I came back to retail after 8 years, and this is how it went

[@mooncow1072]

I think the reason most people have trouble letting go of this game is because they are chasing that amazing feeling they felt the first time they played it, hoping that every new expansion will bring it back, but little do they realise that with every passing year that feeling gets further and further away never to be obtained again, but still they cling on to it, hoping and waiting..

[@9sunskungfu]

That's exactly how i felt about Aion. But i know now i will never go back to it again. Ever.

[@JDRants]

I also think, as we age, we don’t play with our friends as often, because our schedule changes and becomes very complicated. Or you play a lot and all your friends have jobs lol. But that feeling of: we are going to level up to whatever and do this and this and stay up all night with your boys is just gone. It’s sad because all of us want that, but time usually doesn’t permit it

[@bricktop2393]

I play but I have never cared about playing with “friends”. I do my thing for a few hours and sometimes it’s with a few guildies. No need to play everyday. It’s freeing be able to do my thing.

[@karnell5761]

fuuuck that's basically me. Although now I finally stopped playing 2 months ago.

[@_bm1tv]

personally that’s the opposite for me, love the modern and fast feeling of the game. the game is so fun rn for me

[@gwennightsong5532]

Your comparison to the avengers was on point. In Shadowlands the main villain Zovaal was collecting all infinity stones literally, but instead of infinity stones they were sigils. For the longest time I'd felt whoever was writing the storyline for Shadowlands was just copypasting from Marvel.

[@tomeekun]

Shadowlands had a really troubled development for sure. They must've had to do a lot of scrapping and rewriting on the go and the storyline about the sigils is clearly something they pulled out of thin air last minute. I read this theory that Korthia is actually the remains of what was supposed to be a smaller Thros raid, that they cancelled and then repurposed.

[@WhittaII]

nah bro everything is just copying collecting dragonballs let's be honest

[@abrahamovicovski]

and vanilla is stolen from LoTR. They have a mount Erebor with greedy dwarves in it (blackrock mountain) to find Balrog (raggyboi). They even have a quest reference to the Arkenstone (Heart of the Mountain). The Lich King is a copy pasta Sauron the Necromancer. But at least it used to be a dark fantasy Tolkien universe. I'm glad I quitted at the end of Pandaria, I am definitely not into super ultra galactic wars with medieval weapons alternate universe crap.

[@ZacharyWhittall]

@@abrahamovicovski warcraft was very good. a different take and expansion on type esque lord of the rings. they old devs were definitely fans of it :D

[@jamesw71]

wow has always stolen from tv shows and movies...you see the tongue in cheek comments and npcs everywhere.

[@leblanc8014]

Best thing about this video was that you got right to the point. No meandering or useless fluff. I appreciate that so much.

[@GaeFootballClub]

casting regrowth on yourself as a bear before you go in to tank, you really are coming back after a long time😂

[@Orcaaaan]

I just recently saw someone do that in m+.. so i guess its still somewhat usefull.

[@oldmandeckhand]

Just like as a priest not to cast bubble on warrior tank to let them get hit to build aggro (aggro mechanics was different in vanilla/tbc), not casting renew so the heal that procs crit wont take aggro away. The game has changed from those little dont pull aggro approach to dont stand in swirlies

[@Nohandlethankyou1]

I basically had a panic attack when I saw the tank pull half of the dungeon in one pull. I just stealthed and waited for wipe. Motherfuckers didnt wipe.

[@Undecidedable]

nothing wrong w/ doing that

[@Sumppa]

well it's a hot that lasts half of the pull. Why not do it?

[@thenerdbeast7375]

If your queue takes longer than 5 minutes it will expand the dungeon search for every expansion so yes it is possible to queue for every expansion as once technically.

[@jamesw71]

yeah but he is tanking, if he is waiting more than 1 minute something is wrong so he will never see the other expansions.

[@Halomonger]

this should just be baseline, and all dungeons unlocked from level one, there arent "starter" dungeons so it is stupid to keep them arbitrarily locked above a certain point

[@itzaleaf405]

Yeah, the only issue I have with it (especially as a DPS main, I can't take the stress and blame of tank or healer man) is that you can't *Willingly* start it like that. Meaning if it takes me waiting the whole 5 minutes to hit every expansion que, every single time I que, it's horrible...

[@-.-Monster]

@@itzaleaf405 holy jeez you guys are legit complaining about 5 minute ques :D Humanity is cooked.

[@itzaleaf405]

@@-.-Monster It's more when you are leveling a character, and dungeons give you like 1 level up each (which is NOT true for the later levels) trying to reach 60 from 10 (minimum to partake in dungeons) for current expansion content... that "just 5 minutes" turns into 250 minutes, or 4 hours and 10 minutes, sitting, and trying to keep yourself occupied and busy rather than doing the part of the game you enjoy... and like I said, that's the generous estimate saying you level up every single dungeon.

[@jynflyn3650]

"I loaded into a zone I can't remember, unsure of what I was doing last, as is the custom." These words speak to me on a deep level lol

[@Anorthunis]

thank GOD someone mentioned it. WoW story line was always me just being some shmuck from the boonies who found a weapon lodged inside a live bird, and went to town on the entire zone with it I am NOT a hero. I am mercenary in wow. I am some nameless drudge. That is why my story in WoW is one of adventure. I managed to do something the average joe COULD do, but its hard. So good to hear the latest expansion is actually them waking TF up about their wank story

[@blivion]

💯

[@RonaldRaiden]

Yeah now they try to suck you into the story more. I was just running amok

[@erenanarchy9538]

i think legion story was really awesome, zones had unique stories on their own really long questlines (though ppl kinda hated it because of unlocking flying) and their dungeons felt like its part of the story of the zone, while the story telling is definetly different than tbc and wrath, its still one of the most solid ones for me, they made legion felt like a great threat and we didnt do stupid stuff like killing sargeras etc, how they wrapped it up in the antorus raid where we close the portals so demons cant teleport from other worlds, freeing titans and gaining their power to kill argus etc it felt like a full on war a fitting end to a threat like that

[@sonia417]

Hands down the most amazing expansion ever💜💚

[@semiramisubw4864]

legion was utter trash the first half of an year actually. The grind was BRUTAL. It literally made me quit WoW for good. Came back with SL tho got baited by cinematics.

