It's the end of the year and the end of Warlords of Draenor as well, since we are not expecting any major content update until summer 2016, when Legion will be released. Let's take a trip back to 2015 and remember World of Warcraft's (and WoD's) best moments.
8. WoW Token goes live (April 6, 2015)
This is not such an exciting event (that’s why it’s last, after all), but it proves that times change, as Garrosh Hellscream would have said. Blizzard finally decided to change its subscription-only model and added another way of acquiring game time. The WoW Token is a means to get game time with gold, without resorting to other not so legal ways. It also works the other way around: you can buy the Token with real money and sell it for gold in the Auction House. Since its launch, the WoW Token has been traditionally more expensive in European servers than the American ones. However, after all the Legion announcements in Blizzcon 2015, its price has been constantly increasing. The WoW Token is an important part of World of Warcraft and Blizzard’s history in general: it proves that the company had to adapt and adjust its strategy to a lower number of subscribers, as well as to an increasingly competitive MMO-RPG market where subscriptions are considered a token (pun not intended) of the past.
7. Patch 6.2 (June 23, 2015)
Patch 6.2 was the biggest content update for Warlords of Draenor. It added several new things to do in the game. The most notable of them are: Hellfire Citadel raid, Tanaan Jungle, the Shipyard, Mythic Dungeon difficulty, Timewalking Dungeons, flying in Draenor, better itemization and the final questline for the legendary ring. In an expansion as short as Warlords of Draenor, Patch 6.2. went live just in the middle of 2015 and gave players incentives to return to the game. Unfortunately, no-one expected that it was going to be the last big content patch for WoD and that it would last a full year, since Legion will arrive at some point in the summer of 2016. Even though Patch 6.2. offered numerous new activities, the consensus is that these activities didn’t feel rewarding enough to keep players going.
6. Turbo Cleave beats RMD in the Arena World Championship at Blizzcon 2015 (November 7, 2015)
The Combat Rogue – Frost Mage – Restoration Druid (or Holy Paladin) composition dominated the Arena scene this year. It was thought to be unbeatable and it’s no surprise that several teams brought this composition at Blizzcon 2015. In the finals, two European teams, Skill Capped EU and SK Gaming, battled it out for the title of 2015 Arena World Champion. Naturally, Skill Capped brought an RMD setup, while SK Gaming played an Enhancement Shaman – Arms Warrior – Restoration Druid composition, also known as Turbo Cleave. In a series of amazing games, SK Gaming proved their mettle by winning the Championship and by showing that RMD can be beaten.
5. Warlords of Draenor Raids
Although Warlords of Draenor only had three raids, the overall raiding experience for this expansion was very positive. Highmaul, Blackrock Foundry and Hellfire Citadel proved to be challenging, enjoyable raids with some new fun mechanics. As far as the technical side is concerned, all three raids were pretty polished and there were no significant problems with bugs. The three last bosses for each raid also got their place as three of the most difficult and memorable last boss encounters in World of Warcraft’s history. Imperator Mar’gok and Archimonde had their own extra phase in Mythic difficulty, while Archimonde Mythic was one of the few last bosses in WoW to stay alive for almost three full weeks!
4. WoW’s 11th anniversary (November 23, 2015)
You can’t help feeling old if you think that it has been eleven whole years already since players first treaded in the lands of Azeroth. This year’s celebration was certainly not as spectacular as last year’s one, but it did bring back some of the nostalgia and good ol’ memories of the past. Players could transform themselves or their friends into Gnolls or Murlocs, they had the chance to wield a replica version of the legendary sword Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker and they got to yell “Lap dogs, all of you!” as they transformed into Edwin VanCleef. Blizzard’s child is slowly becoming a teenager!
3. Method reclaim their spot as top PvE guild, split two months after
Paragon may have snatched the Mythic World First in Highmaul at the end of last year, but it was Method who dominated the raiding scene in 2015. Method got the World First kills for Mythic Blackhand and Archimonde and thus they secured their spot as the best PvE guild for Warlords of Draenor. Their Mythic Archimonde kill was especially meaningful: usually Method were neck-to-neck with their rivals, Paragon, for the world first kills. This time, though, Method downed Archimonde Mythic on 16th July 2015, whereas it took two days for Paragon to catch up and get the second place in that World First race. Alas, two months after this amazing feat of strength, most of Method’s members split to another guild, called Serenity. The few remaining members of Method, including guild leader Sco and officer Rogerbrown, merged with Rapid Eye Movement, another hardcore raiding guild. We are looking forward to the Legion World First races!
2. Legion announcement and trailer (August 6 and November 6, 2015)
To be fair, this is not a Warlords of Draenor moment, but it is a World of Warcraft moment and a pretty exciting one, too! Blizzard announced the new WoW expansion, Legion, at Gamescom 2015; its official trailer was revealed later in 2015 during Blizzcon. During that period, we have learnt a lot of things about the new expansion and the Alpha for Legion has gone live as well. Blizzard seems to have satisfied many of the players’ longtime wishes in Legion: Demon Hunter as a playable class, the Broken Isles, the Burning Legion, lore chapters of interest explored and artifacts are only few of the features of the new expansion. One question remains to be answered: is Blizzard giving to players almost everything they ever asked for, in order to set up Legion as the last expansion of World of Warcraft?
1. The beginning of Warlords of Draenor
It only seemed fair to have a Warlords moment as the best World of Warcraft moment of 2015. OK, technically Warlords of Draenor launched on the 13th November 2014 and its first two months actually took place last year. However, the expansion was still young during the first quarter of 2015 and it was still successful, reporting 7 million subscribers for that period. I think most players would agree that these first months of Warlords were its best months. Everything was brand new and exciting: a new continent to be explored, establishing your Garrison, discovering the lore of the alternate timeline of Draenor, meeting legendary characters of the past, the cinematics in the end of some zones, challenge modes, Highmaul, that Frostfire Ridge music for Horde players… Warlords of Draenor had great potential, but in my opinion it was wasted in favour of Blizzard’s ‘short-expansion’ model. While we leave Warlords of Draenor and 2015 behind, it is time to get hyped for Legion and hope that it will be an even greater expansion than its predecessor.