News: MMORPGDot Feature: World of Warcraft - The Journey

I wasn't ready for my apprenticeship. If my knowledge was adequate, my heart wasn't in my work. I strayed to Ironforge and spent a few weeks dealing in herbs and establishing contacts with ingredient suppliers for my beloved brews. I rented a room at the Boar's Head and set up a small laboratory there. Losing myself in the trade made me feel somehow closer to Ainethil. A sad antidote for my lack of expression. Inkeeper Firebrew complained about the smell of burning plants coming from my room (a welcome change, I would have thought to the scent of smoldering iron that pervades the city). The patrons didn't seem to appreciate the bittersweet scent of burnt Goldthorn. Or perhaps it was that spiteful dwarf waitress Brunhilde getting back at me for not leaving her an underserved tip. But like everything else in this dark city, a few well timed silver pieces kept everyone happy.

A recent lively debate on the Terranova website discussed the reasons for World of Warcraft popularity, particularly in the US. It's not easy to pin down a neat explanation of such a complex phenomenon, but one thing we can do is explore aspects of the world which have kept us, as users, coming back to the world.



The tale above highlights a couple of points on my personal World of Warcraft plus list; elements that have contributed to furthering my interest in a game/world which I find really hard to decide whether I like or not.