I don't recommend World of Warcraft to anyone 

Now for Asmongold to make a 1hr+ response video to this.

Also, "because Blizzard doesn't deserve your time or money" would be the rest of the argument.

I was a WoW player starting with OG beta, left around Pandaria (edit). Felt that eventually all sense of wonder/excitement had been sucked out of the game and I was just logging on to farm. Tried several of the later expansions briefly, but they all seemed like "same sh*t different skin." In contrast: Elden Ring was an absolute joy, and can't wait to start Baldur's Gate.

I haven't played World of Warcraft in it's golden years. I wasn't even aware of it then. I feel quite sad about it as nowadays it honestly doesn't feel worth investing time or money into. Not just because Blizzard bad, it just feels like even from an outside perspective that it lost something over the years.

The release of Classic was one of the most profoundly agonising instances of nostalgia I've ever had. I recreated my toon from Vanilla, and relevelled him in the same locations. The whole time, about a month or so, I remembered how it was in 2005. All the people I played with, all the funny shit that had us laughing for hours on vent, all the idiots and ninjas and pointless wipes… all gone into the past.

I think the only people who should play World of Warcraft are people who want to play World of Warcraft 😂 That's basically the main selling point.

As a WoW fan I still don't recommend it - because its got a horrendous community that's hostile to new players.

I like to imagine that lots of people are queuing up to ask Josh what sport they should play. "Ah yes, let's ask that vest suit guy."

That one chat message at 1:44 "It's like recommending D&D for your next tabletop campaign..." Man, MOOD

I played since launch until about March of 2020. After Cataclysm I started taking breaks for a month or two. When "time gate" started becoming a bullet point for expansions, it was easy to notice how little the game respected players times. BfA was like having a second job. Log in, grind out to level cap, grind out your daily allotment of world quest, faction quests, table quests, repeat for a month to a month and a half, get nothing else done in game, rinse repeat for 4-5 hours every night after work. Theres better ways for players to spend their time.

its such a shame i did not know boldering exists as a kid. im totaly hooked

I used to be a big Blizzard guy. But it's really safe to say that it just isn't worth it anymore. Not worth the time or money. There's just nothing worth it left anymore. Gameplay, lore, so forth. WoW has sadly become more akin to an abusive relationship. Dropping the game was the hardest thing I ever did, but I felt so much better after a time. It's one thing to say the game sucks. It's another thing to actually follow through and vote with your wallet.

"Hey Josh, what sport should I get into?" What a common, natural thing to ask someone

Josh looks like a Elder Scrolls vampire here.

As somebody who started in legion, the combat, transmogs, and overall art style + feel of the game keeps me coming back. I don’t raid, I don’t PvP, but I can spend 12+ hours easily playing. Whether it’s a mage tower attempt for the 700th time, or running old raids for transmogs. Or just chillin in Goldshire messing with toys and showing off mounts and outfits. This game isn’t a sweaty competition, nor is it a 100 hour a week commitment. It’s a flippin game, it’s not meant to consume your soul. If you’re interested in it, there’s no harm in trying it out. More than plenty to do especially considering all the expansions, zones, classes, armors, weapons, mounts, the list goes on.

I like World of Warcraft but I also like that there's enough options these days that others can try looking for something that suits their tastes

I don't play retail, I don't play wotlk...but goddamn, I am so hooked on classic hardcore. It's old, clunky and not designed for permadeath...but it feels exactly like how I remember playing wow 20ish years ago felt. Mobs are scary, dungeons are risky, loot feels rewarding. I guess this is how the old school runescape addicts feel?!

I just started Classic again with folks I played 20 years ago with and I'm having so much fun. My buddies 70 year old mom is playing with us again. I get folks not wanting to play though.

I regret no playing wow when it was at its peak. Now I can't play it due to lack of time and extremely toxic community

I wouldn't say you should play it on a private server, but there are ones that exist that are just genuinely better than what Blizzard offers.

I played WoW consistently since open beta up until shortly after Dragonflight's launch. I've also been consistently playing it with a friend of mine since late Wrath, and we both came to the same conclusion. It just isn't the same game it used to be and doesn't draw us in the same way it once did. I thought I would be sad about having zero desire to play it anymore, but considering I've been playing it for nearly 20 years, I'm actually ok with not playing it ever again. Not because I hate it or because I think it's bad. I think I'm just done with MMOs in general. I think what would suit WoW the best is just starting over and having a WoW2. Although I likely won't jump in anymore. I'm closer to 40 than I am 30 and just don't have the drive to want to waste my time in WoW. It was a good run.

