I think it’s a waste of time for new players to level in outdated content. It made sense back in classic, it doesn’t make much sense nowadays.
I suggest having new players level together with the rest of the max level players in the latest expac/content (so they’d level from 10 to max level in the new expansion’s questing zones). If they don’t buy the latest expac, then yeah they can choose whatever old expac they want with Chromie. Also, it’s much more fun to bring your new friends to this game and get to play the same questing experience with them using your max level (instead of creating a completely new alt you don’t need at all just to accompany them through a levelling experience that doesn’t mean anything to them or me and waste time until you actually get to current content).
I also suggest remaking the 0-10 intro zone in such a way that the new player is introduced to the actual lore of the game. I know the lore of this game is humongous, but there are ways of doing it. You can have DK NPCs explain new players who they are, who the Lich King was, etc. in just a couple of quests (you could also use those cool old cinematics from previous exps). Maybe you can extend the intro zone to level 20 just to make sure new players know the basics of this game lorewise.
My last suggestion is to extend the levels in which you can play this game for free to level 60, so two expansions before the current one. We’d see more people present in old zones and that would give the feeling of a world that is (somewhat) alive… it’s depressing to see Shattrath or Dalaran completely empty outside of TW weeks.
If they were willing to commit the resources to getting it done, what they should do is create a new levelling experience specifically designed to introduce new players to the world and all the relevant major players.
It’s not gonna be something you can do in a 10 level tutorial island, even if you extended it to level 20. Levelling goes way too quickly in the modern version of the game for that.
So which is it? Jettison the entire world in order to force new players to be exposed exclusively to the “new story” or allow them to be exposed to the “lore of the game”?
Just admit you want the game to be pruned into a tiny elite lobby game with a cult following, while recognizing that the overwhelming majority of current players (as well as potential “new players”) will never be elites.
For what it’s worth (as someone who has started this game ‘fresh’ about 3 and a bit years ago, I never joined with a desire to learn about the old lore.
I’m glad exiles reach was easy to understand and I admit I was initially kinda confused on where to do after I exited it.
It’s since changed from BfA to the Dragon Isles and this atleast maintains continuity of the NPCs you get to know on Exilies reach (and they can continue to help you in DF dungeons).
It was only a year in that I’m like ‘alright let’s go back and find out what the past hype for this game is about’ and I here I am now also a level 34 SoD Paladin and 21 HC Druid.
What I’m getting at is we shouldn’t be overloading new players and the current system is relatively good for that compared to this suggestion.
The issue is that WoW doesn’t do much of anything before level 10 (and 15), so you really only have 5-10 levels of extremely early gameplay to judge things off of. And if they’re doing dungeons, WoW low level dungeons are… frankly a mess, even without the surge of twinks we saw starting back in 11.0.5.
That said, increasing it to level 60 doesn’t change that. It’s the same content with the same types of groups and the same issues.
Blizzard would have to revamp leveling entirely (in a way that isn’t just skip to the end) for a change in the starter account limitations to be meaningful.
Well yea its lvling till end content, which is what the game is like… If you make free lvl 60 people will not buy the subs they will just play the game at 60
why?
Because a jaded player who has played since forever only cares about new stuff?
So…
LITERALLY Chromie time of going through old content?
Kind of arguing against your own point here. What do you want? Them to learn old lore or them to start in new content?
absolutely NOT.
Might as well just get rid of the sub entirely at that point.
I think its a waste of time to level at all. Start 'em at 70, drop 'em into Dornogal, and be done with it.
“But n00bz need to learn skillz!”
Fine, dole them out as they level to 80.
Why 70 and not 80? Simply to give folks the mechanic of going through the new zones and what not. Once they get an 80, make 'em all 80 for all I care.
“Wut about bots and scammers and and and…?”
Doesn’t seem to made much of a difference so far, has it?
With scaling, leveling is meaningless. “Leveling” today is iLevel, not CLevel. CLevel hasn’t mattered (outside of as a visible gate to content) in years.
You uhh, realize Blizzard has already done this, right?
There’s not a huge difference between starting at Dragonflight and starting at TWW.
Not saying we should do that, but we’ve already moved past the era of WoW where new players / characters actually played through any amount of the game’s history.