2024 is World of Warcraft‘s 20th Anniversary, and so a celebration is in order. Of course there are some obvious things, such as in-game events for the game itself and its cousins, but slightly out of left field is a range of golden peripherals from SteelSeries to let you slay while you play – in the sense that they are pretty dang pretty.
Explaining why a range of gaudy golden goodies is needed to acknowledge 20 years of MMO domination is a hard one. Long term marriages have all manner of traditions to acknowledge that a couple has escaped the rising rate of divorce, so maybe this can be an emerging gaming tradition for games that manage to escape the current depressing rate of wholesale deletion.
But I have to say, now I have some of these goodies in my hands – WoW’s 20th birthday looks damn good on gaming gear.
For the audiophiles, the Arctis Nova 7’s: World of Warcraft Edition are still the same safe and solid (if pricey) wireless gaming headset you might have read about in Nathan Hennessy’s review – just with some bold gold and WoW-inspired accents.
The side panels are actually a really neat bit of kit, embossed out of the cover discs with surprising depth. The original promo images had me thinking that pronounced ‘W’ symbol would be a fairly simply little deal, but it’s a chunky beast in person – looking great alongside the gold headband and adjustable buttons.
While I am no fan of dedicated MMO-mice, I also accept that I am definitely in the minority. The Aerox 9 Wireless: World of Warcraft Edition is similarly adorned like the Arctis Nova 7’s, only this time with the giant ‘W’ resting under your palm. I definitely expected this to be a case of creative flair over comfort – surely a giant DUBYA under your hand for extended gaming sessions would result in either discomfort, or a hard to explain W-shaped flesh divot. But, it is hardly noticeable – and again, it’s hard to deny the shocking niceties of the black and gold.
In fact, I made the mistake of mentioning the presence of this mouse to a fellow WoW-gaming friend – who then immediately demanded that I present the mouse to him via webcam. It seems he’d been weighing up buying one to replace his long-term Aerox 9, and so I was thrust into being a de facto salesperson. Not surprisingly, the presentation ended with a very positive response from his end – once again reminding me that I am indeed ‘the weirdo’ when it comes to MMO mice options.
It’s just too many buttons for me, okay!?
The final big ticket item I managed to get my hands on was the oddest part of the parcel – the World of Warcraft Artisan Keycap.
I have seen custom keycaps in my internet journeys, and for the most part had never really felt inclined to engage. I have that wretched ‘pick-and-peck’ typing style that paints me as a monster, so my relationship with keyboards is often one of begrudging respect. The idea of zazzing up a key had never occurred to me – but now, here I was, in possession of an ornately designed little sword doover to slap onto my SteelSeries Apex 7.
And …I didn’t hate it. The example image showed me an ideal placement for putting the cap on the escape key of my keyboard, and I initially had a bit of a giggle at how the RGB lighting made it glow. Uh oh, I am enjoying this.
In the end, I actually moved the cap to my F12 key – as that serves as my special button in many games, either for screenshots or super long cooldown abilities in games. Having a specific tactile response helped my imbecilic fingers with pressing it at a moments notice – but that is hardly the purpose of this thing. It’s designed to look cool, and I will be damned if it doesn’t meet the brief.
Looking up the price however, I am assuming that custom keycap people are a premium bunch.
So while this is no review (we have reviewed many SteelSeries products, including some of the above in their non-Wacraft state) I can at least offer that the SteelSeries World of Warcraft: 20th Anniversary Limited Edition collection is a great option for anyone interested in grabbing a sweet SteelSeries headset, mouse or custom artisan keycap with some bespoke WoW-flavour. All are made with the same signature SteelSeries quality that sees metal components where they matter most, good tactile feedback on inputs and generous battery lifespans. Hell, you may already be using one of these items and considering a cheeky update to something a little more flashy – and what is flashier than black and gold.
If you are a long term fan of World of Warcraft, you are likely already aware that they also come with special codes for in-game items – the Grinning Reaver mount, the Battle Turtle mount and the Lil’ Flameo pet – and while I will not judge you for buying one of these items for the sake of in-game completion, just know that the actual products you are purchasing are quite nice also.
So Happy Birthday to World of Warcraft – and while 20 years may look good on you, I’d argue your 20 years looks a lot better on SteelSeries specialty goods.
Discussed items supplied by the manufacturer
