The 10 best moments from World of Warcraft's first decade

We rank our favourite moments of World of Warcraft from its 10 year history.

World of Warcraft celebrates its 10th anniversary today (November 23) and with that comes a decade-worth of unforgettable experiences.

Whether you're a brand new player, returning veteran or never went away, here's the best of what the ground-breaking online game had to offer.

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10. Bosses annihilating capital cities

WoW Insider

Is there anything more memorable than seeing a 100-foot demon lord stomping into what should be a sanctuary, a place you call home? Over the years many tough bosses have been kited to the various cities of Azeroth to unleash death and destruction.

Many Alliance heroes have sought vengeance on Orc-capital Orgrimmar, including Lady Jaina Proudmoore and Shandris Feathermoon.

Doom Lord Kazzak is the one we remember most, though. He has single-handedly conquered Stormwind City and razed Ironforge. Due to his abilities he was incredibly difficult to defeat (him killing a player meant he healed - and he killed many, many players) and often had to be manually despawned by Game Masters so that order was resumed.

We miss these random attacks, and these days Blizzard is pretty quick to fix these issues - or ensure they're not possible in the first place - but we live in hope that one day they'll forget to reset a tough mob...

9. Barrens Chat

Ahhh Barrens Chat, how we don't miss you - much. The Barrens was one of the first zones encountered by Trolls, Orcs and Tauren players starting the game with an equally long grind ahead of it spanning almost 10 levels. What did players do to take their minds away from collecting boar tusks? Take it to the general chat channel.

Conversations ranged from Chuck Norris to Metallica and the ever popular "Where is Mankrik's wife??" And while not the most enthralling discussions (especially after the 15th time), it provided a welcome distraction to questing.

8. City Raids

City raids are huge and some of the most fun experiences we've had in World of Warcraft. Attacking an opposing city's faction leader found deep within enemy territory is not a task that can be easily accomplished. Not only are the cities difficult to penetrate due to the presence of guards and players alike, the leaders are formidable NPCs that can quickly annihilate unprepared raid groups.

Though these are less frequent today, it always gets the adrenaline pumping to hear cries of a city under siege while players quickly leap to the defence of their beloved leaders - unless that leader was Garrosh Hellscream.

7. Corrupted Blood

Back in September 2005, Patch 1.7 came with Zul'Gurub, a new 20-player raid instance. Final boss Hakkar the Soulflayer would place debuff on characters that would quickly deal damage then spread to others in close proximity. Through a glitch, this ability could exit the raid instance where chaos ensued.

Player pets carrying the disease would be summoned in capital cities - namely Ironforge and Orgrimmar due to their high populations - and quickly spread, annihilating low level characters. Important NPCs like auctioneers, flight masters and guards contracted the disease - though they could not be killed by it - ensuring a highly contagious outbreak.

This was eventually fixed, and while some praised the occurrence while others raged at the level of disruption caused, we personally thought it was an interesting shake up. The event would inspire Blizzard to make something a little more official... (See moment four below!)

6. You are not prepared!

You are not prepared! The Burning Crusade was wonderful for memorable boss quotes, with Magister's Terrace providing the stuff memes are made of with "Was merely a setback!". Before then came Illidan, the final boss encounter for the Black Temple raid. A fan favourite, Black Temple is hailed as one of the raids to define World of Warcraft.

Originally an attunement quest was needed to enter the zone (no easy feat) by killing bosses in The Battle for Mount Hyjal, Tempest Keep: The Eye and Serpentshrine Cavern raids. If you were fortunate enough to reach the end of the Black Temple and fight Illidan (an extremely difficult encounter that involved 5 different stages) you were rewarded with beloved items such as The Twin Blades of Azzinoth and Bulwark of Azzinoth.

5. Wrath of the Lich King's Cinematic

The Wrath of the Lich King expansion had everyone hyped; it was the point at which Warcraft subscriptions reached their peak and a time players look back fondly on due to several of the expansion's features, be that world PvP (Player versus Player) zone Wintergrasp, the addition of siege vehicles, or encountering Lore favourite Arthas in his Lich King guise. (We're not listing the promised Dance Studio here because we're very forgiving people. Obviously.)

The cinematic gave players the first look at what the expansion was it about and it's one of Blizzard's best.

Oh, and we also love it just because the cinematic has since been given the Frozen treatment with 'Let It Go' blaring over the top (below). Which one do you like best?

