Shroud explains why WoW feels “completely different” in Shadowlands

Alex Tsiaoussidis
Shroud World of Warcraft Shadowlands

Like most popular streamers, Shroud has been getting stuck into the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands grind, but although he’s enjoyed it so far, he said he feels like the game is “less immersive” than it used to be.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has taken the world by storm ever since it launched on November 23. Players have been hopping back into Azeroth to take the reigns of their characters once again.

Popular streamers like Mike ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek have been getting stuck into the grind too. He’s been very open about how much he loves the game and has streamed hours upon hours of World of Warcraft Classic. He even said he was willing to lose viewers to stream it.

Shroud World of Warcraft Shadowlands
Shroud has thoroughly enjoyed playing World of Warcraft for many years now.

However, Shroud isn’t blinded by his love and adoration for the game. He still has some criticism for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands and MMORPGs in general, and he mentioned them in his latest stream.

“I feel like [MMORPG’s] and WoW, in general, have transcended into something completely different,” he said. “In the past, you [played] because you were immersed. You were leveling up your character. You were getting new items. It felt good to be more powerful and do better things.”

“Now I feel like WoW is like play with friends and kill some shit,” he said. “That feeling of immersion and truly having an impact on the world and your character feeling there has kind of nullified.”

“When I played vanilla WoW in 2005, I was 11 years old, and it felt amazing,” he said. “It felt incredible. It felt like I was in my own realm. I was in my own world. Now it doesn’t feel like that. That feeling is gone.

The relevant part of the video starts at 2:00.

It’s a sentiment that others have echoed time and time again. The consensus is that MMORPGs have been streamlined throughout the years.

However, it hasn’t stopped millions of players, including Shroud, from enjoying World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. 

Plus, despite his criticism, he thinks now is the “best time” for new players to start playing the game because the new leveling process is “really cool.”

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About The Author

Alex is a former Dexerto writer based in Australia. He finished a law degree but realized it wasn't the career for him and decided to follow his dream of becoming a writer. Since then, he completed a graduate diploma and a master's degree in writing. Now he writes about his other passion; esports and gaming.