When I first started playing WoW on the beta, I didn't like it.
 
The concepts were too far from the MMO's I played beforehand, the combat was different, it was fully 3-D, and I was forced to play with others to make ends meet. After getting to level 30 on a Tauren Shaman, I stopped playing because it was stupid.
 
After a while I played a human rogue, 5 months after, and really liked it. From there I got to Molten Core>Blackwing lair>AQ>Naxx 40.
 
Then I quit again.
 
Then I came back again to play with a pal, and I made an undead priest. I loved the playstyle and couldn't get enough of it. When I was done with healing, I could go shadow and do hefty damage. This went on to Karazhan>SSC>TK>MH and finally onto BT where we conquered Illidan. I played through with my friend will Wrath came out, and had a blast. It was like playing a new character again. Having fun with some friends and just blasting through content.
 
Inevitably, I got to level 80, and started doing "Endgame" again. But imagine by dissapointment to find I was doing Naxxramas again. Not only was the fact that I had to do it all over again, after many runs for original tier 3, but the audacity of some people. Because I hadn't done it before on THAT CHARACTER, or didn't have the most optimised gear, I was refused access by people who were clearly first timing it.
 
After sometime, I got bored of doing the level 80 raids, and took a short break. After the Ulduar patch, I thought I'd give one last hoorah and see how things were. How confused and upset I was.
 
I figured to get myself back into it, I'd look for an Ulduar group. It was new, fresh, my gear was top notch and I was eager to go.
 
"Hi there friend. I have just come back and I would love to join your Ulduar run. My gear is good and I'm willing to heal"
 
"LINK EPIC ACHIEV"
 
"Excuse me?"
 
"You need to show epic achievement or u cant come"
 
"Why not?"
 
"FFS, fucking noob, l2p, get epic gear"
 
And then he ignored me. The next 2 weeks were a continous slur of this. It didn't take long for me to realise that the game I once held in high regard for the need to be skilled, aware, and able to co-ordinate in a group has been simplified to nothing more than "You need a piece of text that says all your items are X degrees of skill".
 
Frankly, I was shocked. I spoke to some old friends who were still pottering around, and they told me it wasn't just me. Everyone has turned into this seemingly inept "ACHIEVEMENTS MEAN SKILL" frame of mind. This happened everywhere. I couldn't do a HEROIC NEXUS run because people demanded I had the "Epic" achievement on full. Bear in mind that when I played actively, Naxx 25 was the only place to drop the correct iLevel items, and I frankly didn't have the patience or willing to Naxxrammas another 500 times when I'd done it in 40 man in the original World of Warcraft.
 
So I cancelled my account earlier, shouted in trade that "The first person to answer the riddle of steel will be given anything I own thats worth money", got an answer which was spot on, gave them about 17,000 golds worth of items and money, and logged off in the gear I loved the most.
 
Goodnight, sweet prince.

When I first started playing WoW on the beta, I didn't like it.
 
The concepts were too far from the MMO's I played beforehand, the combat was different, it was fully 3-D, and I was forced to play with others to make ends meet. After getting to level 30 on a Tauren Shaman, I stopped playing because it was stupid.
 
After a while I played a human rogue, 5 months after, and really liked it. From there I got to Molten Core>Blackwing lair>AQ>Naxx 40.
 
Then I quit again.
 
Then I came back again to play with a pal, and I made an undead priest. I loved the playstyle and couldn't get enough of it. When I was done with healing, I could go shadow and do hefty damage. This went on to Karazhan>SSC>TK>MH and finally onto BT where we conquered Illidan. I played through with my friend will Wrath came out, and had a blast. It was like playing a new character again. Having fun with some friends and just blasting through content.
 
Inevitably, I got to level 80, and started doing "Endgame" again. But imagine by dissapointment to find I was doing Naxxramas again. Not only was the fact that I had to do it all over again, after many runs for original tier 3, but the audacity of some people. Because I hadn't done it before on THAT CHARACTER, or didn't have the most optimised gear, I was refused access by people who were clearly first timing it.
 
After sometime, I got bored of doing the level 80 raids, and took a short break. After the Ulduar patch, I thought I'd give one last hoorah and see how things were. How confused and upset I was.
 
