You Don't Survive Twenty Years by Accident

I am going to level with you.

I can count on one finger how many hours I've spent in the expansive, pixelated fantasy realm of Azeroth. I spent a lot of that hour fucking about with the controls and trying to pick fights. Fights I could never win.

It felt like Second Life mixed with Comic Con looking back.

Remember Second Life? WoW is that with violence and lore, plenty of fucking lore.

I've never been a massive fan of Blizzard games in general or World of Warcraft in particular. Maybe I just didn't know many people who played it when I was at my most active as a gamer. Maybe I simply found it too... unstructured.

But, nevertheless, I can still recognise a game that has genuine... game.

Yeah, I went there.

Though now I feel sick and old.

I'm too old for this shit.

Longevity

It would be wrong to dismiss World of Warcraft outright given that it has been thriving for over twenty years. 2004 was when it was launched.

Yes, it is a long-running game, but more importantly, it is still actively supported. Anyone deciding to jump into Azeroth today can still enjoy a rich experience alongside players who have been roaming its fantasy landscapes for decades.

Very few games can make that claim.

Community-Based

Like every online community, it isn't without its bad apples.

But one of World of Warcraft's greatest achievements is the community that has grown alongside it.

People have formed friendships, guilds and even lifelong relationships through this game. Yes, there is toxicity—as there is almost anywhere online—but there are also thousands of genuinely decent people sharing adventures together.

Everyone is welcome there. Even old people like me and old people like John Cox. Or young people like Sasha.

Endless Freedom and Customisation

Perhaps one of the reasons World of Warcraft became the template for so many MMORPGs is the astonishing amount of freedom it gives players.

You can build your character the way you want, develop them over hundreds of hours and carve out your own story within Azeroth.

That level of player agency is something many games still strive to achieve.

You can be whatever you want to be. Want to be magic or a badass axe wielding nutjob? A smelly elf or orc. It's all open to you my friend.

Not as Cash-Grabbing as Others

It's fair to say there are microtransactions.

However, compared with some modern live-service games and titles like Fortnite, World of Warcraft's systems often feel more measured and meaningful rather than simply trying to squeeze every penny out of the player.

Easy to Start

Like any genuinely deep game, mastery takes time.

But getting started doesn't.

One of World of Warcraft's strengths is that beginners can jump in and begin having fun almost immediately, while experienced players still have plenty of depth waiting for them years later.

Azeroth may not be the place I want to spend hundreds of hours questing, grinding and taking part in sprawling campaigns.

But that doesn't mean I can't respect the people who do.

Sometimes the greatest compliment you can pay a game isn't that you love it.

It's acknowledging that millions of other people clearly had very good reasons to.

Bonus win for Blizzard and WoW is that George fucking Fisher. You know?

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, singer with famous and genre defining metallers Cannibal Corpse is a huge WoW fan.

He's a cool guy. If that doesn't sell you on it. I don't know what will.

*

Thanks for reading!

This is one of two entries in the Gamers community for Sasha's challenge.