World of Warcraft Previews

The beta previews of World of Warcraft continue, with the first over at GameGossip:

A good portion of your game time will be spent in combat. Combat takes place using the tried and true turn-based method. It’s really no different than any other MMORPG once you start attacking the computer automatically attacks the creature once per turn until one of you is dead. The only control you have over combat is the use of abilities and spells. After enough combat, eventually you’ll take a turn for the worse and die. If you’re lucky, there will be someone around you or in your party that can revive you. Otherwise, you become a ghost and must go retrieve your corpse. When you are a ghost you run faster than normal and are also invisible to most all players/NPCs in the game. It’s not the best system for dealing death, but it’s not the worst either. Experience points aren’t lost unless you decide to not recover your body for whatever reason hopefully, you won’t choose that route.

The second is actually part two of GameRift’s initial preview:

On top of the combat, looking at the broader game, I am happy to report that Blizzard has done a fine job of making each class play differently, at least at the lower levels. Mages are primarily nukers, but they have some buffs and they have some choice in what nuke to use on a given mob. Some of them can slow a mob, some do more damage, fire vs. frost based, etc. Warlocks can do a little of everything. Weak nukes, Damage Over Time spells, Curses (think debuffs), and of course their pets which are very effective. Similar to the EQ Necromancer in more ways than one, these guys are effective soloers. Priests are not quite EQ Clerics here, they are a cloth class so they are fragile, but they have more arcane offense potential, getting some weak nukes and even DoTs. They also get great crowd control spells, some buffs, and the best heals. Paladins have great party buffs, limited heals and decent, if a little plain, melee damage output. Warriors are beasts, with the ability to shell out a lot of damage and take the most out of any of the classes. Rogues are the masters of damage, able to dish out sheer pain if they get an accurate combo going.