yes
Nope.
Agree with some and disagree with some (don't we all?). For me the experience - like many of you - has been mixed, I've been playing since TBC. Leveling my main (Feral Druid) was actually fun (I don't think I died as often as in previous expansions). I enjoyed the storylines and the new zones. But then, at max level, everything becomes an absolute grind. Anima's value as a currency is pretty lame - in fact, it's like gold was back in TBC. I can't afford to play WoW 12 hours a day, so I collect 1,000 anima each week, my weekly capped Renown and I'm pretty much done - back to real life stuff. But wait, to get better gear I have to go run mythics or raids too? Highly disappointing that gear doesn't drop in heroics like previous expansions. Then, having to spend 5,000 anima (and even more at subsequent tiers) to upgrade something in the sanctum is like a slap in the face. Increasing the item level of covenant gear, acquiring the mounts and pets and miscellaneous stuff, along with upgrading sanctum stuff, easily exceeds the maximum Reservoir Anima cap, so why even have a maximum?Professions vary - too much (imbalance). Leatherworking was pretty simple and I tend to skin everything like an addict so LW was probably the quickest profession leveling experience I've ever had. Surprisingly, I was even able to craft a couple of useful pieces for temporary use (besides Legendaries). But once you get above item level 180 or so, the only useful crafting is for legendaries, or gear for alts - once they get to level 60. Oh sure, you can put them on the auction house, but eventually the auction price is hardly worth the effort after just a few weeks in, especially on crowded realms. Also, most professions in SL are maxxed at around 100 or so, but some are 150 or even 175. That's just silly. Enchanters got the worst deal. (To be fair, I think Enchanting has always been the most grind and most expensive to level, and the various guides have often said the same.) But Fishing: max is 200. I mean, seriously? WoW Fishing is like watching paint dry, and Blizz had the audacity to set its max at the highest of all professions? That's not a slap in the face, that's a genuine middle finger pointed at its paying subscribers. Whoever came up with that should have been fired. Finally, I'm not the best DPSer by any means, although I can bang on the keyboard decently enough. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like it takes a minimum of 12 - 15 (maybe even 20) casts to kill a mob? And then, you get attacked by 2 or 3 other mobs so you're doing everything you can just to stay alive? In previous expansions, once you got decently geared it didn't take long at all to kill mobs - unless you're on a daily/weekly quest that everyone else on the planet is also doing at the same time - including the opposite faction. That's another shortcoming of this expansion: it's just too crowded. This is where I think Blizz' "laziness" lies: they have everyone doing the same thing in the same places at the same time. Thank you for taking the time to read my rant, if you did. If not, I don't blame you. :-)
Any game is good to get into with friends.
I’m going to say overall a great time to start playing. Yes loot drop rates could be better, not having to redo the maw and toughest intro for every alt would be nice...but overall it has been good for me. 15 year vet here.
Not gonna catch me with this one! I've already made my choice not to pay for a reskinned BfA. I'll see what Shadowlands looks like after it's been gutted to make way for 10.0 and becomes part of the base game. Should be fun running Torghast once covenants, soulbinds, anima powers, and legendaries get removed, nerfed, and/or disabled due to class changes and wanting to ensure nothing from 9.x content is usable in 10.x content!
not worth it
Shadowlands needs a great deal of work. This expac had been infuriating all over. I am the extreme minority that didn't hate WoD or BFA. But SL? The cons severely out way the pros. And the above article says proffs are good. What absolute BS. I have been struggling to level some of them because of how terrible they are. I will keep playing, and quietly fume.
My biggest issue with SL is the bad pacing.The Major story being gated behind weekly resets is... not ideal, but you get a drop in the bucket every week.and now that bucket is "Full" but plenty of stories remain unresolved, especially in the night fae campaign. it feels incredibly poorly paced.Especially since they now have run out of story. I wouldn't have minded the story gating quite as much, if the story ended a week or 2/3 before the new patch. but no, now its just... so empty.
ANY TIME IS GOOD for WoW.This is the way.
Yes it is, and here is why:- The old content can be explored without (a lot of) problems. - The new char starting zone is amazing and the chat has a lot of people really willing to help you with all kinds of questions.- It is a great game to play with your group of friends, or solo if that is your thing. You will only struggle if you don't have friends and want to explore the "high end" content, like high m+ keys and mythic raiding.
"Alts are in a great place"LOL. I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I have at something on Wowhead.Wowhead themselves posted an article about how alts are at a bad place.
It held my attention for less than a week before I went back to raidlogging on Classic for weekly naxx reclears and playing FF14. Eagerly awaiting TBC Classic to get back on a paladin again (of the correct faction, of course).