With the World of Warcraft 5 Year Anniversary now underway, it prompted me to reflect back upon when I first started exploring the World of Azeroth as a level 1 Hunter. It was sometime in February of 2006 when I emerged at the starting zone in Teldrassil… and well, the rest is history. Here I am 3 years and 9 months later, not only still actively playing the same character, but maintaining a website devoted to the game and my beloved class. I guess you could say I was a little drawn in at first and never really lost interest. 😉
My wife gave me WoW as a Christmas gift in 2005, but I waited a few months before installing it. I honestly wasn’t all that interested in it to tell you the truth. I put it on my Christmas list mainly because I had heard that it was a good game at the time for benchmarking PC performance. Up until that point, the only computer game I had been playing was Diablo II LOD. Although I enjoyed the hell out of it, I’d been playing it for 5 years or so, and was starting to take notice of some other games I’d seen reviews of online. One of them was WoW.
My initial impression of WoW was that it was too cartoony and lacked the mature vibe that I so craved about Diablo. WoW looked like it was geared more towards kids and teenagers, where as I was more interested in a game that had mature graphic content and story lines. At least that’s what I had thought.
I had tried a free trial of Warcraft III and it just didn’t excite me. I assumed WoW was going to be along the same lines. It wasn’t until Dave Chappelle’s reference to WoW in one of his stand up routines that I thought seriously about trying it out. I was a fan of his, and I figured if a guy with his personality and intelligence could get into it, well maybe it’s worth a look. How easily influenced I am.
Anyway, I mentioned to the wifey that WoW would be a cool gift choice for me if she needed extra ideas. So, being the sweet and giving spouse that she is, she bought me WoW, a 60 Day Game Card and a strategy guide. 😀
Most people would have probably headed straight to their computer by that evening at the very latest to install the glorious new software, but not me. I guess I had an inkling that even though I didn’t really see myself getting goofy over this game, I had a strange feeling that an unforeseen allure was going to draw me in. I f**king nailed that premonition.
For a few weeks my wife and I flipped through the strategy guide, looking at the different races and classes. She most likely saw herself not playing it, as it looked to have the sort of camera angle and game play that was not to her liking. Like myself, she wasn’t really a gamer per se, but she did have some fun with Diablo (all my doing). She liked that overhead type of game play, but felt that WoW’s camera angle might make her nauseous after playing it awhile. At any rate, we had fun looking through the guide and imaging what sort of races and classes we’d be.
I had a lot going on in my life at that point. I had been in a pretty noteworthy local band that had just imploded after three years of rising success. We were on an indefinite hiatus and I was actively working as a mediator trying to repair the damage and get the train rolling again. On top of that, my mom was coming off of cancer surgery, which didn’t prove to be all that successful. It was a very uncertain and troubling time, at which point I didn’t need yet another distraction.
Once I realized that the band situation was kaput, I knew I had a little more free time on my hands. I also welcomed a new diversion, as my mom’s ill health was gnawing at my emotions constantly. So, one weekend while the wife was out of town on business, I finally went ahead and installed “that game” she bought me for Christmas.
I remember thinking jeeze… this thing is taking frickin’ forever to install. I hope it’s worth it. I figured I’d probably not even get around to playing it that evening because it was taking so damn long. Eventually the installation was complete and I was able to log in for the very first time.
I sat at the character creation screen for quite some time. I had a lot of fun with that actually. I knew I wanted to be a Night Elf Hunter, but the character customization and naming took awhile. Garwulf was a result of my RP side I guess. Not that I’m into the whole role-playing thing, I just wanted a name that sounded cool as well as original.
After watching the cinematic intro trailer, then wandering around Teldrassil for a few minutes, all I could say was… whoa… It’s going to take me awhile to get the hang of things, but I’ll get it eventually…
Because this game is f**king incredible!!!
The one aspect that blew me away was when I first swam through one of the little ponds near the starting area. I was floored by not only the fluid motion, but also by the sound. As I’d said, I wasn’t really a gamer before, so perhaps I was really easy to please.
I remember thinking the biggest decision in moving forward was going to be whether to use the keyboard or the mouse to move my character. For me, it was a no-brainer. Mouse all the way. I’m also thinking this is because I’d never played FPS games before and hadn’t ever experienced that style of play. So essentially, I started keybinding from the get go.
