World of Warcraft — more commonly referred to as WoW — has become one of the most popular computer games in entertainment history since its launch in 2004, selling millions of copies and spawning three expansion patches for new content.  Blizzard Entertainment has overhauled their company due to the astounding success of the game and now more employees work on WoW related projects than all of their other titles combined.  The company realizes the capabilities of their digital cash cow, and therefore, are constantly creating promotions to lure even more players to the world of Azeroth, promising faster leveling and personalized items.  The profits created by WoW are not limited to Blizzard, however, as countless other companies have published gaming guides and leveling guides to WoW in a means of latching onto the revenue stream.  Some guides are simplistic and free; others have in depth coverage of every nook and cranny in the world and for fifty to one hundred dollars, can get you from level one to level eighty in record time.  If you want to skip through much of the grind, a Horde leveling guide or an Alliance leveling guide could be your best plan of action.

Both Horde and Alliance leveling guides are available in video game stores (or electronics retail stores) and online; only some of the online versions are completely free.  Both the electronic and paper copies plan your trip through the World of Warcraft in specific steps.  Some guides are so in depth that they can tell you how many monsters to kill or how many quests you should have completed to get to a certain level by a certain amount of time. Others are more laid back and will simply give hints about faster quests or areas of the continents with greater resources for trade skills (such as minerals for mining, plants for herbalism, and fish schools for fishing).  Some guides recommend you avoid trade skills altogether, as they only bog down the leveling process.

Ultimately, the decision to purchase a Horde or Alliance leveling guide depends heavily upon your perception of the World of Warcraft.  Many players decide to use one as a means of escaping the laborious, repetitive grinding of enemies and quests. However, many others believe that a leveling guide is counter intuitive to the game itself — preventing free play and exploration of beautiful and fun continents, as the journey of the game is just as much fun as the destination of level 80 itself.