This MMORPG Had ZERO Updates In 18 Months... And It's Growing | Classic WoW

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A while back I made a video on my not too hopeful thoughts for the future of Classic Era realms. Yet over the past few months, something I didn't expect has really begun to happen - era realms are growing once again.
Today we take a look at why people are choosing to go back to Vanilla Classic once again, and take a look at Classic Era's recent growth!
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[@WillEmmo]

Download Clash Royale for FREE and get started today! ➡ wehy.pe/y/3/WillE

[@barlenn657]

PS

[@barlenn657]

😊p😊plpp ppl pp😊pl

[@tomik6537]

global air cylinder wheels

[@tomik6537]

how is this comment edited two days ago but the video posted 42 minutes ago

[@ItsJessdMe]

@@tomik6537 You can schedule videos to be posted publicly.

[@letmeeatcake7836]

I've been having fun playing super casually, hanging out with cool people. Era servers have almost no pressure to progress quickly it feels more like playing vanilla than classic launch did.

[@karlzila]

Well said mate, has light's hope vibes if you ever played on that private server

[@Eric-sd2tk]

I think thats why classic era servers are growing rn. Everyone nowadays goes tryhard mode on launch and that level of competition kills the game, at least for me.

[@raminMTL]

Any server recommendations for EU?

[@vendellin6230]

agreed

[@weatheredseeker]

@@raminMTL hydraxian has all the HC players. idk outside that tho

[@wakeinsominac1665]

Vanilla wow is a version of the game that will simply never fade into memory. Its the best version of home and i want to go back home...

[@animigo5669]

Me too brother

[@AsuriTV]

If its good then why isn't it more popular?

[@TudorSicaru]

@@AsuriTV because it's old, people want to try other things, but none of those make them feel the same way, my best guess, so often times they end up checking classic back again. I am pretty sure if they launch a "fresh" realm with phases again, the population will skyrocket...atm they see an increase in population on old realms where people already 'finished' gearing up, so imagine how a new start would look like :) Back with 20k login queues.

[@volixian]

@@AsuriTV many reasons, a lot of people are catered to in retail and you can instantly buy a max level character, tokens to buy your gear in game for gold, etc. There are so many reasons but none of them are good.

[@Juztastic]

@@AsuriTV Because people suffer from burn out and also want to play on populated realms and with TBC Classic and WoTLK it took the majority of the player base as well as SoM servers but with WoTLK and SoM coming to an end and people having had a two year break while playing TBC/WoTLK it's fairly obvious a chunk of the player base will return to Classic which will have a knock on effect in drawing in more players. This is because of what a masterpiece Vanilla is. The same situation wouldn't happen with TBC Classic I doubt many people will want to go back to Outland in 2-3 years time.

[@karlzila]

I'm on classic era and I am absolutely loving it on the Whitemane cluster. Vanilla Forever

[@Auszar023]

What's the regular raid schedules for most classic raiding guilds, I've been thinking about going back to vanilla servers and see what's best

[@rodgoesinya9947]

@Auszar lol there's probably only one or two actual raiding Guilds

[@nothingimportantlol]

@@Auszar023 4 naxx raiding guilds on both factions and 20mans / 40mans basically every day of the week. Still growing and more guilds are starting up

[@Auszar023]

@@nothingimportantlol right on!

[@stickyglue8083]

Makes me want to return ❤️

[@rainedrop29]

I HIGHLY doubt blizz would ever do this, but a reduced sub price for only playing on classic era feels like it would be a pleasant compromise, while also still deterring bots. Even just a $5 reduction would be huge in my opinion.

[@cosmicforce741]

1) bots don't pay sub fees 2) I want people working on classic, if that costs $15/month so be it. A lower sub fee would just make it easier to disregard concerns about the state of the game

[@boarderz8275]

@@cosmicforce741 lol noone works on era anyway, it doesn't matter how much you pay for it, they barely find wotlk which has a much higher lol than era.

[@bachstrad1994]

lmao they tried to charge $35 to even copy your character on era

[@cosmicforce741]

@@boarderz8275 and after a price reduction they'd both be funded even less. Not sure what your point is

[@harleyHDz]

Wishful thinking although I thought the same thing, I have zero interest in retail wow, so why am I paying for a live service that I don't use. classic really just being regurgitated content, we're essentially just paying for the servers and someone to be on the phone for when some idiot gets hacked for buying gold...

[@warhammerguy]

Just came back to classic. Played through all of classic on horde back when classic was current, but after a break from wow I went back and started fresh on the alliance. One of the best things about vanilla is the journey, not the destination.

[@GdotWdot]

You couldn't pay me to engage with vanilla endgame but levelling is great.

[@counterstrike5694]

@@GdotWdot for some people its hard to understand that not everyone likes the endgame :D leveling is the best part.

