I've been watching a series on Netflix that I've found called "The Guild" lately; it's about a group of six friends who are in an online Guild based around a game that is basically WoW. So far it's been pretty entertaining, but you really don't need to know a great deal about the game to get any of the story. They haven't so far (a few episodes in) even shown footage from the game, it's all RL action mostly. 

How I felt when I heard terms like QQ and Aggro, though.

Here's a link to The Guild on Netflix. 

I watched the South Park episode about World of Warcraft long before I actually played the game, and it's pretty great too. South Park, in general, is great comedy (unless you're easily offended, then I would stay away). But this episode is a must-see otherwise.

South Park: Make Love, Not Warcraft

After level 80, gaining experience has been painfully slow. I used to be able to gain like 5-10 levels in one sitting...not anymore. It's going to take awhile to get my character all the way to 90. The recruit-a-friend promotion spoiled me, and I just don't find leveling to be any sort of fun at the moment, and I don't even feel like doing the additional things in the game.

Warlock, as a class, has been pretty cool. I might pick another class to play eventually. In most games that I play (Elder Scrolls series, for example), I usually have a few different characters that have a different play style to them, just to change things up.

Family portrait.

These are some random screenshots from the back of a flying mount. Exploring different places can actually be pretty fun and interesting (even though there isn't a lot of gameplay advantage for doing so).

Outland.

Kalimdor; flight path, not mount.

Outland.

Kalimdor.

There are really so many aspects of the game that people can find appealing. I would invite you to read another Cracked article on how people can play it so much.

I would still say that there is still a pretty big stigma in today's world, when identifying as a person who plays MMO's, but it really is just a hobby, though. You've got people who are more into it and less into it; people who take it really seriously and people who just play for fun. The Guild illustrates this point quite well, in addition to a range of other topics, such as the stereotype of the lonely male nerd who plays MMO's (also hilariously present, though).

In my opinion, most people could have fun playing, or at least trying the game. There are huge amounts of different realms (servers) and guilds to choose from, so there really isn't a lack of people to talk to, if that's what you're looking for. People who are looking for lore friendly playing environments can join role playing RP servers, people who like player versus player combat can join PVP servers. The game caters to a vast variety of different tastes and gameplay tendencies.

This site can offer a glimpse of exactly how diverse the content is, and the sheer amount of it, as well. And, of course, there are other MMO's - but WoW is still the biggest one out there, and probably will be for quite some time.

I'll write more in detail about the separate aspects of the game soon, as I've already covered a lot of the basic overview.