Expansions: Then and Now
- Blizzard
- Dec 4, 2010
- 0 Comments
Well, here comes another expansion… This one being my 3rd, I decided what would be better than comparing experiences and feelings I had about the three, ever so different, expansions. So let’s take a moment to reminisce about Vanilla Warcraft and Burning Crusade. After that, we shall take a visit to adventures in Wrath of the Lich King, and finally I want to share what has happened so far in prep for Cataclysm.
Vanilla WoW to Burning Crusade
The original WoW will always be my favorite. I have such fond memories from 40-man raids in AQ40. Running NON-STOP battle grounds, praying I didn’t have to skip a day of PVP so my honor didn’t deteriorate from not getting as much as the week before;spamming the crap out of chat trying to get some kind of group together within an hour to run Deadmines. I remember the forum wars between Alliance and Horde about how paladins and Shamans were over-powered, because one or the other couldn’t have them. Then comes the release of BC, and with it a whole bunch more fun. Two new races were introduced in the Blood Elves and Draenei, along with both sides getting the Paladin and Shaman classes. Not to mention the ability to FLY!!! This expansion found me sitting in line at midnight on release for maybe the nerdiest experience of my life. I remember things throughout its life introduced in the patches like the daily quests that helped money flow and that horrible lag infestation that was voice chat. Most important for me, at the time, was the arena and the new battlegrounds because I was huge into PVP during most of BC.
Burning Crusade to Wrath of the Lich King
Personally as excited as I was at the beginning of BC I was even more excited when they announced the Lich King expansion. The biggest selling point for me was the cinematic trailer. My favorite cinematic Blizzard has produced so far in terms of graphics and entertainment. WotLK brought my love for raiding back, not to mention rearming Onyxia’s Lair to remind me of my vanilla WoW days. Raiding Nax, Ulduar, and ToC until my fingers fell off involved some of the most fun I ever had in game. I was in an excellent guild with a great group of people. With the release of the Death Knight my interest in leveling another character was rejuvenated. Unfortunately, the lag in-between content brought about my first serious break from WoW. Almost 6 months went by that I never logged in; I used most of this time trying different games like Aion, Star Trek Online, and D&D Online. All these games did was remind of WoW and the fun I used to have. Eventually, bringing about my return to the game and leveling my current main and killing Lich King in a couple months. Then, going right back to being bored because my guild had decided to break until Cataclysm.
Finally Cataclysm
I cannot express to you how much better I feel about WoW now that we are on the precipice of Cataclysm. I have been having so much fun with all the new content that has been released up to this point. The class changes are excellent, and of course people will 
complain about them, but that just means they need to get used to the changes and learn to adapt. I am in love with the retooling of the dungeons, making them harder to complete, giving people who love to rush some more respect for instances. Leveling toons now is probably the best time I have had, in game, since my first LK kill (not to mention DWARF SHAMAN!!). Getting to see all the new zones is amazing, especially after seeing the same thing for over 5 years now. It was time for a change and I love what I’ve seen.. I am so ready to see what Cataclysm holds for the future. For the 2nd time in my life I will be outside Gamestop, this time with my newly addicted wife (oh by the way, she just found out about maintenance times, poor girl), at midnight with a whole line of other nerds completely as excited as I am.
Did I forget to mention anything? Post it in the comments or share your experiences with the expansions thus far and into the future!!