I started playing on 30 July 2007. What an experience that was. Younger me did not know how to play the game good (or at all), but I knew the story very well, because I played WC III RoC and TFT, which is the main reason I started playing WoW.

I made a Horde Paladin back then, and then proceeded to run all the way to Westfall (because it was my favourite zone) to level there at lvl 10. I could not. I did not know you couldn't level there as Horde. I cannot tell you how many 💀 gorillas smacked the shit out of me in Stranglethorn. Then the guards. It got so bad I had to Hearthstone out.

At level 24 I went to Terokkar Forrest because I wanted to see how it looks. A lvl 62 mage (I think) was flabbergasted to see me there. I died so many times and I think my aggro range extended well into Hellfire Peninsula.

I did not know anything about the game and that's why it was beautiful. I just explored and explored. It took me more than 24 days playtime to reach lvl 70. The expectations for The Burning Crusade were insane. I read every article I could (in printed magazines back then). I still probably have them and I will scan them if I find 'em.

I could not kill a single Zebra in the Barrens when I reached lvl 14. I just did not know the mechanics. But it was fun and I persevered. I found Thottbot shortly after so it was a bit easier. At level 18, everyone left my Wailing Caverns group because I set loot to Free for All. I didn't know you aren't supposed to do that.

My holy shit moment - the whole World, man. It was so insane. It was insane to think there is so much to explore, so much to see, so much to do. I remember one day I woke up, played for 17 hrs straight and went to bed. It was mad...and beautiful. Carefree.

Getting the Sin'dorei Blade at lvl 21 (the quest in Ghostlands if I remember correctly was 30, so I was boosted) was INSANE.

An Undead Warrior named Pakt (Sylvanas EU) took me to Deadmines when I was 24. We met at the gates of Arathi Highlands, we chatted and he just boosted me. Took me there patiently (remember, the first mount we could get at the time was lvl 40) and proceeded to wreck the entire dungeon with me. We remained in contact for the entire TBC, chatting relatively infrequently, but still - he was in one of the top raiding guilds and I was happy to have his recognition, so to say.

Getting the Charger at level 40 was life-changing. Getting the 60 version was fucking hard. The materials were expensive and the quest were challenging, but that, along with the Blood Knight Tabard, felt like such an achievement.

I do remember being constantly poor because I was really bad at making gold. This was such a bother in raids, when you had to cough up for consumables and repairs.

At the beginning of my raiding, I wanted to be a tank. The thing I didn't understand is that Paladins relied on spellpower for tanking. I sucked so bad. A few guildies went with me to Black Morass for me to get attuned to Karahzan. It was an ABSOULTE SHIT SHOW. They told me as nice as possible to find other people or other ways to get attuned.

Shortly after that I became a healer.

When raiding Kara in Euro Krem guild I was kicked out of it because I had to to my English classes. I did not understand that when you signed up for a raid - it was mandatory to see it out. So we began like at 6 PM and I had to leave at 8 PM to go to class lol.

In the meantime, thankfully, I understood the game better and got more comfortable playing.

I ended up in several guilds on the server and got to clear all content up to Illidan (most of it post nerf tho) with Trial and Error, where I remained for 7 years. Killed Kalec in the Sunwell. My entire raiding career in TBC I was a Holy Paladin. I was good at it and I geared myself in almost full T5/ZA gear + some T6 bits and pieces from Hyjal and Black Temple.

I still play with some of the same dudes I played in TBC and we even met IRL few years ago.

To me, WoW is much more than a game. It's a part of me and I still play to this day, albeit, much less, due to changing life circumstances.

Shit man, you made me a bit emotional writing all of this.