J1mmy, another MMORPG player tries out the three versions of World of Warcraft. The video is quite long so I will try to make a summary.
Getting new players hooked on the game, is crucial to its survival. I think we can all agree on this.
Introduction:
A warm welcome
A player’s first 20 minutes in an MMO, are by far important. Because those first 20 minutes will decide if it will turn into an uninstall, or 10 years of subscriptions + microtransactions.
J1mmy found it a bit nervous to having to select 3 options, your realm, your race and your class. He found that it was a gamble to what you wanted to play and felt like it required a better overview. You were going to invest quite some time on this character.
CLASSIC
- J1mmy starts out first in Classic, the game just throws you into the gameplay from the start, it’s pretty straight forward and enjoyable
- the action bar seems intimidating at first, but if people from 2006 figured it out, he might aswell do it in 2024
- you have to visit a trainer once in a while to learn new spells and abilities, this motivated him to level up, to see what he unlocks next level
- the game is immersive, J1mmy felt at awe when he first entered Stormwind with all the music
RETAIL
- J1mmy notices the graphics are way better in retail
- it felt way more baby handholding than Classic with all the tutorial tips
- he marks on how funny it is that he had to complete one simple quest to level up already, just by walking and slashing a guy 3 times with a sword
- he notices that the NPCs address him as “recruit” a lot
- he felt that it was funny that a mere simple recruit survived a storm, a sunken ship and ended up as the “hero” that had to solve it all
- J1mmy felt that retail levelling just rushes you through the tutorial, you were level 10 before you knew it was over
- J1mmy felt that the tutorial was less enjoyable than Elwynn Forest, and was thankful that Classic gave him that experience of seeing Stormwind for the first time
- where as in the tutorial, he felt that it was rushed and the game just drops you into Stormwind, describing it as anti climatic
- he just felt that the tutorial wasn’t all that necessary, in Classic the “tutorial” was more like “just play the damn game”
- he went back to doing Elwynn Forest on retail, he noticed that the tutorial island was WAY more faster, and felt that the tutorial was way too overpowered, and gave you better gear
- he adresses that if he didn’t pick Classic first, and only picked Retail with the tutorial, he would’ve missed out on the enjoyment of Elwynn Forest and walking first hand into Stormwind City with the awesome music in the background, completely losing the immersion with retail
Progression of your character:
PROGRESSION
J1mmy feels that progression in MMORPG’s is never that captured fully, and that the journey to end level does matter a lot to a new player
CLASSIC
- J1mmy feels that the progression in Classic is good and enjoyable, he never felt like he was a dead end
- there were a lot of things to upgrade your gear, through quests, dungeons or pvp
- he always felt the upgrade, even at level 1 finding a grey item is a nice feeling to have
- it didn’t feel dull to him and he couldn’t wait to progress further on
- the pacing was great, all the way up to level 80, then all the progression was lost, and he had to “grind”
- he felt it was sad to just give up on all the quest zones and dungeons he had to give up
- to most wow players, the game only starts at max level, but to J1mmy, he felt a bit of sadness that the exploration and journey was basically over
- he felt like the game before 80 was just a sandbox looking back to it
- when he was levelling, he felt he could do whatever he want, but at max level, he had to follow a straight path
- he lost motivation, because he had to follow a guide from this point on
- it felt too repetitive, grinding the same dungeons, and wished he could go back to exploring
- he had one of the most fun he had in any video game, by levelling and exploring through Azeroth
RETAIL
- Blizzard just dumps the player into Battle of Azeroth expansion
- he had no idea what was going on
- he didn’t know what he was progressing on, he was getting gear upgrades left and right, with dump trucks worth of gold
- he was getting abilities and spells shoved in, no idea where they came from
- J1mmy feels that the talent tree is more fun than in classic, being able to change abilities and experimenting with them was fun
- he felt like a walking God, he never had trouble with quests and could take on as many mobs as he wishes, he never felt challenged
- he adresses that nobody calls him a recruit anymore, like they did in the tutorial island
- he felt like he was levelling so fast that he couldn’t keep up with what level he was
- it felt like Blizzard just wanted him to get to max level ASAP
- J1mmy understood that Blizzard wanted him to get to max level asap, but the more he levelled, the more he found how pointless it was to do all these quests and get into the lore, only to drop it when he hit level 60
- upon levelling 60, he got to Dragonflight, but dropped it at level 62, because at this point, he never had to interact with another single human being, this made him lose all motivation
- looking back on retail, he felt like there was no progression at all
- mobs were scaling with you, you never felt stronger
- mobs were getting more annoying to kill, they hit longer and had more health pools
- he felt like his abilities never mattered
- getting upgrades, but not feeling like you got upgrades, was the least satisfying thing he felt in a game
- he gave up on retail because of this reason, he wasn’t motivated to reach level 70 at all
The lore of the game
LORE
J1mmy feels that the lore in World of Warcraft is overwhelming. He compares this to marvel movies, where the audience could experience those movies a year at a time, with eachother. He adresses that it feels empty to completely take in years and years of WoW, all at once, without no one to share that feeling with.
