I know; I’ve been on classic it’s packed with players.
But why in the world would someone that is returning to retail care about classic?
Tone it down? For what? So I don’t offend some innocent snowflake?
I don’t care about that, at all.
For the same reason retail players also play classic, because it’s a similar game and it’s fun. And because he doesn’t have the expansion and maybe trying classic for 13€ will help him decide if he wants to spend 50€ on the expansion.
No, so you respect the rules of this forum to which all of us who participate are subject to and you don’t get flagged.
It’s called courtesy, threat people with respect.
at least OP got her question sorted.
pretends to be a mod and closes the thread
If your main goal is an immersive levelling experience, then TWW is not that you look for.
As others said, it’s was designed to be easy, and super quick, especially with the forced dragonriding nonsense (athough you can do ~80% with ground mount, as I did myself), the main goal is to reach the endgame and start the m+ grind as soon as possible.
About the actual levelling/questing part, some people will put me to the chopping block, but vs the “official” opinion, the story is not good. If I would have to describe it with singulard words, lame, cringe, calculable. Unless you are a very modern person, and enjoy the message given through everything. (Although not as bad it was in DF).
And even if there would be some interesting character, plot, lore, it quckly killed off, or changed to fit the message in it’s development.
I really enjoyed it and there are loads of side quests that give you in depth stories to the culture and lore. I also don’t care for end game but I don’t regret playing it. However, not interested in the upcoming Siren’s Isle or Undermine so if that sounds something you don’t like too perhaps consider waiting until Midnight.
I understand the sentiment, but I feel to say someone should wait >1 year to return, based on currently unreleased content and an expansion we know little more than the name of, is IMO iffy at best… Because many of the same sentiments will then be equally as applicable then as they are now.
Or, to rephrase, if someone “should” only come back when content that hasn´t even been released yet is released, depending on the quality of that content, the recommendation basically boils down to “don´t ever come back” 
Okay that hurt my head to read.
Just for me this is the first time in WoW I am not interested in the proposed zones coming next and so enjoying time on classic. I will eventually play through them but I have 0 hype and so will probably only play with Midnight. By that time, TWW will be free so if you’re of a like mind then no point spending the money. I usually just buy the expansion regardless but clearly OP isn’t such a person.
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I really enjoyed the leveling and there’s plenty more questing to do once you’ve hit max level, so you can keep the experience going for a nice amount of time. The story campaign in terms of flow and cadence was probably the best I’ve seen yet in WoW.
Have you played DF? If not; then there’s another big chunck of leveling content you can go through first.
The themes and writing of TWW are subjective, so you should make up your own mind on the quality of those things.
Several people in this thread just don’t play this game for that part, so they’re negative about it; ignore them, is my advice.
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I think this is one of the things you’ll only discover by trying it yourself. You can play Classic if you pay a subscription, no expansions need to be bought. You’ll also be able to play Retail excluding the latest expansion, so up to the end of Dragonflight.
To me Classic is insanely dull the questing is a slog and very grindy. I don’t like the gameplay either. To someone like Nim it’s fab, and she’s having a good time on the latest Classic Anniversary realms. The only frustration then can be the sheer volume of people vs the number of available mobs/items. That calms down over time.
I enjoyed levelling in Retail, but I love it the first time in any expansion. Repeating it on alts gets dull quick.
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What’s the point of this Q&A post if only the positive answers should be considered? The OP asked for honest opinion, and people gave it to him, even if it’s not sugarcoated.
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plus OP only wants to level, which only takes 3 days to do. we gotta be honest about that main point.
Edit:
“I’m not that bothered about end game, for me it’s all about levelling. That’s what I love in WoW.”
I mean, unless she´s into alt leveling then sure.
Yes and no. Negative impressions are OFC just as valid as positive ones.
But if people already admit to disliking content X on pure principle, such as for ex M+ pushers or PvPers that dislike everything that isnt M+ or PvP simply because it isn´t M+ or PvP, then their negative opinion of that content is already self-explanatory and requires no further elaboration on what exactly they don´t like about that type of content, because the generalized elaboration is itself already dissociated from the specificity of the question.
For ex, How Is M+ in Tww?
Bah, dungeons have always been boring, M+ has a stupid timer, flying to instances sucks, and to be honest I hate playing in groups anyway.
Not a single one of those statements does much to answer the actual question being asked, as all of them are just general statements stemming from or resulting in a blanket dislike that applies to the mode itself, but not anything TWW specific. Ergo they only muddy the waters with negativity while mostly dodging the actual question being asked.
One could even go so far as to call them trolling, and not be entirely unreasonable in that assessment …
If your interest is questing (because you outlevel things bloody fast sometimes your golden.
I usually faff around doing old raids for
Mogs/mounts. Random alt leveling and generally screw around and I’m having a great time.
No vault to keep in check.
No pressure to raid.
