World of Warcraft: Shadowlands makes the game from almost two decades ago more friendly to new players, while also improving several older systems.
I have been playing World of warcraft occasionally for most of two decades. It has been much worse than in recent years, but the point is that I am a long tooth Wow player. As each expansion launches, I hope Activision-Blizzard can find a way to bring back the magic of the game’s early days and bring me back in bulk. Recently, I had the opportunity to access an early preview for the next Shadowlands beta. Does it finally bring back those heady days of the 2010s? Not really, but I’m also not sure if that already matters.
Let’s start with the good in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. One of the biggest impediments to WoW picking up new players is the big task of hitting the max level so you can play the new content.
Blizzard has tried a few different ideas to fix it, but, at least from my point of view, none of them has really alleviated the problems. Even if my friends can just raise a character to the level of the current expansion, they have never been comfortable with the game.
To a large degree, Shadowlands Rectify most problems in several ways. First, it is the new level of squish. Now, instead of having to go through 120 levels to reach the limit, you only need to reach level 60. That, in itself, greatly speeds up the process, but the team has gone a step further.
Shadowlands introduces a new launch zone intended to update new players with the general operation of WoW and MMO. As someone who has been playing on Azeroth since I was 16, it is difficult to say if this is successful. I mean, I certainly think so, but I’ve also spent thousands of hours in this game. So I’m not the best judge. That being said, there are a wealth of tool tips and tutorials that seem to clearly communicate how to play Wow.
The new zone also does a great job of taking you into real action. Rather than meandering through the early stages of Wow, you are instantly cast into an ogre plot to raise a previously dead dragon. Sure, you can still fight some quillboars, but your tour of the Exile Islands seems much more important than walking through the Valley of Trials.
All this culminates in a mini-dungeon experience that shows new players what it’s like to play with a group. Obviously, this is much easier than a typical dungeon, but at least it gives you an idea of what to expect when you move to the Wailing Caverns or whatever.
Importantly, once your one-hour addition is complete, you can choose where you want to level up. This is a really big step because it allows players to jump straight to Battle for Azeroth content, helping to set the stage for Shadowlands.
Forcing new players to play through each expansion was always a great popular question. If you’re not playing content as it appears, the story is incredibly dense and difficult to follow. You don’t understand why this person is a Warchief or what made that banshee lady go crazy. The new system seems to make everything much easier to follow.
However, as a returning player, I still have many of the same problems that kept me from Wow first. This early version of the beta allows you to play back a good chunk of the content that is coming and much of it feels like the same ground we’ve trod on again and again.
On the surface, the covenant system is intriguing. You have a significant choice between four different factions, each with their own set of rewards and abilities. In my own time, I played as a new member of the vampiric Venthyr. It’s a fun take on the classic vampire tropes, and its unique ability, Door of Shadows, is hilarious.
Basically, it gives any character considerable teleportation every 60 seconds. As someone who has spent days of my life alone with content from old forays, the possibilities of this tool are tantalizing. I also want to mention how beautiful the area looks. The Gothic theme prevails throughout the area, giving it a dark and proper atmosphere.
However, the design of the area incorporates a ton of verticality, creating confusion and annoyance. I fully understand why Blizzard does not allow you to use flying mounts at the start of an expansion. That being said, this area is begging for that option.
I also got my first hands-on time with some of the game’s late branded content that comes with Shadowlands. Unfortunately, most of these look like iterative versions of things we’ve already played around with and got bored with.
For example, each compact has its own Classroom-like area that you can update. These remind me of a streamlined trim, which is fine but doesn’t make my jimmies move. Then there are the new adventures that feel like a better version of the old missions. Again, improving a feature and making it attractive is not a bad thing. It just isn’t enough to thrill this particular old man. The only area that has excited me is The Maw. It seems like this procedurally generated dungeon could add intriguing content to grind.
So maybe this is all an “I” problem. After all, I’ve almost stopped playing World of warcraft because everything was starting to feel too similar. The new content did not seem to justify the sinking of time.
Also, playing the game in beta conditions is very ideal. Hopefully (it’s a beta version after all), but between blocked content, work-in-progress scenes, and more frequent crashes than you’d like, it’s hard to get a real idea of what Shadowlands can be.
Said that Wow It continues to feel like a game with a drastic need for a sequel. WoW 2 it’s a long-running joke and will probably never happen. However, there is only so much you can expect developers to do with a game that you can almost legally vote on. I love World of warcraft. It’s easily in my five favorite games of all time, but it’s hard to imagine coming back without some much more drastic changes.
Of course, if you’re not as jaded as I am, Shadowlands he certainly seems to be on his way to being another solid World of warcraft expansion. Only deals should inject tons of replayability into the experience. And the revamped systems will likely be welcome for longtime players who haven’t broken their pledge.
