Scientology

Eleven high-ranking Scientologists, including Hubbard's wife Mary Sue Hubbard, served time in federal prison for their involvement in this infiltration. [3]. Another source of controversy was Scientology's infiltration of the United States Internal Revenue Service in what Scientology termed "Operation Snow White".
On February 2, 2006, the game won the "Grand Prix" award at the 2006 Imagina Games Awards. To date, such a suit is not known to have been filed. World of Warcraft won critical acclaim in 2004 and achieved many awards as a result of this, some which can be found at the official World of Warcraft list of awards. Judge Silverman concurred, [12] saying:. The impact of this on Blizzard's revenue is still to be determined.

On January 29, 2002 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the IRS's opposition. On August 3, 2005, China implemented legislation which forbids minors from playing games in which players kill each other. 00-70753, attempted to obtain the same deduction for their payments to a Jewish school. ^[2]. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL No. Due to World of Warcraft's high sales it has been described as a "runaway success" with "overwhelming popularity", which other games, like The Matrix Online, blame for their lackluster sales. The Sklars, in the case MICHAEL SKLAR; MARLA SKLAR v. Blizzard also stated that at any given time at least 500,000 subscribers are online.

[10] Six levels of indents down in the eventually leaked "closing agreement", [11] the IRS is contractually required to discriminate in their treatment of Scientology to the exclusion of all other groups:. These numbers exclude all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or canceled subscriptions, and expired pre-paid cards. Many critics assert that, in order to obtain its tax-exempt status in the United States, Scientologists paid private investigators to obtain compromising material on the IRS commissioner and blackmailed the IRS into submission, NYT article costing taxpayers 1-2 billion dollars. 1.5 million of these are from the Chinese launch on July 7, 2005. [9]. Over 1 million of these players live in the US. The organization cites numerous scholarly sources supporting its position, many of which can be found on a website the Church has established for this purpose. As of December 2005, World of Warcraft has more than 5,000,000 players worldwide, making it the most popular MMORPG in the world.

The Church pursues an extensive public relations campaign arguing Scientology is a bona fide religion. Still, in certain high population areas (like Ironforge or Orgrimmar), players continue to experience game performance delays. This last criticism is referenced, among other places, in a May 1980 Reader's Digest article, which quotes Hubbard, "If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.". When more servers were added, these queues became less common and sales of the game resumed. The ongoing controversies involving the Church and its critics include:. Due to the massive initial sales, there were also periods where players had to wait in queues before playing, as some realms were at their maximum player limit. The overall attitude in the Scientology community has partially shifted to spreading Scientology through direct application to communities, rather than combating those who attempt to stop or belittle it. Sales were limited accordingly until more servers, called worlds, or realms, could be assembled.

Since that time, many Scientologists have adopted a more relaxed view toward minor criticism. Partly because of the huge number of people who bought the game, along with server instability, Blizzard chose to stop selling copies of the game some time after the launch. Also, the number of legal battles in which the Church has engaged seems to have peaked in the early-to-mid-1990s, and has been declining since then. As is common with the launch of a MMORPG, World of Warcraft had its share of problems at first. However, a notable number of countries around the world have apparently embraced Scientology, including Italy, Spain and Thailand. And, as with any game, it has its own terminology. The many legal battles fought by the Church of Scientology since its inception have given it a reputation as an extremely litigious organization, characterized by forcing litigants to enter into a lengthy and costly legal process using a number of highly trained lawyers, expert at prolonging cases. World of Warcraft was declared by many in the computer gaming industry, including GameSpot and GameSpy, as 2004's game of the year.

[7]. The game won high praise at E³ in 2003, including Gamer's Pulse's Best of Show award. These accusations continue to the present day, bolstered by numerous accounts from Hubbard's fellow science-fiction authors that on various occasions he stated that the way to get rich was to start a religion. The game was released in China on June 6, 2005. Hubbard was accused of adopting a religious façade for Scientology to allow the organization to maintain tax-exempt status and to avoid prosecution for false medical claims. On March 2, 2005, 100,000 testers signed up for China's WoW beta test within the first hour. The religious bona fides of Scientology have been repeatedly questioned. The game was released in Europe on February 11, 2005 with English, French and German language versions.

Scientology has also been the focus of criticism by anti-cult campaigners and has aroused controversy for its high-profile campaigns against psychiatry and psychiatric medication. Though not officially released in South Korea until January 18, 2005, it had been found on store shelves since November 2004. [6]. The game sold more than 240,000 copies in its first 24 hours on the market, more than any other PC game in history. In Belgium, the minister of justice refused Scientology as a candidate for the status of recognized religion. The collector's box contained the following items:. The church has been subjected to considerable pressure from the state in Russia. One was the regular CD edition, and the other was the limited Collector's Edition.

The United Kingdom government does not recognize Scientology as a bona fide religion. Blizzard released two versions of the game upon its launch. The case is pending. The game was simultaneously released on both Windows and Macintosh computer systems in North America, Australia and New Zealand on November 23, 2004. Scientologists in August of 2005 filed complaints with the Human Rights court of the European Union in an effort to force the German government to put an end to discrimintory practices. Rest increases whether or not a character is logged in, but slowly enough (10 days to reach a fully-rested state in an inn) that it is most easily noticed when a character is first logged in after not having been played for several hours or days. In several court cases Scientology lost filed complaints against continued surveillance because the court holds the opinion that Scientology still pursues anticonstituitional activities. Players can increase the rate at which their characters gain rest by a factor of four by returning to an inn or capital city to log off.

Two German states and the political party, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) have passed rules or regulations limiting the particpation of Scientologists in politics, business and public life. However, in order to prevent players exploiting this by leaving one character logged off in an inn while playing another, the maximum amount of rest a character can accumulate is capped at 1.5 levels' worth; the quantity of experience this represents varies depending on the character's level. No criminal or civil charges have been brought as a result of this surveillance. This feature allows someone who has been away from the game for a period of time to double his leveling capability until he leaves the rested state, providing a "catch up" incentive upon returning to the game. Fifteen of the sixteen German states, positing that Scientology had potentially anti-democratic tendencies, have to a greater or lesser degree and for varying periods subjected Scientology and Scientologists to state surveillance since the early 1970's. While in rested state, a character will earn twice as much experience as would normally be gained from killing monsters, but will gain the standard amount of experience from completing quests and exploring. In Germany, for instance, Scientology is not considered a religion by the government, but a commercial business. The other system used by Blizzard to help the casual player is the "rested state".

