I'm an old player, and sometimes I reminisce.

[Aeladrine]

So I’m trying to go to bed, and my mind just keeps slipping back to WoW. I’ve been playing a lot of WoW lately, so this isn’t much of a surprise.

But my thoughts just decided to take a turn to quite a few years in the past.

I started playing WoW back in 2007, just a couple of months before BC was released. That’s a weird thought, for me. I’ve been playing MMOs for a long, long time, and I’m still not any good at them.

But back in 2008 or so, right in the weird stall between expansions, I was leveling a toon. I’ve always been a slow leveler, and I’d just decided my human mage wasn’t really a character I wanted anymore (sidenote: now, years later, I have come back to her as a character and love her to death. I need to remake her). I didn’t like how easily I died, how quickly I ran out of mana, pretty much anything about her. So I made a new character, trying out one of the new races from BC.

At the time, you could only have characters of a single faction on each server. The people I played with all played Alliance side, so I abandoned the pretty blood elves and trolls and orcs and tauren that I really, really wanted to play, and picked up a draenei. Two of the other people I played with did the same.

I was the last to make my character, and we were trying to avoid doubles. One of them took a shaman, and the other took a paladin. I’d already had my fill of mages, warlocks seemed about the same to me, and warriors and rouges were both confusing because they didn’t use mana. I shrugged my shoulders and took a hunter.

I wonder if it dates me when I say I created my hunter at a time when they used mana and you couldn’t get a pet until level 10. At that point you were already so used to fighting without one that this new creature under your control was just clunky and hard to deal with, at least for a few levels. Maybe that was just me, though. I’m not very good at these games, after all.

But I leveled my little hunter (sidenote: she’s still my main, though she’s in desperate need of a name change) all the way up to level 10. I tamed a plain brown bear I named Shiota, which was a reference to a book series I loved, and still do love.

And then I decided I hated the draenei starting area with a burning passion. It was all so damn red, I kept getting attacked by ravagers that made awful clicking sounds, and the cool blood elves were on my island and taunting me over the fact that I’d had to play Alliance.

So I bailed. I traveled out from Bloodmyst Island, skipping through the night elf lands and sticking myself in Westfall.

Here’s where our story truly starts.

As I said before, this was in the lull between expansions. A lot of people were making alts that they hadn’t bothered with before, Magister’s Terrace was hot stuff, and Shattrath was constantly full. A lot of the serious players had already finished all their rep grins and raids, and even the more casual players were finishing up content.

So what did they do? Well, a good number of them would hang out in Westfall, offering free runs of the Deadmines to people.

That dungeon was a bitch at level, I remember that much. It was long, I could never actually find the dungeon entrance. I still have problems with that damn mine, actually. These were the days before the Dungeon Finder, before that lovely teleportation and queueing for your runs. We would all sit outside Deadmines, spamming general chat and hoping people would be online and good enough to make a run.

Those level 70 folk were angels to me. As I’ve said before, I’m no good at MMOs. I’m obviously not a serious player. So while it may be kinda shameful, my first ever run of Deadmines I got carried through by a level 70 draenei hunter. She had a wolf, though I didn’t know why at the time.

I’m not sure if you guys understand how much I wanted to be her. She took a ragtag group of low level toons and took them through their first dungeon, explaining to those of us who didn’t know what they were doing how everything worked. She gave us tips on running dungeons, on how to keep from pulling everything, even on our classes themselves. She took time out of her day to sit down and teach people how to play a game.

And the best part? She was specced BM. Yeah, I know. It’s still got a bad rep, even after all these years. But imagine yourself, being taught how to run your first every dungeon, and you suddenly see this black wolf grow huge and red, just because that level 70 was a little bored. Then you find out that that same spec allows you to tame things no one else can.

Before that dungeon, I hadn’t decided which tree I was actually going to go down. You weren’t locked into them, after all.

I still play a BM hunter.

She wasn’t the only person I met who did those runs. Lots and lots of people did. I looked up to each and every one of them. Many of them were doing the runs because they had two accounts and were leveling alts, sure. And not all of them taught people things like that one draenei hunter did. But each and every one of them took time to help other people in the game, people who wouldn’t always do these things on their own. I would watch them do run after run after run, their patience seemingly unending.

One of my goals in WoW was always to go back and do that for people. Just run groups of lowbies through dungeons for no real reason other than to help them and teach them like people helped and taught me. I never really got to. As I said, I level slowly. By the time I felt comfortable enough to do those sorts of runs, the Dungeon Finder already existed. People don’t sit outside dungeons spamming general chat anymore.

I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’ve utilized that silly little finder plenty of times, and I’m incredibly grateful for it. Yeah, I’ve had awful PuGs because of it. But I’ve had really good ones, too.

I’m just a little sad I don’t see people taking low level characters through dungeons anymore. Some of my earliest and fondest memories of WoW are from that.

It’s what got me hooked on this silly little game.

