Our author Maren reveals to you how she found her way back to World of Warcraft – and how she perceives the “old” content.
With the “Refer-a-Friend Bonus” quickly to the top
It has been a long time. Months, years, eons since I last played World of Warcraft. And I must admit, it feels damn good to be back here.
Looking forward to the upcoming patch “Legion” and persuaded by a good friend’s suggestion “Get WoW, there’s this ‘Refer-a-Friend Bonus'” I created a panda lady.
As a level 100 mage, I happily jump, fight, and die through the landscape, experiencing something new every day. I last entered the world of the Horde through my aunt’s account about 12 years ago, but since then I hadn’t thought about starting again with WOW.
Garrisons, Instances, Raids…?
The journey to level 90 was child’s play compared to the slow progress in the area around my garrison. At first, the term garrison meant nothing to me. I couldn’t even imagine what it all entailed. “What? I have my own base, can start missions, and get cool stuff?”
But it took a while to reach 90: Thanks to the friend bonus, leveling up is easy and feels about three times as fast. The quests at the beginning were just as much fun as later instances starting at level 15. With this system, we worked our way up to level 90.
Then it was: Onwards, finish your garrison and keep leveling up. Yes… here I am now wandering through the icy cold of the Frostfire Ridge or running through the lava lake near Stonecrag Outpost because of flowers and other distractions. On another day, I fell from a cliff and received the achievement: “How deep can you fall?” (Fall 65 meters without dying).
Moreover, I have a special talent: there can be a single gap in the game where you can fall in and not get out anymore… I find it.
The perfect character as a “newbie” in WoW
Let’s assume that it might not have been a good idea for me to play a mage first. You have to “pull” single enemies, hide quickly or become invisible when too many mobs appear, and protect yourself when things get tough. I’m probably more of the “I-run-in-pull-a-thousand-enemies-and-hope-not-to-die” type.
Especially in instances with other players in the group, it wasn’t just “fun” for me when I accidentally attracted another enemy to us. On accident!
My virtual life would have probably been much easier starting with a hunter, but no, I just had to be the panda mage. I admit, I died often.
My favorite: The Night Elf Hunter
I find the mage itself interesting to play. Arcane magic is powerful and can deal a lot of damage, frost magic is useful and can freeze enemies until they collapse in front of you. I haven’t tried fire magic yet.
Besides my mage, I created a druid (tauren), an orc warrior, and a hunter. And by purchasing the pre-purchase edition of Legion, I could instantly upgrade the hunter to level 100. Because I still like the hunter class the most. Back then at 12 years old and now. I find the companions extremely useful, and fighting with the bow is enjoyable.
But back to my mage: Slowly, I have understood all my spells and can use them in combat (more or less) successfully. And I reached level 100 quite casually; during a fight with a Windrider in Wor’var. Now I am aware of Timewalking instances, the 100,000 different mounts (mounts, raids, always these English terms for everything…) and can manage my character fairly well.
My personal conclusion…
World of Warcraft is made for me. The role-playing elements are what I like best. I identify with my character and experience diverse situations; with every level gained, I am happy and see how my panda lady develops further.
Every day, after completing a few quests, I usually go to Orgrimmar or Undercity to buy armor heirlooms for my low-level characters (some extra experience for my remaining characters that are not yet at level 100). The various quests are incredibly fun, and the missions too. More at the beginning because one could also obtain armor pieces for the character. Later on, the rewards seem to be more limited to experience for the fighters and garrison resources. Personally, I find that a bit disappointing.
I am – back then as today – amazed at how detailed World of Warcraft is and how extensive. The world map is huge. So many areas and so much to do. Every day is a little different. That completes the fun of the game.
Those who ordered Legion as a pre-purchase version, like me, can test the demon hunter class since August 10. Of course, I already created a demon huntress and completed the first quests. The double jump, gliding, the fights… The expansion is already a lot of fun for me.
Now the questions for you: Have you also created a demon hunter or do you have to wait until the end of August? What are you looking forward to?
