Blizzard should create a 10-60 starting zone for new players

[Thirtyrock]

Honestly BFA leveling is a lot of fun.

It was a lot of fun...the first 6 times.

[Nork]

The cata revamp was deff for money tho. Flying was the big selling point there. Too bad it doesn't made sense 15 years later.

I'm talking about stuff that wasn't high end. They could have just created five new zones and allow flying there.

[liyroot]

wow isn't coming to consoles.

99% it's coming to console bud. Xbox for sure. Blizzard has been releasing a shit load of console ports, the Microsoft take over is imminent, and they released controller support, new UI, and the special camera mode for people on controller. Even the new race/class is controller friendly.

Huge money on next expansion being on console.

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I'm talking about stuff that wasn't high end. They could have just created five new zones and allow flying there.

I get you. But the pitch was "fly in azeroth". I thing that was literally said in the commercials.

[PixelFox]

The leveling experience is spectacular these days. Chromie time now up to 60, so basically pick any five or six zones in the ENTIRE HISTORY OOF THE GAME and do them to completion (no pressure to move on before you're done anymore!) and you're done. You can have a completely different experience every time you level a character. I've done two new characters to 60 in the past month or two and really had the most fun leveling ever. The 50% XP bonus really helped too, but even without that it's still pretty fun.

If you want an even more compact experience, there's always a boost from the store :P

WoW is as fun now as it has ever been IMHO.

[Dilbon]

Maybe a questline that tells the story of each expansion briefly with an occasional raid converted to a scenario.

[Nork]

The leveling experience is spectacular these days. Chromie time now up to 60, so basically pick any five or six zones in the ENTIRE HISTORY OOF THE GAME and do them to completion (no pressure to move on before you're done anymore!) and you're done. You can have a completely different experience every time you level a character. I've done two new characters to 60 in the past month or two and really had the most fun leveling ever. The 50% XP bonus really helped too, but even without that it's still pretty fun.

If you want an even more compact experience, there's always a boost from the store :P

WoW is as fun now as it has ever been IMHO.

We're talking about new players, who can't choose Chromie time until they're level 60. They are forced to go through BfA first, which is not (in my opinion) a good place for new players that are getting used to WoW.

[loras]

Hello, fellas.

I've been thinking about the fact that after Exile's Reach, new players are thrown into Battle for Azeroth leveling, which is not a great start in terms of getting used to the game mechanics. I believe Blizzard should create a 10-60 starting experience, rather than just a 1-10 one. I don't advocate for a brand new zone, instead I believe a leveling experience in old zones that delves into a new quest storyline would be better. Maybe going through several continents and allowing players to get used to the game more easily.

What do you think about this?

I see what you mean, but with the eyes on the future and the past it may not be that simple.

I mean i do agree that something should be done to aid newbies in their familiarisation with the games' systems, but embedding that in a specialised levelling structure goes contrary both to the idea of an mmo and to the idea of an evolving world.

Rather i think it should just be a spin on the old MoP trials, made gear-neutral.
I would imagine it as a sort of literal in-game academy located in the faction capitals, containing explanations and tutorials and such on those parts of the game that are "evergreen".

Maybe void-themed for those parts that break the third wall (like UI stuff), maybe arcane themed for the rarer mechanics, etc.

Then whenever they are relevant in a given expansion they can refer to the academy.

Could be a good opportunity as to how we know "in-lore" where an ability will land, even if we technically beat every boss in one try, lorewise.
Maybe some quirky void lord focussing on luck likes to give us a fighting chance against all odds, knowing we'll die in the end all the same. Maybe lucky souls are tasty to him.

[T-34]

Fortunately, not everything is about money for Blizzard (at least it wasn't). Look at the Cataclysm revamp: I loved it - even though I think they should have included the new revamped zones in the high end. They are still creating stuff that it's not just high end (Exile's Reach is a great example). They can do it, and I don't think people would blame them for doing such a thing as long as they create a great expansion.