Other countries, notably in Europe, have regarded Scientology as a potentially dangerous cult and have significantly restricted its activities at various times, or at least have not considered local branches of the Church of Scientology to meet the legal criteria for being considered religion-supporting organizations. Many players find grinding uninteresting and opt instead to continue to do quests. Some European governments (including Germany) do not consider the Church to be a bona fide religious organization, but instead a commercial enterprise or totalitarian cult. For example, players gain similar experience overall from completing quests as by only killing monsters ('grinding'). Applications for charity status in the UK and Canada were rejected in 1999. In particular the game play has been changed to make it more even and fair for both hardcore and casual players. In the United States, the church obtained "public charity" status (IRS Code 501(c)(3)) and the associated preferential tax treatment after extended litigation. Blizzard has used World of Warcraft to make some changes to the typical MMORPG in response to the common complaints received from players about other games in this genre.

In Canada the Church of Scientology is legal, but has the unique distinction of being criminally convicted as a corporation on two counts of breach of the public trust (for an organized conspiracy to infiltrate government offices) following a trial by jury. As World of Warcraft is a constant work in progress, there are a number of issues affecting it. Scientology is technically considered a religion in the United States and Australia, and thus enjoys and regularly cites the constitutional protections afforded in both nations to religious practice (First Amendment to the United States Constitution; Australian Constitution, s 116). These memes gain notoriety through postings on the World of Warcraft Forums. Different countries have taken markedly different approaches to Scientology. There are various other memes, including "Face Melting", a reference to a very long thread on the priest forums on the World of Warcraft website which consisted of players saying "You will melt faces as a Shadow Priest in PvP" in different ways. The Church has come into conflict with the governments and police forces of several countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany) numerous times over the years, though supporters note that many major world religions have found themselves in conflict with civil government in their early years. On some servers and to a lesser extent, YTMND, has become a popular meme.

Of the many new religious movements to appear during the 20th century, Scientology has from its inception been the most controversial. Also, there is a similarly reckless Arachnos Soldier NPC in the game City of Villains by the name of "Jenkins." In an amazing sign of the prevalence of the Jenkins joke, he was even part of a clue on the November 16th, 2005 episode of the TV game show College Jeopardy!. Breakaway groups avoid the name "Scientology" so as to keep from being sued, instead referring to themselves collectively as the Free Zone. Or, in Adventure Quest, where a direct tribute to Leeroy Jenkins is replayed by players in the Vamprook Spyre. The Church takes an extremely hard line on breakaway groups, labeling them "apostates" (or "squirrels" in Scientology jargon) and often subjecting them to considerable legal and social pressure. Leeroy's popularity is even present in other games such as Guild Wars, where an NPC named Kilroy Stonekin rushes into battle, disrupting a perfectly good plan, while yelling his name in a direct reference. Ron Hubbard's principles or otherwise become overly domineering. Another popular phenomenon in the community is a video starring a player named Leeroy Jenkins, intended to provide publicity for Leeroy's guild.

Such groups are invariably breakaways from the original Church, and usually argue that it has corrupted L. In addition to playing the game itself and conversing on discussion forums provided by Blizzard, World of Warcraft players often participate in the World of Warcraft virtual community in creative ways, including fan artwork, comic strip style storytelling or even recording songs devoted to deleted NPCs such as Captain Placeholder. Although "Scientology" is most often used as shorthand for the Church of Scientology, a number of groups practice Scientology and Dianetics outside of the official Church.
. This includes:.
. Ron Hubbard's philosophies in all areas of life. One of the more elaborate instances being RFD, otherwise known as Razorfen Downs, which consists of many hallways and rooms, and houses a long, elaborate spiral in the center, requiring users to fight everything in the way to advance.

It forms the center of a complex worldwide network of corporations dedicated to the promotion of L. Instances are very elaborate dungeons that require good skills and organization to conquer. Today's Church of Scientology was established in 1954. Some rare items such as armor sets, epic weapons, rare mounts, etc. A Church of Scientology was first incorporated in Camden, New Jersey as a non-profit organization in 1953. Instances in World of Warcraft also feature many more rare item drops than just the world itself. In a lecture given on July 19, 1962 entitled "The E-meter", Hubbard said:. kill a certain number of enemies, or collect a certain number of objects).

The word itself is a pairing of the Latin word scientia ("knowledge", "skill"), which comes from the verb scire ("to know"), and the Greek λογος lógos ("reason" or "inward thought" or "logic"). Therefore, instanced dungeons tend to be much more interesting than normal areas, in which quest requirements are very simple (e.g. However, it is not clear to what extent Hubbard was aware of these earlier uses. For example, requiring that a large group of enemies be defeated so that one can pull a lever to rotate a bridge in order to access a new section of the map makes sense when one group is traversing the dungeon linearly; it makes far less sense in public areas where hundreds of other players might be in the same area. [5] Nordenholz's book is a study of consciousness, and its usage of the word is not greatly different from Hubbard's definition, "knowing how to know". Typically, instanced dungeons are more elaborate and require more steps to be taken in a particular order for successful completion than are necessary in the main world. [4] In 1934, the Argentine-German writer Anastasius Nordenholz published a book using the word positively: Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens ("Scientology, Science of the Constitution and Usefulness of Knowledge"). The recently added Zul'Gurub and Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj instances allow for a maximum of 20 people and offers a more casual gameplay experience.

Although today associated almost exclusively with Hubbard's work, it was originally coined by philologist Allen Upward in 1907 as a synonym for "pseudoscience". These are the toughest areas in the game and success in these four instances is virtually impossible without great organization and good equipment. The word scientology has a history of its own. As of late 2005 there are four instances which allow for a maximum of 40 people: Onyxia's Lair, Molten Core, Blackwing Lair and the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. [3] Scientology also reflects the influence of the Hindu concept of karma, as well as the less metaphysical theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and William Sargant. Instances will allow only a certain maximum group size to enter, ranging from 5-man groups in some small instances, to 40-man raids. An influence that Hubbard did acknowledge is the system of General Semantics developed by Alfred Korzybski in the 1930s. This way a party can experience a dungeon without interference from other players, and cannot zerg it by bringing in outside help to overwhelm the opposition.

Some investigators have noted similarities in Hubbard's writings to the doctrines of Crowley,[2] though the Church of Scientology denies any such connection. Instances, or "Instanced dungeons", are dungeons that have been designed and tailored specifically for certain sizes of groups and are duplicated for each group that enters it. Immediately prior to his first Dianetics publications, Hubbard was involved with occultist Jack Parsons in performing rites developed by Aleister Crowley. World of Warcraft also features instances. Other ideas such as the origins and age of the Earth, the root of evil, and the nature of man make it impossible to hold literal beliefs in most other religions while being a Scientologist. Given that every game like World of Warcraft has had new content sold as a new game expansion, this might be added in a future expansion for this game. Whether this comes from Hubbards theories as presented in the highest levels of Scientology or is just the belief of some Scientologists to create a way for the religion to better mesh, no proof of the claim has ever been presented. The 3rd major continent, Northrend, which was featured in Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne expansion, does not appear in the World of Warcraft at all.