[@jcnad890]

@@semiramisubw4864 dogshit take, actually.

[@AnnaGrygorowicz]

I agree, Legion was great.🥰 Game play also offered many new developments. There were a few inconveniences, but that's as always.

[@nathanschroeder4871]

@@semiramisubw4864 The Withered Grind in Suramar absolutely made me want to blow my brains out but Suramar the zone was amazing. The entirety of the Broken isles was beautifully designed and most of the dungeons were great. The Nighthold, Emerald Nightmare and Antorus are some of the best raids in the game. A lot of people despised artifacts but I didn't give too much of a shit about grinding the AP. The only thing that really sucked was the random legendary drops and I know some people despised gear titanforging. The leveling is very hit or miss for most people. I know for some the idea that you're the great hero of the universe turns them off but for others it was a welcome change to back in WoTLK where Tirion gets literally all of the credit for defeating the Lich King.

[@frtzkng]

I only resubbed 2 days ago, after largely staying absent from retail since 2016. My experience so far is quite similar. I like the new leveling style, the updated graphics, the amount of customization you have with your character. I'm a huge fan of the new talent trees. And it seems like Blizzard has taken some of the criticism of time-gated content and borrowed power to heart, and they're introducing ways to obtain old, now-obsolete items and appearances for the folks like me who love collecting stuff. _But_ my introduction after finishing Exile's Reach was really weird. I was thrown into Orgrimmar, talk to Sylvanas and no more than five minutes later I was appointed Champion and Ambassador of the Horde- like _mate,_ I'm level 10, I made this character like half an hour ago, I didn't sign up for this, what kind of drugs are you people talking? However then after returning I could select Chromie Time and level through content of my choice in my own pace. I actually chose Warlords of Draenor for leveling, because while there was a *lot* which sucked in Warlords, the questing experience was one of the best in my memory.

[@potato_mash121]

In Retail almost everyone is somehow equipped and looks "cool". The only way to make yourself stick out is to go high m+ dungeons and mythic raiding. If you are looking for the classic experience of that not everybody looks like a super hero, you need to go into WoW Classic Era as long as there still is no Shop Services. There are decent servers and you get to enjoy the classic experience with no official way to just buy yourself what you want. Or you can try your luck at HC.

[@suminshizzles6951]

The time gating is still there. It shifted instead towards crafting. The RNG is still there. Now in the form of crafting mats in adddition to the usual BS drop rates.

[@tbatong3983]

Im in the same position now. What happened with the other expansions before this one? Did you scip them? Or do you finish all expansions to lvl 120 and Then drop to level 70 again? Im confused and started today again since 2018

[@hobosnake1]

The game is awful at onboarding new players. It's a confusing mess. I agree, blizzard have improved the game a lot. They need to improve much more though.

[@sonicmarsh232]

Its like you went through 10 years of what the community felt in a single leveling session lol, I love it and keep up the content!

[@Hipsterjes]

I rejoined this game again after a long time and feel the same way. It feels good to be back and I’ve been hitting small but meaningful goals. Ahead of the curve, M+ score, and having lots of fun. Glad to see others feeling the same way

[@leaveacomment]

I saw a bunch of returning players getting absolutely stomped in dungeons because they wore really old raid gear. It's because Blizzard doesn't want these characters to destroy low level pvp brackers with gear unobtainable to them.

[@Endgame209]

Ikr, my BFA raid gear mage, was getting stomped lvling up from 50. Due to the ilvl squish Blizz did in shadowlands, then it was moved back up for dragonflight. The struggle was real until I obtained some greens to replace them

[@neugassh3570]

There are no returning players lol

[@drpzor]

Aaaaand yet, they destroyed the whole pvp bracket themselves kekw

[@damnlate8924]

Happy that low lvl pvp is taken care of, i like my bgs with 7 mm hunters jumpin around oneshoting everything while wearing full socket soo gear

[@hughmungus4917]

@@neugassh3570 i returned and i have so much fun again. stopped playing at the begin of legion because it was SHIT

[@R1ckJames]

Hadn't played since Wrath and came back about 3 weeks ago. Have been sooooo hooked, leveling is fun and honestly once you hit 70, your alts level faster because you dont have to do the story over you can just run dungeons. Definitely was a good expansion

[@MoonTurky]

I bet you quit now because dragonflight gets real boring and old after a month or 2

[@R1ckJames]

@@MoonTurky nah unlike players like you - I can enjoy games for more than a month or two. Let’s not project our own negative outlook on games, onto others!

[@theneverending9319]

Glad to hear. I'm coming back also

[@FelaIV]

I started after two year break a week ago I hit 70 pretty fast and forbidden reach rates is a great way to get 385 ilevel fast for you and your alts. I was mythic raiding at WoD. The dragon riding is perfect and the game feels more optimised mechanically and practically

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

I quit in BFA and came back to DF and I'm also hooked, I love that there's no borrowed power, I love the item upgrade system, I love dragon riding, I love the new class, I like the story more than other xpacks, the reputations are okay, I think the world events are cool but I'd like to see them be more varied and chained into eachother like gw2 to make the map feel more alive

[@Nightstalker314]

Really good summary on the last few xpacs from a "fresh" perspective. Most players went from each to the next and the bloated start didn't appear to them as much as it did to you. You also managed to convey this without waffling all over the place as many influencers tend to do lately.

[@Soulessdeeds]

The best part about reaching 70 in this expansion is that you don't need to farm normal or heroic gear. You just go to the AH and buy cheap crafted gear. Then you go get your M+ key. It will be a 2 and you just put your key up in LFG and people will happily carry you to 370's lvl gear. Each time you complete the key. You just go back to the same NPC and drop your key back to a 2 again and repeat till your gear and farm the valor. Then you hit normal and heroic raids for tier or other gear. You can also turn M+ gear into tier pieces as well and get ur 4 piece. Good luck man.

