A new addon for World of Warcraft is live. Is it worth returning with The War Within? MeinMMO analyzes what the game is currently worth.
A week has passed since the launch of the “Early Access” of World of Warcraft: The War Within. Most of the “launch content” has been played by now, and slowly but surely, more and more heroes are reaching level 80, playing the endgame campaign, or collecting glory for fancy rewards.
Some former players and veterans are peeking with one eye at the new expansion. The familiar tingling returns, and one wonders: Should we play the new expansion? Will it be fun? Is WoW now “good” and what one wants?
Quests and Leveling
The main campaign is relatively short but quite interesting. If you only follow the main quests, you will finish the campaign around level 76 or 77. In that case, you will have to complete some side quests or visit dungeons.
However, it is practically impossible for the quests to “run out” before level 80. There are more side quests and small stories than in all previous expansions combined. In fact, there are so many quests that you can reach level 80 in the second zone if you really want to complete them all.
The leveling phase is – even after the nerf – relatively quick. If you go all out and want to finish quickly, you can do it in around 4 hours. Those who take their time to explore and enjoy the world can spend around 20 hours.
Is it a good time to start?
It is clear: There is hardly a better time to start than the first few weeks of a new expansion. Currently, most players are still on the “same level” in terms of knowledge about the new game world, dungeons, or secrets.
You are practically “learning” together with the other players and can join a group with similar interests. At a later time, this is often more difficult or requires more effort. Getting in late during an active season, for instance, makes it harder to learn routes for “Mythic+” or boss mechanics that everyone has already considered as basic knowledge.
Additionally, the first weeks of a new expansion are often referred to as the “honeymoon phase”. Because everything is new and interesting, and you can discover something unknown around every corner, everything just feels good and fresh. This is a typical wedding period for World of Warcraft, which you only experience every 2 years at the beginning of an expansion.
Has WoW improved?
Whether WoW has improved or not is difficult to evaluate objectively. The player base of WoW is so diverse and varied that everyone considers different aspects important and correct. Therefore, the listing in this article is of course somewhat subjective, but should at least provide some points of reference:
- Almost everything is now account-wide. Reputation, rewards, currencies, and even a large part of the loot can be sent to other characters of the account. Playing multiple characters has never been easier.
- Most of the content can be completed solo or as a group. For the first time, there are many group activities that can alternatively be completed alone if desired – such as Depths or Companion Dungeons.
- Crafting and professions play a significant role again. Thanks to specializations, you can build a good reputation on your own realm and beyond.
- There is hardly any “mandatory” content and many options for obtaining good gear. Raids, dungeons, depths, PvP, world quests, events, rare enemies, crafting. There is something for everyone.
- The story – especially the side quests – feels more thought-out, more heartfelt, and gripping. Some quests are even quite dark.
The Unknown – Long-Term Motivation
One thing that cannot yet be answered is the question of long-term motivation. Can The War Within really captivate for many months? Will there be “nothing to do” after a few weeks?
Without a look into the crystal ball, this of course cannot be definitively answered. However, when considering the changes in World of Warcraft over the past years, and observing how quickly the developers released new content in Dragonflight, it is a good indication. Even now, Blizzard is not only working on Patch 11.0.5 and 11.0.7, but also the large follow-up patches are already long remembered.
Currently, it seems that Blizzard can maintain the rhythm of “new content every 6-10 weeks”. So if you can get excited about all kinds of content, you should find lasting entertainment in World of Warcraft: The War Within in the coming months.
Conclusion: It won’t get better, but also never perfect for everyone
World of Warcraft: The War Within offers more of what is already known – but with many adjustments, such as the warband, which makes the gaming experience much smoother and simply better. The game no longer tries to “force” you to play as often as possible – rather, your time is respected, and every minute feels interesting and worthwhile. World of Warcraft has simply become a more modern MMORPG with The War Within, recognizing the signs of the times without losing its classic WoW charm.
However, if you belong to those who think that World of Warcraft has not been “good” since Wrath of the Lich King, and that most changes have negatively transformed the game, then The War Within will be hard-pressed to convince you.
The classes and combat have become sharper and more complex, and most of the content – including social interactions – is optional. If you want that, you can have it, but no one is forced to. If you believe that an MMORPG can only be good when group activities are constantly “forced”, then The War Within is also “not a good MMORPG”.
Everyone else should give in to their urge and just play the new expansion for a month. Because just the story and the game world while leveling provide a more than solid gaming experience that can entertain for many evenings if you are susceptible to the typical WoW gameplay.
At least a thorough look should be worthwhile for veterans and returnees. But it’s best to also get the opinions of friends and former guild mates who may still be active – because they probably know better individually which kind of content you enjoy. If you want more information about the new expansion, you can learn more in the article on all content of The War Within.
