Give your hot take, I’m introducing a friend group to the game which version do you think would be the best and the worst?
Retail
Classic era (Cata almost MoP)
Hardcore
Season of Discovery
Classic Anniversary
Retail, lot’s of QoL.
Hardcore would be horrible for a new WoW player.
i’ve heard multiple new players say they feel very lost in retail and there’s a lot to it. (even returning players from patch to patch feel that way)
I’d def recommend classic WoW to a new player…very simple game and the story is easy to follow.
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Classic is probably paced way too slow for most modern players (particularly if they want to get into the story through quests).
Classic Era
Show them what world of Warcraft was in it prime. What it was meant to be.
Not… whatever we have now.
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It really depends their background.
Someone that has never played a MMO or RPG?
Probably classic
A seasoned vet of other current MMOs?
Retail
Someone you don’t like?
Hardcore.
Definitely not HC. Maybe classic for the chronological introduction to the game, if they are gamers. But for non-gamers probably retail because the QoL and just the game as a whole is far better by today’s standard and it doesn’t look too horrible like classic does.
Not classic era, starting in the middle of nowhere is pointless.
Not season of discovery that’s like a modded game more appreciated by people who know the real game and want an alternative experience.
SoD is a terrible option, it’s not even real WoW. It’s arcade mode.
Hardcore is the worst option for a newbie, I don’t even need to explain why.
Between classic and retail, it would depend on the type of person you’re recommending it to. I’d recommend classic to someone who is into lore and would enjoy a slow leveling process. If not, just stick with retail.
Tl;dr - probably retail.
Retail had quality of life but classic has some quests that tell the story before the quests were changed.
Retail is just cognitive overload.
I’d recommend Classic first and foremost, perhaps the anniversary versions since there’s some QoL there.
After that, maybe Cata/MoP Classic or whatever the “current” version of “Retail Minus” is lol.
If they still feel like that isn’t enough, I’d finally suggest Retail.
But in no capacity would I recommend Retail to newcomers.
The endgame is hostile and would just repel them, and that’s what Retail is ultimately about.
It might also be too easy, everything before endgame. It’s quite the dichotomy, Retail. Either it’s a joke or it crushes you.
God no.
Classic WoW is pretty hardcore for a new player. They will die a ton and hate some of the long runs back to their corpse.
Also not being able to solo some quests, especially elite ones.
Not knowing how to find a group.
No transmog so they’re stuck looking like a poverty case.
Retail is way better for new players. They can solo everything and there’s matchmaking.
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Do you think the op is recommending the game to a toddler?
It’s not hard to speak to people in the game and ask for help if needed.
Classic is the most social I’ve seen this game.
Dying is apart of the game. If people stop playing a game due to something being too hard or dying then the person probably is a toddler lol
In general I prefer Retail because of the quality of life upgrades from Classic but Retail has the worst new player onboarding I have ever seen in an MMO. If you want to introduce people to WoW and they aren’t experienced MMO players who are willing to do a lot of outside reading I would start them via Classis Era.
The new player onboarding can be fine in Retail but they have to be guided and even then it all can be very jarring.
I think classic is probably a better starting point for a new player. Because it gives them a look into what things were like, if they’re new to MMOs or video games it provides a frame of reference.
Classic is easier, so it’s a good starting point.
Retail and tell them to go to dragonflight and STAY in dragonflight only doing the campaign quests. No instances.
A lot of freshies get lost in the sauce when they hit SW/Org and see all the options. If they just do like daddy/mommy Blizzard intends, they’ll get dragonriding unlocked and have a relatively smooth and easy leveling experience and the most “up to date” story that they reasonably can get.
Retail is much easier than Classic for new players.
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Retail or classic fresh. If they wanna raid and do dungeons, retail. If they wanna quest and stuff, classic.
Ive heard the cata (soon to be mop) servers have a fairly bad community but i have no personal experience there.
A completely different game.
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idk about new players, in any mode.
game has a lot of quirks that wont make much sense unless you were there all along, and even then…
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NOT HARDCORE jfc…
