World of Warcraft changed my life. I spent literal cumulative years of my life playing the game, which, along with millions of other players, I considered to be one of the best MMORPGs of all time. I quit several years ago just before the release of the Cataclysm expansion after realizing it had gotten to the point where it was becoming a burden on me�sort of like an unpaid part-time job�rather than just a pastime. The sequence of life events the game sparked for me, however, were numerous: lifelong IRL friends, a marriage, a move to another country to be with said spouse, and friends.

You can imagine why someone who spent many weekends in college raiding instead of partying would be a bit excited to see a video game that had such monumental meaning for them put on the big screen. But instead of instigating a long-awaited, warming nostalgia, watching the movie Warcraft served as a funeral service for the fandom I once fully immersed myself in.