4. A zombie outbreak


For Wrath of the Lich King's pre-expansion event, Blizzard shook up the game in a way that changed the expectations for future events forever: A zombie plague descended upon Azeroth.

Originating as creepy looking crates containing cockroaches that infected those who killed them, the disease was quick to spread as the event gained momentum. Players grew more resistant to the cure, the time taken to transform into a zombie eventually reaching just one minute. Players and NPCs were equally helpless to the viral outbreak, and several capital cities completely shut down as flight masters, bankers and even some faction leaders transformed into flesh-eating, plague-bearing carriers.

The event lasted a week and is considered by many as the most dynamic world event World of Warcraft has offered. It also proved the most controversial; for every player that enjoyed the event, there were five that voiced their annoyance that their sales of Boar Meat were disrupted.

Subsequent events have been on the safer side with a smaller scale elemental invasion for Cataclysm, a scenario detailing Theramore's Fall for Mists of Pandaria and a quest chain detailing the Iron Horde storming through the Dark Portal for Warlords of Draenor.

3. The battle of Tarren Mill vs Southshore

Before the introduction of arenas and battlegrounds was the battle between Tarren Mill vs Southshore. A vicious battle between the Horde and Alliance for players of all levels that was, by definition, all out carnage. The battles grew so intense that many servers failed to handle the load, creating awful lag for players in the vicinity if servers didn't crash entirely.

The introduction of battlegrounds Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch meant the end of the all out war, but players fondly look back at the first major world PvP event World of Warcraft had seen. An instanced limited edition battleground based on Tarren Mill vs Southshore will be available for the game's the 10th anniversary, using assets from the zone pre-Cataclysm.

World of Warcraft's first deathmatch style map was initially planned as a 100 v 100 battle, reminiscent of the large-scale battles of old, but had to be reduced to 40vsv40 as the game engine isn't set up to support maps of a larger size, according to Blizzard.

2. (Old) Alterac Valley

Alterac Valley is one of Warcraft's oldest and biggest battlegrounds and also one of the most controversial. Requiring a group of 40 players on each side, the Horde and Alliance must battle it out for territorial dominance by slaying the enemy general.

The war zone's history is a long (and bloody!) one, but players could once summon elemental overlords to raze the enemy base, aerial assaults, cavalry charges and ground troops. Though these are technically still possible, the battleground has since been streamlined and rarely provides the same experience it once did. Games that once lasted for days now last an average of 13 minutes, and years of pleas to return Alterac Valley to the epic experience it once was have remained unheard.

Blizzard previously described the battleground as "super ambitious, probably over ambitious" for when it was released, and "probably the single most complicated design in WoW in terms of how it was built".

Warlords of Draenor attempts to recapture some of the magic found only in "Old AV" with new persistent PvP zone Ashran. We still hope Alterac Valley is looked at again one day soon...

1. She Deep Breathes More / By Fire Be Purged!

Number one is a joint spot for two of the original raid bosses World of Warcraft offered. Onyxia an internet dragon (!) and the Lord of Fire, Ragnaros. Onyxia became a favourite with players after an enjoyable quest chain which saw her deceitful nature exposed; she previously held a position as one of Stormwind City's highest officials and used this position to her advantage. Once players had unmasked her, they chased her down to her lair, ultimately slaying her and removing her head for it to be hung on Stormwind's gates.

This wasn't the last players saw of Onyxia, however. She made a return in Cataclysm where she was resurrected and used in another raid encounter. She was also a part of World of Warcraft's fifth anniversary celebrations, with her fight being updated with relevant level gear and a dragon mount. Any player that logged in also received a baby Onyxia pet.

Meanwhile, found in the depths of level 60 raid Molten Core came Ragnaros, an epic encounter that was exciting until the very last breath and was extremely difficult in its day. Back then, raids required 40 people to complete, so the logistics involved were as difficult as many encounters.

Ragnaros was so popular that he too made a return later in the game's lifespan, this time being summoned in the wake of Deathwing's destruction in Cataclysm, with him being the final boss once more in Firelands. The difference this time? He has legs and will chase you down.

He also has a miniature version of himself available for purchase as a pet, and will be part of the game's 10th anniversary celebrations as he returns again in an upscaled version of Molten Core.

Happy Birthday, World of Warcraft! We hope there are many more to come.

What are your favourite World of Warcraft memories? Add your own below!

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