State of the Game (worth coming back)?

[Teri]

Wait until 7.3

You'll get through the same stuff in less time and everything will be out.

Not everything will magicly go faster by starting late, like reputations and legendary drops wont suddenly appear in your mailbox.

You need reputations and questlines to eventually unlock flying. Still the case for Draenor too.

The first honor prestige will go 2x faster in 7.2 but you still have to play.

AP has catchup but it still takes some time, alt catchup is faster then new starting mains in most cases.

[Deleted]

I play casually and i'm having fun.

Got one legendary after 1 week of doing emmisary quests. Got 868 item level.
Right now i'm doing Kharazan every week and Normal raids in LFG.

I pretty much only grab the game 2...maybe 3 times per week and i am seeing my item level growing little by little. It's quite enjoyable.

You get full epic really fast on Mythic Dungeons with people trading you all the items. Everyone is doing dungeons overgeared.
So i got full 845 item level gear after only 1 week. Really fast.

[InfernalDark]

Don't come back.

[HordeFanboy]

game is grindy as vanilla. rng everywhere. cancer CRZ. only 10 populated servers the rest is dead. Rng legendarys. Very Spamable content (mythic+ WQ).

wod was better

[Teri]

I play casually and i'm having fun.

Got one legendary after 1 week of doing emmisary quests. Got 868 item level.
Right now i'm doing Kharazan every week and Normal raids in LFG.

I pretty much only grab the game 2...maybe 3 times per week and i am seeing my item level growing little by little. It's quite enjoyable.

Did a similar thing after 3 year no WoW, got 4 characters ilevel870-878, now getting a bit bored with it but it's been 4 months straight of mostly solo play, I would speedlevel more alts to eventually get 12x110, but having no solid guild on a low pop realm doesn't want me to invest more time in alts that would be needed to be transfered (more € or gold needed for that).

I'm not very comfortable with a lot of pugging yet, beyond maybe mythic 0 and +2, LFR, etc. I haven't done normal or karazhan.

Which I why I advise OP to be aware of what server/faction balance he/she will start on.

[Mojo03]

Not everything will magicly go faster by starting late, like reputations and legendary drops wont suddenly appear in your mailbox.

You need reputations and questlines to eventually unlock flying. Still the case for Draenor too.

The first honor prestige will go 2x faster in 7.2 but you still have to play.

AP has catchup but it still takes some time, alt catchup is faster then new starting mains in most cases.

They always implement catch up mechanics in later patches.

There will most likely be gear in 7.3 like timeless isle and tanaan to catch up quick.

Decreased experience needed to level by then (probably).

I wouldn't be surprised if they added some kind of AP catch up mechanic for newer players and a faster way to gain rep by then.

It won't all go faster, but you will get to the same progression point in significantly less time.

[Sencha]

Don't let the clueless haters fool you: the game is in the best shape its ever been right now.

Don't let the blind fanboys fool you: this is the worst expansion ever.

[McNeil]

Is the game enjoyable (even playable?) for someone who was competing at high levels during previous expansions, but simply doesn't have the same free time available at this point?

I would say no. If you start playing then there's a lot of catching up to do, which requires quite some grind which is imo not enjoyable. Think there are better games if your short on free time. The game to me is still enjoyable for a casual though, not having to bother with maximising my characters and just play all kind of different characters.

[Magemaer]

Well as you can see some people love it, some hate it. Those that love it probably do so because there's a lot of "content" on max level, that is, things to do. And pve is at this point a very refined experience, only hindered a bit by bad class design and balance here and there.
Those that hate probably do so because Legion has some really annoying systems into it making the game more "grindy" than it ever was and, specially, more rng-based. Some of its systems annoy some and please others, like the artifact power progression; others annoy almost everyone, like the legendary system.

