Today is a special day for about nine million people.

January 16 marks the one-year anniversary of the release of “The Burning Crusade,” the long-awaited expansion to “The World of Warcraft.” I started playing “WoW” in January 2006 after witnessing my boyfriend sit at his laptop for hours and hours, and I’d make fun of him for it… Then one day I tried it, and I was hooked (it’s similar to Corpsegrinder’s story — only I’m not the singer of a death metal band).

So during the summer of 2006, I spent much of my time (much more than I’d like to admit), playing a Night Elf Druid. But after nine months of spending all of my free time playing my Druid and a slew of other characters, I decided to stop. Why? I chose life — “life” meaning other games that I was neglecting.

In 2007, they got me back. When “The Burning Crusade” came out on January 16 of last year, I couldn’t resist. A whole new continent? Flying mounts? New races? I had to experience all of this stuff firsthand. So what follows is my year in Outland, as seen through a few randomly taken screenshots I captured while playing throughout the year (I wasn’t planning on writing this feature back then).

JANUARY

I was at Level 55 when I took a hiatus from “WoW,” so I needed to make my way to Level 58 in order to enter Outland through the Dark Portal (seen above). That meant finally finishing old quests and killing everything in sight. I think this particular screen is of my character clapping for joy because my boyfriend’s character leveled to 58.

Just like me in real life, my in-game character never goes anywhere without a posse. One of my new spells that came with “The Burning Crusade” was called “Force of Nature,” which summons three trees to attack enemy targets. Where my trees at?

FEBRUARY

Once we grinded our way to 58, we were in. We made the trek to the Dark Portal, located in the Badlands and passed through. This is my character in “Moonkin” form standing at the gates. It’s like “Stargate.”

When we were in, the first thing we saw were flying rocks and strange beasts fighting each other. Thankfully, we could avoid the fray by flying to the next city.

In the new Outland area called Hellfire Peninsula, we got boar-ed. (Yuk yuk.)

This is the first major hub in Outland, Shattrath City. It’s also known as the City of Light, for obvious reasons.

MARCH
In Hellfire Peninsula, when the ground shakes and you hear a high-pitched whistle, it’s a Level 70 Elite Fel Reaver, who will kill you in a matter of seconds. Just so you know…

APRIL

Because of some glitch, my character was able to stand on my mount in Moonkin form. (I like to think my nightsaber is yawning, not screaming in pain.)

MAY
I didn’t get to play much this month, but I did get to attend the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea, where the people are very enthusiastic about Blizzard’s games to say the least.

JUNE
I got a new helm at level 64. It kind of freaks me out because it reminds me of the creepy bunny mask in “Donnie Darko.”



JULY
Battle cat! I finally got my epic mount, a Swift Mistsaber, which lets me travel 100% faster. I tossed my old nightsaber aside like an old shoe.

AUGUST
My boyfriend and I along with help from a few other players took down the mighty Banthar, a gigantic buffalo-rhino thing which is allegedly modeled after the Banthas in “Star Wars.” (Banthar is Bantha fodder!)

SEPTEMBER
We discovered Blade’s Edge Mountains and ended up at an area called Toshley’s Station, where one of our quests was to test a gnome’s flying machine by being chucked into the air.

Despite the feathers, Moonkins can’t actually fly, but at Level 68, my character did actually learn to fly. I acquired my flight form, which can be used in Outland. Very handy since I have the tendency to fall off cliffs.

OCTOBER
I took a break from playing in Outland to join my friends as my Level 10 Undead Warrior. Here’s a screen of the group of us wearing Halloween masks. Boo!

NOVEMBER
These two are some of my favorite creatures I’ve ever seen in the game. We were at the Ruins of Farahlon in Netherstorm fighting these minions called the Hound of Culuthas and the Eye of Culuthas.




DECEMBER
This was my Christmas card this year. (Kidding).

JANUARY 2008
After completing a random quest in Area 52, I reached Level 70! This screen shows the exact moment it happened.

I had a memorable year in “The Burning Crusade.” I progressed through 15 levels, played about 150+ hours (yikes) and explored Outland from the Dark Portal in Hellfire Peninsula to the edges of Netherstorm (and fell off once or twice). Will I keep playing? Maybe for a little while longer to enjoy my Level 70 status. But even if I decide to stop, I know I’ll be back for “Wrath of the Lich King.”