When I first set foot in Azeroth, it was a different world — literally. World of Warcraft was new, sprawling, and intimidating in that way only early MMOs could be. Quests weren’t always clear, mounts weren’t handed out like candy at level 10, and the idea of flying over entire zones was the stuff of imagination. But for me, it wasn’t just about the mechanics or the graphics. WoW was about connection — especially with my teenage son, who lived a good 450 miles away. Logging in together gave us a world we could share, no matter the physical distance. That foundation is part of why I’ve kept playing all these years.
Over time, though, WoW itself has gone through almost as many phases as my roster of alts. Each expansion reshapes the experience, and I’ve found myself adapting right along with it. In the early years, leveling felt like a marathon — long, sometimes grueling, but incredibly satisfying when you finally crossed the finish line. I still remember grinding mobs for that last sliver of XP, watching my Warlock Joar ding with a sense of triumph that today’s streamlined questing can’t quite replicate.
Then came the expansions that changed everything: flying mounts that opened up the skies, dungeon finders that made group content easier, and entire continents of new lore to dig into. Every time, Blizzard reimagined how the game worked, and every time, I had to decide how I wanted to interact with it. Some changes I embraced wholeheartedly. Others I grumbled about before eventually coming around — usually after realizing my fifth alt could level faster than ever before.
That’s part of what has kept WoW fresh for me. The game doesn’t stay the same, and neither does my relationship with it. In one expansion, I might be all about raiding schedules and chasing gear. In another, I’m perfectly content to poke along with alts, enjoying the storylines and leveling experiences. My main — Joar the Warlock — is always there, steady and reliable. But the cast of supporting characters shifts with every expansion, depending on which class catches my fancy at the time.
And then there’s the blogging. If WoW is the canvas, the blog has been my sketchbook. Every new mechanic, every new class obsession, every expansion that threw me for a loop — it’s all recorded. Looking back, I can see not just how WoW evolved, but how I did too. There are posts about raid nights that went brilliantly, others about leveling frustrations, and still others about family life woven in between dungeon runs. It’s a chronicle of more than just a game.
WoW today is sleeker, faster, and in some ways friendlier to casual players than it ever was in the early days. And I’ve shifted too — I’m not grinding endless raid nights like I once did, but I still find joy in exploring new content, tinkering with alts, and seeing how my old Warlock fits into each new era. That’s the beauty of a game that keeps reinventing itself: I get to reinvent how I interact with it, without ever really leaving Azeroth behind.
