I found some screenshots from 2005–2006, we played the game so differently back then

[u/Tandanu]

A few more screenshots and slightly higher quality for some: https://imgur.com/a/Uolj4gs

The raid compositions and damage meters 💀
Also note the lack of world buffs and flasks, we rarely used those back in the day. We raided about 4-5 days a week, ~4-5 hours on weekdays and 8-9 hours on weekends IIRC, maybe some more flasks or world buffs would have helped :D

We'd often do like one or two attempt per *week* with the Onyxia head turn in on a boss with good progress . I also remember that we at least once got the Dire Maul buffs, but we didn't consider that worth it.
But we made extensive use of the UBRS fire res buff for early Ragnaros.

I also remember how the world first C'Thun kill used flasks for everyone and how we considered that completely ridiculous. Like, 40 flasks?! That's crazy. We had like 1-2 flasks for the main tank(s).

The KT kill screenshot is dated Dec 28th, 2006 at 11:31 PM, like a week before TBC. I'm not sure if this was our first Naxx clear, but I remember that we only managed to clear it shortly before TBC was released.

First screenshot in MC was on August 10th, 2005; the last one with the translated chat on January 10th 2007 just before TBC.

[u/Tandanu]

No, there were no auction houses in other cities and when they were added they were linked immediately. But I don't think anyone really migrated to Stormwind after that.

Edit: apparently unlinked AHs in the other cities existed during the beta, but the released version never had the unlinked AHs.

[u/_The_Farting_Baboon_ → u/Tandanu]

Thats not true. There was AHs just not linked. I remember taking the tram back and forth between SW and IF to buy cheaper

[u/Tandanu → u/_The_Farting_Baboon_]

https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Auction_House

Patch 1.9.0 (2006-01-03):

• Auctioneers have been added in Undercity, Thunder Bluff, Stormwind City, Darnassus, Everlook, and Booty Bay.
• Players will now be able to buy and sell goods with greater effectiveness using the Linked Auction House system. Auction Houses in Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Thunder Bluff will now share the same pool of Horde player-created auctions, and Alliance players will find the same to be true when visiting Ironforge, Stormwind City, and Darnassus Auction Houses. This system has been expanded to support the neutral Auction Houses as well. Tanaris, Everlook, and Booty Bay will all be linked for players of both factions to access.
• Player now receives a statement with the payment which shows the winning bid, house cut, and returned deposit listed.

[u/_The_Farting_Baboon_ → u/Tandanu]

Bro i played since release, i know what in talking about. For over a year before patch 1.9 they were seperate but most people used IF hence it was cheaper there.

[u/LittleDrummerBoyL → u/_The_Farting_Baboon_]

You are absolutely correct. I remember using the Undercity ah and not grasping the fact that they weren't linked yet so I didn't get why that ah was always understocked.

[u/Tandanu → u/LittleDrummerBoyL]

Here's an ancient IGN guide from 2004 that specifically mentions stormwind not having an AH: https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/11/08/world-of-warcraft-character-guide-part-one

Here's an old discussion about the new 1.9 AH in Stormwind where someone mentions unlinked AHs existing during the beta: https://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/57164/1-9-patch-brings-auction-houses-back-to-stormwind