Leveling a ton characters at random intervals and going well.
^ this, Classic for levelling, Retail for endgame (For me personally)
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The latest expansion is way too short. The areas are small and the campaign rushed. The story isn’t bad but sadly its all a little under done. The game very much is designed for end game players. I levelled my chars to 80 in a heartbeat.
However, you can never be prepared enough for what is to come and so my advice is to buy the expansion if only to give you access to levelling to 80, given that you can continue levelling old content and still level your chars to 80. There is plenty to do that gives XP in old zones. I currently level my chars to 80 including this one and never bother with TWW.
It is worth levelling one character through the new content as Warcraft tends to load new content later on so again you need to be prepared for that. Personally I wouldn’t bother with Classic, cus it is a dead end. Much better to play the older content in Retail so you have characters you can take through the full game to 80. Otherwise you may feel you are wasting your time.
Also avoid Chromie.
If you like lvling then its fine. Then you will probably also accept the torture called dragonriding. (Or whats called that flightstyle?) but for me its bad. I hate the slow lvling. I wish after 1 time full story i could get all others instand max lvl.
I hated wotlk dungeons for lvling. Tbc was decent except mana tombs. I liked the classic because nostaly. But worst thing is. Ppl want to rush because the huge xp after the last (end boss) so seems that most ppl hate lvling.
But if thats all you like then the game is fine. I am a loot focussed player and that bringt more problems because rng and low drops.
Well, OP made it clear that they enjoy leveling and not too bothered about end game.
So then proceeding to give advice that goes against that very preference just seems odd to me.
It’s basically telling them; you’re wrong for enjoying the game in that way; this is the way you should do it.
It’s not that being negative isn’t valid, but take the very first reply for instance: ‘leveling is just a chore’. OP just told you that they love leveling; so if you can’t respect that; don’t reply.
It’s like if I would enter a thread where someone is asking for advice about doing M+ and I start posting about how much I hate M+. What actual purpose does that serve?
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My only take is that these gender neutral weirdos need to stop forcing their woke agenda on us normal people through this game. It’s so cringe and disturbing.
Also, it’s not an MMO. It’s more like a weird version of League of Legends. There is no role playing any more.
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From the perspective of someone who just wants to play the expansion for the leveling and has been absent since Shadowlands and who’s frame of reference is therefore the previous expansions, I wouldn’t recommend buying The War Within.
I would take those 50 bucks and buy another premium story-driven game.
The leveling in earlier WoW expansions had a lot more volume to it. Every expansion up to Shadowlands had seperate Horde and Alliance questing experiences. Completely different in Battle for Azeroth and slightly different in Legion, but always a different experience to be had for playing the other faction. In The War Within there’s one questing experience and everyone goes through, no matter if you’re Horde or Alliance.
The War Within is also void of any gameplay feature throughout the leveling. Expansions like Warlords of Draenor, Legion, Battle for Azeroth, and Shadowlands all had something, be it the Garrison, Artifact Weapon, Heart of Azeroth, or Covenants, that were all instrumental to the leveling experience and made it unique in each its own way. There’s nothing like that in The War Within. It’s just quests. Kill, collect, and fetch.
It’s also a 100% linear experience in The War Within. You don’t have any choice of where to go like you had in other expansions. Do I want to go Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord? Do I go for Mount Hyjal or Vashj’ir? The War Within is completely on rails.
And as others have said, then it’s a super short experience. Even if you vacuum the zones for every quest and read every bit of dialogue and explore every nook and cranny, you’ll struggle to find anywhere near as much content as previous expansions had. It’s an experience that wants to get players to endgame as fast as possible.
There also isn’t as much story as in previous expansions. You have an overarching narrative in the main campaign with Xal’atath, and then you have plotlines with the Earthen, Arathi, Nerubians, and the Kobolds. Those are basically the major story beats of the expansion. It’s not much, and it doesn’t go in-depth like the Arrakoa in Warlords of Draenor or the Nightborne in Legion. It’s surface level, pretty much all of it.
Broadly speaking though, then it’s still a WoW experience and if you play it, then it’s familiar territory. And if you just want a little more WoW to pass some time, this will do that.
But if I were on the fence and uncertain if it would be worth it, and maybe also a bit conscious about the money it costs (50+13) then I’d take my money and buy another game instead. Baldur’s Gate 3 perhaps.
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Folks, I can’t thank you enough for all the replies here, both positive and negative. It really does help. I genuinely do prefer levelling although I don’t agree with the ‘you can do it in 3 days’. I work full time and only have a limited time to play, plus I’m really in no rush.
I am open to trying endgame, and I’m curious about the new zones so hopefully I’ll be able to find a social guild along the way to chat with and maybe try a dungeon!
So thanks again, my question has been answered and I’m very grateful for the discussion. Happy gaming all! 
PS: So glad to see Punyelf still here!