Five Years

[sickrubik]

Day 1 of release. (Well, and beta)

WoW just feels like home, to borrow an overused phrase. As Fordel mentioned earlier, the UI and movement were just intuitive. Nothing groundbreaking per se, but just ... right.

I think part of why WoW has endured so long for me is that I'm casual in approach to it (but not casual in playtime). I've gotten better, but I have a hard time with the MATHS behind the game, so I can cause headaches for the fellow guildies and plenty of responses of "...", because I've overlooked something COMPLETELY OBVIOUS. My crappy memory does not help this either.

But through everything, it feels good to log in and check mail at least, or to say hi if I'm busy with life. It feels like checking my email and running into a friend at the same time. I really don't see stopping my subscription unless Blizzard goes insane, or until the lights are turned off.

But it does help to have a great set of guildies who are friendly and patient and amusing. (AWWW GUYS.)

My earliest most memorable moment is silly and simple and stupid. It was casting polymorph on a rabbit in Dun Morogh. IT WAS FUNNY BECAUSE IT SAID RABBIT BUT IT WAS A LAMB OMG HOW CAN THAT BE. Simple pleasures, I suppose.

[Tannhauser]

As long as we're getting nostalgic...

My first toon was an orc shaman.  I was bopping around in the orc starting canyon, thought it was fair.  Then I found a 'secret' path.  Exploring, I found a crack in the wall of the canyon.  Peering out I saw a gentle coastline with a river falling into the sea.  Beyond, in the haze, I could barely make out a small, quaint town.  One of the buildings had a large crooked telescope jutting out of it! 

That was my first view of the world of World of Warcraft instead of this tiny canyon.  It was such a great feeling to see that there was this great big world for me to explore.  I swore that some day I would stand in that town and look back at my humble beginnings.  This I did two days later. 

It was Ratchet, that hive of scum and villany.

Urthuk, Hellholes of Kalimdor vol. 1

[March]

Left DAOC (Druid) for WoW (Druid) on Day 1.

Impressions

Vanilla - 60: Thoroughly impressed by the interface and responsiveness of the engine; liked that they took teh suq out of the annoying parts of MMO's... especially questing, maps, crafting, healing classes, etc.  Took a Druid to 60, then guild went PvP and took a Paladin to 60.  Made it to "end-game" started to Raid and realized that their end-game sucked, and not a little.  It was like watching a beautiful flower wilt and die before my very eyes... this shiny new Druid whom I had nurtured for 60 long levels running hither and yon skinning the forest animals and picking local herbs was suddenly tossed into a virtual chinese sweatshop of 40-man raiding; chained to only 1/2 an oar (to mix my metaphors) with my inferior "hybrid" healing.

TBC: Skipped... seemed like a shitty idea that only made the shitty parts shittier; and I was right.

WoTLC: Came back for 5-mans and accessible content; powered through TBC (and didn't feel like I missed a thing, though I resented the waste of time) and made it to LC... so far LC is spot on for an aging casual-hardcore achiever type gamer.  I PUG as a healer and enjoy it.  Dual spec was pure genius.  Badges are nifty in that they keep me in the game and useful for what I want to do.

Cataclysm: from early accounts... I think it will take a lot of key MMO lessons and actually learn from them; I expect Cataclysm will be better than Vanilla - even factoring the rose colored glasses of nostalgia.

Most memorable moment: The day WoW died for me - slogging through MC with 39 other idiots watching all the trash drop nothing but a pittance of gold, seeing all the rare resources funneled to "the guild" and finally killing a boss... for 3 purple items one of which was for a Warlock that nobody played in those days.  Compare that with any 5-man (let alone ToC) and you can see that they learned their lessons well.

When I started I had one two young children, a house in town and was an "Individual Contributor" at work; 5-years later its 5 children, a 60 acre property and I now manage a small team... WoW has managed to improve its delivery model as I have aged.  Sure, I miss the fact that the world is stupid the "lore" is written for people who have never read an actual book that contains, well, lore and if WoW is a sandbox it is for toddlers... but hey, I log on, I unwind for a few hours and somehow my shockingly average characters get slightly better.  Now that's some good design'n.

[proudft]

I was bopping around in the orc starting canyon, thought it was fair.  Then I found a 'secret' path.  Exploring, I found a crack in the wall of the canyon.  Peering out I saw a gentle coastline with a river falling into the sea.  Beyond, in the haze, I could barely make out a small, quaint town.  One of the buildings had a large crooked telescope jutting out of it! 

My first beta dude was an orc, and I did that too!  Except I decided to head for that town, fell in the river, and got eaten by threshers :(

Then I made a human mage.

[Sjofn]

My first beta dude was an orc, and I did that too!  Except I decided to head for that town, fell in the river, and got eaten by threshers :(

I never knew that! You are terrible at WoW.

[Malakili]

It was like watching a beautiful flower wilt and die before my very eyes... this shiny new Druid whom I had nurtured for 60 long levels running hither and yon skinning the forest animals and picking local herbs was suddenly tossed into a virtual chinese sweatshop of 40-man raiding; chained to only 1/2 an oar (to mix my metaphors) with my inferior "hybrid" healing.

You'll spec resto, sit in the back, and case innervate every cooldown....and you'll like it.

[Vision]

I remember when I got the email from gamespy that I got into the stress test beta, I freaked out and went running around the house. This was before I realized that basically everyone who created a free account got in, but still. Before the stress test was over, I remember downing hogger in Ellwyn* Forest as my first real feat, and being pissed that I was going to have to level a character to 15 again for the public beta, and then again for the actual release.

I was really excited for Halo 2 because they both came out within a month or so of eachother. I had bought a halo edition xbox, and live account in preparation for it. Then WoW came out and I think I played Halo 2 maybe four times on live.

[Threash]

Just had to share this:

[Paelos]

That's pretty 

[El Gallo]

The "it's" really gives it that authentic Internet feel.  Voted 5, would link again and again.

[Vision]

but now 3.3 is out.
guess it's back to wackin off to night elves for me.  

[Signe]

What the fuck does that mean?   

[Sheepherder]

The ears turn him on.