After probably about an hour and a dozen deaths, one of which was a result of falling out of the tree house on my way to the class trainer, I finally dinged level 4. I then went to bed and thought, sheesh… it’s gonna take me forever to hit level 60, but it’ll be fun trying. 😀
After my wife came back home and had a glimpse at my most recent addiction, she demanded I give her the install discs so that she could join me in the fun. She quickly realized that the camera zoom was flexible and offered her nausea free game play. She too rolled a Hunter, but ending up going with a Dwarf.
We both continued with our quests on separate continents, until at one point I decided to make the trek over to Ironforge so that we could journey together. Pretty sweet huh. 🙂 I hopped a boat to Menethil with my trusty Moonstalker Runt by my side, then began the arduous hike through The Wetlands and on to Dun Morogh. Thank goodness for Aspect of the Cheetah. 😉
So here we are nearly four years later… My wife’s uninstalled the game once, I’ve wrestled with my inner WoW demons over the years, but ultimately we’re still enjoying it.
As for my wife, her time in Azeroth is pretty spotty. She doesn’t get on nearly as much as she used to, but when she does, she still has fun with it.
As for me, I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of things. 😉
I’ll tell you one thing that I do know… I made the correct choice at the character creation screen that first day. I’ve diddled with a few other classes that have intrigued me over the years, most recently a Death Knight, but none of them even come close to the joy that is the Hunter class. 😉
So, what’s your story?
How long have you been playing?
Did you start out a Hunter?
What was your first pet?
Do you remember your first instance run?
What’s your /played?
wait… don’t answer that last one. I know I’m sure as hell not telling. 😉
I started the game in March 2006, and the first character I picked was a NE hunter called Kakuraffe back then (now called Anonymouse.)
The first pet I tamed was a Nightsaber (or a Nightsaber Stalker, forgot.) The second pet I tamed was Lady Sathrah, because she had a different name and colour than the other spiders in the area. I made many mistakes as a newbie, such as needing on items I didn’t need…until I got that I was doing that wrong…somewhere around lvl 18 in DM (my first instance) lol. before that however, right outside Auberdine (Darkshore) I saw a rare spawn cat “Shadowclaw.” It was the first beast I’ve seen that can prowl and I was amazed and had to tame it, being the newbie I was back then I sent my pet to attack it and tried taming it 😛
My pet killed it in the end, and then I camped for it and tamed it the next time I found it, was sad to find out that it didn’t keep its prowl attack after tame.
I know I’m kinda late, but I wanted to share my story too.
So what’s your story?
At first, I was on FFXI. Those long nights creating parties to go lvlup somewhere and realize that, even though you played for hours, you still haven’t lvled up… I grew tired of the game and switched to WoW. My first toon was a Tauren Druid. But when a friend of mine decided to switch to WoW, I created a Night Elf Hunter. I kept playing with it for quite a while, lvling to 60 and doing some raids… until I switched job. At the time, I was working for a company sending people all around the world on various kinds of engineering contracts. And since they sent me out in Europe for a few months, there was no way I could keep playing on the US servers with my guild. Ever tried building a 40man raid group at 1PM on weekdays?? After asking a few colleagues about WoW, I found out some of them were playing on a European server. So I bought a European version and created a brand new Night Elf Hunter. That was a few weeks before BC came out. Even though I’m now back at home, I kept playing with my European NE Hunter and I’m still an active raid member of my guild… during weekends.
How long have you been playing?
I’ve been playing WoW for over 4 years now. I’ve been through all the content of the original WoW before BC came out. Then, I did almost all of BC’s content up ‘til Sunwell and now I’m pretty far into WotLK.
Did you start out a Hunter?
No but as I played my Druid, even though I loved the class, it was missing the little something that I found with my Hunter. Being able to switch form was cool, but it’s nothing like having your own pet helping you out in Azeroth and beyond.
What was your first pet?
My first pet was an owl that could be found near Darnassus. But I quickly switched to Duskstalker, a rare cat found in Teldrassil that I lvled to 80.
Do you remember your first instance run?
