Playing World of Warcraft since it's beginnings in 2004 has been a long journey through a lot of memory creating content. Luckily for me I've always had a handful of real life (RL) friends that were there to play with along the way on top of the friends I've made in-game. Which allowed for many WoW LAN parties and trips to local diners filled with glorious discussions of recent events in-game. Every expansion there always seemed to be those moments where people would stop playing or not as much as they used to. I for one did not play The Burning Crusade expansion extensively like some of my friends as I did not enjoy that content. Mostly because I was still rocking out on my druid which was still coming into it's own as a class still. Not the terrific druid class nowadays that the community calls out for nerfs on a weekly basis.
Each expansion, however, tried something new and attempted to bring something different to the table. No matter which version of WoW is your favorite there was a ton of hype around Warlords of Draenor (WoD). Specially after the constantly falling subscriber numbers throughout Mists of Pandaria, an expansion which a lot of people were not happy with. For any that don't believe the hype around WoD take these numbers in. During Mists of Pandaria the subscriber count fell to just above 6 million. After the release of WoD the subscriber count has shot up above 10 million once again. This means a lot of old players have come back expecting something big out of Blizzard again. Blizz has already come out and said that they have put a lot of passion and effort into making this one of their biggest expansions to date. The Iron Horde even brought me and my fiance back to the World which so far has been really enjoyable. Here's my top 5 things about Warlords of Draenor's that I've loved the most so far.
1. GARRISONS!!!!!!!!
Seriously these things are your own little slice of property in this new land. The best thing about them is they are more than just over glorified targets for a hearthstone. They provide multiple bonuses and offer ways to get gear, mounts, rep, banks, profession mats and more! You even get your own mine and herb garden which you harvest from no matter your profession. That's just the beginning though because you can get your own followers, such as Leeroy Jenkins himself, and assign them to do profession work or go on missions. Feeling lonely? Invite your friends to come chill at your garrison and take advantage of some of the buildings in which other players can use. Your garrison and every building plot can be upgraded and in the end you can celebrate your achievements in-game with statues of your glory.
2. Time-traveling Like McFly Himself
I am still figuring out all the details to this one but it's still bad ass none the less. We get to go back to a place in the timeline that was only looked at in the Warcraft games. Get to fight baddies that we've only seen in lore or older games.
3. The Story
The storyline that you get from questing in zones is one of the best things. I love games with great stories and Blizzard did not short change this go round. Some of the zones treat you to a quality cinematic that usually are epic things to watch. By far my favorite is the valiant decision of Prophet Velen in Shadowmoon Valley. New respect to the dude that just chills in the Dranei home city and never had a big voice until now.
4. The Grind from 90-100 Doesn't Feel Like a Grind
One of the worst things about expansions is dealing with the grind to the new level cap. Especially if the quests aren't fun and grind burns you out before you get to end-game. But in Warlords the quests keep moving at a good pace and it never felt like my progress was slowing down when getting to 100.
5. WoW IS FUN AGAIN!
More of my friends playing again than in the past 2 expansions and that is because finally people are excited to log on again. The game looks great and the story, cinematic, questing, along with the combat both PvE and PvP are solid.
I look forward to exploring more of the world and progressing through this expansion with all my friends again. Now if only I could find a guild that is active in the mornings after work :D
With love,
Nubby
