So, we're all here for one reason: Classic WoW. I never actually got to play vanilla (besides private servers), and didn't start playing until BC. However I definitely prefer BC / vanilla over retail. I'm guessing the majority of you all started during vanilla, but perhaps I'm wrong. When did you start playing?

Okay I’ve answered but can we please make this the last poll topic guys? There’s been an awful lot of them recently

I did start during Vanilla, but my "prime time" was during Burning Crusade. I played on my brother's account for some time before I got my own.

I do like Vanilla, and Burning Crusade. I do think I prefer Burning Crusade to some degree, but not by a whole lot.

I think the first time I made a character in WoW was during MoP but the first time I actually played and bought a subscription was only recently in Legion.
I did play on private Vanilla and WotLK servers now and then.

Seems like I missed a bunch by not being there when it first appeared, but really glad I have the chance now.

teebling wrote: ↑

6 years ago

Okay I’ve answered but can we please make this the last poll topic guys? There’s been an awful lot of them recently

https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=15487 you https://classic.wowhead.com/npc=351! I will not have this forum devolve into a https://classic.wowhead.com/object=250429.

teebling wrote: ↑

6 years ago

https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=15487 you https://classic.wowhead.com/npc=351! I will not have this forum devolve into a https://classic.wowhead.com/object=250429.

There should be a "release" option in the poll

When SWG shit the bed. Ironically trying to be more like wow.

Actually started playing in Classic, at my best friends house on his dads PC; but didn't really start playing it properly myself until BC.

I miss the option for 'beta'

Technically, I started playing when Warcraft 2 was new on my cousin's CPU as a teenager. It was the first game I ever sat and played for consecutive hours without getting up. In a way I was molded by it. I did not see Vanilla until I was already a man.

6 months after release. I had NO Idea what the hell was going on and looking back, it was hilarious. I didn't play any Warcraft games prior so I had no previous knowledge of the world or anything. I remember thinking at like level 6 that Teldrasill might have been as big as the game got, lol. /smh

Started playing in Vanilla ad played through BC before I went off to school and couldn't' play as much, came back briefly for Cataclysm and BFA but didn't feel the same, looking forward to Classic!

Vanilla Beta!

Roughly two weeks after launch. A friend of mine gave me a WoW 10-day trial key, which changed my life forever.

I was free of the MMO world since the late 90s when my recruiter got me playing EQ with him. . . Then in early 2004 I got pulled into DOAC by qacouple friends of mine. Well, that game sucked (for me) and didnt pull me in. But when WoW came out in Nov 04, I bought it the day of release, installed it, then went to language school for the afternoon-evening time slot. After that I proceeded to stay awake for months on end with minimal sleep.... grinding... raiding.... pvping...

I started in the end of vanilla and dinged just before TBC hits. So Im quite looking forward to enjoy full vanilla feeling. :)

TBC! been playing 12 years!

Vanilla and I didn't hit 60 before TBC came out

I started during mid TBC, on a private server with 100'ish peak time online players, yikes. Only came to retail when WoTLK came out.

Sit down an listen, old man FTH got a tale from a time far, far away.

I was there: the 'stresstest' while Alpha, the start of the closed EU Beta ( was part of the proud and few 2000 europeans that got in first phase ) and then WoW vanilla from EU start onwards.

The game changed ALOT: they made a cool arrangements of quests, kinda good solo and group experience and some pretty hard dungeons into something really big.

Left a couple if times but imo they lost their edge. For me with sunwell dailys, for others at other times. They had alot of bright and bold changes over the years, but never got back after a visit in cata and warlords.

Coming back to vanilla / classic sure feels like meeting an old friend again.

Whilst I started during vanilla, I only achieved level 26 (I believe) levelling a sword and board Warrior.

With hindsight, I'm not sure why I thought that was a good idea.

Anyway, the first expansion that I reached cap was WotLK. However, since then I've hit cap on all of the expansions. Even on Battle for Azeroth; however, I only lasted about 4 days before I stopped playing it.

A lot of unfinished business for me in vanilla. I guess you could say I've only experienced the easy levelling of WoW so far.

I first read about World of Warcraft in a game magazine during winter 2004/2005, when WoW wasn't released yet in Europe.
I knew that Blizzard was a quality game company (unlike today), but I had never played any MMORPG before.
Reading about people getting married in online RPGs left me... surprised to say the least.

But the more I read about WoW, the more I got excited - and when the release date had finally come (Friday, 11th. of February 2005) I cycled to our local electronics mart to wait outside for them to open.
I still remember how I was anxious I might not get a copy of the game, because I hadn't preordered it.

When the mart finally opened, I directly went to the games section and picked up "my" copy - I was so relieved!
Then I was waiting in line at the checkout.
Everyone in the line had purchased World of Warcraft - I still remember that crazy feeling of affinity between us bunch of nerds, imagining everyone of us heading home to play the game.

Well, I wasn't even able to play the game that day, because installation, patching and registration took hours to complete and I had to go to work (late shift).
At least I had the game manual, which I studied excessively during breaks.

Next day I was finally able to go online and "Melvin", my human paladin was "born".
To this day I still remember the char names of a guy ("Wothan", later "Zerberus") and a girl ("Mistrial", later "Feodora") I was soon to meet and level with...

I started in Vanilla, but I only got up to level 15-20. I didn't seriously get into the game until WotLK.