leveling in retail vs classic

one of these is not like the other....
just thought i would make a comparison. leveling in hardcore classic has been a learning curve after playing retail for so many years lol

[@Ross_2312]

Part 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmOmfn9pibuYn7s for those who felt the first one was not "authentic" "accurate" or "a fair comparison"

[@cobra7282]

Classic just looked so clean after that retail gameplay.

[@xxbodycountxx7626]

It is so much better.

[@padshardbank]

It can be mich simpler when the GCD is 7 seconds

[@user-yn5rb8ls3b]

and so right tbh

[@fosterix555]

Classic feels like Warcraft. Retail WoW might as well be simply called 'MMO'.

[@Lalaafastroli]

Retail actually hurts my eyes

[@Sturmavk]

My god the memories of the starter Tauren zone and that music. So chill and feels so good experiencing that again in this short clip. Brings a tear to my eye.

[@artvandalay1415]

Why does that music sound like I heard it thousand times and I never played wow...is it maybe in Warcraft 3 as well, I played that a lot?

[@Hect0rx]

The music takes me straight back to my childhood. What an innocent, amazing time. Hope we are going to get fresh classic servers soon again.

[@Parlopersentitodire]

Non piangere perché é finito. Gioisci di averlo vissuto.

[@hylanderOP]

a dangerous world just feels more real

[@Ross_2312]

True!

[@lorenzocellitti4486]

You hit the spot

[@Ryan_hey]

Exactly. It's not that vanilla is mechanically difficult, it's that it's deadly. And it seems that makes for a much more enjoyable leveling experience because the world feels... like a world.

[@Makofueled]

@@Ryan_hey Bingo. Classic levelling is "hard" does not mean mechanically. It means there's an actual threat of death from overextension or misplay.

[@malfuresz7351]

BUT HTE JAILER SHADONLANDS MAWWWWWWWWWW 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏asmognoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD

[@coldcrush5921]

They also lost that vibe man. The atmosphere in vanilla is incredible, a world you dont mind just kicking back in. Retail doesnt really feel like a world and once you reach end game its really just a theme park.

[@Lucas-uo9ml]

Yup every zone is so cluttered that the world doesnt feel like a world anymore. Your horizon is the next target to complete your daily

[@mercb3ast]

Retail is the logical conclusion to what Jeff Kaplan and Rob Pardo made in WoW. Watching WoW classic vs Retail, is like watching EQ in 2001 vs WoW in 2004. Every decision WoW vanilla made, was an ease of use/convenience decision from EQ, so it was logical to think that incrementally, the game would continue on that path until, whatever vestige of an old school WoW had initially (it wasn't much by the standard of the games that came before it), would be replaced by convenience feature creep. Now WoW is a browser game you sometimes play with other people for 5-10 minutes or however long it takes you to do an instance.

[@cmonbruh518]

​@@Lucas-uo9ml i think the goal is endgame content like m+ and mythic raid. If the boomer civilians want to go play the grindfest classic they can, i will stick with the much more competitive modern day wow

[@csalazar1230]

@@mercb3ast This is exactly it. As someone who has gone back to EQ and still plays Eq on p99 to keep that original world feeling, I have never come back to WoW because it just does not feel like the open world vanilla wow and early EQ offered.

[@VegetoStevieD]

@@cmonbruh518 " i will stick with the much more competitive modern day wow" Competitive? The sub numbers aren't even close to competitive with the 2000s and early 2010s numbers. 'Instances of Warcraft' pales in comparison to 'World of Warcraft' in terms of accomplishments. Your numbers are low.

[@cattysplat]

Classic levelling: Hard to survive. Retail levelling: Hard to stay awake.

[@vekokrava1423]

lol classic players saying it is hard to level up.... It was the most casual MMO game back in 2004, I talked to some EQ 1999 players on some forums and they told me that classic vanilla is a joke compared to those old mmos where you could not solo same level mob.

[@DsGBiohazard]

@@mercb3ast "despite the success of WoW, has been racing toward a dead end alley" By design, Activision-Blizzard merely sees WoW as income.

[@vekokrava1423]

@@mercb3ast Yes, mmos should have always been sandbox. It is the closest design to real virtual reality. Instead of making MMOs to look just like any other game, they should have just made more sandbox MMOs in a different setting, for example sci-fi, gta, diablo like or any idea of a virtual world. Then for those that want more esport design, they should have designed MMOs to look similar to Gloria Victis, with events poping up and instanced content to que. I mean Gloria Victis is full loot semi sandbox that is way different then any theme-park, but I meant they should take similar approach. Not to change the whole adventure of MMO open world, but to design virtual world with many game modes and events for those that want to play it like they play retail WoW atm.

