WoW: 10 Years, 10 Questions, 10 Answers

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Alternative Chat is asking everyone 10 questions about WoW for a documentary. Most answers that I’ve seen have been coming from semi-hardcore WoW players, but I thought it would be fun to give answers from a non-hardcore WoW player. Plus, it’s good material for a blog post!

1. Why did you start playing Warcraft?

I started playing in 2006 after I saw the infamous Make Love, Not Warcraft episode of Southpark. I had had a WoW trial CD (yes, a CD!) sitting around for a long time prior to that from (I think) a video card purchase. I was scared to try it, though, because I had previously played Asheron’s Call way too much and I was a little worried I would get sucked into WoW in the same way. (Turns out I didn’t.)

2. What was the first ever character you rolled?

A human warrior named Armsbig, so cleverly-named because human warriors have big arms. As of today, he is level 28. I don’t like warriors much but I keep him around just because he was my first character. He also serves as an interesting reminder of how much faster it is to level now versus 2006.

Later I switched to a night elf hunter for my main, because I was getting very frustrated with Armsbig dying repeatedly in Westfall. Back then if you wanted to solo, a hunter was definitely the easiest way to go.

3. Which factors determined your faction choice in game?

I don’t really remember. I think I picked Alliance initially because I thought it would be hard to explain to my then-wife why I would be playing a weird monster thingy. Also, the Horde races were pretty ugly. I do remember expecting to be in the minority by picking the “good guy” Alliance faction, though.

4. What has been your most memorable moment in Warcraft and why?

Hrm. This is a hard one because I don’t really play that much. I guess it would have to be the first time I saw a raid of Horde players attacking Sentinel Hill in pre-Cataclysm Westfall. I remember being impressed at how many people were involved, and how many corpses lay on the ground afterward. (At the time, I don’t think I had ever seen that many players onscreen at the same time in any game before without severe lagging.) I don’t think I got involved, though; I just stood around watching. (I have always played on a PvE server.)

Ah, ha. I found what I posted about it on November 13, 2006. Sadly, the screenshots have been lost. They were tiny and low-res anyway.

I saw the funniest thing on Undermine last night: A full-blown Horde raid on the Sentinel Tower in Westfall.

This was no small raid, either. This was a coordinated effort by dozens of high-level Horde players. It was quite spectacular to watch — it was like a virtual version of a battle scene from Braveheart.. Fire rained from the sky, arrows flew, swords clashed. There must have been fifty or more people in a mass chaotic melee between the Horde players, Alliance players, and Sentinel guards. It was hilarious.

I can’t imagine why a Horde raiding group would be interested in capturing Sentinel Hill, but it certainly provided me with a great deal of entertainment. I didn’t get involved, though, despite numerous taunts from the Horde raiders. I didn’t see much point in jumping into the middle of a sea of Level ?? Horde players with my puny little Level 17 alt warrior (for non-gamers, that would be like sending a 6-year-old with a pointy stick into a fight against veteran knights wearing plate mail armor). One Level 19 guy standing next to me was dumb enough to join the melee and died about 2 seconds later.

I think the Horde raiders were eventually defeated. I got tired of watching after the first wave of attacks was beaten back, so I wandered off back to my quests.

5. What is your favourite aspect of the game and has this always been the case?

For me, being a more casual WoW player, the best part of WoW is that there is always something new to see. The amount of content in WoW is staggering. Even ten years later, I can still log in and do something I’ve never done before. I can try a race I haven’t played before, or a class I haven’t played before, or go to a zone I’ve never seen before. (Or perhaps forgotten about.) I still haven’t reached level 90 on any character yet so I technically haven’t yet experienced “the endgame.” That’s the main thing that keeps me coming back to WoW.

6. Do you have an area in game that you always return to?

Just the Stormwind bank. :) Other than that, I’m usually in a different place every time I play.

7. How long have you /played and has that been continuous?

I don’t have a subscription right now so I can’t check. :( It has definitely not been continuous though. I don’t think I have ever played WoW continuously for more than three months at a time, and probably not even a year total.

8. Admit it: do you read quest text or not?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I often do grindy stuff in MMOs while watching television or listening to audiobooks, and during those times, I don’t read quest text. If I’m focusing just on the game, I usually read or at least skim the text.

9. Are there any regrets from your time in game?

Nope. Well, I guess I regret never having seen raids from “back in the day.” But I don’t regret keeping all the time and energy that would have gone into that.

10. What effect has Warcraft had on your life outside gaming?

None that I can think of. I’m of an age where talking about video games in real life is frowned upon anyway, so I would never admit to playing Warcraft. :)