Most notably is the concept of past lives which most western religions reject, although some Scientologists believe that Christianity at one time believed in reincarnation but the idea was taken out by the early Catholic Church. The second-to-last content patch (1.8) introduces Emeriss, Taerar, Ysondre, and Lethon, four outdoor raid encounter dragons that protect the four portals to the Emerald Dream, and hints at further development of this storyline. In addition to the clergy of the religions not getting along beliefs in Scientology as one progresses into higher levels become increasingly contradictory with other religion. It is unknown where this device is, how to acquire it, or whether its currently in the game right now at all. (Hubbard, Hymn of Asia, 1952). He says that Eranikus is not dead and he can contact him, but he needs a powerful augur device that was stolen from him. Based on an interpretation of Buddhist writings which described, among other things, a man from the west with hair like flames around his head who was said to be due to return some 2,500 years after the first Buddha, the red-haired Hubbard sometimes identified himself with Maitreya, the Buddha of the future. The current quest chain ends when you talk to Umbranse the Spiritspeaker.

However, those who have done this (Buddhists, Christians, Communists and other fanatics) have dead ended or are dead ending." (Hubbard, HCOPL of January 21, 1965). It is also thought that the Essence of Eranikus trinket quest will be continued and will include Emerald Dream content. Mainstream religions, in his view, had failed to realize their objectives: "It is all very well to idealize poverty and associate wisdom with begging bowls, or virtue with low estate. The green dragon and younger sister to Alexstrasza, she was empowered by the titan Eonar to be bound to the Emerald Dream in an eternal trance to forever watch over the wilds and the Druids. Hubbard claimed that Islam was also the result of an extraterrestrial memory implant, called the Emanator, of which the Kaaba is supposedly an artifact. Ysera or the Dreamer is one of the five Dragon Aspects that watch over the world of Azeroth. Again, it should be emphasized that even if this teaching is genuine, only a minority of Scientology adherents have learned it. The other four portals, in Ashenvale, Duskwood, Feralas, and the Hinterlands are connected to the Emerald Dream.

Thus, critics claim, Hubbard makes clear his belief that advanced Scientologists are to identify Jesus and Christianity more as a force of evil than as a force for good. (Note: This is speculation based on lore; there may be more to opening the portal than just acquiring the Book of Medivh.). Some critics have claimed that one of the highest levels, OT VIII, tells initiates that Jesus was a pederast (it is decidedly unclear whether the version of OT VIII in the Fishman Affidavit, where this claim originates, is genuine). The Naxxaramas Necropolis is not yet implemented, although you can see an inactive portal deep inside Stratholme. In some of the teachings Hubbard had intended only for this select group, he claimed that Jesus had never existed, but was implanted in humanity's collective memory by Xenu 75 million years ago, and that Christianity was an "entheta [evil] operation" mounted by beings called Targs (Hubbard, "Electropsychometric Scouting: Battle of the Universes", April 1952). This book might be found on Kel'Thuzad who ought to be found in the Naxxaramas Necropolis, above Stratholme. Critics claim that a select group of advanced practitioners eventually discovered that Hubbard had left little doubt in his writings and lectures about the dim view he took towards existing major religions. Some speculate that this portal will be opened when a player acquires the Book of Medivh.

As a sort of a confirmation of the Church's position that it is superior to other religions, in its application for tax exempt status in the United States, the Church of Scientology International states:. It is thought that this portal will be opened when the expansion set is released. Hubbard himself cautioned against the unwise or improper use of powers in his book History of Man. Information released recently says that, come the expansion, The Dark Portal will lead to Outland. Critics maintain that, within Scientology, "spiritual abilities" tends to be synonymous with "mystical powers" rather than with "inner peace". It is however not advised as it is a bannable offense. Scientology's claim of religious compatibility to entry-level Scientologists is soon modified by the additional teaching that the various levels of spiritual prowess which can be reached through Scientology are more advanced than those attainable in other religions. It is possible to enter these zones, either accidentally or intentionally.

The Church of Scientology has also worked closely with other religious groups on community outreach projects and campaigns against perceived persecution by governments around the world. Some examples of this are:. Many members of the Roman Catholic Church reject Scientology, because of the CoS's views on Jesus, and believe Scientology to be a form of agnosticism, which many Christians regard as a heresy. As of early 2006 a number of areas in the virtual world have yet to be implemented. However, the Church of Scientology has clashed with other religious groups, including the Church of England, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church, all of which have at times criticized Scientology's activities and doctrines. They are:. The Church of Scientology has publicly stated:. Some of the notable landmarks and locations in the game that were featured in previous Warcraft games, namely Warcraft III, are featured in the game.

Scientology teaches that it is fully compatible with all existing major religions. This forced the Horde to mainly reside in Kalimdor, and the Alliance to settle predominantly in the Eastern Kingdoms. the Xenu incident). While not all of the history of the four years between the end of The Frozen Throne and the start of World of Warcraft has been revealed, it is known that the conflict between the Horde's forces and the marines of the Theramore Isles at the end of the Orc mini-campaign were the kindling for the current conflict. On the other hand, Scientology literature does include many references to extraterrestrial past lives, and internal Scientology publications are often illustrated with pictures of spaceships and oblique references to catastrophic events that happened "75 million years ago" (e.g. The new World Tree of Teldrassil is off the northwestern coast of Kalimdor. Thus accusations and criticisms by critics of ordinary Scientologists based on the above tend to work against the intention of the critics, since it is not published in commonly available materials, and is not part of what the vast majority of ordinary Scientologists believe. The current virtual world is built around two main continents: The Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.

Therefore, while knowledge of Xenu and Body Thetans is said to be crucial to the highest level church teachings, it cannot be regarded as a core belief of rank and file Scientologists. Some even grant a chance-on-hit ability, like the chance to spin the weapon wildly (damaging every hostile in the area) or hurl a fireball at enemies. Although reliable statistics are not available, it is fair to say that most Scientologists are not at a sufficiently high level on "the bridge" to learn about Xenu. Better weapons have a higher DPS (damage per second) and grant better increases to the player's attributes. These included memories of being "deceived into a love affair with a robot decked out as a beautiful blond-haired girl", being run over by a Martian bishop driving a steamroller which transformed him into an intergalactic walrus that perished after falling out of a flying saucer, after which he was "a very happy being who strayed to the planet Nostra 23,064,000,000 years ago". Some classes rely more heavily on weapons than others, the Warrior relying on weapons the most heavily while the Mage hardly ever engages in physical combat. For instance, Hubbard's 1958 book Have You Lived Before This Life documents past lives described by individual Scientologists during auditing sessions. Warriors can equip every weapon available in the game with the exception of wands.

