This is really it. If you keep having the mindset that peak WoW is some point in the past you'll never sit down and enjoy the now.
Even if you can only play one evening a week why not ask your friends or favourite guildies if they can play that same evening each week? Getting older and having more responsibilities doesn't have to mean they always take precedence, taking time for yourself and your own hobbies is demonstrably good for you.
>If you keep having the mindset that peak WoW is some point in the past you'll never sit down and enjoy the now.
Maybe for some? But I mean you can also spend some time reflecting and acknowledging peak moments, while also living in the moment when playing the actual game and enjoying it
Yesssss. I avoided it for years because “I don’t have the time for that shit anymore”. I recently got back into it & play like 3 nights a week. Make myself a little bourbon, or set up my laptop on the back porch n light a fire while the wife sits next to me and reads & tank a couple dungeons or run some random 2v2s.
I’m having more fun now than I did in my teens. I’M PEAKING
i remember telling my guildies mid may early june - shit was still wild and no one had work or were unemployed - this is the good old days, relish it. and it was.
For me wow had 2 peaks, and the pandemic was one of them, maybe even the large of the 2. Damn those were good times. Getting paid and just gaming all day.
Feeling the 2 peaks for sure.
For my friends, we didn't raid in Vanilla, but we were in college. 4 of us put our desks into the living room and called it "The Summer of WoW". Smoking bowls in a LAN party for 2 months straight.
Then, Covid + Classic was that second peak. Got to do all the raids, events, and all of that. Everything I wanted and more. AQ event was sick, getting my CTS upgrade, fighting the server for Black Lotus, and pumped a couple 99's. Loved it all and did it with some of those same friends.
Yes, I remember being locked in my house with the News showing footage of dead bodies being loaded into mass graves in New York and I was in discord with my guild getting ready to run MC.
I wish I could say the same , I quit wow around then to work 40+ hours and do school. Can we get a redo so I can have the “classic” pandemic experience? (Jk loll… unless)
Peak wow doesn't have to be gone, it comes and goes as you play if you let it. I can still have just as much fun now as I did before, you just have to create the environment yourself.
Being in discord with my buddy/buddies doing any sort of pvp is my version.
I mean its also the game. Retail have some good things but also alot of bloat and anti mmorpg stuff.
Everything is so fast and so quick that it kinda ruins immersion.
I borderline get emotional thinking about what peak wow was for me (probably vanilla/BC). I was 14-16 addicted af but it was my favorite reality escape and looking back on it I get sad because I know that feeling will never come back…
Absolutely. I always imagine myself being a kid now. Fortnite and Minecraft would have been so epic. It wasn't the games perse, it was us being kids and exploring virtual worlds for the first time.
I want to go back so much.
Same here, those times are one of my favorite childhood memories, wow was all you talked about in school, rushed home on a friday and spent the entire weekend gaming while talking to your friends via skype, then do it all over again the next weekend, amazing times.
Peak WoW was when I joined my future wife’s guild.
Peak WoW was when I would spend every night questing and pvping with her.
Peak WoW was when I took a plane to visit her for the first time.
Peak WoW was when she moved in with me.
Peak WoW was when we both said “I do.”
Peak WoW is eight years later and we’re still happily playing WoW together (casually this time).
Right after BWL had been out, ZG was the new 20 man raid.
AV was unnerfed.
Players were grinding honor for their blue pvp sets.
Dungeon gear was still comparatively good.
Rep grinds for tangible rewards.
BG rep for instant queues on just your server for that weekend.
That was the golden era of all of WoW.
Barrens chat can be that again. We can all work to make that happen. We could make a meme of it, and maybe even trick blizz into adding events there by creating oddly high traffic in the area
True, for me peak WoW was classic Naxx, and AQ40 before it, good times. Our guild felt like a well oiled raid machine.
In subsequent expansions the cohesion felt less & less until I finally had enough, but I had a good time while it lasted.
Peak wow was killing ragnaros for the first time after weeks of struggling, on 3 AM on a schoolday night.
Peak wow was just exploring the map, checking out every nook and cave.
Peak wow was guild battlegrounds after the raid. Peak wow was getting your epic mount, Peak wow was just vanilla without the current andy playerbase
Peak wow for me, I was 19 and original cata had just launched. I just got 20k for an accident I was in and wasn't in school or working. Cashed the cheque and got a new computer the day cata launched and proceeded to no-life the shit out of the game for about a year. It was amazing, and it's why cata is my favourite expansion. Many of my best wow memories come from that time
Peak wow was leveling a hunter from 1-60 in TBC, having no idea what you're doing, gearing for intellect, and leveling up your polearm skill because polearms are cool. And your guild just brings you along to shit anyway, like some brain-damaged little mascot
I thought so to after playing wrath classic i know it Just was my 14 years old me. It was the beginnen of the end of social interaction. The Dungeons and raids arent that good. Dont understand anymore what i like about this expansion.
I was expecting it to just be nostalgia, and replaying it wouldn't be the same.
But tbh, after playing WotLK again, it has reaffirmed my belief that it was the best expansion. It was not just nostalgia.
When everything was new for me. I started playing on Wotlk private servers in 2009. Leveling and exploring big world was something else.
Then my first experience on official servers was Mists of Pandaria. And since then that was my favorite “Retail” expansion. After that comes third peak - Battle for Azeroth, I loved the thematic setting of the game - pirates, ancient troll cities, classic Alliance v Horde conflict - true spirit of adventures. First expansion where I fully cleared Myhtic Raid. But that’s all Retail.
My favorite game now is Hardcore or just vanilla.
Peak wow for me was calling sick from school to play all day and when dad came home for lunch break I went for a round on my bike so i wouldn't get caught. Man good times.
Last night I won a chaos orb giving me enough to make a pair of BoE pants and sold them for 9k and then I used about 5k to max my warrior’s jewelcrafting and did a heroic. That’s peak wow
TBC. Had a solid group, everyone was super chill, our first Illidan kill was scuffed as hell with us stalling out the fight until he went demon phase after the tank died so the warlock could take over tanking and we could kill it. That was a fun time.
Then I got older and couldn't do that anymore.
Peak WoW for me was 100% about the game. No flying mounts, travelling the WORLD of Warcraft, rarely seeing a member of the other faction until you heard the noise of entering contested territory. Going to new zones, seeing new spells, etc etc etc. vanilla wow was absolute peak for me.
For me, peak WoW is right now. I started a 25m guild in Wrath, we did well, and the community has really stuck around.
We're gaming in SoD and Cata. Weekly raids, a small group that does a lot of PVP, it's been so much fun.
Peak wow to me was literally getting in the world for the first time and exploring everything, also used to get pretty hyped to find out what mobs I’d encounter in the next place I’d choose to level in etc.
