The Iconic, the Glorious, the Ridiculous and Everything in Between That Defined World of Warcraft

mattstaff

Oct 11, 2016 2:17 PM EDT

We've pulled together a great mix of the defining moments endured since WoW came to grace this planet. Plus some great stories shared by various communities committed to the game. All about that #GuildDrama tho.

01
Kicking things off with...The Blood Plague

via MCGamerCZ

Many brave souls were lost that forsaken day. And let it be know that Ebola ain't got sh*t on Corrupted Blood, dude. On September 13, 2005 players discovered a loophole in the game that allowed them to transport the debuff dished out by Hakkar The Soulflayer (final boss of Zul'Gurub raid instance), and then 'infect' a ton of unsuspecting rival players in various cities...creating mass carnage. The whole event blew up to such a degree that real world scientists ran studies on it to see how populations would actually react to bio-terrorist attacks. No joke. Just wow. Here's a quality video that tells the story of the whole horrific event as well.
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via MCGamerCZ
03
We might as well just relive the glory that is Leeroy Jenkins RIGHT NOW.

via Nursery Rhymes DIsneyCars

Upper Blackrock Spire dungeon is a damn landmark after this outlandish event. The bloodcurdling battlecry let loose by Leeroy Jenkins will echo on into eternity.
04
Illegal Danish (and other WoW Machinima)

via Myndflame

As World of Warcraft picked up an even greater following, more people were desperate to make their mark on the game; and thus we have the first original movie, featuring in-game graphics--titled, Illegal Danish Super Snacks. The film by Myndflame won a ton of awards in a contest hosted by Blizzard and Xfire, and left us with great quotes like "ARCANITE REAPER.... HOOOOOO!"
05
The OG Southshore v Tarren Mill

via GOD DK

I know it's hard to believe right, but back in the olden days there was no such thing as PvP. If you wanted to vanquish players on the opposing faction, you had to journey out into the great Unknown (the Wilderness). One of the first zones for loosely organized bloodshed was the Hillsbrad Foothills. The map featured an Alliance town--Southshore, and Horde town--Tarren Mill. Perhaps, what was most defining about these battles so early on in the game, is there were no 'rewards' for the players participating other than the sheer satisfaction of killing your enemies.
06
The Battle of Alterac Valley Literally Consuming Your Entire Day

via _

No joke here. Before Blizzard went ahead and implemented a 'finite battle time system' these battles that'd take place at Alterac Valley, would drag on for real world hours at a time. During these massive battles, if one side started to slip they'd simply 'turtle up' and wait for the odds to tip back in their favor--thus delaying the ending by even more time.
07
The most epic raid to ever occur...that nobody saw.

via GOD DK

Towards the latter-half of the Vanilla WoW, Blizzard unleashed a 40 man raid called Naxxramas. It was easily the most difficult raid in the game, with players that wanted to participate needing gear from Blackwing Lair and Ahn'Qiraj to survive. Blizzard ended up learning something of an experience with Naxx though; and that was that if you make a raid too difficult, the developer's not going to see near as many players interact with his content as he should. Granted, Blizzard's managed plenty of usage of that raid since it was developed, as it's been used in Wrath of the Lich King; and even an adaptation of it for Hearthstone's first PvE adventure.
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And now some funny stories from various WoW community members!

via CelestialNova
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via Kalisha
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via Dubz4kx
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via Sudac