WoW free to play Nov 5-8

[Catriona R]

https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/

In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

[Lewis]

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

Well, at least I get the achievement. Without buying a month!

[Catriona R]

On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

Post by Lewis
Well, at least I get the achievement. Without buying a month!

Hehe yep! It let me take my 2nd account alts to the barber shop to see
what's new for them, so that was cool, can't actually be bothered
playing them right now though, with the expansion this close there
doesn't feel a lot of point doing much.

Plus I'm well into ESO at present, have a feeling I'll find it hard to
drag myself away for Shadowlands release, turns out the playstyle of
that game suits me well, love the exploration and discovering the
story (although I'm not yet max lvl, so I'm yet to see how interesting
it is after I've completed all the zones - however there's clearly
months of playtime in it before I get that far...)

[Lewis]

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

I did play the starting area right after my account time ended and then
when to Cata for the 10+ leveling. It seems broken to me. At one point
I was supposed to complete a quest by killing some buy, but everything
around him was level ?? and had an aggro radius of about 500m. I never
even got close enough to see the target on my poor Palacow. (Bovadin?)

Fine, fine, 500m is a little exaggeration, but still.

Post by Catriona R

Post by Lewis
Well, at least I get the achievement. Without buying a month!

Hehe yep! It let me take my 2nd account alts to the barber shop to see
what's new for them, so that was cool, can't actually be bothered
playing them right now though, with the expansion this close there
doesn't feel a lot of point doing much.

I went ahead and got 700 time walking badges by doing a quest for 150,
answering some question for 50, and doing the AV for 500. I think
that's right. I figure those badges don't go away, and on the events
they are dead simple to get.

Post by Catriona R
Plus I'm well into ESO at present, have a feeling I'll find it hard to
drag myself away for Shadowlands release, turns out the playstyle of
that game suits me well, love the exploration and discovering the
story (although I'm not yet max lvl, so I'm yet to see how interesting
it is after I've completed all the zones - however there's clearly
months of playtime in it before I get that far...)

The kids are playing FF XIV (one heavily, one occasionally). I may look
at it when I run out of other things to do or TV to watch. I never got
into any ES related stuff, so don't have any particular interest in ESO.

[Catriona R]

On Fri, 6 Nov 2020 05:31:21 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

I did play the starting area right after my account time ended and then
when to Cata for the 10+ leveling. It seems broken to me. At one point
I was supposed to complete a quest by killing some buy, but everything
around him was level ?? and had an aggro radius of about 500m. I never
even got close enough to see the target on my poor Palacow. (Bovadin?)
Fine, fine, 500m is a little exaggeration, but still.

Did you speak to Chromie to get scaled to the zone correctly? If so,
then sigh, bugged as usual, if not, then that's what will scale the
NPCs down to the right lvl, I've not done it on live so I'm not sure
how much it points you to her, I know there were complaints on beta
that she was easy to miss but I'd hope they've fixed that by now...

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R

Post by Lewis
Well, at least I get the achievement. Without buying a month!

Hehe yep! It let me take my 2nd account alts to the barber shop to see
what's new for them, so that was cool, can't actually be bothered
playing them right now though, with the expansion this close there
doesn't feel a lot of point doing much.

I went ahead and got 700 time walking badges by doing a quest for 150,
answering some question for 50, and doing the AV for 500. I think
that's right. I figure those badges don't go away, and on the events
they are dead simple to get.

Yeah, it's an easy way to get the badges, I really should do it but
just not in the mood right now, next year!

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
Plus I'm well into ESO at present, have a feeling I'll find it hard to
drag myself away for Shadowlands release, turns out the playstyle of
that game suits me well, love the exploration and discovering the
story (although I'm not yet max lvl, so I'm yet to see how interesting
it is after I've completed all the zones - however there's clearly
months of playtime in it before I get that far...)

The kids are playing FF XIV (one heavily, one occasionally). I may look
at it when I run out of other things to do or TV to watch. I never got
into any ES related stuff, so don't have any particular interest in ESO.

Never played any ES before, although I've always heard they had a good
reputation, and intended to try one "sometime". I only tried ESO
because my bf was playing it and showed me the housing and crafting,
which matched up with the kinda thing I've wanted in WoW for years,
well if WoWwon't add it, I guess I'll play a game that does have what
I want!

