World of Warcraft Previews

Two more previews based on the current World of Warcraft beta have surfaced around the web. The first is at GameRifts:

The interface is slightly different from the average modern MMORPG, because, like some other aspects in WoW, it more closely resembles something out of a single player game. Along the left side of the screen is where you find your character, target and group information. The bottom of the display is the standard action/tool bar where you can hotkey almost anything. If you have a pet, his command bar with the same functionality appears above yours, although it’s smaller. Moving right is where your bags and inventory are displayed. The game defaults to two text windows, a main one along the lower left, and a combat window along the lower right. The top down mini map is in the upper right, and to the left of that is where your buffs, or debuffs are displayed. Much to my delight, mousing over an effect icon will show you what its doing to do you, and how long it’s going to last. Mouseover text and info is well done throughout in fact, just as you’d expect from a Blizzard offering. Your character sheet, abilities/spells page and the trade interface appear starting in the left center of the screen, working right, depending on how many of the three you have open.

And the second is at EvilAvatar:

Some people would call the world of Warcraft cartoonish. I call it wonderful. The landscapes were varied and beautiful. The sounds of crickets, the stars, the whole make up of the world was done with expert crafting. Evil took me over mountains, on griffon rides, into cities. For a beta, everything is looking great. While they had some ambient sounds, I hope they have a few more for the final product (sounds of fire in the fire pots for one).