never played Wow before. i am mostly worried that older players will be most overpowered and there is no way to catch up. So is it worth starting now.

I would suggest classic wow.

You can catch up super easy now , if you like this type of game it is worth it an since you are new there is a ton of content you can do. If you wana try classic its super grindy and will take alot longer to catch up but it has alot of stale game play once you reach the end and have to wait for the next content patch to drop.

there would be a 1-2 year knowledge gap before you catch up experienced players. But if you enjoy this type of game, then you can still have fun while going through that learning process.

In fact, that "exploration" phase of the game when everything feels new is arguably the most enjoyable part. That's the phase that we are nostalgic about.

If you play classic for the next year or so, then by the time blizz releases TBC, you'd probably be able to be up with the crowd in terms of knowledge.

Play warcraft 3 and the expansion. It'll give you the basic idea off what's going on. Then just read wiki lore on the rest

Classic is fun to get into, but like others have said its grindy and requires a tremendous amount of time. But, the sense of community and guilds on Classic are really great. On the flips side, Retail is much easier to get into, and has a ton of content to help you level and catch up quickly.

Get rdy to loose your girl friend and waste the next 5 years of your life bahah

IMO wait for shadowlands or the prepatch before shadowlands

You'll catch up faster in retail

start retail. and learn the game now. then when shadowlands come. you are ready for it