[@sidradeave]

@@vekokrava1423 idk how people are still trying to sell vanilla wow as a hard game. I thought that after all the clearing records for raids + the level of minmaxing guides and quantity of addons availables these defenders of classic were out of arguments but here we are. Vanilla, tbc and wrath are not hard, just time consuming. Yes, you had to manage a little bit your encounters against mobs while leveling but that's it. It's not even difficult, i had like ten years back in the day and i was capable of doing that. The only real thing that separates classic from retail is item rarity (that only counts while leveling, then you see everyone with bis, Ashkandi and even Thunderfury) and the social aspect of the game. Also, most people keep ranting about leveling being too easy on retail but every time i log on classic i see general chat full of mages selling boosts so wtf? How many of these "classic is hard" guys have just buyed their way to 60/70/80? To me buying a boost is the same thing as paying blizz to lvl up yout character but with extra steps. Stop trying to be morally superior, it's game. Enjoy it for wht it is lol

[@vekokrava1423]

@@sidradeave They are just speaking from their experience and I agree with classic players more then retail players, because classic is closer to the idea behind MMO genre.

[@Ren3gaid]

Making carefully baby steps with the W-button just to pull one of those enemies instead of both standing next to each other, beause you're at 7/8 kills. Or else you're dead. Memories

[@tooth1539]

not if you're a mage lol, pull 20 and go ham

[@InfiniteStormBringer]

I've been playing Wrath and went to try hardcore classic on a warrior since I've never leveled one pre-Cataclysm and wow I've never died more than that in my life! You get a green weapon and it's so awesome!

[@inertiaforce7846]

Just wait till you get your first blue. It's truly a rare item. You'll keep it for 10 levels.

[@joshrouleau4738]

brave warrior

[@padillaj492]

​@@inertiaforce7846 got that rare polearm to drop in duskwood early on, was set until early 30s

[@Tundrah648]

Absolutely agree!!!!

[@Tundrah648]

You can get the whirlwind axe as a warrior at lvl 30 and use it untill 45.

[@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty]

Retail: I am a God. There is literally nothing you can do to hurt me. Classic: I need to bandage after every pull....

[@jointser1008]

funfact: in retail the monsters are scaling stronger than you which means at level 55 for a example the leveling becomes harder he couldn't pull this of or survive with 20% or less. he was level 18 so of course it was easy

[@wizarddaddy47]

​@Jointser I think you're completely missing the point. Classics difficulty scale remains the same all the way to 60; brutally hard.

[@sammynaron5166]

@@wizarddaddy47 yeah it's kinda obvious why they changed that innit? who WANTS to spend weeks leveling an alt?

[@geovannifuentes2081]

@@sammynaron5166 People who enjoy the journey/world as well as the end.

[@jorgecarvajal5385]

@@wizarddaddy47 is not hard at all, classic in fact is more ez than retail i just slow phasing but is aloot moree ez and casual friendly

[@glenfaust2714]

I still remember chilling in Darkshire on my Night Elf Druid back in WOTLK. Suddenly, it began to rain. Someone yelled, "Get in the inn!!", so we all chilled out by the fire and talked. Suddenly, we heard the Stitches announcement. Confused, some of us left and ran up the hill searching wtf is going on because we found NPCs running towards something. Lo & behold, an Undead behemoth was rushing our way. It felt climatic, like the World was alive. We all were engrossed in the game and felt part of it.

[@ElderSign32]

my favorite part is the combo of having wrath on his bar twice as well as s-keying. this is a true representation of classsic

[@Ross_2312]

I tried to represent classic players as best as i could. That was like a 4 year old toon but they were different ranks of wrath from classic

[@Kavou]

Classic hit like a blessing after whatever that was at the start, like a beautiful catharsis after the horrors.

[@Infernoblade1010]

Still bothers me how the world just doesn't feel dangerous anymore. I think thats where they really lost the plot with leveling.

[@poorpriest4549]

World in classic doesn't feel dangerous too. I mean, you don't lose any items or xp for dying.

[@cooperarmstrong7259]

@@poorpriest4549 hence the hardcore challenge popularity

[@poorpriest4549]

@@cooperarmstrong7259 You can still level up slowly and safe. L2 was much more hardcore than WoW back in 2005

[@samirlachapelle2730]

There very very few enemies around the world that can easily beat u down, there are certain elites on low lvl zones that 1v1 is just impossible, immune to CC and each hit is like 15 to 35% of your health, and if you go as tank they have much more health that u can do at low lvl, so unless u re a twink fully geared, u get smack.

[@yassinkhalifi2280]

wow bro so fun sitting and drinking every 60 seconds super engaging

[@69mihail96]

In Classic you start off weak and end up strong, and in retail it's the other way around.

