16 Months in Outland - My TBC Story & Review

Go to strms.net/factor75_willemmo and use code POGWILLE130 for my special Factor75 discount and to support my channel! #ad
Today we look back at World of Warcraft's re-release of the first expansion, The Burning Crusade Classic. It was a game that I had some experience with back from 2008, but with so much left to explore.
With us about to enter WotLK Classic, I thought what better time to look back over how everything went down.
Join me today and check out: 16 Months in Outland - My TBC Classic Story and Review
• 16 Months in Outland -...
► Patreon: / willemmo
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
05:00 - Launch
08:58 - The World of Outland
12:11 - Endgame Begins
15:27 - Raiding
22:40 - Class Design
27:44 - Content Pacing
30:13 - PvP, Dailies and Replayability
36:39 - Closing thoughts
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Find Me On:
★ Join the Cult: / willemmo
★ Twitter / mmowille
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Songs Used:
► WoW OST
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#wotlk #wow #mmorpg

[@WillEmmo]

Sort your real life consumables out for Wrath Classic now - Use my link or go to strms.net/WilleFactorSeptemberYT and use code POGWILLE130 to get $130 off across 6 boxes!

[@goldenmemes51]

Difference between tbc and wotlk prep for me is a healthy lifestyle and working out ! I use a meal delivery healthy service similar to this one instead of the typical gamer junk food

[@Dracosrslylol]

we need this for europe, too! (there is probably one, i guess(?), which i am just not aware of)

[@andrewmoluf4299]

That segue was epic, they owe you a tip

[@bobbykotick1163]

The 'one button class' design is hyperbole, to play mage properly i used 72 keybinds

[@yeetyeet2027]

Guess your last statement didnt age too well

[@Manifibell]

It is funny to sit here and watch this now. I wouldn't mind a season of TBC

[@Lintary]

I will never forget my first Karazan raid being a hunter in greens and blues. I got a whisper from a person I boosted through the DM a lot of times months ago pre TBC, "Hey want to raid Karazan? Our hunter didn't show up and we need one." I explained I would love to, but I never done it and I was in greens and blues and his answer "Doesn't matter we need a hunter to kite." and I got an invite and off I went, preforming the ancient mostly lost art of hunter kiting.

[@danmoore1427]

A hunter to kite what?

[@danmoore1427]

Also it's not a lost art your just inflating your self importance

[@randomrandom7208]

@@danmoore1427Nothing realy, the same thing happened to me, I was a mage and people thought they would need sheep, that never happened, but I got a place in the main roster because I was a good mage and a decent person.

[@marcwirth5769]

Just stopped half way through the video to let you know how enjoyable it is! Storytelling is on point as usual, and the images already feel nostalgic... keep it up!

[@tylerm6080]

a 40 minute long wille video? what a blessed day

[@Mike-pn8ln]

The willy videos I watch are usually 5-10 minutes max

[@masturone8257]

That's not all Willie has 40 long

[@cole8834]

Every zone in Outland is gorgeous. Blade's Edge*** Mountains, Hellfire*** Peninsula, and the Bone Wastes*** are meant to be a little dreary... ya know? The fact people love Zangarmarsh and Nagrand, the lush zones, so much means that the level designers did a great job designing the desolate regions of Outland. I'm also one of the few people who loves Terokkar Forest as well.

[@yolover111]

It was such a fun ride, got to show 2 friends what wow was about, sadly life happens, only got to play through phase 1 tbc, but it felt so good to be back. specially returning and doing all the stuff in prepatch with them has been awesome again, reason I loved this game so much, but to be able to play with homies this time around, was so much better. Wrath is my last hurrah, wont do cata, but what a cool lil ride to go back on.

[@laius6047]

Do you think they're going to even do cata?

[@SuperSumalu]

I love these retrospectives! Keep up the great work Will!

[@crimsontorque7720]

By far my favourite Wow content creator, always get the urge to play again after watching one of your longer vids, nice to see Pyrewood Village is still going strong!

[@skyclaw36]

i cant believe how quickly time has gone. 1 year ago yesterday Phase 2 TK/SSC came out!!

[@Taldemarr]

Exactly the kind of video I wanted to see from WillE, would love even more discussion topics with your personal imput

[@baneleaf7025]

Ok, that was epic, Bellular quality, sponsor transition right there.

[@taylorwedow708]

Enjoyed the recap WillE, looking forward to the videos to come in Wrath!

