So we all know how drug dealers work right?  No, not that I've ever been to one, but I've seen plenty of them in movies.  They offer you some free samples to get you hooked.  That way when you need more, they know you'll come back to them.

Welcome to the 10-Day FREE Trial of Blizzard's World of Warcraft (WoW).  I am a moron.  I know it.  I've spent the last year telling people "No.  I am not going to install that game.  The second I do I will be addicted."  It's the same thing that happens when you use someone's iPhone for 10 minutes.  You're down at AT&T buying one.

World of Warcraft is so addicting in fact that I installed it on Thursday night and then spent hours on end over the weekend playing it.  The game is absoultely amazing and there is no way you can truly grasp the depth of it without trying it.  See these screenshots below to get an idea of how the game looks.

With World of Warcrack you are playing on a server that at anyone time most likely has 30,000 other people on with you.  There are over 9.3 million WoW players all over the world.  There are two planets in WoW.  I've only been on one and it contains 2 continents.  Each continent is broken up into smaller areas and cities similar to how North America is broken up into countries, states, and cities. I'm going to say it would be pretty much impossible to ever see the whole game map. It's just way to big.  Plus, when you consider that Blizzard is continually adding stuff and changing things you most likely couldn't catch up with them anyway.

As I've been playing the game I realized, its the Matrix.  Seriously, its a prison of lovely crack for your mind.   You can get a profession and then sell things you make.  You can learn how to skin wolves and make their coats in clothing.  You can then sell said clothing to other players or to vendors within the game.  You can ride horses, fly winged creatures, enter dungeons and cities.

But lets talk about what really sets this game apart from Doom or Halo or any of those other First Person games.  It's the fact that 30,000 people are on the game with you at all times of the day and night. (Did I mention the game has a world clock, sunrise, sunset, rain, snow, etc?)  You can interact with these players, sell them items, trade stuff, etc.  You can go on quests with them and adventure together.  When you need help defeating a monster?  Find another player to help you.  Or of course, you can go to the enemy players and fight them (outside of the safe zones of your city).

Let's talk for a minute about quests!  Quests are given to you by computer controlled characters all over the world.  You can choose to accept or decline any quest.  Quests range from exploration, to killing a group of monsters, to delivering an item to another city.  Quests are what really make WoW fun for me.  For each quest you go on you get a reward of money/items/experience/etc.  You get a new more powerful spell, or weapon.  Or you might get a new article of clothing.  Speaking of clothing, you can dress your character anyway you want by purchasing clothes or winning them in quests or battles.  There is even a dressing room where your character can strip down to his/her undies and change clothes.  Funny!

I'm telling you.  No matter how much anyone asks you to try this game, DO NOT DO IT.  You'll get addicted and your wife will become a WoW widow.  It's not worth it.  Just delete those install files now.  Oh.  And I have even scratched the surface of how complex and interactive this game is... yet.