The Real Reason Behind Classic WoW's Fresh Realm Hype

[@hammerdancegaming]

For this video I compiled a marathon of the 4 video essays I wrote about Classic WoW fresh and the hype that surrounds it. Hope you guys enjoy! Also, if you'd like to hangout with me live, I stream Monday through Friday at 8PM EST, come hangout and drop a follow! Twitch link in the description above. Love you all

[@kwando472]

Why tho when turtle wow exists?

[@bobshagit]

fresh.... the same game for 20 years how are you people still playing this garbage?

[@Monastyre]

Which servers are fresh

[@bobshagit]

@@Monastyre wtf is the point of a "fresh" server.... the same results happens every single time... its the same 20 year old garbage game

[@EpicLootBox786]

I played this game back then and I enjoyed it. I don't have time anymore I'm 39.

[@ZeRO65432]

the open world became the main character again with hardcore

[@Crenley]

So true my dude!

[@Flaban88]

Agree. I have wanted that nostalgic feeling with wow classic for so long. Just startet a HC warr with NO addons. Now I am reading the quests and the world feel alive and dangerous.

[@SkaldCG]

@@Flaban88 dont die jumping down the feralas parachute quest mistiming your parachute, like i lost my 50+ char xD (including random epic ring)

[@Roxar96]

@@Flaban88 With the voice over addon it is even better 🌞

[@akse]

@@Roxar96 that could be something worth tryin!

[@GamesVonJames]

Barrens music, man.... the ultimate nostalgia trip for me. Nothing like standing in Crossroads at 3am in the summer waiting for my cousins to get there so we can run Wailing Caverns. Just looking up at the night sky and listening to that music.

[@snuffeldjuret]

that's a memory for life right there

[@b.p.879]

Local Defense: Crossroads is under attack! Local Defense: Crossroads is under attack! Local Defense: Crossroads is under attack!

[@KyleMaxwell]

The Curse of Efficiency plagues us all in so many games.

[@Roxar96]

Modern mindset linked to socials, fast travels (airport, cars) and high work time. Fight Club is right, trapped in that mindset it is not living 🐒

[@fullelement4886]

One of my biggest regrets in all of gaming was the shift to efficiency. Now every game I'm always wanting to chase it, but it's so much less fun than just... playing.

[@Roxar96]

@fullelement4886 It's not too late to come back to just gaming 🌈 All MMOs have chill guilds enjoying and taking their time but still doing late game content 🐸👌

[@jeffanderson798]

so symbolic of our human nature and a reminder of our responsibility!

[@zera2314]

KZbin videos and guides single handedly ruin video games that can be meta gamed. Easily accessible information, available with a quick search, and everyone can follow someone else's early release guide on all new content. Whenever a "new" game releases, it's as if everyone has already played it to death before they've even logged in for the first time. Classic WoW has been data mined to living hell through Vanilla, private servers, Classic, everyone version of Classic thereafter, and nothing about it is new anymore (besides SoD, but the majority of what you need to know is still rooted in Classic logic), so it's just meta gamed now. Unfortunately it can never be expected to not be meta gamed. It's in the same arena as games like Mario 64 that are populated by speed runners looking to master the game again. Oh well.

[@orcthebot]

i played wow only for 2 weeks back in 2009. i started playing again a month ago with hardcore. i had insane fun and hit lvl 30 with my warrior in a few days. i died and decided to try cata. it was going just fine and fun until i joined a guild. my guild mates made me push to rush lvl 85. i just leveled and leveled and one day they decided to disband guild since they couldn't find enough players to raid. at the beginning they said the guild was a chill friendly guild to chat etc. but later they just started to rush everything. joining a guild and rushing was my biggest mistake in wow so far. its even a bigger mistake than the jump that leads me to my first death in hardcore...

[@zedorian6547]

I’ve been in this story before :(

[@itzFenners]

Hardcore is super chill as nobody wants to rush in group settings when your life is on the line. I’ve enjoyed the levelling experience so much when I know a death is permanent, means a more thought out approach to fighting

[@asdfqwerty-u9n]

levelling in cata are boring to the point of retail levelling and the dungoens are pointless why even play i felt

[@MrPtrlix]

Cata is just dungeonfarming until 85 and after a week of getting prebis, you only raidlog for a total of 6 hours each week. Firelands is honestly a fun raid, but at this point it's just a coop boss-fighting game. A good one at that but not an mmorpg.

[@garygood6804]

I have a level 85 in cata, but that is for gold farming. My main is a 19 twink.

[@Bassrom]

I Will never forget Hearing the music when I entered stormwind for the first time in 2005... excelent video bro.

