I grew up arena MMORPG's. In 6th grade, my acquaintance alien me to EQOA and my affection was set in stone. I had the time of my activity on that game. I don't anticipate I anytime able annihilation substantial, I agnosticism I even hit the max akin (was it 50?) but I was hooked. The environment, the abandon to do as I pleased, to analyze the apple and accomplish new friends. It was just a admirable affair and clashing any bold I've played before.

After EQOA and its amplification pack, I roamed about in seek of addition MMO. I approved about aggregate beneath the sun. From Lineage 2 clandestine servers to ultima online, chaos online to warhammer, I even played the everquest 2 audience on repeat because I was too poor to buy the absolute game. I bethink I just fabricated characters on the starting area over and over. One day, if I was about 14, I was arena FFXI and heard about W0W. I absitively to analysis it out, see what the advertising is about.

I fabricated a Tauren Hunter and fell in adulation with the game. I'll additional the details, primarily because of my alarming memory, but I in actuality -really- admired this game. I bethink raiding MC and afresh alive up for school, alone to beddy-bye through aboriginal period Pre-Algebra on the daily. I concluded up declining that chic and accepting to re-take it during the summer but at atomic I downed Rag.

I never got too far in the endgame. I got up to Vael in BWL and our brotherhood couldn't down him. I'm abiding I was partially to blame. I bethink accepting threatened with a gkick if I didn't run aback to my body like the blow of the raiders. I was just a adolescent kid, didn't apperceive my abode in the MMO world, but I admired it regardless.

During the time I was playing, my ancestors activity was starting to get shaky. My parents would action often. I hated it. They would altercate and altercate and there was annihilation I could do to stop it. So I put on my headphones and I absent myself.

I ambition I could say that things got better, but they didn't. My father's alcoholism got worse and aggregate about him boring started to crumble away. We had to advertise the abode and downsize. Cut corners actuality and there. I didn't apperceive that much about what was happening, I was either alfresco a lot of the aurora afterwards academy or in my allowance arena W0W, but I saw enough. He was a abundant man but it was a accident battle.

After we moved, he absent his job, and never got another. He would just sit on the couch and alcohol all day. This agitated on for months and boring he started to change. He started blockage in at the hospital for no credible reason. I'd go to ample up my cup in the kitchen bore and he would alarm out from the couch that there's FBI in our backyard. He would just accomplish being up constantly, acceptable adversity from alcohol-related psychosis. He would accomplish up affidavit to go to the hospital, abstruse ailments and pains, delusions of conspiracies, and boring he would alpha to disbelief my mother and I as well. From his atom on that couch, I boring watched my ancestor atrophy away. Over a year and a half, he no best was the man that I grew up with, just a carapace of his above self.

Through all of this, my mother, my friends, my adulation for BMX, and W0W kept me sane. W0W gave me a abode to escape to.

When I was 17, my ancestor suffered from a achievement one afternoon while he was sleeping. My mother and I didn't even apprehension something was amiss until he was in actuality above hours later. If I visited him in the hospital, I could hardly admit him. His arch was partially baldheaded and his facial hair was gone. I'd never credible my ancestor afterwards his bristles until that day. He couldn't respond, couldn't move or communicate, he could hardly even attending at me. I spent as much time with him as I could. Cogent him how abundant I admired him and cared about him, acquisitive that he could acquire me. Acquisitive that he even knew I was in the allowance with him.

He anesthetized abroad a few canicule later. My mother gave the accommodation to abolish activity support. Even if we adopted for surgery, he would acquire been absorbed up to all kinds of machines, clumsy to reside a activity annual living. He joked about already if I was adolescent and told me, "If I anytime end up a vegetable, just cull the plug." We had a beam about it but I never anticipation I'd in actuality acquire to.

Through all the aphotic times, W0W was there. Abreast from my Mother, my friends, and my adulation for BMX, W0W was my therapy. It provided with some abode to escape to. Some abode to just overlook for a little while. To accord myself a breach from the outside world.

So if humans say that Classic W0W is just about nostalgia. That it's a anachronous game. It's old and trash. Humans are traveling to affliction arena it because it's so time consuming, etc. etc... I don't pay any apperception to it. We all acquire our reasons for absent to play this game. Abundance is to pay admiration to the bold that provided me with so abundant ablaze in times of darkness. Afterwards all these years, I'm able to accomplishment what I started, to see this affair all the way through, to actually down Vael, and to assuredly "beat the game".

But it was never in actuality about assault the game. It was about that escape. Some time for myself, spent authoritative accompany and administration adventures together, auspicious anniversary added on and bedlam until we cried of buy W0W classic gold. It's about the adventures that are cat-and-mouse for me. The memories that are traveling to be forged. That's what it's in actuality about.

Even admitting I abdicate at the end of WoTLK, I've consistently had a adulation for this game. I'm just animated I'm assuredly accepting a adventitious to appear aback home.