[Lewis]

Post by Catriona R
On Fri, 6 Nov 2020 05:31:21 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

I did play the starting area right after my account time ended and then
when to Cata for the 10+ leveling. It seems broken to me. At one point
I was supposed to complete a quest by killing some buy, but everything
around him was level ?? and had an aggro radius of about 500m. I never
even got close enough to see the target on my poor Palacow. (Bovadin?)
Fine, fine, 500m is a little exaggeration, but still.

Did you speak to Chromie to get scaled to the zone correctly?

Yes, and I did many quests leading up to this one. It's just the usual
Blizzard fucking up the details.

Post by Catriona R
Never played any ES before, although I've always heard they had a good
reputation, and intended to try one "sometime". I only tried ESO
because my bf was playing it and showed me the housing and crafting,
which matched up with the kinda thing I've wanted in WoW for years,
well if WoWwon't add it, I guess I'll play a game that does have what
I want!

Ah, crafting. There's way too much of it in WoW, IMO! :)

[Catriona R]

On Fri, 6 Nov 2020 18:16:57 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
On Fri, 6 Nov 2020 05:31:21 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis
I did play the starting area right after my account time ended and then
when to Cata for the 10+ leveling. It seems broken to me. At one point
I was supposed to complete a quest by killing some buy, but everything
around him was level ?? and had an aggro radius of about 500m. I never
even got close enough to see the target on my poor Palacow. (Bovadin?)
Fine, fine, 500m is a little exaggeration, but still.

Did you speak to Chromie to get scaled to the zone correctly?

Yes, and I did many quests leading up to this one. It's just the usual
Blizzard fucking up the details.

Depending on zone there's also a possibility that it was one of the
Legion artifact quests (which mostly happened in old zones) putting
high lvl mobs too close - that was an ongoing problem before the lvl
squish, although this patch *should* have squished all mobs to end
that issue anyway. Either way it's clearly a messed up bit, I suppose
it's not a great surprise that some edge cases got missed, still
annoying though!

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
Never played any ES before, although I've always heard they had a good
reputation, and intended to try one "sometime". I only tried ESO
because my bf was playing it and showed me the housing and crafting,
which matched up with the kinda thing I've wanted in WoW for years,
well if WoWwon't add it, I guess I'll play a game that does have what
I want!

Ah, crafting. There's way too much of it in WoW, IMO! :)

Hehe, I find there's nowhere near enough of it for me, or at least,
not *useful* crafting, recent expansions it feels pointless even
having a crafting profession most the time, while it's one of my
favourite aspects of the game, so I'm glad to find a game with more
depth and value in the crafting system. I'm finding as a whole I like
the "RPG" part of MMORPG rather more than WoW focuses on it; ESO seems
closer to my preferred way of playing. Although with 15+ years
invested into WoW it'll always be my main game, just good to have
alternatives too.

[Tim Merrigan]

On Fri, 06 Nov 2020 16:30:11 +0000, Catriona R

Post by Catriona R
On Fri, 6 Nov 2020 05:31:21 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Lewis

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

I did play the starting area right after my account time ended and then
when to Cata for the 10+ leveling. It seems broken to me. At one point
I was supposed to complete a quest by killing some buy, but everything
around him was level ?? and had an aggro radius of about 500m. I never
even got close enough to see the target on my poor Palacow. (Bovadin?)
Fine, fine, 500m is a little exaggeration, but still.

Did you speak to Chromie to get scaled to the zone correctly? If so,
then sigh, bugged as usual, if not, then that's what will scale the
NPCs down to the right lvl, I've not done it on live so I'm not sure
how much it points you to her, I know there were complaints on beta
that she was easy to miss but I'd hope they've fixed that by now...

My only complaint there is that she doesn't seem to offer "Vanilla" or
"Classic" as an option. The earliest "expansion" she offers is
Cataclysm.

