Adventures in Azeroth #1.5: Revisiting the Past or I Remember Doing the Time Warp

Because of this ICAM class I'm taking, I've been forced to start a new WoW character again at level 1. There is one big difference I've noticed this time around though: I actually know what I'm doing. Leveling has been much easier than it was the first time I played the game. Part of this is because Blizzard has made the first 10-20 levels easier to play, but the other half is thanks to the knowledge I've gained in leveling a character all the way to 61. I now understand important in-game concepts like aggro management, talent specialization, and how to work in team situations. As a result, I die substantially less than I did when I was just starting. Also, starting from scratch has taught me to appreciate the usefulness of later spells. I went 20 levels before I acquired my blink spell, and you have no idea how much I hated not being able to distance myself from enemies so quickly. I can definitely appreciate seeing how much my skill has improved over the course of 41 levels.

Of course, none of this is really surprising. One of leveling's purposes (aside from making you pay more money to play the game) is to teach you how to play the game. Once you understand the rules it's easy to start over again. That being said, despite the fact I'm 61, I still have 19 levels of learning left to do. However, I'm curious about what these observations say about the way the game encourages or discourages types of interaction. If a person is completely new to the game, is it better or worse if everyone around them knows what they're doing? Will they learn from their elders, or is there some important element they miss out on by not learning the system themselves?

I don't think this would matter so much if the ratio of new players to old players making alts wasn't so one-sided. Playing with a group of noobs would offer a rare chance at group exploration. Not only would they not know where to travel or what the best plan of attack is, but they could all learn this information together and have a stronger social connection with each other. Having a WoW veteran simply telling you where everything is or explaining the rules to you loses some of the magic of finding things out for yourself. Everyone makes a new character eventually, but it'd be nice if the players that were actually new had a chance to make their own WoW experiences instead of bumming someone else's.