Overall, despite refinements over the years in storytelling and other minor things, i think the game has took a very wrong direction in this: instead of expanding the game into new styles of gaming, offering more varied experiences for max-level content they are betting on making more appealing carrots-on-a-stick. That is, they enforced the hamster-wheel aspect of this game instead of challenging themselves to make new things (like they were kind of trying with MoP). Now they're just betting on well-known routes for taking the most of the obsessive/addictive nature of people. I think that as game developers, and perhaps as human beings, they're taking the easy, wrong route.

For players that means that you can level to 110, enjoy the storyline and uninstall to enjoy Legion in the most efficient way. Now if you for some reason don't have a life, have a LOT of time to spare, this game might be a better choice than watching tv all day, be depressed by yourself, and so on. It'll suck you in, kind of socialize you a bit, and will keep you completely occupied. If your life is such a state it might be a positive thing. Otherwise avoid this trap.

[Teri]

They always implement catch up mechanics in later patches.

There will most likely be gear in 7.3 like timeless isle and tanaan to catch up quick.

Decreased experience needed to level by then (probably).

I wouldn't be surprised if they added some kind of AP catch up mechanic for newer players and a faster way to gain rep by then.

It won't all go faster, but you will get to the same progression point in significantly less time.

- Gear catchup is never the problem, they are raising WQ itemlevel and dungeon itemlevel in 7.2 already. Legendaries are a different story and we don't know the full changes yet. Also heroic versions of split karazhan/court/arcway will allow it in the daily heroic.

- Decreased xp is usually only done in pre-patches. They might add heirloom upgrades to 110 late 7.3 or 7.4, but no global xp nerfs.

- AP catchup is already in (right now you can get AK 15, will be higher later on) , Alt-catchup is different and more favored as you can get AK20, both higher in 7.2.

- Rep catchup has never been in the game, right now tokens you gain from missions etc but not relevant for a main character as they don't come BoA till exalted.
MoP added double rep unlock at Revered, however I sadly don't see that for WoD or older expansions so I doubt it will be in for Legion.
I really hope eventually they make rep account wide however.

[prolific1]

Appreciate the replies, everyone. Thank you.

Agreed - ultimately, it's up to me, but I do enjoy the input of folks who were perhaps (once) in the same shoes as I am. Again, thank you.

Yes. People will tell you it's "grindy" But...it's an MMO. And WoW. So let them whine. Idk. Come back. Gear up. Do whatever you need for part 1 pathfinder. enjoy Suramar and raids. Get ready for 7.2 in a couple-few months.

Noted, and that's more or less my inquiry:

Is it possible to come back, "play at my own pace", while eventually diving into raids etc. and still be able to upgrade and push my character as such?

For example, are 10-man guilds/raids still a thing?

10 people, of course, still feels entirely more manageable than 20+.

Additionally, what's the best way (resource) to pinpoint a server nowadays? Obviously gravitating toward mid-higher pop in order to increase the likelihood of finding some new pals to tag along with.

Cheers.

[Dalamian]

I think its a good time to come back. I came back to the game after really not playing much at all in WoD. The artifacts are cool, and the fight against the legion is cool. And if you're a lore nerd at all its a great time to come back.

Gameplay wise im enjoying the current raiding scene, and the solo content is good too. The World Quests are basically Dailies but they change it up enough to make it not feel so boring, and artifact progression doesn't take that long anymore with all the Aritfact Knowledge catch up thats available now. And 7.2 is basically leveling the playing field for everyone, and adding more traits and artifact knowledge.

If you think you'll like the Burning Legion back drop and holding an artifact weapon, Doomhammer, Ashbringer, or Parts of Frostmourne then by all means come on back.

[darklogrus]

Don't listen to these people saying the game has loads of content because it doesn't.

[Requimortem]

Absolutely not. If it were not for the fact that I have spent so many years playing this game to the point where not playing triggers my OCD, I'd have given it up in a heartbeat. The "content" of this expansion? It's literally running the same quests you did while leveling up except everything scales to your level and the only reason to do any of it is to farm Artifact Power.