[Catriona R]

Post by Tim Merrigan
On Fri, 06 Nov 2020 16:30:11 +0000, Catriona R

Post by Catriona R
Did you speak to Chromie to get scaled to the zone correctly? If so,
then sigh, bugged as usual, if not, then that's what will scale the
NPCs down to the right lvl, I've not done it on live so I'm not sure
how much it points you to her, I know there were complaints on beta
that she was easy to miss but I'd hope they've fixed that by now...

My only complaint there is that she doesn't seem to offer "Vanilla" or
"Classic" as an option. The earliest "expansion" she offers is
Cataclysm.

I did think that was a missed opportunity; if we can be scaled to
every expansion, and with the vanilla zones having been recreated in
the modern engine for Classic, they could have brought them back -
even better, with Chromie being able to change the world to vanilla
*without* scaling us (when max lvl) so we can then get removed loot
from the original drop tables.

Perhaps they don't want to dilute the Classic population yet, as some
may well be happy just to experience the old zones in the current
game, but it's something I'd love to see added in the future, maybe
after (hopefully) Classic TBC comes out, when they'd be considering
consolidating Classic servers in any case due to population split.

[Lewis]

Post by Tim Merrigan
My only complaint there is that she doesn't seem to offer "Vanilla" or
"Classic" as an option. The earliest "expansion" she offers is
Cataclysm.

Classic is available from the battle.net app.


Burning Crusade is available as I recall. There are six choices and the
default is B'roth. That's 7 expansions and there have been seven
expansions (Wow 2-Wow 8) before Shadowlands which is for level 50-60
only.

[Urbin]

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

And of course I only read this on November 9 ;-)

Post by Catriona R
Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

Nice to hear. Did all starting experiences/area change? I guess I'll have to
come back one of these days and level another alt from 1 to 20 ;-)

Cheers
Urbin

[Tim Merrigan]

Post by Urbin

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

And of course I only read this on November 9 ;-)

Post by Catriona R
Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

Nice to hear. Did all starting experiences/area change? I guess I'll have to
come back one of these days and level another alt from 1 to 20 ;-)
Cheers
Urbin

I just started two new characters just to try the new starting
zone(s). (I oopsed and started a Mechognome for the Alliance, who, of
course, skipped the starting zone entirely.) The orc was offered a
choice of the Valley of Trials or Exile's Reach.

[Catriona R]

Post by Tim Merrigan

Post by Urbin
And of course I only read this on November 9 ;-)

Lol, unlucky - I had you in mind when I posted this, thinking you
sometimes like to take advantage, timing!

Post by Tim Merrigan

Post by Urbin

Post by Catriona R
Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

Nice to hear. Did all starting experiences/area change? I guess I'll have to
come back one of these days and level another alt from 1 to 20 ;-)
Cheers
Urbin

I just started two new characters just to try the new starting
zone(s). (I oopsed and started a Mechognome for the Alliance, who, of
course, skipped the starting zone entirely.) The orc was offered a
choice of the Valley of Trials or Exile's Reach.

Yep, new players get sent to Exile's Reach automatically, everyone
else gets a choice between their race's start zone (unless they're an
allied race, in which case they skip the starter zones, or a DH/DK, in
which case they do their class starter zone) and Exile's Reach.

It's a decent "how to play" intro but completely lacking in story or
anything to root you in the Warcraft world so I'm not sure how much
it'd grab my interest if I was new; I recently started ESO and got
dumped in a newer intro zone but got my bf to help me get to the
original starter zone so I could do the story in order, was glad I did
as it really helped me understand what was going on and who people
are. Obviously that's not possible in WoW since Cataclysm, but the
racial zones even in Cata give more of an idea and general feel of who
the races are, even if they're out of chronological order.

[Tim Merrigan]

Post by Tim Merrigan

Post by Urbin

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

And of course I only read this on November 9 ;-)

Post by Catriona R
Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

Nice to hear. Did all starting experiences/area change? I guess I'll have to
come back one of these days and level another alt from 1 to 20 ;-)
Cheers
Urbin

I just started two new characters just to try the new starting
zone(s). (I oopsed and started a Mechognome for the Alliance, who, of
course, skipped the starting zone entirely.) The orc was offered a
choice of the Valley of Trials or Exile's Reach.

OK. I've created two more, a Worgan rogue and a Vulpira warrior. The
Alliance version of Exile's Reach is nearly identical to the Hoard
version. But now I've got a horribly deformed Worgan. He's got no
top hat.

