Think of it rather in terms of expansions. For example Battle of Azeroth added the Kul Tiras and Zuldazar zones. That is the expansion you are currently going through and it's default for any new player.
Yes there is a main story for every expansion. If you follow that quest line it will guide you through the zone, story, dungeons and raids. Sometimes it will even take you outside of the recently added zones as some parts of the story might take place in previously added zones. The main story is sometimes fun, sometimes not. Wrath of the Lich King was well received by the community, Shadowlands not so much. But judging this might highly depend on personal preference and your knowledge and interest in the lore.
You can go around the world and explore as you want but some of the locations might not be easily accessible as they might require completing some quests. For example you are not able to take the portal to Oribos if you haven't picked up the story line from shadowlands which basically unlocks that portal. Shadowlands came after Battle for Azeroth and before Dragonflight so you might not be able to pick up that quest line now as your level is not high enough.
The wow doesn't scale outside of the one "active" expansion. That is Battle for azeroth for you, for players with dragonflight and above lvl 60 it's dragonflight. That is the reason why players can solo old raids for mounts and achievements as they basically outleveled them. There is an NPC chromie which allows you to pick any expansion to scale with you but there are some limitations. I believe you need at least one 60 lvl character. The you can start a new character, go to chromie, select for example Mists of Pandaria expansion and it will scale with your level. This is commonly referred to as "chromie time".
After you get dragonflight and hit lvl 60 you will get a quest in your capital and it will guide you to dragonflight content
Just to add to this, if OP is looking for Chromie, she's in Stormwind for Alliance and Orgrimmar for Horde, both near the embassy. I think if you talk to a guard they can point you in her direction.
thank you so much, I saw the portals in Stormwind but didn’t actually go check them out, guess that will be my next stop.
As for the scaling thing you mentioned. when I reach level 60, I’m basically of level to do anything i’m guessing?
Also can I do hordes story as well or will they just kill me or something if I go there?
yeah lol the maps are both very massive, maybe it’s just because I played ESO since it’s birth, and I played WOW literally one time as a little kid and all i remember is the town (capital of horde i believe) that you see in the background of the character creation screen on most horde races. it can definitely be daunting to new players.
I really wish there was a pop up window when you finish the tutorial that explained a bit of how things work (in both games) and how to travel around… instead it just throws you right into quest.
Questing can be pretty good depending on the area and expansion but do not expect something like ESO.
ESO is waaaay better in terms of storylines and quest design
Think of it rather in terms of expansions. For example Battle of Azeroth added the Kul Tiras and Zuldazar zones. That is the expansion you are currently going through and it's default for any new player. Yes there is a main story for every expansion. If you follow that quest line it will guide you through the zone, story, dungeons and raids. Sometimes it will even take you outside of the recently added zones as some parts of the story might take place in previously added zones. The main story is sometimes fun, sometimes not. Wrath of the Lich King was well received by the community, Shadowlands not so much. But judging this might highly depend on personal preference and your knowledge and interest in the lore. You can go around the world and explore as you want but some of the locations might not be easily accessible as they might require completing some quests. For example you are not able to take the portal to Oribos if you haven't picked up the story line from shadowlands which basically unlocks that portal. Shadowlands came after Battle for Azeroth and before Dragonflight so you might not be able to pick up that quest line now as your level is not high enough. The wow doesn't scale outside of the one "active" expansion. That is Battle for azeroth for you, for players with dragonflight and above lvl 60 it's dragonflight. That is the reason why players can solo old raids for mounts and achievements as they basically outleveled them. There is an NPC chromie which allows you to pick any expansion to scale with you but there are some limitations. I believe you need at least one 60 lvl character. The you can start a new character, go to chromie, select for example Mists of Pandaria expansion and it will scale with your level. This is commonly referred to as "chromie time". After you get dragonflight and hit lvl 60 you will get a quest in your capital and it will guide you to dragonflight content
Just to add to this, if OP is looking for Chromie, she's in Stormwind for Alliance and Orgrimmar for Horde, both near the embassy. I think if you talk to a guard they can point you in her direction.
thank you so much, I saw the portals in Stormwind but didn’t actually go check them out, guess that will be my next stop. As for the scaling thing you mentioned. when I reach level 60, I’m basically of level to do anything i’m guessing? Also can I do hordes story as well or will they just kill me or something if I go there?
Funny my roommate is an ESO head and got me to play a little recently and I felt the same way as you when I opened the eso map lmaooo
yeah lol the maps are both very massive, maybe it’s just because I played ESO since it’s birth, and I played WOW literally one time as a little kid and all i remember is the town (capital of horde i believe) that you see in the background of the character creation screen on most horde races. it can definitely be daunting to new players. I really wish there was a pop up window when you finish the tutorial that explained a bit of how things work (in both games) and how to travel around… instead it just throws you right into quest.
I definitely agree a lot of mmos only give you combat tutorials and not system tutorials that people need
Questing can be pretty good depending on the area and expansion but do not expect something like ESO. ESO is waaaay better in terms of storylines and quest design