Warcraft - For Abu American and other gamers.

The Times..

By day they are human, but in their spare time they become mythical heroes such as wizards, dwarfs and blood-elves. At the weekend, in California, 15,000 of them logged out of World of Warcraft, the world’s biggest online game, to gather in a hall the size of an aircraft hangar for the “big nerdfest” that is Blizzcon.

They were drawn to the Anaheim Convention Centre in California by their love of the virtual worlds they inhabit. Blizzcon is part video game carnival, part trade fair and part religious pilgrimage, organised by Blizzard Entertainment, which makes World of Warcraft and the real-time strategy game Starcraft.

Almost 11 million people pay £7 a month to play World of Warcraft and dedicated fans have flown in from 27 countries around the world to attend Blizzcon, where they can discuss the intricate details of Blizzard’s games with the game-makers, get the exclusive chance to play new games before general release, dress up as their favourite characters and compete against one another.

At the opening ceremony, in reality little more than a glorified press conference, the atmosphere is intense and the noise deafening. The screams reach a peak when Mike Morhaime, the Blizzard chief executive, takes the stage. He’s a gentle-looking man wearing a blazer — the crowd greets him like a rock star.

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“We are on the eve of a historic event next month, and I don’t mean the presidential election,” he says. The packed hall roars in agreement. For this mob, something far more important than electing the leader of the free world is taking place in November — “Northrend will be open.”

Northrend is a new continent in World of Warcraft and forms part of the latest expansion of the game, which goes on sale next month. The release of Wrath of the Lich King will be the biggest event in computer gaming this year. Fans will queue for hours to buy a copy. Gamers expect no less than what Blizzard aims to achieve: the greatest computer game ever created.

The first World of Warcraft game was released four years ago. Today, it is the world’s biggest “massively multi-player online game”, or MMO. It has all the elements of a sci-fi fantasy world you might expect; with dragons, gnomes, orcs and such. It is a knowing homage to the likes of Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons. Players spend hours going on quests and doing battle with one another in order to build up their character into something akin to a small god. In an ever-evolving virtual world that is illustrated in rich detail and can be explored endlessly.

Paul Sams, a senior Blizzard executive, said the key to the game was its accessibility. “It’s easy to learn but hard to master,” he added.