[@Magepure6749]

@@counterstrike5694True. I've been playing WoW for combined 15 years _(10 of which TBC pservers, rest Cata with some Vanilla and WoTLK sprinkled in)_ and literally the only raid I've ever done fully was Karazhan, lol. -Oh sorry. Gruul's lair too but that ain't no true raid XD- I've also entered WoTLK Naxx but the furthest we got was that mushroom dude spawning skeletons. TBH I couldn't even play on retail because the whole expansion model doesn't really resonate with me and goes on too quickly. Like, _bruh,_ if I wanted a ratrace I'd just get a corpojob ---- and I'd make money instead of sinking it XD I'm the guy who slows down the entire party by actually DARING to read the quest text --- and I feel no shame :^)

[@LichlordKazam]

WHAT?! You've failed the horde!

[@Juztastic]

@@counterstrike5694 And for some people they enjoy both even if you raid that only takes a few hours once or twice a week the rest of the time your gonna be leveling alts, PvPing or grinding. Leveling is the best part as well as PvP pre 60 I love the 49 PvP bracket every one has most vital abilities and farming gear for the bracket can be done easily just by running SM/ZF and Mara. Raiding is such a small part of the game in all seriousness.

[@mihaa94sky]

The best thing for me on Classic Era is that I never feel any pressure of keeping up with anything. It's there to stay and you can go at any pace you want. Want to take a break for a few weeks or months? No problem, same content is still waiting for you if you decide to return. Want to come back and grab those pieces of gear you never had a chance to? No problem, they didn't go obsolete in the next expansion, they're still there for grabs in the same content. There's a big enough population for casual raiding, speedrun raiding, PVP-ing in BG's and even in world pvp recently. It's not high pop, you won't always be able to get a group for anything you want within minutes, but population seems to be growing more and more so even that might change soon enough. I see many leveling guilds now, new names appearing and some returning. All in all, if you have doubts about Era, give it a shot, judge it for yourself, it's not dead like some folks would have you think!

[@ZapatosVibes]

That's awesome!

[@Cheebzsta]

That's totally dope! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. It sounds a lot like the private server experience, funny enough. :D

[@Telmustard]

The Hardcore community is really thriving in Classic Era. It's amazing.

[@menndoess9627]

Shoutout Kargoz and Greysfordays

[@Oxy80111]

WillE really just hit us with the "ironman btw". Love your videos man. Love vanilla. Keep up the good work.

[@hazmongrel]

innit, show stats

[@Deathpony9000]

WillE THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF ERA!! He isn't kidding when he says there's been a population boom in Classic Era recently! Era is GROWING!! Horde on Whitemane started a unique wow culture environment that quickly spread thru Era. During the summer of 2022, one of the established guilds there while facing a second fracturing, instead of feuding with the those leaving to reform, it actively supported the new splinter/reform guild. Out of respect the guilds there now REALLY support each other and raid with each other instead of feeding off one another. This is how they have thrived instead of falling to attrition or petty drama. The Alliance there quickly followed this success model and followed suit in similar fashion, and it's since spread thru the greater Era community. As a result, Whitemane-PvP horde on North American servers has exploded in particular. For U.S. servers it was always the most populous horde location, but now it's more than doubled in size in the last 4 months. - original Era guild, uses Soft Reserve, clears all content, chill raid atmosphere that gets a little intense in Naxx. ( pretty much everyone that's been on Era since the start, has basically been in NP at one point or another) - original Era guild, uses Soft Reserve with bonus, clears all content, serious raid atmosphere. - reformed/remade 2022 Era guild, uses GDKP, clears all content, power farm raid atmosphere. - 2022 PUG GDKP 'guild', cross faction, uses GDKP, clears all content, organized raid atmosphere. , , - are all new guilds filled with new Era players leveling up. Whitemane-US also hosts Gurubashi Arena Fight Club's again, originally started on Benediction. These are 1v1 pvp tournaments with sign-ups, rules, streamers, and moderators. Whitemane-US also hosts organized Alterac Valley battlegrounds. Yes, we all jump into AV and beat the crap out of each other for hours. Match after match on the weekends. North American servers also have regular Warsong Gulch bg's popping all week now (used to be only the weekends). With 2-3 going on at the same time on the weekends. And lastly, as WillE points out, YOUR SERVER REPUTATION MEANS SOMETHING LIKE O.G. WOW! The community is small and tight-niche - like a small town, and everyone gets to know everyone. There's no anonymity here.

[@Sandown]

lol original era guilds who wouldnt move to whitemane till free xfer.

[@thomashunter9496]

I’ve been absolutely loving my time on whitemane the past few months!

[@thomashunter9496]

I’ve been absolutely loving my time on whitemane the past few months!

