Breakfast Topic: Why did you start playing WoW?
by Amelia Ramstead 
Jul 2nd 2011 at 8:00AM
When I met my husband, he was a bit of a WoW junkie. I admit, I turned up my nose at it. I accepted it as one of his "quirks" and just shook my head and curled up with a book during his late-night game sessions. One night, we went over to visit my brother, and I watched as he and his guild were attempting, once again, the 40-man raid of Onyxia's Lair (yes, this was quite some time ago). I watched, listened to the conversation over his speakers, and marveled at the teamwork involved. Dare I admit ... this looked like fun?
Arriving home, I insisted that I wanted to try. Amused, my husband dug up a trial copy and loaded it on the dilapidated laptop. I rolled up a night elf druid and was hooked.
The night elf druid is long gone (draenei mage, thank you very much), and I play on a different server now, but I'm still hooked. The storylines still enthrall me, the graphics still invite me, and I still enjoy the camaraderie and teamwork.
What brought you into the game? Did you just happen to see a copy in the electronics section and think it looked nifty, or was there one moment that will always stand out as your That game looks friggin' AWESOME!! moment?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Polecat Jul 2nd 2011 8:08AM
I got into the game an odd way. My roomate managed to get into the late beta of WoW, so had it on his PC. When it went live, he talked me into trying it out to see what I thought of it. I hated it. I really did. I couldn't figure out the skill system, how to use skills, and I died over and over and over again. My little human warrior spent more time doing corpse runs then she did fighting murlocs.
So what changed? Burning Crusade, addons, and a lot of patches. My roomate's PC went on the fritz and I let him use my PC until he could get it fixed. We was a long time addict, and something told me to give it another shot, so I did on his account. I ended up with a Belf Warlock this time... and for some reason it clicked. Sure I died a few times, but coming from my experience with City of Heroes (the only MMO at the time I enjoyed) meant I was more acclimated to the systems.
After a week or so, I broke down and bought my own copy and acct, and here I am. Certified (and certifiable) alt-oholic, non-raining, player who went to 80 with a Dreanai Pally... and heard the call of the Hoarde with Cata (now with a Goblin Mage I took from 1 to 81 as of this moment. I've been taking my time. ^_^ )
cakeordeath Jul 2nd 2011 8:09AM
sony killed star wars galaxies with the nge, decided to give wow a try with some guildies from there. basically just been killing time here till the old republic launches.
Bignbeefy Jul 2nd 2011 12:00PM
This.
Boocat Jul 2nd 2011 5:08PM
Killing time and wasting money it looks like. You could at least play some Free to Play MMO which are just as good, but the fact you spent money to play WoW tell me you are a little full of it.
Amaxe Jul 2nd 2011 9:56PM
I feel old. I saw "nge" and immediately thought "Neon Genesis Evangelion? That would make an interesting crossover for a game!"
kevin.luang Jul 2nd 2011 10:32PM
@Boocat
You should try taking things less serious.
Motosin Jul 2nd 2011 10:59PM
Yes, this... When the CU and NGE killed SWG, I fought it off for several months, but finally tried WoW. I've enjoyed playing it on and off the last several years, but I've always felt like WoW was some sort of placeholder until the next Star Wars MMO came out. I'm in another WoW hiatus (this one is 3 months so far), and REALLY hoping ToR doesn't disappoint
ekfxc Jul 2nd 2011 8:11AM
South Park
Deathknighty Jul 2nd 2011 12:07PM
Same. I watched that episode, in which they lost all contact with their othe4r friends and the outside world, spending 21 hours per day grinding boars in Elwynn Forest, and quickly becoming obese, pimply horrors, and I thought, "Hey! That looks fun!"
Himosoo Jul 2nd 2011 2:38PM
Me too!
Crun Jul 3rd 2011 12:21AM
When he said,"I am the mightiest dwarf in all of Azeroth!", I replied, "Challenge accepted!"
exogenesis. Jul 2nd 2011 8:15AM
I initially thought WoW was a pathetic game for pathetic losers. Yeah, harsh judgement, I know. I was happy to stick with my Sims games. Until one day when I was terribly bored, and someone I knew online mentioned that they played. I pulled a face, but I thought "What the heck? Might as well download the trial as something to do today. It's free, so there's nothing to lose". So I did.
4 years later, I haven't looked back. I like being a pathetic loser. Or an epic geek, as my views are these days.
Zayd Jul 2nd 2011 8:16AM
I'd just bought a new laptop, heard about these mmo's that the kids were eating up so decided to see what the fuss was about.
Did a bit of checking around and WoW was the name on everyone's lips. I don't remember much after that :*(
patgamer Jul 2nd 2011 8:17AM
I grew up pretty close to my cousin and one weekend.. we just didn't hang out.. months went by.. I knew he was at home playing games but never quite sure what.
I remember watching him play, wasn't that interested in playing myself.. Guild wars lured me in.. I managed to do a fair bit in that but I wanted somthing more!
