MeinMMO Editor Karsten Scholz owes World of Warcraft not only his best gaming phase ever but much more. The MMORPG from Blizzard has literally changed his life.
My playtime in World of Warcraft must now exceed three years across all characters and versions. Okay, okay… this confession is old news. What I haven’t told you yet: My group of friends really had to persuade me to play WoW, and then the adventure in Azeroth almost ended before it truly began.
At the same time, I must note today in hindsight that World of Warcraft has strongly influenced my life over the past two decades. Without the Blizzard MMORPG, I certainly wouldn’t even be writing for MeinMMO right now. But let me take it step by step…
This week you can look forward to exciting articles every day on the theme of MMORPGs. Included: a journey through the history of online role-playing games, as well as nostalgic flashbacks, streaming nights, interviews, columns, and analyses.
Here’s the schedule for MeinMMO’s big MMORPG theme week 2025
Dark Age of Camelot spoiled me
As enthusiastic as I was about games of all kinds (and still am), I viewed online role-playing games with skepticism at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s. This was partly due to scary stories from my own environment involving horrendous phone bills and addicted dropouts from university.
On the other hand, one evening a good friend showed me his beloved Dark Age of Camelot. Of course, it was cool that he could team up with other players to play together, but man, it looked terrible, and the movement was choppy. The long travel and regeneration times were annoying even just to watch.
And all that for hours of farming the same mob group? Risking training and payment for that? I thought I’d rather play Gothic for the umpteenth time. MMORPGs, surely, are not for me.
Heartwarming story from the WoW community:
With peer pressure to Azeroth
Consequently, I was initially hesitant when World of Warcraft was released and it felt like all my friends were asking if I wanted to take a look. Since I started my training as an IT system salesperson in late 2004 and had moved into my own apartment for the first time, I thought this probably wasn’t a good idea:
Either it’s as stupid as DAoC or I unexpectedly like it and probably end up playing much more than is good for me.
However, after the EU launch, WoW was omnipresent in my environment. In vocational school, at work, among friends… someone was always raving about Azeroth. And there was always someone who waved their trial account, which came with the game back then, in front of my nose. Eventually, I gave in, created an undead character, jumped in… and wanted more!
After the WoW feeling comes the hangover
The fascination Azeroth had on me back then is something that can only be communicated theoretically to young players who grow up with online services and MMORPG elements in almost all gaming genres nowadays.
It was simply a different time, and for me something special, to walk through a huge, persistent world where you could encounter other player characters everywhere, go on adventures together, fight, or just chat. Additionally, the Warcraft 3 fan in me was excited about all the familiar elements and names.
However, the enthusiasm of the first days was quickly dampened. Questing and leveling became sluggish. The long travel times were a pain. Certainly, both were partly because I had created a warrior character, which started slower in Vanilla WoW than other classes, and that I was playing solo. In Desolace, I was contemplating quitting at level 30.
A small adjustment changes everything
My gaming experience turned 180 degrees when a couple of friends suggested we create new characters and level together from then on. So we met on weekends, created a trio that could take on all three roles (tank, healer, damage dealer) – and WoW suddenly became a completely different, MUCH better game.
Many quests could now be completed noticeably faster. There were practically no wait times for dungeons or regeneration breaks. Meanwhile, we chatted for hours about everything under the sun. The journey to max level 60 was pure enjoyment. Afterwards, we stayed in the same guild for years – the baseline for my enthusiasm for MMORPGs was set.
More than just an MMORPG
WoW is therefore my first MMORPG love and the game with which I have surely spent the most, most fascinating, emotionally moving, entertaining, and fulfilling time over the past 38 years. But that alone doesn’t change a life.
Thanks to WoW, I also got my foot in the door of the gaming industry in 2008/2009. First, I wrote rogue texts for the reunion of buffed. Eventually, first paid gigs followed. Then, an internship. Finally several years of freelancing.
World of Warcraft remained a dominant topic throughout this time. For example, I ended up in the teams of the WoW magazines MMO Pro and PC Games MMORE. But also, because I was allowed to work on several special issues for the Blizzard MMORPG.
Due to my expertise built over the years in WoW and the MMORPG genre, it was relatively easy to find new clients to write for when needed. Who else is crazy enough to write about this time-consuming genre while being reliable?
If one wishes, one could even trace the path from WoW to Guild Wars 2 and a certain giveaway, through which I got to know my better half, with whom I have two wonderful boys. You can read more about this story here: “My wife won me in a Guild Wars 2 giveaway” – as a consolation prize, so to speak