CLASSIC
- classic starts you off as a nobody, you’re just a simply guy in a very big world that has more important things going on than you
- you help out the locals in anyway you can
- he got involved with quests up towards killing Edwin Vancleef, but that’s where the lore lost him, because the quests were very lineair and that it didn’t feel like it mattered much to the story
- he lost immersion because of this
- he found that dungeons gave more lore, but it was annoying to follow it thanks to the rush mentality of other players
- if he tried to get context from dungeons, he would get kicked from not following the group
- he was lucky that he played through Warcraft 3 to get more context of the world of Azeroth, else he couldn’t find himself involved much throughout the world
- he found it was cool to go through certain dungeons that links to Warcraft 3
- it quite enhanced the immersion of going through the world of Azeroth
- he found it saw that you had to go back to feel that immersion, instead of Blizzard making the game around that
- you have to force yourself to be invested into the story
RETAIL
- unfortunately, retail has far too many stories to follow through
- describes that “you had to be there” to get involved
- brings up Chromie time, describing it as the most “jankiest thing” he has ever seen in a video game
- mentions he saw 3 different versions of Anduin Wrynn all at once
- felt like he broke the game with Chromie time, and that quests were all over the place, regardless if you picked Legion, you still had Battle of Azeroth quests show up as introductions in Stormwind Keep
- mentions that you’re phased, and that the world feels empty and alone, that it basically turns the game into a single player game, and that it was creepy
- he was excited to try Chromie, but was disappointed with the feeling over all
- felt like how he was alone, it completely ruined his experience, he wanted to share this feeling with other people, but nobody was playing the game’s expansion anymore, because it didn’t matter
CHAMPION!
A hero's interlude
J1mmy finds it funny, how in retail he was called a recruit everywhere through the tutorial, but then when he got to level 10 and dropped off at Stormwind, everyone calls you a champion straight on. A hero, you are a hero immediatly, and you don’t know why. What happened through being a recruit 10 mins ago, to now being a champion, hero guy?
He found it quite humorous, he felt like they misstook him for some other guy, so he /danced through serious cinematics, because the feeling of being called recruit an hour ago, to now having to immerse yourself into some grand champion of the Alliance, was stupid. He didn’t feel like he earned it, and treated the story in a similar matter by acting silly through everything.
Review of Battle of Azeroth
Battle of Azeroth
He had no idea why Blizzard decided to force him into Battle of Azeroth, if he didn’t play Warcraft 3, he had no idea who Jaina was, and why she was getting arrested.
J1mmy feels that retail upped the quest immersion from Classic. The quests felt more enjoyable and Blizzard said that they hide the feel of just “gathering and killing stuff” with interactable NPCs and voice actors.
He was, kind of disappointed, how in the end it all didn’t matter, and he had to drop his adventure when he hit level 60. He didn’t understand Dragonflight, he wasn’t invested, and he found the expansion too whimsical to get invested into. Noticing “flying hippos” and just shaking his head.
Advice from J1mmy for a new player
J1mmy's advice for a new player
J1mmy noticed Season of Discovery, and he is looking forward to it. Because this is the opportunity to create a new timeline, where everyone can get to experience content together in time. He states that creating new adventures, for everyone together, is the way to go.
If you’re looking to play World of Warcraft, J1mmy advices you to start in classic.
He states that retail is more of a “single player” game in the eyes of a new player.
