Let me try to get a proper response to the OP in this post lol
So, I came to AD in Jan 2010 and TLDR made a Night elf because I’d been Horde up until that point. In came Vaxir without a story, and I just RP’d. Eventually I made a story, got into character, and did better RP and all that.
She started meaning a lot to me after just a few weeks, and still does (thought for different reasons these days), as she became my main source of entertainment during hard times. She enabled me to express a lot of things that I couldn’t express or comprehend IRL, things like anger, hatred, rage, control, power, all things I felt a lot of - or lack of - so became a rather big obsession. I had little else to do in life other than to RP because of a crappy IRL situation. In a way, she was like a rock I could lean on. If I was feeling bad? RP! Good day? Even better RP! Now, there were a few years where I didn’t RP much and wasn’t around during the day due to Harder Than Ever Times, but I still did try to RP her and she enabled me to have that fixation of something fun and important to get me through the days.
Eventually, I got way, way way way way WAY better IRL, and no longer felt the desire to RP her, though would continue her story behind the scenes and maybe RP her once a month. I didn’t need her anymore like I did before. Still, even to this day, I miss the RP I had, and treasure the character a lot. She still means so much to me. She developed throughout the years, as did I, sort of like we developed together and for the better (albeit her story being dark and all that lmao). Her growth was next to mine, and as I became a better person, my RP and grasp on her concept became better and all that.
These days I RP a much lighter character, albeit still craving the darker things. I did RP on Tumblr also (still do) and did darker stuff on there with human muses, but even improving -even more- IRL, I feel the need less and less to do anything horrific like I used to. So my current muse, while being intricate and with a (rather) depressing and chaotic backstory, is a more upbeat and fun-loving character where I can relax more, be happier, while also relying on a character less. I mean, he has dual RP where half is his ‘darker’ side, enabling me to still express that desire I often get, and then having a lighter side, where I also feel the need to express myself. So, this new character has become my new rock! Not as obsessively as before, but still enough to keep me happy when I need RP on this game. I guess another rock of mine is my character on Tumblr that also means a lot to me, but isn’t related to WoW.
All other characters have played their part, but Vaxir and my new char are the ones that mean a lot to me. Perhaps a couple more meant a lot at the time because of the vast arrays of different types of RP I needed to feel better, but they played their parts and I moved on.