I started playing World of Warcraft around late 2005 or early 2006, not long after moving to the UK.

My parents had signed me up for college to learn English.

I didn’t really want to go, but I had no choice.

I remember walking into a GAME shop and asking if they could recommend something to play.

One of the employees showed me World of Warcraft. He also told me that if I started playing it, my life would never be the same.

He was right.

I remember trading my old phone for World of Warcraft. There were four CDs to install, followed by a lot of updates. It took a while.

I started the game as a Night Elf Druid. I don’t think I could really describe how it felt. There were these giant trees walking around, and everything in that world was unlike anything I’d seen in a game before.

It almost felt unreal. I was so happy playing it that I didn’t want to go to college or spend time with friends.

As I progressed through the game, I started meeting people while doing quests. I still remember two players, a Dwarf and his friend, who invited me to play with them.

I can’t remember much about them now, but I still remember their characters. We were somewhere in a forest, just killing monsters and typing to each other.

When I finally arrived in Ironforge, one of the Alliance cities, I saw a Gnome Rogue, and I remember thinking, “I’ll do everything I can to get armour like his.”

It took me a while to reach level 60.

Getting 40 people together for a raid was a pain. Sometimes we’d end up fighting the Horde before we even got inside.

I remember one Molten Core raid went on for about ten hours. All I can recall now is falling asleep next to my keyboard and managing to get the entire 40-person group killed. I thought everyone would be angry with me, but they were actually happy to have a reason to stop.

I remember leaving my Alliance guild and starting to play Horde. I joined a guild that specialised in PvP, and we spent hours playing premade Battlegrounds together.

I still remember our guild leaders, a Tauren Druid and an Orc Warrior. They had such good gear and were so skilled that nobody stood a chance against them.

We spent a lot of time outside Orgrimmar, just chilling, talking and duelling. Those are my best memories of World of Warcraft.

Last summer, I bought myself the original soundtrack CD from 2004 and a Technics CD player. 

Sometimes when I need some peace and quiet and just want to zone out, I put on my headphones and listen to it. 

I tried World of Warcraft Classic to see if going back to that world would make me feel anything.

I found myself back in the Barrens. The roads and landscape were still there, and people were running around and spamming chat just like they used to.

It felt strange being back there. I was around 18 when I first played it.

I’m 39 now, and so much has changed since then.

But somehow, World of Warcraft still felt like home.