[@matthewbolton4289]

I feel the same but entering MC. That solidified my love for raiding that very moment

[@zucro691]

​@@matthewbolton4289until you realize you basically have a work schedule that you don't get paid for 😮

[@procrustes7669]

yeeeeeeeeeeeees...da MEMORIES BRUH

[@procrustes7669]

@@matthewbolton4289 First time entering MC i was SH1TING my self from nervousness hahahaha

[@JakDragonov]

I can proudly say i got left behind. Im leveling my night elf rogue for 9 months now on era, always playing a few days a month then going on pause, i am now lvl 56 and im in no rush to raiding. As a lone wolf, i group with people here and there but never the same group, i may join a guild for a few months, then get kicked for inactivity, all part of my leveling experience and im loving it.

[@Sitsolitary]

Same man! That’s my play style too 👌

[@riggslong1817]

Same here buddy. I've had a human pally for way too long and I'm only 55 or 56 as well. Been playing it intermittently for around 1.5yrs.

[@tylerrekts]

This was also the time before social media was what it is today so I felt nice hanging out and talking to people all around the world

[@benugdsen75]

Great video😊 One thing I remember from the start was that there were no guides, no KZbinrs who ”knew” how to play, no map breakdowns. It was up to ME, the player.. to make the most of it and I loved it. I was casual for over a year before joing any guilds. I just walked around, doing quests, exploring and sometimes teamed up with others Ii ran into. I started in 2006 and stopped in 2015.. I will probably never play it again, but I have some fine memories from WoW. 😊

[@JustLoe]

This is such a beautiful and well done video. Thank you for bringing back memories and those feelings of excitment when diving into a classic experience.

[@brianp6682]

if you are playing wow in the hinterlads lefveling, and someon on the other side of hinterlads asks in chat for help with group quests, and you spend an afternoon just doing that for fun,wow is a great game. if instead you say no because you are all about using shortcuts and maximizing efficiency, wow sucks. unfortunately, the number of people who play for efficiency has drastically increased.

[@PeaceinEU]

Playing since 2005, min-maxing, gold & gear sellers, helpers and boosters - all this killed the original wow. The two worth the time addons were Wow Vanilla and TBC.

[@nelsonpally]

You are right bro. My love for WoW classic doesn't change. There I learn about socializing, guild teamwork on dungeons and raids. I remember my GM creating schedules to get us attuned to raids and we really had fun. We did had some issues but its part of the gaming enviroment. I have finished War Within. Once I hit 80, I have not logged back for a month now. This game started with social interaction and fun and now we are racing for gears, renowns etc. The guild leaves behind those who have no time to push due to work committments. I used to be in a casual raiding guild wear we raid only on weekends. Now its different. I love the classic and exploring the world. Your video brought tears to my eyes becos thats what I used to do....I simply cannot catch up with the rest in war within due to lack of time. I still love this game. I tried guild wars 2, SWTOR and final fantasy and nothing comes close to WoW. Atleast for me. We have spells like fear, polymorph, hex etc for CC controls. Are we really using those now. The thrill of clearing a dungeon those days was intense but we worked as a team to get the dungeon clear. Same with raids. Once cleared, we put the raid on farm for alts, others. There was some sort or fun there. Bloody hell I am missing all these now. Thank you so much for this video content. Guess I am not alone feeling this.

[@Usawrestling152]

It's crazy to think that when I die, my last memories are going to be impactful things like my wife, kids, family and friends. But also World of Warcraft. There was nothing like it..

[@neverbows7363]

Same man, so many memories

[@matthewwebb8245]

I'm always a little behind watching vids, but this is one of your best to date! Well done, my friend!

[@TheMadeofhonor]

Great video! I absolutely love the WOW soundtrack. When I'm cleaning the house, this is what I listen to.

[@pierregaude1528]

Thank you for putting into words what I always felt.The narrative, the surroundings, the music, the vastness all contribute to my love for WoW. An exact description of my experience after 18 years of playing.And I still have many low level characters to relive the past .I am 71 years old playing an amazing game.

[@Kmodal]

I remember playing Anarchy online, Asherons Call, SWG, Everquest and it was fun. I also grew up playing warcraft 2 and I was hyped for many years and following the wow webpage highly anticipating the release!! And it has been a big part of my life ever since

[@Omniaverage]

I feel peak wow classic is 1-40, before you hit the long grind

[@NatoRadeX]

Probably because the themes of the zones and mob types you face after level 35 are so BLAND and the feeling of exploration just dies. Maradon or whatever that shit, is the most boring boring type do dungeon in WoW's existence. There was a reason during cata retail in leveling dungeons we'd all quit when we get it in rotation. Or Dire Maul too.. Horrible themes and horrible pace. Vanilla dies for me when I get past duskwood and have to go to badlands or the desert areas which consist of boring themes and boring mobs. 40-45 is such a pain in the ass cause then you're sent to a jungle which honestly I HATE tribal and jungle themes in all MMO's.. 45-50 is you guessed it a desert in Tanaris... barren desert with nothing... But.. GRIND...