[@jbshbsskskhbs6713]

This is good to know, had a horde copy of my character from vanilla but wasn't sure where there might be a community to join if i felt like going back. Luckily it looks like the free transfer is still available, so won't hurt to check it out!

[@natecw4164]

You're right, server rep does mean something on Whitemane. Not going to name guilds but I did WC with the worst warrior I've ever met. Forgot his name but I'm avoiding taking any undead dps warriors from his entire guild.

[@marckindl1071]

EU Firemaw Era OG here --> Thanks a lot for this video WillE. Those of us who have believed in this concept since day 1 and have fought hard to establish a thriving community are very thankful for this video. In my opinion Classic Era is not just Classic, as in Vanilla, but something different --> No more patches, expansions, loss of progression, spells, etc. It is a stable framework where the community drives what happens, like it should be in an MMORPG. If you do not want to play rat race no more and join the forever Classic game with the ever evolving Classic community, come join!

[@dmitriyrasskazov8858]

Sounds cool, was looking for private server of plain vanilla for some time, i just assume all original realms are dead so i didnt even bother to check those.

[@Suinchistreams]

I appreciate the support for ERA. We are growing and on Mankrik, raids every night.

[@BeenieWTF]

I tried the current expansion but there is just nothing that felt better to me than classic. I just wish I could experience the craziness of 2019 classic release on a RP-PVP server again, what an experience.

[@brendenkuse6565]

I just tried to play an rp server a couple days ago and they immediately starter blasting all of these rules that kinda ruined it for me

[@krexolsen3692]

Zandalar Tribe was just a pvp server and died quickly in classic. Grobbulus however is still one of the popular server

[@LocrianDorian]

I can tell you that playing Classic in 2019 was really almost just as good as playing it back in the day. My only real gripe is that because Blizzard used the last Vanilla patch as the basis of Classic, the characters were quite a bit stronger compared to the majority of actual Vanilla. Not only the talents but also the itemization which was vastly improved down the line. There was some additional elitism compared to Vanilla, which is natural, since the vast majority were not playing WoW for the first time, but it was less than I thought it would be, most players were quite friendly and overall it was a great recreation of the real thing. Which makes me think the game mechanics forcing you to be a little more social actually work and it isn't just the players that have changed :)

[@ajaakola2]

Zandalar tribe was the shit

[@Magepure6749]

Omg, RP-PvP, my favorite server type

[@jstrain6460]

I honestly hope that another season of mastery comes about and or classic era realms come back to life, vanilla is simply a timeless piece of entertainment that all should be able to join and enjoy throughout the years :)

[@sincodemayo]

Well ye kinda got your wish, classic is popping again

[@ABuffWizard]

Despite the quality of both Dragonflight and Wrath, I felt so out of place in the experience. More so DF, but it feels so alienating and that I'm always rushing to finish the current objective to the next thing. The little section about the excitment of getting your first bag drop or grey shoulders reminded me why I love Classic so much. It's pace can be laborious at times, but it really makes every small achievement mean so much more.

[@chrism3562]

I did completely miss that $5 clone window. I'd for sure have made use of it at that price point.

[@361Openwounds]

I think videos like this can only help these communities grow further. I'm definitely considering it as an option now, knowing that it's not an empty version of the game. Thanks for sharing!

[@FoxTrotting1]

Join us! The new player floodgates have opened once again

[@TheRealSalali]

We have at least 4 Naxx raiding guilds on Whitemane (Horde) and 1 or 2 that are doing 20-mans and trying their hand at MC. We have over 600 unique accounts in our guild alone (although only probably 100 who actually play each week). We were the last Naxx progression guild, after 2 years and many obstacles from server transfer of the entire guild to guild leadership changes, we have survived 2 years and are now 15/15 Naxxramas. We also just got our first one-night clear, 15/15 and are now trying to obtain that every week and get it on farm status. Monday will be our 4th KT kill! Whitemane has both hardcore raiding guilds and casual raiding guilds, GDKP guilds, 3+ leveling guilds, and at least one PVP guild plus a thriving set of about 10 Discord servers for all the guilds and communities, and most of this is all from the Horde side -- BUT THERE'S JUST AS MUCH FOR ALLIANCE, TOO! If you haven't been to Whitemane during peak hours, please stop spreading false information to other players by making ASSumptions!

[@361Openwounds]

This is honestly all so great to hear. Amazing how the passion of the community is coalescing again. I'm currently loving my time in wrath, as that's my favorite content, but I plan to restart my journey anew after wrath.

[@brentlangford]

try TurtleWow, private server. all vanilla complete. Try the hardcore version.

[@Galahallt]

It's not that hardcore could work, it WORKS. People really enjoy it and when they die, they go again. It's really addicting, everything matters more, it's way more exciting and the low level zones constantly feel like a fresh server. Many may have started the journey because they saw a streamer playing, but they stayed because of the thrill.