I can’t remember my first instance run. I’m pretty sure it was Blackfathom Deeps but I can’t remember how it went. But what I do remember is my first kite. I took Teremus for a walk up to Stormwind. It was quite a rush as I was successful on my very first attempt. I had 2 druid friends of mine who were following in case I needed some healing (my gear was pretty weak at the time) but I managed to get Teremus to Stormwind without loosing aggro even once. I know one of the druids was recording the whole thing… To bad I can’t remember where I put the file… And as it can’t be done anymore… But even if it could, since you can easily solo that dragon at lvl 70 (as I did with my hunter), there’s not fun in doing it now.
i should also add that the reason my buddy and i started gaming together was because im in ohio and he had to move to alabama. gaming was like still getting to hang with my best friend without him actually being here. we played wow together for 2 years before i left Khaz Modan for greener raiding pastures.
i started playing on jauary 22nd 2006. my buddy and i were playing the hell out of D2 LOD and just grew very tired of the 10 year olds, hackers and cheats. he got it first, told me how badass it was and i got it the next day.
normally in any sort of game where there is different classes, im 99% of the time the up-close in yuor face melee character. he rolled a warrior so i didnt wanna be the same thing as him. i was clicking my way through the vreate screen and came across the hunter. it was ranged….little bit different form what im used to. different is good. you can get a pet to bite shit while you attack it?! SOLD! almost 4 years later and over 200 days /played its still the only toon i have that i spend any significant time playing.
Awesome stories people!
I’m glad so many of you decided to share. 😀 Thank you.
So what’s your story? – I’m an RPG nut and play on both PC and console, but have never seen the appeal of an MMO, as I’m rather… *cough* anti-social and the thought of needing to interact with people to accomplish something turned me off.
Then a friend of mine gave me a 10 day trial disk and told me to just try it. I held onto it for about a month before caving and installing it.
That was well over a year ago and I’m now an officer in a 10-man raiding guild comprised completely of people I’ve met through the game and have since partied with (a portion of them, anyway) at BlizzCon, this past year.
Oh the difference a day makes.
How long have you been playing? – More than a year, but less than two. I can’t check my wow profile without my authenticator, which I don’t bring to work, because I’m easily tempted by shiny things.
Did you start out a Hunter? – I did not. My first toon, since I started on a trial account, was a nelf druid. Always loved the druid class and I always roll elves when available. However, I knew NOTHING about the game when I started her and leveled her to 20 as balance before the constant dying sent me into madness. By then I’d decided I’d cave and buy BC and rolled my first belf, who is still my main and only 80.
What was your first pet? – One of the Elder Springpaws from Eversong. He was only supposed to be a place holder pet (I even named him Alpha), but I ended up leveling with him into my 60s, before I decided having 2 cats to level was redundant. I took him back to Eversong and released him to the wild. Still miss him.
Do you remember your first instance run? – I don’t, as a matter of fact. Either my reliably crappy memory is being status quo or it was THAT BAD and I’ve blocked it like a trauma.
What’s your /played? – I have no idea and can’t check without the aforementioned authenticator. Better believe I’m going to check it tonight, though. I’m curious.
Happy aniversary Gar! Nice story, please keep on playing and writing your awesome articles. And on top of thatyou can sing and play in a band too!?! If only you were horde the whole thing would be perfect 🙂
npast
I have always been an avid PC gamer but had mostly focused on flight simulators, FPS, Role playing and strategy games (but not RTS where you have to build bases). I had played Diablo and Diablo II but mostly as solo player. Multiplayer for me meant only FPS. Soon before WOW came out I had a conversation with my brother, he leaves in California and I in Switzerland, where we always talk about what games we are playing and what are we looking forward to playing. I had hardly heard of WoW and at the time was mostly looking forward to Half Life 2 or the next version of Il-2 Sturmovik. He asked “So you are not going to play WoW?!!?” and I was like naah don’t like Warcraft and don’t want to get into an MMO after hearing all the addiction stories from Evercrack etc. But he made me really curious about so I started reading the previews and eventually the US release reviews and I then got read some of he lore and I was hooked. One of the things I like the most about WoW is to wonder at the ingenuity of human creation and the universe that Bilzzard has created is just awesome (just like I admire the Star Wars universe and LOTR).
