Scratch

It's a game.
Released in 2006/7 by Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft is a MMORPG set in the universe of their Warcraft strategy series. Well-received by both critics and gamers, WoW continues to hold a monopoly on the MMO industry that not even SWTOR can topple. The game primarily takes place in the world of Azeroth, although at one point you can go to  (now called Outland), the home planet of the Orcs. It's kind of based of Tolkien but with huge amounts of magic technology and steampunk.

Players create characters to play, with two deciding factors on your game experience: Race and Class. There are about 12 races in the game, divided into two factions: Alliance and Horde. Race decides your starting area and special abilities.
Alliance is the more humanlike faction, and includes:
Humans: Humans. Their leader is King Varian Wrynn, chief scrappy of the Alliance.
Night Elves: Elves who worship the moon, and live on the Island tree of Teldrassil. I forgot the leader.
Dwarves: They're dwarves who are made of rock. Their leader is The Council of Three Hammers. They are a council.
Gnomes: The tiny gnomes are mechanical geniuses who make most of the machines in Azeroth. Their leader is Chief Tinker Meqqatorque, who leads the gnomes in battle to reclaim their home city Gnomeregan.
Draenei: Space goats or something. Their leader is Valen, who is a prophet of the legendary Naaru or something.
Worgen: Werewolf people/humans who speak with vaguely British accents. Their leader is Genn Greymane, a werewolf.

On the flip side, we have Horde who is the faction of creatures who are considered "ugly" by people standards. One misconception is that the Horde is evil. It is not. Event for event, the Horde has actually been more friendly.
Orcs: Orcs. They are green alien people from the planet Draenor. They fight for honor. Their current leader is the Warchief Garrosh, but most people like the past Warchief Thrall better.
Tauren: Cow people. They have an innate connection to nature and are powerful and stuff. Forgot the leader.
Undead: Also called the Forsaken, they are undead humans and elves who were un-deaded by Arthas the Lich King, who first appeared in Warcraft III. Their leader is the greatest faction leader in the game, Sylvanas Windrunner. She's an Undead elf who has a bow and she's so totally awesome.
Trolls: Jamaican stereotypes and the ancestors of the elves. Forgot the leader.
Blood Elves: Magic elves. Forgot the leader.
Goblins: A race of merchants who are small and green. Leader is Trade Prince Gallywix but no one cares about him.

There are also many classes which determine your skillset, playing style, and battle role. From the Warrior to the Mage to the the Hunter to the Death Knight, all your skills are for naught if you don't work with others. While you can quest and fight monsters by yourself, the fun starts when you play with other people. You can fight the other faction in PvP, you can also enter Dungeons and Raids which are big areas where fighting together is literally your only option.

These days it has gotten a bad rap from people who don't like it. Don't listen to haters! It 's fun!

Anyone here play? What is your favorite class/race/area/dungeon/quest/aspect of the game?