Journalists and critics of Scientology counter that Xenu is part of a much wider Scientology belief in past lives on other planets, some of which has been public knowledge for decades. Weapons: Every class can equip a melee weapon, while most can equip a ranged weapon such as a bow, wand, crossbow, or gun. Scientologists argue that published accounts of the Xenu story and other colorful teachings are presented out of context for the purpose of ridiculing their religion. these usually provide no additional protection, instead boosting attributes or granting useful, sometimes bizarre abilities. He is said to be still alive today. In addition, two rings, two trinkets, and a neck piece can be equipped to the character. Xenu is allegedly imprisoned in a mountain by a force field powered by an eternal battery. Armour can be equipped to the head, shoulders, back, chest, wrists, hands, legs, waist, and feet.

He then stacked hundreds of billions of these frozen victims around Earth's volcanoes 75 million years ago before blowing them up with hydrogen bombs and brainwashing them with a "three-D, super colossal motion picture" for 36 days, telling them lies of what they are and what the universe should be like and telling them that they are 3 different things: 'Jesus, God, and The Devil.' The traumatized thetans subsequently clustered around human bodies because they watched the motion picture together, making them think they are all the same thing, in effect acting as invisible spiritual parasites known as "body thetans" that can only be removed using advanced Scientology techniques. Armour is used to reduce damage taken from melee attacks, with cloth providing the least protection and plate providing the most. These space planes were said to have been copies of Douglas DC-8s, with the addition of rocket engines. Warriors and Paladins can equip Cloth, Leather, and Mail armor prior to level 40, at which point they can upgrade to Plate armor. Among these advanced teachings, one episode that is revealed to those who reach OT level III has been widely remarked upon in the press: the story of Xenu, the galactic tyrant who first kidnapped certain individuals who were deemed "excess population" and loaded these individuals into space planes for transport to the site of extermination, the planet of Teegeeack (Earth). Hunters, Shamans, Druids, and Rogues are restricted to Leather and Cloth armor; however, the former two can upgrade to Mail at level 40. He also explained how to reverse the effects of such traumas. Mages, Priests, and Warlocks are restricted to Cloth armor.

In the confidential OT levels, Hubbard describes a variety of traumas commonly experienced in past lives. Types of Armour and Requirements: There are several different types of armor in the game, but not every class can wear every kind. Because Scientology is a mystery religion, the more closely guarded and esoteric teachings imparted at these higher levels may not always be entirely consistent with its entry-level teachings. A few of the many available include: rabbit, parrot, snake, or chicken. The highest level, OT VIII, is only disclosed at sea, on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds. Another set of miscellaneous items purchasable are non-combat pets, often stored in a crate in the player's inventory. The most advanced of all are the eight Operating Thetan levels, which require the initiate to be thoroughly prepared. Around major holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Chinese New Year, etc), special holiday-specific items and decorations appear in the game.

They have never been published by the Church, except for use in highly secure areas. Miscellaneous Items: These items include balls that can be tossed back and forth between two people, snowballs, fireworks, alcohol, and many other novelty items (such as a flute that makes people dance). The contents of these courses are held in strict confidence within Scientology. Leatherworkers require skins and pelts to create items, and Alchemists require herbs and flowers. The "Hidden Truth" about the nature of the universe is taught to only the most advanced Scientologists, those who have achieved the level "clear", in a series of courses known as the Advanced Levels. that can be made by disenchanting green or better quality items. Scientology doctrine includes a wide variety of beliefs in extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described by Hubbard as "space opera". Enchanters require essences, dusts, shards, crystals, etc.

According to Hubbard, some of the past traumas may have been deliberately inflicted in the form of "implants" used by extraterrestrial dictatorships to brainwash and control people. Tailoring materials are usually some form of cloth, such as linen. (For example, not everyone was a Roman, or Chinese, etc, although each was common enough). For example, ores and stones are materials for several Blacksmith and Engineering recipes. Not all things found have been experienced by all beings. Materials: Materials, or "mats", are the components to make an item through a profession. Hubbard stated that Scientology materials as described in books, tapes, and research notes include a record of everything that was found in the course of his research. Any soul shard collected is automatically put into the soul shard bag.

As a result, Hubbard's 30-year development of Scientology focused on streamlining of the process to address only key factors. These bags are unique to warlocks, who have always had trouble with having to carry so many soul shards. According to an early lecture of Hubbard's, it is, as a practical matter, both impossible and undesirable to recall each and every such event from such vast stretches of time. Soul shard bags have more slots than other bags as well, but only carry soul shards. During that time, Hubbard explains, they have been exposed to a vast number of traumatic incidents, and have made a great many decisions that influence their present state. They also increase your firing speed. He extended this view further in Scientology, declaring that thetans have existed for tens of trillions of years. Ammo bags have more slots than normal bags, however only ammo, such as arrows and bullets, can be put into them.

In Dianetics, Hubbard proposed that the cause of "aberrations" in the human mind was an accumulation of pain and unconscious memories of traumatic incidents, some of which predated the life of the individual. There are also two types of special bags: Ammo bags and the new soul shard bags, introduced in patch 1.9. According to Scientology, the lower the person is on the tone scale, the more complex and convoluted his or her day-to-day problems tend to be, and the more care and judgement should be exercised regarding communication and interchange with the individual. For example, twenty Silk Cloth can occupy one slot, meaning Silk Cloth can stack up to 20, while a bolt of Linen can stock up to 10. The tone scale is used by Scientologists in everyday life to evaluate people. Not all items are stackable, and the maximum stacking number varies from item to item. The scale ranges from -40 or "Total Failure" to +40 or "Serenity of Beingness." Positions on the tone scale are usually designated by an emotion, but Hubbard also described many other things that can be indicated by the tone scale levels, such as aspects of an individual's health, sexual behavior, survival potential, or ability to deal with truth. Every item occupies one slot in a bag, unless it is "stackable." Stackable simply means that several items will occupy one slot in a bag.

The tone scale is a characterization of human mood and behavior by various positions on a scale. They come in numerous carrying capacities, starting with a 4 slot bag, and increase in increments of two, up to 18. Scientologists utilize ARC as a central organizing principle in their lives, primarily based upon the belief that improving one aspect of the triangle increases the level of the other two. Bags: Bags allow players to carry items. Hubbard called this the "ARC Triangle". There is speculation that the legendary mount has a faster speed than the standard epic mount. Another basic tenet of Scientology is that there are three interrelated (and intrinsically spiritual) components that make up successful "livingness": affinity (emotional responses), reality (an agreement on what is real) and communication (the exchange of ideas). This is believed to be a one-of-a-kind item, even though some speculate that it may be a very rare mount drop in AQ as well, such as the mounts found in Zul'Gurub and Stratholme.

