For those wondering what I am talking about, any account that doesn’t have a level 50 or above character can only access BFA content and dungeons.
They are not allowed to use Chromie to Timewalk and play through older content.
They cannot play any dungeons except for BFA dungeons.
There is a minor work around, where if they want to do older content, they have to literally take the portal there from the portal room. They can’t get the introduction quests, and they still cannot queue for the dungeons. If they wish to play the dungeons someone else has to queue for them.
This… is rather stupid and complete BS IMHO. You’re locking new players out of some of the best and most fun content and lore of the game, and forcing them into playing just one crappy dungeon for level after level instead of going through some amazing environments like Wrath, TBC, and Pandaria dungeons.
For those who didn’t know, or think I am exaggerating, it’s literally in the FAQS
“If you do not yet have a level 50 character your character will be pushed a shortened Battle for Azeroth questline and level in Battle for Azeroth until level 50.”
I feel this restriction should be removed ASAP, let new people experience all the content they wish to experience, without having to hit level 50 first, then making an alt. Not everyone wants an alt.
(TLDR Friend came back to WoW to see what the new content was about, they quit during Pandaria so they don’t have a level 50 character. They can’t experience Dreanor, or Legion content now until they hit level 50. Then they can make a new character, and use Chromie’s time walking to experience the entrance and beginning to each of those expansions.
To try and help, I am leveling with them so they can at least see the dungeons, but this is rather stupid)
19 Likes
It’s intentional. They want actual new players to have a consistent experience, which is more difficult with the amount of older content that WoW has. Locking them into the most recent past expansion makes sure that happens. This also lets new players experience a more fluid story, as it exposes them to the most recent storylines prior to the current expansion.
Yes, it does mean that sometimes players returning after being away for a decade has to play a specific storyline. However, leveling is extremely fast these days, regardless of what expansion you’re playing through.
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so fast in fact you miss most if not all of the “lore” of the zone and expansion you chose leveling in (unless you chose from legion onwards)
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Not really. It thrusts them into newer content they aren’t prepared to face yet as far as mechanics and even story go.
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It also really stifles the group and dungeon experience which is a core fundamental of WoW.
All my friend can queue for is the Temple of Atal’Dazar and I don’t know when he’ll get another dungeon.
5 Likes
how?
With how the scaling works right now any lvl 10 is a literal god amongst men in a dungeon and outside content far above a max level toon.
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Mechanics have gotten more complicated over the expacs and starting out at the lower expacs gives people time to get use to the evolution of the game.
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That’s so true, BUT in the same breath in the mid 30s to high 30s, things seem over tuned.
Cata dungeons, especially Blackrock Caverns, are borderline impossible.
The 3rd boss is near invincible, and using his weakness can kill the entire group with 2 stacks.
It’s their attempt at “making new players understand wow lore from the prior expansion”…which doesn’t bode well because honestly it sucks. They also get called as 'champion" despite them being NEW and never having any interactions with these npcs.
Skipped to the part where a new player actually complained about it:(being called a champion after dk intro)
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Wow, I wasn’t aware of it… geez…
I agree, this is really stupid.
5 Likes
They learn the basics in the Exile’s Reach, and then move into the main game. Yeah, the story may be a bit odd without all the content prior to give full context, but it’s better than playing a little bit of Classic, then a bit of BC, then a bit of Wrath, etc - all never getting the whole story.
If he plays the game, he’ll eventually level/gear up enough to unlock more dungeons - just like when we played through BfA and pretty much every other expansion. The dungeons weren’t all available immediately.
Besides, isn’t questing faster than spamming dungeons now?
2 Likes
BFA didn’t have a bad leveling experience… I don’t find it to be a bad starting point for a new player… I’d say that or WOD leveling. I don’t really see an issue, most players are going to level more than one… the first one just ends up being BFA, which wasn’t bad leveling wise.
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Exiles reach has one group fight. I don’t think I’d consider that enough. And we’ve had many complaints on the forums about the starter experience. So it’d probably be best if they made it optional.
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Depends on the dungeons and speed, you can get 1-2 levels per dungeon through Chromie in Classic through Panda, where there are also quests and most of the dungeons (Except Cata) are 10-15minutes in length.
Though certain dungeons and areas are way over tuned so once you hit mid 30s to 45, you can really get wrecked in those dungeons as well. This might be due to leveling in full Heirlooms, which are no where near as OP as they used to be, and feel barely better than greens.
ANYWAYS the main problem is this, they only have 1 dungeon and they have to specifically queue for it and that is Atal Dazar, and it feels like it’ll be the only dungeon they can access until they hit 45.
I feel like it’s a good idea in concept. New players ought to be given the chance to get up to speed with the current story. The problem is that so much of the story of BfA (or any expansion, really) happens after the main campaign is completed. Even if a new player completed and followed the story of BfA campaign (which is already unlikely) they still really wouldn’t have much clue as to what’s happened by the start od Shadowlands.
I really wish they’d do the extra work to make new quests that feed us an abridged story leading up to the most recent end game stuff and have our characters level through that. Imagine if, for Draagonflight, new characters just did the maw intro and a selection quests to meet the main characters from each SL zone and have enough context to understand the cutscenes (and obviously pack in all the cutscenes). Then a mini-raid (like the exile island one) where Zovaal escapes and boom- into the Zereth Mortis campaign where they will reach 60 upon completion (and maybe a final mini raid to end Zovaal).
It’s a lot more work, but I think it’d be super cool.
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how are people that are locked to BFA content doing Cata dungeons?
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That was honestly me going off on a tangent about how some Cata dungeons are over tuned through time walking around a certain level.
Also, in my original post i explained how new players locked to BFA content can experience older dungeons through a round-about method. While they cannot queue for any dungeon except for BFA dungeons, they can group with people who can queue them to other expansion dungeons for them.
(I.E. a BFA locked New player level 20 is in a group, and the group leader is time walking Cata, the leader can queue the whole group for a cata dungeon)
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And guess what? They were all ignored or shot down by these people that seem to think their the only ones who get to speak on what the new player should be, by hounding at criticisms to improve new player experience or exile’s reach (i mean god forbid a TUTORIAL zone teaches you how to interrupt, ya know, the most important spell for the game? or any of the important things other then just learning about /dance?..)
“No no, it’s perfect, it’s good actually! you’re just a vet, you don’t understand it, it’s great for new players!! new players need this because they never played a video game before! The story is good here! it teaches new players about the lore! it’s the most modern!” … never minding the fact that Shadowlands isn’t the same as BFA’s leveling experience even for new players.
And look where we are now. 
Great going GD. /s
It’s honestly a shame.
5 Likes
Exile’s Reach does not prepare you for jack. It’s a joke honestly.
I’m not a fan of how they locked away the older areas. I leveled a horde toon last year for the first time and I wasn’t happy about the way it forced me into BFA.
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