World of Warcraft is massive. it has an enormous user base, and some players have been chugging along since the very release of the game, since 2004. With such a massive and established user base, it seems fashionable these days to write guides to tell people how to play a game that they've been playing for 4 years. We don't want to upset the order of things, so here's our very own guide to the World of Warcraft.

Of course, we're kind of bored with the 'buy x linen and grind 15 Humprats' kind of guide, so we're kicking our World of Warcraft Series off with a different angle: we'll tell you 10 things that you might not know, and knowing them will make you a better player. Not necessarily a better human being, mind you, as we can't telepathically instill intelligence, respect, manners and humanity over these pages, but definitely a more effective WoW player.

Let's start from the top, gentlemen.

1) World of Warcraft is a role playing game. Blizzard, WoW's developers, performed an incredible feat of gaming design when they worked out the ground rules for this game, and they packaged the most unsavoury aspect of traditional RPG gameplay in an appealing and well balanced action experience. The fact remains that WoW is not, and will never be, an action game. Your reflexes, l33t headshots and active reloading skills will only burden you here, and it's all to easy to forget that like every role playing game, WoW runs on statistics, checks, and complex calculations, and that every severed limb on your screen is the result of a carefully orchestrated symphony of mathematical equations that make the Matrix look just plain silly.

You will never reach the highest levels of the game if you don't get off your consolle ass, and start learning your class, your race and your professions, which equipment you need to invest into so that your giblets are not handed to you at every encounter, and you actually understand what it means to be a wizard, paladin or warrior, and start acting like one. If you'd like to know more about WoW's RPG nature, and the importance of statistics and other things of a numerical nature, stay tuned for our WoW RPG Primer.

2) World of Warcraft is four separate games. They just happen to share the same game world and mechanics. The skill and equipment trees in WoW are so massive and detailed that each type of gameplay requires different skills, gear and game mechanics. A player that invested all their skills into raiding and PVE, for example, will be a lame duck against someone who went into PVP, and vice versa. World of Warcraft contains the following four, completely separate gameplay modes:

• Mob PvE - this is the game that many people often mistake as the entire WoW experience. It's Player versus Everything, against computer creatures. Players will be faced with the challenges of Azeroth, Outland and Northrend, on their own and in groups. Tactics and equipment will be geared towards killing as many monsters in one sitting as possible, which means a mixture of damage, healig and crowd control. Gameplay hinges on learning the patterns that each creature uses, and countering them with the character's own abilities. This type of gameplay stops when the level cap is reached, and players no longer acquire new skills and abilities.
• Raiding PvE - don't worry, once the level cap is reached, WoW opens up its heroic instance dungeons, raids and massive incursions to the players. Players will be faced with creatures so powerful that they can only be tackled in groups of well geared, experienced players. Going commando, playing hero or disrespecting your raiding group will result in instant, humiliating death. Understanding your character class, its weaknesses and strengths, and specializing in a definite role within the team are keys to reaping the exclusive rewards and achievements available to players in Epic mode.
• Arena PvP - this is player versus player in an enclosed, 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3 environment. Battles are short and brutal, and skills, tactics and equipment are geared towards dealing and receiving as much critial damage as possible, surviving the most powerful attacks in the game, and manipulating one or two opponents at a time at most. The rewards are equipment and achievements in the arena world, and the most brutal gladiator in the lands is feared, and made fun of because his armour doesn't match his sandals.
• Battleground PvP - is player versus player combat in more varied and interesting modes. There is capture the flag pvp, resource hold pvp, assault the castle pvp, and many other wonderful staged battles between Alliance and Horde raiding groups. Much like in Arena PvP, tactics, skills and equipment need to be geared towards dealing massive damage and manipulation to other, thinking, reactive characters, but there is more room for differentiation, as the ever-changing conditions on the battlefield call for varied roles throughout.

The key is knowing what you're playing, and sticking with it. Learn your class, read our RPG Primer, and stick to it. Don't switch specs and equipment, use one character for each game type, and you'll soon be rocking the epic dungeons, arena fights and battlegrounds like no n00b before.