I don't recommend anyone to Destiny 2 either.

the saddest part.. is that the OLD wow that everyone fell in love with, was essentially just E.Q. 1.5.

You can tell how many people just saw the title of the video but not watched it, judging at the number of comments that missed the whole point 🤭

"I played it a long time ago... I enjoyed being a demon hunter tank" Is a reminder of how far removed I am from when I enjoyed it and where it is now. Thank god for, ahem, 'alternative' servers, where I can play the game I used to know, even if only for a bit at a time.

As a former WoW player, who loved it for many years. I don't recommend it either. It doesn't respect your time, or even pretend to. The community is also awful.

I used to play WoW all the time from 2007 to 2015. Then my PC broke and I have been too lazy/broke to replace it.

I've played World of Warcraft since Vanilla WoW back in '04. Hell, I still play World of Warcraft regularly and I still don't recommend it to anyone looking for a new game. The game has come a long way towards being MORE new player-friendly (Emphasis on the more), but it's still not very approachable. Maybe next expac once the Dragon Isles are the new player experience it will be better, but there is still a lot more Blizzard needs to do.

this is a really good point. When someone is looking for game suggestions they aren't looking for you to recommend Zelda. Everyone knows the biggest game of the year. Tell them about that great game you love that nobody has ever heard of.

I'll never recommend WoW to people, I actively tell them to stay away and play something else worth their time and energy.

I think I played World of Warcraft on November 26, 27, and 28, 2004, and then I never played it again

Im so american.. he said football and I was like "football is popular worldwide?"

I tried to give WoW a shot just before Dragonflight came out after a couple of buddies talked me into it and I couldn't even make it to one month. I thought I'd quite enjoy it since I put years into other MMO's like Runescape and Elder Scrolls Online but something about WoW just kept rubbing me the wrong way.

Now I wanna know which sport Josh would recommend I’d get into

As someone who has thousands of hours in several MMOs. A lot being in the bigger ones. I'd easily say that if you enjoy dungeons and raids and to push your skill in them, there is no MMO that comes close to how well WoW does it. They probably also has the most customisations of any MMO.

I stopped playing WoW just before WotLK, because work and life in general made the commitment untenable, and I was too used to playing the top end of the game to want to just become a casual. Picked it up again at Classic launch, and it was fun for.. a few months. Real nostalgia trip. HC is keeping me interested longer than the classic relaunch could. I'm a casual now, taking my time, but I also get the thrill of failure being around every corner, without having to spend every day prepping for a raid. Just doing regular quests takes planning and thought. I like that.

WoW gets infinitely better when you are part of a guild. I mean you could say that about any multiplayer game but the factor is so much bigger in WoW. Most of the downsides for beginners just vanish and there are a lot of chill guilds who just want to level and chat. Not saying that it fundamentally changes the game. Diving into new content with my guild and taking challenges with snappy gameplay is just enough for me. Hopefully they take the wheel around regarding lore and some systems.

I feel like WoW isn’t friendly to new players. The story is incomprehensible, all gear that isn’t max level focused for that particular expansion is useless. Some of the older content isn’t even strictly speaking accessible and yet the game does nothing to warn you when you’re on a quest line that’s been glitched since the devs abandoned it. It’s a game filled with abandonware for seemingly no good reason.

Orienteering is the sport for me. It's running in nature but you also have somewhere to go, and I'm pretty good at navigation.

Just remember for every leveled up MMO character you have you could have played like 20 other single player campaigns instead. I realized this after the first month of Wow but everyone fell for the trap.

The whole die once and you are dead forever from Hardcore just doesn't work for me. It makes more sense in games like POE or Diablo. I'd rather it be more like you die and you loose your items then get teleported back to stormwind.

“ oh hes talking about soccer “ Imagine not knowing soccer is slang for association football

Josh looking absolutely ghostly today, you alright, man?

As someone playing HC WoW, if you don't currently play WoW in any of the versions and you are curious, play either Classic era NON-Hardcore, or play with a group of friends in Wrath Classic. Otherwise don't bother, retail requires too many extra out of game things to install or set up and they break every week, and that isn't even touching the story design or just the feeling of gear permanence being empty. Wrath classic by yourself is just depressing with the gold seller market and now the WoW token having been added. Classic era at the very least can be played like a real MMO, HC or otherwise.