[@Rubindy]

@@NatoRadeX the undead area lvl 57-60 will be remembered for many horde players, plagueslands

[@peterkrueger4531]

The problem is blizzard only listens to content creators and now there are too many people who play like their favorite content creator

[@bobshagit]

1000% they ignore the 99% and listen to the 1% just like the rest of the world operates

[@BNFuFu]

Ahahahahahahahahhahahaha

[@ajwakefield5822]

hard disagree, large content creators have largely abandoned WoW rn, yet playerbase is possibly biggest its been, and most user friendly tbh especially in SoD

[@peterkrueger4531]

Sure, but the mentality of min maxing and such is still there. No one is experimenting in sod we're all just chasing that 99 parse

[@BNFuFu]

@peterkrueger4531 brother that isn't a content creator issue. That's a player base issue.

[@silvercross1024]

I stopped playing for 5+ years and came back to retail this year, and I've enjoyed it. After getting stressed doing delves at tier 8, I just wanted to jump into something different and less stressful. It was refreshing to make a new warlock and just low-level quest.

[@usemorebrainplz-is7gy]

Min maxing was always a thing, the only difference was that back then you didnt know how to do it "properly" where as of today we have youtube videos explaining every step with mathematic calculations. But I do remember being 12 years old running around with my friends getting boosted in Westlands with a lvl 20+ friend (We were level 6) trying to level up so we could get to the same level as other friends (lvl 40+ with mounts) We spent whole summer trying to reach same level because we all desire those mounts and did our best to level fast. Only issue was that we had no clue and it went so slow farming random mobs - But yes we had a blast running around clueless but the intentions was definitly to level as fast as possible Being 30+ now I do love the HC challange (And I am as bad as back then dying level 12) but I do understand the past is nostalgia in combination with a child development - nothing I could ever explore again but remember those times playing wow classic with joy when I login occasionaly :) Good times!

[@Mcbuggler]

yeah, I min maxed back in vanilla, I had decent gear, and even made it into Naxx and killed a boss. I just wasn't as good back then, because I was a kid, and actually had more obligations back then like work and school. This time in Classic, I finished what I started 15 years ago, I cleared naxx and I'm 100% BIS. It was very satisfying to me, I'm competitive, and always have been, I'm just better at it now.

[@Marki48ftw]

Yeah the min maxing mentality pretty much destroyed every game for me, not because anyone Else is doing it but myself i miss being clueless tbh, the only games i get something from today is fps games.

[@usemorebrainplz-is7gy]

@@Marki48ftw I wouldn't say destroyed is correct word, its just that a computer game (especially back 2000.-s) was designed for kids / young adults. Games is litteraly designed for kids, buy games, stop play, next generation and so on. Sure we all miss being kids, but you played games correctly unfortunally games are not meant to be addictive to you as an adult - Go new adventures in real life instead :)

[@Marki48ftw]

@@usemorebrainplz-is7gy dont you worry theres happening alot in my life 😂

[@darkstar2205]

Min maxing is part of every game and it's not a bad thing. WoW min maxing has just gotten so cringe cause no other community does the levels of sweat WoW players do (for a PVE game XDD)

[@pgoldys5534]

Great vid totally enjoyed it Brough back fond memories. Best way I can explain how wow change over the years it went mainstream and commercial and lost it way

[@AwkwardFishGuy]

I always play very chill and socially, and that experience is WoW to me. I spend my gold, I meet other players, I play whichever spec I think sounds the most fun and interesting, and I always have a blast. Of course I obsess like many others, but for example in vanilla classic I came really late into the game and decided to play a fire mage. EVERYONE was playing frost mage, and it was so much fun playing something off meta. Raiding casually, having discord parties where I DJ’ed for my guildies after raids, and just having a jolly good time. Just relax and and enjoy the beautiful and intricate world like OG blizzard intended, and I promise you you can still have unique and new experiences in this 20 year old CLASSIC

[@adamhudson4455]

Exactly this, this time around I'm trying a class I've never played, I always main a warrior but this time I'm going for warlock, meet new people and have a blast!

[@jamiestwrt]

I like you're content. You don't seem pretty unbiased and have a balanced view on things. Like most of us you just want a good and compelling game to play, which I really appreciate. Subbed.

[@hammerdancegaming]

Thank you!!

[@triumphytv]

Really fantastic video dude, thanks for taking the time to make it!

[@hammerdancegaming]

Thank you!

[@Apothecarii]

What a great video! I love how it focused on our age group and why were are caught in an infinite vanilla loop. The focus on the music was brilliant!

[@hammerdancegaming]

Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@ravedgevanraved3152]

I dont know why but man this video makes me so sad, not because its bad or anything but what is said just... makes me really really sad

[@hammerdancegaming]

Apologies! Didn’t mean to make anyone sad, it’s just a a nod to the good times in the past and the good times ahead!

[@silvercross1024]

I feel this, because we miss the friends we had 10-20 years ago. I miss the biggest responsibility I had was not failing a math test lol. I miss the time, it was definitely simpler.