[@EriSenshur]

I'm a current player and even this overwhelmed me as a former mythic raider KEKW

[@icswack6015]

@@EriSenshur yes buying crafed gear from ah and doing 2s that you can fall asleep in is overwhelming kappa

[@Rebella1337]

or do bg for like 4 hours for a full set of gear

[@Pushoffacl1ff]

@@Rebella1337 do BGs from 67 until 70. Get 11.5k honor and then buy full 340 pvp item level. If you don't wanna get curbstomped in the BG, buy the cloak, bracers, boots, ring, neck, and chest at 316 item level requiring level 61. If you want to take it a step further. Buy dragonflight engineering (don't level it). You then can get a 316 engineering helm on the AH. Then the last thing EVERYONE forgets. Go to Oribos pvp vendor and buy the pvp trinket 2-set. This trinket set is a MUST have for that pvp bracket. You get an extra 50k-70k HP and will be one of "those guys" who has 180k - 220k hp in the BG. Enjoy curb stomping that bracket full of people with 80-120k hp

[@a1pha_star]

I will never touch Mythic+. I’ll just stick with Classic.

[@90kalos1]

In defense of the "chosen one" effect, canonically we are playing heros that have been pivotal in saving azeroth dozens of times

[@kaseywahl]

Completely agree on the "You Are the Chose One" stuff. While I think it's important that the player feels like they are significant and irreplaceable in certain situations, I think the whole "chosen one" vibe flies in the face of the "World" in World of Warcraft. It's much more compelling to gain fame and notoriety within your clan, group, or faction than just being "chosen" by default. And a point of clarification: there's a huge difference between this "chosen one" trope in WoW and the hero's journey, which is the arc through which nearly every story is told. You can still be the hero of your story without being a god inside the story universe. EDIT: Completely agree on enjoying waiting for the zeppelin to take you to and from the Dragon Isles. All of those small details are what made WoW stand out in the early days. The IMMERSION was what captivated people.

[@Zack_Wester]

the problem whit the You Are the Chose One is that it just dont work in a MMO.... why. well if your You Are the Chose One then every other player also need to be the Chose One. aka all other player becomes NPC to you because thats the only way it made sense. an MMO world should not circle around the individual player. the world should live whit or whit out the player. classic wow sort of did that. welcome to Duskwood Adventurer we have a bit of a problem whit some curse and well everything is dark there undead and werewolf/worgs everywhere if you mind taking some of them out that be great. player does every single quest in the zone... thank you adventure you gave us some breathing room sadly there is nothing more to do, so the player then heads to the next level appropriated zone and there is no pointing to the next zone. minus the first 15 level (human elwynn-westfall-redridge (after that free rein). and even then for the most part after level 10 and your done in elwynn forest you can be like na mate I got a quest to Iron forge (natural pointing) and you dont really need me for this bandit problem. this also mean a player dont feel bad for you know not going somewhere. something I felt in cata when at level 5 your the hero of X best friend whit the King, champion of Y. you must travel to this place and do that.

[@marcschmidt320]

I was first introduced to the game a few months before BWL dropped. I remember that eventhough I was just chilling around leveling, I felt like, whenever I did dungeon groups, duels or whatever, that I had a good understanding of the game, and making smart plays, which benefit me a lot, when I finally hit 60. Making my way into various guilds, ending up on top 3 realm guild at my server (Bladefist, before most migrated to Outland). At this time, I was "too young", so I kept my voicespeaking on teamspeak, to the absolute minimum, while having lied about my year, to being able to even be part of the guild. When TBC released, I became MT, and we were clearing everything with a fast progression. Always having had a big interest in pvp, I was so hooked on arenas! I remember I slowly started to show more interest in this aspect of the game, rather than clearing raids. I accelerated on the ladder, with lightning speed. Being top 10 on my realm in first season, then top 5 in second season and 2nd on third season and fourth season. Keep in mind, that this realm was very competitive and later has turned into one of the go to realms for pvp players. When WOTLK finally came, I was starting to feel the hunger leaving .. being burned out with 3 characters that I raided on, while pushing for high ladder rankings. After leveling to 80, I quit within Naxx. It took me to the last phase of MOP and actually just before prepatch, to return to the game. Almost quitting right away, due to the changes feeling so weird for me. However I stuck around, and I rediscovered my old feeling of the days, when I would mind my own business, while just doing quests and leveling (with no deeper purpose), while also discovering things such ss heirlooms, dungeon finder and what not. Once WOD dropped, I got hyped, and my competitive feeling took over. I leveled multiple toons and started joining pvp guilds. Being all hyped on both arenas and rbgs! Once again, I felt like even if I had gotten older, I find my ways around the game rather quickly, and got myself a good team for both rbg, and 3s (even with a bench player). While not trying to aim for the same goals as before, i went to 2.4k 3s, in my first season since wotlk. 2.6 in second and 2.7 in third... My team would later disband, as many did during WOD... I was still hooked, but I honestly didnt care too much about my ranking at this point... Just wanted to play and have fun.. Legion came and here I basicly just played 3s with a bunch of different people, constantly changing between my FL. It was much less competitive for me, and I think I got about 2.4-2.5 more or less during the entire expansion. I tried BFA, for like a month and called it quits... I was later talked into joining vanills classic, and boy was that a rush! Noe ive been playing that ever since, while also having had a few months of breaks every now and then. Still enjoying it, and im excited about trying out cata for the first time!

[@DreWulff]

I started playing when Shadowlands came out, and tbh, I enjoyed the game quite a lot, but it felt like a guilty pleasure because everyone hated it. I knew the game was in one of the worst states it's been, but I was hopeful that at some point I'll be able to enjoy something alongside the rest of the community. And then came Dragonflight, and I've loved every bit of it. The professions, the raid, the dungeons, quests, outdoors content, and the very feel of the continent is just so good and full of life. I'll miss some things from Shadowlands, mainly zones like Revendreth and Maldraxxus, but Dragonflight just feels good at every point, and I don't feel like I'm doing something wrong every time I renew my sub. I'm lovin' Dragonflight, and I hope they keep going through the right path, embracing the fact the we do not want to be, lorewise, the unstoppable champions of the Horde/Alliance/Afterlife/Azeroth, but just explorers, going head first into the wonders and dangers of the unknown, fighting all kinds of things with our own characters (not through mission tables), and getting some sweet loot for it

[@cattysplat]

The problem is Shadowlands was the 3rd expansion in a row with a huge list of daily grinds to get borrowed power, just to be able to play endgame content. Players were burnt out bad (if not already by BfA). Dragonflight is a return to WoW's simpler past, less to do but that leaves the game more open ended to play alts or take a break from playing the game all the time.