[@Ijjigunzhack]

Started watching you when classic released, ever since I've been looking forward to watching your new videos. You're currently the best wow creator by far, calming voice, interesting topics, good editing, what is there not to like. I could watch a video of you explaining how to cook potatoes and I wouldn't be bored.

[@MistahTeeLecksAhFly]

Truest comment

[@simenkristiansen5272]

LENNY

[@Number69]

In before willie gets sponsored by microwaveable potatoes

[@jaywarriuk]

thanks for the review willie! I became a father just before tbc launch and decided it was probably a good time to give wow a break. love to watch ur videos from time to time to see what i've been missing!

[@thesandpirate1]

I’m commenting simply to support long form videos like this! Great work

[@override83]

Damn, I just can't compliment you enough on your details you put in your videos Willie. I love how you did this review in steps right from the beginning. I pretty much agreed with you on everything, with the exception of group/raid wide buffs. As a pally main until TBC, it was a chore to buff everyone. I didn't mind it, but group/raid wide buffs made it much more easier and less time consuming for me. When TBC launched, I switched to my shammy, as enh was always one of my favorite specs, and in TBC, it got plenty of love. Unfortunately, this time around, I didn't get to pvp and raid as much as I would've liked to. In Original Vanilla and TBC, I was a young, single punk who didn't have much responsibilities. This time around on re-releases, I'm working full time and have a family to provide for, as do many of us who try play when we can. Anyways, I agree with pvp, it just didn't seem as fun as it did "back than." You touched on the exact points that made it difficult for me to enjoy it, catching up and trying to maintain as the game progresses. Another great upload, much appreciated on the details and honest feedback. It's nice to see these longer videos come out. I really like listening to them while I'm grinding some pre-patch honor. Only these past few weeks, I feel I've been able to enjoy pvp again, because the honor gain is greatly increased, making it easier for a casual dad player to try get gear before WOTLK officially launches. Cheers, Willie. Thanks for the upload.

[@joseantoniocardozolopez7246]

Thank you WillE for doing these, amazing content. I played an Ele shammy and i was more focused on PvP, it was rough and sad.

[@spanosjono7283]

Willie filling the void that Madseason left.

[@cattysplat]

I miss him so much. Classic TBC not having much of the content/meme community to FF14 and burnout feels empty.

[@BungaBunga202]

Brilliant vid - loved hearing your experiences!

[@jeremydavis43]

I absolutely love your channel man. You do such a great job. I appreciate you.

[@BigRurn]

thanks, willie, for everything!

[@Jaydh9008]

great video. thanks for the analysis of your own experience

[@Treborbobuk]

Excellent vid WillE, really enjoyed it, thanks!

[@Wucc2caz]

Great video, happy to hear about your journey. Keep it up!

[@vog5197]

Well done! I kinda want a WotLK preview of this length before launch and then a lookback at the end.

[@samg8939]

The years creep slowly by, Lorena. The snow is on the grass, again.

[@connorpint2920]

Amazing video WillE! Really enjoyed it

[@bw6055]

Solid video, realistic summary of the game’s systems and how it’s played out in practice.

[@fellowgamer1317]

Great video bud, I love the long form stuff you do.

[@llwonder]

really hoping for Classic+ like Asmon has talked about: Vanilla WoW world + classic wrath talents and class design. Use this as a base to make new content.

[@ugoboom]

pservers are already doing this and way better than 2022 blizzard could ever hope to

[@LennyDykstra1]

Update the graphics also

[@ez6791]

@@LennyDykstra1 just not wod models, half of the new ones look bad others look ok

[@Messametti]

Classic+ after WOTLK would be great, i hope they dont go the lazy route and release Cataclysm Classic.

[@wythore]

lol as if it was asmon that came up with taht idea . Turtle WoW is a private server that is essentially a Vanilla+, it has custom content that continues the spirit of vanilla, addin new races, new zones, hundreds of new quests and spells/talents that follow the idea of WoW Vanilla

[@Haroldgreenfield]

Thanks for the great deep dive as always.

[@maesterjono]

Awesome video mate. I stopped at the beginning of Phase 5 as I became a Dad! Was awesome to live the rest of the journey through your recap.

[@neilvankeulen4350]

Thanks Will. Always great vids.

[@Psilocybin77]

What a journey, great video WillE!