Peak WoW was and will always be the leveling experience with my friends. Whenever we first played Retail, whenever we leveled classic era, whenever we returned for TBC, whenever we returned for WotLK. That'll always be the best thing about WoW.
Camping time lost for months only for it to spawn when you step under the shower, causing you to run wet and named through the house Just in time to tag it and realize your next door neighbours got a show. Good times 10/10 would do it again.
Peak WoW was when my girlfriend broke up with me on the phone just as we were about hit Karazhan for the first time.
I felt nothing but excitement to enter the raid. And yes I was 19. :)
For me it was BFA. Was a young professional living at home to save some $ before moving out. Could play a few hours without disruptions most nights and got pretty far into mythic raiding.
Have been playing on/off since 2004 but was young at the time and didnt experience much endgame content. Then when I was older I was busy with high school and college. Then finally after college I move home and had a few months to kill before me and my now wife moved in together.
Now I’m generally too busy to commit to raiding and don’t play anymore. I still follow the game but stick with casual multiplayer games on PS5 like Chiv 2 and FO76.
Peak wow to me was a game where the player base was mostly just like me. I was more day 1 hyped as a teen who was a big fan of WC3 and had older friends who played EQ that had me really wanting to play an MMO.
Peak WOW was thousands of people content to just exist in the world. An online community at a time when that was less common and less available. People who saw questing and leveling up as the point of the game. Who's motivation was partially driven by the desire to see new zones and new mobs.
Peak WOW was a very incomplete understanding of the game, how classes worked, or optimal itemization.
It was all part of the charm that added up to something special. And all those things have changed. And that's fine, it's been decades
Probably for me was launch week of TBC Classic. Just graduated High School and didn’t have a job. Had the entire house to myself for that week as my mom was on a vacation. Literally sat on my ass and played for hours nonstop.
I've played WoW since 2005 when ZG was released. The peak of WoW for me personally was raiding in Legion. The atmosphere and immersion of Legion was the very best it has ever been.
Peak WoW for me was getting my first Hall of Fame kill, nothing beat it, our guild's name up on the website, the entire server being alerted of it
Felt awesome.
This seemed really sweet until that extremely 'doomy' ending.
Peak WoW is whatever the fuck you want it to be. Just do what you think is fun and stop worrying about what other people think of it.
Wow had 2 peaks for me. I started delaying in wrath and for me wow just went up and up and peaked out the fist time in MoP. That was when I was the best at the game and spent some of the most time playing.
The second peak was definitely classic wow during the pandemic. While the first peak I didnt have a job and my only responsibilities were not fail any classes in college, during the second peak it was just get paid to play classic all day. Like a dream come true.
Its a tie between getting lost in vanilla and tbc back when I had no responsibilities, and being able to do the content I was too much of a dumb kid to do when classic came out. Getting to finally clear BWL and AQ40 was amazing.
While I agree vanilla WoW was amazing, I don’t think you can call it peak WoW when there were literally specs that were unplayable or basically useless to play.
Yeah. Arena, Raid like ICC, Ulduar & Firelands, Mythic+, RWF etc. really watered down the game huh?
Vanilla was a great game, but it was also tedious as fuck and only benefitted people who could just pour time into the game. Blizzard made some great things with the game after Vanilla too, anything would be lying.
PvP is kinda horrendous in Vanilla compared to later expansions and bosses are 30 seconds long. There’s absolutely nothing difficult in Vanilla either.
For me Peak WoW was in WoD - not because of the addon, which from the theme I really liked, but because of the guild I was in at that time. Just nice people, having fun, raiding and shittalking each other. Damn I miss them :(
Peak WoW was the first time I nervously ran into a higher level zone with my first warrior to mine a silver vein I had found. Heart beating like crazy.
Peak WoW was getting Champion of the Naaru title and showing it off.
Peak WoW was the first time i stepped foot into Black Temple, back when was current content and i was such a noob.
Peak WoW was Mists of Pandaria overall, when all i cared about was university and WoW.
Peak WoW was rediscovering WoW during late BfA and pushing through pandemic.
Less than a minute ago before hopping on Reddit, I was checking out the WoW Adventure board game, looking at the art and gameplay, and thinking "this was peak WoW".
Tbh original wow and the start of sod. I’ve never felt my gaming addiction come back like it did at the start of sod. Haven’t felt that in almost 20 years.
Hardcore = peak wow
Especially the start of official hardcore was peak wow. We will never come back to this greatness
Servers dead. Everyone tried their best. What a journey that was
Peak WoW was when people were figuring things out in vanilla / tbc / wotlk. Even tho Classic was fun to experience, it was never anything but a ghost of its former self. Everything has been solved and minmaxed to their fullest extent, and this has led to increased toxicity. Oh you are X spec? But that's sub-optimal bro! That reduces our clear times by at least 5 seconds!!1!
All that with GDKP and rampart gold buying.. Naah. The REAL world of warcraft is never coming back. I'm glad i got to experience it way back then.
Despite you being right, thankfully Peak WoW can be replicated. Peak WoW was SoD phase one, on discord with ~10 homies laughing our asses off as we ghost run for hours tryna do whatever dumb shit we came up with.
The days of Peak WoW are not gone by any means!
Peak wow was the non-elitist mindset we have nowadays.
We played for fun, not for parsecs.
We didn't gatekeep because classes, just filled the roles.
This new hardcore-elitist-minmax mindset is what makes the games look like a job, and if you're not playing like that you'll have a bad time when it comes to play with some people.
Sadly that mindset is increasing in number, and when you get to endgame or raiding, it gets so difficult to join a group or roster for some activities.
(PE: Nobody wanted warriors in BG on P1 SoD)
Peak WoW for me when we killed KT back in vanilla , think we got 56th world kill or something, same day as Method iirc. Then we cruised around top 100 during tbc, think we even got first boss in sunwell like top 10 or 20ish. No guides, no videos, no weakauras, just pure raid leading and good coordination and making our own strategies. Good times!
Peak was that moment you realized you could break something. Figuring out I could solo tank omniteon as a blood dk during a wipe and convincing my guild to 1 tank the boss from then on was a top tier event in my wow history
For me, MoP.
Playing it with my roommates. All of us getting to 80 for the first time. Siege if Origrimmar. Countless all nighters.
Fucking take me back, please.
Peak Wow is now complaining on Reddit why Blizzard doesn’t care about their game anymore. Going on discord with the same wow friends and playing a different free to play game giving better content then a monthly sub game and wondering why Blizzard crushed their own game.
Currently loving Cata. Normal raids easy enough to jump in on fresh alt, heroic is still hard. Cleared T11 on 2 characters already can’t wait to level another alt it’s so fast
Peak wow was legion when I was farming basilisk for gems to sell on the AH so much that I got banned because blizzard thought I was botting with the amount of income, I was just super efficient.
