To mark the 18th anniversary of World of Warcraft, Blizzard celebrated the occasion a little early this year. With the release of Dragonflight at the end of the month, the anniversary festivities got bumped up the calendar by a few days.World of Warcraft launched on November 23, 2004, as it aimed to follow the success of the hit strategy game Warcraft 3. With eight races, nine classes, and two factions to choose from, the game had set the tone for the MMORPG genre for nearly two decades. Since then, the game has gone through eight expansions worth of content and changes, with Dragonflight marking the ninth expansion in total. Though World of Warcraft has seen its share of ups and downs over the years, including the myriad of controversies surrounding Blizzard the last few years, the game is still going as Dragonflight marks the beginning of World of Warcraft's Third Era, ushering in a new wave of storytelling and gameplay to the game.With the pre-expansion patch already live, things are already different in the game from before. This year's World of Warcraft anniversary was moved up from its usual late November time period. It started on November 6, and it will conclude on November 27, which is the day before the launch of Dragonflight. While the event is live, players can travel across Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms to fight Classic era bosses, including Azuregos, the Dragons of Nightmare, and Doom Lord Kazzak for a chance at some lucrative loot and Timewalking Badges. These badges can be redeemed at Timewalking vendors across the world, and in the Caverns of Time for fun, cosmetic items such as costumes, temporary transformation items, and more.
Every anniversary, the game awards players with an achievement and celebration package via the in-game mailbox. The box contains an 18% buff to experience and reputation points gained during the course of the event. The buff's strength always matches the anniversary number, and this year's celebration continues the pattern. This buff allows players who are currently not at level 60 to catch up a bit quicker before Dragonflight raises the level cap to 70. But by the same token, it does not overlap with either the expansion's release or the Dragonflight leveling experience altogether. As it is, players with multiple characters will have plenty of ways to catch up in Dragonflight and in the pre-expansion patch.
During the anniversary, both factions will see their ranks grow. Starting on November 15, phase two of the Dragonflight pre-expansion patch will begin, and players will then be able to create a Dracthyr Evoker of their own to play and see how they came into the ranks of the Alliance and the Horde. Though the anniversary's experience buff may be a moot point for Evokers, the reputation buff will remain active until November 27 for players to use as they see fit.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. Dragonflight launches on November 28.