[@needlessyew]

Love the videos. Had to take a break from wow when TBC came out but watching your videos majes me feel like i still got to somewhat experience it. Thank you

[@Baddfroggin]

Great video! Loved your take on everything.

[@lurad]

Thanks man! Awesome video!

[@loftus4453]

I was in a dad guild called Salt on a PVE server. We were a chill group of skilled players with low competitive motivation and it was a great ride honestly. I agree with most of your analysis here. If you were lucky enough to be in a stable guild and were able to progress through all the content as it came out, it was a really fun time. Thanks to all my Salt friends! Loved the video Wille!

[@mihcaoja1]

Your voice is soothing and your videos are so thourough and nice ti watch. Thank you!

[@TheScabbyRat]

What a video mate, great job!

[@DeviousWizard]

The only big criticism I have of classic and TBC is lack of Dual Spec. The inability to easily be specced for pvp or pve is 99% of the reason I didn't play much in both.

[@Mike-pn8ln]

So does that mean you've started up again for wrath?

[@mrc560]

I agree with this. I don't PvP much but I mained a healer and everytime I had to do quests or anything not grouped it was just a pain in the ass

[@rastahima1223]

just pay the money each week.

[@andrewmoluf4299]

or as sham swapping resto to ele. Swapping everything to spellpower helped as much in this regard as dual spec

[@swing9this]

Totally agree. Committing to maining a healer, but not having tons of time to farm gold to switch specs, was just too daunting. Happily coming back to Wrath where I can dual spec.

[@Rivkah08]

what a glorious wake up! 40min WillE vid!

[@mariogutierrez5873]

Great job as always Wille!!

[@Ichiban_gg]

It's always a great day when a WillE video drops. Keep up the amazing work. The best WoW content on KZbin by a mile

[@akallius5427]

great fun video, you did a great job!

[@maddyfromwas]

My guess is that wrath had the most players active ever, so that's why we're seeing so many people coming back. Also, a lot of people didnt stay for TBC due to the boost/pay to save character drama, and even MORE left after the scandal during the first months (investigation of sexual harassment and HR disaster). I saw so many just go away because of that

[@KsanUwU]

i absolutely adore how witty your comments are, especially the ones you made when explaining tbc aggro. your videos have so much character, useful info and insight. keep it up man

[@daelik5401]

can't wait for your wrath recap. thanks so much for your vids. truly the highlight of many days..

[@NavyNickRW]

Always enjoy watching your videos and hearing what you have to say.

[@nuance7183]

Am a big fan of this more long-form content. Keep up the content mate :)

[@bigdaddykyle451]

Beautiful video. Just wanted to leave a comment to show my support and appreciation. Long time sub. Thanks WillE!

[@chriswildsmith5330]

Loved it, good job!

[@aaronwilson301]

Another amazing bit of content from you mate!

[@chrisspike3282]

I really share the sentiment of there being little reason to go out in the world outside of raiding. It really bothered me because I even found myself raidlogging for months.

[@xalanii]

I raid logged more in classic than tbc, world buffs really made it so playing in between raids was just not worth it - at all. At least tbc had flying, and dailies, and decent farms, and reps to grind. Classic had..............DM jump runs?

[@LunarLocusts]

I don't understand this mindset. There was plenty to do outside of raids, you just didn't want to do any of it. Pvp, heroics, alt leveling, farming, new daily hubs with mounts like Netherwing, etc. There was stuff to do. If that isn't your bag, fine, then why get bothered by it?

[@NoksUndKutten]

​@@LunarLocusts I had the same issues as the original comment PvP was something I never had an interest, if I did PvP then in the open world which didn't happen. Heroics are done after a while too with nothing to gain, yeah you could get more badges for god knows why Alt leveling I spent the most time on in TBC but I don't want that to be the case, I have a MAIN character for a reason that I want to play Farming is the most I could do with my main but Outlands is so ugly and small so that wasn't nearly as fun as in Classic or Wrath Daily hubs are good but not a feature where I think "Damn can't wait to log in and play!" but rather "I HAVE to do my dailies today!" I had such a blast with classic since Nostalrius and I also had a blast with Wrath in the past (retail + private servers) but I can't stand TBC, it is the ugly middle child in this scenario.

[@caneyebus]

Some of the best times I had in TBC was during the down time between raids. Drunk farming primals to craft gear for new guildies or raid mats was fun as hell.

