re: Ive never played WOW, should i try it?

I played originally from day 1 through end of WOTLK and agree about it taking over lol. I came back to it this year when classic launched with some friends that had never played. I had heard how horrible retail is now etc. I finally tried retail in March and have to say I freaking love it. Classic didnt bring back any fond memories the way I hoped lol. It was still fun but sick of the grind. Retail is actually just as much fun and you can get in and do something worthwhile and actually log off in an hour. Classic took an hour just to get a group together and start a dungeon. Retail dungeon bosses have more mechanics than classic raids lol.

You can play for free till level 20. It wont really do anything but give you a minimum idea of what the game is like. I am having a blast in retail though and only play about an hour or hour and half a night. some nights on weekends it could be 2-3 hours and some nights dont even log on.
Try it out

I have played retail since vanilla Beta back at the beginning. it is only as time consuming as you put into it.

as with everything it is about moderation and if the person is willing to do that. if they are not, I wager the game isn't the issue.

that said - i got into beta for shadowlands, and the beginning quest line for new characters is pretty good about teaching how to play a class.

New expansion will be out in a few months.

I'm currently 11/12 M. Working on nzoth now.