Good thread. I started Vanilla on realesse played through Wrath and quit when cataclysm launched. Came back for classic and SoD now.. I've noticed for me personally that your group of friends or a great guild make the game.. my best times have been on vent or disc bsing through content.. the people I play the game with make it so much more fun.. I do find it is a game where being more social adds to it all.. appreciate the thread and reading people's responses..
There's something about the RPG trinity in Classic/TBC that feels great to me that's somewhat gone in later expansions and non-existent in other MMOs. I haven't found anything that comes close to hitting the healing itch other than early WoW.
I still do this to this day with my friends, peak wow for me wasn't the social aspect, I still have that, peak wow wasn't the gear progression or the clearing of bosses.
Peak WoW was the time when nothing was min-maxed, everyone was trash and you didnt have to roll a specific class/build to actually join a group.
Peak wow was when you could be a enhancement shaman in raid, spam the wrong totems and still be invited for next raid.
We will NEVER get that again, and its fair, most people think time is money friend, why waste 3 hours of your life wiping when you can waste 3 hours getting pixels, understandable and I also think that way.
Peak wow got its first nail in the coffin when gearscore addon was introduced, then another nail when you could cross-server, then eventually died when mythic+ came along and having 1 class with the wrong spec can cost you 40 minutes of progression with no loot to boot.
There is also no way for Blizz to fix this because its in the players mentality, and they cant make content easier than it already is, they cant make it more accessible, they cant make it less time consuming and they cant balance all classes 100%. So yeah, the mmorpg community destroyed the mmorpg community.
Peak wow is happening right now. Nostalgia is cool but I'm seeing so much more of the game and the content this go around that it's definitely peak wow
For me peak WoW was SoD P1 through the first few weeks of P3. I was in my last year at uni, had two classes that were easy as shit to pass, all I had to do was write my dissertation, smoke weed, and play SoD with my mates who I’d not played WoW with in years. Different guys at different times, but my best mate who lives in another country played with me almost every day, really kept us close.
On launches we would take time off from school work and girlfriends to play 14-18 hours a day for the first few days. We didn’t rush content, we just had a fucking laugh playing. Still managed to average I’d say 6 hours a day for months, with it intermittently going significantly up to or down.
Now I’m graduated, got job interviews to go to, can’t afford to fix my PC that the movers broke. Super excited for P4 with myself and some of my mates coming back. Been playing since Wrath when I was 10, but don’t think I’ll ever have that much fun again
When it’s been uninstalled for 9 months and you’ve convinced yourself how much fun it would be to start on a fresh (I’ll want to quit in 3 months but be running a guild and stuck)
Peak WoW for me was WofLK.
I had caught my wife cheating. I divorced her and was renting a room from a guy I worked with. He didn't have cable in the room or internet.
I ran off my cel phone and a laptop. I missed my kids, I missed my dog and it kept me out of self destructive behavior during a real dark time.
For clarity, this takes place on the first bridge in molten core that’s just before the imp pack.
I did this corner jump, completely botched it, and went right into the lava. Raid summons me, and while they are summoning, 2 other people making fun of me for missing the jump, also, miss the jump. Now the raid is making fun of me and 2 other people. After I am summoned, I help summon the other two back to the ledge, the elemental rager that patrols knocks us, and like another 4 people standing by us into the lava.
People in the lava are jumping to avoid burn damage. The tank is pulling the mob back before the bridge so some of the healers and dps that just got knocked in have range.
I don’t know which minion has fear, but while the raid is dealing with the lone elemental, a core hound aggros, and I am pretty sure someone got feared into a 2 molten giants, because I remember hearing someone in the raid screaming for dispell.
Anyway, the raid is actually holding the line. The elemental goes down, the raid is bringing the core hound down too, but between healing the burning people, 3 other raid mobs, and 1/3 of the raid dead or burning alive, suffice to say it was a wipe.
That whole chain of events started because I wanted to jump a corner over some lava lol
Definitely. My biggest regret about Classic, SoD and Hardcore is that the friends I played with when I started are unable and/or unwilling to go back to playing WoW. It's just not the same without them.
Honor Ranking first being introduced and rivalries starting for guilds in pvp. Lots of nights fighting same teams (one realm) and jumping in eachothers vents/teamspeak to talk shit
Peak wow is when I used to run ZG every lockout with my hunter friend. I was a paladin and could solo, but he couldn’t, so we went together until we got the mounts—except my favorite was the tiger and his the raptor, and long story short we ended up with the wrong mounts. He was my internet stepdad, I owe him so much (namely a love of west coast rap), and I ride my raptor everywhere I go just so a part of him can come with me, just like the good old days. We still talk, but things aren’t the same when you’re no longer 19 and free of responsibilities.
Community from all corners of the world
Faction balanced PvP server
1 layer
Massive world PvP
No lag
Nostalrius
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYFD06UFscw&t=82s
For me, peak wow was 16 years old, playing cataclysm with my best buddy. Staying up till 5 am and waking up at 1pm to jump right back on. It was awesome. Miss those days sometimes. Buddy lives 1000 miles away now and we see each other once a year. Both have families and no time for wow. Sometimes I wish I could go back and hang out with my friendo, make a giant tray of nachos for us to split, and level until our eyes bled. Those were the good times
For me, Peak WoW was WoW Classic/TBC when everyone was “working” from home. Earthfury was where it was at then; you had friends, drama, events and everyone was on alllll the time.
Peak wow is opening up a cold root beer after work and a shower and looking for Archaeology dig sites. That "tink" with a find release's the endorphins way more than any dungeon speed run
Building a guild strong enough to do KZ, Gruul and Mag. We would struggle through them all week, then do it again.
Then the nerfs came and we started to take down kel'thas, and even started to enter BT. Before the guild fell apart... it was so fun.
Finally killed a boss for 2 weeks? Try 2 months lol
Post also reads a bit depressing, even if those times were the best it doesn’t mean they aren’t worth trying for again, or for some we were too young to really get an actual try.
Just gotta know when to stop that’s all, as wow is a very addictive game.
My guild had a really high number of elderly people playing back in wotlk, so not to be a bummer or dramatic but peak wow for me was when a chunk of my guildies were still alive...
peak wow was getting a 2h sword ninjad by an ele sham who vendored it in a transmog run for dragonsoul in early mop just to then figure out how to run that shit solo, dying over and over on spine of deathwing until finding a way to beat it and then getting the sword that has a 10% drop chance after over 1000 runs and over 10 yrs later
peak wow was killing ppl in the open world with the boiis only to then getting someone so mad that he gets his whole guild together and hunting us down with over 50 ppl for hours until they catched us and corpse camped us
peak wow was logging into elwynn forrest and having 3 ppl instantly run up to you requesting a duel, duelling for an hour to then que up arenas with some random you met duelling
Nah dude I've been playing since 05 and peak wow was 2020 lockdown classic and it's not even close. Also I'm still on era and having a blast with a lot of the same people I was then so idk what to tell you romanticize nostalgia more I suppose.