[@Unf0rget]

Classic holding up despite its age doesn't just speak about how far retail has deviated towards treadmill mindset; modern mmos just don't sell adventure anymore. I'd love a more recent title. What classic does could be done better but in two decades no one has stepped up. Niche mmo or second job are all we have for options in current year.

[@Wellshem]

People leave against any difficulty. A ton of people left wow during cataclysm because the raiding was too hard. A lot of people left gw2 heart of thorn because the open world was too hard.

[@Maraad-nk5oo]

yep, the modern mmorpg is not an adventure anymore... it's just a service....

[@Beamin439]

its just nostalgia.

[@Unf0rget]

Sounds an awful lot like people dismissing rts games or turn based rpgs as out dated nostalgia.

[@Fabriciod_Crv]

@@Unf0rget one of the best JRPGs of the decade sold millions and came out twice, aswell as octopath traveler 2 getting a sequel, people still like turn based Rpgs more than you think. RTS fell off because all it’s devs focus too much on the competitive esport side, and not so much on the good singleplayer stuff like with the older games

[@Nobodyyoucarabout]

Warcraft Forever: The game begins in the Classic era, with players starting at level 1 and progressing through the various zones and dungeons of the original game. This content is largely unchanged from the original release, with some minor tweaks to balance and quality-of-life improvements. As players reach the endgame of Classic, they can choose to explore any of the three continents: Azeroth, Outland, and Northrend. All three continents will feature level 58+ content with quests that give high-level rewards and unlock certain dungeons and raids. There will be cross-continent questlines that intertwine the stories of all three eras. These questlines will provide a sense of continuity between the different continents and help to flesh out the lore of the game. As players progress through each continent, they will encounter progressively more challenging enemies and bosses. However, there will not be any additional requirements for unlocking content in the later eras of the game. Players can choose to progress through any continent they wish, without being required to complete achievements or quests in earlier eras. Additionally, all gear obtained in earlier eras of the game will remain relevant and useful in later eras. There will be no obsolescence of gear, and players will have incentives to go back and complete older content, such as rare achievements or items that can only be obtained in certain zones or dungeons. Overall, this hardcore version of World of Warcraft would provide a flexible and non-linear experience for players who are looking for a challenging and rewarding experience. By allowing all endgame content to coexist, players will have more options for exploration and progression, and all content will remain relevant throughout the entire game.

[@UltimateSpinjitzuDestroyer]

are there worgen

[@inkredibill6352]

@@UltimateSpinjitzuDestroyer No furry races, as God intended

[@UltimateSpinjitzuDestroyer]

@@inkredibill6352 Nah I like the worgens lore and everything they’re so badass but I dislike furries IRL and in WoW just vulperas

[@Arthur-1337]

Nothing beats waking up in Mulgore, activating your action bars and knowing you're gonna get that "Goblin Smasher" in a couple hours

[@kahowka]

id classify both games like this Classic: Challange Adventure Reward Retial: Reward

[@anotherwanderingwisp858]

Can you really classify anything a reward if there is not feeling of accomplishment? 😶 This is why I avoided Retail for about a decade... then a friend of mine promised it gets better once you hit the end game :x And some say on Retail you can go from lvl 1 to end game in seven hours o.o

[@OfficialTriple]

Classic leveling experience is just better imo. More challenging and feels more rewarding. I still prefer Retail for the end game but the journey to it feels so lackluster now…

[@Ross_2312]

Well said. I enjoy the journey of getting to max in classic, the small milestones along the way are rewarding. I feel the same way about end game on retail being more interesting and engaging overall.

[@VDA19]

It's not more challenging, it's more time consuming. There is nothing challenging about pulling 1 mob at a time and casting Wrath over and over until it does. Do not mistake time wasting for difficulty. Also the fact that a Mage can pull 20 mobs at the same time and Warrior dies to 2 is just trash game design.

[@bochi25]

​​​@@VDA19 yeah and so is pulling 17 mobs, face tanking them and not losing more than 1% health

[@VDA19]

@@bochi25 Levelling was never hard in WoW. You want difficult content, just raid/M+/rated PvP. At no point in Vanilla did levelling take any skill. It just took a long time.

[@bochi25]

​@@VDA19 don't remember saying anything about something being hard or requiring skill

[@iPuffGanjaPlants]

Leveling in retail is so easy and fast everyone just rushes through it the whole game is centered around PvP and mythic+ whereas classic is centered around the experience and exploration. It’s realistically 2 totally different games

[@toasterlordtoasterlord4224]

Back in the day it was now vanilla wow is just boring.

