u/Sylvinus98hun

Hello there, this is Lynathel, a high elf priestess from Ambershire. Figured it's time to drop my 2 cents about TWoW, now that it's about to end, today on May 14th, 2026.

I began my journey here at Christmas, after some hiatus I took from another pserver where I was burnt out on raiding. I couldn't stay away for long - still had like half a year off - and this server had sucked me in, a veteran player with 14 years of knowledge mainly in the Wrath era.

I played at different servers, from Classic to Wrath and Legion to TWW patches I experienced a lot as current content, both under Blizzard's aegis and on private servers. I spent more time at all other places compared to Turtle, playing on Retail for like 4 years constantly for example, yet this place where I barely spent 5 months at was the most impactful experience of all.

Turtle WoW was the Classic Era server...

• where I actually reached level 60 at least once. The thing that puts me off about Classic is the base grind being waaaaaaaaay too long. Not here, thanks to how rested XP worked here, making the journey significantly easier.

• where I was able to play a proper high elf. As a Thalassian in heart, I naturally draw closer to Alliance. But regardless of which side these pretty elves are on - they are the only race I truly love and almost no other classic era server had them. In addition, not only them, but the rest of the races came with updated racials that fit their identities.

• where fashion as the true endgame was realized. A proper tmog collection system, beautiful dresses, rings, bangles, hairstyles from later expansions, the barber shop, and actual nail polish for any and all - you could have the best gear and still look pretty on demand.

• which had a lot of custom content from zones to quests and even soundtracks. Thinning the wilderness at Tel'Abim for some goblins, defeating the Infinites in the Black Morass or just listening to the sad melody of Thalassian Highlands all hit different.

• where reputation, both as a system and in a social sense, mattered. Rep grinds offered meaningful rewards such as Blade of Infinite Mysteries, and you could earn a name by great deeds. You didn't feel like a nobody - you felt you had a place here, if you earned it, much like the TWoW staff who kept the economy under control by banning RMT and GDKP, the plague of official Classic servers.

• where I earned my first and only Dungeon 2 set for my non-raider priestess and kept it till the end - my biggest achievement that was worth all the sweat and all the gold and time put into it. Yes, even killing that bully Solakar that was so lazy to drop my Devout Shoulders.

• which I felt was created with great care and a focus on the individual player's needs above corporate greed, having a true moral standard.

• where class weaknesses were cured, both in baseline changes as well as talents. They were not perfect, but being able to play an actual smite priest was such a great and unique feeling.

• which was the closest to the atmosphere of Original Vanilla WoW, which I never got to experience due to a very young age (was 6 to 8 y.o. at the time). A far cry from today's retail game.

• which will never, ever be forgotten for all the hard work and love that was put into it.

Goodbye to Turtle WoW, and to all that shared our journey. Buck Flizzard, and their greed.

Al diel shala.