i miss when WoW was just a game.

World of Warcraft used to just be a game to me, something to get lost in and wander around purposefully for fun, to enjoy myself. Nowadays I find myself more concerned with my or others' performance in raids, dungeons, and any facet of the game really.

I'm experiencing a personally longing for the simpler days of exploration for the sake of seeing something new, not being rewarded extrinsically.

Let me know if you feel the same.

Take care!

[RotanWarcraft]

Wow, I'm absolutely blown away by the response to this video. I'm humbled and affirmed to see that so many people feel so similarly to me. Thank you all for your comments! Please keep them coming, I'm loving the stories.

What memories or gaming moments of just playing around do you have?

I'm even more buoyed and inspired by all of the stories you have shared in the comments, the vulnerable emotions you've expressed, and the personal solutions you've given and had success with to combat the feelings I have been having.

There seem to be two schools of thought, and I agree with both of them.

On one hand, I can point the finger at Blizzard, as this is the way they've designed things as time has gone on. But they've only designed it this way because I consume the content this way more than I did before. So really it's an indirect finger pointing at myself.

On the other hand, I can point the finger directly at myself. I can combat my own feelings of "not being good enough" or "missing out" or "wasting my time", and return to true and pure "play". If I can get over that internal battle, I can recapture the magic and love and wonder and awe that is presented right in front of me.

So I've been working on doing just that. I am doing some deep exploration in WoW right now, for no other purpose than to have fun. And I'm going to share that here on this channel moving forward.

Join along if you'd like, and thank you all again for your comments!

[eduardoaguiar]

Best line of the video: "I want to feel like I'm part of the world again, not the champion of Azeroth"

[mobymobymobymoby]

Dude my dad is in his 60s and when he heard classic was coming back he asked me to buy him a subscription for his bday. Both of us played during vanilla and Burning crusade times and he said he wanted to "revive" his character. Last i checked he was level 58. He doesnt party up, he doesnt use discord, he doesnt watch youtube videos; all he does is explore, do quests, mines, smiths and will run lower level dungeons solo. I always ask him if he's bored yet every time he just says "Nope". One day I told him hes literally playing the way a youtuber would for a "challenge video" and he just laughed. He genuinely has a ton of fun from just killing mobs and questing. If you see a lone human warrior named "Gutwrencher", say hi 😊

[seriall]

Best description I've heard of modern WoW:
"You used to be a nobody doing heroic things, now you're a hero doing nothing."

[bck_]

I remember when I played wow in 2007, and I would get nervous when I’d enter a new zone that said “Contested territory” or “Horde territory” I thought I’d stumble upon enemy players and get killed so everything I did I did while looking over my shoulder. The immersion was on another level

[prevbean]

I think I recall the older devs saying the main character from original Wow was the world itself rather than the player. Something along the lines of that.

[jane_embers]

Literally my favorite WoW memory was in early Burning Crusade. I woke up super early before work and couldn't get back to sleep, so I hopped on my Forsaken priest alt to grind my tailoring a bit with all the materials I'd farmed on my main the day before. I was in Thunderbluff, near the bank. The server was mostly empty at that hour. My priest checked the mail, collected the materials from my main, and started fashioning bolts of cloth. As I did, the sun began to rise over Mulgore and the city, washing it all in an orange light only visible that time of day.

I stopped making cloth for a minute and just looked out over the grasslands, breathtaken. I walked from the bank to the plateau's edge, took a seat, and kept crafting.

It wasn't the raids, or the plot, or even my own character's personal story; it was that time I was playing as a zombie, knitting, watching the sun rise over verdant green fields. That's the memory that stuck with me more than any other.

[bygonehope]

The best quest in dragonflight was the one where you just sit next to a dude, looking out over a cliff, and listen to his story

[OdenthorIcefang]

I'm 60 and a half, been playing for the better part of 20 years. I've never had so much fun in my life and found more relaxation is when I start a toon, no gold no bags, NADA, just going out and leveling and exploring.

