WOW

I played World of Warcraft for the first time yesterday. I have to admit that it's an addicting game. That said, I also have to say that I was disappointed by it.

Although the graphics were well done, I didn't think the game controls were very intuitive, but that was probably because there was something wrong with the settings. In order to move in the game, I had to use the arrow keys. Normally, I use a mouse, click some place and my character runs to that spot. Also, in order to pick up items, one has to right click. In all the other Blizzard games I've played, I simply just left click.

Another thing is that I really don't know how to play. Obviously there are some items which I can not equip because I do not have a high enough level. Unfortunately, I don't know how to get to that "level". It isn't just a matter of gaining experience and leveling up. I don't know how to "level up" my character so that I can equip better items.

I also don't know what half the items that drop are for, besides selling for gold. I also don't know what use is gold in the game. In other games, one buys stuff. In this game, I didn't really see any good items to buy that didn't require those silver tokens.

I do like the idea that you can use these "silver tokens" in order to "purchase" spells and other things. You can gain these silver tokens by doing quests or leveling up.

Another thing that drives me nuts is that I don't have a map. I don't know if there is simply no built in map and most of the players have been playing so long that they've just memorized everything or if I simply don't know how to turn on the map feature. As a result, I never know where I'm going.

Maps are especially important when I die. I've never been that good at computer games. My rpg characters are constantly dying. In Diablo II, if your character dies, you have the option of going to get your body, or simply exiting and restarting the game. If you restart the game, your character's body can be found in town. You could potentially lose items, but at least you don't have to run all the way back to your body.

While I'm on the subject of dying, I also find the fact that there are no healing potions annoying. Like I said above, I'm not that great of a player and have come to rely on healing potions to keep me alive. In this game, there is "food" which will heal you, but you have to be sitting down to eat it. That means that you can't just heal yourself in battle. Actually, you might be able to heal yourself in battle. There is a healing spell. In order to use the healing spell, however, you have to click on the spell and then click on yourself. When I'm in the middle of a battle, I'm spend most of my time trying to kill the enemy. It's hard to try and do that and then be able to switch over and heal yourself in the middle of the battle. It just takes skills that I just don't have.

I think my problem is that I just don't understand most of the controls in the game, and how they work. I think that I would enjoy the game much more if I read the guides on the website or sat down with a hardcore WOW fan who can explain how the game works. All that said, I did enjoy the game and played for hours without realizing how much time had passed. If it hadn't been so late, I would have probably played much longer.

I AM still waiting for Blizzard to come out with Diablo III, but who knows if/when they will ever come out with that.