[WoW] How to start over at this point in the game.

[Zeste]

I last logged into WoW on January 8th, 2006. I was able to remember my account name and password, and check it from the online account manager on Blizzards site.

A buddy of mine has played on and off since the beginning, and I was just thinking of maybe start again, super-casually, and having my wife try it (for the first time) as well.

But, after so long, can people really start fresh? I remember with EQ, I left right after PoP came out, and a few years later thought about starting again, and my friends told me that my Bard couldn't even make the cut for the lowest level alt guilds, being so outdated and low on stats.

So, is there any real value to the idea of start fresh on a server somewhere, and just playing casually and running around with my wife (who probably will lose interest fast)? Is there a WoW for the gamer who just wants to play maybe 2-3 hours a week, if that? Or has the game progressed so much that it would be pointless, and I should spend the money on a pair of Nintendo DS's instead?

[Draegan]

Yes.

If you don't plan on raiding you could get a maxed out character in 3-4 months if you play 15-25 hours a week. Less if you're lucky. Max level in a month (6 days playtime if you follow some of the guides, 4 days if you're really good and don't screw around). Two months of rep grinds and professions grinds and heroic grinds.

Rough estimates. All depends on your play time.

[elrich]

My guild has had quite a few people start new (within the past few months), some of which are already 70 and actually going through content with us. Some of them are still in the process of leveling and will most likely never hit max level though.

But yes, it's pretty easy to start fresh, level up a new character and get rolling.

[Twobit Whore]

I'd say WoW is the single best MMO to do just what you want to do. You can solo or duo most overland quests in the game, and if you make a complimentary pair (healer/tank) then filling in a group to hit some instances is still plausible.

[Moontayle]

You're better off with the DS's. It's my belief that WoW has gone past the 2-3 hours a week crowd. The reasons I can cite are too numerous to list here but it exists at almost all levels of play. But, that's just my opinion and the things that drove me away might, in turn, pull you in.

[Draegan]

Every part of the game can be done in 2-3 hour chunks except the one 10 man instance and all the 25 man instances by a normal player.

[Agraza]

So, is there any real value to the idea of start fresh on a server somewhere, and just playing casually and running around with my wife (who probably will lose interest fast)? Is there a WoW for the gamer who just wants to play maybe 2-3 hours a week, if that?

Sure. They're even planning to reduce the leveling curve and improve the experience from quest rewards from levels 20-60 in the future. I'd estimate around the turn of the year, but it is hard to judge. They claim they want to do this before the expansion, and not in the upcoming patch 2.3 (oct/nov) which narrows it down a little bit. Some people are skeptical to the point of expecting the expansion as late as this time next year, so it might not narrow it down that much.

Furthermore, if you get to the level cap you can spend lots of excitement filled hours grinding honor in the battlegrounds to buy purples that are on par with mid-level raid gear. These are referred to as welfare epics and my linked character is wearing quite a few.

They changed the way honor is handled late last year. No more DKs, you get honor daily rather than weekly, BG faction rewards weren't updated and aren't being supported going forward, but the tokens are a form of currency now.

If you're not into PvP you can casually perform plenty of reputation grinds for various purples. You might find difficulty gathering players to perform non-heroic instances in the expansion, but that varies.

I honestly doubt there will ever be a point at which new players won't be able to come to WoW for a rewarding experience. They intentionally set the bar for entry low. It is not even knee level, its buried in the fucking ground so the retards can crawl over it. Green quest rewards in the first overland zone of the expansion are MC quality items. Level 70 blue instance gear is Naxx quality.


That said, DS is awesome. Plenty of different experiences. I'm trying to quit MMOs, so I'm looking at portables for my gaming fix.

[Lenardo]

Definately get your wife to try it...

my wife HATED all MMo's i had her try,..until WoW

my 6yr old son accidentally deleted his hunter pet and i was at work and my wife had no clue what happened, so she went, show me how to play so that if dillon does something wrong i know how to fix it.....this was ~8 months ago

she has cooking maxed fishing maxed skinning maxed herbalism maxed..

she has skyguard faction maxed and is 500 gold from getting her epic flying mount so that she can do netherwing faction....

we are shaman (me) and hunter(her) both 70th level...we play wow together pretty much 5 nights a week from ~9pm til midnight-2am depending on if she has work in the am...i'll stay on longer if she goes to be early to farm materials..

