I'm gonna jump right in...
My very first character was a Dwarf Warrior named 'Lespaul'. I had just gotten done with questing in the dwarven starting zone and began my run through the tunnel and out the other side. Upon editing the tunnel I got my first glimpse of the world. It was huge, and massive. Anything could happen. A lawless tundra. A fresh level 5 stood a very little chance. I felt alone. I continued walking down the path and I come upon 3 dwarves shooting a cannon at a target dummy. I stopped in my tracks and watched the trio reset, fire, check where the shell landed, reset, fire, etc. For nearly twenty minutes. I was baffled by how 'realistic' the world (of Warcraft) was.
Vanilla stories are my favorite. When the game was fresh and we didn't have an lfd tool socially numbing our experiences. Please, tell me your vanilla stories. Could be something that really solidified your devotion to wow or maybe that 40 gold bow on the ah all your friends chipped in to help you buy. Or that crazy raid leader who would fart into his microphone for all 80 ears to endure.
-Karben