[@maxpowers4436]

You need to make some new memories.

[@dashontelamarcus1814]

​@@hammerdancegamingMinecraft music didn't help lol

[@alexfluxx3358]

Same here, mate… I write from Russia, and… meh… I played the same game 20 years ago as you did. I have the same memories, emotions and warmth in my heart. I am 40 now and I miss those times. The world has become worse, people seem to be worse. The only place where I can hide is Classic Era WoW. And I am about to burst into tears, how much I want the reality outside WoW to be just a bad dream. I want to wake up again in 2005…

[@negativepinktv423]

Well made video and commentary man. You hit the nail right on the head! Hopeful for a fresh soon as well 🤘🏼

[@Complication84]

I enjoy these videos because I'm old and this trip down nostalgia lane happened for me with Everquest, which was my second mmo, but my first addiction. I got to experience all of these feelings in Norrath before WoW was even a thought in Blizz's head. Then I got to experience its death and the revival with their fresh start (progression) server. Then the horror of what it became with multiple "fresh" starts multiple times a year for the last 15 years. Which is still happening to this day. While the actual game has been left to languish in eternal undeath. So this WoW fresh start phenomenon the last few years reminds me of the "first time?" meme.

[@jamesb6857]

Well said!

[@heyhelmar]

For me the most memorable experiences were also from Classic even tho it was so long ago. And it is no wonder. In the book "Designing Experiences" the authors describe a couple of principles to make experiences memorable: For example, Novelty, Emotional Engagements, Social Interaction, Challenge & Transformation. Blizzard would be well advised to evaluate their work based on that and I think they got a broad hint not far too long ago and act on it.

[@tatusmachine01]

What a great video to watch. I can relate to so many things like first playing it in 2005 at age of 13, exploring the world, imagining what happened before me (like it was a real thing 😅) and I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of characters I reached max level. I admit, I never played on official blizzard servers and today I still play Wrath of the Lich King on Warmane. I enjoy the game in the free moments I have, in my own pace, enjoying the scenary and believe it or not, sometimes I still discover things I've never seen before in all these years. WoW is part of my life, like I know it also is for so many people of my age.

[@chains-chains]

ive found that discord has replaced a lot of in game hangout spots. i remember goldshire and outside org being so populated and social, but now we've got discord and world chat is popular now, so no more dedicated hangout spots anymore. i spent do much time just socializing and dueling in GS. you dont see much of that anymore :(

[@nataliep6385]

What a well edited video! :) Kudos to you brother

[@hammerdancegaming]

Thank you!!

[@fullelement4886]

Ending this with the discussion on music was perfect. Even though i don't have time to play anymore i still listen to the music in WoW all the time. In fact, right after this i think it's time for some Storm Peaks music, then maybe Thunder Bluff

[@hammerdancegaming]

Glad you enjoyed it! Been working on another, that should be out by Monday!

[@turntup260]

as both a wowhead and a video game remixer/DJ who's fueled by nostalgia, this video hit me in all the feels. thanks man

[@b.p.879]

I'll never forget being a low level Tauren Hunter leveling in The Barrens, questing out of Xroads. It took so much longer to finish that zone because my friends and I would nearly always go defend the town from the Alliance raids. Later on when we were L45+, we started going on massive raids on SW and IF and surrounding areas. I played on Greymane PVE, yet we had so much pvp all the time, it was insane. All the low level zones were crowded, and you got to know people and even got to know the enemy players cause you'd see them so much in outdoor PVP, like Tauren Mill V Southshore! Nice memories.

[@pablomercado2844]

I'v always been slow to understand BIS gear, rotations, talent tree combinations, so i would suck in raids but what I really enjoyed and had a lot of fun doing once i was max lvl was helping out low levels running them through Deadmines for free or other dungeons, crafting stuff for them, handing out gold 10g to noobs to get that first mount. and it was just so much fun seeing players get that emotional boost that comes form a helping hand, specially when they dont seem to be getting ahead because of lack of gold or poor gear, i would help them gear up with a few dungeon runs and i will be chasing that feeling again, leveling up and gearing up just to help noobs.

[@bakli322]

This is ur best video yet, bet it took a lot of work gj brother :) u will rise in no time

[@yetigaming8711]

Never will i forget the sound of first walking through stormwind when the music swells then seeing a active city full of players it was amazing to someone who followed the story of wc RTS games who grew up on blizz games from watching my uncle play when i was a kid and being someone who barely even knew what an MMO even was. It was a surreal experience

[@DanzGaymer]

is this a re-upload i swear i seen this a couple days ago.

[@beardman2156]

Right! I just asked too 😅

[@Ekstrimers]

Looks like no longer waiting for classic+. Fresh only. Also in the votepools didnt mention classic+ . Before only talked about what we want in classic pluss.

[@jniles]

Right? I asked myself the exact same thing! It said it was only uploaded a few hours ago so thought I was just going crazy, but I swear I watched this same video recently. Maybe I'm not as crazy as I thought, lol

[@xenogroth]

Since people are chasing likes as a form for validation. Yes, this is a re-upload.