[Lewis]

But now I've got a horribly deformed Worgan. He's got no top hat.

You must immediately get a top hat!

[Lewis]

Post by Urbin

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

And of course I only read this on November 9 ;-)

Post by Catriona R
Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

Nice to hear. Did all starting experiences/area change? I guess I'll have to
come back one of these days and level another alt from 1 to 20 ;-)

You can pick the original starting areas, or the new "for everyone"
starting area.

The new area is pretty good.

First thing, turn off "hints" because Blizzard will helpfully turn them
on for you on your decade old account, assuming you've never used a
computer before and never seen WoW.

[Urbin]

Post by Lewis

Post by Urbin

Post by Catriona R
On Thu, 5 Nov 2020 22:15:39 -0000 (UTC), Lewis

Post by Catriona R
https://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/1112247-join-the-welcome-back-weekend-november-58/
In case anyone's reading who's not subbed and wants a look at the new
patch, plus new starting experience :-)

And of course I only read this on November 9 ;-)

Post by Catriona R
Of course I forgot that the new starting experience would be available
regardless, as the game is free-to-play up to lvl 20 anyway. Oops.

Nice to hear. Did all starting experiences/area change? I guess I'll have to
come back one of these days and level another alt from 1 to 20 ;-)

You can pick the original starting areas, or the new "for everyone"
starting area.

Yupp, started up a new character on a new realm (Urbin, dwaven hunter, as
always and perfect as a benchmark). Saw that there were a number of new
classes for each faction that are not available to me due to lacking
achievments.

Picked "Exile's Reach" because I've been to Coldrige too many times to care
:-)

Post by Lewis
The new area is pretty good.
First thing, turn off "hints" because Blizzard will helpfully turn them
on for you on your decade old account, assuming you've never used a
computer before and never seen WoW.

I left the hints on (basically because I didn't realise I could turn them
off, assuming this was just part of what WoW had become by now :-)

I am undecided what to think of the experience.

Looking at it from the POV of a newbie player (which I am not), I really
liked how they guide you through the most important game mechanics, showing
you how to move, how to fight, how to eat when you've taken damage. I also
like how they turned the hunter class quests into part of the introductory
story. I especially liked how they integrated grouping and the use of the
dungeon finder into the tutorial. I think it was cool that they mentioned
tanking/healing in the background conversation, I sure had no idea about
that when I joined my first Deadmines group 15 years ago ;-) On the other
hand, I am not sure if I would have understood the significance of those
conversations without the knowledge of the game I have today. I am currently
back in Stormwind and learnt to ride, picked a specialisation and set my
hearthstone before calling it a night, looking forward to seeing how it goes
on.

Having said that, it took me maybe 40 minutes to play that far in which time
I ended up being level 12, owning 6 gold and change, having a mount and
being able to ride. I went through the starter zone on autopilot (following
the yellow diamond), doing what I was told to do, being told how things
work. No need (and hence not much incentive) to explore and learn on my own.
Compared to back in vanilla, where even small, isolated Coldrige Valley
seemd large, with danger, excitement and wonders to explore, let alone the
rest of Dun Morogh, this felt stale and boring. Even though the hunter
quests were integrated, they consisted of a few brief conversations and some
token tasks, nothing like the impressive "learn to tame your pet" quest from
vanilla.

And of course, I realise that a lot things have changed. I appreciate owning
6 gold at level 11 instead of 6 silver. I appreciated being able to ride at
level 11 instead of slugging it to 40. I realise that with 120 levels to go,
hardly anyone wants to be stuck at the low levels for hours, so a quick
boost is probably needed and makes sense. I guess that with other games
being available and new players being used to different mechanics (some of
which - I am sure - are better than what vanilla wow had to offer) and
Blizzard need to adapt to that to keep people playing.

But overall, the experience lacked flavour and trying to put myself into my
shoes of 15 years ago, not knowing the game, I am dubious whether I would
have felt the same awe and if the would have managed to get me to spend the
same amount of time of my life in the game over 5 years with the "take my
hand and let me walk you through everyting" approach.

Still, it was fun to be back for an hour :-)

Cheers
Urbin