[@AsuriTV]

Haha wow yes man I totally love dying at lvl 5 to a Boar then delete the char to experience that FRESH epic feeling, especially after 15 years of FRESH it just never gets old it's just permanently FRESHHHHFREEESHH

[@andrewg3196]

@@AsuriTV normal human being comment

[@boarderz8275]

I'm an oceanic player, I would 100% play era if there was enough oce players to get some raids going for our timezone but it's a bit of a niche situation, hopefully they keep growing and some of my fellow Aussies and nzers get back on era!

[@deejgames94]

Most aussies are on Bloodsail NA server, mostly playing the HC challenge but it’s super busy on all time zones

[@fredq6118]

@@deejgames94 Is there some discord for aus hc on bloodsail? Or just HC on bloodsail in general?

[@golinart4570]

I actually really love both classic and retail. I love the retail raids and Mythic+ but I love the slow progression and character building of Classic. It's really difficult to balance both games and it's hard to choose. I like the fast paced M+ gameplay but I also love the slow grindy classic gameplay. Mythic+ fixed the raid logging aspect of Wow, for me anyway. Even after doing my weekly clears I have a chance to farm m+ for upgrades leaving me with something to always do.

[@H-D-D]

Yeah I enjoy both too!

[@jonascourturee]

I play both by just playing when content releases for each version, august-oct I played wrath, nov-jan I played dragonflight, and now that uld is out im back to wrath. I dont find it too hard to balance, unless I were trying to play both at the same time then yeah that would be hard.

[@dannyp9210]

What if there was a version of WoW that combined the Classic world, progression and character building, and Retail endgame?

[@galleo9462]

Exactly this lol i raid with my guild tues wed on retail and im playing HC on bloodsail for a real challenge and practicing my wow knowledge xD its fun

[@themark462]

this is the video that got me back into WoW classic! I convinced my cousin who lives with me to rule a priest and I am playing a warrior and it’s pretty fun

[@AlexeyFilippenkoPlummet]

I'd just play TBC with no changes and that's it, I don't need any constant updates. I always hate updates in games like HoTS since it always tends to "shift the meta" as if players are kids with ADHD and as soon as they got used to something they need a constant change or their attention is vanished immediately. For me I like to slowly and deeply get a hold of what's available, I rely on things being as they are instead of just changing everything as often as possible. People still play Quake for 25 years, because when something is perfect and with an endlessly deep learning curve, you shouldn't change it. Ofc WoW isn't a match based game, but it's just nice to be able to play what you loved and keep discovering it and interacting with it without a fear that everything will be constantly changed/lost. Min/maxers probably get bored fast since they just math the numbers out, loot the BiS gear and need their new dose of bigger numbers. Kinda like wallstreet traders, but not rich irl lol. And I don't think this comes to what an MMORPG is, and that's why game with no changes is a thing in demand.

[@4d1ce]

hardcore on hydraxian waterlords is such a fun time with a great community and it’s been consistently growing. i started only a few weeks ago and i have noticed a massive surge in the playerbase even since then. the server pop just changed from “low” to “medium”! give it a chance if you have even an inkling of interest in leveling again in classic

[@Dan0191919]

I'm loving playing HC mode on the era servers. It's a booming community with all sorts of fun events like dungeon races, pvp tournaments, and endgame content too. Such a welcome change from the raid logging meta!

[@asdfiekpj]

I've been enjoying classic leveling again. Both HC and non-HC. There's just something about vanilla that is so cozy and I think it's still the best version of WoW. I'm really hoping for a new fresh server soon, but until then I'll be messing around on classic era servers.

[@Talix.]

This is AMAZING news. i love Classic more than anything and while I'm not a hardcore player the majority of my friends are. So needless to say I support any version of Classic that someone wants to play as all of this only helps to make the case for Blizzard to someday do Classic+

[@bohne8746]

would love a fresh classic like 2019. Miss 2019 so much:( was a blast

[@matthewosterman9030]

God I had no job back then too it was like being a kid for me again lol

[@druidlololol]

2019 was the best. And 2020, too, since I had nothing better to do during lockdown. Best game ever.

[@abrahamovicovski]

I would play vanilla casually anytime. If only it didn't have stupid monthly subscription and since I hate the private server devs and community, I rather don't play. Besides, I've returned to home that I occasionally used to return, and he is calling me.... "Not even death can save you from me!.."

[@Wakakoko74]

I'm annoyed that I didn't know the clone dropped to $5 because now that population has picked up I'd love to clone my old toon.