[@ReaLKennYProductionS]

Reupload and fusion of the lates 3-4 Videos i think.

[@warmunky3797]

@27:40 OMG is that High Warlord "PAT"??? That video made me re-roll a Tauren Warrior just be look that badass!!! lol. Iconic Vid!

[@colonelsanders82]

I have never been one to rush this game. I hate the mentality. Levelling has always been my favorite part of the game. The problem, of course, is never having anyone to play the game with. Of course I run dungeons with people, but it feels like nobody plays at "my speed" so even if I add one of them to my friends list, one of us is going to outpace the other and then we are no longer going to be able to do content with each other. At least, not until we both reach max level. It would be nice to make a character with a friend, and agree to only play that character when the other is on. If you get the itch to play the game when your friend isn't on, play a different character.

[@Catastrophy349]

Your videos are incredible. I just subscribed! Looking forward to the day you hit 100K!

[@hammerdancegaming]

Welcome aboard and thank you so much! Welcome to the family!!

[@Morfintime]

Incredible video!! Thanks a lot!

[@jamesmccheyne3243]

I didn't start playing Wow until about halfway through BC. Even then I only played for the 39 Twink bracket (with the help of 2 friends nearly abandoned accounts). The release of Vanilla Classic 2019 felt so perfect to me. I got to go back and peruse all the little areas I rushed past the first time. Did 17 days /played to 60 on Druid, utilizing stealth to explore EVERYWHERE. I took it all in! Currently I only exist in the classic HC realms. I have not reached 60 yet and that's perfectly ok. Oh, and I turned in-game music on!

[@shadowofnoc5760]

I'm sorry you've had this FOMO "RUSH" experience you've talked about. I have never had this issue in any version of WoW I've played (from OG vanilla in 2005 to classic re-releases). Maybe I just don't play with a huge tight-nit group enough to get FOMO, or whatever. I take my time, sometimes even walk places, hang out in towns, level up my professions, talk with people, do WPVP, etc. If you end up playing the new classic release, I hope you are about to get past the FOMO feeling and actually enjoy it this time. Its an absolute blast and amazing taking your time and soaking in the world. GL Bro, maybe see you out there!

[@fredrickfebbi8410]

Same, Back then when I was Young I didn’t go pass lvl 40, I was outside SW or Goldshire chilling with people and chatting around

[@michaelac7320]

I’m so keen on a classic fresh. ‘The rush’ is fun! There’s lots to do other than raid log in classic wow. A lot.

[@edgaraspetrikas705]

Great quality of video moderating. Interesting to watch. GZ

[@JozefKonradPlata]

I'm going to play again since they are relauching it next week. I've been working for quite a while on my own game and I reuse a lot of things from classic wow (and nothing from retail). It's probably the nostalgia that's driving me to continue working on it. For sure diving into a fresh server will give me few ideas.

[@alexgabriel8661]

been playing since 2007 and this video is 100% true!! i started a week ago a new toon (rerolling) and im doing expansion questlines and exploring everything lil by lil, i stopped rushing mythics and raids im just enjoying the game when i first releived it back at 2007 and im enjoying it better.

[@deliciousfirstsip]

I couldn't agree more. I started in 2008 and got burned out for a long time but era brought me back. I learned to enjoy the game for an RPG and a solo game as well as an end game with others. I also learned to appreciate the lore and story a little more, which helped me appreciate the game more.

[@PootisPenserPow]

The music of WoW is some of the greatest ever in gaming. I can tell you which zone each track from Vanilla is from. Probably most of TBC too.

[@Mcbuggler]

I rushed like crazy on classic launch. and I had an absolute blast. I was the highest level on my server, and I just wanted to be the first hunter to get Broken Tooth and Tidal Charm. I got Broken Tooth, and camped Prince Nazjak for 2 days, and somehow missed him. It was still an amazing gaming experience I'll never forget, people cheering me on, getting 2 hours of sleep each night, and just focused like I've never been before. Sometimes, rushing is fun for some people.

[@af6756]

That kind of lifestyle is only suitable for a very incremental minority of gamers. Most have personal or professional schedules or commitments and don't just play one game nonstop for a temporary sense of ego boost.

[@joshmalkinson556]

Sounds sad but each to their own

[@johndoe7171]

Some of the most fun I've ever had in WoW was questing and 3-manning instances with my older brother and his wife. We all made characters together on purpose to make a balanced team and leveled all through TBC completely together. It was slow in the instances with only 3 folks, but felt dangerous and challenging and coordinating on voice chat... it was just awesome, felt like exactly what the designers wanted.