So I decided to give it a try at the time I was single having recently broken up with my GF so I had some time on my hands and no one to nag me. So I preordered the game from Amazon UK hoping to get it in Switzerland before launch then some people started reporting that Play.com was already shipping their copies so I put an order with them also since I really wanted to be ready for launch. Launch day came (it was a Thursday here in Europe) and I had not received the game. So said screw it and went and bought the French version from a local retailer . Got home and raced to install the game it all went smooth I read the manual in the meantime but I already new my character (first and almost only one I have) would be a Night elf hunter. I decided on this after my experience playing Baldur’s Gate I and II where I played a half-elf ranger. I also thought that a Hunter would be a good for soloing and since I did not have any MMO experience or gamer friends I thought most of my time in Azeroth would be spent solo.
For those of you who were not there for release day well let me tell you it was a mess. It was impossible to get in to create and account and after trying multiple times and failing I only managed to create and account by around 11:30 p.m. and then only managed to log into the server after midnight. After creating my Character I think I did one quest and then went to sleep as I had to work the next day. When I started plying during my first weekend the game was really quiet for me because since I had the French client playing in an English server I did not have access to the general channels. But I quickly made friends and started grouping with another hunter who was a couple of levels above me. My first pet was and elder nightsaber and I kept it for quite a long time. When making my character I always thought of it having a wolf as a pet but alas there are no wolves in teldrasssil so had to settle for a cat. After hitting lvl12 my hunter friend said it was time for me to go to Ironforge (Darnassus had no AH at the time) so I made the trek to IF by getting on the boat, then taking to Capt. Placeholder who ported me to Menethil and a couple of naked corpse runs after being killed by crocs. Arriving in IF was when it really hit me how good this game was my jaw dropped to the floor when I made it past the gates, then going to the AH and seeing all those other people. Truly a fantastic moment.
As to what happened to my other copies of WoW, well they arrived a couple of weeks after launch and I opened one of them to install the English client. And then I sold them on Ebay for 100% profit as boxed copies of the game were completely sold out in Europe. I remember one of the boxes went to Romania and the other went to South of France. So I have been playing WoW on the same Character since launch with only a brief 5 month break before WOTLK.
Gar, I usually read your site while I’m at work, so now I’m all anxious to head home and check my /played time. I’m sure I’ll shudder.
I got hooked on WoW when a buddy let me try out the game using his account, and immediately fell in love. This must’ve been back in 2006.
My girlfriend and I are still playing on our original toons – her Tauren Shammy and my Troll Hunter. The decision to play Troll Hunter was based solely on the fact that I loved the troll axe throwers from the RTS Warcraft games, so I assumed the hunter ranged class would be the best fit.
I’ve always loved reptiles, so my first pet was a crocolisk from the southfury river (who later turned white; deviate croc). I leveled all the way to 60, then 70, and then 80 with my scaly buddy, but now I’m raiding with my big green King Krush and generally out-DPSing our guild’s MM hunter 😉
Thanks again, Gar, for making such a fantastic community site! I <3 you, even if you are filthy Alliance 😉
For me, i started with blizz like you, playing Diablo II, LoD
but for hunters, well i played D&D and my favorite characters were always Dwarven Fighters, so when i picked upa WoW box, opened the flap, and saw a Dwarf Hunter, as I soon found out thats wat it is, i knew i had to try it out, i mean a dwarf with a big @$$ gun! WOOT!
My Dwarf Hunter was my very FIRST toon, still is my main, and over a year later im still playing him. I do have another class i like (i LOVE tanking on my human pally) but my heart will always be with Hunters!
My hunter alt was originally supposed to be a lv39 twink. I got him the gear and everything. But I had so much fun playing this class, that I got him all the way to 80.
I’ve named him Caleanon, and thus my most prized pet was a black panther called Sooba 😛 LFG Comic fans will surely get the reference.
So what’s your story?
A rabbit Blizzard fanboi since the original Warcraft & Diablo. They code it, I play – I do not care what type of game it is.
I was part of the Beta, and rolled my 1st character 22 Minutes after the servers went live Day 1.
How long have you been playing?
