The new starting zone embodies everything I ever loved about World of Warcraft

I recently convinced my wife to give WoW a try. We went through the new starting zone and I was utterly stunned how good it was. Honestly, it was probably the best Warcraft experience I had for several years.What won me over was how "small scope" everything seemed. That might sound negative, but hear me out. For the last 10 years all we have been doing is battling all-powerful space entities, killing Lovecraft planet-sized monsters and pursuing ownership of equipment with the shiniest aura.I jiggled when I picked up a polearm that looked like a bamboo stick. Hammer that looks like an ordinary hammer? Count me in! Horde (or alliance) themed set of armor that you get just for going through the zone? Yes please. I felt super rewarded and before you tell me these weapons (or armor) were in the game long before: yes, but not in the appropriate quality or locked behind an annoying long-term grind.Everything about the zone felt perfect, trying to stop ogres from subduing a dragon was refreshing from "over-the-top saving the world" kind of content. Completing my task and flying back to Stormwind on griffons made me feel like an actual part of the Allience. To me, the horde-allience plot is essential part of World of Warcraft and major distinction the game had from many others. It is also something that I feel is completely lost in today's endgame.It made me incredibly sad to hear that developers considered Cataclysm-kind of rework a major mistake. Except BFA, going through the reworked zones is my favorite kind of activity. I also feel like the zones could use a rework to today's graphical standards. The mechanics are still relevant.I returned to WoW with BFA precisely for this reason. It was "back to the roots" type of content for me. Alliance vs Horde. Loved the dungeons, especially the war-themed ones like Tol Dagor. Shadowlands killed it again for me. I feel no connection to the game.I urge devs to consider returning to the roots. Not mechanics-wise, not graphics-wise. But theme-wise. I like the casuality today's warcraft represents, I like dungeon finder, I like wardrobe. But I don't want to play Marvel's Avengers, I want to play World of Warcraft. Horde and the Alliance.