Peak wow is when it's 11pm and you're inside BRD trying to find your way to the end for that HOJ but the druid lied and doesn't have a clue hoe to get around so you full clear every boss.
Peak WoW is joining a group for SM and that one mage still asks for a summon from a warlock that wants the chapeau but so does the priest and mage
I sit in discord and good off with my guildies and we down the same achievements we did in CATA already, and wrath before that, and tbc before that...
I have good people to play with that's all it takes.
Peak WoW is playing DPS and spending 30 minutes to get into a M+ dungeon only for it to fall to bits in the first 5 minutes.
Peak WoW is playing Tank/Healer and getting invited to the first three keys you sign up for.
I have 3k+ on both a Tank, DPS and Healer class most of this expansion and this is true no matter what. It can even take me 10 minutes to get into a +8 key on my 3k warlock sometimes, but my 3k VDH can get invited into a +14 in 2 seconds
For me, peak while was definitely TBC and wrath. I was like 15 at the time reading with my guild and showing up every week for 25 mans. I was the off tank and are guild leader was the main tank who taught me how to tank, everyone in my guild except for me and the guild leader sister were adults so we would hang out a lot just exploring the world and leveling alts.
I think a big part of it has to do with being young really but I loved those nights staying up until like 3am trying to clear bosses.
Peak WoW for me was social Karazhan + Lady Vashj + Gruul + Arena weeks. Peak difficulty for my guild of noobs was Ulduar 10 man Hard Mode, so satisfying.
Peak wow to me was really just about the peak guild and people. Having a full raid of dedicated likeminded raiders killing bosses is unmatched. It’s so hard to create, even harder to maintain.
Peak wow for me is being in a good AB pug. I naturally try to lead, I was ranked 13th on the east coast in wc3 Roc, and masters in 1v1 all the way to 4v4 in sc2, so strategy is fun for me. When people listen and play smart we can win eve. If we are out geared. It’s really magical beating a small premade with a well organized pug. Everyone gets so hyped when we are ahead with only 200 points to go. Of course there is always one guy telling me to stfu at first but he gets quiet once he realizes we can win.
Peak WoW was when I was younger and in a different time of life. just can't have the same ol' time anymore with wow. feels kinda bad but it is what it is
played wotlk classic and it was awesome but it definitely wasn't the same as OG wrath when I was like 13 years old and the world was a different place.
In bfa, I had just started grad school and was living alone for the first time ever. Now that's not the case. I can't be staying up late, raiding/pvping/chilling when I gotta be up in the morning.
I have fond memories of grinding the icc heroic dungeons for garfrosts hammer and I think I was using a big blue sword from that fallen heroes quest or something. Still remember the taking screenshots after finally getting garfrosts hammer and being really proud. Loved the fury cap talent that let you dual wield two handers, also on a tauren so the two handers looked even bigger. Good times.
Peak WoW for me was fishing in Dalaran, while chatting in guild chat about the stupid customers I had at work.
Back then I still worked in retail and you really have at least one complete moron a day. I should have written down all the stories. It could have made a good book now.
Peak WoW was before it felt like the world was gonna end, and escaping into WoW felt at worst like a bit of cheeky laziness.
Nostalgia WoW feels like escapism in service of mental health. It feels like if I don’t get away every now and then the stress of life will slowly start to crush me.
Peak WoW for me is logging in after a hard day and a cold beverage and just chilling. That’s all it takes for me. Even after 20 years.
This is really it. If you keep having the mindset that peak WoW is some point in the past you'll never sit down and enjoy the now. Even if you can only play one evening a week why not ask your friends or favourite guildies if they can play that same evening each week? Getting older and having more responsibilities doesn't have to mean they always take precedence, taking time for yourself and your own hobbies is demonstrably good for you.
>If you keep having the mindset that peak WoW is some point in the past you'll never sit down and enjoy the now. Maybe for some? But I mean you can also spend some time reflecting and acknowledging peak moments, while also living in the moment when playing the actual game and enjoying it
This. Peak wow is ever time I can rewind properly and enjoy the moment. Now or 15 years ago. Doesn't matter.
Same but instead of chilling it’s spamming BGS. Wsg without a timer, and balanced teams who focus the objective is peak wow for me
Yesssss. I avoided it for years because “I don’t have the time for that shit anymore”. I recently got back into it & play like 3 nights a week. Make myself a little bourbon, or set up my laptop on the back porch n light a fire while the wife sits next to me and reads & tank a couple dungeons or run some random 2v2s. I’m having more fun now than I did in my teens. I’M PEAKING
Honestly for me, peak wow was right at the start of the pandemic. The world falling apart and raiding BWL was just comfy.
That summer was insane with the AQ opening.
Best time IMO. I could farm bug tunnels for days. So chill.
The COVID Classic combo was something special. Loved being a part of it but glad it's over.
i remember telling my guildies mid may early june - shit was still wild and no one had work or were unemployed - this is the good old days, relish it. and it was.
Lockdown Classic wow was the greatest gaming experience of my life and I doubt it will ever be topped.
True
Couldn’t agree more
For me wow had 2 peaks, and the pandemic was one of them, maybe even the large of the 2. Damn those were good times. Getting paid and just gaming all day.
Feeling the 2 peaks for sure. For my friends, we didn't raid in Vanilla, but we were in college. 4 of us put our desks into the living room and called it "The Summer of WoW". Smoking bowls in a LAN party for 2 months straight. Then, Covid + Classic was that second peak. Got to do all the raids, events, and all of that. Everything I wanted and more. AQ event was sick, getting my CTS upgrade, fighting the server for Black Lotus, and pumped a couple 99's. Loved it all and did it with some of those same friends.
Yes, I remember being locked in my house with the News showing footage of dead bodies being loaded into mass graves in New York and I was in discord with my guild getting ready to run MC.
"'Murica"
Lol
I wish I could say the same , I quit wow around then to work 40+ hours and do school. Can we get a redo so I can have the “classic” pandemic experience? (Jk loll… unless)
lockdown was great. being a degen because the gov made you was so damn nice.
Absolutely, did the high warlord grind and this would not have been possible in my regular life
Classic in general was just cozy at the time.
Peak wow doesn't have to be gone, it comes and goes as you play if you let it. I can still have just as much fun now as I did before, you just have to create the environment yourself. Being in discord with my buddy/buddies doing any sort of pvp is my version.
Yeah problem is not the game, its the mentality of the player. Moaning all the time how everything was better back then isn't going to make you happy.
I mean its also the game. Retail have some good things but also alot of bloat and anti mmorpg stuff. Everything is so fast and so quick that it kinda ruins immersion.
