A few days into the WoW expansion now, and my priest is level 88. Leveling is MUCH slower than I’ve found it to be in previous expansions. I’m undecided if this is good or bad. Because content is quite streamlined it may be considered bad if you’ve got a lot of alts to level up. It’s also a bit annoying if you are a crafter because you can’t reach the main city until you hit level 87 and do a quest. You need that city to purchase crafting recipes. I always dislike these types of lock outs to crafter content.
Speaking of crafting it is MUCH easier to level the ‘main’ professions this time around. Sure, there is the level 87 for recipes restriction which is frustrating, but crafting itself is far easier. No volatiles to collect, being the major reason. Only requiring one bind on pickup item to purchase a single recipe that will take you from 575 to 600. I’ve reached 600 in both tailoring and enchanting with relative ease, and then also reached 600 in first aid (yes, I’m a completionist remember). I’ve still got the harder crafts to go (cooking and archaeology plus all of my alts, but it’s not too bad so far.
You also can’t fly in the new zones until you reach level 90 and purchase the skill (2500 gold). It makes adventuring take longer and forces players to explore. The stories have been really interesting but I find that as I make my way through certain zones the quests go from being really neat and awesome to more of the same ‘kill X creature for Y NPC’ variety.
I will say that this expansion certainly rewards you with a lot of vanity clicky items! I have punching bags, spittoons, paint guns, and all sorts of other non purpose items that are now sitting in my bags waiting to be pulled out in the middle of a raid to distract players. That’s what they’re for, right?
As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!