Is WoW worth it in 2026?

It’s been a long time since I’ve played World of Warcraft regularly. I’ve dabbled off and on over the years, but I don’t think I’ve played through an entire expansion since Mists of Pandaria. Last week I got the itch to drop in again, and picked up Midnight (epic edition which includes the mount above which drops in from the sky with a satisfying ‘whoosh’ every time you summon it (I’m easy to amuse).

I remember the first time I played WoW. It was sometime around the launch of Burning Crusade, and it was mid-October. I remember questing outside of Goldshire when all of a sudden a booming voice echoed through the sky. A headless horseman was setting fire to the village and players all around scrambled to put out the fire. At the time, this was the coolest thing I had experienced in a video game. It wasn’t just some routine quest, but an event that everyone around dropped what they were doing to take part in. I was hooked. Every time I smell a pumpkin candle I’m immediately taken back to the moment I first experienced the wonders of WoW.

Over the past week I’ve dropped back in, and started with Dragonflight. A lot has changed since the last time I played, but it’s starting to grow on me. There are a lot of new quality of life features, such as the one click ability rotation which will certainly make things easier for newer players, or anyone who just wants to casually burn through mobs without giving it too much thought. I tried out this ability, but found I was just going back to my old rotation (burned into muscle memory), so I removed it from my action bar.

You’ll find yourself collecting, collecting, collecting

While many things have changed, a lot has remained the same, including the abundance of collection quests. Maybe this changes after Dragonflight, but so far a lot of the quests have been ‘kill X and collect X’, which to be fair is pretty standard for MMO’s it seems.

Accidentally side questing

Part of the problem was that I kept doing side quests for a few days, without realizing I wasn’t progressing the main questline. Another new quality of life addition I just discovered is that you can see exactly what you need to do to continue the story right at the top of your quest log. It took me way too long to figure this out, but now that I have I’m back on track. I just hit level 60, and will continue through Dragonflight for awhile before jumping into The War Within.

There are a lot of new features I haven’t engaged with yet, such as housing. While I technically have the quest to start exploring the housing mechanic now, I think I’m going to hold off and work through the prior two expansions before I give it a try. Too many new things at once can be a little overwhelming.

Should you check out WoW in 2026?

I think there’s still plenty to enjoy, despite how long WoW has been chugging along. I’m constantly discovering new mechanics and things to enjoy about the game, so for me I’m glad I returned in 2026. I’ll continue to log my journey as I catch up to Midnight, however I’m not going to power through in a hurry. I’m enjoying taking in the scenery.

When I first jumped into Dragonflight, I expected the world to be barren as everyone would be exploring the new content. To my surprise, I’ve encountered a surprising number of players questing right alongside me, which has made the experience even more enjoyable! If the fear of running through old content along is holding you back, I think it’s safe to say you’ll find the world well populated.

There are plenty more quality of life features to get returning players up to speed, including ‘catch-up experience’ which purports to streamline the story of prior content to get people into Midnight. I haven’t engaged with this feature as I prefer to take it slow, but it’s another option if you’re open to it.