I played WoW quite a lot quite a few years ago. Raided with my guild during late MoP (I still have fond memories of killing Garrosh on heroic, it felt quite good 
) and left some months into WoD (after the guild had also broken up, moreâs the pity).
Now, after seven or so years, I couldnât resist creating a new free account and see how the game has changed. After 3 or 4 hours of play I am level 13 on a Pandaren shaman (I had chars from all Alliance races and one Horde, but never this class, at least 
, so there is some novelty.
So far the game seems unchanged to a large degree (though is it me or has it become slightly more cartoonish and less immersive?), but a few things make me wonder.
- I experimentally created two chars from different races and they both started in a story with a lot of videos and plenty of ships. The different starting zones for the various races, are they gone for good? I kinda wouldâve enjoyed living some of the different background stories again.
- From a few guides I read I got the impression that once out of the starting zone, level 10ish, one might be able to quest in basically all zones in the old continents (EK, Kalimdor, Northrend even?) because the mobs would scale, as it were, with my own level. But I didnât find a starting quest to go somewhere other than Kul Tiras (sp? more ships âŚ) and I confess I donât recall how to get to a different continent ⌠I think I would be curious about questing in Northrend, something I never quite got round to doing in my earlier spell with the game.
- I got the impression from my first 13 levels that the game has become dramatically easier. Is that so? When I first played, I died regularly during questing. I vividly recall that my erstwhile main, a human mage, was killed over and over again by a small pack of wolves near that crossroad village just outside Stormwind. Admittedly, a clothie, and I would have to lie to say I particularly enjoyed the experience
, but it taught me something about effectively using my (few) spells. Now with this here shaman so far I havenât as much as once come even remotely close to dying. In fact, only once did my health bar drop perceptively, to about 70% or so. At the end of the starting zone I even did a small dungeon with just one other player and never broke a sweat. Truth told, it feels slightly boring ⌠
- I left the game with three well-geared level 100 chars (pre-level squish, obviously) who had quite a number of heirlooms between them. I am still on a free account. Should I return to a sub, would it be worthwhile pursuing getting them back? I understand there is a process. Or would you rather advise I start from scratch because so much has changed?
(On a side note, I am kind of scared of re-subbing for I was, I believe, seriously addicted to WoW back then, which was a reason that, upon returning from a vacation, I simply cancelled my account without once looking back because otherwise I wouldnât have managed to quit. I might still find it wiser to not return. But still, if you have any comments on my musings, Iâd be quite interested. 
)
But Iâve seen it, turtle, monasteries, martial arts and all.
)