While such a claim would be actionable as extortion, blackmail or harassment within most legal jurisdictions, no such claim has to date been legally confirmed against Scientology based upon use or revelation of auditing records. A special mount, given to the one who opened the gates of Ahn'Qiraj, is also a legendary item. In some instances, former members have claimed the Church used information obtained in auditing sessions against them. Orange items, referred to as "legendary" quality, are the most powerful and rare in the game with only two weapons, and a necklace classified "legendary". Auditing records are referred to within Scientology as "confessional formulary" and stored under lock and key when not being added to during auditing sessions. With an exceptionally low drop rate, these items are hard to come by, and they are usually limited to boss drops or quest rewards. The Church maintains that its auditing records are kept confidential, after the manner of confession in Christian churches. An item that has its name written in purple is extraordinarily powerful, and is referred to as an "epic" item.

During the auditing process, the auditor may collect personal information from the person being audited in a manner similar to a psychotherapy session or confessional. Blue items, too, sometimes carry an "Of the..." suffix. So, according to the Church, the psychotherapist treats mental health and the Church treats the spiritual being. Blue items are usually dropped by enemies in instances, and usually have better attribute increases than green items. Licensed psychotherapists have alleged that the Church's auditing sessions amount to mental health treatment without a license, but the Church vehemently disputes these allegations, and claims to have established in courts of law that its practice leads to spiritual relief. An item of Blue rarity is powerful, and is classified as rare. Indeed, an Australian report stated that auditing involved a kind of command hypnosis that could lead to potentially damaging delusional dissociative states. For example, items with the suffix "Of the Bear" carry Strength and Stamina boosts.

Scientologists have claimed benefits from auditing including improved IQ, improve memory, alleviated dyslexia and attention deficit problems, and improved relaxation; however, no scientific studies have verified these claims. Green items often carry a suffix with an animal name, such as "Of the Bear" or "Of the Monkey." These tell what attributes the item carries. The E-meter is used to help locate an area of concern. An item of Green rarity is uncommon, and can be very useful. they are forbidden from suggesting, interpreting, degrading or invalidating the preclear's answers. An item with a white name is often useful to someone. Per Church policy, auditors are trained not to "evaluate for" their preclears, i.e. Grey body parts from beasts are surprisingly lucrative, selling often for several times what other grey items of similar level would sell for; this is to compensate for the fact that beasts do not drop cash.

Auditing requires that the preclear be a willing and interested participant who understands the questions, and the process goes more smoothly when he or she understands what is going on. These items are often known as "Vendor Trash" or "Vendor Fodder," as they are easily sold for a moderate amount of money to any vendor. The auditor asks the preclear to respond to a list of questions which are designed for specific purposes and given to the preclear in a strictly regulated way. An item with a gray name is often worthless. The auditing process is intended to help the practitioner (referred to as a preclear or PC) to unburden himself of specific traumatic incidents, prior ethical transgressions and bad decisions, which are said to collectively restrict the preclear from achieving his goals and lead to the development of a "reactive mind". Rarity: The rarity of an item may be noted by the coloring of the item's name. Most auditing uses an E-meter, a device developed to be easy to set up and to be easily interpreted in a way the user sees fit. The deeper the color, the higher the rarity, and the higher stat boost it will grant.

The auditor follows an exact procedure toward rehabilitating the human spirit. A weapon or piece of armor that boosts attributes will have its name written typically in green, blue, or purple, depending on how high the boost is. The central practice of Scientology is "auditing" (from the Latin audire,"to listen"), which is one-on-one communication with a trained Scientology counselor or "auditor". Weapons may also boost attributes in a similar faction. For more information regarding these explanations, see Scientology - Outsider Explanations. Some armor also can grant increases to critical hit percentage, dodge percentage, etc., and some grant unique abilities. Many non-Scientologists and Critics have offered explanations of Scientology beliefs and practices. Attributes: Some items carry bonuses to a character's attributes.

This freed state is called Operating Thetan, or OT for short. There are various types of items in World of Warcraft, ranging from axes to flowers to animal organs. According to the church, the ultimate goal is to get the soul (thetan) back to its native state of total freedom, thus gaining control over matter, energy, space, time, thoughts, form, and life. These special raptor and tiger-type mounts are very rare and take hours of game time to earn. Exact methods of spiritual counseling are taught and practiced which are designed to enable this change. Lastly, there are quests that are not very well known that can be done by each faction to gain a unique mount. Scientology claims to offer an exact methodology to help a person achieve awareness of their spiritual existence and better effectiveness in the physical world. Popular rumor has it that there are insectoid mounts as fast or faster than the epic level mounts of other species in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj instance, added in January 2006.

Some central beliefs of Scientology:. Additionally, Baron Rivendare in Stratholme and Bloodlord Mandokir and High Priest Thekal of Zul'Gurub have a low chance of dropping epic mounts, unique to each individual, as well. This is described as a passage along "the Bridge to Total Freedom", or simply "the Bridge," where each step of the Bridge promises a little more personal freedom in the area specified by the Bridge's definition. Players who reach PvP rank 11 gain access to cheaper versions of the epic mounts. The steps lead to the more advanced strata of Scientology's more esoteric knowledge. There are several other ways to acquire a mount as well. For example, the bad effects of drugs should be addressed before other issues can be addressed. That said, the price is subject to discounts for honored reputation with your faction or attainment of rank three (of fourteen) in PvP Combat.

Scientology practices are structured in a series of levels, because Hubbard believed that rehabilitation takes place on a step by step basis. In addition, if you are not a Paladin or Warlock, you must learn the riding skill before you can use a mount, which costs twenty gold. [1] Scientology also covers topics such as ethics and morality, (The Way to Happiness), drug and chemical residues as they relate to spiritual wellbeing, the (Purification Rundown), communication, marriage, raising children, dealing with work-related problems, educational matters (study technology), and the very nature of life (The Dynamics). The Warlock and Paladin classes gain access to free mounts at level 40, and a cheaper mount at level 60, whereas every other class needs to pay 90 gold for their standard mount, or 1000 gold for their epic mount. A chief difference between Dianetics and Scientology is that Dianetics focuses on rehabilitating an individual's mind, giving him full conscious recall of his experiences while Scientology is more concerned with rehabilitating the human spirit. The first is availible at level 40 and gives a 60% increase to movement speed, while the other mount (commonly referred to as an "epic" mount) becomes available at level 60 and gives a 100% bonus to movement speed. By the mid-1950s, Hubbard had relegated Dianetics to a sub-study of Scientology. World of Warcraft offers different types of mounts that move players faster around the world.

