How To Assess the Top WoW Guides

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World of Warcraft (WoW) is both the most complex and rewarding of the MMORPG (massively multi-player online role playing games) online. It's imagery is rich and multi dimensional, it's concept both complex and detailed.

People who start playing World of Warcraft because they have friends already playing online have a head start, as they can learn as part of a group. But if you are a total noob who knows no one, it can be a while before you get the hang of the basics and you may wander around like a lost lamb bleeting while being slaughtered.

Buying one, or even several specific top World of Warcraft guides can help speed you through the levels 1-60 so you can enter the world of warcraft quests that people are currently talking about. To do this you will also need to stash a bullion in gold.

There are multitudes of WoW guides, many of them will help a beginner, most of them will speed you through the levels and give you the Midas touch with gold. Some specialize in specific aspects, such as each level and class, of the multi player environment. Some specialize in particular professions in the world of Warcraft.

Buying a WoW guide that is all-in-one is the top first purchase for a noob. These guides do not specialize on just one topic but give basic to adavanced information on all the following topics from which World of Warcraft is created.

Buying a WoW leveling guide can speed you through the levels 1-60 so you can get to the good stuff. These guides usually give information by horde or alliance. Levels 1-60 are now considered almost obsolete and although they remain fun to play,and will now unlock achievements, other players online will often help you power on through these levels so you can start playing for "real".

If you are still a little hesitant about online multi-player role playing games, take your time and just enjoy these levels, that's why you play - to enjoy it. But if you came to World of Warcraft to play with a group of friends who are more advanced, getting a leveling guide will bring you up to speed fast.

Some leveling guides target just the higher levels 60-70 so if you don't need to buy a guide with 'beginner' information because you have worked through these already, there are some guides who specialise here. The new extension wotlk will have levels 70-80.

>>> Leveling Guides for Alliance

Most role playing games stick with the less complex fantasy genre definition of good and evil. If your character is one of the good guys, he or she is part of the Alliance.

>>> Leveling Guides for Horde

Likewise, if he or she is evil and ugly, your character will be part of the Horde.

With the release of the new extension, The Wrath of the Lich King, it seems likely that some of the Alliance and some of the Horde will unite to combat a common enemy, but in this multi player environment, as in life itself, anything can happen and we'll have to wait and see when this new extension is live.

>>> Character Guides

Many guides offer character race or class guides, some separately and some as a bonus. The character is the persona you adopt or create, and you name it, earn with it, battle and achieve with it. Class is a role such as druid, priest, mage, paladin, rogue, shaman, warlock, warrior, hunter. Professions are a way to earn gold, such as skinning, mining and herbalism.

>>> PvP Guides

PvE or player versus environment is just basic questing, grouping and raiding. A group in this mode is from 2-5 players and they usually group together to do instances, or more difficult quests which are harder to do when you are running solo.

PvP or player versus player is a more complex thing relying more on skill. PvP is not for everyone and connection speed is an important factor for it's success. When combat between players takes place it does so at a specific place such as a battleground where an Alliance character meets a Horde character or where one or more of both allegiances fight. This is usually to obtain something such as a flag or a building.

In PvP a group can be much larger, such as 6 - 40 players and this is usually referred to as a raid. When you group or raid in PvE you may divide the loot via a dice roll. In PvP you win honor and tokens that you use to buy gear.

The arena is a large part of PvP where teams of  2:2 , 3:3, or 5:5 players battle it out to a winning team victory by fighting to the death.

A macro is a short program which is associated with a keyboard shortcut. It has recorded a progression of actions on the keyboard and repeats them in sequence when you hit the hit the single action shortcut. Macros can help when you battle by reducing the time you take to perform these actions.

>>> Guild Guides

A group of players can be organized into a guild of players, which means one or some characters gather a group of other characters to fight as one, as a guild. As you may imagine, organising enough people to play as a group can be hard to do, few people have a large enough group of friends. Guilds will often support their members and share some of their loot or resources to help noobs gain more ground.

Luckily people who are good at organising such things, set up a guild, that other players can join in order to do battle in this way. Joining a guild is a great way for a noob to increase their warcraft friends online and to network and be social. To be accepted into some raiding guilds you may need to have earned, battled and achieved with your character enough to make you worth taking in. Some guilds are also not worth joining as their creator hasn't a clue.

>>> Gold Guides

The World of Warcraft has an economy. When your armour needs repairing, or you want food or wish to purchase something, you need gold to exchange for it. That is why there are so many gold guides! Some aim to make you millionaires, some concentrate on farming. All the gold guides will help you farm, trade, auction, or earn enough to keep playing and eventually buy what you need.

The main purchase most players want to make is a mount. Most gold guides will direct you to hot spots, some of which are places that can help you earn over 200 per hour. Some gold guides concentrate on making gold with specific classes or professions.

>>> Maps and Mods

The online virtual reality of World of Warcraft is a big and sometimes confusing place. Many of the speed leveling guides offer in-game maps, which are an addon or a mod, that can help you navigate faster through all the levels by directing you to go places and do tasks that will improve your achievements, items and gold resources.

Having an in-game map means you don't have to switch screens to read instructions, it becomes available to you via an icon within the game itself. Some maps or guides are linked to thottbot, most have waypoints, some that you can create yourself and some also give information such as which talents to use.

Some guides offer maps that are not ingame, or just a separate guide linked to thottbot.com. You may need to print them or, if digital, switch from full screen view or alt tab to see them. There are also free maps or mods available on some forums, you can check the sites in the WoW Web Sites links for listings of these.

>>> Extension Guides

Some guides specialize in one main group of levels and some do and some do not include the new extensions. An example is the prior extension, the Burning Crusades.  Some WoW guides include information and mods that work for it and some fail to mention it.

The Wrath of the Lich King is a new extension releasing soon (13th Nov 2008). Few guides will have detailed and comprehensive information or mods for this completed as yet, but all the All-in-One guides promise these will be available shortly on or after release.

If the guide offers lifetime updates, you will be able to access any information on wotlk and any further new extensions, online, for free,  after their release. Those guides that do not offer lifetime updates, are promising some updates specifically for the Wrath of the Lich King extension now, as it is so close to it's release date.

>>> How can you know which are the top guides?

Follow the above >>> blue link to a comparison chart for more information on the All in One type of guides.