[@ZachoMax]

it’s not centered around pvp lol. id play retail if it was lmfao. cats classic is where real pvp is at

[@FROZENbender]

retail: you pull less than 5 mobs at a time -> waste of time classic: you pull more than 1 mob -> death

[@Kenji-117]

The leveling in classic was an experience and felt like acutal gameplay. You had time to learn and bond with your class and character The leveling in retail is an unnecessary chore or like an hour long tutorial which only exists to justify the level boost. Even the levels are cosmetic since everything scales with your level which makes the level numbers obsolete... they couldve added just the xpac campaign as a story to be played once and it would be the same experience as leveling to 70...

[@VegetoStevieD]

"bond with your class and character" Once they removed the requirement for Hunters to feed their pets, I knew that this "bond" you speak of was getting thrown out the window.

[@Hero4fun77]

@@VegetoStevieD Yeah, feeding food to my pet feels immersive to me. They kill all immersion in retail.

[@shoc2177]

Those sounds of the retail Spriest would drive me crazy for sure...

[@Ross_2312]

True.. honestly retail had a lot of “bloat” ad far as spell effects and noises. I got used to them when I played retail, but after taking a break they are so noticeable…

[@Hypnotically_Caucasian]

The Void: not even once! Haven't been able to get the voices out of my head since then.

[@lawlestest]

it's honestly the only class that's interesting to me and i've mained priest since TBC. shadow just hits different.

[@CharloBingu]

Yeah man transmog Xalatath on your weapon, and your spells will even talk shit to you

[@Ross_2312]

@@CharloBingu haha i kind of like that it does that, gives the class some “flavor” but gets annoying fast 😂

[@anomalyevolution40]

Such a true concept. This is why games like Dark and darker are going to take over. 90% of peoples first encounter with skelly mob ends in death. Games should be challenging or they feel pointless/boring. That's why retail is such a rush to max level. Like I know a bunch of us are wow boomers here but that just means we have a lifetime of gaming exp. Some of us are huntards but not all of us. Leveling should not be slowed down due to the abundance of content to get through. Rather it should be slower due to the danger that lies ahead.

[@Black665]

By that logic, more people should be playing retail WoW raids compared to classic because they are more challenging. I'll aggree that 0 challenge leveling is boring though.

[@DMCknight]

“Some of us are huntards, but not all of us.” Hahahahahha oh my gosh dude that was so unexpected it literally made me lol. Good one!

[@marciaquispe4472]

"Games should be challenging or they feel pointless/boring" that's the reason why WoW killed everquest. Everquest WAS challenging but people wanted a more casual approach.

[@marciaquispe4472]

@@vincentcircharo8259 pleople just don't known the reason why leveling up in retail is so fast... it's because theres a whole lot of content to do at max lvl. Blizzard could tune numbers and make world leveling up as dangerous as vanilla but they know if they did that people will cry about it. "omg leveling too hard, if I want to grind for hours I'll just play vanilla".

[@anomalyevolution40]

@@marciaquispe4472 umm idk about that. I think a lot of ppl went to wow because of the theme. I grew up playing rts games and got real into warcraft. I had zero interest in everquest it just looked weird to me. Then wow came along and I knew the chars and lets be honest it looked way better than everquest lol.

[@RonoMorph]

oh you pull two mobs? boom you're dead

[@Ross_2312]

It do be like that 😂

[@myne5689]

In classic you just feel like some person in the world. That’s what I like about it. In retail you feel like you’re in a power fantasy where you’re the worst kind of protagonist.

[@adriancervenka7682]

I started playing the game in late Legion and even I think classic has the "better" more fun gameplay.

[@josejuanandrade4439]

It has the better leveling experience. The gameplay was quite awful. While i love the long road to 60, to have to sit waiting for 1 mob to move away from the pack, or dying cuz that last spell or hit missed, etc, wasn't as fun. When doing 1 quest takes 3 days... and i mean 1 quest not a quest chain, that is not fun, tho it makes it for a fun anecdote. For context, theres a quest in Badlands where you need to get a black whelp heart and it took me 3 fucking days to kill it. Man that wasn't fun.

[@adriancervenka7682]

@@josejuanandrade4439 took me about 9 actual days 1-60 on my warrior. It's not that bad. But yeah the game is not perfect. I would like to see classic + or something in that area. Real is too confusing and hard to get into too many different systems and at least for me this must be the least amount of fun I had playing any of the specs. Something about there being only 1 map in Vanilla with no flying just feels good to me, I don't even like TBC. Late Legion and mid to late BFA and early shadowlands were fun.

[@medorath8533]

Classic is like drinking hot chocolate by the fire on Christmas, retail is like hitting the nightclub with your boys and getting piss drunk. Both are great tbh.

