One WoW directory or multiple

[Wilbur]

Then again, most of the basic wow files are based in big mpq files. How does your game respond to this file being opened and addressed/read by 1/2/3/4 or even 5 processes at the same time? Small margin for error? Too bad I dont know the specifics on this, but as far as I believe we have some hardcore pro's on this board who perhaps, can explain a bit more.

Texture's should all be loaded around the same time. If you use a seperate hard disk, which only has 1 instance of WoW on it, you'll benefit from having a buffer full of data to read.

Practicly? Make one for each wow, period. For video settings, everything. Normal hdd drives out in the open right now are fast enough to react timely to your gaming needs and you wont know a thing. Wow speed is 90% based on cpu/mem and not on the size, er i mean speed of your hdd.

Your load times are affected though, texture loading and changing between instances. On some systems this'll be painfully slow. As far as keeping settings custom, yes, this is hugely advantageous if you are anal about all your characters having diffrent settings/layouts/etc.

(did I mention a basement and a gag for wilbur?)

:-( You just want me as your gimp.