Newbies have a hard time in World of Warcraft. Don’t you believe it? Cortyn from MeinMMO can tell you a story …
For years, there have been accusations that World of Warcraft has become too easy. Everything has been “casualized”, all areas of the game too simple, and truly complex game mechanics have been long absent. But is that really the case? I, Cortyn from MeinMMO, don’t believe so. This can best be observed by watching brand new players. But let me explain …
Thanks to the current Corona situation, many of my friends have been drawn to World of Warcraft. Most of them are returning players, but there are also a few newbies among them. It took just one such newbie to show me how confusing and complicated the game world has actually become over the years. It is a veritable jungle of quests, mechanics, and systems that can throw newcomers into complete chaos.
Much to do to stay current
Just one of those friends started his journey as a Demon Hunter on a recommendation. That way, he doesn’t have to level up so much and has a class that is pretty straightforward at its core, yet a lot of fun and has a great gameplay feel.
After reaching level 120, he asked the very simple questions about what he needs to do to join us in these “hard” dungeons and to be able to fly. And that’s when my monologue began:
Okay, so the important thing is that you quickly complete the campaign of the Black Empire to get your legendary cape that you can upgrade every week. Then you need to finish the War Campaign to learn how to fly. You also have to finish the main story in all three areas of Kul Tiras, and it’s best to do all world quests too. There’s currently a hefty reputation bonus.
Oh, don’t forget Nazjatar and Mechagon, where there are world quests too. But you have to unlock the ones in Nazjatar separately. And there’s also a second type of world quest that you can unlock a bit hidden later on.
Oh, as soon as you can, you should also go see this dwarf Magni in the Heart Chamber to unlock essences for the Heart of Azeroth. You need to do that beforehand, or else the Black Empire campaign won’t start at all.
After that, it’s best to do your daily quests in Uldum and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms once a week to collect Manifested Visions. You need those as currency to do Disturbing Visions. Those will improve your cape, which grants you Corruption resistance.
Sure, if I had written these things down in bullet points, it would have been a bit more structured. But that still wouldn’t have really disguised the problem.
I’ll put it this way: If I weren’t familiar with all this stuff because I had experienced it live during implementation, I wouldn’t have understood it either. How overwhelming must it be for someone who is entirely new to WoW and now wants to play with friends?
The bottom line is that I constantly have to give my Demon Hunter friend little reminders of what his current goals should be and why. Because even that “why” is not really obvious.
Confusion about the game world
Another example: The Demon Hunter proudly told me that he had completed world quests all morning but had unfortunately not received any better gear. But at least a lot of reputation, to be able to fly soon. When I saw him logging in a few hours later in Azsuna, I had to take a deep breath. He had followed the instruction “Complete 100 different world quests” and had overlooked the small addition that these had to be completed in Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
That also explained why he hadn’t received better items or artifact power, or why the enemies seemed “really easy”. It wasn’t due to his increased damage, but simply because he was in an area from the last expansion.
Yet, if you put yourself in his shoes, it’s not that easy to recognize. After all, the Broken Isles are full of world quests with epic rewards, and at least the gold value from the quests is hardly different from those in Kul Tiras and Zandalar.
Too many effects that completely overwhelm
I want to be completely honest. In certain situations, it’s truly difficult to watch a player run 20 meters away from a small ground effect from an enemy or how they unintentionally pull an additional group. But I probably see these beginner mistakes so annoyingly precisely because I have 15 years of experience in World of Warcraft. Sometimes my patience runs short.
At the same time, I also have to admit that with all the effects, area spells, Azerite abilities, and Corruption powers, it’s not so easy to recognize what constitutes a danger. Sure, most of my teammates and I recognize this at first glance. But imagine being new.
- Is the big shadow laser coming from the sky dangerous?
- Is this green area on the ground healing or damage?
- I have an arrow above my head – should I run away or stay put?
So many effects and abilities overlap that I can understand why the Demon Hunter prefers to keep his distance and wait, even if that means he won’t deal any damage.
Explaining World of Warcraft to newbies isn’t easy – especially at the end of an expansion. That’s why I’m even more excited about the new expansion Shadowlands, when most players will be back “on the same page”. Learning something new alongside friends is much better than having to teach someone everything afterwards – that feels rather lackluster for both parties in this extent.
Or how do you see it?
