So I started a new character yesterday, and usually things are pretty quiet in those low-level zones. But  today in Westfall I actually had to group up in order to get things done, there simply were too many people doing the same quests!  No matter where i went, i always saw people running around.  It was the same deal yesterday in Elwynn. It left me wondering... was it just coincidence or are people flocking back to WoW just before the release of WoTLK?  Anyone else who is noticing the same thing?

No big surprise, there was a marked increase just before BC too and a massive rise after release, so don't expect it to go quiet any time soon. There will also be those that are running up new chars in order to try out some of the new skills added to the classes.

It is a good thing though because it means that new players are finding plenty of people around to help them forward in the game.

Yeah, the 3 months before an expansion is ' alt tme' in WOW.   First Blizzard is adding a lot of features that make leveling easier.  The second reason is there arent' many reasons to grind anymore.  Yeah, that piece of badge gear will make me level faster when Wrath launches, but it will be replaced in a few weeks.

So instead, I'm leveling a Paladin, the only class i don't have about 60 right now.

FWIW though, I did see a bunch of truely new players in the BE starting areas.  People that didn't know basic gameplay features.   Also Amazon.com always has WOW vanilla as one of their best sellers, so there has to be new people coming all the time.

I leveled a Mage about a month ago and every zone had multiple people questing. It even interrupted my questing on several occasions.

Now Im helping a friend level a Shaman and same thing. When we were in Tanaris there was a ton of people. There was 10 other people doing the Thistleshrub quest, so we had had to go and do other quests for like an hour before the area cleared out.

We both did stop raiding to level alts in anticipation for WotLK.

Originally posted by Xiaoki

I leveled a Mage about a month ago and every zone had multiple people questing. It even interrupted my questing on several occasions.

Now Im helping a friend level a Shaman and same thing. When we were in Tanaris there was a ton of people. There was 10 other people doing the Thistleshrub quest, so we had had to go and do other quests for like an hour before the area cleared out.

We both did stop raiding to level alts in anticipation for WotLK.

It's funny, but i shared a similar story a few weeks ago to show how massive WOW is.

I play on a med population server (Fenris) in the Hinterlands, a mid-level zone (40-50) that has 3 other peer zones, I was in a cave that only has one quest objective (the slime cave).. and on the small server, in that small zone, in that small cave were 3 other people.

with wotlk  a month away, look for more to show up and more alts to form.  People are doing rerolls to play new classes and are starting now so they are at 70 when the xpack goes live.

Ive even considered this but just dont have the will to start out again at lvl 1 and do it all over again.  I have a rogue that is 66 and 3 other 70's , ill get the rogue to 70 before the xpack but dont think ill be lvling a new toon up unless i decide to make a DK.  And that will at least start a 55.

I am guessing a lot of returning players are on a free month.  I have been getting spamed from Blizzard for a while now to come back and try WoW for free for a month

You can see it in the BG's of level 10-19.

Zero waiting times for Hordes on our BGroup.

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Originally posted by Kokushibyou
I am guessing a lot of returning players are on a free month.  I have been getting spamed from Blizzard for a while now to come back and try WoW for free for a month

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This is the first time I've ever heard of such thing as free month.

Do you care to post a copy of the email you received from Blizzard ? You may want to remove sensitive details from your email first.

Pay attention to the gaming experience of this "new" players. It is just alts.

Playing your main became wothless with expansion on the horizon, the fresh lvl 20 alt you meet now can easily surpass that epic loaded 70 main flexing his gear and titles in Shatt when you both have 80. Is losing  many  server "legends" (trust me i know) really good for the RPG part of MMO?

Btw Hinterlands is great (as in easy guided experience concentrated in a single hub) questing zone for Horde and people in the know... know. It was desert upon release and still is poor place for alliance. Oh and the local reputation never got fully implemented - and the corresponding alliance rep got even removed.

Originally posted by Tyrrhon

Pay attention to the gaming experience of this "new" players. It is just alts.

Playing your main became wothless with expansion on the horizon, the fresh lvl 20 alt you meet now can easily surpass that epic loaded 70 main flexing his gear and titles in Shatt when you both have 80. Is losing  many  server "legends" (trust me i know) really good for the RPG part of MMO?

Btw Hinterlands is great (as in easy guided experience concentrated in a single hub) questing zone for Horde and people in the know... know. It was desert upon release and still is poor place for alliance. Oh and the local reputation never got fully implemented - and the corresponding alliance rep got even removed.

 

Nice try, but it is pretty easy to tell a new player by the questions they ask " When can I get a mount" or "Why is there a yellow guy below my map" (repairs).  Those were two questions I got asked while rolling an alt.

Yes, Hinterlands is a nice zone, which is why I was there.  But there is also Feralas (40-50), Tanaris(40-50), STV (40-45), Ungoro (45-50), Badlands(40-45)  that all have quests in the 40-50 range.

Who are the server 'legends'  LOL..  Someone from your guild? LOL..  There are no server legends.  You name a server legend, and I'll bet 99% of the players on the server have no idea who you are talking about.  The game is just not built that way.  The only real WOW legends are people from Youtube (Hobbes) etc.

this is because of lich king coming out soon... it always happens like that. ;)

I wonder what percentage of people that are 'new' are MMO vets who were let down by this years supposed 'WoW-killers' and have begrudgingly come back?