January 24, 2005 - In Blizzard's World of Warcraft, players may choose among eight playable races. Massive and bull-like, the Tauren are normally peaceful nomads devoted to maintaining the sanctity and balance of nature. During the invasion of the Burning Legion, they allied with the fierce Orcs, who came to Azeroth from their native world, Draenor. Later, the Trolls of the Darkspear tribe joined this coalition after an Orcish leader saved them from extermination. None of these have much good will toward the Undead, but align with them, albeit rather tenuously, against a common enemy, the Lich King. These four comprise the Horde faction.

The industrious Dwarves, once disinclined to leave their mountain citadel, Ironforge, now scour the far corners of Azeroth for signs of their ancient beginnings. They have staunch friends in their Gnomish cousins; the two have become even closer since the latter were driven from their techno-city of Gnomeregan. Both are friendly with the Humans of Stormwind, which stands as the last bastion of that species' civilization. Reclusive immortals who favor the hours of darkness, the Night Elves are honorable and just, but still hesitant to trust the 'lesser races' with whom they are allied. This quartet makes up the Alliance.

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#15 Look for quests close together (for newbies / low level)
Quite frequently, quest giver NPCs located in the same general area will offer you tasks that can be accomplished in a single location, or at least within reasonable proximity. It's well worth looking for these situations because they can save you a good deal of time. As a simple example, if you do two quests together instead of individually, you cut your travel time by half.

The same basic principle applies to undertakings you can complete on a loop; the key is to do as much as possible before you return to wherever the quest givers are. Since the gameplay in World of Warcraft involves a large number of quests, snipping off a few minutes or even a couple of minutes as often as you can will end up saving you a lot of time in the long run.

#16 Think of your group first (for all levels)
This tip sounds pretty simple, but in my experience, few casually formed groups operate as well-oiled machines because the members don't fully appreciate the benefits of thinking and playing as a team. This doesn't mean there's no teamwork, just less than there could be. Often enough, the desired result, usually completing a quest, is achieved anyway. Other times, it's easy to attribute failure to ill fortune.

In reality, a group that operates well together will encounter less bad luck. By way of illustration, if all members wait after a tough situation to make sure the entire party is ready to go on, you'll be better able to deal with adversity. For instance, if a new battle begins while your healer is still low on mana from the previous one, the entire group is more vulnerable. There are times when this can't be avoided, but more often than not, a player simply doesn't wait long enough before attacking or moving into aggro range.


[You can follow the progress of Blizzard's latest hit both here and at our World of Warcraft Vault where we have a more community-oriented perspective. - Ed.]