Your first "wow!" in WoW
by Dan O'Halloran 
May 31st 2007 at 3:00PM
McGraw of the Drenden server asked an interesting question on the official forums: What was your first "wow!" experience in WoW? Replies vary from discovering the autorun button to flying on a griffon for the first time. Many people spoke fondly of their first ragtag outdoor PvP raid. Even a CM chimed in about watching the flyover video when entering the game and realizing that those were actually players running about.For me, it was much later in the game. I remember adventuring in Zul'Farrak for the first time in my 40s. My group and I fought our way to the top of a pyramid to save a group of NPCs. When we defeated their troll captors and freed the NPCs, we turned to escort them out of the zone. That's when I saw the first group of trolls spawn. Then another. Then 5 more. Then 10 more groups after that. It was like looking down into a canyon of swarming death and I thought to myself: how in Elune's name are we gonna survive this?
A pure rush of adrenaline shot through me. A thrill from the thought of facing certain destruction. And diving in anyway. My group methodically worked our way down the pyramid steps, mowing down wave after wave of trolls. The NPCs aided us valiantly. I was throwing so many heals with my druid I thought for sure I was going to run out of mana and we were all going to die. Horribly.
But when the dust settled we were alive. All of us. It was a miracle. And that's when I got the second major "wow!" moment of my Warcraft career. And then I got a little surprise I won't spoil for those of you who haven't run this instance yet.
So what was your first "wow!" moment in WoW?
Filed under: Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Zuty May 31st 2007 3:02PM
My first exploration of Hyjal.
That seems to be my only reason to play now, Exploring.
Meliv May 31st 2007 3:07PM
First time I entered IF on my first ever trial account character
That place blew me away. So much so that it convinced me to buy the game!
But alas then I discovered the Undead and I've been Horde ever since :D
Sylythn May 31st 2007 3:09PM
Thinking I was hot stuff, having mastered the noob zone as a newly created Gnome Rogue...then a guildie came down to escort me into Ironforge. I just stopped and stared once I got inside...I was scared, it was huge, there were people - tons of people, and this was just 1 city...that was the point where I said to myself, "holy shit, what did I get myself into and where can I get more..."
Oldbear May 31st 2007 3:13PM
When I first came upon that walking tree bastard in Silverpine... at around lvl 18... as a Horde... "Wow that thing looks neat. Oh, it's red. Oh, crap it can walk... wait, it's running!!! And I'm dead." Much like all the other neat, big things in the game... Giants, Fel Reavers, etc... "And now I'm dead"
Sleepy May 31st 2007 3:14PM
Gotta be one of the most common wow moments.
Turning around to see my first devilsaur in Un'goro.
Dracula Jones May 31st 2007 3:15PM
My first flight from Ironforge to Stormwind. This was in beta, before the tram was added. I still think it's the best ride in the game for a lowbie. Flying over a two very scary zones, you get your first glimpse of dragons and fire elementals, and the Altar of Storms and all that goodness. I'm pretty sure as soon as I landed, I flew back to see it again.
It's a shame that I usually go AFK now during most flights. Some of them are really pretty stunning, even if you've run the zones below a hundred times.
Ovcydian May 31st 2007 3:28PM
Having an epic bow drop on me in Feralas while trying to learn a pet specific skill. I killed a bear and "Bow of Searing Arrows" dropped on me.
http://www.thotbott.com/i2825
cdb2000 May 31st 2007 3:31PM
When I realized at about level 45 that you could eat and drink at the same time. I guess that was more of a "Wow, I'm a moron" moment.
murrayb29 May 31st 2007 3:33PM
When I first saw Ragnaros emerge in the depths of Molten Core it was a truly amazing sight, He was largr then life and the first real raid boss in the game.
Other wow moments, Seeing Al'ar recently for the first time. Graphically he is the most amazing boss to date.
aggregate May 31st 2007 3:34PM
Lowbie rogue in Ashenvale, Emeriss is up and a Horde raid is making attempts. I run up the winding path to see what is going on and bam, mushroom shaped herpes.
