The one WoW wow moment
by David Nelson 
Sep 25th 2006 at 11:30AM
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One night, about 2 months after release, I was minding my own business and questing in the Barrens. I had started my Troll priest about 2 weeks beforehand, and I was already at level 20. Things were moving much quicker than they had on the Night Elf rogue I originally rolled, as I was beginning to get the game mechanics down and started using simple concepts like quest stacking. I was not a particularly social player at that time, and mostly kept to myself out of fear of saying or doing something stupid. Then all of a sudden, completely out of the blue, someone sent me a tell! I had only gotten a couple tells up to that point, and it was pretty shocking to see the pink text on the screen. The tell was from a warlock named Othiar, and he was looking for a healer to round out his Wailing Caverns group. At that point in my WoW adventures I had never been to an instance. Being totally clueless, yet excited to actually have the chance to do something besides quest and grind, I took the invite. I had a good time with the guys during the instance, I learned a little about healing and made my first WoW friends. We ended up forming a guild and the rest is Bloodhoof history.
Up to that point I was impressed with WoW, but I was not "OMG BEST GAME EVER" with WoW. But that night in WC was a turning point. I always knew I liked the game, but now I had friends to play with and instances to conquer. That was my big WoW wow moment. I was officially hooked.
When was your first WoW wow moment? The second you installed the software? Your first raid? Your first PvP encounter?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
noob Sep 25th 2006 11:55AM
Playing on the test realm with a level 60 ud rogue, everybody's equal, and owning pallie's and warriors :D killing a priest paladin and warrior with my hunter :D those were the best two weeks of my WoW life :'(
Will (the other one) Sep 25th 2006 1:25PM
First game of WSG, definately.
OMFG
Ryan Sep 25th 2006 2:15PM
Seeing Ragnaros emerge the first time. I had to tilt my cam up. :-)
CM Sep 25th 2006 12:25PM
For me, I was late getting in the door and the only reason I did is because my best RL gaming buddy had started playing the game and didn't have the cojones to tell me why he wasn't playing our regular game lately and sent me a copy via an online retail store that shall remain nameless.
Anyway, long story short, I was in my late teens and playing with said RL buddy one night doing quests in the Barrens and ran across what to date is still the largest raid on Xroads I have EVER seen. It was massive. I sat at a campfire that another newb had built just outside the walls and watched enthralled my first ever raid. That was when I realized that this game kicks, well, you know.
P.S. Subsequent raids of TM and Xroads haven't exactly gotten the same sort of wow response from me because they happen ALL THE TIME in the horde newbie areas.
HankD Sep 25th 2006 12:20PM
I bought WoW, and was playing with a friend, then found out about a month in that there were a WHOLE lot of people playing at work, and that they were forming a guild on (alas) a different server... I logged over there, rolled a new mage, and have loved the game ever since!!!!!
The social aspects, especially with people I know and work with in RL, has made it great for me...
Baranokc (Lightninghoof) Sep 25th 2006 12:31PM
My first real wow moment was the first time I met an alliance on the RP-PVP server, Lightninghoof.
After selecting a druid for my main and levelling up a bit, I journeyed into Ashenvale, young at heart and experience. The "Warsong Reports" are a good, yet frightening introduction to both Ashenvale and PVP on the proper servers. Not having my feral form yet, I was forced to run around, always on the lookout for the dreaded alliance. I headed towards the coast for the last report ... cautiously because I knew that there was supposed to be some alliance town on the path, but I didn't know where.
Eventually I came upon a bridge that led across a river/lake to some interesting strutures. Not having seen an elven town before, I had no clue that it was the alliance town for Ashenvale. As I slowly approached the town, an elf druid appeared in front of me and "shooed" me away. Being my first encounter (ever) with the opposite faction, I was kinda dumbfounded ... also, didn't really know what the heck they were trying to do with the 'shooing'.
After a few seconds, I prepared myself for the butt-whooping I was due to receive ... and ... surprise ... my fellow druid took pity on me! She came out of the town and beckoned me to follow her. She led me around to the southside of the town and I followed her across the lake. Once on the other side, she pointed down the path, bade me farewell and went back to her town. I continued on my journey.
