The massive world of Azeroth is at players' fingertips as they journey through World of Warcraft. Currently, there are around eight major continents that players can level through, and there are three other worlds filled with even more content. This adds up to a vast game world for players to play in, and every expansion adds to this number. However, World of Warcraft gives players little reason to venture back out into this world after an initial visit, and that needs to be changed.
Every World of Warcraft expansion adds a new continent, region, or world for players to explore, and then it keeps them in those zones for the next couple of years. The story barely branches out to older zones, and only transmog collectors or those that are leveling new classes have any reason to explore the old world. This has made World of Warcraft feel like the Islands of Warcraft instead. The world feels small, the threats even smaller, and it has taken away from the game's grand scale. As Blizzard attempts to improve the game with new content, it should also look at reviving the old world.
World of Warcraft Has a Large Untapped World
World of Warcraft started with two different continents filled with zones that players could explore. Horde players would primarily level in regions across Kalimdor while Alliance players would spend a lot of their time in the vast zones of the Eastern Kingdoms. Each continent felt expansive, alive, and immersive. They were filled with stories waiting to be told and secrets waiting to be uncovered, and the game has only gotten bigger since.
The Burning Crusade introduced the planet of Outland, and brought with it even more zones to explore. Wrath of the Lich King introduced a third continent to Azeroth with Northrend, Cataclysm revamped much of the old world, while Mists of Pandaria added a fourth continent with Pandaria. Warlords of Draenor introduced its titular planet, Legion brought with it the wild continent of the Broken Isles, and Battle for Azeroth introduced the dual continents of Zandalar and Kul'Tiras. Shadowlands recently added a fourth world to World of Warcraft with the Shadowlands, and Dragonflight has introduced the eighth continent to Azeroth with the Dragon Isles.
Each of these additions has made World of Warcraft look larger, but they also make it feel smaller. Instead of having players constantly venture between the eight continents and four worlds, players spend much of their time only exploring the newest area. Battle for Azeroth changed the way new player leveling works so that new players only get to really adventure through Zandalar and Kul'Tiras before getting shipped off to the Dragon Isles. Only veteran players venture out into the larger world, and that is only if they are leveling new characters or collecting old transmog. The story seldom takes players outside the confines of the newest continents, and the world is mostly left untouched.
World of Warcraft should feel like a vast world, but the current WoW narrative structure that Blizzard uses prevents that. The story and big bad only seem to care about the current expansion's zones. There are only a couple quests that tend to bring players to old zones, and those mostly just bring players to some of the most popular areas. All the love and care that went into crafting this giant world mostly goes unnoticed, and the NPCs that reside within have begun gathering dust.
This lack of exploration into older zones needs to be changed, and Dragonflight is Blizzard's chance to change that. The narrative should send players across Azeroth to deal with problems and discover new stories. There is so much happening out in the world that players do not know about, but they should be able to see it. The Dragon Isles cannot be the only place on Azeroth that is struggling, and the old world deserves to feel alive again.
World of Warcraft is available now on PC.