Forget boring old mugs and t-shirts with "no.1 dad!" hastily scribbled across, todays dad is tech savvy and media hungry, and more than anything, he's a gamer.

You want to show him you love him and you want to avoid that look of masked utter disappointment that flashes across his face when he unwraps yet another bundle of socks or car magazines, so listen up, and listen good to our great gift ideas for WoW-mad dads!

Clothing:

Unless you really, really know his tastes in clothing, you might want to steer clear of World of Warcraft shirts and jackets.

The quality of WoW-related merchandise varies wildly, some looks great, and is beautifully understated in its design, while others proclaim proudly from the rooftops, "Yes, I play World of Warcraft, and I love it". You'll need to know what kind of fan your dad or husband is before getting some WoW-clothing, as he might not appreciate the boys knowing about his super-secret hobby when he sets of to have a beer at poker night.

That said, accessories like rings, trinkets and other types of er, man-jewelry are probably really safe, especially since such items are usually understated enough anyway that you can't really go wrong. Nothing says "For the Horde!" like a pair of classy ogre-ish earrings (I kid).

A Dwarvish pendant here, some Alliance runes there, you'd be surprised just how naturally a lot of the patterns and motifs found in the artwork of WoW's various factions fit into a nice piece of jewelry like a manly silver ring or pendant.

If you're having trouble finding exactly what you'd like, consider screen capping a motif from the game and having a jeweler or metalsmith inscribe it for you, you'll have a beautiful, unique gift with instant geek street cred. It's worth noting that the same applies to clothing, if you're looking for something unique and obscure, find a pattern or motif, and have it silk-screened onto a tee.

Books, comics and magazines:

Is your dad a bookworm? You might want to consider a World of Warcraft novel then. From newer titles like Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, and World of Warcraft: Stormrage, all the way back to classics like Cycle of Hatred, it's apparent that World of Warcraft and its various expansions have a surprisingly rich literary history. Sure, it's not Tolkien, but the books are sufficiently well written, entertaining, and are steeped in the mythology and history of Azeroth in a way that's only hinted at in the game itself.

If dad's more of a visual kinda guy that grew up on the pages of Marvel and DC, there's a pretty cool ongoing series of books titled World of Warcraft: Alliance that's worth picking up, as well as a number of trade paperback style graphic novels that are well written and well drawn.

Software:

What games can you really get someone who's obsessed with World of Warcraft? Warcraft III, that's what!

If your dad hasn't had the pleasure of playing this delightfully polished precursor to Blizzard's magnum opus, then he's in for a wonderful surprise.

A whole bunch of WoW-fans are new to the franchise, and only started with World of Warcraft itself, there's a lot of back story and history to be had in this amazing real time strategy game. The graphics are very similar, and there's that familiar Blizzard sense of humor and winking of the eye as well. Despite being eight years old, Warcraft III still holds up really well, and makes a great companion to the popular MMO that succeeded it.

Oh, and expansions, expansions, expansions. Does he only have WoW Classic? Consider getting him Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King then. Both games can be found at pretty cheap prices, and offer literally hundreds of hours of extra gameplay, new quests, items, characters and areas to explore. Just... don't be surprised if he's glued to the computer screen for weeks on end.

Figurines, action figures, sculpts... just don't call them dolls:

If you're a WoW player yourself, you'll know who all the cool characters are and you'll know whether your dad is Horde, Ally, or both. If he has a preference, get a character from that particular faction’s side!

There are tons of amazing World of Warcraft statues, you'll have to plunk down a fair bit of change for a nice one, but what's a bit of WoW gold between family?

If you'd like something extra special though, head on over to www.figureprints.com, and get his main immortalized by having a 3D sculpt of his character created. Sure figureprints cost an arm and a leg, but the fact of the matter is, despite what they might say, no WoW fan can resist a custom made figureprint, just wait till you see that smile spread across his face, it'll all be worth it.

Should you get PC hardware?

Like clothing, this is a potential booby trap. A lot of hardcore WoW-heads are pretty into their builds and configs, and frankly, it's a bit like mucking about with a mechanics car, or worse, getting a new one without consulting him first.

Unless you're willing to spend silly money on getting him a PC that's so absolutely far beyond anything he could possibly imagine, you're best advised steering clear here, especially if you aren't a tech head yourself.

There's always a better video card, better processor, and more RAM, and it's very easy for non-tech heads to fall into the trap of getting a "GS" style card with gimped memory or fewer features and functions, just because it looked like bargain doesn't make it so.

Alternatively, if he doesn't have a laptop and mainly plays WoW on his desktop, you might want to consider getting him a gaming laptop, especially one of the nice ones with World of Warcraft branding if he likes that kind of thing, either way, he'll just be happy that he can now play WoW on the go.

But I need something like, right now!

Second to last resort, you can't find a single thing you think would make the grade, solution? Get some game time by getting your pal a nifty gift card or two. What better gift for a WoW fan than... well, more World of Warcraft?

If you absolutely can't figure out what to get your pal, then consider sending him some WoW gold in the mail. It might seem tacky, but the truth is everyone loves cash, and with a bit of WoW gold he might just get that epic mount he's had an eye on for so long.