[@autdelux]

i will do it again for the 7th time i will start classic ;) ive done everything from full geared rogue mage boomkin priest i made my rank 1 logs i explored every inch of the game speedrun everything there is but there is still one thing that i havent done and that is to make a full bis geared smite priest ;)) lets go classic lets do it again cant wait to make some logs with that spec ^^ forever classic

[@EpilepticBob]

Simpler times, logging WoW the first time into Teldrassil was a great feeling, I started playing Classic Era again, and it’s been fun to go through Darkshore, Duskwood again. After so many years

[@Vaampe]

Ive been takin it real slow, listening/reading to quests and talking to random players while out slowly leveling. Its been great.

[@strezzi]

This is so true for my first toon i took my time leveling but after that its all end game rush

[@Shizuka965]

I thought i was so past this, but you made me realize why I always come back to wow; why I always end up playing it at some point each year. I think for my part is time to let it go and well, keep the memories as memories, and not use them as a reason as to why im back on wow ^^ Have fun guys if you plan to play wow again tho, and don't rush, take it slow, explore, craft, farm the reputations if you want, nobody and nothing forces you to go anywhere in this game, nobody forces you to reach level cap and stay to the new expansion zones.

[@NexReloaded]

This is actually a really damn good video. At point in time did the majority of us stop playing to the world and start simply grinding 1 to Max none stop?!?! Playing in the early days of question the continents i have so many memories of it all but when i think of the later years i can't really think of anything even close to the enjoyment.

[@snuffeldjuret]

31:42 the chills, and I didn't even play very much back then. I've only ever gotten 2 guys to lvl 60. One pre tbc and one in classic.

[@rylandvance5304]

You perfectly encapsulated things (for me at least) with the FOMO rush. FOMO is also why it took me so long to even give Classic a solid try, because I figured everyone would have by now zerged through all the content, gotten bored, and moved on leaving all the servers dead. But much to my surprise, I pop on with a character I dabbled with around a year+ ago on Whitemane, and I see Stormwind completely packed with players, /2 is scrolling by at lightning speed, etc. Kinda got me to resolve to just level a fresh Paladin cause I never had the old school pally experience, and take the game at a comfy speed. 2 weeks into this and I'm only level 24, but feeling no pressure this time to hurry things along. It's a pretty freeing feeling when you can get to that mindset.

[@joelhodoborgas]

Man, while im having a blast on retail, but its in no way an MMO like classic now, feels like a lobby game, which is fine, but feels more like a dota or something.

[@saulgoodguy1840]

Im also enjoying retail rn which is surprising bc the last retail expansion I enjoyed was legion. It definitely does not feel like an mmo. It feels like diablo 3 but good tbh.

[@BlindMarksman]

That's the thing: pretty much all the big modern "MMOs" _are,_ in fact, glorified lobby games. That's why they all fail to scratch the itch and why there's such a large and vocal market for old school MMORPG design. Note, I ain't saying there's anything wrong with lobby games. I've played the hell out of Left 4 Dead, Deep Rock Galactic and other such games with my buddies and had a blast doing so.

[@darrencouvillion5501]

You hit this experience on the head. Exactly my journey. Most happy leveling 1-20

[@bearaugz]

I sure am going thou "one of these phases" now bro, it's an itch 😊 2 years sober and she brought me back

[@themasterkey3]

For anyone wanting to scratch the itch, come to Classic Era! I've been enjoying my time back again after 1 year and making more content again. The world is alive and well.

[@ajwakefield5822]

If you want Classic+ today, SoD is absolutely amazing right now

[@CypherDND]

What is SoD?

[@dellort]

sod is dogshit

[@Andrew-yl7lm]

​@@CypherDND season of discovery

[@markblaze4909]

i still have that original wow promo video i remember it from like 2003 or 2004. i know exactly where i was and how i felt the first time i saw it.

[@libelula5]

Hi, well said all round! Can you tell me what addon you are using for the UI, in particular player/raid frames and the name plates. Looks really clean!

[@hammerdancegaming]

Hey! I use ELVUI and my profile I custom made, you can import my profile string, its in the community discord for everybody to copy/paste

[@JellyTradestheMarket]

This man knows the secret to the algorithm. Classic wow

[@hammerdancegaming]

❤️

[@Wushoolay97]

Going around to my uncles when I was young, to play his lvl 60 fire mage. Best memory ever, having my own Dwarf hunter when he finally bought my first PC to play it. Sneaking home at lunch at school to play at my grans house, Those were the days, I miss these times.

[@Cardcitysports]

WHen is fresh classic servers coming out?? I quit after classic tbc as i dont like lichking ,but definitely would love to play fresh classic again on my warrior .

