21 years after the launch of World of Warcraft still starting with the MMORPG. Is it worth it? We break down all the details.
World of Warcraft is a game name that no gamer can overlook. No wonder, as this MMORPG is now an impressive 21 years old and still a favorite among the older gamer generation 30+. But what is it like to start with WoW in 2026? Is it even worth it? Can one still find the entry? Or will one get hopelessly lost?
Who is writing here? Hi! I’m Cortyn and I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for over 20 years and writing for MeinMMO about this topic for more than 13 years. In this article, I will reveal everything you need to know about WoW if you’re considering starting. Most descriptions are written objectively, but you will also find “Cortyn’s opinion” contributions on some topics, where I provide my subjective assessment – from the perspective of a demon who has been playing the game forever.
The Entry – Endless Choices with Confusion Risk
World of Warcraft is huge and packed with different game systems that have been introduced, discontinued, and sometimes renewed over the past 20 years.
This size creates an endless sea of possibilities and at the same time a lot of confusion.
Because the entry into World of Warcraft is probably the biggest negative aspect of the game. To this day, there is a lack of clear, easily recognizable in-game guides that take you by the hand and tell you what to do in what order – if you’re looking for something like that. Those who like to be guided from relevant task to task find it very difficult in World of Warcraft.
However, those who can engage in simply letting everything take its effect, exploring a bit, and just seeing what is behind the next corner or a game system can spend hours, days, months, and many years in WoW and still not have discovered everything.
It must be noted that the developers have made efforts to create improvements here. If you are starting fresh, your character has a pre-defined path that leads you to level 80. The game “forces” you, more or less, into one of the expansions (Dragonflight) to level your first character there.
This compulsion is, however, a good thing because it gives you structure: you only see a part of the available quests and have a clear story to follow. This is very helpful, especially for beginners.
For all subsequent characters, you have complete freedom and can choose from over 20 years of game content and even experience completely outdated quests and stories. While this content has a high nostalgia factor and offers interesting stories, it is noticeable that quests from 2007 have aged.
Cortyn’s Opinion: The entry into World of Warcraft is still one of the major downsides of the game. Even though the developers have been trying to tackle this issue in recent years, it is clearly a process that is still not complete. Those starting as newcomers in WoW will be overwhelmed by quests, talents, professions, and game systems, many of which are already outdated. A coherent and clearly recognizable red thread for newcomers is still missing today.
The entry is probably best achieved if one lets oneself immerse in it at the beginning and does not try to rush into the endgame. One should look at what the game has to offer. It can be enormously helpful to already have a friend who can help with questions. Make it clear to them that you only want objective information on different topics – because your friends are probably “specialists” in certain areas of the game, and they will want to recruit you for those.
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