[Hatari]

I read this, and it really made me smile. It sounds so much like my own story.
I joined sometime in 2005. My first character rolls were all Alliance because that's where my brother played. But I just couldn't find the right niche. Nothing was clicking. I had friends who played Horde side on a different server, so I rolled there. I always wanted a Tauren. To be honest, I have no idea why I didn't roll a druid. I vaguely remember that's the class I wanted. But I think one of those friends (who were all level capped raiders by the time I joined) expected I'd be leveling and playing a lot by myself, and their thoughts were hunters were good for soloing. So, I rolled Hatari.

Like you, I'm not great at the game. And I level slowly. It took me years to cap. And like you, I have many fond memories of the various nuances of the game before all the changes. I do indeed remember hunters being a mana class. Hah, earlier tonight, in vent with my current guild, someone brought up the fact that until Cata we had to carry ammunition. LOTS of it. That we had to BUY. And by the time end game Wrath was out, that ammo was EXPENSIVE (sorta). If you ran out, your bow (gun/crossbow) did not fire and you died. Also, FEED your PET. Make him HAPPY. (Yes the smileys are mandatory. Old hunters know why).

And, like you, I had friends (and strangers) that helped me out. A great deal. For me it wasn't Deadmines, it was Wailing Caverns. Which probably isn't a big surprise, since I was Horde and not Alliance. So many fond memories.

[Edanna]

I read ALL of that hehe and you made me remember some stuff I totally forgot about including seeing a great white kodo for the first time and been like OMG I must get that! Haha or the old alterac valleys that I miss oh so very much, sic'ing my pet on people and killing them effortlessly best nostalgia ever!

I started back in dec 2004 and it took me roughly 1 year to get to 60 best days of my life! however ill never feel new to a game like I did before because now I've seen it all and so new games are only so great before I get used to them, unlike wow which the newness lasted quiet a good while oh how I miss those days

Every single old alterac valley been my best memory ever!

[cowmuflage]

The only reason I have 3 hunters is becuase it was the only way to try each spec with out respecing my main That's a real test of how long a player you have been if their first responce to that first sentance is "Why did you not use duel spec?"

Always been MM and always will. I've lived thru all the MM hate and all that "true hunters are BM" bull that just got worse when exotics came out but I think that's just made me more of the opinion of go with what ya want!

[pop]

I started to play wow during BC but I cannot emphasize how much I really really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really reallyreally really really really don't miss ammos, mana as resourse, pets running away. taming pets to learn new skilla, 5 stable space, had to buy stable space, had to feed pet to maintain happiness, weird spell dispersion amongst pet; some have focus dumps while other do not, having to take wind serpent to raid for teh dps, having to take wolf to raid for teh dps and I cannot stress how much I hate enough pets cannot be respeced.

[Aeladrine]

You guys actually reminded me of some things I'd forgotten, too! Ammo, feeding your pet, making it happy, back when they didn't auto-level, that we could only have three, that you had to tame pets to get skills.... There've been a lot of changes since we started playing, haven't there?

And pop, I don't think any of us really miss that. Reminiscing doesn't necessarily mean we wish things were how they were back then. It means we're finding the good memories in there, the times when we had fun and the things that either kept us playing or made us turn to the hunter class. Believe me, I would never want to go back to all that. Things are much simpler now, and much more at my capabilities as a player. There are only a few small things I miss, like capped characters helping out strangers in dungeons.

We were simply talking, not begging someone to make things how they were before.

[GormanGhaste]

I started to play wow during BC but I cannot emphasize how much I really don't miss ammo, mana as resource, pets running away, taming pets to learn new skills, buying stable space, feeding pets to maintain happiness, pets cannot be respecced.

I thought it was really fun to learn skills from your pets, and I enjoyed feeding them as well. (Spore pods for my boar!) All in all, I think I'll stick with where we are now, though

[Kalliope]

I just had a flashback to taming certain pets just to learn their abilities....turtles in particular.....and now I have a permanent turtle, something I never expected. Turtle feels! <3

[Hatari]

You guys actually reminded me of some things I'd forgotten, too! Ammo, feeding your pet, making it happy, back when they didn't auto-level, that we could only have three, that you had to tame pets to get skills.... There've been a lot of changes since we started playing, haven't there?

And pop, I don't think any of us really miss that. Reminiscing doesn't necessarily mean we wish things were how they were back then. It means we're finding the good memories in there, the times when we had fun and the things that either kept us playing or made us turn to the hunter class. Believe me, I would never want to go back to all that. Things are much simpler now, and much more at my capabilities as a player. There are only a few small things I miss, like capped characters helping out strangers in dungeons.

We were simply talking, not begging someone to make things how they were before.

This, exactly. God, no, I don't want to go back. I like it much better now. But that doesn't mean I don't like to reminisce. Speaking of, another thing someone reminded me of the other day (although this isn't hunter specific), remember when we had to level weapons? Get that shiny new sword in a dungeon? Oh no! You never leveled two handed swords, did you? Time to mindlessly slaughter harpies for an hour or three until you get that skill leveled to where it can be useful to you! Heh.