[@fxr.markus]

Will alway remember the first time running with my n811 rog into darnassus the first time. Never felt something like this after years of pc gaming from CS 1.5 to C&C. And the feeling of a big world was crazy and i didnt know shit of "endgame". Farmed FireResi gear for getting into Mc without knowing about BWL or what to come after but felt like an achievement. No shit like GS, Meta, Speedruns, BiS gear but respect for the choosen few on my server that did all the endgame and had gear i never expected to see. To the end of my days I will remember the one druid on my server who got all the stuff cause he had some disease in RL. Alliance member went down on their knees when the met him in the WoW. Never saw so much respect in this game

[@Wh1teLux]

We were never supposed to get leveled expansions. It was a marketing failure now. But at the time the best move possible. Another Boeing if you will....... 60 was supposed to be the cap with all these "expansions" as patches. With our subscription only. We now see this with the SoD new Raid it's as new as the Ashara BG we never got.

[@VENAZ]

If you've ever played Escape from Tarkov / Rust / DayZ or any game that has a reset button after a set amount of time. It actually makes the games more Fresh & Fun to play. And it doesn't have to be only because of nostalgia. It's actually fun to start of from the begining again with everyone else. And have a whole new experience with the same game that you love. (Edit. Now that i think about it tho. All those games come with new content for each reset whilst wow classic doesn't. But imagine if it did)

[@Geoff313]

No one ever mentions that when all the original raids first came in to the game they were tuned to be much more difficult. I was in a guild that got many server firsts and I remember very clearly getting stuck on many bosses then a patch would come and we could move on. Eventually by 1.12 or whatever it was all the raids were really easy and many guilds were completing them. Not saying people can’t beat the original forms of each raid with our current skill and knowledge but just a point I never hear brought up

[@ReactRandy]

This is still the case, it happens each expansion so that the race to world 1st will be a fun and difficult challenge for viewers and players to experience. Then it’s patched so us normies can clear heroics/mythics. It’s all for hype, blizzard knows how difficult mythics are

[@maxpowers4436]

What you said here resonates with me, I lived it. I remember getting home from school and raiding in LK vividly. I simply just dont subscribed to this memberberries shit anymore. Those times were great but they are gone, I dont want to cling/relive nostalgia. Its the "modern" version of back in my day boomer stuff. I understand why some people may or want too. But the more time passes just re-affirms to me that that Wow classic is propped up not by the game but the era it existed in most peoples lives. A friend of mine cant let go of classic wow he also really hsnt moved on with his life, he cant play retail because its too modern. Meanwhile he loves and plays Diablo 4. People just cant move on from that time in thier life.

[@valecrassus7835]

@hammerdance You and I started playing at almost the exact same time - early June 2005. Your warrior is also wearing almost the exact gear I was carrying at the conclusion of vanilla, right down to the Helm of Endless Rage, Drake Talon Pauldrons, and Thunderfury. My issue with Classic was that since this is all known content, everyone on the server blasts through it at warp speed. This was about a three to six month cycle, where the bell curve of level distribution would quickly tilt to level 60 and there would eventually be so few characters going through the leveling process that group content below endgame was impossible to complete. Case in point: throughout most of vanilla, you could hang out at the bottom of the Jintha'Alor elite troll temple area and eventually a group of 2 or 3 people would come along and you could get to the top and save Sharpbeak or get the Ancient Egg or whatever. In Classic, once a server has been up and running for 6 months, you could hang out waiting for a group for hours on end and not see a soul. The servers would also end up emptying out and essentially becoming dead. I'm not sure why---I think maybe consolidating on other servers that had lots of raids going.

[@dereksanchez6751]

summer of 2005 was the best time to be a nerd, the height of Wow, Halo and Yugioh.

[@Ray-lw2rh]

Maplestory too 😢

[@snuffeldjuret]

and dota

[@b.p.879]

Battlefield 1942 DC and FH mods, plus Guild Wars, Rise of Nations, Age of Empires 2!

[@saulgoodguy1840]

I want fresh sooo bad. Im unironically so excited to roll a cat dps and farm manual crowd pummelers again.

[@satnightspecial]

I think I can count on one hand how many KZbin comments I've left, but this was an amazing video.

[@hizzousekakashi8836]

When TBC is back, I will return, I will show the community the Light of the Holy Mage.

[@dannymoontattoos]

I want to play TBC for the first time personally. It looks so polished and special. I started in WOD and was going through a rough time when they brought it back a few years ago. It looks so fun. Arenas I can actually wrap my head around and have fun in not sweating my ass off for 1400 😂

[@Deathrydar]

You nailed this! I have tried to come back to wow classic multiple times after playing from Nov 2004 till WotLK. The min maxing is HORRIBLE! It makes the game not fun, and that, is the point of playing a game. I realize now my only chance of ever being able to play like it was back in 2005ish is to wait for a fresh server to launch and to create my own guild with like minded people that despise the elitist and min maxing attitudes. Here's to hoping that I'm right.

[@xmoxipavonispetinus8539]

Try hardcore is how wow original

[@Deathrydar]

@@xmoxipavonispetinus8539 I would never waste my time ny putting it into a character that can be perma killed by Blizzard's bad hardware.

