New player

[avengedkoala]

Hi there everyone!

Goint to try to keep it short. I played on Icecrown for a bit some years ago but got tired as I constantly got ganked by level 80s and didn't really know how to level up properly (keep up with gear etc). I recently considered playing Lordaeron but I am wondering if it's worth it due to the big population difference between Icecrown and Lordaeron. Pointing out that I never played level 80 content, and even though I have quite a nice experience with MMOs, I am new to WOW. So, just asking:

-Is Lordaeron worth starting right now?
-Is it possible to learn and play pvp regulary? (Also regarding low lvl)
-Is economy flowing? (I'm not a marketplace player but I do like to min-max and earn gold without having to beg)
-Which class/talent tree to play? (I really like playing the least played/most required class, or at least not the overused ones)

In the end, I just care about having some fun while meeting nice people, as i am not a hardcore player wanting to hit 80 asap I would like to enjoy some things while I level up like pvp, crafting, gathering resources etc... And people from Icecrown felt somehow "obtuse" to me. Really thanks for your attention and answers. Also, I would love if some fresh nice Spanish guild could take me but I'm fine with English speakers aswel! (Although my pronunciation won't be the best). Thanks again!

[grimdor01]

If you can handle the grind then yeah lordaeron is worth doing. You wont run into the problems with outlvling your gear/ not affording your skills like in icecrown as the level rates are as intended. The market is reasonably strong and you can make a lot of money selling useful items on the AH until you hit 70 (after that the price drops because of current content while the earlier levels you're making money off other ppl being lazy / buying into their 2nd profession)

Low lvl pvp is non existent which unfortunately means you're gonna get attacked by pretty much every enemy player you see since they cant do battlegrounds. Once you get to 70+ the brackets are reasonable for queues.

Tanks in general are the fastest queues for dungeons. Healers are all frequently called for in global as well.

In dps pallys and warriors are overused and you might say the same for hunters as well.

I decided to omit any specific discussion of class and spec since it's subjective and any class is viable and it is far more important to enjoy your class and actually reach 80 than to be "the best class"

[avengedkoala]

Really thanks for your answer, will wait to see more feedback but this was very instructive. You really convinced me to start playing Lordaeron. And yeah I really enjoyed open world pvp, like on leveling areas, although the reward is not so big it's so fun to me to enjoy nice 1v1 scenarios. The real trouble I had with Icecrown was that most people were leveling alongside with another max geared char (Called powerleveling in some MMOs, apologies if it's the wrong terme) and that just ruined it for me, plus people being REALLY toxic in groups, guilds... I will give it a shot and see if I can enjoy it. About the Battlegrounds, wasn't supposed to be a merge between servers? Doesn't this mean Battleground will be more active for me in lower levels? Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks again!

[t4d3y]

This is coming from someone, who has played on this realm for about 1 year right now and in a top raiding guild, so these are my views.

Yes, Lordaeron is still worth playing, don't let all those doomsaying 'hurrdurr lord is deaded, no ppl...' get to you. The server has a stable 3.5k-4k players in the evenings and there is still lots of activity going on, although more of a PvE nature. If you want hardcore PvP, this is unfortunately not the best realm. Of course, random Battlegrounds are a thing, but if you want to play lots of Arena, you might be stuck in queue for long times on end. PvP in lower level brackets are unfortunately not a thing, maybe a bit more activity in the 70-79 level bracket, but lower leves no.

The economy is IMO really good and stable, the Auction House basically has everything it can have, with decent prices. You can easily powerlevel all professions if you have the gold, though some items can run out and you will need to wait until someone puts them on the AH as well. But overall, as a whole, the system is good and working.

I suggest play what you enjoy most. Of course, tanks and healers are needed a bit more, but overall you will get spots in raids/dungeons sooner or later and also, because Lordaeron is 1x realm, you will need to put more time into leveling one character, so it's better to just play the one you enjoy playing most, because you will be stuck with it for a while and rerolling will be a bit harder. And honestly, all classes/specs are played, though, keep in mind, that some specs are better than others in some situations.

Overall, the realm is really nice and because the player base is a bit smaller, the community kinda knows one another so you can make a name for yourself and get invited to raids more often. Prime time for playing is in the evening in European time, North American population is a bit low. The majority of players are (it seems to me) from Balkan but there are many from other countries as well. And there are a few Spanish guilds so you can join them. This is a 1x rate realm so expect to level to 80 in about 1-2 months if you're going at it casually (of course you can level a lot faster, but someone who didn't play WoW, doesn't know the best leveling routes). On top of that, there really isn't a whole lot of ganking going on, most 80's just chill in Dalaran. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist - still, while leveling you shouldn't have major problems with this issue here.

Last bit of info is on raiding: this realm is hardcore PvE, so the majority of players like to raid and the raiding activity is quite good, but I really suggest you join a guild because going with pugs usually won't get you far in terms of progress. Other than that, enjoy your stay!