'Technically, Warcraft is fantastic. It sports some of the most polished, attractive graphics of any game on the market. You can also play for days and still come across new sights, like a vast coral reef or a gigantic stone bridge crumbling over a chasm. And the game constantly feeds you achievements and rewards, minimizing frustration by neatly color-coding every monster and mission.'

'The color-coding also illustrates the game's defining ethos: the lowest common denominator. To reach everyone from casual to obsessive players, Warcraft strips its controls down to a handful of choices and tactics.'

'Warcraft strips its controls down to a handful of choices and tactics. Winning a fight turns into a basic numbers game. If you're bigger, you'll win. If you're smaller - well, you should start running. As a consequence of Warcraft's simplemindedness, you end up doing the same thing the same way hundreds of times.'

'With little at stake, your quests feel less like Frodo and Sam's trip to Mordor than a night shift at Hardee's. Every new level brings more of the same, and fatigue sets in the 10th time you've run through the same high-level dungeon, or when you're trying to crack level 38 but can't bring yourself to kill another goddamn swamp jaguar.'

1. The quests in WoW have no consequence or importance. (True)
2. Fatigue occurs when you grind instances. (So very true.)
3. Sometimes I'd rather pull my fingernails out than grind another swamp jaguar. (Extremely true, but I still do it.)

Let us move on to Chris's next point.

'The MySpace generation expects a personalized experience, yet Warcraft's avatars come in only a few stock models. The men are brawny, the women are lithe. Although you can choose the details, you can never change your look once you've made your initial decision - you can't even get a new haircut. You can't post a profile or write a bio and, unlike in online worlds like Second Life, you can't own land or even rent your own space.'

'The citizens of Warcraft are like migrant workers - they get their marching orders, and they follow them to the letter. Players never face moral quandaries and never get to choose between an upstanding act and an evil one. Instead of just barging through every problem with a sword and a club, Warcraft should let players negotiate their way through conflicts. If someone pays you to run an errand, do you follow through honestly or steal their money? Should you betray one faction to win favor with another - and what happens if you pick the wrong side? Other commercial role-playing games, like the best-selling Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, are full of these types of decisions. It's time Warcraft gets with the program.'

'They don't tell a story so much as lead you through a theme park.'

'Key figures from the Warcraft mythology mill around like Mickey Mouse at Disney World, waving to visitors.'

'The giant war that's supposedly raging across the world seems to be stuck in a stalemate - neither side gains an inch of territory'

'Blizzard has written new storylines before. Last winter, it challenged players to team up and fuel a worldwide war effort. As a payoff, it unlocked new territory. This was a good example of letting the users drive a story, but Warcraft needs more of them.'

'In a world that never changes, you can never make your mark.'