World of Warcraft: Fields of Honor

Some gamers have given their lives to the World of Warcraft universe, often spending dozens of hours a week, if not more, online. Evidently, that’s not enough. Following Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon on the long list of tradable card games (TCGs) on which people spend thousands of dollars, the World of Warcraft TCG now has a ninth expansion series: Fields of Honor. There are some minor new rules, but for the most part the expansion serves to keep people interested in playing, if not reinventing the Dalaran Swiss Wheel. If you’ve ever played Magic: The Gathering you’ll recognize much of the gameplay (combat and card types for example), but World of Warcraft actually improves on Magic, thanks in part to the ability to customize a deck by the type of hero you choose. The artwork on the cards can be funny or beautiful, and it’s simple enough for players new to TCGs or Warcraft to get involved—and complex enough to keep the “l33t” players busy. However, they may spend more time looking for randomly inserted loot cards that award them items online. A status symbol, these loot cards sell for upwards of $350 on eBay. It’s good to know that if terrorists ever destroyed the Internet, we would still have an analog version of The World to fall back on.