[@volixian]

dude.. ME TOO! and then when I found out, I was like a few weeks late!!!.. so I said fuck it and restarted

[@laurelhill3505]

I just joined Bloodsail (NA) and started the HC challenge for the first time ever. And after 18 years of playing this game, it has been so refreshing. Not dying is a lot harder than it sounds and sets a certain amount of tension in the game that is just not there in Wrath.

[@lancebro121]

I like turtle wow it has a amazing playerbase and HC too

[@asgrim1513]

@@lancebro121 nobody asked about trash privat servers.

[@JJJBunney001]

​@@asgrim1513 it's not trash though, by all reports it's just a better version of classic

[@businessofrhythm2315]

​@@asgrim1513 it's literally classic with new content and quality of life improvements. What's not to like? And it's free. Serve hits 5k players at once daily

[@asgrim1513]

@@businessofrhythm2315 it's trash coded.

[@TheOnlyGBeast]

Make no mistake, vanilla WoW will never die. In spite of its flaws, it is still the time in which the game's soul shone brightest, and even though i am not playing it at the moment it will always be the place i call home

[@tommyjones1357]

Makes me realize the sad fact that vanilla will probably die with all of us. Can’t imagine the kids born in 2060 wanting much to do with the game by the time they’re old enough to play it.

[@Quitarstudent]

@@tommyjones1357 no king rules forever my son

[@TheGnurgen]

I played vanilla when it first released. Then I played classic for about 6 months. It was fun to see the old game again, but it quickly felt like "been there done that". Now I recently got back into classic era by doing hardcore. Its a pretty fun way to play the game, and the player activity is huge, there are players everywhere, thousands of them, and people are dying permanently left and right :)

[@jonathanlovesadventure7838]

Classic era is back. It is what people want. Just leave the servers up. No need to run on a treadmill and catch up on gear all the time. It can be a source of nostalgia for sure.

[@stevethemage123]

Just made a new character on Classic era last week, there are groups of people doing hogger and what appears to be a bunch of active guilds! It is great!!

[@squipsquap]

I was having a lot of fun in WotLK, but the other day I watched your other video on the challenges of classic+ and it made me nostalgic for classic. So I picked it up again. We'll see how long I play, but I was indeed pleasantly surprised by how many people are there. I've never been interested in end-game content, so the journey of classic is really appealing to me.

[@ianthegreatt]

Classic Era is so much fun, having a FAR better time than any of the expansions. The Mankrik server cluster is super active, lots of players all levels. Thinking this is where I'll be long term now.

[@blothsear7289]

Aye I’m on Mankirk let’s play !

[@AllenAndMarie]

It's 3 months later, and Blizz is considering Hardcore Classic servers 😎

[@menndoess9627]

Shoutout to Kargoz and Greys for keeping the era servers alive and continuing the HC runs on Bloodsail. I’m giving dragonflight a try right now and having fun but iv been playing on bloodsail for a long time now and it’s so much fun

[@Babaganoosh69]

Great to see you make a video on this and get the word out. There's something both tangible and intangible about Classic Vanilla that makes it feel special and unique for the people that really like it. Classic Era will suffice for now, but I really look forward to the next seasonal server.

[@DerangedFinger]

also, to add, we still get world buffs and Chronoboon coordination every day/week. World buffs and speed clearing raids is still a big thing on Era

[@GrumpyMustard]

Makrik PVE cluster has been booming. We hit Medium Population a little bit ago!! I started playing last summer on a 60 character I never got to raid on (after semi-retiring my Naxx geared priest). There are so many guilds clearing all content, as well as leveling guilds that are starting to form and prosper. Best NA PVE alliance cluster, and would recommend Whitemane for horde.

[@Cheebzsta]

I'm a long time Warmane/Lordaeron player and it seems like people are enjoying the Classic era servers the same way I enjoy Lordaeron. After being away for a year I picked them up, dusted them off and carried right on working on my boomkin set. I'm really glad to see this experience is being mirrored on the Classic era realms. Now if Blizz would just give me a model pack update option and make a reasonable guarantee that they won't bail on the version of the game's past that I enjoy the most I'd probably migrate permanently to Classic. :)

[@mrfool21]

It's the same thing that happens with Vanilla Private servers. Vanilla will never die for the people that really love what it does.

[@Developer-online]

I came back to Era , and the communities are growing faster and faster . love it

[@DerangedFinger]

Hey dude! We’ve been starting a podcast for new folks and for us to chat about why era is so much fun. Just posted episode 0 and 1! “Endeavors of Era” is what we go by on KZbin! 😊 thanks for talking about ERA!

[@vongodric]

Created a new character, still in early zone, but kind of enjoying it. Not very crowded, but see few people around now and then. Don't know if will go all the way to 60, but for now loving it. There's few zones I've never played in classic that I am looking forward to... so that is my goal I guess.