I guess the real "wow" point for me was ... after spending some months reading WoWInsider before taking the plunge and buying this game, I expected something completely different from the opposite faction ... I expected gankage, corpse camping and group spittage on my corpse. I was really, REALLY wowed by someone roleplaying and being helpful (I like to believe that she helped me because she was a fellow druid).
To this day, my main refuses to take up arms against the elven druids except in self defense.
Trout Sep 25th 2006 12:49PM
My WoW moment came a full 10 months after starting. I was already a level 60 Gnome Mage, but one who refused to ride a mechanical chicken, so I still ran everywhere. I had been working for several months to reach exalted with Stormwind so I could get my Horse. I had heard of others who had non-racial mounts, but on my server I had never seen anybody.
Finally that day came when I made my last Runecloth turn in and secured my Horse. I immediately rode from Dun Morough to Stormwind to show off my mount to some guildies, but as a walked slowly into to most of the characters just ignored me, but As I can to the main intersection of the near I passed three Gnomes levels 50-something and 2 60's.
When I walked past they all stop and turned to look at me on my horse. Finally one of them cheered, then others seemed to realize that I had a non-racial mount and other started cheering.
A moment I will never forget and almost impossible to imagine happening in a game.
Trout
Feathermoon Server
Order of the White Tower
Owner/Operation of Trout's Fishing School and Guide Services
Adain Sep 25th 2006 1:13PM
A sure time was when I also had my 1st instance. never even knew what it was. It was Deadmines on my Dwarf Pally. Another one that affected me was SFK. After these 2 I couldnt wait to try out the higher instances to see how much fun were.
BigDan Sep 25th 2006 1:32PM
My first big WoW wow was when I had been playing for a few weeks and was on my main(lvl 18 shaman). I was just grinding along when a warlock (lvl 30ish) walked up and invited me to a run he was doing through WC to test potential recruits to his guild. I accepted and learned about group healing and instances altogether. I had to leave before the end of the run but I got a /ginvite and invitation to come back later to finish. That was cool.
Also I remember going into that NE city with my shaman right after I got ghostwolf form. (thought I'd be fine cause I was a 'ghost'wolf. I learned that day that they can hit ghosts as readily as they can hit undead. Go figure!
tapo Sep 25th 2006 1:46PM
The first time I entered Blackrock Mountain.
"Oh...my...god..."
Duke Sep 25th 2006 2:43PM
Im an old guy by gaming standards....the father of a 17-year-old. My WoW moment comes every Saturday late-night, when my son and I meet on line and enjoy one of the few father-son moments we have these days....several hours on line questing together. We've been playing since shortly after launch, and it's been the best money I've ever spent in my life. Bring on BC!
Brinstar Sep 25th 2006 2:26PM
I wish I could say that I have had that WOW moment since I started about a month ago. I try to talk to people, but I am always ignored. I'm getting a bit fed up about this because I was under the impression that this was a social game. I only talk to a couple of real-life people I know, but I am in their lowbie/alt guild, so hardly anyone is online when I am playing. That's why I'm trying to make friends in the game, but so far my efforts are fruitless.
Bobbo Sep 25th 2006 4:15PM
First night I started as a night elf, I was running around Teldrassil when the Local Defense channel started lighting up for Dolanaar. I vaguely knew where that was from my map, so I ran over and first saw the big Tree Guardian, which was 'whoa' number one, then saw the Horde taking him down, which was 'whoa' number two. I read enough of the manual to know that attacking the horde would pretty much be a death wish, so I sat around with the other newbies and waited for awhile wondering how it would end while people were bemoaning the death of the tree guy. A few minutes later, a warrior on an epic mount rode in, pwned the horde, and stood around victoriously as we all oggled. That was 'whoa' number three for the night, and that pretty much did it.
Finnicks Daerkhiv Sep 25th 2006 4:21PM
Mine took some thinking. But I think the moment at which I discovered that I really really liked this game, was just like yours.
I got a random invite from some guy named "Krafton" who wanted DPS for Shadowfang Keep. I was level 19 at the time, just finishing up the quests in Silverpine Forest and getting ready to take the plunge into Hillsbrad Foothills.
