I used to play Tibia with my boyfriend at the time and his bestie started wow. We decided to check it out. He went back to Tibia and I stayed 
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I started WoW in 2005. A friend of mine was playing it and owned his own computer and had internett witch at the time was a pretty big deal. Not all of us had that back then.
But more over than just having a computer with internett. The idea of playing a game where thousands of people could see eachother online and a whole world to explore together was really new too. Experiencing wow then compared to now cannot even begin to compare to that experience.
I remember freaking out and literally calling my friend when I did my first Alterac valley match ‘‘Dude I’ve been here for three hours! And the buildings are burning and I’ve got 1000 honor kills!!’’ (Yes I legit thougt at the time it was the amount of Honor kills that would make one a Grand Marshal… Your rank would update once a week based on the amount of honor you got)
The experience back then was just simply very new and quite different than what WoW feels like to us today.
I also called that same friend at the Wrath of the Lich king launch trailer in the dead middle of the night xD ‘‘Dude it’s Arthas!! Arthas is back!!’’
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All my friends started playing it and so when I found myself naked in lumbridge after a 1 minute bathroom break while foolishly shark fishing with most of my wealth equipped on my person I took it as a sign.
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Hey, you can’t win em all =)
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Warcraft 3 story and I like rpg. So roleplay in warcraft universe looks cool. There was no other game like wow in that times.
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Started in february 2005 which was the EU launch. Friends and I had played games like Tibia and Diablo for years throughout elementary school, and we were all all old Warcraft and Blizzard fans in general. In 2005 we were nearing the end of “high school” (Upper secondary school) and I guess it was just time to try that new game which was all the rage at the time - WoW.
Old games weren’t bad or anything, it was more the fact that WoW did something new. It captured everyone’s attention with its vast seamless world set in an established franchise we all knew, and because everyone was talking about it, it just felt exciting to play.
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Another thing you newcomers missed out on was the expansion launch events before everything was digitally released 
I really wish they could somehow remake that. But back when everything was sold in download CD’s I think from Classic to Cataclysm? There where huge events around your city about it. Competitions and everything.
Stores would stay open until midnight and the line was looooong as f*** Just to get a copy. But you could also win it for free at the various competitions around. At least that was the case for Oslo.
And you you would make allot of friends at the various events. And the lines around you would wait around. All WoW lovers
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I was playing Kal Online at the time of WoW launch, guild leader and a irl friend moved over at launch. I was stubborn, Kal online was a free to play game and who was ever going to pay a monthly sub???
I was on average paying £100 a month into Kal’s cash shop (polishing stones and resurrection schools where big sellers in game). I think I joined my friends late 2005 and have played ever since 
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I started in 2005. I was big into Blizzard games at the time, playing plenty of Warcraft 3, Starcraft and Diablo 2. I had played a bunch of RPGs in Warcraft 3. World of Warcraft was the logical next step, as I also really enjoyed the story and being a part of that world sounded like great fun (even if Starcraft’s original story was their best).
I did also play a ton of Counter-Strike 1.6 with IRL friends, and some of them joined me into World of Warcraft.
My only pre-World of Warcraft real MMORPG experience was being dragged into Runescape by friends and I couldn’t stand that game.
No game had to lose its charm for me to start playing WoW, and what kept me playing was the competitive side of raiding and - from TBC onward - arena PvP, until Cataclysm where I started playing more casually in favor of more competitive oriented games like Starcraft 2, League of Legends and back to Counter-Strike with the addition of Global Offensive.
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Started in 2005 with my bf after one of my brothers got us into playing it. Brother doesn’t play anymore but i still have Mooncloth bags he made me from all those years ago 
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Started in last patch of WOTLK. Previously played Neverwinter, Age of Conan, and most of the Forgotten Realms games. A guy at work was pestering me for ages to play WoW (for his RaF rewards). Took an 18 month break in WoD, came back for Legion and stayed ever since.
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My coworker gifted me the game to play it with them when it was released. So here i am almost 17 years later 
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Holy Guacamole!
Some sustainable loyalty here and recurring themes:
Community…
Friends…
Partners…
First of its kind…
Question: With the greater community in mind, imagine you’re calling the shots at wow HQ
How could your ‘reason for STARTING WOW back in the day’ be implemented in to WOW today most effectively - If not practically, in theory / theme?
(Keep in mind there’s a subjective 1st time experience we can’t replicate which is very personal to you).
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I started in 2009 after I saw the South Park episode. I wanted to try it out for quite some time because I liked the Tauren race and when I finally got a credit card I started playing.
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It was another Warcraft game. Warcraft 2 was one of the best games ever. It was a MMORPG. I could play undead and still a Lordaeron citizen even, which is what I mainly played in the previous two games. And I assumed I could play Necromancer, which is always fun, I figured it was like a prestige class or some talents or something eventually for Mages.
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Because we had a terribly wet winter here in Spain, and I was bored out of my mind and looking for something to do.
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I tried it because the hype was absolutely unreal and it was posting interesting in a market (MMORPGs) which was usually seen as hugely niche and hidden away.
Remember, at the time, Everquest was the biggest game yet didn’t have more than 300,000 subscribers world wide, WoW was bringing in millions in terms of attention.
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I’m going to be 100% sincere; it was complete happenstance. I went to my local mall in search of a new game to play. Then I saw World of Warcraft, the “New Shiny Thing”, on the shelves and since I was a big Warcraft fan, I felt compelled to pick it up. I’m… not sure I played any other game that year…
It’s crazy to think that, had I picked something different, I might not even be here today 
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For me it was, social aspect and team work and team play. I found none.
I say I found none because I only managed solo to achieve world 3rd as warlock in proving grounds. Rest, well, I constantly kept trying to find a reason to play with people as I used to play in Burning Crusade where I had realm firsts but alas, no.
Irl friends, saw the game on a private server at a friend and got in love:)
We spamed tbc pvp and karazhan, isle of quel danas pvp
What times were those!