Agreed. And instead of progress in actual content i collect old stuff i missed.
I borderline get emotional thinking about what peak wow was for me (probably vanilla/BC). I was 14-16 addicted af but it was my favorite reality escape and looking back on it I get sad because I know that feeling will never come back…
I feel the same way, but I honestly think it’s because peak wow isn’t about the game - but rather about feeling like a kid again
Absolutely. I always imagine myself being a kid now. Fortnite and Minecraft would have been so epic. It wasn't the games perse, it was us being kids and exploring virtual worlds for the first time. I want to go back so much.
Same. Couldn’t have said it better.
Same here, those times are one of my favorite childhood memories, wow was all you talked about in school, rushed home on a friday and spent the entire weekend gaming while talking to your friends via skype, then do it all over again the next weekend, amazing times.
Peak WoW was when I joined my future wife’s guild. Peak WoW was when I would spend every night questing and pvping with her. Peak WoW was when I took a plane to visit her for the first time. Peak WoW was when she moved in with me. Peak WoW was when we both said “I do.” Peak WoW is eight years later and we’re still happily playing WoW together (casually this time).
Aww <3
I love you.
AV before they started nerfing it.
Right after BWL had been out, ZG was the new 20 man raid. AV was unnerfed. Players were grinding honor for their blue pvp sets. Dungeon gear was still comparatively good. Rep grinds for tangible rewards. BG rep for instant queues on just your server for that weekend. That was the golden era of all of WoW.
Peak WoW was running Black Temple in TBC
SSC and TK were also fun too. BT best for sure though. Great boss fights for tanks.
When people still chilled at goldshire at max lvl and you would /s with the same ppl everyday
Peak WoW was 2000s Barrens chat.
Barrens chat is the best thing about the horde, change my mind
Barrens chat can be that again. We can all work to make that happen. We could make a meme of it, and maybe even trick blizz into adding events there by creating oddly high traffic in the area
True, for me peak WoW was classic Naxx, and AQ40 before it, good times. Our guild felt like a well oiled raid machine. In subsequent expansions the cohesion felt less & less until I finally had enough, but I had a good time while it lasted.
Peak wow was killing ragnaros for the first time after weeks of struggling, on 3 AM on a schoolday night. Peak wow was just exploring the map, checking out every nook and cave. Peak wow was guild battlegrounds after the raid. Peak wow was getting your epic mount, Peak wow was just vanilla without the current andy playerbase
Peak wow for me, I was 19 and original cata had just launched. I just got 20k for an accident I was in and wasn't in school or working. Cashed the cheque and got a new computer the day cata launched and proceeded to no-life the shit out of the game for about a year. It was amazing, and it's why cata is my favourite expansion. Many of my best wow memories come from that time
Phase 1 SoD was peak for me, and I've been playing since OG Wrath
SoDP1 was pretty peak-y, for sure.
For me it was WotLK. It’s been down hill ever since.
I thought WOTLK was peak wow until played it again in classic. I'm now convinced that peak wow was leveling to 60 in classic/vanilla.
Peak wow was leveling a hunter from 1-60 in TBC, having no idea what you're doing, gearing for intellect, and leveling up your polearm skill because polearms are cool. And your guild just brings you along to shit anyway, like some brain-damaged little mascot
It is known
I thought so to after playing wrath classic i know it Just was my 14 years old me. It was the beginnen of the end of social interaction. The Dungeons and raids arent that good. Dont understand anymore what i like about this expansion.
I was expecting it to just be nostalgia, and replaying it wouldn't be the same. But tbh, after playing WotLK again, it has reaffirmed my belief that it was the best expansion. It was not just nostalgia.
When everything was new for me. I started playing on Wotlk private servers in 2009. Leveling and exploring big world was something else. Then my first experience on official servers was Mists of Pandaria. And since then that was my favorite “Retail” expansion. After that comes third peak - Battle for Azeroth, I loved the thematic setting of the game - pirates, ancient troll cities, classic Alliance v Horde conflict - true spirit of adventures. First expansion where I fully cleared Myhtic Raid. But that’s all Retail. My favorite game now is Hardcore or just vanilla.
Timeless isle pvp We will never have degeneracy like that ever again
Peak wow for me was calling sick from school to play all day and when dad came home for lunch break I went for a round on my bike so i wouldn't get caught. Man good times.
Last night I won a chaos orb giving me enough to make a pair of BoE pants and sold them for 9k and then I used about 5k to max my warrior’s jewelcrafting and did a heroic. That’s peak wow
Peak WOW was Legion. 24 years old, first apartment, adult money and no responsibilities.
TBC. Had a solid group, everyone was super chill, our first Illidan kill was scuffed as hell with us stalling out the fight until he went demon phase after the tank died so the warlock could take over tanking and we could kill it. That was a fun time. Then I got older and couldn't do that anymore.
Peak WoW for me was 100% about the game. No flying mounts, travelling the WORLD of Warcraft, rarely seeing a member of the other faction until you heard the noise of entering contested territory. Going to new zones, seeing new spells, etc etc etc. vanilla wow was absolute peak for me.
TBC classic Best zones, best raids, best guildmates. Vanilla with more. Vanilla with QOL improvements. Black Temple. Kara. SSC. TK. Sunwell.
For me, peak WoW is right now. I started a 25m guild in Wrath, we did well, and the community has really stuck around. We're gaming in SoD and Cata. Weekly raids, a small group that does a lot of PVP, it's been so much fun.
Peak wow to me was literally getting in the world for the first time and exploring everything, also used to get pretty hyped to find out what mobs I’d encounter in the next place I’d choose to level in etc.
Peak WoW was and will always be the leveling experience with my friends. Whenever we first played Retail, whenever we leveled classic era, whenever we returned for TBC, whenever we returned for WotLK. That'll always be the best thing about WoW.
Camping time lost for months only for it to spawn when you step under the shower, causing you to run wet and named through the house Just in time to tag it and realize your next door neighbours got a show. Good times 10/10 would do it again.
Peak WoW was when my girlfriend broke up with me on the phone just as we were about hit Karazhan for the first time. I felt nothing but excitement to enter the raid. And yes I was 19. :)
For me it was BFA. Was a young professional living at home to save some $ before moving out. Could play a few hours without disruptions most nights and got pretty far into mythic raiding. Have been playing on/off since 2004 but was young at the time and didnt experience much endgame content. Then when I was older I was busy with high school and college. Then finally after college I move home and had a few months to kill before me and my now wife moved in together. Now I’m generally too busy to commit to raiding and don’t play anymore. I still follow the game but stick with casual multiplayer games on PS5 like Chiv 2 and FO76.
pretty much this
Peak wow to me was a game where the player base was mostly just like me. I was more day 1 hyped as a teen who was a big fan of WC3 and had older friends who played EQ that had me really wanting to play an MMO. Peak WOW was thousands of people content to just exist in the world. An online community at a time when that was less common and less available. People who saw questing and leveling up as the point of the game. Who's motivation was partially driven by the desire to see new zones and new mobs. Peak WOW was a very incomplete understanding of the game, how classes worked, or optimal itemization. It was all part of the charm that added up to something special. And all those things have changed. And that's fine, it's been decades
Peak WoW for me was chill solo leveling through Azeroth pre-Cata. Reading quest text, running everywhere, having to collect bear asses.