Started playing WoW Ascension which is classless and they've changed a lot about the game. It's a private server though, so there's that caveat if you don't trust them, but I'm personally having a blast.

I'm a Wrath Baby. Even though that was 15 years ago, I will admit that on each return to the game has been less and less each time. It has it's defining points, I will always love how the classes play, but the rest of it - my tastes have outgrown what it can offer.

If we're talking about football. Can anyone explain to me in 2-3 sentences why the hell football is called soccer in the States and what American Football has to do with feet?

Do you recommend Runescape's Hero Pass? Been waiting awhile now for you to weigh in on the subject Josh. Your opinion on Jagex is valued. Or did I miss your vid on the matter. Are season passes good or bad?

Wow is a good game at it's core, but a bad product which is why it's not recommandable. Being a monthly paid game + paid dlc + cash shop + p2f battle pass + token + no customer support anymore, barely no game master to help + full bot + scripter in wotlk + GDKP + Unfriendly and toxic environnement. Why would you recommand a defective product to anyone?

Warcraft: Orvs & Humans was legit my first PC game ever. I have nothing but sorrow looking at it now.

I quit at the Pandoria expansion, i draw the line at Kung Fu Panda.

Yeah, box+$180/year+expansions not worth in the current year for the same game we all played 15 years ago

I always wanted to try wow for pvp back then but my parents nvr wanted to pay sub for me. Now i ask my friends if i should get into it and they dont recommend it.

What other MMOs are you referring to at the end, Josh?

Im trapped in the wow spiral for years :(

I have started both retail and WOTLK classic, I enjoyed both but i prefer WOTLK just became it feels like the best balance between the casualness of retail and the classic elements of classic

I actually returned to Retail WoW (sort of) for the first time in 4.5 years when they offered the recent half-price sale. I've been taking my time going through the Dragonflight story. It's been okay so far but I only playing one character so I am not sure how long I will stick around.

I arrived late to WoW and I enjoyed it, but the only reason I kept at it for so long was the cool people in the friend's guild that I joined. The memories were about the people, not the game so much. When other friends started 14, it wasn't hard to transition. I gave WoW one last chance at Shadowlands and really looked at the game this time, now having friends in both games and, well, I haven't looked back since.

Old WoW friends told me about hardcore classic the other day, talking about how you can die permanently and how great it is.... I'm just sitting there pretending to understand what their version of "fun" entails at this point. It's so weird trying to talk to one of them about other games and it's like it doesn't compute in his head. "Other... games...? There are others besides WoW?" I just don't understand how anyone can have absolutely no interest in any other games ever. Did y'all not play anything before WoW?? How does one cling to WoW for almost 20 years and never get bored enough to try any other game, ever? Then again, I experienced the height of BC and Wrath, even getting to Sunwell as a girl tank and surpassing Illidan was beyond my wildest dreams at the time. Sunwell wasn't that great, eitther, so even though my guiild didn't fully clear it, I think we all felt like we got to see what we really wanted to, especially when all I heard from friends in the best guild on my server is they kinda hated Sunwell lol. One of my oldest WoW friends who actually taught me how to tank properly didn't get so lucky in BC nor Wrath, and it feels like he has always tried to capture those moments he missed out on in the early days. That was the biggest issue early on, even talented players had to rely on luck a bit and be willing to leave friends behind to progress in a new guild that was able to clear content. I had a really good excuse for leaving my first raiding guild when my ex-bf asked me to tank the new guild he was forming and the guild I left was already stuck in progression at Gruul's Lair. Then when my ex didn't move quickly enough to start raiding within the first week I left the first guild, I got antsy real quick and was accepted into a guild already progging SSC. I got lucky and was able to raid with that guild up to Cata. That guild fizzled out, I got into the best guild on my server through friends, and lost interest a month into Cata. Turns out you still wipe in the best guild on your server lol. That and you could feel WoW dying even a month into Cata. Somewhere around there I got hooked on DAO and also dabbled in other MMOs like AION and Tera befor settling on single player RPGs as my fave games just before the huge drought in Bioware single player games started after Andromeda.

the mini vest

If I was to start an MMORPG, I'd go with SWTOR just for the storylines alone.