[Gaereth]

Yes.

WOW seems to be taking the approach of a reset with each expansion. Everyone except for the top tier guilds will replace everything they got in original with gear from Burning Crusade. So have fun, run all of the old world stuff then hit TBC and run all the quests and the 5 mans if you are just looking to play casually. There is a huge, HUGE amount of content for someone just starting and wanting to play casually to have fun with. Oodles...gobs....ungodly amounts.

WOW is one of those games that works very well for the slow pokes, the part timers, etc. With an amazing amount of quests and the ability to make progress on said quests in short bites you will do fine.

[Dassem]

Yes you can, if you don't catch up in this expansion anymore then Wrath of the Lich King will level the playing field again to pretty equal (sure ubergeared ppl will level faster etc, but it's not big deal). I started to play again in the summer (dinged 66 today so not playing hardcore) and been having a blast especially in Outlands since I quit pre-tbc before. In the first few levels in Outlands I upgraded all my gear and basically doubled manapool, healthpoints and spelldmg.

edit: If you do start again, don't pick enchanting, really do not. It's just a huge fucking blackhole in your wallet sucking every drop and gold you have .

[Quineloe]

Originally Posted by Moontayle

You're better off with the DS's. It's my belief that WoW has gone past the 2-3 hours a week crowd. The reasons I can cite are too numerous to list here but it exists at almost all levels of play. But, that's just my opinion and the things that drove me away might, in turn, pull you in.

Actually there is not a single reason to back up what you've just said. That's why you list none.

[MrGraham]

If you're obsessed with being the best, then no, you shouldn't.

If you actually enjoy playing for the sake of playing, then sure. What difference would it make how far ahead everyone else is if you're only going to play "super-casually"? What would have changed "at this point in the game" to make it not worth playing <10 hrs a week? I'm confused.

[Aria]

Well, I just recently rerolled with 2 longtime friends. We've been playing on and off since launch, doing a few hardcore raiding stints and such, but now we're just playing casually.

We chose to reroll on Argent Dawn, because new servers probably won't be coming out for awhile, and the population here seems really relaxed. Here's a few awesome things that happened. Since Argent Dawn is a launch server, a lot (not all, don't confuse) of people have higher level characters so when we group with people a lot really know how to play the game and/or have good gear to help. Also, when me and my friend made two blood elves, this guy came up to us and asked if we wanted to join his new guild. He had 5 level 70's on AD but restarted to help out new players that were just starting out or starting on this server. He helps everyone with bags, tabards, items.. we don't abuse it, and since we have other chars we don't use most of the stuff and send it back, but to a new person this is very helpful. And it's not just him, the entire guild is helpful like this (and us in return). Just something to think about.

Anyways, if you're thinking about rerolling and want to play with some nice guys, roll on Argent Dawn horde and send a tell to me as Miun or Kishin. I'd be glad to help you guys out, and have experience with the wife/girlfriend playing route.

[Quineloe]

Originally Posted by MrGraham

If you're obsessed with being the best, then no, you shouldn't.

If you actually enjoy playing for the sake of playing, then sure. What difference would it make how far ahead everyone else is if you're only going to play "super-casually"? What would have changed "at this point in the game" to make it not worth playing <10 hrs a week? I'm confused.

Nothing changed, this is just unreasonable WOW hate.

[Samflam]

I quit raiding, got engaged, then quit altogether for three months then decided to try out alliance side on a blueberry shaman. That was earlier this year. I hop on for a few hours during the week, about the same on the weekend. I'm level 61 now and I'm having fun. I'm enjoying finding upgrades from quests & 5 mans, but I figure once I'm done with 70 and the regular instances it's probably game over (at least on my current toon).
I'd say that getting into the game fresh is pretty easy, but I'd recommend doing it on a high pop/faction. Doing 5 mans on the way up helps alleviate the old world boredom.
Having said that I just figured out how to emulate NES games on my DS so most of my gaming time right now is split between River City Ransom and Bionic Commando ;P