Scientology followed on the heels of Dianetics, an earlier system of self-improvement techniques laid out by Hubbard in his 1950 book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Additonally, the formula to calculate the amount of mana regenerated per second varies depending on the class. Most of the basic principles of the church were set out during the 1950s and 1960s. Trolls have an inherent passive racial ability that keeps 10% of their health regeneration active during combat. Scientology's doctrines were established by Hubbard over a period of about 34 years, beginning in 1952 and continuing until his death in January 1986. Healing rotations can be used to counter this, though. . This says that spirit will not regenerate mana until 5 seconds have passed since the last spell cast - which effectively nullifies mana regeneration if you cast continuously.

Scientology's principles have been characterized as pseudoscientific by many mainstream medical and psychotherapeutic practitioners, and the Church has frequently been characterized as a cult. Mana does, but it is important to take the "5-second rule" into account. Critics — including government officials of certain countries — have characterized the Church as an unscrupulous commercial organization, and it is accused of harassing critics and exploiting members. Regardless of how high your spirit is, your health does not regenerate in combat. However, the Church of Scientology has attracted much controversy and criticism. Each point of spirit increases the amount of mana regenerated by 1/8 and health by 1/9 per tick (every 2 seconds). Church spokespeople claim that Hubbard's teachings (called "technology" or "tech" in Scientology terminology) have freed them from addictions, depression, learning disabilities, mental illness and other problems. Spirit increases the rate at which you recover health and mana.

The Church presents itself as a religious non-profit organization dedicated to the development of the human spirit and providing counseling and rehabilitation programs. Stamina is especially important for Warriors and Warlocks, but is also important for any class that focuses on player versus player combat as the more stamina a player has, the longer the player survives. The term Scientology is a trademark of the Religious Technology Center, which licenses its use and use of the copyrighted works of Hubbard to the Church of Scientology. Each point of Stamina increases a character's health by 10. In 1954 he established today's Church of Scientology which represents itself as an applied religious philosophy. Intellect is also used to determine the rate at which weapon skill increases. He stated, "Scientology" would be "a study of knowledge." He coined the word from "-ology" (study of) and from "Scien" (from Latin scientia - knowledge). This attribute is very important for casting classes (Mages, Warlocks, Priests, Druids, Shamans), and is also used by the Paladins and Hunters, although it is not of the highest priority.

Ron Hubbard. A level 60 mage will gain a 1% crit chance w/ spells for each 59.5 int they have.). Scientology is a word first introduced in 1952 by author L. It is also linked to the critical strike chance with spells (Crit chance varies for every class/level. [8]. Each point of Intellect increases the character's mana by 15. Ron Hubbard's life, in particular accounts of Hubbard discussing his intent to start a religion for profit. This attribute is generally important for all melee classes (Warriors, Shamans, Paladins, Rogues and feral Druids) although Hunters also benefit from strength.

Differing accounts of L. It is also linked to the amount of damage blocked by a shield. Lobbying search engines such as Google and Yahoo to omit any webpages that are critical of Scientology from their search engines (and in Google's case, AdSense), or at least the first few search pages(while Google now features pages that are critical of Scientology, one will find that the front page for a search on "Scientology" in Yahoo yields no websites critical of Scientology). Each point of strength increases attack power by 2 points for Warriors, Paladins, Shamans and Druids, while Priests, Mages, Warlocks, Rogues and Hunters get 1 attack power per strength. Use of high-pressure sales tactics to obtain money from members. It is said for example that a level 60 Rogue gains a 1% chance to get a critical strike for every 29 Agility, and a level 60 Hunter receives 1% for every 53 Agility. Claims of brainwashing and mind control. Hunters and Rogues generally need as much as an agility boost as possible from gear (in game equipment).

Criminal activities by Scientologists, both those committed for personal gain (Reed Slatkin, others) and those committed on behalf of the Church and directed by Church officials (Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout, Fair Game, and others). Agility is also linked to a character's chance to dodge and perform a critical strike with a weapon (although the degree of effect varies for each class). Scientology's disconnection policy, in which members are encouraged to cut off all contact with friends or family members critical of the Church. Hunters, Rogues and Druids also gain 1 point of melee attack power per point of Agility, although Druids only get attack power when shape-shifted to a Cat. Unexplained Deaths of Scientologists, most notably Lisa McPherson, allegedly due to mistreatment by other members. Each point of Agility increases armor by 2 points, and ranged attack power by 2 points. Scientologists claim that government files, such as those from the FBI, are loaded with forgeries and other false documents detrimental to Scientology, but have never substantiated this accusation. For classes that rely on melee combat, strength is more important than spirit, while spell casters will benefit more from a spirit and intelligence boost than from a boost in strength.

Some critics charge Scientology with being a cult of personality, with much emphasis placed on the alleged accomplishments of its founder. For each class, different attributes are more important. Scientology's harassment and litigious actions against its critics and enemies. These attributes hold a key role in determining a character's health (hit points), mana (is used up by casting spells), attack power (each point of attack power increases a character's damage per second by 1/14), armor (reduces the amount of damage you take), dodge chance, critical strike chances (a default of double damage with ranged and melee weapons, a default of 1.5 times with spells), health regeneration, and mana regeneration. The Gabriel Williams sexual abuse case. Strength (STR), Intellect (INT), Spirit (SPI), Agility (AGI), and Stamina (STA) are the attributes of World of Warcraft. and a campaign directed to world leaders, as well as the general public, to implement the 1948 United Nations document "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (with particular emphasis on the religious freedom elements). They are as follows.

a publishing company, e-Republic, which publishes Government Technology and Converge magazines and coordinates the Center for Digital Government;. Attributes are used by the game to calculate strengths and weaknesses for each character. a consulting firm based on Hubbard's management techniques (Sterling Management Systems);. In the upcoming expansion, the Jewel Crafting profession will be introduced. World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, or WISE, which licenses Hubbard's management techniques for use in businesses;. These types of players will typically offer gathered items for sale in the game's auction houses. a "moral values" campaign (The Way to Happiness);. Some players choose to select only "gathering" professions, opting to simply supply resources to players with item creation skills.

projects to implement Hubbard's educational methods in schools (Applied Scholastics);. The most commonly paired skills are as follows: Mining and Blacksmithing, Mining and Engineering, Skinning and Leatherworking, Herbalism and Alchemy, and to a lesser extent, tailoring and enchanting. activities to reform the field of mental health (Citizens Commission on Human Rights);. Many players choose to pair two related professions, thus allowing the character to gather the required materials for the crafting skill. criminal rehab programs (Criminon);. Essentially, there are two types of professions: gathering and item creation. drug treatment centers (Narconon);. In addition to the character classes, a player may choose two primary professions and all three secondary professions that the game offers, if they so choose.