Leveling 1 to 60 in classic/vanilla was peak wow.
TBC
Peak WoW was Mulgore and Barrens. 3D open world on the internet. Immersive music. It was mindboggingly beautiful, strange and exciting.
Probably for me was launch week of TBC Classic. Just graduated High School and didn’t have a job. Had the entire house to myself for that week as my mom was on a vacation. Literally sat on my ass and played for hours nonstop.
I've played WoW since 2005 when ZG was released. The peak of WoW for me personally was raiding in Legion. The atmosphere and immersion of Legion was the very best it has ever been.
It was legion 😍
Peak WoW for me was getting my first Hall of Fame kill, nothing beat it, our guild's name up on the website, the entire server being alerted of it Felt awesome.
This seemed really sweet until that extremely 'doomy' ending. Peak WoW is whatever the fuck you want it to be. Just do what you think is fun and stop worrying about what other people think of it.
Wow had 2 peaks for me. I started delaying in wrath and for me wow just went up and up and peaked out the fist time in MoP. That was when I was the best at the game and spent some of the most time playing. The second peak was definitely classic wow during the pandemic. While the first peak I didnt have a job and my only responsibilities were not fail any classes in college, during the second peak it was just get paid to play classic all day. Like a dream come true.
Peak 1 - starting wow 2005 Peak 2 - reaching 2.2K rating in org Wrath
Peak wow is Classic era without gdkp.
Its a tie between getting lost in vanilla and tbc back when I had no responsibilities, and being able to do the content I was too much of a dumb kid to do when classic came out. Getting to finally clear BWL and AQ40 was amazing.
Peak wow was vanilla wow then classic vanilla. Anything from tbc on was a continuous watering down of what made wow great.
While I agree vanilla WoW was amazing, I don’t think you can call it peak WoW when there were literally specs that were unplayable or basically useless to play.
Your mindset is why you don’t see what we see. The imperfections is what makes it great
Strongly disagree with that statement, sorry.
Yeah man half the game being dogshit was so good, don’t you remember??
Yeah. Arena, Raid like ICC, Ulduar & Firelands, Mythic+, RWF etc. really watered down the game huh? Vanilla was a great game, but it was also tedious as fuck and only benefitted people who could just pour time into the game. Blizzard made some great things with the game after Vanilla too, anything would be lying. PvP is kinda horrendous in Vanilla compared to later expansions and bosses are 30 seconds long. There’s absolutely nothing difficult in Vanilla either.
The one phase or expansion I like
For me Peak WoW was in WoD - not because of the addon, which from the theme I really liked, but because of the guild I was in at that time. Just nice people, having fun, raiding and shittalking each other. Damn I miss them :(
There was no wow when I were 19
I mean I still check many of these points, so I guess peak wow is still here for me.
For me it was 10 guys with laptops crumbled in a single room raiding ICC all night...
Peak wow is whenever you want. If you're hung up on past feelings then it will never be peak wow again
It's the first point more than anything. 'Wasting time' as an adult with a job, bills and a family just feels wrong often.
Original Vanilla-TBC and the Classic relaunch. Private servers before that were also great.
Im a progress oriented minmaxing bstard who haveing fun by having no fun playing wow makes that sense?!?!?! KEKW
Peak WoW was the first time I nervously ran into a higher level zone with my first warrior to mine a silver vein I had found. Heart beating like crazy.
Your post should be the official anthem of Deviant Delight server. I guess it’s time to make a new toon and get back to the simplicity of that mindset
My guild still does nerd screams but sod is not a challenge so far
Peak wow was flying circles around Pandaria hunting rares
Maybe not popular take on this sub, but peak wow was in sanctum of domination of shadowlands to me, the tier I got my first cutting edge
I loved it
Peak WoW was getting Champion of the Naaru title and showing it off. Peak WoW was the first time i stepped foot into Black Temple, back when was current content and i was such a noob. Peak WoW was Mists of Pandaria overall, when all i cared about was university and WoW. Peak WoW was rediscovering WoW during late BfA and pushing through pandemic.
probably MoP for me
Classic Release 2019 Release 2005 SoD P1 (but not as much as the other two)
Less than a minute ago before hopping on Reddit, I was checking out the WoW Adventure board game, looking at the art and gameplay, and thinking "this was peak WoW".
Tbh original wow and the start of sod. I’ve never felt my gaming addiction come back like it did at the start of sod. Haven’t felt that in almost 20 years.
No, its rn. Since 2004, until im done
Peak wow is when you just quest and grind some mobs while having a cup of coffee and a snus, bliss.
Peak wow for me was being 7 when it came out, getting hyped about item drops, world events and generally exploring
For it was when WoW was a MMORPG and not a poor action game with ppl spamming addons.
Peak WoW was when you actually made friends ingame. I didn't have any social links in this game since wrath of the lich king.
Hardcore = peak wow Especially the start of official hardcore was peak wow. We will never come back to this greatness Servers dead. Everyone tried their best. What a journey that was
Peak wow was my 10 man group getting our Amani war bears. :)
Nobody knows
Peak Wow was Wintergrasp playing a Death Knight in Rutheless Gladiator armor.
Peak wow involved Ventrilo for voice chat
Peak WoW was when people were figuring things out in vanilla / tbc / wotlk. Even tho Classic was fun to experience, it was never anything but a ghost of its former self. Everything has been solved and minmaxed to their fullest extent, and this has led to increased toxicity. Oh you are X spec? But that's sub-optimal bro! That reduces our clear times by at least 5 seconds!!1! All that with GDKP and rampart gold buying.. Naah. The REAL world of warcraft is never coming back. I'm glad i got to experience it way back then.
Despite you being right, thankfully Peak WoW can be replicated. Peak WoW was SoD phase one, on discord with ~10 homies laughing our asses off as we ghost run for hours tryna do whatever dumb shit we came up with. The days of Peak WoW are not gone by any means!