Is there any free shard that worth playing? Never played wow, just want to finish the story

GW2 and ESO are usually my go to recommendations when it comes to MMOS, ESO if you prefer to be a more solo-esque, and GW2 if you really like playing with other people and seing people all around you. GW2 does not require you to play nonstop, you can take a break and come back and not miss out on gear progression etc.

Getting into wow in 2023 is like getting into gambling. Everyone tells you how great it is, and how rewarding it is after a 100 hours, but noone really wants you to succeed

Each time I quit WoW was when I didn't like that game and community pissed me off. The last time I quit, I just stopped giving a crap. Seems like every Blizzard game is a public beta until they get it right for one patch and then screw everything up all over again.

"I played it a long time ago" vengeance demonhunter tank lol

How often does someone ask you which sport you reccomend? i have never been asked that question.

WoW is just one of those games that you must have been there for during its golden age. Too many things have changed, both in-game an outside the game to still get the same feeling that everyone got when playing in the 2000's. Even if you're playing the classic servers, you're coming to a game that has already been mastered and completely explored and you are expected to already know your shit. The magic of exploration and discovery is lost.

We are so close to a wow video josh strife video...so f close.

I certainly appreciate your opinion. I've played WoW for so long now, but Retail lost me after Legion. (I have bought every expansion since and tried; I wasn't ready to let go.) The company makes me angry, and Retail is so convoluted it isn't fun to me anymore. Then everyone in my family started playing HC and we are all enjoying it so much. The Vanilla atmosphere is there; people help each other, buffs are freely-given, and the gameplay is challenging and fun. It's amazingly good, and that fact surprised me. I'll definitely stop playing when Elden Ring's DLC comes out though!

Do I miss WoW.....ya but that's mainly for sentimental reasons. I met my fiancé playing it and I do miss all my toons cause of all the 1000s of hours I've spent lvling and gathering things for them. I actually tried for a little while to play when the new expansion came out. I got a free month from Blizzard but it just wasn't the same :(

MMOs and sports and an interesting comparisons. Both take large commitments and a person's experience is really their own. Some people will love a certain game and immediately under its complexity, others take time develop and discover all of its nuanced mechanics. It comes down to how much of your time are you willing to give it.

I was nodding along ... but I didn't except that particular reason for not recommending it lol.

I do enjoy retail world of warcraft but not as an RPG. I enjoy it the same way I enjoy CS these days. I think retail is at it’s best when you’re playing difficult content with your friends and trying to push your character to the limit. So I see modern retail more as a faster paced action game. I think that’s the best way to think about WoW these days because as a casual player there is very little enjoyment to be had in the world. I would also recommend other games if the person wants an MMORPG experience.

I gotta say i really really am enjoy wow classic hardcore. it reminds me of LotR The Fellowship of the ring. A group of friends on an adventure to hit level 60 and to not see one of us die. Absolutly amazing.

The wonder of WoW has been sucked out of it by systems obsession, rampant datamining, poor storytelling, and a hyperfixation on mythic+ and being optimal. I do think Classic Hardcore is worth a play, but retail just doesn't really feel good.

I agree with his point in context to retail. but not to Classic Era

I guess i am gonna be that guy " Vagrant Story - Was it any good?"

When I was a kid I didn't have the money to pay the monthly fee for Wow, but I watched a lot of people playing it, but nowadays I can afford it, and that's what I did, I paid the monthly fee, I downloaded the game, I played for 2 weeks, straight, and that's when I realised that there was no right line to follow, I know that many people may find this stupid, but for me, who doesn't have time to go through each of the quests in each area and just wants to read the main story, it's horrible, I got through the tutorial and everything, and I was thrown into a world with hundreds of quests that had no end, I would start one hoping to finish it in a few missions, but every time I finished one there was another and another and another, with no end, and I asked myself "Okay, where am I? I can't even remember how I got here, someone help me." I went on forums to try to find the main quest line and it simply doesn't exist (I think), each quest has its own lore, each character and so on. That's incredible, but I really just wanted to know about the lich, not the sailor pig who wants to kill a giant fish. Basically I abandoned the game because I didn't know who to turn to, or where to go. And that's why I like Final Fantasy 14, apart from a few problems, it has a separate, even tonne of content (not as extensive as World Of Warcraft, but it has it). My experience as a new player, which was with the intention of having a story to follow and explore as the game progresses, as in FF14, was poor, and I would rather have left it in my memory. I still love watching WOW content and this experience won't stop me loving the game, but the game itself apparently isn't for me.

