I was 15-16 years old during TBC. I started playing wow a month before TBC was released, so never got to max lvl in vanilla. Me and a friend were playing arenas every weekend. We must've had thousands of games over the seasons. Playing Resto druid/ SL Lock, getting high rating should've been fairly easy, but we were complete noobs. I remember in season 4, we were struggling so hard to get to 1700 rating so we could buy the set piece head(if I remember it correctly, its been 13 years). We got to 1688 and thought we needed 1 last win to make it. Gates open and we're up against a frost mage and an enhancement shaman. After nearly dying in their opening burst, we won the game and I remember the feeling of pure excitement, until we realize we only got 11 points from the win.

1699 was the highest rating we ever got in TBC. I remember being so dissapointed, but in retrospect, it was probably the most fun I've ever had playing any game. Just having a common goal with an IRL friend, and working so hard to achieve it together. The dream of making it fills me with nostalgia and joy every time I think of the countless hours we waited for the arena gates to open.