A Fresh Start (1-10) - My thoughts

[Gorkmork-bloodscalp]

Hello all,

I decided to make a fresh start on a new server, and go with a level 1 Blood Elf Priest.

I decided to write about my experiences. Primarily for my own reflection’s sake, but also to help other people who was in the same boat as i was (wanting to play WoW, but just kinda not feeling the current BFA).

So, i hopped in and created a character. The character creation screen is fine - it is not great, but it is alright. You have a fine number of presets, and can make a decently looking character. I wish there would be more in-depth descriptions on the various classes, maybe with example videos showcasing abilities, or something along those lines. There is a little, but again, it aint much.

So i hopped in, and started accepting my first quest. I wanted to give reading the quests a try. In the past, i always just accepted a quest, followed the minimap, killed whatever was glowing, and returned to complete. I felt no immersion, and no engagement with the game. Hoping i would get more immersed, i read the quest text… For like 4 levels…
To me, the quest design is dull, repetitive, and just really doesn’t matter that much. It is filled with “fetch that because of this” or “kill that because it is a danger”. Sometimes, you do come across some gems, but to me they are few and far between. It is a real shame, because i quickly lost interest in reading the text, because it felt so… Unnecessary…? I really wanted to get more invested in the lore, but for me at least, this wasn’t the way to go. Maybe a good idea would be to have a “Main Quest Line” that would have a different color, and linked quests and generally just more thought put into it. This would make it easier to distinguish which quests are good to read, and which you can generally skip.

Questing was easy… too easy if you ask me… I could easily pull 3-5 mobs and not be in any danger. The world did not feel dangerous, and i could watch Netflix while playing (not a great thing if you ask me). The combat itself is very smooth though. The animations are great, the spells are cool and diverse, and i generally enjoyed the combat, albeit too easy.

Soon came my first reward - i decided to level without heirlooms, because getting those rewards is, to me, one of the primary reasons i play. It is to gather new powerful items, and get a cool upgrade. So i turned in a quest, and low-and-behold, a new robe!.. but… it was… IDENTICAL to my starting one? I mean sure, different name and style but, same stats? Well “stat” - 1 armor… But still? I mean this just seems weird to me… Maybe i am missing something, but i have no idea what the point of that item is?.. The first item you are rewarded with, is the same as your starting? It feels…. weird…… All it took was to increase the armor with 1, and it would feel like an upgrade. Sure, you probably cant feel the power increase, BUT IT IS THERE, and it will “feel” like an upgrade. A small and simple change, and i find it hard how this could be missed?

Speaking of things that are unnecessary - water? I mean, i threw spells all around me, and my mana was at 100% the entire time. Yet i had water in my inventory, and could buy water from vendors… but for what point? For new players, i guess this would seem weird… They hold on to it, waiting for a moment to use it, only to outlevel it so hard that it is nothing more than wasted space. I would much rather either make water relevant again, or simply remove it from the game (at least the low levels, no idea if it changes further up).

Now, i know it sounds like i’m bashing the game, but i am not. I am actually a huge WoW fan, but i am also honest and very much interested in giving feedback. It is the only way to help shape the game. I did group up with a random player for a few quests, and that was great fun (but again, too easy).

The game does a pretty good job at throwing interesting stuff at you. You get a new spell here and there, which is cool and comes at a good pace. You get specializations at level 10, and PvP. Then at 15, you can dungeon which i am looking forward to. So that gives you a good reason to push on.

The zones so far look great, and the zone design and colors are amazing. I have nothing bad to say here what-so-ever.

All in all, it was a fine experience, but not without issues. Or maybe note “issues”, maybe just things you wished were different, because they kinda take away from the experience.

Currently i’m working my way from 10-20, and really looking forward to getting into dungeons

I hope this was of some interest to someone out there - wish me luck levelling

[Dottie-thunderhorn (Dottie)]

Low level quests are meant to be easy for new, new players, not experienced players like you.

Some people don’t play for the lore, they play to level and if I’m honest questing is rarely dangerous as you probably know from levelling other characters.

Giving feedback to the development people isn’t easy and they don’t read these pages. The only thing I can think of is use the suggestion system ingame, but keep it short as it’s limited text input.

[Keyur-draenor (Keyur)]

From reading all this you seem like a classic player - wait for it and play classic.