And, yes, there are some things (like feeding my pet, and learning skills from them) that gave the game a certain interesting and realistic feel to it. But having to be on top of stuff like that all the time eventually can become tedious and hamper the actual enjoyment of the rest of the content. Which is no doubt why it's all gone now. I don't want to go back, but yeah, there are some good memories.

[Agravaine]

Indeed, we have it a lot better now than we ever did, but there are things one misses. Like being able to run a complete circuit of the Ironforge ring with Eyes of the Beast on an AV Frostwolf.

Miss ya, Boo!!! Oh... my siggy is strangely appropriate.

[cowmuflage]

It does show you how easy we have it now dosen't it

[Arisia]

I have so loved this thread... but it reminded me of the thing I so DO NOT miss the most... seeing and taming a pet levels beneath you and having to LEVEL it ... lords I hated that; I'd plan the pets I wanted LEVELS in advance so I could get one at the right level and match it for a while. LOL

[Makoes]

I really miss having to tame different pets to learn abilities. For me, it gave me a way to test out different pets, and they felt more "alive" when I had to rely on them to make my "main" partner stronger. I miss happiness to, again because it made my pet feel more "alive". Heck, I even miss mana (but not for the mana...for being able to do more them 3 attacks without having to spam a resource regen ability...) I do NOT miss Ammo...gods that was annoying!!!

I was one of those players that would take days out of my plans to run lowbies through dungeons just because I remembered struggling at lower levels. as much as I love the conveniences of LFD, I miss the bonds formed from looking for people to form groups.

[Wassa]

I actually loved going out and taming pets to learn new abilities. It made hunters such a different class from every other back in vanilla as every level I had a new place to go, new pet to tame and new ability to get. It made me look forward to every new level. Every ding was a new adventure. With other classes I didn't get that feeling. I actually missed this when I leveled a new hunter in Cataclysm.

Although making us go to LBRS to get the highest rank of bite sucked! No one wanted hunters in their group then. Good luck getting that even if LBRS was a 15 man raid back then. Thankfully I had some great friends.

[Lupis]

Hehe, I suppose I'm one of those hunters that Blizzard tooled the class to fit. All the changes they've made have been, to me, all too welcome. No ammo? Finally! Extra bag slot for me! No mana? I didn't like mana anyway, I hated how it worked. No training pets? That was such a chore for me that I didn't even bother. Loyalty gone? Thank the gods, that was such a pain at 70. No more feeding pets? More bag space for me.

Oddly enough, I was never even a big fan of getting dungeon runs from high level toons. xD I like going through content at the level it's designed for, and I always felt like I was cheating when I got a run. Different play types for different folks, I guess.

I can totally understand liking those things, but for me, the changes just made hunters a more streamlined, more fun class. The bond to my pets never changed.

[Hisae]

Wow, reading this does make think when I made my first hunter who is gone now but I remember leveling her. I remember seeing Humar so much when I was leveling my main, Plua who is now Yunas, and he became my first goal to tame as I fell in love with him. It was back when he was level 23 so I remember spending days upon days waiting for him! I miss the feel of having a game feel new and exciting.

[Edanna]

Still gotta read the rest of these to see what you guys remind me of since there seems to be so much I forgot...

But pets that used to have fast attack speeds or could keep up with mounts are the few things that made pets feel really unique and I miss it coz now pets just feel like any other npc with nothing really special about them, they bring buffs but that's not the issue here all in all they are all the same none run faster than the others and none have epic attack speeds anymore and even though I can enjoy RP with my pet and all I will always miss the olden days where pets were unique. R.I.P old wow...

[Castile]

omg this thread! <3 I made my first Castile in vanilla cause i liked tauren and my partner said I got a pet - score!! He played alliance so Cas was my "alone time" toon and i explored the world on her. I eventually had her as a second main and raided all the way to the end of Cata on that partically incarnation of her <3 (Pandaren Castile is actually a different toon).

One thing I have fond memories of is doing the Rok'delar questline and getting my bow. I felt like id accomplished something doing that. And having my warlock friend help me tame a rare "Clutchstrider mother" cause her chicks kicked my bootie haha!! I still have good ol emerald to this day!

Carrying ammo and pet food I do niot miss! But it did encourage me to get the quiver off the blue world dragon and I'm glad I have that still.

[Gimlion]

I miss old SM and Sunken Temple. Those were my 2 favorite dungeons, all streamlined and simplified because they were too 'difficult'. Don't get me wrong, there are many things that absolutely needed to be made easier, but neither of these dungeons were in that list. My only hope is that ZF, my 3rd favorite dungeon never gets the ST/SM treatment, it may actually kill me.

[pop]

I used to never mind about having to level a recently tamed pet from scratch. USED TO.