Reasons I love Shadowlands

I’ve always been first and foremost a leveler. Though I have raided in the past with my guild and I’ve done a little PVP, usually with the help of my sister. My first thought when any new expansion gets announced is actually “What will level cap be this time?” and I don’t ask that in an “Oh god, here we go again” it’s more like a “Sweet, I get to do more leveling!” This is not limited to when I found out Shadowlands was announced either.

So for me, if I’m not having fun leveling or in the story aspect, then there is no reason for me to continue playing. I even canceled my sub for Mists of Pandaria, because I was not having fun leveling after a few level-capped characters, so I did give it a shot. The fact is, now I have almost 3 levels 60’s, and I am still enjoying it as much as I did the day Shadowlands came out, even though I was recovering from surgery and couldn’t play for long periods of time on the release date I played here and there when I could then.

Today, I will discuss my thoughts on Shadowlands, overall anyways. Keep in mind that this is not from a raiders aspect or even a pvpers aspect, I have not yet raided this expansion. I haven’t even been able to do an LFR yet as my item level on my main is only 122, so it’s still quite low and I’ve only done the occasional battleground. This is also a personal thoughts article.

The Story

The story keeps me interested, I am usually on the edge of my seat wondering what is Sylvanas going to do now. I look forward to the next chapter in the story. Sylvanas has always been one of my favorite lore characters. Needless to say, that never really changed. I didn’t always agree with her choices, like burning down the world tree or murdering thousands of people in order to reach an even bigger goal. That doesn’t change the fact I feel like Blizzard has put a lot of work into the story behind this expansion and is constantly surprising us.

Leveling

I’ve always hit level 60 in the same area, Ardenweald, so I can’t speak for zones past that but the ones I have leveled in and are currently working through, I really do enjoy. I’m having fun leveling, in previous expansions I would be able to hit 1.5 levels in a day, this time around it seems with the times I am able to play, this time I’ve been able to level 2-3 levels if I play from the time I wake up till I go to bed. Leveling has continued to be fun for me.

Community

The WoW community has always been one of my favorite communities to be a part of, however, as of lately I was taken in by a group of PvPers to assist this casual non-pvper/non-raider in obtaining the RGB mounts. They also answer any questions I’ve had about things that confuse me, like what is MMR. While they can be toxic, they’ve not directed any of their toxicity to me and instead have helped me out so much. Then again, I guess anyone can be really toxic. I’m learning just because someone is toxic in one manner, does not mean they are not all-around great people.

Not even just in-game, but in real life too, with making sure my kid or my cat got the proper medical care necessary or just talking to me when I was down and supporting my own stream. This is what a community is, and should be. Toxic moments, but they band together when it matters most and is one of the things that I attribute to Shadowlands, I’ve never had any community band this much together to help one individual.

Mounts

I am a mount collector, one of the things I love about Shadowlands is the mounts that it brings. This gives me something new to go after. I still go after previous expansion mounts I don’t have though. As long as mounts keep coming out, I still have something to work for, same as levels of course. I still get excited when a new mount lands in my mount journal.

To you, these may be small or not important or not even fun, but to me, they are huge. The reasons listed in this article keep me looking forward to my next login, when I start feeling lonely in my other games I know that I can log into wow and all of a sudden have a range of people wanting me to do something with them, even if its just talk. For these reasons, this is why I love Shadowlands.

What about you? Do you love or hate Shadowlands? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below!