Why You Should PLay WoW
At it's height the game had as many subs as it did not just because of the content, but because people like you got sucked up in the moment generated by friends (and often family) You weren't just subbing for the gameplay, you came for the experience, and when that soured or went away, for whatever reason, the moment lost its lustre.
This may be the grossest of generalisations but there is a basic truth woven within the words: you enjoy something when you're happy. Looking for reasons that you're not happy won't just happen inside the game, that's to do with the Real World too. In the end, if you really want to do anything, you find a way: not because of addiction or compulsion, but because YOU KNOW WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE.
New player, let me tell you something about myself. I've gamed for a very long time, in lots of different ways. I remember personal favourites, and they still make me smile, even (in some cases) after 30 years.
If you want to play ANYTHING as a dispassionate outsider that is absolutely fine, but I guarantee you that unless you're prepared to give that little bit extra to what you do, you'll never really enjoy anything as much as you could.
Warcraft's Community (deliberate capitalisation there) allows you to do that, if you'll let it. It is very easy to find great places to be and wonderful people to interact with, but you have to take a chance on the unknown, because for you, even after eight years of this game, that's what this is.
You don't know what's going on. Fortunately for you however, I can help you, because you see that person over there? Yes, the individual who unsubbed and is wondering whether to come back? I think what you two need to do is get together and talk.
The community spirit in Warcraft is not simply its greatest strength, but it's biggest flaw, mostly because the Internet is a harsh place when the default state is hostility.
What needs to happen to facilitate change is for people to move out of their comfort zones and make changes. I'm not going to spend hours trying to convince returnees of the merits of individual aspects of gameplay: there is no point. How you play is SUCH a subjective experience I'd be on a hiding to nothing.
To the returning player I say this: leave the past behind. Learn not simply from the mistakes the game has made, but that you have too, and clear the slate. Start with a fresh perspective, and use everything you know to help a new player start their journey.
Don't taint them with your preconceptions and criticisms, go back to a L1 character and remember what made you fall in love with the game to begin with, and then pass that on to the new player because this is the BEST WAY EVER to learn a game, from a person who's done it before.
Let the past and the present come together for a better future.
To my new player, I'd urge you to go find an old player to mentor you. Spend time in the Community, join Twitter and seek out Facebook friends.