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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: What was your moment of awe in WoW?
by Jason Christ 
Sep 9th 2011 at 8:00AM
I joined World of Warcraft on the Recruit-a-Friend program. After talking about race and class with my friend, I finally settled on a Human paladin as my first character. He was going to level a Night Elf hunter.
We joined up together in Goldshire and completed a few quests; then it was time for bed. He offered to take me to Stormwind to log out in the city. I had to take care of some real life stuff, so he walked me through the auto-follow function and started running.
A bit later, I returned to the computer and remember being overwhelmed with the sheer size of Stormwind. The auto-follow had been broken and I was standing near a canal, lost and confused. How would I ever find my way around this vast metropolis? Of course, the luster wore off as I became familiar with the city, but it's been my home ever since that moment. I proudly wear the
What was your first awe-inspiring moment? Was it a place? A quest chain? A task you completed in game?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 7)
Nyarlathotep Sep 9th 2011 10:30AM
I too remember Alterac Valley being the first thing to really seem epic in the game. I had come in late so I was running by myself through this absolutely huge battleground, going past npc guards and seeing entire bunkers and buildings on fire as I tried to hurry to the north where I saw everyone else on my map was. The sheer size of it, especially for a battleground and the knowledge that so many were fighting each other over it's objectives was -for lack of a less over used word- epic.
babywhiz Sep 9th 2011 10:11AM
I would say the first time walking into Stormwind on my gnome warlock. I made it over to the trade district, and *bam* ... I saw the coolest thing ever.....a walking tree.
I remember quizzing my friend over vent, "What is THAT!"...."You mean I can BE one of those?!?" I shelved my warlock and started a druid.
3 years and 3 raiding resto druids, I will never forget how awestruck I was at trees walking around in Stormwind.
twilit.soul Sep 9th 2011 10:15AM
To be honest, I think I might be easier to amaze. I was in awe when my brother and I, playing for the first time, figured out that we were so far from each other we were on different continents. (I was a nelf, he a human, we realize now it's just a quick boat ride away). It was pretty epic to feel like the world was so huge. And overall, it's still pretty big.
Cambro Sep 9th 2011 10:56AM
You reminded me of when I first started playing, might have been the first day. My dwarf encountered a little gnome, we started chatting, and decided to wait on her boyfriend, who had rolled a night elf. This was 6 years ago. I had no clue where he was, just that he was running his character from somewhere, and in my noobish eyes, there was no such thing as a mount. She and I ran from our starting area into Loch Modan and close to Dun Algaz, where we met up with him. He told me he had run from Darnassus (where?) and taken a boat to Menethil and then run through the Wetlands from there. He may not have been that descriptive, but it sounded big. But, the enormity of the world didn't really sink in until I made that journey myself. Below level 40. On foot.
Uphill both ways. >.>
twilit.soul Sep 9th 2011 12:27PM
@Cambro
That's awesome lol. I think I also took forever to get a mount...back when I played it was 40 to get the reg mount and a good deal of gold. I believe someone bought it for me? They inspired me to be kind to newer players forever, they did.
loop_not_defined Sep 9th 2011 10:24AM
Honestly, it was this video from back in Vanilla:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHYyPyQT1Ug
"Who needs a zeppelin?" by Kung
evoxpisces Sep 11th 2011 10:22PM
I'm probably alone in this but...The Barrens. Its sheer size was massive, and unlike anything I've ever experienced before in a video game. Call me crazy but to this day I still call the Barrens my home. And who could forget the golden days of Barrens chat? Not this guy!
evets25 Sep 9th 2011 10:35AM
Not the first moment of awe, but definately the most memorable: While I was exploring shattrath city for the first time, I saw a path that lead out of the city to the west, (this was before I even got my flying mount) and I thought "hm, whats over there?" I went through the tunnel, looked up, and saw nagrand for the first time. I just stood there for a couple minute with my jaw hanging open, eyes wide at the beautiful plains, the floating rock islands, and planets visible in the sky. Nagrand remains my favorite zone in wow to this day.
Hellwraith Sep 9th 2011 10:48AM
I got a few, 'cause they're from different eras: Vanilla-wise would be entering Undercity, I was just shocked at the environment, remembering the Warcraft III cinematic when Arthas returns; Expansions-wise, nothing has ever topped off passing through the Dark Portal and entering Hellfire Peninsula with the legions of demons fighting right in front of me with the psychodelic sky on the background.
Cambro Sep 9th 2011 10:50AM
Stormwind for the first time.
Five years later, Stormwind by aerial view (Cataclysm version) for the first time.
Several other times that others have mentioned, plus when Northrend was first available, I took the ship to Howling Fjord (which was amazing, and the music of Grizzly Hills is my favorite to this day). I was invited to go to the Nexus, but I had to discover it. So I rode west, the entire continent. The ride through Dragonblight was absolutely amazing, snow and ice everywhere on the road and the trees.
Not too long after, I drove from the south to Pennsylvania to visit someone in January. So much snow (and SO much more than I'm used to)...in fact there was one stretch of road in particular that reminded me strongly of that digital lonely stretch, and it hit me how much time and effort the game's visual designers must put in to their work.
