It’s that time again, the one where my feed is filled with WoW content. It’s that time where I say: Hey, that looks like fun let’s jump in! It’s that time where I fire up the Blizzard launcher, download many, many gigabytes, and get crackin’ on a new character in the free trial. That’s right, it’s expansion time! But you already knew that…probably.

I’ve tried a few times now to get into World of Warcraft. I’ve gotten to level 20 a few times in the free trial. I’ve even subscribed a few times only to have my interest wane a month later. This time was much the same until it wasn’t. See, I’ve known about the level squish that took place right before Shadowlands came out but I wasn’t in the right mindset to try it out. I guess there wasn’t enough hype for my easily swayed brain.

I pretty much forgot there was a new starting zone until it was offered after I created my Panderan Mage. I had to see what it was all about. I was pleasantly surprised to find it had a nice condensed story mixed with a bit of a tutorial. I was also surprised by the number of voice-overs and cutscenes. It helped me stay focused on the story throughout the zone while I went from quest to quest. Apparently, I forgot there was a screenshot button too because I have none from Exile’s Reach.

Now, the one thing that’s put me off to the game for years has been the sheer amount of content. I’ve said it before, 16 years worth of content is intimidating. While I’ve enjoyed my time in the previous starting zones I’ve always felt lost after leaving them. So I welcome the new leveling changes.

Sure, I was abruptly dropped off in Stormwind, told the king wanted to see me, was surrounded by characters I didn’t know, and whisked off on a ship to Kul Tiras in mere minutes after I finished up Exile’s Reach. But once I got there I could pick up on enough of the story to get my bearings. Overall, it feels like a better player experience for me so far. I can still go through all of that other content but I only have to go through one expansion to get to the current one. I foresee many characters being created to check out the stories from previous expansions.

At the moment, I’ve been content just questing through Kul Tiras and taking it all in. My mage is at level 32. I’m not too much in a hurry to hit 50 but so far the pacing is just right for me. I picked up Shadowlands to give my self a bit more of a reason to stick around this time. Was that a good decision? Maybe, I guess we’ll see where I am a month from now when it’s time to renew my sub.