“In terms of developing that experience with new features or technology, we very much put a large amount of focus on truly new players. In a sense, it is a one-stop shop for new players, and returning ones, to get up to speed with WoW’s mechanics.ĭay explains that the end of this new area is capped off with a new dungeon in which players can choose to queue with other players, or complete solo with AI versions of NPCs, in case they prefer to do things by themselves. The new area serves as a jumping-on point for players to get more acquainted with not just the overarching narrative of WoW, but also the basics of playing the game itself. How does one do such a thing? For starters, in Shadowlands, the level cap has been reduced from 120 down to 60, with a boosted experience gain rate so players won’t have to spend too long leveling up just to access the current endgame content.Īdditionally, players will have the option of starting their fresh level 1 character in the new starting zone, Exile’s Reach. World of Warcraft has been around for a while, but we also don’t want to build a wall so high that you feel like you have years of engagement to be able to catch up,” Morgan Day, Expert Game Designer at Blizzard tells Geek Culture. “We look at new expansions as an opportunity for new players to jump in and feel like they can engage with and not feel like if they’re many, many years behind.

The game’s upcoming eighth expansion serves as not only a new venture for current longtime players, but also updates to its leveling system as a call to arms for new players, as well as older players who have long-abandoned it in expansions past, so that anyone can jump into Azeroth with fresh eyes.īut with nearly two decades’ worth of content already put out by Blizzard, it’s only natural for newcomers to feel daunted by the sheer breadth of stories out there, and thus making it fair to assume that WoW may not be as accessible as it was when it first came out 16 years ago.īut for the developers at Blizzard, looking back at what the franchise has achieved is part of moving forward, so that anyone who is looking to return to WoW will be wowed once more with that magical first-time feeling, without feeling too overwhelmed. With the launch of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands nigh upon us, it’s only natural for players to look back at what the MMORPG juggernaut has accomplished in the last 16 years.

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