I never expected that I would re-load a game I hadn’t touched in over 15 years. I never expected that I would enjoy it just as much now as I did when I was getting into MMOs as it was my first. But then again, first loves and all that.
Quite a number of years ago and a whole different life I got introduced to MMOs through World of Warcraft (WoW). It was new at the time, 2004, and it was my first real introduction to online multi-player games. I’d say role playing, but that wasn’t how we really played. I had never played anything like this before.
Growing up I didn’t have much access to online games (being old and all), nor much in relation to console gaming. Really was just too busy being active and reading books. Not like now when kids are almost weened onto online games, or at least mine seem to have been, which is really okay in a digital world. So my exposure to playing with others online was very limited. I had really just started to dabble in card game rooms to have any sort of social aspect to what I was playing, rather than just the computer.
My partner at the time had been playing online games for more years and had a group he typically played with who were looking at this new game to create a group in and see what they could get into. The story was interesting, and I liked the idea of doing something different with people that seemed a bit more involved then what I had been doing.
While I don’t recall if I got in at launch originally or came in later it was a very interesting experience that sparked an extreme interest in gaming that hasn’t gone away in nearly 20 years. I know that some of you reading this have been playing for longer, but for me this is a long time.
Unfortunately, the account I had back then I can’t recover now as email addresses have changed and I never expected to be back in this game, ever. Things got broken when PvP became an obstacle to progression (not by me). The rage just wasn’t healthy so we shelved the game in 2008 to move to something that we expected to be better and more dynamic (it was for a time, but didn’t have the same foundation as WoW)
No game since WoW has been able to hold the population as steadily as WoW has for the last nearly 20 years. I played the original and two expansions, though the second expansion wasn’t completed. In 2008 we moved on from WoW to play Warhammer Online, which was a blast, but didn’t last.
Fast forward to 2022 and having a different partner (why – read Dave’s Journey) who played WoW much longer than I did and still kept tabs on the game, and suddenly there is renewed interest as, well, Dragons! As Cory (DM_Sundevil) had played through more of the expansions than I did and had the same rage issue with the game (apparently server choice was really important to keep that away) he had much more information on the game.
We purchased Dragon Flight, and I am very glad that I did. Yes, WoW is an old game, but it is so rich with lore, story and new things to do it’s worth checking out again.
I do have to say that it might be the people I am playing with who make the game much more enjoyable, but even when I am doing stuff solo I am enjoying the mechanics and visuals of this game. Yes, it is older and is more of a flat visual, however it has been updated and improved over the years and depth has been added to the look of the armor and other things that at one point were very flat.
The game play is still tab target style with some other varying elements, but it’s solid. The muscle memory comes back quickly as really most games still use this system in some way. The sounds of fighting match. It’s not as graphic as newer games (blood and guts) or realistic when you are looking at fights and blood spatter, but the mechanics are solid. They have updated a few things to make it a bit more in line with some of the newer mechanics that make sense, introduced by other games, but it is still the WoW I remember.
Now if you are looking for clean graphics, realistic looking fantasy characters, or really 3D looking visuals, you will need to go somewhere else. This is an old school fantasy game. I am not sure that I would want them to update things so much that it looks more like a live action movie, while cool and nice, it would take away the feel of the game – my opinion.
The lore is still rich and growing. The new expansion has infused the franchise with another story line that will allow for more years of excitement for players. Flying on a dragon is amazing and feels so much better than flying mounts ever did. The maps for the new areas are interesting and beautifully designed, are there better visuals in other games? Yes, but this game doesn’t hold back either and stays true to the way they have done characters and visuals from the start.
The consistency between when I started playing in 2004 and returning in 2022 enabled me to jump back into the game very quickly without needing more than a few minutes to remember what things look like and how they function. I haven’t gotten back into raids (though I can’t say I was ever really into that side of the game), but that is coming soon. I just need to figure out what I want to play as there are so many new things that I need to catch up on.
If you haven’t played WoW in a long time, it’s worth checking out again, unless you rage quite over something the game never promised to do. Then just don’t – you will get frustrated and not enjoy the new things that they have brought in because you are trying to make WoW something that it’s not. Have they made some errors in extending expansion mechanics into too many expansions – yes and they admit it. Dragon Flight is fun, has new challenges, and a wonderful story – That I have not yet fully completed.
You can check out game play on Twitch with DM_Sundevil. We play fairly regularly and will be getting into a more regular schedule soon. Come by and chat, ask questions, we are happy to share our experience.
The Adams-Schlag Family 