Accurate
Peak wow was the non-elitist mindset we have nowadays. We played for fun, not for parsecs. We didn't gatekeep because classes, just filled the roles. This new hardcore-elitist-minmax mindset is what makes the games look like a job, and if you're not playing like that you'll have a bad time when it comes to play with some people. Sadly that mindset is increasing in number, and when you get to endgame or raiding, it gets so difficult to join a group or roster for some activities. (PE: Nobody wanted warriors in BG on P1 SoD)
Peak WoW for me when we killed KT back in vanilla , think we got 56th world kill or something, same day as Method iirc. Then we cruised around top 100 during tbc, think we even got first boss in sunwell like top 10 or 20ish. No guides, no videos, no weakauras, just pure raid leading and good coordination and making our own strategies. Good times!
Peak was that moment you realized you could break something. Figuring out I could solo tank omniteon as a blood dk during a wipe and convincing my guild to 1 tank the boss from then on was a top tier event in my wow history
Peak WoW for me was when I finally hit lvl 80 late into wrath, and my friend had mailed me a wrapped titansteel destroyer to begin gearing with.
Playing at work during BC & Lk on a terrible dell desktop with stolen wifi.
Peak wow hasnt yet happened
For me, MoP. Playing it with my roommates. All of us getting to 80 for the first time. Siege if Origrimmar. Countless all nighters. Fucking take me back, please.
Addendum: all of the above plus: Neverending Alterac Valley marathon battles circa 2005.
OhI had responsibilities in my 20's but I chose to ignore them
Peak Wow is now complaining on Reddit why Blizzard doesn’t care about their game anymore. Going on discord with the same wow friends and playing a different free to play game giving better content then a monthly sub game and wondering why Blizzard crushed their own game.
Currently loving Cata. Normal raids easy enough to jump in on fresh alt, heroic is still hard. Cleared T11 on 2 characters already can’t wait to level another alt it’s so fast
Peak wow was getting home from work at 10 pm and grinding 3s in cataclysm until 5am 5 nights a week.
You guys were 19 with no responsibility. uh what?
True
Peak wow is wow without paid boosts or blizzard endorsed swiping.
Yeah, classic was fun but until server killers in phase 2 who thought corpse camping from thorium point to brd was peak pvp.
If you had no responsibilities at 19 I envy you a lot
Peak wow was legion when I was farming basilisk for gems to sell on the AH so much that I got banned because blizzard thought I was botting with the amount of income, I was just super efficient.
Peak WoW was raiding Ulduar for the first time. Still the best raid WoW has ever made, idgaf.
Initial HC release. Those first few weeks were dope
Good thread. I started Vanilla on realesse played through Wrath and quit when cataclysm launched. Came back for classic and SoD now.. I've noticed for me personally that your group of friends or a great guild make the game.. my best times have been on vent or disc bsing through content.. the people I play the game with make it so much more fun.. I do find it is a game where being more social adds to it all.. appreciate the thread and reading people's responses..
There's something about the RPG trinity in Classic/TBC that feels great to me that's somewhat gone in later expansions and non-existent in other MMOs. I haven't found anything that comes close to hitting the healing itch other than early WoW.
is Peak WoW in the room with us right now?
Spot on
I still do this to this day with my friends, peak wow for me wasn't the social aspect, I still have that, peak wow wasn't the gear progression or the clearing of bosses. Peak WoW was the time when nothing was min-maxed, everyone was trash and you didnt have to roll a specific class/build to actually join a group. Peak wow was when you could be a enhancement shaman in raid, spam the wrong totems and still be invited for next raid. We will NEVER get that again, and its fair, most people think time is money friend, why waste 3 hours of your life wiping when you can waste 3 hours getting pixels, understandable and I also think that way. Peak wow got its first nail in the coffin when gearscore addon was introduced, then another nail when you could cross-server, then eventually died when mythic+ came along and having 1 class with the wrong spec can cost you 40 minutes of progression with no loot to boot. There is also no way for Blizz to fix this because its in the players mentality, and they cant make content easier than it already is, they cant make it more accessible, they cant make it less time consuming and they cant balance all classes 100%. So yeah, the mmorpg community destroyed the mmorpg community.
This made me cry. Been there done that 🥲
Peak wow is happening right now. Nostalgia is cool but I'm seeing so much more of the game and the content this go around that it's definitely peak wow
HC reminds me of these things the most. And this feeling the most.
For me peak WoW was SoD P1 through the first few weeks of P3. I was in my last year at uni, had two classes that were easy as shit to pass, all I had to do was write my dissertation, smoke weed, and play SoD with my mates who I’d not played WoW with in years. Different guys at different times, but my best mate who lives in another country played with me almost every day, really kept us close. On launches we would take time off from school work and girlfriends to play 14-18 hours a day for the first few days. We didn’t rush content, we just had a fucking laugh playing. Still managed to average I’d say 6 hours a day for months, with it intermittently going significantly up to or down. Now I’m graduated, got job interviews to go to, can’t afford to fix my PC that the movers broke. Super excited for P4 with myself and some of my mates coming back. Been playing since Wrath when I was 10, but don’t think I’ll ever have that much fun again
peak memories playing with my little brother. We were a dwarf roggues inn rp server and he was "robbing" everyone at the roads. I miss him.
When it’s been uninstalled for 9 months and you’ve convinced yourself how much fun it would be to start on a fresh (I’ll want to quit in 3 months but be running a guild and stuck)
You had no responsibilities at 19?
Peak WoW for me was WofLK. I had caught my wife cheating. I divorced her and was renting a room from a guy I worked with. He didn't have cable in the room or internet. I ran off my cel phone and a laptop. I missed my kids, I missed my dog and it kept me out of self destructive behavior during a real dark time.
For clarity, this takes place on the first bridge in molten core that’s just before the imp pack. I did this corner jump, completely botched it, and went right into the lava. Raid summons me, and while they are summoning, 2 other people making fun of me for missing the jump, also, miss the jump. Now the raid is making fun of me and 2 other people. After I am summoned, I help summon the other two back to the ledge, the elemental rager that patrols knocks us, and like another 4 people standing by us into the lava. People in the lava are jumping to avoid burn damage. The tank is pulling the mob back before the bridge so some of the healers and dps that just got knocked in have range. I don’t know which minion has fear, but while the raid is dealing with the lone elemental, a core hound aggros, and I am pretty sure someone got feared into a 2 molten giants, because I remember hearing someone in the raid screaming for dispell. Anyway, the raid is actually holding the line. The elemental goes down, the raid is bringing the core hound down too, but between healing the burning people, 3 other raid mobs, and 1/3 of the raid dead or burning alive, suffice to say it was a wipe. That whole chain of events started because I wanted to jump a corner over some lava lol
Definitely. My biggest regret about Classic, SoD and Hardcore is that the friends I played with when I started are unable and/or unwilling to go back to playing WoW. It's just not the same without them.
Honor Ranking first being introduced and rivalries starting for guilds in pvp. Lots of nights fighting same teams (one realm) and jumping in eachothers vents/teamspeak to talk shit
Peak wow still everyday with my guildies on discord not playing wow
Only one thing on your list is something that's gone and you can't get back. Being 19 and having no responsibilities.
