I grew up playing World of Warcraft. I will always have the sound effects stuck in my head, I can recall cutscenes word-for-word, the plot of entire questlines and raid boss monologues. I remember the names of the friends I met on it, the names of high school friends I played with. The names of the people I met from my guild, from trade chat. I remember the mounts I farmed, the achievements I farmed, the legendaries I obtained. So many memories.

Blizzard is no longer the company they once were. Yes, the game is awful nowadays. It's not even a shadow of its former glory - it's an entirely different game, made and kept propped up by entirely different people than those who started it. A Ship of Theseus if there ever was one.

This is not a rating for the game as it is now. This is a rating for the game as it was back then - or, to be more melancholic about it, the way life was like back then. I will always consider WoW to be one of the best games of all time.