It’s time to rethink the leveling experience in retail World of Warcraft. Specifically, the story aspect, or lack thereof. Leveling shouldn’t be a tedious, boring rush to the most recent expansion for the players that find the same old grind exhausting, or for those of us rolling up their Nth alt. But what about the new players that pop up with every new expansion? The children of OG players wondering what the hub-bub is all about? Or the converts and refugees from other MMOs? How does the current leveling experience feel to them? Do they understand the lore of Azeroth, or the significance of the characters they’re being asked to assist? Almost certainly, the answer is a resounding no. With the upcoming World Soul Saga, I believe there’s an opportunity to change this feeling of being overwhelmed and ill-informed about the incredible stories that have made WoW what it is.
I’m not the first person to suggest this in some form or another, but I feel strongly that this is the time to act upon the idea of introducing an optional longform, story-specific leveling experience to the retail game. An experience that is by no means quick, but an experience that would cover the entire WoW “main story” as best it is able. Yes, this would absolutely require some stream-lining, and complete removal of any/all quests that aren’t directly tied to the main storyline. Why, you ask? Because when you’re talking about a mere 70 levels, and 9 expansions, you simply don’t have the luxury of sidequests. Frankly, if someone wants that experience, they can do it manually right now, albeit with some jumping through hoops. The interesting part of a set, highly-linear questing path such as this would mean you could effectively set when the play levels, assuming they don’t grind boars for 40 levels and become godlike tyrants, ruling Elwynn Forest with a bare chest and iron first. But I digress.
How would this actually work? The world, itself, has changed dramatically over the years, and so we’d have to start where it all began- in the vanilla world. Players would complete their starting areas, as usual, then set out on the main Horde and Alliance paths. The Classic, Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King expansions would definitely prove the trickiest to hammer down, as far as what we’d all consider the “main” story. Obviously, dungeons and raids played massive roles in the story content, and as such, would have to be included. Fortunately, with the announcement of AI-assisted dungeons, there doesn’t seem to be any reason we couldn’t fill-out the ranks with characters that fit the narrative. Even if it means watering down the raid mechanics quite a bit, just to let leveling players experience the story, it would be worthwhile at the end of the day. And before the question arises, loot could absolutely be a part of all of this. Be it a small pool of set loot items for that class, or just leaving it up the RNGesus. There’s no reason to skimp, even if it’ll all be replaced in mere hours.
From Cataclysm onward, the main quest lines became much easier to follow, and as such, I think it’s fair to say that programming them in a breadcrumb fashion (where it doesn’t already exist) would be a relatively simple ask. Again, dungeons and raids being the only real challenge. Just imagine how cool it would be running up to Ragnaros in Firelands with Skylord Omnuron and his Druids of the Talon as your raiding party. Or heading into Orgrimmar to take down Garrosh and his corrupted Horde with Lorewalker Cho and his monks. Or laying waste to Denathrius’ army with your own legion of fallen heroes. Sure, there’s a ton of nostalgia in these suggestions, but I think there’s more value to the idea than mere Memberberries™. A fully curated experience, showcasing all the wonderful in-engine and CGI cutscenes, would be, in a word, awesome. But more importantly, being able to live the entire story from start to finish would prove an invaluable experience for anyone looking to hop into WoW. I dare say there are plenty of us reading this right now that wouldn’t mind playing through the complete WoW storyline. We all know the current leveling method is quick’n’dirty, meant to get players to the most recent content as fast as possible. Speed may be fine for some, but I feel it does a great disservice to many players looking to understand what this 20 year old monolith is really all about.
It’s time to rethink the leveling experience in retail World of Warcraft.
