It's a bit late but here is an interview with the WOW developers.   I am just cruzin through the levels  but I am keeping an eye out for the endgame.  The endgame is not achieving Level 60 (the highest rank).  It is achieving Honour (by destroying the enemy depending which side you are on, Horde or Alliance) and conquering the Dragon   The Interview illustrates that there are parts of the game that cannot be experienced successfully without embarking on a Herculean effort to mount a 40 person raid (four groups of ten people).  I have a tough time organizing 5 or 6 - LOL.  And, you better hope all members are proficient with their character, which brings me to WOW characters. 

It appears that a character takes on a life of its own in terms of persona.  I do know one of our group, Stu, plays a female Undead Mage.  Stu had started with an Orc Warrior to level 19 before he started a Mage.  Why?  Because he is just not a warrior.  He hated that role and played it because he thought we needed a TANK (someone who goes to the front of the attack and takes the brunt of the attack while the others fight from a distance - a dedicated healer is usually allocated to look after the TANK's health).  Well, it just was not fun for Stu.     

With the female Mage, even though I know its Stu, I still treat the character as a female and accordingly all the things I do for the gentler sex I do for her.  Stu agreed that his female Mage gets a lot of help from the male characters.  Often, I too find myself stopping to watch a female battle a mob to make sure she does not get into deep trouble.  Its wired and creepy for me - LOL.  But hey, Stu has 3 daughters ranging form teens to University.  He can play a female if he wants to.  All dads with daughters are part female as we gain a real appreciation for the finer points of being female.  Enough said on that.

And than, its the Horde or Alliance question?  More than once when asked why they played the Alliance instead of the Horde - because the Alliance look better.  Alliance are humans, elfs, gnomes and dwarfs.  The men and women on the Alliance side are very good looking.  More than once I have stopped to look at a female character and said "WOW!"  Picture small Dwarf goggling a hot human female - LOL. 

Ultimately, there is a relationship between who you are and your character in WOW.  I have played a variety of characters like the Druid, Mage, Rogue, Hunter and Shaman.  I avoided the warrior as I think it is a very uni-dimensional character as in slash and burn only.  I avoided the Priest as I do not see my self as a goody goody heal everyone type of guy as I like to do some slash and burn myself.  I have to say I like the Shaman the best.  What does that say about me?   

There is no right or wrong in what people pick as a character in WOW.  It takes a group effort to complete some of the more challenging Elite quest.  Just like in the real world, its team work and exploiting strengths and weaknesses.  One person's medicine is another person's poison - right?