[@BrodyCanuck]

Shadowlands was good, people just over exaggerated it because of Torghast, which ultimately only took up about an hour to an hour and a half per week at the launch of the xpac. Later on in the xpac it took up maybe an hour and a half per patch. Covenants had a big factor early on, which blizzard fixed, but people had quit before then.

[@imnphil]

I also started in shadowlands and grounded the shit out of it, got KSM my first season. I think everything people hated about it, was because they had already done such similar content before, while new players are still excited to grind out renown, rep, and gear.

[@anonimosd.2872]

@@cattysplat I actually find myself spending more time in the game because I can FINALLY play more than 1 spec and gear alts fast from the start of the expansion and not having to wait more than a year to get quality of life changes. Less systems, less borrowed power and more fun!

[@archdruidbookwalter951]

This is exactly how I feel, except I started in Legion. The way I do it is I just ignore all of the annoying borrowed power systems that everybody else hates. Yeah it makes me hit like a wet noodle and I die instantly whenever something is turned to be anywhere above LFR in difficulty, but who cares, I just don't do that content, and I don't have any DPS Chart addons so it's out of sight, out of mind anyways. I didn't get my AP from Maw of Souls or AoE-farming Islands, I got all of it through world quests, and that one weekly quest where you do 4 Islands and it gives you a nice juicy nugget of the stuff. And when I did those Islands, I actually explored them and had fun like God intended instead of nuking the whole thing and being done in 20 seconds. I'm pretty sure my first Legendary in Legion was Sephuz's Secret, but I didn't even know it was bad and so I didn't care. In Shadowlands when everybody was complaining about Choreghast, I only did enough of those to craft a single Lego and then I didn't go back in there for the rest of the expansion. Covenants weren't a problem as Night Fae was simultaneously my favorite and BiS for the whole expansion (I play druid of course) and I didn't change my conduits often enough for Conduit Energy to annoy me.

[@Loopcats]

Glad you gave it another try! Its the most fun I've had in WoW in years.

[@MyUsualComment]

I understand the frustration with being Champion of Azeroth (especially if you want to role-play as a scrappy, no-name adventurer), but lore-wise, if you consider all the things your character has done throughout the years, it kinda makes sense. You've been involved in victories against virtual-to-literal gods; it'd be weird if you weren't noticed by other major players in those events.

[@erejnion]

Considering you are running alongside thousands of other people on the same server that have done the same things, well, it's be pretty weird if anybody treated you as The Champion of Azeroth.

[@OxyGenFLt]

Dude, I just installed the game and I have no clue who tf everyone is and they calling me a champion after 10 minutes of killing boars

[@Mastemine498]

​@@OxyGenFLt You misunderstand, your "character" has existed since 2007. Whether you just created it or not, your character's story technically started then. Just because you started playing doesn't mean anything in the actual storyline. They have mantain it as if you had been playing since the start, and your joining in after 6+ expansions your basically dropping in as the champion who has been there for all of it. It's how all MMO's have to operate to maintain the storyline.

[@Mollikar]

LOL if I went by the standard of all my playtime from Classic to my most recent playthrough, Hero of Azeroth would not be my title, maybe Murderous Wetlands Scoundrel, The Duskwood Serial Killer, The Bastard of Tanaris

[@ttan7293]

i absolutely hate this kind of world saviour main character storylines

[@setheheart4911]

Really appreciate the video. As someone who hasn't played seriously since Panda, I came back and I'm also really enjoying it. Hope to see you out there brother.

[@paramisdundee3717]

I came back after 10 years. I feel you. I like Dragonflight, I'm enjoying it a lot. I agree with the flying and some of the things about other expansions. I love my old characters, but it was easier to make a new one. I'm kind of glad I didn't play the other expansions after Cata till now. Thanks for sharing!

[@andygluehere8266]

I try every few years... but it just feels way to mechanically simple, because the people you play with force you to use 1000 add ons, min max, and play exactly the way the AI parses tell you. I mean, how is that any fun?

[@CptMarkka]

Hey, I just found your channel! Thanks for giving a short review of your experience through the game. I've been thinking about giving Dragonflight a whirl after a very, very long time being absent from retail. I originally quit during WotLK and was back for a few months' stint during the tail end of Legion. Since then I have not touched retail until now wanting to give it another attempt and see if I like it. This very much helps me with setting my expectations, so thanks!

[@OfficialTaj]

They had such cool races, rich lore and an immersive world and they decided to throw it all away

[@michaelcapone175]

I felt I was finely free from my WoW addiction; having not played in about ten years. Now, after this video popped up in my recommendations and watching it, the craving has come back. Thanks for pushing me off the wagon.

[@loganboyd10]

Great video, I can’t say anything the comments haven’t already, but you mirrored my experience as a returning player spot on

[@ecogreco]

I completely agree with this video about the part with the story telling where you are hyped as the main hero of azeroth. I play MMOs to be a part of the world, not at the center of the world. I am in a very identical situation to the author of this video. I stopped playing WoW at the later part of 2019. I went back to EverQuest but eventually found a home in Black Desert Online. What I look for in an MMO is immersion where I feel I am part of a world. I didn't get that during the times of MoP through BFA where I was the "one hero of azeroth". When I returned briefly for Shadowlands, I had the EXACT same feeling as the author of this video. I don't like being in a world where every major NPC sucks up to me and hypes me up. It doesn't feel organic, immersive, or sincere. I felt it was Blizzard just thanking me for keeping my subscription. If I wanted to be the one hero, I would play a single player game.

[@ustuna.567]

“stopped legion after leveling”. Also has high mountain taurens unlocked ;)

[@kowardlywow]

Glad you're having fun back! I was in the same boat. Loved WOD. Couldn't bring myself to play legion or BFA even tho I tried. But I agree this has the best it's felt in a while. If people are ever considering a return. Now is the chance to give it.