I'm getting a little choked up even now. :-\
Cariad Sep 9th 2011 10:54AM
Seems silly now, but running into the Barrens from Mulgore on my wee tauren hunter. The sense of vastness of it really hit me, and I felt like I was in some huge savannah. And then I saw the elite night elf outriders off into the distance (at first I thought they were other players) -- really felt like I was in dangerous territory all of a sudden. Running all the way to Crossroads seemed like such an epic journey, hahah! I've always loved the Barrens for that reason.
And then my first flight path, from Crossroads back to Thunder Bluff, I think I must have held my breath the whole time. Which seems dumb now 6 years on, when you can just fly anywhere.
Cambro Sep 9th 2011 11:02AM
I have to add this one. In vanilla WoW, on my lowbie dwarf in Loch Modan, so I guess he was around level 18-20. I saw a pass and thought, I wonder what's through there?
Uldaman.
Suddenly there were angry gray dwarves, and one of them started shooting purple balls of death at me. On his portrait was a skull icon, I had no idea what that meant...but I died in a couple of shots. I remember thinking, he's like 1/4 mile away, how can he do that?!
And it was either that time, or when I fought a world dragon in Duskwood, and it shot the same purple balls of death, that I noticed there were purple laughing skulls inside those purple flames...
jazz.panther Sep 9th 2011 11:06AM
The Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest line. From raising the Brood of Nozdormu faction from 0/36000 hated to neutral to even *start* the quest line, fighting outdoor raid bosses and raid zones, reaching almost every vanilla raid in the game, not to mention visiting some of the most obscure areas in Azeroth... I loved every single minute of it. That is the kind of thing that is lacking in this game today, IMO.
Mikkhail Sep 9th 2011 11:08AM
Can Blizz ever match the absolute epicness of the first time through the Dark Portal? Or, are we all just to jaded at this point to ever be that blown away again?
Lucas Sep 9th 2011 12:07PM
I'd love for that to happen. For Blizz to create an expansion that doesn't piss too many people off, doesn't change the game drastically yet creates something as profound as the Dark Portal experience. I think a lot of people who played back then can relate, stepping through the Dark Portal was really the coolest things ever.
Skarn Sep 9th 2011 3:49PM
I think a lot of it does have to do with being "jaded" or just plain experienced. Going through the Dark Portal was the first expansion. We were all looking forward to what Blizzard could do with an expansion and were excited for something new. These days, it's hard to find something so new and exciting in an old game, even with new expansions.
In particular, the mindset of the playerbase has shifted so much to "GOGOGO get it done! I have no time, I have to RUSHRUSHRUSH! I need my gear, I need my achievements and I need it NOW. Sight-seeing? NO TIMEGOTTAGO." So often the players focus on being DONE and not DOING. We'd have so much more fun it we stopped worrying about how to get the latest gear, how to max our points and just play the game and have fun. Stop and look around sometime and enjoy the view.
Amaxe Sep 9th 2011 11:11AM
For me it was the "running of the Night Elves" from Darnassus to Stormwind. We were escorted by a level 60 (this was Vanilla) priest so death was not an issue.
Up until that point I had seen Teldrassil and the next zone (which I forget right now) in Kalimdor. But taking the boat to Wetlands, seeing the raptor and crocolisk mobs charge out of the swamps at you (low level aggro magnet) showed just how big the world was.
Reaching Ironforge and seeing how massive it was compared to Darnassus was impressive, and then reaching Stormwind was making me wonder, "Just how big is this world?"
Xantenise Sep 9th 2011 11:26AM
My first character, a little night elf who was level 5 or so, finding the boat from Rut'theran to Kalimdor. Seeing the continent rise on the horizon in front of me, massive, grey, and growing and growing and *growing*, struck me dumb. I had a similar feeling running down Darkshore later, finding Ashenvale and getting ganked by level 20 mobs, and then raiding the Barrens later.
I miss the days when Azeroth was enormous.
heath Sep 9th 2011 11:33AM
a lot of the newbie stuff like the first griffon ride was pretty cool...but my real WOW moment was during a corpse run trying to down Magtheridon. I jumped off the cliff and got vertigo. I was nauseous when my ghost hit the ground. I was totally impressed that a game could make me do that...let alone as a ghost when things aren't full-colored.
jesuslavex Sep 9th 2011 11:42AM
Wow so many moments. I came in to Wow during the middle of BC as a Belf. A friend of mine brought me into the game and we partied up. I didnt even know how to chat. As I waited in Sunstrider Isle she rode up on a huge wolf....coolest thing ever. She told me to follow her and she brought me into Silvermoon, ported to UC and then on the blimp....the blimp....coolest thing ever. When we got into Org I was floored. The place was so busy, it seement like hundreds of toons running around all over the place. I had to verify with her that they were ALL other players.....coolest thing ever. I sat in the corner being a social deviant, freaking out about 20 people wanting me to sign a guild charter.
So I eventually joined her guild (Voodoo Reborn on Shadow Council FTW!) and leveled my hunter. The adventure was amazing, I solod most of the content. Never stepped foot in a dungeon. When I hit 70 I got my first flying mount.....coolest thing ever. The very next day I was nominated for the raid group. The first dungeon I had ever done was Karazhan....coolest thing.....ever.
Northrend was a treat. The first trip into the Howling Fjord was quite epic, yes, but the first trip into Grizzly Hills was where my heart dropped. The music, the scenery. I live in the mountains of North Carolina, so it hit home.
Cataclysm......eh.