[@chokobo0047]

He touched on threat and agro management and as someone who main tanked all of Vanilla WoW, TBC, and beyond I can tell you that 90% of the prob with Vanilla was that as a Warrior's gear improved, his threat generation got worse. Most of the rage generated was from damage taken. So as you mitigate more, block 100%, etc etc. Your ability to hold a bosses attention diminished. I did not play the Classic relaunch but I assume it was about the same. It was about 3 years before TBC come out from WoW's launch and it got really bad in the last year. It was complaint #1 on warrior forums for a long time. It got to the point that you started to drop your rotation and let a boss crit you just so you could keep agro up. Which was dangerous because new content could two round you easy. TBC was a great improvement, other classes could tank, and they reworked the entire threat system. Anybody from the outside looking in could tell. But it all stemmed from one issue and it was not so obvious if you weren't the guild's punching bag. Threat output solely based on damage incoming. That system works fine until the day it doesn't.

[@Baja383]

Omg your closing is so bliss.

[@aleksa6242]

Thanks man. I listened carefuly

[@fufu1405]

TBC feels like the coziest expanion to me. It's unfortunate private servers manage to deliver a better WoW experience. TBC feels better on most private servers.

[@lionz0r]

How is it possible that you only have 142k subs. Your content is amazing.

[@greydood]

i cant wait to fly in circles around dalaran while i watch more of your youtube videos in the future!

[@jccraftmage2313]

Your long form content is fabulous. I really like it you present very very well. I haven't played world of Warcraft for a very long time and I'm sad that I missed out on the classic release the first time around. I came in during burning crusade and thought it was amazing and wrath was even better but I dropped off after that. I think maybe starting at level one and finally working towards beating Maligos would be very fun.

[@dariomoran7452]

I ain't even mad, impressed at how he slipped the sponsor in lol

[@joewhiting]

Great video Will!

[@trevorbartley4420]

Love your content!

[@Arm1q]

Amazing video again, thumbs up for longer content.

[@BangThatGong]

Biggest gripe about TBC was servers getting 100% abandoned by one faction or completely killed and being in a semi serious guild. The raid comp having to have 5 + shamans and a boomie a ret, feral etc was annoying.

[@maldlions5313]

Still the BIS expansion that WoW had.

[@lorecraft9883]

thanks for uploading!

[@DarkLepus42]

always love your vids!

[@brentdillimore7590]

Great video, thanks

[@Adrian-bv8wr]

Tbc was absolutely amazing. And I'll miss it a lot.

[@Kataclasm]

You should make a companion video to this one, about how you expect WotLK classic to go, going forward, touching on all the same points this did in retrospective for TBC.

[@WorldofAoEcraft]

Enjoyed the vid mate!

[@alessandroaldobrandi1704]

As someone who never played either vanilla or tbc when they first released because i was too young, i gave both iterations of the game a shot and i just couldn't make myself like them because of just how much time is required from you to "complete" your character. I'm so looking forward to wotlk classic and leaving tbc behind once and for all, the qol changes i've seen so far in the prepatch have been amazing. Definitely playing way more this time around.

[@cattysplat]

Once they are done though, they are done. You don't need to grind world quests, dailies and mythic+ chest gambling for infinity like retail. They are infinitely more achievable over time compare to the expected daily chores.

[@ichbinein123]

I could listen to your videos for hours. I'm quite pleased that Classic TBC was over 6 months earlier than the original release. It lacked the scope of the oringal classic WoW, and got quite boring quite fast. I took a break after phase 2, and came back when Sunwell opened, and I don't feel like i missed much. I also switched my main to a Ret Paladin, as my Guild needed one.

[@andromidius]

I will say on a personal level I'd have liked one additional month in Sunwell before the nerfs hit. My guild was so close to beating M'uru, and then the nerfs hit and we sleepwalked through it. Bit of an anti-climax end to an overwise great experience. And I hope Wrath gets a full 18 months. Considering there's more content, I really think it deserves it. Just over 4 months per tier seems decent, no (ideally, 4 of Naxx, 5 of Ulduar, 4 of ToC and 5 of ICC)?

[@Hybridsixtynine]

@@andromidius well

[@1thut]

Amazing video, sadly the last line didnt aged well as survey for Cata is out :D

[@overfarmedfilms]

love your longer vids. looking forward to wrath content.

