World of Warcraft Mag Vol. 1

So yesterday it finally arrived, and the hubby who was sick again snatched it out of my greedy hands. I am beginning to notice a pattern of illness when things we BOTH want to read show up. Unlike the hubby who just skimmed it I spent today reading it from cover to cover. Does it hold up to the tantalizing tease we got a couple of months ago? In a word, yes.

As I anticipated the magazine actually is more like a soft cover book packed full of artwork and general information. While some of the articles are already dated (the ones dealing with Crusader's Coliseum and weapon swapping for example) the vast majority are generic enough to hold with time. They discuss everything to Deathwing's back story to general tactics for a couple of battlegrounds as well as arena.

There were a couple of things about the magazine I didn't care for. A picture of "Pengu" for the companion pets article was actually a picture of Mr.Chilly (nit picky I know but it bugged me). The other thing was the silver foil ink they used throughout. While it looks nice it was a little difficult to read in lower light, especially when the words were in white on top of it. Who wrote each article is not given anywhere as well. They have pictures of players along with their contributions but while at the beginning they list the writers, you have no idea who had input on which articles. Are they deal breakers? No, not really.

So is it worth $20 an issue? The price still seems a little steep to me. Cover to cover it is 144 pages in length not including the poster in the middle. The artwork is of course breathtaking, including both official Blizzard works along with fan art. Over all the articles are well written (just wish I knew who wrote what). They obviously did their homework on getting player participation with contributions and the writers all play, they aren't just reporting. I will look forward to volume 2 and be thankful that the hubby purchased the subscription rather than me.