[@oliverandersson1991]

just logged into classic era and a hunter ive left behind there and i got stuck for 2+ hours doing amazing quests in ashenvale, you really need to plan every step to not die i've missed it so much :)

[@henhouse]

I really wish they'd bring back character cloning... I really regret it now and definitely didn't hear they dropped the price to $5. The reason I didn't was because when TBC launched, Era was a graveyard. There was like 5 people online all connected realms. Was hard to basically invest $15 to assume maybe in 2 years it would perk back up again...

[@brantings]

Why doesn't blizzard just merge all Era realms into one? One big pvp-cluster realm and one big pve-cluster realm.

[@aetherium4817]

The biggest thing era comminuty wants is yearly scourge invasions. And possible repeatable world buff turn ins but the need for that decreases as population increases

[@Complication84]

You should give VanillaPlus a go. It is a classic era server that offers an actual Ironman mode, and has some really fantastic changes to classes/racials. It is a lot of fun.

[@elunaxalt]

I really want VanillaPlus and Turtle WoW devs to unite into one server. That would be so fucking cool

[@carminepb2242]

Started on the Whitemane cluster two or three weeks ago. Currently at level 37 on ally and have been having a great time!

[@GlantClassic]

I joined Classic Era from SoM 2 months ago, it has been growing rapidly since.

[@alexnfs]

I am playing in the HC event and it's so much fun plus the server (alliance side) is kinda buzzing! We have 6 almost full guilds at the moment (Hydraxian EU)

[@yesiam4610]

playing some hardcore duo’s with an irl friend, quit wotlk 4 months back and hardcore vanilla leveling has reawakened a love of the world

[@Harakanis]

tbh i'm not surprised at all classic server are still alive, never forget the reason we have classic servers to bbegin with is that 10+ years and 5 expansions after classic launch private classic servers were still a thing, there is clearly a playerbase for those

[@matthewwebb8245]

Damn, this makes me want to start playing again. I thought I'd be so pumped for TBC and Wrath and then I realized that I liked the memories of the game more than playing the versions of today.

[@nathanbrady8529]

People played vanilla for 15 years on private servers. THESE are the players Classic should be catering to; not the players that just want to burn through content as fast as possible.

[@stoniptfosupersonic]

Once I hit lvl 70 in DF I run couple of dungeons , did some world quests etc. and after a while I got bored. I created character in classic era and never looked back. It's just pure mmorpg, no bs involved

[@Skrvtch666]

I’m on ole Blanchy and my guild stil does weekly ZG, Ony, MC and starting BWL this week

[@johnhavardvalebrokk6151]

Always thought the population would eventually grow again on classic era. With the popularity of private servers that normally are just released at the end patch, I thought as soon as vanilla classic is no longer fresh in the memory, the popularity will eventually come back to it. Wasn't quite sure when, but I knew it would.

[@Havockable]

Been playing on the Mankrik cluster for several months. I decided to roll a few fresh toons, and have been having a great time. The population for Alliance maxes out at just over 500 players but they are highly dedicated with guilds raiding all tiers of content.

[@andyt.80]

i play hunter on warmane - never ever running from phase to phase anymore and grind new gear every 3 months. just play that game and have fun on what you achieved

[@KennyEngren]

im on firemaw, just went back to classic a week ago and im loving it! easy to find dungeons, guilds and such!

[@noname-gp6hk]

I haven't played games since classic a few years back, didn't touch TBC or wrath or anything else really. If I was gonna come back and play wow I'd hop on era.

[@charalamposkyriakou3682]

No updates means you can enjoy the game in your own pace, your own way and without the fear of being left behind. And there seems to be a decent audience that enjoys this.

[@Tinto2]

rerolled on firemaw classic era, its absolutely growing at a rapid rate, super active leveling guilds, nice attitutes, great

[@druidlololol]

I'm gonna join you very soon! What's the faction balance like? I like to roll underdog to do my part in helping the population.

[@Tinto2]

@@druidlololol I think its pretty balanced at the moment, alliance having a slight advantage so come join us on horde! Firemaw server, booty bay pirates guild. Very active and friendly guild with weekly gold giveaways and world pvp events, let me know your characters name and i can sort you out with some stuff to help you get started

[@iskander-6970]

Playing Harcore mode in Hydraxian Waterlords (EU). Currently level 26 and it feels way way better than raiding a stupidly nerfed version of Ulduar. Everyday there's a lot of new ppl coming.

[@ShadesApeDJansu]

Christian Finnish Frostiis If i can avoid kids i'll play classic era servers, still planning on starting on a RP server on WOTLK with my BFF

[@ewlynnn]

I have at this point a few thousand hours in osrs. I love that classic feel mmos give me. I started to get into wow a few months ago and really got into classic. Retail just feels so weird I just do not enjoy it. Classic just feels good also its much simpler you basically just have one ability you spam or have a debuff/buff you press once it runs out. Its just simple and exactly what I want. Also progression in classic just feels so much better being like level 5 struggling to kill like a bear outside of ironforge and then being level 60 killing it instantly just feels better than the everything is your level boring gameplay retail has.

