Heart of azeroth grinding is very different than legion artifact grinding. HOA levels should be account wide or an alt catchup for it provided immediately
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But what about returning players having to try and do old Eternal Palace content for weeks on end for old essences. There should be some catchup system for this.
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I think the biggest problem that I’m having as a returning player is that nothing stands out as a welcome gesture other than the xp gain. Rep gains for new race acquisitions, inability to fly even at max level and last but not the least, catch up in regards to gear is tedious at best.
I challenge blizzard to look at this as an opportunity to win many of their fans back, instead of erecting barriers as they have done in the last few expansions.
Get rid of the nonsensical Pathfinder because it makes no sense at this point of the game, and get rid of some of the barriers for raiding and getting the new races and I’m pretty sure you’ll see an influx of some older players.
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I second this. The fact that a returning or new player has to basicaly grind 1 year worth of content in month or without flying etc. is insane and very unappealing. Back when the content was current you would gain rep as the expansion progressed, removing the feel of endless grind. But at this point it is overwhelming.
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One thing that I haven’t seen anyone talk about are the people who don’t have the time to grind out the Pathfinder and allied race achievements. Not everyone can be a dead-beat or some teenager that plays their games all day. Some of us aren’t lazy, we just don’t want to spend what precious time we have to play our games grinding away for some pointless achievement.
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Not even remotely. The reality is the only essences you’ll have a hard time getting for the first time are the eternal palace ones. Everything else is definitely and easily doable if you actually want to obtain them.
And the state of PVP is the worst we have ever seen. A returning player would need to do so much pve on top of pvp just to become somewhat competitive because full heroic raiders dominate. Never should there ever have been a day someone that only PvEs could step foot in a pvp instance and dominate. What kind of crap is that?
Let’s just review what getting ‘Caught up’ actually looks like from the perspective of someone hitting 120 for the first time:
Pathfinder
Part #1
Part #2
Heart of Azeroth
Essences
Island Expeditions
Mythic+
Grand Challenger’s Bounty
Raider io
8.3 Raiding
Pre 8.3 Raiding
8.3 Reputation
Pre 8.3 Reputation
Nazjatar
Mechagon
PvP
Rated PvP
World PvP
Ashjra’kamas, Shroud of Resolve
Horrific Visions
Lesser Visions
Titanic Research Archive
8.3 Assaults
8.3 Dailies
Azerite Armor
Titan Residuum
Azerite Traits
Corruptions
Item Level
Stats
Professions
Void Focus
Expulsom
War Campaign
Missions and Followers
War Effort Advancements
Warfronts
Keep in mind that some of the requirements listed here are incredibly daunting, in repetition and length of time to complete as well as sheer random number generation. Pathfinder alone will keep you busy enough for the next couple of months, and that will be with a moderate amount of playtime. This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.
There is a brief guide supplied by Blizzard to begin this thread for a reason.
This could not be more accurate.
So let’s say you just want to ignore absolutely everything and get as much item level as quickly as possible. Here is what you can do, to at least get a seat in the nosebleed section:
Weekly Event (eligible week)
Timewalking (eligible week)
Island Expeditions (Heart level/Residuum Treasure Map)
Random Dungeons
Heroic Dungeons
Mythic 0 / World Tour
LFR
World Bosses
Bonus Rolls
World Quests
Pre 8.3 Assaults
Emissaries
Mechagon / Junkyard Tinkering
PvP Conquest Points
Random PvP
Warfronts (when applicable)
N’Zoth Assaults / Lesser Visions
Horrific Visions
Professions
Excellent work, Champion! You are now somewhere near the bottom of the barrel as far as performance and participation is concerned. Keep in mind that most of this effort is only applicable to one character.
So now what? Put the first list on continuous loop for the next 6 months to a year and you might just be caught up, but where did the rest of the pack go after I caught up? Oh that’s right, they follow the same timeline as me.
Now as for alts…yeah…no.
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Not sure why you are down voted. Everything you said is accurate and reflects some of the youtubers ive listened to regarding the forced content you have to pursue at 120 overwhelming for a new player. I know because i keep trying to get back into it with my crap 120 and i just cant be bothered to do it. I dont feel rewarded for my time. Classic i feel rewards me for my time much more so than retail. Retail makes it harder to enjoy alts. While classic alts are fun but alts make you appreciate your main and what it has taken.
Even if you are completely caught up in retail you still have a ton of dailies and weeklies that are pretty important if you want to be even remotely competitive. Go watch a few youtube videos about how many dailies and weeklies there are its daunting. It is bad enough trying to unlock flying for a fresh 120. This is why classic is better you get to 60 and it is chill. You log on when you want and you do the dungeons you want to do. Maybe you raid log then play alts. And you can be gone for a week or two or even a month go play the next new thing for a minute and you will be fine no worries chill as a cucumber.
Not sure why your content is considered controversial or grayed out man speak the truth.
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Why is this dude’s post flagged? You people are ridiculous lol.
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i came back and everyone else has like twice the healthpool of my toon
This guide is as useless as the so called ‘catch up’.
The game DOES NOT automatically grant the player the quest to go to Naj, one has to either know or look up the step to talk to Blightcaller on ship, accept / complete the initial WQ quest, then relog to have the game provide the quest noted in the guide (and this isn’t the only place in this guide where one will need to go off searching for answers out of game).
Once one gets going, they also find themselves woefully under-geared, get very few upgrades doing the initial quest chains, all the while spending most of the time watching loading screens and traveling all over the place.
I quit caring somewhere in the cloak line after spending several hours, getting next to no where, and came to the conclusion I’d made a mistake in re-activating my account.
I’m going to level some alts and play some classic with the game time I regrettably added, if that, then no WoW for me for the foreseeable future.
I’ll also add that if Shadowlands has even a small percent of the ridiculous never ending chore feeling of BfA, I’m probably be done for good with WoW.
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This post is completely appropriate. A few stumblings on exactness, but the jist is right on target. Blizzard makes playing the current game iteration you pay for a struggle at best, and fun at least.
Have you been drinking? Seriously.
Brilliance. Sheer and total.
You need an AP boost too. Starting at 35 neck still requires a ton of farming just to get your neck properly leveled. Also new returning players don’t benefit from the “account wide,” essences at all. Unlock all pre 8.3 essences for purchase.
Give an inch and people want a mile.
Essences are still terrible for new players to acquire…
There is already a very strong catchup mechanic for the neck in play.
Doesn’t it now start at 55? I am fairly sure that is what my last alt was boosted to.