Game news “We have to stop looking back”, a player returns to this MMO RPG 12 years later to give it another chance
Taken by great nostalgia, this player wanted to immerse himself in this emblematic title which brought him many hours of happiness.
Since 2004 (2005 in Europe), World of Warcraft has undergone many changes. With nine expansions under the belt, players around the world have seen their favorite virtual universe evolve over the years. The most nostalgic among them have sided with the version of World of Warcraft Classic which saw the light of day in 2019, while the others prefer to venture towards the most recent content of this MMORPG from Blizzard .
Recently, an Internet user who had not set foot in Azeroth for over a decade decided to venture there again. Disturbed by the changes and no longer recognizing the game he spent many hours on, he decided to share his experience on Reddit. Between nostalgia, bitterness and poetry, he describes in detail his feelings about this destabilizing experience.
A return to WoW 12 years later
In a very long Reddit post, this former WoW player looks back on his new experience. He explains that his return to this game was disturbing, especially when he first logged in. It is not without emotion that he finds vestiges of his past virtual life in this title: “My friends list is empty. Stormwind is a ghost town filled with echoes of the past. My mailbox is filled with memories of celebrations that I have always celebrated with my friends. A memory of a past life.”
In his story, he mentions that he continued to wander in the territories of previous expansions, remembering the moments he spent in these placesx. Everything seems both familiar and foreign “like a confusing puzzle”. The population is no longer present in Stormwind, one of the capitals of the Alliance, but is now located elsewhere. Facing this void can be destabilizing: “the excitement and cheerfulness that reigned in the commercial district have been replaced by silence and a deep feeling of abandonment.” Nevertheless, he makes the decision not to live in the past, appreciating each of the extensions that he has not known at their fair value.. He tried playing the Classic version, but didn’t feel the same sensations as before which he says will never be there again.
I choose to no longer stay stuck in the past. I want to look forward. I want to experience Draenor and Shadowlands. Not as waypoints to a new expansion, but as destinations that will give me that adrenaline feeling that Cataclysm and Wrath of the Lich King raids gave me back in the day. (…) I hope to find someone there. Someone who is on the same journey as me. What if it doesn’t? So I’m going to keep flying. Just a little longer.
The fan community very well received his testimony, encouraging him in his journey of discovering extensions. Many consider that the Dragonflight expansion has brought a real breath of fresh air to this almost 20-year-old MMO, and that its content could please them. The population he thought had disappeared from Stormwind is now in Valdrakken, enjoying the latest content. His WoW experience will certainly not be the same, but he will make new memories that he will cherish in the future.