[@Ross_2312]

Haha this is great

[@vikkran401]

I remember the days when being lvl 60 actually meant something and how lower level players worshiped you like a god

[@Wellshem]

This was back when everyone was shit at the game, classic showed us a far different world

[@vikkran401]

@@Wellshem While it's true that game knowledge is more accessible. At the same time I have my suspicious that Blizzard nerfed classic wow to cater more to the modern casual MMO gamer. It's important to keep in mind the demographics have changed a lot since the term ''causal gamer'' didn't exist, or at least I never heard of it back in the day. My guild and I were just a bunch of school dropouts (or partial dropouts) who didn't have anything to do in life other than playing a video game all day everyday

[@davemustang8173]

I still get a hard on seeing a paladin in full Tier 2 in classic. You can't get that feeling from modern MMOs

[@Xemioza]

XDDD it was never like that, take your rose tinted glasses off

[@vikkran401]

@@Xemioza Why don't you put yours on instead and also go and touch grass in the meantime

[@32deej]

Warstomp being on cooldown was just the cherry on top

[@Jaggerdrunk]

Wow im so immersed in that shadow priest gameplay

[@seep7397]

That music brings it back

[@NotTheWheel]

People always said Raiding is the Real game... but Raiding just is something to do on a max level character for no other reason than to do it. So you just end up raid logging till you burn out. World of Warcrafts world was the actual game you played 1-60. That's where months of playtime comes in. Raiding is fun and all but like that's the reward for having played the game it's not THE game. Why would you try and cut out that experience just so you raid log.

[@objec]

The world become too large to just running around a find random people to play with. After bc came out and you could fly in outland you didn't saw people runing around, and bit by bit blizzard made the game more casual friendly. I personaly hate leveling and i know some people do but i don't enjoy the game until i reach max lvl and i can start playing the end content. (Started in BC and felt the same back then.)

[@NotTheWheel]

​@@objec The end content though is raid logging. That's not a game. The world didn't get bigger it got smaller. Every Expansion had a hub city. Each Expansions new continent or plane of existence is self contained in content and plot for the soul purpose of getting to max level so you can do the new raid grind pvp again or nowadays grind m+ forever.... We never have to go back to these places overall.. then we complain about how there's nothing to do.

[@Maranatha2216]

@@objeci think the damage they have done to the game and world is too great and convuluted to fix, they should just nuke every world and start from scratch with vanilla in mind, just like ff14

[@objec]

@@NotTheWheel The reason is they doing new raids new dungeons cause after a season your get bored of it. Nobody wanna go back to grind AQ again or BT to maybe get the Mother sword. So to keep the players entertained they add new raids dungeons etc. Ofc some player hate changes, but idk how people dont get bored from AQ or Naxx for 10 years. You do rhe same as in retail. Lvl up raid grind. Just look twitch gdk raid all over the place.

[@NotTheWheel]

@@objec The problem is End Game Raids aren't really content people aren't playing Vanilla for the Raids brother you got it backwards that's not the game. You can say well "Leveling is boring" ... and I'll say well.. Raid logging is boring.

[@lens_hunter]

I like both.

[@SgtEaglefort]

im glad ive only known og wow up to wotlk. never was apart of a super cool guide, but it was still fun and cool.

[@kudjaremastered3362]

The music hits different there while under pressure of instant death everywhere.

[@reallyslayed1694]

rogue: gets slaughtered by 8 different mobs *barrens music*

[@Warcoat500]

I love both games honestly but If I could put one thing from classic into retail it would be threatening world encounters, there's almost no risk except for a few mobs or choose to play war mode and actively try to fight players

[@Lumeheart999]

Excuse me have you MET STITCHES in dusk wood. That MOFO has killed too many hard core WOW players

[@Warcoat500]

@@Lumeheart999 Threatening encounters from classic into retail friend.

[@toversnoleu8769]

yeah like simple mobs where scary! like one or two was doable. when you had 3 and it became a close call. running was sometimes not an option because you would pull the area!

[@washworld8358]

People used to say it’s just nostalgia, but I’ve had more fun with classic lichking in the last few weeks than I ever had in retail or other mmos in the last few years.

[@Ross_2312]

Same. I played at the start of wrath for maybe a month and a half and quit. Recently got back into wrath and having a blast

[@HallyVee]

We always knew it wasn't just nostalgia ;)

[@TheRabbit68]

Yet somehow the second one feels so much better and enjoyable.

[@stickmanweirdadventures2550]

Man,that armor on the right side that displays what piece of gear needs repairs just about reminded of the old days when i still used the spell book to cast spells as a Warlock. 😂

[@RaimaNd]

Classic: Just a random dude who actually has to watch out what he does. Retail: You're god himself.