[@markusyoyoxdqt]

Solid video down memory lane. I share the sentiment of having enjoyed TBC, but I dont think I would play it again. Altho, after having played a geared warrior with double BL and a fully optimized group comp, that was probally some of the most fun raiding in a while

[@LeweRG]

Definitely going to miss proper windfury and recklessness

[@Xaelyrion]

I have no idea who the warlock at the start of the video is. WillE is a gnome.

[@leskrapps7021]

Love your videos WillE

[@BaseSRKI]

I really loved TBC, I could have done 6 months more. Great review

[@tristanbrooks6594]

Tank main here - Threat was fun. Probably peaks with Fury Prot Warrior in Vanilla and gets a little less fun in TBC. Also big separation between good groups and bad groups as a result of threat being a mechanic. But, threat was fun at the top end.

[@Scarletpimpanel73]

Have to agree. Fun isn't just about pressing more different buttons, it also has to do with pacing fight rhythm, and being observant of other players. One thing I used to love about TBC was in pacing and timing of threat drops and DPS boosting cooldowns. From memory these sorts of things don't really matter in Wrath and beyond. DPS becomes more about a rotation on the keyboard than about pacing through the course of an encounter. Without threat mattering DPS becomes a lot more solipsistic.

[@tristanbrooks6594]

@@Scarletpimpanel73 agreed. In Naxx 40 a good raid was really about rhythm. Having the hunter pull. Timing the Patchwerk packs. Doing the dance, bursting Mograine. Just gold when you were all on point.

[@jpvert5511]

Already miss tbc..loved it

[@courtneymortenson1313]

Damn bro getting treated right! the production on this one is fantastic!!!!

[@Beranin]

0:32 maybe small editing mistake? Tier 1, 2 then back to 1? Great video Will-E, super thought out and really nails the TBC feeling on the head.

[@jimmychu7917]

great video man

[@ThePhysin]

tremendous video!

[@bradr3541]

Although I don’t remember it very well, my time in original BC was quite unique. Had a blast playing the game for about 6 months before I found out about the auction house 😅. Never got into a guild until WOTLK. Leveling and having to travel by foot or slow mount was epic. Long journeys to dungeons with groups you made in trade chat was fun. I remember doing the journey to scarlet monastery from Ironforge quite often. PvP in sun well was crazy just trying to do dailies. Great times even tho I never raided once. I miss the nonwatered down game.

[@vibonacci]

Real classic Andy.

[@LucasAlves-ic7xb]

Wow the sponsor transition was more smooth than FACTORs mashed potatoes

[@bradveach2333]

Thanks snd well done

[@nikroth]

great work on the video !!! GG

[@rafaelmartinez7369]

excellent video, you nailed every good and bad aspect of tbc, i still feel like tbc was a bit rushed and i hope i can play it again in a few years.

[@timramsay7490]

Great video

[@hans8975]

Nice recap, brings back good and bad memories. Makes me ready to move on now :-)

[@oblivion77777]

TBC isnt even over and i am already nostalgic about it 😢

[@tacitus6384]

I was happy that my guild went from being unable to finish SSC/TK pre-nerf, to being able to beat SWP before the pre-nerf.

[@Sat4nix]

33 Wipes on Muru without nerf Dats whats WoW about ! TBC WAS GREAT !!

[@gamingshowerthoughts9723]

I had very fond memories and high expectations of TBC "fixing things", but after playing it and a few weeks of WOTLK pre-patch, I think classic vanilla was by far the best of the 3. Classes were unique and had huge strengths and brutal weaknesses. The world had organic reasons to go out in it, and it was reasonably dangerous due to no flying. Erratic/illogical itemization was actually a good thing. And player's damage and effects happened in discernable ways instead of a laundry list of procs, crit'able dots, and off-GCD macros. It needed 2 changes though: 1. World buffs only on DMF week, and DMF week is always delayed to land at least a few weeks after new raid content. 2. New or modified raids, but not in the way SOM did it. Need raids to be designed specifically to use the whole raid's whole spellbook. Instead of giving every class a similar toolkit/rotation like WOTLK does, just design raids to fully use the existing unique toolkits classes already have. Instead of giving moonkins mandatory group/raid buffs, give moonkins a reason to cast entangling roots, or a reason why you might want wizard to be able to stealth around like a rogue.

[@majesticfool]

100%. The quirks of classic make it a more interesting game. Wotlk while good, started the trend of gear just being items with bigger stats

[@bradr3541]

WOTLK will go huge. That was the greatest map layout and best zones and dungeons in any expansion. I think your going to have a blast! Naxx is so much fun!