Hello everyone, I wanted to post this for a while because I think it’s a unique perspective on WOTLK. I also wanted to give it more of a chance before I did. But here we go:
I joined in Cataclysm and I was completely dazzled by the game. It was the coolest game I’d ever played and the most ideal escapism for me at a young age. My love for it managed to last so long that I’m a frequently returning player even to this day. However, I was always invalidated because “Cataclysm destroyed WoW” and that I just missed the train. Wrath of the Lich King was allegedly the peak of WoW and it would never be the same again.
Fast forward to 2022 and I finally get a chance to try the game that was “so much better” than the one I first loved. I’d been waiting for this for years.
The first Joyous Journeys buff was exciting. The world was full, everyone had high hopes, I felt a part of something big (just like my experience trying Classic in August 2019).
I got to Level 80 post JJ buff due to work and study commitments and returned to do Northrend without it. That’s when I noticed the biggest change because the hype had gone down. I had to transfer from Giantstalker realm which died somewhere between then and my return.
Northrend
Maybe down to personal taste but Northrend was terribly dull. I’d choose Hellfire Peninsula and look forward to that Mark of Thrallmar daily any day over the Borean Tundra. Most of the “revolutionary” vehicle quests were buggy, particularly the ones in Zul’Drak. I quit for a bit to play some retail, then I came back for the second JJ buff.
Level 80 Experience
This time, I hit level 80 and there were Heroic + dungeons. Nobody would do regular heroics and even when specifying that we were looking for a Tank for a Normal Heroic countless times, more than once a Tank would turn up, realise we weren’t doing HC + and leave. It was like fishing except I’m sat indoors, babysitting an online avatar and typing a message into LFG every 3 minutes. I remember a few times standing in the Halls of Lightning with a bunch of DPS and a healer where we took a few snack and toilet breaks just waiting for a tank.
The biggest and most important discovery for me is the emptiness of it. I ain’t interested in Raiding. I had my heart set on achievements, PVP and mount collecting. Just adventures on my toon with the odd daily, like I did when I joined in Cataclysm. Like I do in Dragonflight. Only what’s interesting about it, is that nobody cares. There’s no collecting community. There’s no “just socials”. There’s nobody filling up the world outside of scheduled Naxx and Ulduar runs like in 2008. Why? Because there’s more of it on retail. So why settle for classic, I guess.
The split between players has made WOTLK into a trip down raid-memory lane. It’s like a glorified Timewalking event in that regard. I will keep coming back periodically since it’s the only version of WoW where DKs don’t suck. But this is how I feel about it.
I don’t mean to spread discord and I have a lot of respect for my fellow WoW players but I’m very passionate about this game, I want to enjoy WOTLK and so I am going to share my opinion.