I figured to get myself back into it, I'd look for an Ulduar group. It was new, fresh, my gear was top notch and I was eager to go.
 
"Hi there friend. I have just come back and I would love to join your Ulduar run. My gear is good and I'm willing to heal"
 
"LINK EPIC ACHIEV"
 
"Excuse me?"
 
"You need to show epic achievement or u cant come"
 
"Why not?"
 
"FFS, fucking noob, l2p, get epic gear"
 
And then he ignored me. The next 2 weeks were a continous slur of this. It didn't take long for me to realise that the game I once held in high regard for the need to be skilled, aware, and able to co-ordinate in a group has been simplified to nothing more than "You need a piece of text that says all your items are X degrees of skill".
 
Frankly, I was shocked. I spoke to some old friends who were still pottering around, and they told me it wasn't just me. Everyone has turned into this seemingly inept "ACHIEVEMENTS MEAN SKILL" frame of mind. This happened everywhere. I couldn't do a HEROIC NEXUS run because people demanded I had the "Epic" achievement on full. Bear in mind that when I played actively, Naxx 25 was the only place to drop the correct iLevel items, and I frankly didn't have the patience or willing to Naxxrammas another 500 times when I'd done it in 40 man in the original World of Warcraft.
 
So I cancelled my account earlier, shouted in trade that "The first person to answer the riddle of steel will be given anything I own thats worth money", got an answer which was spot on, gave them about 17,000 golds worth of items and money, and logged off in the gear I loved the most.
 
Goodnight, sweet prince.

Good for you.

Your server sounds retarded. 
 
Then again I was always too much of an elitist to consider pugging raids. =X After the times I took extended breaks, I came back, looked up the good guilds, put in my (very, very wordy and lengthy) application, and the ones in charge of recruitment were usually intelligent enough to realize "Okay, this chick might not have great gear, but she knows her shit and has lots of experience, we'll give her a shot". 
 
Ahh well, I'm glad I left and don't regret it, though I sometimes think of returning... I'll probably go back to see Cataclysm, but that's a ways off. Hehe kinda sad I can identify the gear your priest has on, go go Benediction and Merciless Gladiator shoulders (I loved the look of that set)!
 
Hopefully if you ever go back again your experience will be better! ^^

" Your server sounds retarded.   Then again I was always too much of an elitist to consider pugging raids. =X After the times I took extended breaks, I came back, looked up the good guilds, put in my (very, very wordy and lengthy) application, and the ones in charge of recruitment were usually intelligent enough to realize "Okay, this chick might not have great gear, but she knows her shit and has lots of experience, we'll give her a shot".   Ahh well, I'm glad I left and don't regret it, though I sometimes think of returning... I'll probably go back to see Cataclysm, but that's a ways off. Hehe kinda sad I can identify the gear your priest has on, go go Benediction and Merciless Gladiator shoulders (I loved the look of that set)!  Hopefully if you ever go back again your experience will be better! ^^ "

I've only started to play WoW recently but i know my shit and lore (whats left of it that is) I'm still leveling at the moment but i love some of the endgame stuff and can't wait to get there.
 
But that's the thing once i do hit 80 It's going to be really hard to get into any of it as i haven't got experiance raiding and not properly equipped which of course i can't get one without the other. I just hope I'm able to find a nice friendly guild that doesn't mind any of that so I can get into and get the experiance and gear.

" I've only started to play WoW recently but i know my shit and lore (whats left of it that is) I'm still leveling at the moment but i love some of the endgame stuff and can't wait to get there.  But that's the thing once i do hit 80 It's going to be really hard to get into any of it as i haven't got experiance raiding and not properly equipped which of course i can't get one without the other. I just hope I'm able to find a nice friendly guild that doesn't mind any of that so I can get into and get the experiance and gear. "

Weird litterally minutes after posting this i was invited to a really friendly guild where they dont care about that and they'll take the time to gear you up and teach you about it.  
 
Im just sick of trying to pug various instance's and people want me to be the healer when i'm a prot pally. Just because I have a spell that can heal doesn't mean I'm a healer.

17K?!?!?!  HOLY FUCK, MAN!!!

Thank you for convincing me not to get into wow again. (really, thank you)

" Thank you for convincing me not to get into wow again. (really, thank you) "