Everything is about the money for Blizzard, just as for the producers of your toilet paper or your local grocery store.

I'm not saying that your idea is bad or good. I'm asking if it will make Blizzard more money or not.
Blizzard has finite resources. If you can make the case that resources spent on your idea will make Blizzard more money than spending the same resources for making new shiny stuff for the next expac, then Blizzard will listen to you.
If you can't, then Blizzard will ignore you.

[kranur]

Leveling for new players is definitely fucked up, especially by the fact that there are just too many leftovers everywhere. Like, I played every expansion and still got overwhelmed and confused when I tried to level a new character (also saw a lot of bizzare shit caused by the fact that some zones have 10000 phases that screw each other around, like Durotar)
Doing leveling in an expansion that you'll likely never go to again is just bad. BfA is newer and nice and all but at least in Kalimdor/EK you'll still end up in again eventually.
What I would do is just cut off all portals and transportation to every expansion (except the current of course), move them all into Caverns of Time and cut off access to players who don't have a max level character (or haven't unlocked it before). And just scale everything in EK/Kalimdor to player's level so that there's no wrong choice. Or just introduce them to the capital cities after the starter area and then send them straight into the current expansion.

[Lochton]

I don't know if you've many friends that have recently started to play WoW, but I do. Most of them were quite confused with how things worked. Many of them ended up going to Outland or other continents by mistake, or not really knowing how to continue the storyline. If I hadn't been there, they would have probably quit, because there were so many things to cope with and the game doesn't explain them properly. BFA storyline doesn't help new players to get used to the game because it's got too many features that are totally dispensable for new players.

Most of mine are returning players, but I have some new ones, and they've understood, most of them, that BFA is the first journey. Some want still to select where to go either by recommendation or wish for a theme. Some get confused by being sent to Orgrimmar/Stormwind if they are told to leave again. They get confused that veterans speak of Chromie time but they don't have access to it.

As for systems, as a mentor/guide, I suggest most people ignore the systems, except for the Garrison in Warlords of Draenor due to the immense amount of XP in deploying it.

[Varaben]

That's a good question, pal. What I've got in mind is something pretty similar to the Exile's Reach experience. Adding also class quests.

I feel like this is sort of counter to what they're doing by speeding up leveling. They're making content that people just BREEZE through in a couple hours. Not a great ROI for them. But I agree that the new player experience isn't very good right now. I've had two friends try out WoW and can't figure out the controls, it feels weird to them etc. These aren't MMO players, and now they don't even see any reason to play because their new player experience wasn't great. They played through exile's reach I think.

Point is, most players here have played wow for 10+ years and this "tribal knowledge" of how to move, how the keybinds work, how to rebind keys, etc. isn't normal. Also, imagine starting the game and strafe left/right isn't the default keybinding? It's instead TURN left and right on WASD. I think that's still how wow works (and has since 2004). Stuff like this is going to turn off new players when it's not intuitive for non-wow players.

[liyroot]

We're talking about new players, who can't choose Chromie time until they're level 60. They are forced to go through BfA first, which is not (in my opinion) a good place for new players that want to get used to a new game.

Every purchase of the xpac comes with a level boost too right? So new players can just start with everyone else. They can get a dragon too. Good shiz.

[loras]

Leveling for new players is definitely fucked up, especially by the fact that there are just too many leftovers everywhere. Like, I played every expansion and still got overwhelmed and confused when I tried to level a new character (also saw a lot of bizzare shit caused by the fact that some zones have 10000 phases that screw each other around, like Durotar)
Doing leveling in an expansion that you'll likely never go to again is just bad. BfA is newer and nice and all but at least in Kalimdor/EK you'll still end up in again eventually.
What I would do is just cut off all portals and transportation to every expansion (except the current of course), move them all into Caverns of Time and cut off access to players who don't have a max level character (or haven't unlocked it before). And just scale everything in EK/Kalimdor to player's level so that there's no wrong choice. Or just introduce them to the capital cities after the starter area and then send them straight into the current expansion.

