The first phase of character creation involves joining the either the realm of Order or Chaos which are in a state of perpetual war with one another. Each realm is composed of three races and each race has its own version of the four class archetypes. So for example a Dwarf tank is called an Ironbreaker while a Dark Elf tank is referred to as a Black Guard. There are subtle differences between the classes of the six races and some classes are only available to members of a certain gender of a race. There are fewer races in WAR than in WoW but the level of appearance customization is much higher in Warhammer Online. Players have multiple face styles, eye colors, hair styles, and hair colors to chose from along with race specific options such as scars or jewelry. I'll be comparing this game to WoW more as I go on since it's obvious that WAR borrows heavily from the previous title and competes directly with it in the fantasy pay-to-play MMORPG market.