Warsong Gulch

2005.

I used to play WoW. I beta-tested it back in the day but decided that no game was worth paying a monthly fee to play.

I played one character, the leader class of the Horde, the Shaman. I was a Troll on a RP server. My name was Nomadis, a handle I use from time to time when Nomandy isn't appropriate. This memory focuses on a very fun stretch of time when I used to play WoW's sole battleground at the time: Warsong Gulch, often abbreviated WSG.

The Shaman was an extremely versatile class. A Shaman could do massive amounts of melee damage, cast spells at range, could heal, and had just enough survivability to be a major threat. The Shaman also had totems to help fight against all other classes. So a duel was usually a matter of knowing what spells to use and what totems to lay down when.

Warsong Gulch was a battleground where the righteous Warsong Outriders and the treacherous Silvermoon Sentinels vied for control over a valuable patch of woods. The Outriders need it to expand industry and create jobs for the struggling Horde economy. The Sentinels are just using it for staging grounds for their good-for-nothing, murderous army. So, naturally, these two factions play a 10v10 Capture the Flag game for dominance. First to 3 caps won.

Shaman had an ability to turn into ghost wolves to run faster but fight less effectively. This was useful in the flagrunning aspect of the game. So, this position was naturally suited to the Shaman (and Druid) class. I was pretty good at it. I played a lot of Warsong Gulch and made a name for myself on my server. I singlehandedly won games by getting all three requisite flag captures on myself. And on several occasions I returned the Horde flag so that I could capture the Alliance flag to win. On the server forums, I was even called out by someone on the opposing faction. And I still won.

I had but one nemesis, a gnome mage named Stimblefaud. He turned out to be a good guy but he was pretty good at killing me. (He was pretty difficult to kill, but I sometimes did.) I eventually got on a PVP "team" of sorts, where the most dedicated PVPers worked together to get honor and move up the PVP ladder, cooperatively. I accidentally entered their instance of WSG where 9 of the 10 team members were in. They politely asked me to leave. By the time I had responded, I had captured the flag. They were impressed. And thus I became part of their team.

Power.

It was good to be an unstoppable duelist in WoW. But, things changed. I changed. And to be honest, maybe here's another I'd like have back.