Basketball 2s and 3s. Easy to get into - your local court and a ball - doesn't take many people, 4 or 6. Rules can be swapped and changed or added as you get better. Hella fun to play and the core principal is just put the ball through the hoop. For those considering sports ofc.

WoW is such a weird game for me in recent years. I used to be a hardcore raider but now a days i find myself mount collecting most of the time.

I'm not a teenager anymore. I don't want to play games that take a lot of time. Like in wow classic where a dungeon like zul farrak takes 3 hours.

Thats fair. I just started vanilla classic and I must say, it's so good though. Community interactions are great, the world is fun to explore and since there's no expansion the world feels lived in. You go to stormwind any time of the day and you see all kinds of characters. People in full bis, bank alts etc. I get how it got popular in the first place. I tried retail last year for a few months and it wasn't it for me.

played until cataclysm and never looked back

I played on WoW WotlK classic since last June, and got into a server that has a population exclusively consisting of career dads/moms and honestly has been the most chill community to ever be a part of. I never could raid with my guild because of the timezone difference but it was very enjoyable, felt like the community was still healthy and genuinely enjoyed the game we were playing instead of the chinese gold farming sweaty min maxer hellscape dragonflight was last I checked

Him saying that he enjoyed playing a Demon Hunter a long time ago hurt me in a different way.

Lol, as an American is analogy is somehow still applicable even though he is referring to a different football (most popular in the U.S. tho, not the world)

I think if you're asking someone else what games to play, you're already screwed.

This is completely true. I *do* feel the itch to jump back into WoW (classic that is, retail is a total shitshow) but then I think to myself, OSRS feels a lot more rewarding and is constantly developing new content for the game, and it actually feels like the game has a future. What is the point of classic WoW? Do the same thing I did 15 years ago for more than a decade? No thanks, I've played it to death.

"You don't need to recommend it, it is that popular" really struck a chord with me, its like the products you never see advertisements for because it just sells that well on its own. It's like Krispy Kreme or Sriracha Sauce or Tupperware; everyone knows what it is, you know what to expect and you don't need to pass it on because again everyone knows what it is.

came back to retail recently, currently having fun not trying to min max everything , i will never play classic HC simply because the game was not built for it and i'm not dying on a char with 200 hours of playtime due to a not properly coded bridge from 2005

ultimate frisbee i what i would recommend as sport

Its like when someone says their favorite band is the Beatles. Like, the whole world agrees the Beatles were brilliant, give me a real answer.

Whenever i play at a low level, the world is _dead_. If i boost to a high level i have no idea what im doing and everyone seems to have better gear than i do. I started at WOTLK, fell off at Pandaria, enjoyed the setting of Warlords. But not the daily grind of the outpost. If itnwent F2P maybe id come back, but i doubt it.

As someone who has never played WoW before, the graphics put me off. Let's be honest, the game looks VERY dated and desperately needs a remaster or sequel. That, and the fact that I simply cannot understand the order in which expansions are meant to be played. The world/lore is just TOO big.

I have played WoW since vanilla, but didn't like it and didn't really get into it until WotLK. To be clear to people looking in from the outside: the game is undeniably still very good, but very different from the old days. BFA and Shadowlands had some pretty glaring weaknesses so people are right to hate on them, but they did some things well. The modern pillars of the game - raiding, mythic+ dungeons, PVP have only gotten better and better. The problem is, people who loved the old WoW don't care for how the current game is, no matter how good it is. It's just a fundamentally different game - far more complex, analytical, and competitive. It is less of an MMO and more of a game lobby between dungeons and raids. For me, who loves raids and dungeons and min/maxing all games, I like WoW way more now and I actually really disliked vanilla.

The problem with classic, is that just because they reset the game, and just release it with better graphics, everyone will still know, how bad the story will turn out by the time we reach Warlords of Draenor.

People who prefer WoW Classic over WoW Retail never played WoW at launch. I played it in 2004 and it is absolutely a better game now even just mechanically. I just don't see any competitors beyond Guild Wars 2 and ESO that come close. But I also hated Runescape and grew up when it first came out so moral of the story everyone has an opinion.

A very wise decision my friend. It was fun back in the day, but It has become a soulless game.

The way i see it, retail has refined gameplay but feels like the game is rushing you to endgame without much time to enjoy the journey. While classic does have that rpg feel of going on an adventure and getting steadily stronger, it plays, well, like an old mmo. There is no middle ground.