5 years. Taken some breaks to try SWG, Conan, RTS and turned-based strategy games. Even took a Diablo 2 break once. 😀
Did you start out a Hunter?
No. Started a Mage, but Hunter was my 3rd or 4th alt. It never became my main – always a alt. I am more a tank-healer player by preference.
What was your first pet?
Bjorn. level 11 White skin bear from Dun Morogh. Been at my side ever since. I have a PVP cat (I think from Winterspring).
Do you remember your first instance run?
Deadmines with the guild. It think we did it as a 10man raid of level 10-15 characters. We were slaughtered. 😀
What’s your /played?
I honestly have no clue. 6xlevel 80s, 2 in 70-80 range and 1x at 50+. I am an altoholic.
So what’s your story?
Started playing WoW june of 2007…a couple buddies played and told me how much fun it was so i thought i’d try it out. at the time my computer hardly ran it with the integrated graphics, but i quickly got a video card once i got to playing more. at first like everyone, i had no clue what to do and had no concept of what an addon was, but i learned quickly and got the hang of the whole “go pet, TANK!” and ‘pewpew’ the mobs down.
Did you start out a Hunter?
i sure did…started with a night elf hunter leveled him to 24…then met some new friends at college who rolled horde on stormreaver so i made a tauren hunter and quickly leveled him to 80 in about 4 months time. now though, i have switched to shattered hand and am now a dwarf hunter.
first instance run…
lol i remember heading to deadmines on my first hunter and wondering what it was…i tried to solo it at 22…i got past the first boss suprisingly but soon realized i was over my head.
Copy & paste ftw! lol
So what’s your story?
My cousin wouldn’t shut up about the awesomeness that was WoW…this was a year ago. Also, my bro and I wanted a laptop for Christmas, and figured why not get something we keep hearing praised to enjoy on the new computer.
We nearly died from anticipation as we waited on the patches to install. But several excited Halo rounds later, we came back to our laptop and our borrowed laptop from a family member (it was our mom’s, I’ll admit) to find the games installed.
He rolled a human warlock, and I…the night elf hunter. But wait…what? We weren’t together! (zoom out of map)
Omg. Different continents. This game has continents. Big world.
How long have you been playing?
I had a break for some months when I couldn’t buy subscription…but I came back during this last summer, and been playin since. Since the first time I played, it’s been close to a year now.
Did you start out a Hunter?
Yes. And it was the right choice for me. =)
What was your first pet?
One a them wolf things from teldrassil…I kept that mutt for awhile. Then ditched it the moment I realized I could tame raptors.
Do you remember your first instance run?
I am not sure if it was my first…but the earliest I recall was one a them places near Shatt. My GM managed to pull half a room with one shot. We wiped (aside from me playin dead goin o.O in fear) of course, but it was hilarious and I never forgot it. Months later, in a new guild, same guy pulled a boss in 25 Ulduar. Thankfully the rest of us ran for it XD
What’s your /played?
Scary. And a shame to my girlfriend. =p
I actually rolled a warrior first. I rolled my hunter to be my auction/storage toon. Hence the stupid name. But after getting really stuck at level 60 with the warrior I actually started messing with my hunter…and I loved it!
I had a few issues to overcome (at that time to train a pet you had to train a beast with the skills you wanted, and then teach them to your actual pet), but overall I never found anything to be so fun, and easy.
I’ve had her for about 2 years. She started raiding the week she hit 70 (Kara) and never looked back. She is currently working on Heroic TOC and loving it.
She always thought she would be BM for life, alas about a month or two after the nerfbat she had to swap over to the dark side of SV to remain competitive.
My first per was my level 10 cat in Auberdine. I named her Hyde. I still have her but use my wolf for raids due to the furious howl.
I didn’t do a lot of instances during my leveling career, so i don’t remember exactly which one was first, but I do remember NOT setting my cat to passive, and NOT taking of growl. /blush
I also did that in Kara, once. Now it’s more common for me to put growl back on during solo play and pulling aggro and getting myself smacked down.
So what’s your story?