[@MallocFury]

Yes man! It was noticable over the last half year! And I love beeing part of that journey. Over the time, you know people, both sides and I like that - this is a rpg, a real mmorpg! Hope its not stoping growing. We need more pumper chads here on Horde side Firemaw-Cluster 💪

[@ivayloindzhov8553]

I would honestly love it if Blizzard made a Classic "enhanced" version, where they just buff the classes that are lagging behind a bit, and sprinkle in A TINY BIT of more quests in the dry section of Classic levels - around 35-50 (from my own impression). I love the slower pace, adventure, simpler gameplay of Classic WoW and how it lends to roleplaying and just having a good, relaxed time with friends. I just wish it was a bit more polished when it comes to class viability in raids, and a little less grindy at some point in the leveling - nothing else. P.S. - knowing how fast bosses were killed during Classic's relaunch, I fully understand that buffing classes so that almost everyone is viable may trivialize the content completely. So maybe some buffs to the raids would be good too, so that everyone is viable - but so is the content.

[@j1nz007]

The last two weeks have seen SW transformed from 2-4 people in the main district to nearly 50 just chilling there. A lot of them were ex hardcore raiders, just showing off their gear lol

[@gdkpdaily]

Come to Whitemane! Over 100 people on both Alliance/Horde side are out there leveling right now. It's a really fun community to be part of. We're not just PvP. We have the fastest raiding clears in NA (not that there's much competition, but we're #1!)

[@Ryan_hey]

Whitemane cluster is definitely the most popular in NA by quite a margin.

[@visbaluz]

I used to have My Warrior in blaumeux , never copied or played once tbc came .. so AM.i forced to play tbc>wotlk or may i have the chance to keep My old Char on the clássic era ? Miss My gnome : tusnalgas 😭

[@ZapatosVibes]

Vanilla is the true spirit of WoW (the world is the main character, the journey is the point, both journey to 60 and the slow gear acquisition at 60). TBC and on just absolutely murdered the world with flying mounts (which have absolutely no place in a MMORPG imo) and the 90% land reduction. On top of that it all became about instanced content (both PVE & PVP) with little to no reason to go out in the world, even Outlands. I had an absolute blast playing vanilla in 2004-2006 and again in 2019-2021. Yet both back in 2007 and in 2021, I only played TBC for a couple months. The vanilla magic just isnt there for TBC+ and only gets worse as the expansion go on (casualization, RMT, cheapening all achievements with instant gratification, time-gated daily chores list, etc.)

[@Sleepy.Time.]

Thanks!

[@tigeryumyums9407]

It's funny because the Classic Era community clowned Willie for his first couple of videos talking about era being dead. Glad to see him own up to his mistake and rectify it. Good video

[@FoxTrotting1]

Classic rules, WotLK drools! Join us on Bloodsail Buccaneers NA for the hardcore challenge! As someone who has played this game on and off since inception, the hardcore challenge is such an awesome, refreshing, and welcome overhaul to gameplay. Completely changes the way you approach things, from picking fights to leveling professions. Such a great time to get back into classic WoW.

[@joshw3719]

I said it in the past on your videos, and I’ll say it again, vanilla is and always will be the king of wow. There’s somethings so special about the unchanged version of vanilla and me, as well as thousands will always play a fresh server every two years even if it’s on, repeat. Heck, I would love for it to be on repeat. Thank you Willie, on giving era servers the way they deserve. I was on there the other day, and it was absolutely popping. It brought tears of joy to me.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Also would love to see a classic Wrath server where anything other than the most basic of addons gets you kicked off the server until you disable that shit. Sorry but, that's not the way i want to play ANY MMORPG... ever. Sucks the fun right out of it. People are so damn afraid to wipe and actually f'ing LEARN as they go.

[@ebiven1563]

I hope they add content, leave naxx as end game but add more stuff to do between MC-Naxx, maybe add more incentives to run lower tier raids

[@yesteryearr]

I just got back into the game and my server is absolutely packed all the time! I've never seen that many people in Org, as I have never ever played on a "full" server.

[@sebytro]

Growth, growth, growth. The hunger for profit and growth is hurting lots of games. Classic is a perfect example that something can be good and enjoyed well by players if it stays the same. Sure, it's not for everyone, but for those who play there it's a heaven compared to other super-fast-paced-MMO's.