Nelson May 31st 2007 3:41PM
when I first saw an Ancient of War
makabak May 31st 2007 3:46PM
I'll raise my hand about the 'autorun' key. I didn't find out about it for about three months of holding "W" down. No wonder I got a new keyboard.
Reaching IF was another stunner, in open beta. That was when you could still get into Old Ironforge.
Maraudon was a constant wow! event, especially when you get to the falls and the last quarter of the instance. I still think it's the most beautiful instance in the game.
Having played for quite a while, I had quite a 'wow!' experience at how well the Blood Elf starting area is tuned. It's one quest to the next, and before you know it, you're dumped out into the old content. Almost a let-down.
I had a 'wow!' experience just last night--encountered Murmur for the first time. What a great setup...first the Codex, then all of a sudden you turn and corner and there he is, huge, and knocking down mobs.
Joe May 31st 2007 3:47PM
This being my first MMORPG, I had no idea what to expect. After getting through the first few levels on my Orc Warrior, I thought it was cool but didn't like how there didn't seem to be that many people around. So much for massive multiplayer, right? At some point I decided to do some exploring and ended up finding my way into Org.
My first WOW moment was definetly coming around that last corner and seeing Org for the first time. Wasn't expecting something like that at all. I remember calling my g/f in to look at it and she just rolled her eyes. LOL
Sblaze May 31st 2007 3:52PM
My first of many "Wow!" moments was as my first nelf being fresh off the boat from teldrassil to darkshore, looking around and seeing the first Voidwalker I'd ever come into contact with (some warlock in the Inn there). I thought it was the coolest thing ever, but didn't know why it was following that human around, and didn't want to give away my noobishness by asking!
The BIGGEST "Wow!" moment - as opposed to the first was seeing Ragnaros rise up for the first time. Probably the coolest thing in the game even now imo.
scott May 31st 2007 4:13PM
After playing for 2 weeks, I ended up in the bowels of the Undercity by the Alchemist area. There were 2 npcs interacting with each other. An undead mage was practicing its magic on a captured Alliance victim. After watching the Alliance victim being turned into 4 o 5 different things, I said to myself; "If Blizzard puts this amount of detail into two npcs that most people wont see, I can't wait everything else."
Dyermaker May 31st 2007 4:14PM
First week of WoW. Me and 4 of my friends are mostly level 16 (one was 14) and decide to hit the first dungeon. We fight for about two hours and get to the first boss. He proved too tough for us, we came back the next day to beat him. The next day things went smoother as our one 14 was 16 and so we were mostly 16-17. We downed the boss!
... and then the doors opened and we realized, we just saw the start!
Kaylix May 31st 2007 4:22PM
I share a few of the others from above:
-- Turning that last corner and walking into Orgrimmar for the first time... the music, the abundance of life--it was just jaw-dropping!
-- Taking down the first giant in Molten Core on my first raid. I just couldn't believe that there were forty people whaling on this one mob and it took that long to bring it down.
-- My first world PvP raid... I was defending Undercity from an assault and I (along with 7 or 8 other warlocks and mages) was keeping the alliance at bay by AoEing the main entrance. Our raid leader was directing two groups to exit through the UC tunnels to hit the alliance attackers from their flank. It was just so cool watching the chatter in /raid chat indicate that they were hitting the alliance then all of a sudden... no more attackers at the front door. What an experience!
Theserene May 31st 2007 4:23PM
First time swimming underwater :)
Jones May 31st 2007 4:24PM
i would have to say mine was the first time i saw a level 60 in undercity. it scared me that his bracer had more armor and better stats that even i had at about level 12.
my most current wow moment was when i went through the dark portal into outlands and saw all of those giants outside of it. i almost wet myself thinking, "how the hell am i supposed to get around those!?" then i found the fp.......
krizoitz May 31st 2007 5:54PM
I started out as a night elf, so for me the first WoW moment was walking into Darnassus for the first time. It may be the least visited city, but i still think its the most breathtaking.