[@veduci22]

Classic: Still feels like a RPG game. Retail: Lawn Mowing Simulator 2023.

[@Ironiclobster69]

I went back on retail for the first time since BFA. Already caught up in level and doing Mythic+ dungeons in a couple days. Not going to lie I like some of the stuff and the dragon riding is dope but classic is nice and simple too. Kind of like how variable the new talent trees are, how you can change them whenever, and that dps/caster/healer gear changes main stat when you swap spec so I don't need Int AND strength gear anymore.

[@joeinvests]

the near broken gloves and belt make this even better

[@Eyelanderules]

The music alone just hits different and brings out how much better classic was

[@DoktahDoktah]

Leveling in classic is like watching what you eat and leveling in Retail is like Big Smoke ordering a meal.

[@KadenTheRaver]

Sheeesh brother

[@Ross_2312]

He said the thing!!

[@Patrick-jm3sp]

Right before I die i want to hear teldrassils music one last time

[@CounterTheAnimatorocn1]

I remember playing a dwarf paladin and fighting off (successfully) 4 mobs in dun morogh. I felt like a superhero about it even though my character was a no one in the world. Not something you can do on retail. But retail will make sure you get called a champion, hero, commander etc…

[@Ross_2312]

Thats my biggest gripe of modern wow.. we are the “savior of azeroth” “champion” “hero.” There are millions of players, nobody is supposed to be the main character in this genre of game.

[@xxmiami]

Exactly why retail blows.

[@johnrea8173]

High risk and high reward (a green item!). Everything you did mattered, and the gameplay was about travel just as much as killing boars. Patience was rewarded. It wasn't if I could get to 60 or 70 in three days, but how many times could I run SM in those three days for fun and change of pace.

[@user-ut1kq5vj6d]

i remember in 2006, when i was levling.. I was so scared to die everytime lol. Used hours and days to level up 1 level. Back then we didnt really have the "skill" that we do have today. As back then mmo was kinda new

[@Broski601]

I almost choked with that retail gameplay

[@Hect0rx]

Vanilla is the best game ever developed. The atmosphere, the community. Everything was perfect.

[@narth9414]

Hello? Can you hear me?

[@digitalconsciousness]

Classic is better. Management of mana, life, paying attention to enemy patrols, strategizing certain pulls, getting excited about being able to learn new spells from your spell trainer, gathering herbs to make health pots. Let's see... what does that sound like... oh yeah, A VIDEO GAME. Something that retail is not.

[@jared9643]

As a priest or warlock you can start doing this in Cataclysm for the first 20 or so levels with full boa gear.

[@trigger810]

It took me a moment to even relies were you were in the first clip. changed so much for the worse

[@McBillyBoy]

Sometimes less is more

[@sheon2542]

Retail (Easy Leveling, Hard Raids/dungeons) > Classic (Hard Leveling, Easy Raids/dungeons) | Wotlk Classic (Best Leveling, Best Raids/dungeons)

[@thisguyhd6591]

I level as a tank warrior so the first clip is what I do in classic. I can pull 5 or 6 mobs easily. I prefer to pull 7 or 8

[@toffeelatte6042]

Amazing how much of a comment war you started with a good banter exaggeration. Well played.

[@Ross_2312]

Not going to lie i had no idea it would cause such a response 🤣 i just wanted to make fun of both sides

[@ThePulsarGaming]

The best thing about classic IMO is that you actually feel like youre getting stronger and items make a difference. It makes leveling exciting. Retail is youre a monster from level 1 and you just have to mindlessly get through this to get to the real content

[@Gongoresh]

yeah because the idea of retail is most everybody has leveled already. Classic is so we can experience leveling again. one is for good endgame content. one is for hating your life if your into it.

[@weatheredseeker]

​@@Gongoresh retail is literally just a bunch of people reenacting youtube videos

[@joshspace99]

@@weatheredseeker You really don't have to comment this 98 times mate. The reason they made leveling not a big deal in retail is because 90% of the players already played wow for a long time. Imagine having to spend a month per character every new expansion before you get max level. I don't mind it, but the average guy does, especially when retail has 95% of it's content at max level.

[@weatheredseeker]

@@joshspace99 u mad cuz it's true?

[@weatheredseeker]

@@joshspace99 go study for your wow test

[@raw1039]

A lovely comparison of two completely different games.... top notch

[@HallyVee]

But they're both tab target so they're somehow the same!

[@ScreenNameLmao]

I would love to see a classic+ tbh, challenging content and mechanics would be kind of nice with the classic shell

[@Ross_2312]

Me too

[@jameyd916]

Turtle(:

[@begley09]

Certainly something to note that after all these years players would rather play content released almost 20 years ago vs retail. I don't play classic as I don't like layering. I have enjoyed playing on private servers though.

