Really, the biggest issue for newer players IMHO is when they hit current content; without support from either crafters or other players the hurdle between 70-75 sucks because the players are going to be looking at a gap of upwards of a hundred Ilvls.
There is luckily catch-up gear that serves this role, but I do get what you mean. Ultimately we don’t have all the data at our disposal, but I wonder if some way of making it clearer, like some way of saying “go here to get catch-up gear” might help retention for freshly-maxed characters?
There sort of was for players; during the prepatch we were able to stockpile warbound gear and have multiple alts rolling in with 480 and a 4 peice amirdrasil set.
Obviously we don’t have that anymore and as such I feel that it would be better to smooth out the gear process between 68-73.
thats not at all what they were saying. you dont need a massive lore filled quest to fix the problem when they could just tune mobs better
Pretty sure crafting covers gear at the range pretty good.
Perhaps the developers could add a difficulty/reward slider, for all world content, that players can adjust whenever they want.
I agree. I usually pick up herbalism and mining to make gold so I can buy greens to replace low Ilvl slots for 300-500g each on the auction hall. Even a couple of replacements makes a big difference.
I returned to Retail WOW after 13 years away, Started in Dragon Flight. My gear was so low it felt like I was playing classic, I was a challenge to kill mobs but became easy once I got a few pieces of gear.
Started TWW quest as soon as it was available, I died so much that I was loosing gold, only made it through cause an over geared player happened to come by. There needs to be an increase in gear drops to help out. Tried a second character and can’t get through the intro quest on my own.
So you watched the video but didn’t watch the video?
What he was saying was completely valid and what’s funny is it doesn’t only effect new players, it just effects them sooner.
I was leveling a warrior and I hit the same “wall” that he did except that I hit it at 70. My heirlooms stopped working and my luck in TW dungeons was horrid. The only drops I was getting while leveling was for my heirloom pieces so when I dinged, some of my slots still had like my level 10 greens.
I did what he did, went to the AH to buy level 70 greens to fill the gaps and yeah I have no idea why but the prices are insane. 8000-10,000g for each item. It can’t be for transmog because TWW stuff is butt ugly. I thought to myself “No big deal. These jerks are just trying to take advantage of people hitting 70. I’ll come back at 72, 73 and the price of BoE greens will be cheap.” BZZZZ WRONG. All the level 70 to 79 BoE greens were the same price.
Mean while, my warrior is dying in the dungeons, dying to mobs she runs into out in the world while I’m trying my best to replace items that she’s been wearing since level 10. I was stuck, completely freaking stuck. Blizzard used to help you out. I absolutely remember those vendors in MoP that he was talking about that sold you gap gear. No clue why Blizzard did away with them.
As a newer player, what sucked for me was the TWW intro. I came out at a fresh 70, got the breadcrumb and went to do TWW, and proceeded to get hard stuck on the big Nerubian. It was not fun. Had to beg the person who introduced me to the game to take a fresh alt in to help me, and she doesn’t have a consistent schedule. This was with gear I had acquired at the very end of levelling up. Rest of levelling was fine, I did it in Legion chromie time.
Noting it was specifically that Nerubian from the quest where you come out of the sewers that slapped me around like a rag doll, all of the other quests were doable.
Edit to add: maybe not the best gauge of average new player patience though, I’m used to dying a lot in overworld because I cannot see very well, but that one was another level beyond just “bad eyesight fail.”
Edit 2: okay I actually forgot the name of the Nerubian. It’s that quest in Dalaran when you come out of the sewers.
I remember the quest you’re talking about. From everything I’ve heard, it sounds like that quest specifically needs tweaking. I don’t necessarily think it should be made “Easy,” but it also shouldn’t serve as a brick wall, considering it’s mandatory to get into TWW.
Agreed that it shouldn’t be easy. Just… Not that powerful. I actually feel like it would be great tuned like the Ysera fight in Legion or something, like noticeably harder than everything else but you can still get through it. Or even the big elite mobs later in TWW itself.
Its 2025, new players won’t even know forums exist because its an outdated platform. Besides with the way some of you act here will just confirm the negative experiences they encountered in game.
I recently played a drakthyr without boosting. Went from 1-70 in a weekend. Gear from quests was sufficient. I had no difficulties. The game has never been easier imo. A new player shouldnt have issues especially with the tutorials laid out for them.
The idea isn’t entirely without merit, depending on the implementation.
But what I’d suggest would be the ability to obtain gear we could actually feel good about while leveling, maybe even develop sentimental feelings about because we earned it, gear which we considered personal and special.
After all, fantasy is rife with stories in which heroes have signature weapons or pieces of gear. Stormbringer, Mjolnir, etc. Why shouldn’t we be able to obtain something which became our hero’s prized possession, and let it level with us. Maybe it’s never best in slot, but it’s an evergreen, scalable, upgradable item.
Because wouldn’t it be nice if we had something which wasn’t ultimately shoved into the bank and left to rot after a few seasons or an expansion? I still remember how much I treasured my snake healing stick from the old Zul’Gurub days, but I outgrew it long ago. And sometimes, being able to transmog an appearance just isn’t the same as wielding an old friend.
Long ago, we had class quests for weapons, but these days, we level so fast that most of us probably don’t even bother, or notice. Like the mage quest which sends you to Shadowfang Keep… (I know Season of Discovery had class weapons, and of course we had the artifacts in Legion but…)
So hey, maybe it would be cool if early on, you had an opportunity to pick up a really nice magical piece of gear which could be with you forever, if you so chose. You can always replace it if you -want- but for those who don’t want or need to be cutting edge, maybe you’d rather hang onto your version of Mjolnir during leveling periods…
We get it, bro. You watched the Bellular video.
I agree. Forums are an outdated and antiquated process. Thankfully, they know to just ask Siri or Alexa for the help. I also agree that a lot of people in this forum are incredibly rude and combative and simply here to fight rather than chat as fellow gamers. So you make a good point
What they need to do there is bring the difficulty of 1-59 up so it more smoothly curves into 60+.
And (ideally) the game forces you off tutorial difficulty before normal raid or M0.
I honestly didn’t feel like there was a difficulty change between 1-59 and 60-80 in open world. The only issue I noticed was that big Nerubian guy in TWW intro, he was much more difficult than the entire rest of TWW level up put together + the max level campaign (I’ve done most of the 11.0 one).
Editing to note that I quested entirely for levelling up my first character, only dungeons done were related to story quests.