[renandutra]

The best moment I had in this game was when I was fishing with my blood elf in Durotar, near the ships who goes to Stranglethorn Valley. A druid Tauren came near, make a campfire and sitted at my side, starting to fish too. We talked a lot about random stuff of life, when he got sapped. I could see for a moment an ally rogue who did it. Looking the horizon up on a cliff, we saw an army from alliance marching to Orgrimmar for invade. We run like crazy to the city and start to screech in the global mapa warning for the invasion and horde players popped like hell from all directions. The fight was so amazing than horde pushed and trapped all allys inside the bank - and all started with two guys fishing far from the city and talking about life. I wish to live that moments again, was so fun!

[andreas]

My favorite memory from WoW was sitting in some remote corner of the map, listening to the rain, the waves and the calming music. I wasn’t doing anything, just appreciating the moment in a place that nobody would ever visit.

[Braven-jm]

I agree. I do miss when people played the game for fun rather than treating it like a job. I stopped playing warcraft around the time I noticed people started caring more about gear score than actually enjoying the game. Being just and adventurer trying to survive in the world while exploring it would be great.

[hendrikmoons]

I remember the days that if you opened a ticket, within the hour, a gamemaster would answer.
And most of the time not by wsp you, but actualy sending their personal avatar to you...
It was almost like ... if the gamedevelopers cared about their gamers...

[dominiquepaulmusic]

It's beyond incredible how immersive early WoW was.. No quest helper yet. You actually needed to read the quests and then find your way around this huge new world.
I often feel that a part of my soul will always remain in Teldrassil, start for the night elfs. Spent countless hours walking around simply exploring this dreamy forest with its colourful landscapes. The sound track still makes me feel a special kind of peace that I can't put into words. Feels like I can always go back there and all is fine. Slaying the first creatures, seeing the first mounted guards, giant trees walking around, getting lost and killed countless times in the endless cave of the Furbolgs. Needing a group to finish the cave and meeting my first buddies. Collecting a shit load of herbs for which I didn't have any use for a long time. Walking back and forth between Darnassus and some quest locations. Some people hated it equally to Ashenvalen, as the paths between quests were very long and one advances very slowly. For me it just felt like one giant world that no one actually really knows yet. Just going around in walking speed sooo much added to the experience. Taking that first ferry to a new location.. Great journey indeed.

Epic open PvP in Stranglethorn Vale, Southshore, X-roads, Blackrock massacre.. Attacking cities with hundreds of other players..
Immense questline to finally be able to raid Onyxia's lair together with 40!! other people. Could go on for hours recounting epic Vanilla moments..

Part of WoWs original feeling died for me with the first flying mounts.. It killed open PvP + one flies so fast.. you don't pay attention anymore to surroundings as much. Moving around started to feel more like getting from A to B.. The slow pace made classic WoW so great.. No teleportation to a Dungeon unless a warlock + 2 would go there. Everyone riding around. It filled the world with people that later got empty as everyone just teleports..

Congrats to anyone that actually read all of this!

[cdiaz]

I used to lay down in the bed upstairs in Goldshire Inn or whatever Inn I found in the town I was in and fall asleep before logging out, I miss that.

[craven]

I used to RP walk in and around Stormwind all the time back in vanilla, I would walk around Ironforge and check out all the rooms too :) I would spend hours "playing the game" and get nothing done in terms of progression just enjoying the new things and cool places

[guitarsfl]

There was really so much potential left on the table with vanilla. They had multiple zones that were unused, multiple parts of the book storyline werent explained. I really do not think they needed to portal us off to draenor in BC as soon as they did.

[nathr]

I gave up on WOW when everyone was suddenly in a rush, I couldn't even watch a cut scene i had not seen without getting booting from the group for taking too all the fun out of it.

[fangoffenris]

i remember getting my first riding wolf and just spend days riding around and explore the world

[Obironnkenobi]

I miss when I could join up with a raid and just do the raid. Now it's like "LFM for ICC. Need 2 DPS and 1 Heals. Meet in Dal for gear check." and then when you get there and pass the gear check they check your achievements, and double check your stats on some random-assed website. And then, if you pass the application process you can join the raid after they spend another hour and a half checking people's shit. I shouldn't have to go through a job interview to play a 20 year old game.