Hi everyone! Kizmani here - undead warlock on Dalaran.
I started playing in beta on a PVP server (Deathwing) and my main was an undead priest. I was on a multiple Arena teams and in a raiding guild. I ended up quitting in late 2010, right before Cataclysm. I came back in 2020 during the pandemic and found my old account had been hacked & stripped, the only characters left were all low level alts. I started over on a fresh account. With the exception of a warrior and death knight, I have level 60s for all classes (with a couple duplicates).
I am no longer a hardcore player, though I play a lot. I enjoy my army of alts, pet battles and collecting, achievements, professions and world events. I’ve tried to get back into raiding and mythics, but honestly, I don’t much enjoy it anymore. Everything is so focused on mechanics and understanding/remembering every detail, and generally people are so unforgiving of questions and mistakes that I don’t find it fun. In essence, I work a stressful & competitive job in corporate America, I manage a large team of people and it’s physically & mentally draining. When I get off work I want to PLAY - not watch/study every fight for hours and get yelled at because I stepped, or didn’t step, somewhere or that I don’t have the 10 mandatory addons, all configured exactly while simultaneously running a sim for every piece of gear as I go, while also watching the DPS meters to ensure I’m not at the bottom. That isn’t fun, that’s a second job.
My opinion is that because WoW is so old and has become so advanced, that it can be isolating for new and casual players. The intricacies help keep the current player base engaged, but it was disorienting as a returning player.