[@bobvezirski7282]

retail is end-game focused, end-game is more often than not hard for boomers and it requires a lot of time, in classic nobody gives a fuck, there's nothing competitive there, hence the much slower pace and more people enjoying it.

[@jgoldian47]

The leveling in classic and even BC and WOTLK was peak WoW Every zone felt like a whole new experience with quests and exploring and havig fun Joining small groups to take on bosses and the leveling was slower yes but the adventure was worth it The experience and memoeable moments you cant remake nowadays

[@Xemioza]

Rose tinted glasses 😂

[@xalian17]

Classic is just cleaner while Retail looks like it was designed by someone with ADHD and wants to feel overpowered

[@TibiaOTarena]

when the muglore music kicks in ;(

[@edmondprice6215]

Amazing and so true

[@Dantarn]

Classic has a leveling experience leagues better then Retail and Retal has an endgame experience leagues better then Classic. Ever since Blizzard tried to make leveling fun again in Cataclysm and the community hated it I doubt they're going to do anything to make it more like it was back in the day.

[@Ross_2312]

💯

[@IILegend]

Retail looks like a mobile game

[@Ross_2312]

It has gone through so many changes, including graphical, it definitely feels like a completely different game. Honestly some of the new models/textures in old zones look bad, like you said like a “mobile game.” I prefer a lot of the older models to some of the new ones.

[@mitchellkraemer9099]

My favorite way to level starts with a b and ends with an oost

[@crustina2753]

lmao true but still that tauren had no business walking backwards like that

[@sadisticsadist1828]

When people say that the only reason wow classic was harder was because we had less information at the time send them this. A non threatening world vs one that is.

[@gabrielguaman253]

Well classic wow is about that, the leveling and exploring cause the end game is so shit and retail is more for end game

[@testtube173]

@@gabrielguaman253 end game sucks dick for retail too. Mindless spamming with infinite mana and over the top healing

[@Scarbiter]

@@gabrielguaman253 Yea the journey and being rewarded and progressing is what shots dopamine to your brain, not the binge theme park leveling a then hitting power rangers villains....

[@19Evangelion96]

Retail looks awful as hell, all those effects etc looks like for kindergarden kids. I don't like in vanilla some old mechanics like 5s of taking items from the land, faild trys when you try to collect ore or herb cuz it's have orange level (literally i collected one goddam plant a 5 times because 4 previous try's - are faild). A few collects on one ore. 3s cast for sitting on mount etc, weird animations of swimming, and rotation (on og 1.12 & 2.4 clients) (a lot of this type of issues what looks super outdated) but the core of gameplay are waaaayyy better than retail. It feels like you start enjoying the game since you started, from level 1, not in the end after farming some reputations and other stuff on retail. Actually for me - og Wotlk 3.3.5 are the best variation of WoW. It's looks still 100% like a vanilla/tbc. Models etc. Animation's the same, but some of them become smooth, especially rotation + moving. Nice swiming animation with pressing space bar, not a jumps :) And way better performance, LOD, draw distance etc. And actually for me - wotlk it's a golden mean beetween chunky vanilla (but rly intresting) and super casuality retail stuff what hyper friendly in UI (actually not so) but so lame in a core of gameplay, mechanics, story etc. It's still interesting (wotlk, especially 3.3.5), looks like old one, but smooth. And yeah - RDF (random dungeon finder with automatic teleport inside and outside) i always like that on wotlk, and dont like LFR and Cata itself too (it's still better than retail, but me and the boyz stopped playing exactly on this expansion).

[@sergiogarzon3307]

different games 1 is focus on the adventure other in the end game i like both tbh

[@campfroman650]

I like them both honestly. Classic: a very relaxing and the slow, but steady, grind is pretty relaxing sometimes. Retail: faster, more frantic and exciting. Easier to jump in and out if I am short on time Thoughts?

[@Ross_2312]

Agreed.

[@mezesadam1997]

Looks like we need WoW 2: better graphics, bigger world and adjustable game modes.

[@Ross_2312]

True

[@sidyaking]

We all failed to notice that retail IS WOW 2

[@DonnyDeleto]

​@@sidyaking then we need a wow 3

[@platinumpepe8626]

@@DonnyDeleto wow 42069

[@Kenji-117]

More like a wow reboot. Classic wow with retail graphics, better classes, better quality of life, non-inflated gold, better quests / quest droprates but anything else has to stay: the theme, the mmo aspects, the core essence, the bit slower gameplay, the item rarities...

