[jwells89]

Timeframe makes a big difference. 2010-2012 was the tail end of WotLK through Cataclysm, and by then leveling content had been trivialized (especially after Cata’s release in late 2010).

Not that it was ever particularly difficult relative to other games, but in the original game and TBC, levelers often found themselves in dicey situations that kept things from getting too dull. In WotLK and Cata, baseline player power saw a steep increase and the world was largely defanged, making it so levelers rarely faced significant danger.