online. This type of authentication is vulnerable to keystroke logging. While this is not unique to World of Warcraft and is common to many MMORPGs, the game has been directly targeted with trojans being specifically crafted to capture account login details. Attacks have been reported as early as May 2006, and may extend as far back as July 30, 2005. The game does, however, allow players to save their account name to the program to allow the player to only have to type their password.

WoW Expansions

Three optional expansions are currently available: The Burning Crusade, released in January 2007, Wrath of the Lich King, released in November 2008, and Cataclysm, released in December 2010. Players are not required to purchase the expansions to continue play. However, the expansion packs allow further leveling of characters beyond level 60 and access to newer content and areas. Characters cannot enter the additional regions without their respective expansion packs.

On June 28, 2011, The Burning Crusade was automatically applied to all previous Warcraft accounts, and all new Warcraft accounts created in the future will have The Burning Crusade applied at no additional cost. All The Burning Crusade content is now effectively part of the original game.

Beta Testing for Mists of Pandaria was opened on March 21, 2012.

Starting WoW

As with other MMORPGs, players control a character avatar within a game world in third- or first-person view, exploring the landscape, fighting various monsters, completing quests, and interacting with non-player characters (NPCs) or other players. Also similar to other MMORPGs, World of Warcraft requires the player to pay for a subscription, either by buying prepaid game cards for a selected amount of playing time, or by using a credit or debit card to pay on a regular basis.

To enter the game, the player must select a realm—sometimes referred to as a server. Each realm acts as an individual copy of the game world, and falls into one of four categories. Available realms types are:

• Normal – a Player Versus Enemies (PvE) environment where the gameplay is more focused on defeating monsters and completing quests, and any roleplay is optional, and player-versus-player fights must be consensual.