MeinMMO editor Patrick Freese started late with WoW: Shadowlands. But already on the first weekend, players showed him why he always returns to the MMO.
As WoW players celebrated the release of Shadowlands on the night of November 24th, I was still far from it. I usually participate in the release of every addon on the release day. But with Shadowlands, it was different. I took my time, wanting to complete the most important goals in D3 first.
A week later, I dove into the new areas around Bastion and Ardenweald. When I jumped into the heroic dungeons on the weekend, I realized again why I always feel at home in WoW. The community is great.
And I say this, even though I often hear bad things about it. How often I had to hear “without experience, no one will take you into heroics” or that every player in WoW is only focused on themselves, their progress, and their gear. My experiences go in a different direction.
2 actions that stuck with me
There are two actions I particularly highlight from my first week in WoW: Shadowlands. They stay in my memory!
The unexpected gift
Every WoW player knows this at the beginning of an addon. You fight your way through non-heroic instances and gradually collect gear there. Or you use the help of crafting professions or the auction house for that. The big goal: to reach the item level required for heroics.
I needed only a few instances and a lot of drop luck. After 3-4 dungeons, I was able to attempt my first heroic. And here the game starts all over again. Hoping for the drops of better items to make your character even stronger.
I signed up as a healing shaman for a random dungeon, alone. I was randomly grouped with four other players.
At the beginning of the heroic, I announced that I was doing my first heroic dungeon in Shadowlands and that I should be informed of any special shortcuts or tricks so that I wouldn’t mess things up.
This was acknowledged, the tank led us through the instance along the “normal path” as he said and took care when pulling. After the first boss fight, a random elemental shaman suddenly trade-offered me. Wordlessly, he put his recently acquired loot into the trade window and confirmed that he would be ready to trade without expecting anything in return. A chest armor, with a significantly higher item level than my equipped one, now belonged to me.
I was totally surprised. Communities of other games would have preferred to sell this for a small price at the next vendor instead of doing a favor for other players.
With a broad grin on my face, I typed my heartfelt thank you into the dungeon chat and blew the player a kiss via emote. Such social behavior right in my first heroic. I was really happy.
My personal boss help
Already in the second heroic instance, which followed the gift, there was another positive surprise for me.
I didn’t even know the instance as a non-hero and immediately said at the beginning of the round something like: “Hi everyone, this is my first time in this instance and I have no idea. Please tell me if there is anything important to pay attention to with the bosses. It is also only my second heroic here.”
The warlock of the group immediately chimed in the chat: “Sure, I’ll let you know.” And off we went, smashing the trash mobs on the way to the first boss. About two minutes before the first boss, I received a whisper in the game. The warlock. With a detailed boss explanation of 5 lines and good reassurance that it would all work out.
For the next 3 bosses, it continued like that. Just before arriving at a boss: “So for this boss we have to …” Sometimes the player even apologized for describing everything too intricate.
With his explanations, the boss fights became much easier for me. Our group fought through to the end without a wipe. At the end, I sincerely thanked the warlock. He just said “You’re welcome. Recommend me to your friends! :D” and then left the group.
Note: I also use the dungeon guide from WoW to inform myself about the instances. But often there are tricks or special methods that players figure out and then take for granted as basic knowledge in every instance. That was what I wanted to avoid.
I’m happy to return to WoW
Why this is special: I know from other online games rather toxic communities. There, no one shares anything with each other. At least in the early stages of an addon in WoW, it is different. I immediately get a good feeling when I play with “randoms” in the group.
Right in my first two heroics, this was confirmed. And this gives me a good feeling every time I return to World of Warcraft after a break. This helpfulness in the community is something I associate with WoW. And I feel that again at the start of every addon. Sure, there are also some black sheep here and there, but in general, the WoW community makes such a good impression on me that I never tire of returning and chatting, questing, or raiding with randoms.
What about you? Have you had similar experiences with the WoW community or is it completely different for you? Please let us know here on MeinMMO about your best experiences with the WoW community in the comments.
My colleague Alexander Leitsch is also fighting his way through the world of WoW: Shadowlands. He says: I have no idea what I’m doing in Shadowlands, but it feels great.
