Is it worth playing World of Warcraft for the first time now, more than five years after its launch?
Yes it is. As the years have progressed, Blizzard has worked very hard to make the starting portion of the game smoother, easier and faster to navigate through. They are trying to optimize for easy start up for new players and experienced players who want to start new alts.Experience flows VERY quickly nowadays, and as new expansions are released, older content is adjusted to increase this. Thus, the number of days played to level 60, the original level cap, is only a few days.Also, the Cataclysm expansion changes how the existing game world looks for levels 1-60, so it would be a great time to see it!I would suggest a free trial, or if you have a friend that already plays, try the Recruit-A-Friend program for lots of benefits. (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.co...)
Is World of Warcraft a hard Game?
If this is the first MMO you've ever played, it may be daunting to learn all the ropes. MMO's typically offer a million things for players to do. So if anything, be prepared to be confused, and to waste a lot of time. But don't let the inevitable confusion stir you away from it. If you play on the same realm as your brother, be sure to refer to him for help. New people are bound to happen, and back when I played WoW, I wouldn't mind helping new players out whenever they needed. Everyone is new at one point. Don't worry about trolls. They're everywhere in WoW, but you'll get used to them. You'll undoubtedly have an advantage coming in to the game if you play with your brother. Be sure to pick a class that's easy to level. That way you'll have no added difficulty. (Years ago when it first came out, I played as a warrior. HUGE MISTAKE! Although I eventually learned how to tank really well, I was a garbage warrior at first and everyone yelled at me.) Ask your brother about Hunters, they're easy to play and quest with. You probably shouldn't pick a healing or tanking class at first since healing and tanking are extremely important roles that can add to the stress of learning the game on top of everything else. There's questing to do, instances to run, and ultimately raids to run. Although by the time you get to endlevel, you should be well experienced. 'Vast' is definitely the word when it comes to explaining WoW. But hey, there's a free trial available. Make an account, make a character, and try it out! Play with your brother and see what it's like. If you like it you can easily activate your trial account into a full account, and you can keep your trial character as well.
Should someone who has never played World of Warcraft start playing now?
World of Warcraft is an interesting beast. It’s been around long enough that it can essentially sustain itself on its own name and clout alone.I played from Vanilla days, 2005, until Wrath of the Lich King, just before Cataclysm launched, ending my WoW days in 2009.Back then, the game was fun, engaging, challenging, and not PvP focused. It was just barely showing a few toxic players, who were quickly ignored, kicked, banned, etc.I’ve watched videos, seen the message boards, and heard a few older friends who still play describe the nightmares that can happen in WoW these days. There’s still fun to be had, but it seems to come at a price.Sure, you could try the trial (I believe it’s still only to level 20 though, but with level cap at some ridiculous 110 or 120, that’s not enough to see what the game plays like). You probably won’t get to see what the game is really like.The big downside to joining any game that has a competitive scene and a long history, is simply fitting in. Yeah, with a community this old, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Sure there’s other newbies, other fresh-starts, but even brand new servers will be quite populated with veterans seeking that fresh start. Of course, they know all the “to do” and “what not to do” to make leveling fast and efficient.So, I’m not sure there’s a direct answer. Try the trial, as it will at least let you play the start of the game. And you can watch some YouTube videos of arena and other PvP ranked battles, or massive end-game raids, and see if you want that. Because ultimately, as with any MMO, the true content unfortunately isn’t primarily in the leveling, but the end-game (most players only spend a few weeks leveling, but will remain at end-game content for months and beyond, after all).But, as an old veteran, I won’t be going back to WoW. I have too many sentimental memories that I don’t want to tarnish.
Should I jump to level 100 in World of Warcraft or start with level 1?
One other thing most have missed here, is that you don’t have to straight out boost to 100 with Legion.You now have a trial feature, so you can use this to find classes you like, if you’re new. It’ll allow you to go just past gaining your artifact weapon (which ‘scales’ with you for the entire expansion).If you’re a new player, I’d try the trial out on the characters that seem the most interesting to you. Then, you’ll probably want to level your favourite to 60 and pick up a couple of professions, as these get boosted to 700 when you boost.Using this method you will miss out on some 60–100 content (Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Panderia and Warlords of Draenor). However, this will also keep things fresh if you decide to level another character ‘legit’, and you’re not missing out on all that much. Most of the dungeon content you can also pick up in Legion’s “Time Walking Dungeons” too, which scales you all down to a level appropriate, although still slightly overpowered.If you’re a returning player, I’d still recommend running the trials on a couple of characters. It’ll be slightly more difficult though, as it won’t really be worth boosting say an 85 (if you’re returning from cata), and you’re more likely to have your favourite classes higher. 85–100 will take you probably about 10 hours, tops (including being a bit rusty).You’ll have to weigh the time levelling, or pick a ‘second favourite’ class that you’ve not yet levelled.Another thing to consider for either option would be to pick a multi-role class. Paladin, Druid, Monk are all great as they can tank, heal and dps. That means you’ve got options if you want them. Other options would be warriors, priests, shamans or a death knight as these can tank/dps or heal/dps. Pure dps classes, while they can be fun can also lead to slower dungeon queue times (10–30+ mins, vs instant. Longest queue time on my tanks or healers are about 1.5mins off peak).
ECHELONED WOW.SHUT DOWN.NEW START?
Yes it looks like Echeloned was shut down, from what I hear Khell dipped into the donation fund for personal use and that is what blizzard used to nail him. All Avari (blizzlike) users should go to Bloodcraft. Trust me, it looks to be a very promising server, EXACTLY the same as Avari but a much higher population. http://bloodcraft.no-ip.org/register.php
What great online multiplayer games are there now?
Ultima Online is still pretty good so is Asheron's Call.