I first started playing during the public beta and went on to log something like 50 days of play time on my character in the first year the game was out. I was in high school at the time and several of my friends got in much deeper than I did, to the point of failing classes and dropping out of school. I’m ultimately thankful to have been drawn away by girls and beer and whatever other teenage distractions.

To this day I feel the experience of very early WoW was easily the most magical I’ve had with a video game, though. The incredibly vast unexplored world, the total lack of walkthroughs or guides, the excitement of exploration and discovery. Just thinking about it 14 years later makes me want to buy the latest expansion...