World of Warcraft in the Present Day: Introduction
I personally never got terribly far into World of Warcraft, mostly due to burnout from questing, finding other games more interesting, or myself not being a particularly good fit for MMO's. Among that genre that repulses me at every turn, there's something about World of Warcraft that keeps bringing me back every year or two, and it's only now with Shadowlands that I've really been able to put it into words, and I have a lot of words to say on the subject. To tell the truth, this sort of straddles the line between review and retrospective, and while I am most certainly not the most qualified to speak about how World of Warcraft has changed throughout the years, I've seen and experienced enough to form an opinion on my last roughly ten years of playing the game, starting from Cataclysm to the present day, Shadowlands.
This review is going to be multiple parts, and while none of this is set in stone, this is basically going to be the outline of the review. First, I'll cover the plot (what a surprise that I care about the lore of an MMO), followed by classes, then methods of playing the game, then side activities, end game content, and finally art direction (including music) before my conclusion. As a consequence, this review might come across as scattered and piecemeal as tangents and subjects that I feel are important to note (and likely were not included in this introduction) arise. Throughout I will be generally going in chronological order by expansion and failing that, alphabetical order.
While this would make the review seem comprehensive, it is important for me to say that there are still a number of corners of this gaming monolith that I have yet to even really touch despite playing this game on and off again for ten years. There isn't really a set schedule for any of this, but the hope is that it forms something of a summer project of mine (even as I have an army of miniatures to paint and three Dungeons and Dragons groups to run in addition to summer classes to wrangle). That being said, it is my hope that anyone who reads this will understand the generally positive but still mixed/confused feelings I have for this game that I care so much for.
As a closing note I'll get around to posting more of my miniatures and maps soon (to say that I've been on a painting tear is an understatement), and I am also considering posting a review of Rime of the Frostmaiden as well, so that's something to look forward to over this summer. Maybe Morrowind will get a review as well, who knows.
Glad you're back! Look forward to seeing your miniatures!
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