November is a big month for World of Warcraft, with Blizzard seeming to focus most of their bigger announcements and releases around the same general timeline to have them take place in the month of November.
Because of this, the month holds plenty of events and anniversaries for players to celebrate. Today in particular marks the birthdays of two expansions – one beloved and one not so much.
Wrath of the Lich King, released on November 13th, 2008, turns 12 today! Many players consider this to be one of the best expansions in the game’s history, often citing it as the best.
There are a variety of reasons for this, and one of the big ones is Arthas Menethil, the Lich King himself. As one of the fan favorites of the franchise’s history, having so much focused around him was a considerable crowd pleaser.
Warlords of Draenor is turning 6 today, though the same level of adoration is rarely given towards the expansion. While not exactly hated, many typically show unfavorable opinions towards the release, and it’s often considered one of the least popular.
One of the reasons for this has been time-gated grinding mechanics, such as Table Missions that function akin to a mobile game, having players send followers out on missions that can take hours, days, and even weeks at times.
Others weren’t the greatest fans of the convoluted storyline, which brought back dozens of lore characters via time travel. This raised lore complications that much of the community still scratches their head at to this day.
Of course, November also marks the birthday of World of Warcraft as a whole, with the entirety of the title turning 16 on November 23rd. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, the latest expansion, is releasing on that famous date as well later this month.
Usually, we would also have celebrated BlizzCon by now, by the COVID-19 pandemic forced the doors shut and the event canceled. Thankfully, we still have BlizzConline coming in 2021 to replace the event in an online and free-to-view format.
While there likely won’t be a full event to celebrate Wrath of the Lich King and Warlords of Draenor, the event for the 16th anniversary of World of Warcraft is active now until November 23rd, so hop in if you feel like celebrating with some nostalgic quests!
The current Scourge Invasion prepatch event is directly based on Wrath of the Lich King, though, so while there isn’t a direct event, that bit of homage being paid may help scratch the nostalgic itch for the expansion.