[@JS44444]

Some very good points. Good videos, keep it up.

[@Azrael79a]

Leveling alts, I've noticed that you can get about 2-3 levels in one BC dungeon run(Which are probably the easiest and most commonly chosen ones, so the ques are fastest.) Which means that every dungeon, you get like 2-3 more talents and it makes you feel like you're actually progressing. Of course, the dungeons will feel harder if the ilvl of your gear falls behind your actual level, but with Heirlooms maxed out, that's not really an issue... Just super expensive. Even with 4/5 for your heirlooms, which all of mine were at before I came back to WoW after skipping Shadowlands, you can still use those until you get better stuff from the dungeons you're doing to level. I actually really liked Legion and BFA was 'okay', but I did quit several times in BFA and eventually didn't even wanna play Shadowlands. Like the storyline of Shadowlands was pretty interesting. The mounts and gear I've seen are also pretty awesome looking. But I can't be bothered to go back and do any of that now, because I just don't care enough lol. Getting to 70 is not that hard or tedious, but the annoying part is getting 'geared'. One thing they really did wrong imo, is that the rep for the various places isn't shared account wide. With the current state of things, by the time you get a rep to a high enough level to buy decent gear from them, you've already gotten way better gear from M+ or just killing some random Rares. Hell, even the quests and WQs give better gear than you'd get for grinding out 20-30 rep levels! It's just totally meaningless at that point.

[@santivelez7191]

The rep is not shared, but any character in your account can buy whatever your highest renowned character can

[@deadjosh13]

getting alts geared is not hard lol I got full LFR tier set for my alt in 3hrs on the same day I hit 70... Just pug M0 and M2 to farm valour and upgrade your gear then just use catalyst to get raid tier set... 380 in no time.

[@Alpha9n7]

Wow speedrunner Harldan only does BC dungeons on his runs bc they are the best xp

[@dannymoontattoos]

Mans quit legion and thinks he’s gonna like dragon flight

[@guyston684]

Amazing mini story sir, I too am slowly regaining faith in wow. One thing I’ve been enjoying a lot is professions, although very complicated at first once you get the hang of how it works it’s extremely rewarding and makes me feel apart of my realm, I have lots of customers who add me to their friends who plan to commission me future crafts. But even just mining and herbalism are fun as well because of dragon riding mainly but it’s more interactive now I won’t spoil it but I hope you give it a go.

[@zachsmith8967]

I love how in the cinematic the dragon grabs a giant watcher and holds him in his claws...you get on your dragon and you're 1/3 the size of it

[@cain9851]

I started WOW back in Legion and loved it, and played until the end of BFA which i still enjoyed, but was extremely burnt out by the end, and then i stopped Shadowlands about 2 levels away from max at launch because i was bored, and i haven't played since, but after hearing the relatively good things about DF i may end up giving it another chance

[@TheEnderwolf]

I was in the same boat except I did part of the intro to Shadowlands got bored and quit for 2 years. I came back in October a month before launch and painfully got 3 characters through Shadowlands and oh my god it was worth it. I've never had this much fun in WoW, I've already sunk in 300 hours and can't put it down. I've already finished the rep grinds which I have never been able to do this early on because the expansion is now becoming more casual than before where u need to get on every single day and if u forget one day your automatically behind and won't be able to catch up. I highly recommend coming back it's soooo much more fun.

[@syntaxed2]

Yeah, those 4-5 bad expansions really hurt WoW. Unfortunately, the streetfighter combat of Legion has remained and its this annoying juggling of build resource - spend resource. Rather annoying you have to go through a frickin combo to kill a critter for example...and worse - Every class feels the same due to this.

[@rudydbg75]

Last time I played was the MoP expansion. Games great.

[@justcallme.n8]

The really funny thing about the SL intro is that you can completely AFK the fight at the waystone. It activates after a few mins and the lore characters do all the fighting kek

[@UltimateGamerCC]

the thing is, you were never The Chosen One from the start, but over the many campaigns where you fought, survived and thrived, the PC was getting noticed as more than just a face in the crowd, in WoD you were a Commander and then promoted to General as the war in Draenor continued and you got your Garrison to level 3. in Legion you were considered a Champion of the Alliance or the Horde, and you became the leader of your Class Hall after retrieving a Legendary Weapon of unimaginable power, that ultimately was sacrificed to keep Azeroth from dying after she was stabbed by Sargeras' Sword. which leads to BFA, Azeroth herself called for your aid and you were asked of her to help her recover some of the energy/lifeblood that was leaking out of her due to her injuries. so you see you didnt just BECOME The Chosen One, you became the hero that everyone could call upon, when things looked hopeless, if you consider that poor writing, then whatever, but for someone like me, i'm glad that i'm not just a face in the crowd, a nameless murder hobo who just does things only for others to take the credit.

[@dirtydard4870]

Ok

[@leeorafk5029]

bro heard good things about DF and started with the SL maw intro 💀

[@hockeyfan2777]

i actually enjoyed the warlords expansion. and legion leveling may suck but the actual expansion itself was fun. artifact weapons were cool at first and the end game zone suramar was amazing.

[@davidmendis1820]

I agree. I think wod and legion was actually a great gaming experience. Better than any previously. Story was meh but the actual questing was fun.

[@63Limar]

@@davidmendis1820 "Better than any previously." now thats debatable

[@Zzazs]

kinda happy i found this cause alot of real raiders quit in wod and i been wondering how they felt about dragonflight

[@MaliciousCat]

Wait. You came back to wow after 8 years but you have a Highmountain Race unlocked? And you already knew how to unlock them?

[@lotharschramm5000]

He's lying for views.

[@multiMiller2001]

How do you have high mountain Tauren unlocked ? Legion wasn’t even 8 years ago

[@InfernalPasquale]

I did very similar to you during the recent free weekend. Leveled the evoker up to 60, and enjoyed the experience. Started a new character, did the BfA starting quests, they were decent, then just explored Azeroth and did mining, soaking up nostalgia, then learnt about the timetravel, so have started leveling in wotlk - it's still utterly brilliant. Got the free level 50 character, and trialled the expansions I've missed - they all seemed awful except BfA which seemed interesting.

