PRAGUE: Czech web developer Vojtech Ruzicka ditched his laptop and urban Prague lifestyle and decamped to the forest dressed as a blue-faced shaman for a World of Warcraft reenactment game.

The 26-year-old was one of around 150 people who took part in a two-day live action battle between orcs, elves, knights and other fantasy characters from the online role-playing game that has become a cultural phenomenon since launching in 2004.