With all the Cataclysm expansion talk I started thinking back to some of my favorite WoW moments. It was then that I realized that I really should document them in some fashion; thus my World of Warcraft scrapbook was born.
For my first entry, some thoughts on how my WoW time started.
My time in WoW began in the spring of 2004, when co-worker had provided me with a ticket into the beta. I was already a veteran of several MMOs, was in the City of Heroes beta (which I would then subscribe to for several months) , the Lineage 2 beta (which I would run away from as fast as I could), and very excited for the beta of Everquest 2.
I knew little of WoW at that point, but one thing I did know was the “fisher-price toyish” art style did not impress me.  Though being a Blizzard fan, I wanted to see what sort of MMO they would make so when I a coworker offered me a key I snatched it right up.
I recall not even waiting to get home before trying it out, I copied the client from his machine while setting up my account and soon after I was making my first character.
While I only have vague memories of what specific features were available in the beta at that point, I do recall my very first character was a Female human rogue. She was named Talya, Tayla, Talia or something like that and I remember the fly in cinematic that started it all.
(Thanks to youtube user monkey2005uk for uploading it)
Beta Part 1
I spent several weeks playing my rogue, content that today a new player could probably complete in a few days, but back then everything was new. Back I was still learning about how the game and my character worked, every coin was valuable, good items were rare and prized, and the zones (Northshire Abby, to Goldshire, the rest of Elwynn Forest and on into Westfall) were all vast unknown areas. All of that led to me treading slowly and carefully.
I clearly remember the first time I faced the murlocks, in the lake next to Goldshire. I remember how they swarmed all over me and pummeled me. I remember being asked to steal something from a group of Defias thugs at river dock and being so scared they would spot me.  I remember a very large and angry pig and her entourage, teaching me that even the swine can kill me.   I remember kobolds shouting as the chased me out of a mine, “You no take candle!”
I remember Hogger. Oh the pain. And the Murlocks north of the Eastvale Logging camp. Oh more pain. I remember the first time I helped feed Old Blanchy. Oh and I remember the first time I got turned around the wrong way in westfall fell off a cliff into a LOT of murlocks.
During that time I also took a lot of time simply exploring the world, the trade skills, and making a few other alts to “check out” other classes. Though for the most part my first venture into the WoW beta was spent solo with my rogue.
Beta Part 2
Well as it often happens with me I jumped away from wow for a while.  During this break a few things I then recall spending a some time playing a lot of city of heroes, and some of the EQ2 beta, though when I heard night elf hunters were now playable I jumped back in as my eyes grew large with the prospect of taming a cat.  So after my client was patched up Aira, the night elf huntress, was born.
Teldrassil was an amazing and fantastical place. One in which I often got lost, and a place that as a new resident of I fell in love with. As I did with my rogue, I tread slowly and carefully reading all the quests and moving with care from place to place. Though this time I was not alone, I met up with Dlangar, who had also created a hunter, and we adventured many nights and several lunch hours adventuring from Teldrassil to up and down Darkshore and I even taking a trip to the Wetlands before I left the beta again.
This was an amazing time. I remember my difficulty in finding fel cones. My frustration at getting lost in a Ban’ethil Barrow Den. Killing scores of a swamp thingy creature for its Tumors?! Taking the boat to Darkshore.  Dying again to murlocks.  Leading a Rabid bear back to town. Fighting ghosts, cats, cultists, murlocks, naga and more. Taming my Cat! And of course I remember the long and perilous trip to Stormwind.
So many memories its hard to imagine why I would leave. But I did it it was because of two main reasons. First was my resurgence of City of Heroes play that came when I started a new job. The second was my impression of the game at that point was that it was sort of an MMO lite and that EQ2 was going to be the game I would play at launch.
Thus I left the game for several months, only to return in retail mid January 2005; a time of heavy lag, long login queues, server crashes and other network issues.  At the time I never would have guessed how hooked I would become and that I would still be playing the game more than four years later.
Next time:Â A Gnome is Born.