[@MrJoemccloskey]

You formulate things clearly that that I implicitly understood about the game but was unable to make explicit.

[@abirhayetjoy3657]

That what developers need to focus on, keeping game fun & enjoyable with creative cool storytelling 👍

[@MrHowardMoon]

I was 12 years old when WoW first launched and I began playing it about two weeks after. I was hooked from the beginning and played all the way through until the end of Cataclysm when Blizzard announced MOP. When WOD was announced, I came back a few months before release and got my main ready. I played all the way through WOD, Legion, and BFA until the announcement of Shadowlands, that is when I finally stepped away from Retail WoW and haven't been back since. My favourite expansion of all time is WOTLK and so when Classic launched, I switched over to there in the hopes we'd see a WOTLK Classic and thankfully we have. I can't get behind the new direction WoW went in and so I doubt I'll ever be back again. It is being designed for a younger and more sensitive generation now and that is fine. Here is a fun fact about my WoW life; Other than the abhorrent grinding, I didn't actually hate BFA. The Alliance zones were some of my favourite zones to date lol

[@WolfManJammer]

This was great! Accurate, honest, clear, logical... I felt inline with a lot of what you said and I too have been having fun again in WoW.

[@Ironytheloreaxe]

I've been looking for this perspective. Much appreciated honesty and explanation.

[@sindrimyr5351]

Oi oi...Legion was great.

[@Secretsofsociety]

86 subs and 21k views. Congrats man. You hit the content jackpot

[@Korelock990]

Hey legion was good the rest on the list is doo doo

[@zyrabell69]

Thanks for the information, I haven't played for around 1 year, but I already own the latest expansion and pay a 6 month subscription in advance but I keep finding something else to keep me busy. I have around 22,000 achievement points, more than 400 mounts, so I was pretty serious about the game for a long time. I know how to play all classes and specs, and will be returning to the game soon. I'm even the GM of my own guild with full bank tabs of some really good stuff and lots of gold sitting in the vault. The guild is mostly my own alts though, not many active players. I made sure no one could replace me as GM by keeping their ranks low.

[@kelzynwadez]

I agree with absolutely all of this, and have had the same experience. I tried all of the recent expats but thought I quit for good after just a few weeks in shadowlands and then the lawsuit drama started. I heard so many good things about this expac and have always kept up with the news and developments-and it was almost all positive. I even convinced my husband to try to try and see if he wanted to play, he contacted Blizz and somehow his account from 2005 BC launch was still there. All of his old toons, the works. GM tickets are being answered quickly and it honestly feels like the devs listen for the first time. It’s good to be back.

[@RaimaNd]

I agree with all points. Great video.

[@josejuanandrade4439]

With all due respect man, i been playing wow since 2004. WC since WC2. And i disagree in one thing: While Shadolands story telling, and story over all was absolute garbage, Legion had the best storytelling, story archs, and easter eggs for US big lore nerds. If you did not appreciate it, is probably because you are not into WoW lore, and if you are not, then is not quite valid to critic the story telling of an expansion that did so good... Having playing since 2004, i do appreaciate the cinematics so much. I love vanilla, i love its story and quest lines. They were the best... But man Legion was so damn good. pretty much at every step. THE PROBLEM is you needed to have played back then when it was current. Im serious, id need to explain this, but it would take too long... but the fact is, back then lvls werent squished. they removed lots of things with bfa. and several changes realy makes it as the experience is not the same. Suramar was fucking great, One of the best zones added to the games in forever. The questline, the story, the pacing, how it actualy was hard back then. anyway too much about that... BfA story telling and story was also realy good.. the leveling part i mean. Alliance side was freaking good, The Drustvar, the pirates, Azshara. Theres a quest you need to rescue Jaina that ends in a cinematic sooooo good... she is being destroyed by visions of guid... her father... Rhonin.... Arthas... man that was so good! I played through the whole thing a couple times because it was that good. Again, you need to know the lore of wow or this things won't mean anything to you... but if you do, then man! So yeah... storytelling, while leveling at least on the initial patch, has always been realy realy good... even shadowlands leveling was ok-ish even if the the lore was... well... bad...

[@cattysplat]

He is talking from new character experience, which shoves your characters between expansions, never building or concluding the story in any satisfying manner. Ofcourse you're not going to enjoy a story if you don't get to see the full picture. That's just the problem with playing old WoW expansions though, there is no reason to do so and in many ways it is broken with aspects like artifact weapons disabled or garrisons neutered. The game is structured around playing latest expansion and if you miss it, you pretty much miss the experience that was intended.

[@mikfhan]

Yeah they need some kind of new player story like MSQ from Final Fantasy. Something you can skip past if you know it already and just wanna do latest expansion, but for anyone else that wants to know the story behind warcraft it's a shame nothing of that sort exists. Right now you'd have to read Warcraft Chronicles vol 1+2 then play Warcraft 3 then WoW Classic, and only THEN should you jump into WoW retail, but you should avoid dungeons entirely and do Cata + MoP + WoD + Legion + BfA + SL + DF solo in order, maybe having friends assist in raids to kill the end boss, walking to the dungeon on foot instead of dungeon finder. It is a disjointed mess trying to understand the story right now.

[@zeikki794]

WoW gamer 2006 signs in too. Totally agree with you about Legion. I have never enjoyed the game overall as much as I did back in Legion. I did quit every other expansion before legion before their latest patches but during Legion I raided and did everything I could from the beginning to the very end with a smile in my face and will be proud of myself forever about it. I bet when I get old I can still happily say that I played Legion World of Warcraft and still be proud of it. Dragonflight is no match for legion, but I hope Dragonflight will do better in upcoming patches. If not I won't lose hope. A new Legion will surely come sometime again. I know it, you know it, everybody knows it and even Blizzard knows that Legion was peoples favorite expansion. And before someone brings up MoP, yes yes MoP was a great 3rd. Vanilla was 2nd :P

[@josejuanandrade4439]

@@zeikki794 The way they are developing these new villains gives me hopes. And all i've seeing of the upcoming 10.1 patch too... i mean, an underground zone similar to what devs wanted to make in WotLK... and Deepholme was very good too. I love underground zones so much tho, so i may be a bit biased there :)

[@erenanarchy9538]

start of bfa with new zones was a magical experience for me, it was the first time i created an alliance character to see other zones and do their war campaign too, shame the story of that expansion went to absolute garbage with them releasing nzoth and killing him in one patch, the last villain should have been azshara

[@InnerHacking]

Can't wait for the best of the best AI to be implemented on these type of games. No more predetermined choices in quests as NPCs would be able to respond to players ChatGPT style... imagine players confusing NPCs with other players because their replies would be so on point, ironic, sarcastic or lovely... NPCs would start wondering around and not just stay in the same spot doing nothing, they would have their own lives, jobs and group of friends and family. Games with predetermined choices make everything so dull and so 90's already! It's 2023, we need hyper-immersion, technology that can handle AI creating new stories on the fly and according to players experience, gear, and even personality... We need the next level gaming experience.