[@kalashnikov0e]

Retail feels like a job

[@Ross_2312]

Yeah that’s honestly why i stopped playing, felt more chore than fun lol

[@boltman1195]

This can happen but two mobs vs 1 is a death in most cases unless you use your head. No war stomp or entangling roots? CC is still used in retail

[@TurboV8boi]

In retail you're a god.

[@SvenS2]

Retail just looks way too overdesigned imo. Some new models and effects are great! But it definitely goes overboard

[@Porook]

Honestly, I’m not even a big fan of the new graphics. Classic feels timeless for its very coherent, distinctively sharp and gritty look. Retail just feels bland and generic.

[@Joe-bs6hd]

It's a good thing we have both to play what we personally enjoy, and have the choices incase we ever feel like playing either version.

[@marcoos1337]

in retail you are the ultimate hero, the saviour of universe(es) from level 1 til max level and beyond. In classic you are a nobody til 60 and beyond. Thats the difference

[@Ross_2312]

True

[@goon825]

God damn I love retail 😂

[@johng2794]

retail is so hard!!!!!

[@Ross_2312]

Retail’s end game can be quite challenging depending on the content/difficulty you do, but leveling is an absolute joke.

[@johng2794]

@@Ross_2312 only if u put the difficulty up 20 times (mythic 20+)... and even then its more about being as fast as possible^^

[@cattysplat]

Hard to stay awake.

[@maltesre9032]

So you compare a geared low lvl char in a "end game based" game with a 0 geared trash gameplay dying like a bot Yea... Classic is so hard. Ppl clear raids underleveled in green gear and speedlvl to 60 in not even a handful of days. But lets make ironic joked about retail based of a low lvl video Nice joke you clowns

[@wafflezz52]

Where was the entangling roots maaaan? Gotta use all your strengths :P

[@Ross_2312]

Haha good question, logged on this toon for the first time since classic, didn’t have it trained. Been playing hardcore, so didn’t want to kill off a one life character just for the meme.

[@wafflezz52]

Fairo, that stuff ain't cheap

[@VegetoStevieD]

The correct way to handle the encounter is melee+[Healing Touch] with flawless swing timer casting.

[@edhahaz]

Retail: ah why is this tkaing foreeeeever ahh

[@vaderfloyd6926]

I just saw him anger that swoop and trauma kicked in for me 😂

[@michixlol]

It literally hurts to see what they've done to my baby. Classic forever because Blizzard will never be able to do it as good again..

[@edmondprice6215]

I would love a cross breed. Classic wow with Transmog and drop spell ranks at the trainer. Maybe slightly faster level. Not too much change, but some little things

[@davidapples7248]

Private servers have literally this.

[@tinkachu8743]

Oh ya, I never played classic but that definitely unlocked very old memories in me lol. I started playing before Burning Crusade, though didn't get do end-game content until WOTLK. Haven't played in years now though.

[@Batmonthesequel]

We all knew he was cooked once bird entered the chat

[@NewoneFPV]

Wow evoled in diferent game Classic - main content is leveling Retail - main content is raiding

[@moonaka2]

Retail - main content is putting on dresses, taking estrogen and having furry intercourse

[@reallyslayed1694]

fax

[@20the20]

Incredible. Thanks for this perspective, really. One of these looked like an awful experience, the other one was retail.

[@Ross_2312]

Haha

[@pacham5519]

All we need is more content, but, same concept of Classic

[@xAkatsxki]

I dont play classic but I couldnt agree more to this

[@Ryder385]

Retail reminds me of a mobile game now after playing classic for a few months I can’t go back

[@Aphorism89]

Yeah exactly. Also the way characters look, move, the spells, sounds and even icons.. Why tf did they have to change it all? Is like buying a bmw but they give you a Renault engine on it, switch all the logos for Dacia and make a more shiny but dull, soulless facelift to it. I mean... Give me the bmw lol

[@ajkiser3424]

I love this comparison. Especially the classic part where you were playing like a downie and just ran right into a bunch of mobs knowing you wouldn't be able to kill them.

[@Ross_2312]

Itsameme

[@osmanyilmaz1]

because blizzard doesnt care about leveling experience in retail since i dont know when.. better to compare raiding or dungeon experience

[@Nick-4K]

I respect classic and glad people like it. But in retail i love the ability of just wasting tons of mobs

[@d-s_94]

Yeah retail is definitely for the casual/newer WoW players. Raiding in retail is harder though funnily enough but normal dungeons, questing and just levelling in general (Which is arguably the biggest part of any RPG) is way more challenging in Classic. I remember back in Legion levelling a guardian druid from 1-110 in literally 3 days just spamming RDF😂I loved Legion, it was the last good expansion but that is just an example of why retail WoW sucks these days for many people like myself. I wish I could enjoy it more but I've tried and can't, it feels like a totally different game 😐