A friend had introduced me to the point-and-click Warcraft 2, and it was fun in a very basic Age of Empires-ish way.
The odd skerrick of World of Warcraft (hereafter to be known as WoW) news reached my ears, but it took years before some real urging from a friend encouraged me - and my wife (hereafter to be known as the WoW addict) - to give it a go.
Set in the mythical world of Azeroth, which rivals Middle-earth in sheer scope, WoW is an expansive role-playing game with almost limitless playability.
You pick a side - Alliance or Horde, sort of good v evil but not that black and white - and then create a character.
There are humans and trolls and dwarves and orcs and elves and others, and you can make them hunters or warriors or paladins or shamans or priests or about five other classes.
Further options include choosing professions such as mining, herbalism, alchemy and blacksmithing.
Much of the game revolves around questing, interacting with non-playable characters and then shooting off to fulfil the task you have been sent.
This might be delivering a package, battling assorted creatures or simply going to find another character.
Completing quests rewards you with experience points, items and in-game money, which can be spent on new weapons or tools or clothing, while exploring the vast world is also used for raising your experience, which in turn boosts your health and mana and opens up all sorts of new possibilities.
The social side of the online-only game can be explored as much or as little as you choose.
Most players join a guild, which makes it easier to team up for tough quests and often allows you to access more money and cooler gear.
Phew.
With that explanation finally over, on to Cataclysm, the third expansion to the game which prompted me to get back into WoW in my holidays, after an absence of about eight months.
Blizzard Entertain
The level cap has been raised, from 80 to 85, and two new playable races are goblins and werewolf-like worgens.
Once I had reacquainted myself with the basics, I chose to play as a worgen, and plunged straight into the new character's storyline.
After a few quests in the starting area, I ventured out into the world and started to see some of the destruction wrought by the emergence of the dragon Deathwing.
Lands are flooded, torn asunder, left on hideous leans.
Some areas that were familiar now look totally different.
Levelling up seems a bit simpler, and the chain of quests offers an easier path to getting from one place to the next.
Hardcore WoW-ers have suggested the changes have made the game too easy but that's a little unfair.
You still die plenty of times (I did, anyway) and you still need to invest some serious time if you want to progress to the higher levels.
I have played WoW a bit these past few weeks - not nearly as much as my better half, but enough to get a feel for Cataclysm - and it feels like I haven't really scratched the surface.
But what I've seen has been most impressive.
WoW is still the king of multiplayer online games, and will be for a long time yet
'World of Warcraft' - The facts
• Released November 2004.
• The world's most popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG).
• More than 12 million subscribers.
• Costs $20-$25 a month to play.
• Expansions released: Burning Crusade (January 2007), Wrath of the Lich King (November 2008), Cataclysm (December 2010).
• Cataclysm sold 3 million copies in its first day.