[@xmoxipavonispetinus8539]

@@Deathrydar hardcore it's better that vainilla.i remember my guild sell spot for aq40 and nax on ebay.( On 2005)

[@yamahamusicians]

Great video! I am in the 1.8% of older players, 64 this year. I started playing back in 2005 along with my wife. I have always played solo and have no interest in raids or teaming up with others for dungeons. I usually have 5 or more characters at level cap purely through questing. My wife is the raid and dungeon one, obviously far more sociable than me 😂. For me it is all about the world, exploration, questing and just roaming about. But therein lies the issue. The game world is just not realistic enough. The graphics have improved over time but they are still behind the curve for immersive world type games so even though I am into exploration it all feels a little flat. Funny you mentioned RIFT, that does have better graphics and is also a lot of fun to play but I have pretty much exhausted the novelty factor of that one. Currently I am playing The War Within but not finding it particularly interesting. Perhaps it will improve with time.

[@RealOPerson]

this video gave me chills in the best way possible

[@cosmicwinters]

Thursday can't come fast enough. It doesn't matter that the servers hype won't last, I'll always enjoy a fresh launch and make a point of gaming all day and ordering pizza in, etc. For me, there's nothing wrong with the hype -> raid logging until next patch expetience for the most part. I'm fine with the joy being 'limited'. I like that I can have so much fun and then relax/play something else.

[@oswaldmensin5283]

TBH the only thing i want them to change about classic wow is major modern graphics. make all mechanics the exact same, just give it very new paint so exploring can be familiar and magical still

[@Dusty_CA]

I just started playing Season of Discovery and man, it's a lovely change of pace from Retail. Cata doesn't interest me that much, managed to get a Paladin to 85, but it doesn't hook me in all that much. Can't wait for another fresh Vanilla WoW!

[@JRileyD]

We all like fresh but if they don't build on the rear end and continue on the continents expanding the story and lore locally to classic vibes. It will be another level up quit halfway/at endgame and find something else to do. We NEED mystery that hasn't been min maxed to death on a hamster wheel. It doesn't even have to give items of power or anything a feature, new pvp, like....something, anything? And no not just lazily throwing in every spell in the game that players can get and calling it sod, not that garbage. Y'all need to have ambition and really push for them to build on the classic servers. For 20 yr anniversary we get...servers.. no development no wow factor nothing like that, just fresh servers. Let's get some ambition from blizzard damn RuneScape made a banger classic that EVERYONE globally loves and admires. Blizzard with its endless money won't even provide that to us. Blizzard is a joke company.

[@hammerdancegaming]

Well said!!

[@CamCorleone]

Im actaully playing Turtle WoW which is Vanilla WoW i assume with my girlfriend. Its her very first time playing and she loves professions and traveling discovering. This its my 2nd time playing so im in the same train. Its very fun and inmersive playing wow at this rhytm, since i know "the rush" from other games and its very brainless to play that way thanks for the video i love to log in, put my headphones and listen the rain on darkshore while y do every single quest at my rythm

[@YeahWeSmokeGood]

I started right after burncing crusade came out. There are many games I love dearly but wow is an easy favorite.

[@ganolf1]

Any TLDR (or actually TLDW)?

[@Yeshua77-7]

Can’t relate, I was the explorer but when the dungeon que came into the picture the dungeon grinds took over. I think I never did any raids. It’s a great game and it’s hard to top the game but I dunno if I ever be coming back. TBC was my expansion.

[@gabriellamm2776]

I think the thing that attracts me a lot is a fresh economy not inflated by people buying gold. Gives money actual weight and reason especially at lower levels

[@nineeerie6518]

Do you reupload the same video over and over?

[@brimstonevalar6053]

the classic wow content creators videos are same shit all day "classic plus hype, classic plus soon, Blizz will release Classic Plus, Fresh Classic" they are all clones no inspiration or talent

[@snuffeldjuret]

@@brimstonevalar6053 watching content like this is like listening to a song you like, or watching your favorite tv series again.

[@tahroo4262]

Yeah I played hardcore as a melee hunter.. so the whole going slow part of it came naturally. I worked together with some people here and there but it was mostly just me and my pet that had no growl because I need to get attacked to dodge for mongoose and parry for counterattack.

[@foxmoulder7724]

Ahh they humble beginnings, I started when I graduated middle school and got a $300 Acer mini laptop. Later when I got a job in highschool I spent $500 on a homemade PC out of parts purchased from Newegg. The Acer was a laggy hot pocket, and the PC sounded like a vacuum the way it struggled. Got me through hard times tho. The weekly lockout raid logging is too real

[@c0refreAk.]

The biggest thing of it not being the same as it used to be is, IMO, 100% the change in playerbase and attitude. Everything got really sweaty, min maxing everywhere, everyone is only chasing good parses, only meta classes are considered in raids etc. etc. Such thing as just sitting back and chill doesn't really exist anymore. Back in my day i remember fairly high class fidelity in my raids. Now, its just all purposely warrior and rogue stacking and some single class picks for buffs and uitility.