Shroud explains why WoW feels “completely different” in Shadowlands
Activision-Blizzard / ShroudLike 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.
Activision-Blizzard / ShroudHowever, 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.”