Which, by the way, serves absolutely no purpose because at the end of the expansion they're taking away the artifact weapons so that means every ounce of work we put into them will have been for naught. The rest involves running Mythic+ dungeons which is about as exciting as having your skin slowly peeled off with a rusty, dull knife.

Then of course you have "raiding" which, if you've done one, you've done them all because Blizzard has zero creativity or any ideas how to create content that is accessible and enjoyable to all. PvP has never been more unbalanced thanks to Demon Hunturds and other melee classes. They're particularly fond of shafting warlocks and mages this expansion--and I don't necessarily mean in terms of DPS.

On top of all that the only way to progress in professions is to raid and if you happen to have a gathering profession like Herbalism you'll have to spend countless hours picking herbs in the hopes that you get lucky enough to find the item to give you the quest that sends you all over the place just to level it. Of course that's actually a good thing because everything you can make costs a stupid amount of materials even at the highest rank. Which is really unfortunate for Alchemists who absolutely need Starlight Roses but until you get the third rank, you're stuck either getting one Starlight Rose or some useless dust.

Worst part is, is that you usually spend four different herbs to make one potion but hey, if you have the third rank of a recipe you only get a chance to make more than one. The entirety of this expansion revolves around getting lucky and most times, you won't. It's even worse if you're trying to farm up a Legendary item since they actually do make a substantial difference even with the nerfs they received not long ago.

Despite all this you still have people claiming this is a good expansion or even one of the best. It makes me wonder if that's a form of Stockholm Syndrome or if they're simply mentally handicapped.

[melodramocracy]

Pretty straightforward and self-explanatory.

I stopped playing around Cataclysm's release (2010-ish?), so I've missed quite a bit obviously.

Is the game enjoyable (even playable?) for someone who was competing at high levels during previous expansions, but simply doesn't have the same free time available at this point?

Can you play casually, and still feel like you're getting somewhere with your character, etc.?

It's alt friendly enough at this point. if I had to summarize the expansion so far, I'd say that content and environments are good, things to do are good, class design (for the most part) isn't, Worth playing if you find a class you really enjoy.

[Ealyssa]

wod was better

That's where you pushed too far, your trolling was fine just before that

@OP The game was never this good. There is actually content everywhere : open world, dungeon as much as you want, and 20 raid bosses.

PVE side is brilliant. PVP side not really (but that's dead since cata).

[HordeFanboy]

That's where you pushed too far, your trolling was fine just before that

@OP The game was never this good. There is actually content everywhere : open world, dungeon as much as you want, and 20 raid bosses.

PVE side is brilliant. PVP side not really (but that's dead since cata).

wod is better than legion. less rng=better gameplay=better expansion

[soulzek]

The game is the same carrot treadmill as it's always been and always will be. Take that as you will.

[Requimortem]

It's alt friendly enough at this point.

No it's not. You might be able to boost your Artifact Knowledge up to level 20 but that's still five levels to go from the max or more if they decide to increase it. On top of that you've got a fair bit of reputation farming, you've got a fair bit of raiding to do depending on your professions, you've got an absurd amount of work to do if you want the additional colors for your artifact weapon. Speaking of, good luck getting your "hidden" artifact appearance if you're not a hunter or finding a decent Legendary if you intend to do any serious progressive raiding.

- - - Updated - - -

That's where you pushed too far, your trolling was fine just before that

Just because you don't agree with him does not make it trolling. I can find a couple of positive things to say about Warlords of Draenor or even Cataclysm despite my endless hatred for the latter; I can not do the same for Legion.

[IceMan1763]

wod is better than legion. less rng=better gameplay=better expansion

I agree, of course, I still think WOD is the 2nd worst expansion but at least it didn't have these absolutely ridiculous and pointless grinds combined with the worst feature ever implemented in the game... legiondaries.