[@TryMyMartini]

I wanna go back!! My glory days were Naxxramas. I loved my guild, and we battled through Icecrown Citadel, and some of us were still around for the Firelands

[@thenerdbeast7375]

Watching from the sidelines all these years and KNOWING BfA and SL are bad why on earth would you try to do them??

[@shark_2283]

i hope the bald man tells me how good of a video this is

[@Ultravis66]

I quit after killing litch king in wrath…. Did not touch the game again until wow classic. Did all the content in classic from molten core to naxx 80 in wrath including all of tbc. Quit quickly after and decided to give retail a try. I have about 500 hours on a new priest I leveled 1-70. In those 500 hours, I got a mythic + rating of 2000, and an Arena rating of 1600 and did all but one boss in the new raid using LFG. The boss I have not done is second to last just before the final boss. The game, imo, is ok. I don’t think it’s amazing but it is entertaining. I give it a C-, barley passing grade. There are a lot of reasons why but just to name a few. 1). the crafting system is busted. I maxed jewel crafting and enchanting. I can make some of the most expensive enchants in the game with max possible inspiration but yet, I lose money on anything I try and sell from crafting. The JC designs are way too expensive for me to buy and way too rare. So I can only craft one useful ring. 2) end game feels like an E sport wana be. Arenas feel like a crappy esport, mythic + feels like a crappy esport with the added bonus of having no clue how you died even after reviewing combat logs and googling the mechanics. All gear progression is tied behind this stupid rating system be it mythic + or arenas that is a sliding scale based on your rating. 3) as you mentioned, I absolutely cannot stand the Ilvl bloat on gear!!!! My 400 Ilvl gear has line 1000+ int. All gear pre dragonflight is 30-120 Ilvl. Why? They keep invalidating old gear and I hate it! If you are level 70, the max Ilvl should be maybe double your level tops and no more! Idk, I feel like WoW just ain’t it. I’ll be back for the next season.. but I doubt I’ll sink another 500 hours in. I think I will just play guild wars 2 instead until a better mmo comes along.

[@FEARSWTOR]

I walked away in BFA when they started doing gear resets every raid release and item bloat became ridiculous. I get they want new players to be able to jump right in to current content but good lawd. Why can't each difficulty only be slightly better than the one below it and the next tier be staggered off of that? Why does LFR gear need to be better than the previous tiers heroic?

[@jacksonsteal7082]

How do you expect old gear to be relevant in new xpacs

[@FEARSWTOR]

@@jacksonsteal7082 The same way it was in TBC. You didn't really need to start replacing a full suit of Naxx gear until you hit shadowmoon valley. People who hit the apex gear level the previous release could almost coast to the new cap, while people who didn't would be able to gear up as they went. Compare that to cata where you had a blue craftable sword at 82 that was equal-or-better than shadowmourne.

[@jacksonsteal7082]

@@FEARSWTOR that is how it was in Dragonflight. I didn't start replacing my s4 vault gear until like the last leveling zone.

[@Ultravis66]

@@FEARSWTOR I had full naxx gear going from classic wow into classic TBC. I didnt replace my naxx gear until Kara 10 man raid, and even then, the set bonuses were so good on my Naxx set, it was still good enough to clear all Phase 1 TBC content.

[@Percival-ig2ye]

hell yeah, brother. Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I hope this video helps others who are hesitant to come back as well. They really have brought it back to what it always should have remained.

[@rockstar6goalkeeper]

ok boomer

[@ClickMyProfile_Unknown0human]

Ok boomer

[@Galliao]

I stopped in Pandaria, but I'm thinking of coming back. 6:50 Are those expansions really worthless? What about the story and connection to all the other expansions? I ended up panicking when I accidentally activated BfA on my 17 Goblin (F2P). I was getting the royal treatment. Like.. I appreciate it, but I'm just a little green refugee right now.

[@borenus4885]

I loved legion, do most people hate it?

[@mademois-elly]

Agree with all your points but love how you say you're having fun with the exact same intensity/volume as describing what you hate lol

[@thefreshprince-t4m]

All vanilla needs is the graphical improvements. Just a remastered vanilla wow would be good.

[@Adileigh23]

I came back after being gone 12 years. It’s been fun.

[@joedinsmore8334]

same here, great point of view and shared here as well! Great quick recap.

[@streampunkent]

Legit we have the pretty much the same vid title, working on a series now after 10yrs of not playing just for the fun of it. :) Best of luck, thanks for the vid!

[@rexnoct5810]

i would highly recommend coming back now more than ever to anyone that stopped playing.

[@janmajer4662]

Main characters: "you did it once again....champion!" Me: "say my name"

[@proudpups4652]

I just came back after 5 years away. Hooked again lol. A lot of people hate on wow. I love it. You can play so many different ways.

[@matthewtheobald1231]

World of Burning Wrath: Cataclysmic Mists of Draenor, Battle for Legionland takes Flight

[@questcore636]

the maw really was a giant meme, the jailer says no one escapes the maw, we left the maw after 20 minutes of questing in the maw

[@phoenix0401]

Well, you convinced me. I’m jonesing for a fresh start classic server so I’ll give retail another shot.

