Despite Turning 19, World of Warcraft Is Surprisingly Accessible To New Players

mmorpg.com:

In November 2004, Blizzard Entertainment released World of Warcraft, a game that would forever change the landscape around MMORPGs. World of Warcraft became part of the cultural zeitgeist — commercials featuring a wide range of celebrities played on television at all hours of the day, episodes of popular TV shows featured offhanded mentions of the MMO, or were even centered around it entirely. 

Everyone I knew was playing World of Warcraft. My cousin, some close friends, the High School quarterback. Everyone but me. I had, at one point, attempted to jump into the first model of World of Warcraft’s free trial, which only allowed me ten days of game time, but I bounded off hard. I made a Blood Elf on a server that had been randomly assigned to me, saw the user interface and immediately uninstalled the game after a friend told me that I’d need to download addons to make it manageable. Uninterested, I returned to Final Fantasy XIV and would not revisit World of Warcraft until November 2023, some 19 years later.

 And in a strange twist of fate, I’m absolutely loving it.

To preface this, I have spent most of my life playing MMORPGs. I started raiding in Lineage II with my dad at age 12. I jumped into AION, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blade & Soul, and Guild Wars 2 on launch. I played Final Fantasy XIV in its 1.0 iteration and stuck with the game once it was re-released as A Realm Reborn. I have played that MMORPG for nearly 10 years on and off, done the high-end Extreme and Savage content on release with dedicated groups, and spent more time than I’d like to admit just running laps in Limsa Lominsa.

 I love MMORPGs. They’ve always been a healthy part of my gaming diet, but despite my foray into the Warcraft series through