trywarcraft

One of the most common complaints surrounding Cataclysm is the extremely linear nature of questing, both in the 1-to-60 experience and from 80 to 85. For levels 1 to 60, this linear nature almost works for me, largely because presumably new players heading through this content would like to do so as efficiently as possible. With a multitude of zones to choose from, the replay experience with Cataclysm isn’t too bad — particularly because it’s really not that hard to level from 1 to 60 at the moment. And that’s especially nice for new players trying to get the hang of the game.

However, when you hit level 80, there is one distinct path to follow to level 85, and each zone in that path has been carefully laid out. Quests are divided into hubs, and each hub must be completed in order to move on to the next. If you’re taking an alt through these areas, you must replay through the same set of hubs and the same set of quests. If you’re replaying several alts, this gets incredibly tiresome incredibly quickly.

Thankfully, we’re about to say goodbye to that leveling model. Let’s look at Mists, shall we? No spoilers, I promise!