Thus, the tenets of Scientology are expected to be tested and seen to either be true, or not, by Scientology practitioners.
. No beliefs should be forced as "true" on anyone. Some will merely offer advice or further the story, while others patrol around set paths to keep cities defended against overzealous players. What is true is what is true for you. NPCs in major and minor cities can sell you merchandise, train you in your selected profession and class, sell you mounts, connect you to the Auction House (an eBay-like place to buy and sell items), and provide all services that are needed in the game. A person is basically good, but becomes "aberrated" by moments of pain and unconsciousness in his life. Early in the game, most mobs will be neutral.

The thetan has lived through many past lives and will continue to live beyond the death of the body. There are also neutral NPCs that will only attack you when provoked, their name displayed in yellow. A person is an immortal spiritual being (termed a thetan) who possesses a mind and a body. Any character with his name displayed in red is hostile towards you and should either be avoided or dealt with caution. There are also several hostile NPCs, mainly the NPCs of the opposing faction and mobs (enemies controlled by AI). They will be found automatically in any city allied with your faction, as well as any city you have earned a reputation of friendly or better with.

First are the friendly NPCs, whose names are displayed in green. NPCs have many types. NPCs are the characters that can only interact with player characters through scripted events or AI. The color of a PC's name tag can vary from blue, green, yellow, or red depending on faction, location, and play combat status.

Player Characters are people around the world actively playing the game. There are two types of characters in the game: Player Characters(PC) and Non-Player Characters (NPCs), the latter having many different offshoots. There are 20 possible combinations of race and class for each faction, for a total of 40 combinations across both factions. Classes are also limited by race.

Two of the classes are faction-specific: Paladins for the Alliance, and Shamans for the Horde. The nine available classes are Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock and Warrior. The races are split into two equally sized factions, the Alliance and the Horde:. When creating a character in World of Warcraft, the player can choose from eight different races and nine different character classes.

Players create characters which serve as their avatar in the online world of Azeroth. The two factions currently in the game are the Alliance and Horde, both consisting of different races. Users can create up to 10 characters per realm which range from a diverse amount of races and classes. Characters in the World of Warcraft are tied to specific user accounts which can be used in all servers, or realms.

. This level of popularity eventually led major MMORPG developers such as Sony Online Entertainment to re-think the way they are making games, even changing the gameplay of their past successful titles. As of January 2006, World of Warcraft is one of the most popular MMORPGs in the world, with more than 5.5 million active subscriptions. World of Warcraft is set four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

The Warcraft games are set in the eponymous Warcraft Universe, a fantasy setting introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994. It is the 4th game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the canceled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Players will try to access files not yet in game and then host them on websites to expose content not yet released (usually new zones, items, and graphics).

Data Mining – This is typically most common around the time that a patch is released on the public test realm. These exploits are usually not discovered right away and are allowed to be used (though typically thought of as unfair) until stated otherwise by Blizzard. This includes using wall-walking (removed in patch 1.9) to get into unfinished areas or abilities like the Sentry Totem to make one's character unattackable by other players. Game Mechanics Exploits – There are also other exploits involving the physics of the game, sometimes in conjunction with items.

The bot will kill monsters, loot gold, mine ore, collect herbs or gain levels automatically without the player having to be in front of the computer. Botting – A player who runs a third party program to control their character. Speed Hacking/Teleporting/subterrain travel – Since character position in World of Warcraft is determined by the client side, it is possible for players to send out artificial positional data and be instantly transported to any part of the world (even underground) or used to speed up traveling speed by increasing positional deltas. DirectX 9.0c.

32 MB 3D graphics card with hardware transform and lighting, such as GeForce 2 or better. 256 MB RAM or more (512 MB recommended, 1 GB for comfortable play). 800 MHz or higher CPU. Windows 98/ME/2000/XP:

.

Mac OS X v10.3.9 or newer (see note below). ATI or Nvidia video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more. 512 MB RAM or higher; DDR RAM recommended. 933 MHz or higher G4, G5, or Intel processor.

Mac OS X:

. 56k or higher modem with an Internet connection. 5 GB or more of available hard drive space. General requirements:
.

An exclusive in-game pet for every character, chosen from a Zergling, Panda, and Mini Diablo. A cloth map of Azeroth. The Art of World of Warcraft (Hardcover book). A Collector's Edition manual.

A Collector's Edition Soundtrack. A Behind the Scenes DVD. A guest pass to the game, providing a player's friend with 10-day access. A One-month subscription to the game.

The entire game on both one DVD and four CDs. Other popular online games such as Diablo II (which was made by Blizzard), Neverwinter Nights, and Counter-Strike often lack the dedicated support, server resources, and consistent additions of new content seen in WoW. With the financial resources and investment Blizzard has in making their customers happy, they appear to address issues quickly and effectively when compared to other online games. Rewards for completing such challenges are in the form of better character equipment, which makes for a better experience when attempting other quest or PvP content.

The epic nature of some instanced dungeons provides a more content-rich and interesting experience for those who wish to immerse themselves in the world for the amount of time required to complete such instances. The Priest class will be revamped in the upcoming patch 1.10. Lately, significant changes to the Paladin have been made in patch 1.9. In recent patches Blizzard has revamped certain classes to make them more viable and playable such as Hunters and Druids, which were revamped in patches 1.7 and 1.8, respectively.

Classes are generally balanced, though specialization in some of the talent trees is generally not practical. In addition to playing the "actual" game, players can interact socially, explore the various landscapes, or participate in the game's virtual economy. Players can experience the questing content alone, with friends, or with a gaming guild. Since the game is based on a community of players with the ability to interact in many ways, the gaming experience is always evolving and new.

Many players become irritated with issues like 'ganking' (one or often more players of the opposing race repeatedly killing a character), quests which involve traveling through hostile lands (relates to ganking problems), and the collection of Honor Points (gained from killing hostile players) to earn special items. Focus on PvP (Player versus Player) combat: Issues with balance in the game have put off many players, especially with the game's focus on PvP combat for developing content. The issues were suspected to be Blizzard's upstream Internet service provider [1]. For example, in September 2005, Blizzard gave all European players two free days of play as compensation for repeated network failures.

Due to failures in these, there have been times when the game has been unplayable by a large number of players. World of Warcraft is not playable offline: As with other online games, server and network stability is critical. This means that none of the bosses will spawn again until after that time period is up and the entire instance resets itself. Once a group of players kill the first boss, their future progress is saved and stored for one week from the first boss kill, or to when the weekly server maintenance takes place, whichever happens first.

However, Blizzard has made it so that the instance does not have to be done in one, large chunk. The Molten Core (a commonly run, high-level instance usually referred to as 'MC') can usually take as long as six hours to complete. Long time online required at high level: High-level dungeons can take many hours of party finding, strategy discussion, and battles. This balancing action is sometimes called 'buffing' or 'nerfing,' depending on whether the change strengthened or weakened the class.

