The best game I had ever played. Also the most soul-sucking.
I'm going to start off by saying this will be an aggregate review of WoW, BC, and WotLK.
World of Warcraft (pre-expansions) was the best game I ever played. It was an incredible experience. The graphics were great and made in a way that didn't look like it would go obsolete in a few years. The character creation was awesome; there are unique-looking races and what I believe to be pretty balanced classes now (although back in the day, shamans reigned supreme.) Each class begs to be played and is a masterpiece in its own. When you step out into Azeroth, the only thing that comes to mind is "epic." The world is sprawling and expansive, and each location is unique, (deserts, jungles, wastelands, forests, etc.) The story is apparent but seemingly shallow until you level up. Quests were fun to do and soon enough I made friends and grouped up to do low-level dungeons. That was when I was first introduced to the idea of loot. If you're competitive like me, loot is why you're playing. In reflection, I really only cared about the online interactions, the friends I made, and of course, showing off my loot (but that all changed when BC and WotLK made epics unimportant.) This game is played by casual and hardcore gamer alike and there is a lot of great stuff to see but its kind of like a drug and when you're done seeing everything, you still need a fix.
Pros:
Epic game, engrossing world.
Online interactions, pvp, friends, unnecessary grudges against alliance
Loot.
Cons:
More addictive than you can image
Raiding, along with many things are too time-consuming
Game has been dumbed down heavily.
WoW - 10/10
BC - 7/10
WotLK - 8.5/10