I like this CoT idea, honestly i had expected them to do exactly that for the old world during cataclysm's release.

[Nork]

Every purchase of the xpac comes with a level boost too right? So new players can just start with everyone else. They can get a dragon too. Good shiz.

Yeah, but if you throw them into max level straight away, they're gonna feel confused. This idea comes from the feeling that the leveling experience for new players doesn't help them to improve their skills through a progressive system. When you leave Exile's Reach there's too much information and very few help in the tutorials. New players feel so confused that many of them quit after a few hours because the game doesn't help them to understand how the world works. As I said before, one friend of mine ended up in Outland. Blizzard should fix this if they wanna attract new players (in my opinion, of course).

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Leveling for new players is definitely fucked up, especially by the fact that there are just too many leftovers everywhere. Like, I played every expansion and still got overwhelmed and confused when I tried to level a new character (also saw a lot of bizzare shit caused by the fact that some zones have 10000 phases that screw each other around, like Durotar)
Doing leveling in an expansion that you'll likely never go to again is just bad. BfA is newer and nice and all but at least in Kalimdor/EK you'll still end up in again eventually.
What I would do is just cut off all portals and transportation to every expansion (except the current of course), move them all into Caverns of Time and cut off access to players who don't have a max level character (or haven't unlocked it before). And just scale everything in EK/Kalimdor to player's level so that there's no wrong choice. Or just introduce them to the capital cities after the starter area and then send them straight into the current expansion.

I thoroughly agree.

[Lordofbelbol]

Hello, fellas.

I've been thinking about the fact that after Exile's Reach, new players are thrown into Battle for Azeroth leveling, which is not a great start in terms of getting used to the game mechanics. I believe Blizzard should create a 10-60 starting experience, rather than just a 1-10 one. I don't advocate for a brand new zone, instead I believe a leveling experience in old zones that delves into a new quest storyline would be better. Maybe going through several continents and allowing players to get used to the game more easily.

What do you think about this?

yehh only altoholics care about leveling this much, like literally only ppl in these forums care

[Lochton]

They deff need new players. Hopefully the Xbox release will bring those people in. Get ready for F2P and countless screaming 9 year olds.

There has been an influx of new players, which is a good sight, and returning players, and some unwanted returning players.

[Nork]

Most of mine are returning players, but I have some new ones, and they've understood, most of them, that BFA is the first journey. Some want still to select where to go either by recommendation or wish for a theme. Some get confused by being sent to Orgrimmar/Stormwind if they are told to leave again. They get confused that veterans speak of Chromie time but they don't have access to it.

As for systems, as a mentor/guide, I suggest most people ignore the systems, except for the Garrison in Warlords of Draenor due to the immense amount of XP in deploying it.

Didn't they take the wrong portal or ended up somewhere they shouldn't be? Didn't they complain about all the new things they have to be aware of? My friends many times tell me that if I hadn't been there to help them out, they'd have quit. I'm sure your friends would have struggled a lot more if you hadn't been there. Am I wrong?

[Khaza-R]

That's a good question, pal. What I've got in mind is something pretty similar to the Exile's Reach experience. Adding also class quests.

So overly generic and devoid of any flavor?

No thanks.

[Nork]

So overly generic and devoid of any flavor?

No thanks.

As generic and devoid of flavour as a new expansion zone. Two different experiences (one for the Alliance, one for the Horde). It's a great chance to update the old zones lore too.

[SinR]

I still wish that Exile's Reach's "End Dungeon" would have like specific to your class things to teach you, like Interrupts, CC, etc.

You pick your spec, go into the final dungeon, it teaches your tank about Taunts and Threat, or your DPS how to Kick and CC, or your healy how to... uhh... do healy things.

"Rogue you see that big guy? You should sneak behind him and SAP him while we work on the little guys!"