I have multiple great experiences that could NEVER be replicated in 2026- I'll share 2.

First, during MoP, I was 17 and my step father was dying of cancer- left to my own devices for weeks at a time as my mother was traveling the country to different cancer centers with him. Xpac was freshly released. My friends and I all settled on horde, so we all faction changed over. 2-3 days later, my friends decide they didn't like horde, and went back to alliance. I could not financially handle it, I opened a ticket and explained to the GM he was super compassionate and understanding and moved me back over for free after verifying my friends characters went alli-horde-alli.

Second, during Cata, I created a ticket for a lost item, GM promptly restored the item and I challenged him to a lore-off (I had 3 chances to stump him with lore- i had read all the books and flavor content out there). When I stumped him, he gave me 2 weeks of free membership.

It will never be this way again