I was a big fan of Blizz games but thought the idea of paying a monthly fee to play a game was insane. Then we moved and all the guys at my husband’s work played and a gal in my knitting group played so I figured we could give it a shot. My husband and I decided to share an account since we only had one computer capable of running the game plus it was a good way to make sure that we had checks on our play time. I am seriously hooked and love the social aspect of the game. I tried going back to other computer games but I miss the social interaction too much.
How long have you been playing?
One ish year.
Did you start out a Hunter?
My first toon was a night elf hunter, I had meant to roll a rogue because the game guide made them sound so cool and I hit the wrong button. I am glad I did because I think I would have quit the game otherwise. After Litch King came out and created crazy long wait times on my then main server I went to a new server and rolled my main an Orc hunter. I had loved playing the Orc race in the games and decided that I wanted to give the Horde side a try.
What was your first pet?
Blood talon raptor named Masher. I leveled to 80 with him and still have him. Looking back I think a tenacity pet might have been a better choice.
Do you remember your first instance run?
Oh yeah it is seared into my brain. I guildie asked me to help run SFK. I was nervous as heck having never grouped with anyone before, I did not even know where SFK was. We ran through fine except at the end when one of the other players got pissed when I needed a leather piece and he did not win it. Looking back it could have had the wrong stats or something but I had made sure to let them know I was a noob so if it was that huge of an issues it could have been resolved in a better way. Luckily it did not throw me off running instances forever.
It has been 4 years for me. Ironically, the hunter I am currently playing was the first toon I made since switching from Final Fantasy XI. Hunter reminded me of Dragoon at the time (my fav class in FFXI). I got frustrated back then because I tried to play it like a Dragoon…. nubbing it up with melee. lol I let him sit for a while, and played other classes. After trying other classes out, I finally came back to my fav. This time, however, I did my research and learned how to play hunter well.
/salute
So what’s your story?
Oh, a couple of my friends at school were begging me to try it out, so I installed the trial and spent an hour looking through the classes and races. I picked a Night Elf Hunter because I loved the idea of having pets and being a marksman. I also played around with a priest (which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I stuck with my hunter.) I still play that hunter today, but I also have a druid too ^^.
How long have you been playing?
Ummm about 2 1/2 years now I believe…
Did you start out a Hunter?
*nod*
What was your first pet?
I’m not totally sure… but I think it was a bear in the Night Elf starting zone XD.
Do you remember your first instance run?
Hmmmm… I think I was level 40 and ran a bunch of people through Deadmines XD.
What’s your /played?
Hunter – 73days
Druid – 17days
Sooooo… probably about 100 days overall with alts and such XD.
So what’s your story?
Well Started wow because the wife and I were looking for a new game to play, did alot of console games, and we played Heroes of Might and Magic 3 together, but wanted something different as we had the maps memorized. So we looked and decided on WOW. bought the original, and somehow she installed the trial and I installed the full even though we bought 2 so she played a priest at first and got to level 5 before I got it installed so then she switched to a warrior. I chose a hunter because I just new I wanted to be a hunter, in D&D I was always a ranger so it just fit
How long have you been playing?
Over a year and a half, not sure how long, switched servers once during that time
Did you start out a Hunter?
Yes, first 80 as well, now have 2 other 80s and another hunter at 26
What was your first pet?
One of the moonstalkers and one of the stirgid owls, My wife hated the owl, but I loved him, the wife got in the way of her targetting the mobs with its wings
Do you remember your first instance run?
Yeah we tried to 3 man Blackfathom deeps with a rouge, a warrior and me. We all knew nothing about it, but were like damn these guys hit hard
What’s your /played?
hahah too long
I too spent hours looking at the manual and the difference choices! I combed that thing over and over for every scrap of information I could pull from it.
My first character was a blood elf mage, because I knew I didn’t like being hit in melee and figured they’d be the best fit for mages. My friend who started at the same time had a Forsaken warrior, and had grouped up with some friends who had been playing for a while. Told me to come join them in Brill. Being new, I assumed this meant going through Eversong Woods, Ghostlands, and this strange new place called “Eastern Plaguelands.” Sigh.
Rolled a hunter after stalling on the mage at 24, and never looked back. Fell in love instantly with the golden boar from Mulgore and used that all the way until they revamped the pets and the boar became too weak to use. 🙁