WoW OGer returning to WoW

I’m recently returning to the game after 17years out. Have been playing for a couple of months over on the EU servers with a Classic Project going on there but my gametime and timezone dont really match to be able to take part on BGs and raiding. I live in Queensland Australia and my main gametime is midweek mornings to early afternoon here in Oz which translates to approx 1700-2200 PET.

What are the options for a returning (starting from fresh) player on Whitemane? Any guilds happy to welcome an old boy? Are there guilds active in BGs and casually raiding looking for new friendly recruits?

I have no preference as to faction although I have predominantly played NElf but dont mind the idea of going either Nelf Rogue or Forsaken Rogue.

Any recommendations on guilds etc?
Whats the genuine atmosphere like on Whitemane? Is there any WorldPvP at all?

Thanks for any help/advice. Hopw to see you soon.

I am a returning player who stopped around Draenor and played on Firetree since it’s second week as Horde. I got back into the game watching the old cinematics and decided to play alliance because I remember how OP PvP was for humans and NE Druids back in WOTLK and Cata.

If you plan on playing Alliance for wow cataclysm classic, Whitemane is not the server. It was the only one available for classic when I came back. I love my guild here, but the economy looks like California’s economy right now on the AH which is completely overpriced. There are only about 4-5 guilds alliance side which are raiding weekly, people are leaving the server daily, Horde control every aspect of this server and if you expect to get anything done, you either need a solid guild such as the one I am from (Blood Wardens), or have 2 accounts so you can purchase things on the Horde AH, in-game mail them to your alt in Booty Bay, then list the item on the AH and log into your main alliance account and buy it before somebody snipes it.

When I log into my horde account to check the AH (solely made a character for that), LFG has Horde has LFM pugging raids, a fully vibrant and functioning economy, several very competitive guilds and a large group of people to play with.

It is a common complaint that Whitemane alliance side is probably the worst server for classic cata in existence for America. Everything you can think of that is wrong is exacerbated by the smaller and smaller alliance player base on this server. Chinese farmers control the AH, so if you want a stack of 20 copper bars, expect to see them listed for 199g. BG PvP is non-existent from levels 1-84. The alliance AH seldom passes 100 pages total and the things listed such as a simple green cata gem could cost you over 100g for one.

We only survive on Whitemane because of our guilds. Going it alone is a ridiculous task and generally where all of the non-social players go.

World PvP is fun on my rogue, but after you gank a few Horde players, they swarm your location as they severely outnumber us at least 15 to 1.

It is a very pessimistic view, yes I know but that is the truth of our alliance Existence on this server. This is literally as hard as the game gets prior to playing it Hardcore.