[@Rheez3D]

The part that you said about wow feeling like its shitty competitors for the last few years is something I totally agree with. I felt like some big chunks of bfa was wildstar 😅

[@MRdeLaat]

i remember not having to walk to the teleport stones made it all go worse, then LFD came.

[@Basheequa]

I'm glad to hear there's more people like me that are sick and tired of being " the chosen one "

[@burgersbeansandchips]

When they brought in the new leveling and the ability to group with players from all level ranges (-10 levels of max)low levels like 10s were being immediately kicked out due to the ever prevalent toxicity in the game so Blizz tuned 10s to be god mode in dungeons, twinking them is fun.

[@bgm769-g2k]

I played WoW for the first time (not counting the one or two 2-week free trials I did back in middle school days) when Shadowlands released. So that expansion was the only WoW I experienced. My prior MMORPG exposure was Runescape (free to play from 2006-2011) and The Old Republic (2016)... oh and I tiny bit of Final Fantasy for a few weeks. I played with my cousins who have been playing since WOTLK. And this presented with major problems. My cousins have so much experience with the game that I could not keep up with them. When new patches or content came out, they would binge that for hours and hours each day. When Shadowlands came out, I was in a master's degree program and working my way through school, so I could not put as much time into it as they could and that really upset me because I wanted to play with them as a friend group. So by January after Shadowlands first released, I stopped playing. I thought I would try again with Dragonflight since I was not in school anymore, but still ran into similar problems -- my cousins and their guild were so much more experienced and nitpicky about DPS meters and performance in raids that it did not feel like a fun, casual experience. It was beginning to feel like a second job... that and WoW is incredibly grindy. And it feels more grindy than OSRS. With OSRS, I got much more unique questlines and content that don't make it feel as grindy as WoW. And SWTOR has much better cinematic single-player storylines than WoW. Needless to say, since February, I also dropped Dragonflight mostly because of switching to Hogwarts Legacy, but I just haven't felt a desire to go back to Dragonflight. I enjoyed Shadowlands story, but apparently everyone hated it. I guess I don't know any better since it was my first expansion. I'm kinda bummed about it because had a really really cool amount of world-building content about the afterlife and the covenants.

[@costinhalaicu2746]

Being someone who also quit some time ago (though a lot less than 8 years), I have also taken up Dragonflight, at least for a few months when it was fresh. Got bored after a while, but I can't speak ill of the expansion, it felt kind of nice, I liked it. Difference from you is I always find it more fun leveling in Warlords of Draenor. While that expansion always felt somewhat off, I really loved the questing in it as well as those little secret items you'd get on the map that give you XP, plus I feel it's the fastest of the expansions for some reason... or perhaps I know exactly where everything is and what to do since I've done it so many times. And I also enjoy the world being completely deserted when I level. :)

[@Jaimemsmith77]

I’m a returning player also. Just like you I hit guild/raid/game burn out right when War Lords dropped. I came back and tried to complete that and legion with little success. I’m back now, boosted my main and dove into Dragon Flight. So far so good!

[@CHEESE3194]

Raiding is a whole new sort of hell in this expansion. The raids are waaayy overtuned and require a stupid amount of effort to hold your own.

[@longy001]

Fantastic video man. Even though I am already playing, it was great to hear your insight. Awesome, would love to see more content from you

[@Ironbuket]

I recently reactivated my account after an even longer break. I hadn’t played since the Cataclysm. I was confused for a long time and still am. The levelling is way too fast. I can’t collect gear quick enough to keep up with the levelling. The only solution is heirlooms or buying gear in the AH. For me, one of the best things about levelling was getting new gear and keeping it for quite a long time until you eventually upgrade. I have no sentimental attachment to my heirloom gear as I just clock to attain it with zero effort. Playing WOW now seems like just a conveyor belt to get to 60 where you cant slow down the levelling even if you wanted to

[@gscgold]

All I can say is...Welcome to the Avengers...Champion 😅

[@robbiekop7]

He can now say after years away from the game 🎮.....that he's genuinely *old* *hat*

[@justinhicks3783]

Shadowlands lore was awesome. Guarantee we will look back and think that

[@Sunsworn]

How do you feel now!? i felt the same when it came out, now i am done again

[@terrylewis_]

I just came back after years away, and it is such a headache to get anywhere. The tie between expansion packs is non existent. It is so confusing as a "new" player (I have major memory issues, so a few years away and I felt like a total noob, even though I started playing in 2005). There is a serious lack of direction in previous expanions/content.

[@Blinkch]

I think it matters what your goal is with this game. I love pushing m+ and get cutting edge with my guild. So retail feels really amazing for me!

[@gobblegobble7]

Keep this kind of content coming. Good stuff.

[@andym.3506]

Good video, I played from vanilla to begining of Cata, then played some Legion and BOA, but just pugs and no raiding or guild and quit again. I started playing again during Dragonflight, but only since the last two patches. I am just doing solo things, finally maxxed out all my dragonflying glyphs and the experience is 100% better this time and I love dragonriding in every area now. I am mostly leveling alts and getting 450ish gear and doing old raids for cosmetics and transmogs. Hopefully the new expansion will be better.

[@theclash24]

Question to you is... Is it worth it? The price to buy the expansion and the sub to play it...base 60 bucks and another sub fee of 15 bucks...75 dollars for a possible hit or miss hooked on nostalgia until final content. That's a big question to ask...or hold 75 bucks for a new game like Starfield or Nightingale etc

[@mellowasiam]

I quit playing regularly back in 2012 at the end of Cata. I have no idea wtf a key or mythic+ is. I used to do pick up raids as a Assassination Rogue back in the day, so thats my idea of end game content, mostly on normal difficulty. That said, I've levelled some random characters well under max level at the end of Draenor and Battle for Azeroth, so I've experienced the level squish which feels nice but also like everything is too samey. On a random warlock I made 2 hours ago I literally just randomly wandered into the Wetlands because they gave me the quest for "moving on" right as I got to Loch Modan and it's hard to ignore that waypoint marker thing. Once I get through all this samey levelling, since I dare not touch my main not knowing wtf is going on anymore, what should I do??

[@onikiller10]

4:09 I think you summed it up perfectly.

[@narbwow8168]

Really good explanation. I've been considering getting back into Retail. Thanks for the info.