Blizzard garnered criticism for its decision in January 2006 to ban guilds from advertising sexual orientation preferences. The incident occurred after several players were cited for "harassment" after advocating a group that was a gay-straight alliance. [145] [146] Blizzard later reversed the decision to issue warnings to players promoting LGBT-friendly guilds. Blizzard Entertainment announces World of Warcraft European street date – February 11, 2005". Blizzard Entertainment. February 2, 2005. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005 . Retrieved February 9, 2007.

Lykins, Damien (September 2, 2019). "The Top 10 Best MMORPGs Of All Time (According to Metacritic)". GamesRant. Robert Howarth (December 24, 2004). "2004 PC Game of the Year Awards". Voodoo Extreme. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008 . Retrieved June 25, 2008.Blizzard Entertainment (January 25, 2012). "2012 Battle.net World Championship Event". BlizzCon. Blizzard Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020 . Retrieved March 13, 2020. Ron Bowes (April 18, 2007). "HHOSR Roundup: March, 2007". Symantec. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Much of World of Warcraft play involves the completion of quests. These quests are usually available from NPCs. [24] Quests usually reward the player with some combination of experience points, items, and in-game money. Quests allow characters to gain access to new skills and abilities, as well as the ability to explore new areas. [25] It is through quests that much of the game's story is told, both through the quest's text and through scripted NPC actions. [26] Quests are linked by a common theme, with each consecutive quest triggered by the completion of the previous, forming a quest chain. Quests commonly involve killing a number of creatures, gathering a certain number of resources, finding a difficult to locate object, speaking to various NPCs, visiting specific locations, interacting with objects in the world, or delivering an item from one place to another to acquire experience and treasures.

Modine, Austin (November 15, 2007). "World of Warcraft spykit gets encrypted". The Register. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008 . Retrieved March 8, 2008. Sarkar, Samit (January 28, 2014). "Blizzard reaches 100M lifetime World of Warcraft accounts". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014 . Retrieved January 28, 2014.

What I really love, however, is a tiny feature that auto replies to in-game messages while you're in a boss fight. This optional autoresponse will let whoever whispered you know you're kinda busy and tell them how much health the boss has left so they know if things are going poorly. Adam Biessner (February 15, 2005). "World of Warcraft Review". Game Informer. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008 . Retrieved June 25, 2008.

Oreskovic, Alexei (November 2, 2009). "China clamps down on Activision's top online game". Reuters. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009 . Retrieved November 3, 2009. Death". Blizzard Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008 . Retrieved April 28, 2008. World of Warcraft is free to play up to level 20 so that new players can experience the game without first having to buy it. Cory Doctorow (January 27, 2006). "World of Warcraft: Don't tell anyone you're queer". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Macgregor, Jody (October 3, 2021). "The creator of Ethereum got into crypto because Blizzard nerfed his character". PC Gamer.As with other MMORPGs, companies have emerged offering to sell virtual gold and associated services. The practice of amassing gold and in-game items for financial profit is frequently referred to as gold farming. Blizzard Entertainment (June 7, 2018). "Battle for Azeroth™: One Launch to Rule Them All". worldofwarcraft.com. Blizzard Entertainment . Retrieved August 13, 2018. World of Warcraft Dragonflight is the ninth expansion to the ever-expanding World of Warcraft MMORPG featuring a new adventure taking place in the newly discovered dragon isles the long-forgotten ancestral home of the dragons. After slumbering for untold eons, the island awakens revealing itself to the rest of the world surging with elemental magic and the life energies of Azeroth in response dragon flights return to Azeroth and rushed to the isles defense. It’s up to you to explore the island’s primordial wonder and discover its long-forgotten secrets.

The great desert fortress of Ahn'Qiraj, long sealed behind the Scarab Wall, was home to the insectoid qiraji, a savage race that had once mounted an assault to devastate the continent of Kalimdor. But something far more sinister lurked behind Ahn'Qiraj's walls: the Old God C'Thun, an ancient entity whose pervasive evil had suffused Azeroth since time immemorial. As C'Thun incited the qiraji to frenzy, both the Alliance and Horde prepared for a massive war effort. A mixed force of Alliance and Horde soldiers, dubbed the Might of Kalimdor, opened the gates of Ahn'Qiraj under the command of the orc Varok Saurfang. The heroes laid siege to the ruins and temples of Ahn'Qiraj and vanquished C'Thun. Realm Types". Blizzard Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012 . Retrieved April 17, 2012. WoW declares war against automated play". The Sydney Morning Herald. March 28, 2008. Archived from the original on March 30, 2008 . Retrieved March 29, 2008.a b Tim Surette. "WOW patched to 1.10". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 17, 2009 . Retrieved May 7, 2008.