Blizzard periodically releases patches which, along with adding features or fixing bugs, also attempt to balance gameplay by updating the class skill trees and spells. Unbalanced classes: Many people tend to believe that certain classes or races are over- or underpowered. This will provide the Horde with a so-called "pretty race," which is one of the previous reasons a player might choose Alliance over the Horde races. This issue will possibly be addressed in the expansion, where it has been announced that the Blood Elves will be a new playable race for the Horde.

This affects PvP and the quality of gameplay for some players. Lopsided Horde to Alliance ratio: Many of the servers are becoming outnumbered, with many servers suffering a 2:1 ratio of Alliance to Horde. The opposite of this is also true; some servers are too overpopulated and are hard to play on because of server load and long queues to log in. Blizzard has taken certain measures to alleviate this problem by allowing character transfers on certain servers, but it is still something of a problem.

Certain low population servers are experiencing a vast number of players leaving the servers, making it harder for people to find groups, and affecting the in-game economy. Population: Some World of Warcraft players created characters on servers with medium to low populations. This way the people will be spread among these cities instead of lagging one correspondent area. The Auction House, the trade channel, and the group channel are now linked with every capital city since the patch 1.9 updated 2005-11-23.

This may no longer be a serious problem, especially since changes were made to the Auction House. Serious lag — or slow operation — often occurs on weekend nights, and in the central cities of the Warcraft world, such as Ironforge and Orgrimmar (sometimes nicknamed "Lagforge", "Laggerforge" and "Lagrimmar"), where large concentrations of players congregate. Lag: The popularity of the game means that at times, so many people are on-line that the servers become overloaded and very slow. There are four other portals, located in Duskwood, Ashenvale Forest, Feralas, and The Hinterlands that are the sites of four extremely powerful green dragons.

One portal, the Dark Portal, is present but currently serves no purpose. Several islands named on the map cannot be reached, such as Kul Tiras, Tol Barad, Zul'Dare, Crestfall, and Sunwell Grove. In Azeroth (confusingly both the name of the eastern continent and the name of the world): Medivh's Tower (in Deadwind Pass). In Khaz Modan: Grim Batol (in the far east of the Wetlands).

In Lordaeron: Gilneas (south of the Greymane Wall), Quel'Thalas (north-east of Stratholme), and Zul'Aman (east of Quel'Thalas). In Kalimdor: Mount Hyjal (south-west of Winterspring) and the Caverns of Time and Uldum (both in Tanaris). Hyjal, where the final battle against Archimonde was held and the fall of the Burning Legion's Second Invasion took place. These regions surround Mt.

Areas to the north include Ashenvale Forest, Felwood, Winterspring, Azshara and the Moonglade. Kalimdor, home to the Tauren, Orcs, Trolls, and Night Elves. The Blasted Lands, home of the original Dark Portal out of which the Orcs first came into Azeroth. The Eastern and Western Plaguelands, including places such as Andorhal, the place of origin of the Scourge and the Plague of Undeath, and Stratholme, the site of Arthas' initial fall into insanity.

Here they are engineering a new plague to wipe out the Scourge and all humans in Azeroth. The Undercity, which resides under the Ruins of Lordaeron, is the main city of the Undead, ruled by Sylvanas Windrunner and Varimathras. Because of these advantages, warriors are among the most common classes played in World of Warcraft. Warriors can also use all types of armor.

Warriors are very powerful in melee combat and can use all types of weapons except wands. Warrior: An adept mercenary type class that specializes in damage mitigation and keeping the focus of monsters on him or in doing massive amounts of damage. The bulk of the Warlock's spells do shadow damage, but some of their nukes (and both their area damage spells) do fire damage. Warlocks can only wear cloth armor, but unlike mages usually have much higher amounts of health.

At higher levels warlocks can summon more powerful demons such as the Infernal and Doomguard, which require the use of reagents bought from vendors and can turn on their casters if not carefully employed. Warlocks can summon demons as pets for various purposes: the Imp (magical ranged damage and stamina buff), Voidwalker (tank), Succubus (crowd control, melee damage), and Felhunter (anti-caster). Warlock: Warlocks, depending on how the user plays, can either do ranged burst-damage as a mage, or use Damage over Time (DoT) spells to defeat their opponent. The Shaman class is only available to the Horde side.

A well played Shaman can be extremely adept at Player vs Player combat, with spell interrupts for casters and slowing spells for melee classes. Shamans can use mail armor once they reach level 40. Shamans use totems in combat to heal or cure their parties, slow the enemy, or deal damage to them. However, Shamans generally have inferior tanking abilities to a Paladin, compensating for this with higher damage.

Shamans are basically the Horde's Paladin, capable of healing and fighting in melee combat. Shaman: Shamans are a hybrid class combining melee and magical abilities. Every race has access to the Rogue as of January 2006, with the exception of the Tauren. Rogues mostly wear leather armor, yet they possess the ability to wear cloth armor as well.

Rogues specialize in quick strikes from the shadows, and are very adept at stealth and poisoning targets, as well as lockpicking. Rogue: Rogues are assassins that prefer to fight quickly and discretely, often employing underhanded tactics. Priests are often found working in groups or teams with other classes in order to gain levels faster. Priests are only able to wear cloth armor and only have access to a limited number of weapons.

Priest: The Priest is the most powerful healer in the game, although specialisation into the Shadow talent tree allows them to become quite formiddable damage dealers and is therefore a popular choice of talents for Player versus Player combat. Paladins are only available to the Alliance side. Paladins are a very good group-oriented class. Paladins are able to make themselves immune to all damage, which gives them time to fully heal during combat, making them difficult to kill in Player versus Player combat.

Paladins have seals, auras, and blessings to use in combat to buff themselves as well as other players. Paladins can use all armor types and most weapon types (but not ranged weapons). Paladins are a hybrid class, not able to tank or deal damage as well as a Warrior, and not able to heal as well as a Priest. Paladin: Paladins are a powerful combination of a warrior and a priest.

Alternatively, they can specialise in the frost tree and do ranged area damage with a snare component, preventing the monsters or players from reaching the mage. When specialised partly in the arcane tree (as most mages tend to be) they can do large ininterruptable area damage at point-blank range. One of the biggest strengths of the mage is area damage. Mages also have a large amount of utility, such as conjuring water to allow party members to spend less time resting or creating portals to travel to cities far away.

They rely on the ability to destroy opponents at long range, as they can only use cloth type armor and have low health. Mages specialize in ranged spell damage, often being able to kill the opponents before they reach the Mage. Mage: Mages are a very power