WOW Leveling Guides - What to Look For When Buying a World of Warcraft Levelin

[Dominick Janssen]

The Idea of a WOW leveling guide at first may seam a bit tacky. Who
really needs a guide to show you how to play a game...especially a
game as simple as World of Warcraft? It's not rocket science after
all...or is it.
No it's not rocket science...but at times the World of Warcraft can be
a very convoluted place filled with many wonders and yes at some times
even headaches. I've been playing for quite some time now and I can
attest to the great enjoyment I've had playing with friends and
family, discussing strategy and meeting people from all over the
world. I can also attest to finding myself at level 45 on my fourth
character and not having a clue as how to level without grinding,
which is the simple act of killing NPC's for experience and can only
be described as pulling teeth meets MMPOG. Nobody likes to grind,
bottom line. Killing foe after foe with no real goal in mind beyond
getting a few experience points is hardly anybodies idea of a good
time, but really what are the alternatives and is there a better way?
  Without a doubt questing is the preferred method of leveling as
you accomplish two things.

You get large amounts of experience for completing quests which can
range from killing 10 monsters, to talking to 10 people, to juggling
fire batons during certain holidays. Far better than grinding,
questing actually has a point.
You can get cool weapons, armor, trinkets, etc, etc. Most characters
are only as good as their gear and most gear worth wearing is obtained
through quests.

The downside of questing is that it does require some planning; well
it does if you want to do it effectively. By this I mean questing in a
zone allowing yourself to complete several quests in an area as
opposed to completing them one at a time. This can be just as tedious
as grinding if you find yourself completing a quest then realizing
that  had you gone another 10 feet you could have completed 2
more quests. Oh the countless times I've been questing and gone to
turn in a quest then come to realize that the next quest on my list
was right next to the quest I had just completed. Now my time to
complete both quest doubled and the amount of experience per hour had
gone completely out the window along with my keyboard.  
There is a rather large market aimed at helping people avoid the above
scenario. This market is the WOW leveling guide market. This market is
just as saturated with garbage as it is with solid, valuable guides
providing useful information regarding how to level in the World of
Warcraft. From WOW leveling guides that provide simple basic
information, "don't jump off of cliffs it kills you", to wow leveling
guides that give you step by step detailed instructions.   While
there is really no clear WOW leveling guide that does everything there
are certainly different guides that are leaps and bounds ahead of the
competition.  
Below is a small list of essential items to look for while choosing
what guide you want to purchase...I will say purchase because hands
down the guides you have to purchase are worth 10 times what free
guides are as the authors generally have taken the time to do the job
right. Top things to look for in a WOW leveling guide

Updates. World of Warcraft is an ever expanding game. New patches, new
quests, adjustment to quests, different dynamics in the game,
different zones and instances, the list goes on and on. If you are
buying a guide you want to make sure the guide stays current. Many WOW
guides are simply one time creation efforts which never change. Guides
like this are only good until the next update when half of the
information changes. Be sure to get a guide that is constantly
updated.
Ease of use. Most people don't realize that 80% of the guides out
there are simple eBooks with photos and words. While many of these are
updated regularly and provide good information they are like antiques.
In this day and age if your guide doesn't interface with WOW then
you're really just sitting on a book. Interface...by this I mean does
your guide interact with WOW? Or do you have to stop your gaming and
switch screens to read a 2 page synopsis of a quest route? Sounds like
fun right? No. Make sure your guide has "add-on" capabilities. An add-
on is a program that sits atop your WOW interface and allows you to
access the guide within the game...rather than having to switch
between screens.
Effective. So your guide is updated regularly and it ahs the add-on
functionality, but is it effective. Have your quest routes been
optimized? Are you getting the very best out of your guide for what
you've paid? The only real way to test this is to use a pretty
standard benchmark of leveling to 70 in 6.5 days play time. If your
guide can't do this then you have the WRONG guide. Check to see how
quickly your guide can get you to the promised land of 70...or beyond
depending on when you read this as WOW is ever expanding.

These three things are crucial to buying an effective Wolrd of
Warcraft leveling guide.   So do you really need a WOW leveling
guide? No you don't need one, but in all honesty you'll always wish
you had one. WOW leveling guides do not take anything away from the
game and in fact eliminates the few things that are wrong within the
World of Warcraft. I highly suggest you get a guide, you're paying
$14.99 a month why not enjoy the time you have, after all it's you're
dime.