Celebrating World of Warcraft’s 20th Anniversary!

Not many games even survive to 10^th anniversary, but World of Warcraft (WOW) kicked off their 20^th anniversary celebration on October 22^nd, 2024 with tons of in-game activities and rewards. Precious few games can claim this same accolade, as well as the many other historic milestones WOW has set in the gaming industry, making this celebration even more special for the players and developers alike. Despite WOWs many faults over the years, it must be conceded that it has 10 times as many great traits that have attracted millions of players globally, and this 20th anniversary is the perfect time to celebrate all the amazing parts of WOW. This post will go over all the activities and rewards going on in and out of the game during this anniversary event, which will last until January 7^th, 2025.

In-Game Activities and Rewards

There is a ton to do during this 20^th anniversary event, and most of the fun is taking place outside of the Caverns of Time. The Caverns of Time can easily be accessed from the portal room of major faction cities – Orgrimmar for the Horde and Stormwind for the Alliance. Once there, a large fairground appears before players with many quests, most of which can be completed on a weekly basis. Completing these quests award the currency “Bronze Celebration Tokens” which can be redeemed at vendors around the fairground for transmog equipment, pets, mounts, toys, and more. There are also several achievements surrounding the fairground that awards mounts and discounts on the various items purchased with Bronze Celebration Tokens. The most exciting reward from this event is the remastered Tier 2 transmog sets for each class; these are some of the coolest transmog sets in the game and players can get all of them if they keep up with weekly quests in the fairground and The War Within weeklies.

Another exciting activity includes timewalking classic dungeons, the classic raid “Black Rock Depths” (BRD), as well as Chromie memories.  This is the first time in recent memory that classic dungeons, Chromie memories, and BRD are available as relevant content in retail WOW. This content allows players to obtain relevant item level gear, old and new achievements, and more content to be able to play with guildmates or friends. BRD is available with three difficulties, LFR, normal, and Heroic, all them be tough in their own right.

Old world bosses throughout Azeroth have also been made relevant and have express respawn timers. These bosses also reward achievements, relevant gear, and have a small chance to drop the mounts they used to when they were relevant content. With all this content, it is the perfect time to level a character, or farm for mounts/other collectibles, or celebrated WOW’s 20^th Anniversary however you want.

Lastly, a few interesting microtransactions have been added during this event. Despite most players despising microtransactions, these are worth mentioning. The 30^th Anniversary Mount Bundle (it’s the Warcraft franchise’s 30^th anniversary as well as WOW’s 20^th) gives 8 mounts, four in retail WOW and four in classic WOW, for $30. The Reven Pack is a charity donation that awards a baby fox pet and fox backpack for $20. The most interesting deal is $90 for one mount called the “Trader’s Gilded Brutosaur”, which is special because it has an Auction House vendor and Mailbox on it – making it a very tantalizing buy for any player that plays regularly.

Out-of-Game Events

Now, there is not as much going on outside of WOW to celebrate this anniversary. One is that tenured Blizzard employees will receive life-sized armor/weapon pieces based on how many years they have been at the company. These rewards include a Sword/Shield, a Helmet, along with a couple other items.

The last out-of-game activity relates to the charity donation microtransaction called “The Reven Pack.” A World of Warcraft Netflix documentary called “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” was released on October 25, 2024, in tandem with the 20^th Anniversary. Without spoiling anything, it shines a light on the impact that World of Warcraft has had on connecting the people and sparking the most unlikely of friendships between people struggling with very real problems in their lives. It is a tearjerker but is also a must watch for any WOW player.

With all that being said, enjoy the World of Warcraft 20^th Anniversary Celebration and see you around Azeroth!