Today we celebrate five years of World of Warcraft. WoW first came onto the scene during a time when MMO players were the hardcore gamers, but Blizzard developed a game that would bring in the more casual player along with the hardcore.  Since Nov 23, 2004 there have been many patches, raid bosses, gear, dailies and faction grinds and WoW is just as popular as ever.

Granted I started playing during the Burning Crusade expansion, my guildmates who have been around since the beginning have told me about the “old days” and what it was like trying to do one of the 40-man raids. How much different leveling was back then, and how “kids these days have it easy!” I was interested in it back when it first came out, but after hearing about that $15/month subscription and how much time had to be put into the game, well my broke college student self just couldn’t afford it.

But I eventually was convinced to try it out, fell in love with it, and have been playing now for almost two years. And even in that time a lot has changed. You couldn’t get mounts until 40 for example, and it cost somewhere around 30+ gold to learn the ability and buy a mount. Now you can train at 20 for your first mount and it’s a paltry sum to do so. There are also shiny achievements that you can earn right off the bat. And Wrath of the Lich King has added in a cool new area and interesting storylines to the lore.

Very old official interface

It’s also just fun to see how things have changed look wise, from the character models to the user interfaces. Addons, which were for the most part nonexistent in the beginning now flourish, and raiding guilds require certain ones in order for you to run with them.

WoW has definitely made an imprint in pop culture, both positive and negative. And they’ve even received the honor of being mocked in an entire South Park episode. Now with their commercials featuring Mr. T, Ozzy and William Shatner they’re reaching out to more people and the world of Azeroth continues to grow.

Now we have the Cataclysm expansion to look forward to which will completely change Azeroth as we know it. Enhancing the game, changing the environment and creating new quests, this is an example of the kinds of things Blizzard is doing to keep things fresh and new for players.

So congrats to Blizzard for making it five years with World of Warcraft! And for you players, what are your fondest memories from WoW over the past five years? Do you have a character who is that old? Are you also a member of the group who started way back when and want these kids to know how you had to walk both ways, through the snow uphill both ways in Dun Morogh to get where you had to go? Share your memories in the comments below!