I said "Sure, why not?". The only instance I'd run before had been Ragefire Chasm, and we'd had a level 30 character with us so the going was pretty easy (and by extention boring). When I got there, I noticed that the Meeting Stone listed the level range as 18-26 (I think that's right). Then I looked at all my fellow party member's levels. Krafton was 21, the tank was 20, we had a 23 priest and I believe it was an 18 rogue. I thought "Well at least we're all in range."
What followed was one difficult and exciting three hours. We barely defeated Arugal, but we did it. During those three hours of intense instancing I began to understand the niche of my class (Warlock). It was a big turning point as due to our relatively low levels we had to employ a lot of strategy to get the job done. We wiped about three times total, almost died against Arugal, and I got the Robes of Arugal on a need roll. Those things are so sexy.
Anywho, that was my "WoW wow moment", I think. We never formed a guild, but I've still got Krafton on my friend list, although he reached 60 several weeks ago and I'm still only level 58.
Finnicks, level 58 Undead Warlock
Cenarion Circle (H)
UncleVinny Sep 25th 2006 4:22PM
A couple of "WOW!" moments from WoW:
1. Seeing an Ancient Protector for the first time as a level 7. I couldn't believe anything could be so huge!
2. My first instance was a great trip through the Deadmines with a PUG. Incredible, isn't it!
3. Playing WSG the first time. I was really nervous, like I was actually going to be in a war.
4. Entering Blackrock Mountain as a level 53. I knew I didn't really belong there, but it was really awe-inspiring to go take a peek. I really expected to get slaughtered, but no one was around.
5. Downing Hakkar for the first time. This was really tough for our guild, and it was a great feeling for all of us.
Mageyoulook Sep 25th 2006 5:53PM
I was playing a level 17 Night Elf Rogue at the time, and it was a late night in real life. I was bored with Darkshore, so I decided I would run south to Auberdine, just to see what it was like. The first thing that caught my eye was "Ashenvale - Contested Territory." I had never been in contested territory before. My meager week of playing experience told me I would be safer if I stuck to the road, so I did. As I saw those tell-tale Elven arches over the road, I knew I was approaching Auberdine. That was when it happened. A skull appeared over my head and I started to run independently of what my fingers were telling my character to do. A large blue genie-looking thing appeared and proceeded to hit me. Hard. Since it was late at night in real life, the experience was all the more scary. I mashed the Sprint button to no avail, and dropped dead within three seconds of the ambush.
I later learned, in rather unfamiliar gamer lingo, that I had been "ganked" by a Warlock, and the blue genie thing was a "Voidwalker." It was days before i dared venture into contested territory again.
I now play a level 60 Gnome Mage, and enjoy killing horde in Hillsbrad Fields while waiting for my Stratholme or Scholomance groups to fill up.
Zigbee Sep 26th 2006 2:26AM
I've had several...the first was shortly after my friend got me to try the game. I was a gnome rogue, pwning my way through the newbie zone and getting to feel pretty comfortable with the game. Then a lvl 40-something friend comes down and says follow me...she escorted me to Ironforge and I just stared dumbstruck for minutes - it was massive, there were hundreds of people, and I was suddenly very small and new again. I wanted to run screaming back to the newbie zone and huddle by the fire. Ironforge continued to "scare" me until a few weeks later when I'd visisted it enough to get used to it.
Another was my first heart-pounding instance run through Deadmines - we felt so mighty getting through the whole thing (it was a good PUG) - and then we felt so inferior as VanCleef pwned us in minutes. I was so pumped up, I wanted to do it all again! I now love running instances when the group is just the right level to make it tough.
Then there were my PVP experiences - 1) Being much lower level than an oncoming horde, but scaring the crap out of him as I stealthed (he heard the noise, but hadn't seen me). 2) Having a hunter a few levels above me decide I was an easy target - and pwning him with my warlock. 3) The countless hours spent questing in Hillsbrad or Darkshire looking over my shoulder every half a second. I have serious heartrate issues when I'm on a PVP server!
Now I'm on a PVE server and it's so much more peaceful - I'm not sure I like it...but the leveling is faster, so it's keeping me busy enough.