It got to the stage where every group in GW was running the bear spirit skill and 1 healer, somthing like that.. this annoyed me very much.
I picked up a copy of WoW one afternoon.. wasn't keen on it for the first 3 weeks, but I figured I'd play for the month and give it a good run. I found myself subscribing and enjoying it.. the graphics grew on me and I was having a great time with all the friends I had made in Dun morough. All of which have now moved onto other servers. But I still sit in Thelsamar inn somtimes and remember just how oblivious I was to the size of wow.
Seacue Jul 2nd 2011 8:19AM
both my sisters played since vanilla. one on horde, one on alliance. when they moved to different states i started to play wow to keep in touch with them. the alliance one moved to rift, and the horde one had a baby and doesnt play anymore, but i still enjoy the game.
razion Jul 2nd 2011 8:19AM
A group of complete strangers got me into the game.
I believe WoW was entering the Burning Crusade some time in Junior High, and it was around that time before BC came out that I was sitting in the math classroom one day, and a small group of three to four next to me were conversing about World of Warcraft. I myself had played maybe one or two small-time online games in the past, but no MMOs. That said, I had heard about Warcraft in the classroom on occasion to know most of what they were talking about.
That said, I never really knew anyone in any of my classes--I was a lonely kid in school, when I think about it, and to this day I have no idea how they drew me into the conversation. I guess they assumed I was the gamer type, but whatever it was, they assumed I naturally was into Warcraft and thought I'd click into the conversation, perhaps.
I remember one of them turned to me and asked, "well, what do you play as?"
"Excuse me?"
"Your class? Race?"
I had heard a conversation a few days ago about some kind of nature spell-caster, and I thought that sounded pretty unique so I replied, "feral druid". I also remembered they were Alliance so I added, "night elf".
They inquired further, "DPS?"
Didn't know what that meant. I half-said half-asked, "no?"
"Tank, then?"
"... Yeah."
They never talked to me again. I guess Bears weren't too popular back in late Vanilla. Yet, despite any follow-up questions or later conversations with those people, I decided I'd see what all the fuss was about and researched it. I came across a couple Machinima--in particular Illegal Danish and The Grind. And so, with nothing better to do, I then took my first, intimidated steps into the World of Warcraft. But regardless of the intimidation the game gave me, I felt that my pride as a nerd/gamer would be dashed if I didn't stick with it for at least the first month I payed for.
I find it odd that here, six years later, I owe the best friendships I've ever had to people who I will probably never see again.
Chrior Jul 2nd 2011 8:21AM
Well, it wasn't really me who got an interest in WoW (although I had played Warcraft III in the past, but it took me a while to realize WoW was its sequel). My friend has a thing for fantasy RPGs, and so do I. So one day he was searching for some game like this and came upon WoW. He was amazed and told me about it. I was reluctant because I needed to pay to play it. But I went and bought it and the recently released expansion TBC and was hooked! (human warlock ftw)
baysaz Jul 2nd 2011 8:22AM
It was an escape from the reality of the financial crisis in 2008. And I wasn't the only one. I saw toons named Lostmymoney and Citigroup on my server. First time I logged in I got the polar bear pet. Being a virtual pet fan from way back I was trying to feed it :P
jackenbu Jul 2nd 2011 8:27AM
How did I get into WoW? I used to play a french, flash-based MMORPG called Dofus. When I moved from the US to Europe I met an American who used to constantly talk about WoW and one day I caught a glimpse of him playing. WoW graphics may not be the best ever but that night I imagined playing a 3D MMORPG and bought the game in the morning! After years of playing in europe I had to start over in the states a few months ago. No international char transfers?! No way!
Ylspeth Jul 2nd 2011 10:23AM
Dofus? Me too!
As a matter of fact that's how I got into WoW. I had tried to recruit a gamer friend to Dofus. He took one look at the 2D anime like graphics and told me to check out a game he played called World of Warcraft.
Now I had played Warcraft and was not sure how you could RP in a war game. He told me it was nothing like that and sent me a invite to a ten day trial that evening. He came over, and with him watching over my shoulder, I created a warrior and started in Northshire.
I was astonished and a bit overwhelmed. The graphics were far better than I had ever experienced in a game before but having to move in a three dimensional world was disorienting. I get motion sick quite easily and had a heck of a time navigating the Abby. I was not sure if this was the game for me.
My friend helped me adjust the camera so I was more comfortable and suggested I go Stormwind. So off I went. Through the forest and Goldshire. WoW has multiple cities?
As I approached the city, I was awed by the size of the walls. When I stepped into the Valley of Heroes, the music swelled and I was hooked. Simultaneously, I heard my wife say, "Oh My God!" She was hooked too. :)
That's not to say we left Dofus completely. When we came to WoW, we brought a little Dofus with us. Several of our toons are named after our Dofus characters and my wife is an excellent tank due to her experience playing a sacrier. My holy priest heals her just like I did on my eniripsa.