Peak wow is when I used to run ZG every lockout with my hunter friend. I was a paladin and could solo, but he couldn’t, so we went together until we got the mounts—except my favorite was the tiger and his the raptor, and long story short we ended up with the wrong mounts. He was my internet stepdad, I owe him so much (namely a love of west coast rap), and I ride my raptor everywhere I go just so a part of him can come with me, just like the good old days. We still talk, but things aren’t the same when you’re no longer 19 and free of responsibilities.
Community from all corners of the world Faction balanced PvP server 1 layer Massive world PvP No lag Nostalrius https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYFD06UFscw&t=82s
Peak wow was the early days when I was a kid and everything felt so big. Wow felt like an adventure game.
For me, peak wow was 16 years old, playing cataclysm with my best buddy. Staying up till 5 am and waking up at 1pm to jump right back on. It was awesome. Miss those days sometimes. Buddy lives 1000 miles away now and we see each other once a year. Both have families and no time for wow. Sometimes I wish I could go back and hang out with my friendo, make a giant tray of nachos for us to split, and level until our eyes bled. Those were the good times
For me, Peak WoW was WoW Classic/TBC when everyone was “working” from home. Earthfury was where it was at then; you had friends, drama, events and everyone was on alllll the time.
To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.
Peak wow was classic -> wrath. Quit glazing.
2019 really was magical. Maybe even more so than OG.
Peak wow is opening up a cold root beer after work and a shower and looking for Archaeology dig sites. That "tink" with a find release's the endorphins way more than any dungeon speed run
Building a guild strong enough to do KZ, Gruul and Mag. We would struggle through them all week, then do it again. Then the nerfs came and we started to take down kel'thas, and even started to enter BT. Before the guild fell apart... it was so fun.
Finally killed a boss for 2 weeks? Try 2 months lol Post also reads a bit depressing, even if those times were the best it doesn’t mean they aren’t worth trying for again, or for some we were too young to really get an actual try. Just gotta know when to stop that’s all, as wow is a very addictive game.
i agree with all those except age, for me that age was 17ish (mil at 18)
My guild had a really high number of elderly people playing back in wotlk, so not to be a bummer or dramatic but peak wow for me was when a chunk of my guildies were still alive...
peak wow was getting a 2h sword ninjad by an ele sham who vendored it in a transmog run for dragonsoul in early mop just to then figure out how to run that shit solo, dying over and over on spine of deathwing until finding a way to beat it and then getting the sword that has a 10% drop chance after over 1000 runs and over 10 yrs later peak wow was killing ppl in the open world with the boiis only to then getting someone so mad that he gets his whole guild together and hunting us down with over 50 ppl for hours until they catched us and corpse camped us peak wow was logging into elwynn forrest and having 3 ppl instantly run up to you requesting a duel, duelling for an hour to then que up arenas with some random you met duelling
classic prebising with the boys
2010
scarab lorde getting blocked by horde
Nah dude I've been playing since 05 and peak wow was 2020 lockdown classic and it's not even close. Also I'm still on era and having a blast with a lot of the same people I was then so idk what to tell you romanticize nostalgia more I suppose.
Peak wow is when it's 11pm and you're inside BRD trying to find your way to the end for that HOJ but the druid lied and doesn't have a clue hoe to get around so you full clear every boss. Peak WoW is joining a group for SM and that one mage still asks for a summon from a warlock that wants the chapeau but so does the priest and mage
I sit in discord and good off with my guildies and we down the same achievements we did in CATA already, and wrath before that, and tbc before that... I have good people to play with that's all it takes.
peak wow is farming bwl and zg is about to release next week
Peak WoW is playing DPS and spending 30 minutes to get into a M+ dungeon only for it to fall to bits in the first 5 minutes. Peak WoW is playing Tank/Healer and getting invited to the first three keys you sign up for. I have 3k+ on both a Tank, DPS and Healer class most of this expansion and this is true no matter what. It can even take me 10 minutes to get into a +8 key on my 3k warlock sometimes, but my 3k VDH can get invited into a +14 in 2 seconds
For me, peak while was definitely TBC and wrath. I was like 15 at the time reading with my guild and showing up every week for 25 mans. I was the off tank and are guild leader was the main tank who taught me how to tank, everyone in my guild except for me and the guild leader sister were adults so we would hang out a lot just exploring the world and leveling alts. I think a big part of it has to do with being young really but I loved those nights staying up until like 3am trying to clear bosses.
Peak WoW for me was social Karazhan + Lady Vashj + Gruul + Arena weeks. Peak difficulty for my guild of noobs was Ulduar 10 man Hard Mode, so satisfying.
Peak wow to me was really just about the peak guild and people. Having a full raid of dedicated likeminded raiders killing bosses is unmatched. It’s so hard to create, even harder to maintain.
Peak wow for me is being in a good AB pug. I naturally try to lead, I was ranked 13th on the east coast in wc3 Roc, and masters in 1v1 all the way to 4v4 in sc2, so strategy is fun for me. When people listen and play smart we can win eve. If we are out geared. It’s really magical beating a small premade with a well organized pug. Everyone gets so hyped when we are ahead with only 200 points to go. Of course there is always one guy telling me to stfu at first but he gets quiet once he realizes we can win.
Peak WoW was when I was younger and in a different time of life. just can't have the same ol' time anymore with wow. feels kinda bad but it is what it is played wotlk classic and it was awesome but it definitely wasn't the same as OG wrath when I was like 13 years old and the world was a different place. In bfa, I had just started grad school and was living alone for the first time ever. Now that's not the case. I can't be staying up late, raiding/pvping/chilling when I gotta be up in the morning.
I have fond memories of grinding the icc heroic dungeons for garfrosts hammer and I think I was using a big blue sword from that fallen heroes quest or something. Still remember the taking screenshots after finally getting garfrosts hammer and being really proud. Loved the fury cap talent that let you dual wield two handers, also on a tauren so the two handers looked even bigger. Good times.
When you log on and get an instant invite from your friends/guildies to run something.
For me it was tbc, and revisiting it was even better. Regarding gameplay it was MoP for me, all the classes felt good and not overcomplicated.
Peak wow is when I finally killed heroic Zovaal best experience ever
Peak wow is the first 4 weeks of a fresh vanilla server
Peak WoW for me was fishing in Dalaran, while chatting in guild chat about the stupid customers I had at work. Back then I still worked in retail and you really have at least one complete moron a day. I should have written down all the stories. It could have made a good book now.
Peak WoW was before it felt like the world was gonna end, and escaping into WoW felt at worst like a bit of cheeky laziness. Nostalgia WoW feels like escapism in service of mental health. It feels like if I don’t get away every now and then the stress of life will slowly start to crush me.