[@johanlahti84]

I raided 2 characters to phase one BiS in Wotlk Classic. When phase 2 dropped I lost motivation completely. Have not stepped into Ulduar yet, and don't feel like going either. The pug scene is already asking for full clear achievements. Since I was on call first reset, I missed that train. So I'm back in Vanilla. And having so much fun! Doing HC. Every aspect of leveling is heightened when you have to delete when you die. It feels so rewarding clearing caves, killing Fizzle.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

I keep reading this over, and over, and over, and over again. I JUST wrapped a video the other day called "A Dwarfs Journey to Northrend" due out on Friday and now i'm like "well shit... i rather just go play classic" lol. I'm sorry but the community in Wrath is tryhard af. I DO NOT want to play with pigheaded meta arseholes.

[@DjordjeSrpski]

the thing with WoW itself is that people often get back to it after some time, it can take couple months and sometimes even couple years, but eventually you get that nostalgic feeling after you watch some WoW related video and you get an urge to come back to it. WoW has always been a dear friend whenever i was lonely and thats why even tho it sucks with new expansions i still come back.

[@Quitarstudent]

vanilla was the only period of wow when if you came back later, you didnt have to worry about missing out or any pressure, MC, ZG and 5 man dungs were still on farm due to few items and its relative simplicity, there were barely any "gear resets" in between patches (with catch up mechanics) that would make previous content obsolete, something that you cant easily do since the last patch of TBC (sunwell)

[@malf_92]

Hey Willie! i always enjoyed ur vids and ur approach! I find myself playing between Classic era, HC challenge and Wotlk. So i quit the game after i played naxx 20 times and lvled up 5 characters in Wotlk. I decided to give a shot with the hc challenge and i lvled up a mage to lvl 20 xD. Then i started playing on the firemaw cluster and decided to lvl a shammy on the horde side.. i am currently lvl 35 but i am too bored to lvl up, knowing that its nearly impossible to catch up and raid. Consumes, flasks, gold etc. As you surely know, in order to be self sustained you need more than 1 char to make professions etc, also the 'grind' for gold or anything really that i would have to do when i reach 60 is actually the most boring thing i can imagine. I started playing Wotlk again, did Ulduar with some hardmodes and it was fun actually BUT staying in Dalaran looking for groups to join is getting into me. everyone is looking at ur gearscore and you join pugs with toxic mentality, people leaving after a wipe or leaving cause they lost a roll. Overall wotlk is to toxic for my liking.. Anyways, i dont think i've written anything longer in yt comments xD which one you prefer the most? OH i forgot, a irl friend of mine told me to start playing retail!! xDdd

[@jbshbsskskhbs6713]

I'm feeling that toxicity too, was nice when your character power couldn't be neatly tied to a number so people actually got to know players instead of just picking the higher number.

[@dylanfloodeen1550]

I always kinda fantasized about a RP server that is almost always in character. Not in a cringe way, but in a contained functioning world within our world kind of way. If people are focusing more on the journey and community, maybe thats within reach. Id come back for that.

[@keozzsounds]

Planning a comeback to era, after all those years i still find myself pulled towards the og play and lifestyle of the original game even if it’s a bit different than the true original. This time around having full focus on crafting everything for myself, progressing trough the game as a true adventurer. Just not sure if pvp or pve and class, will play eu though

[@EQOAnostalgia]

PvP will change your focus from casual journey to tryhard gear up mode.

[@keozzsounds]

@@EQOAnostalgia yeah what i was afraid of. Just want to chill and do my thing. No need for extra ‘stress’ :) way to old for that sh*t 😁 now, any recommendations how i would get most out of my sorta single player mode concerning classes? Been warrior,rogue,hunter in og vanilla. Mage, rogue again in classic. Want to change it up a little. Druid perhaps? You get a bit of everything in one class. Even if they never really excel in one thing besides healing 🤔

[@runchetrun]

Hardcore is blown up. The leveling experience is as you said, everything feels actually rewarding and taking your time is fun. No rushing. Plus it's harder not to die in classic than it is to do anything else in wow in any version.

[@AmarictTV]

We got one active raiding guild on era grobbulus, we've progressed up to twin emps so far with around 30-35 people per raid in a casual environment, if anybody is interested in playing in a very close knit community with complete control of resources on the server :D

[@MF_Zurg]

I’d probably play if I could clone one of my old characters. Wish they would have had better communication that they were removing that option.

[@Stormsong93]

I have the itch to play again but $97 for a 6 month sub can frick right off. Seriously, not only is this old content, but it's completely rehashed. Sub fee makes sense for the current game since it goes towards new raid tiers and new content with each patch, but all of Classic was already done years ago. It's a disgusting level of greed. Classic should've been a one-time purchase in 2019.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

You can't seriously expect them to let everyone play Classic for free... they would be bleeding their own sub numbers to build a classic game that does what for them? Takes $$$ from retail. You're thinking like a fan, that's fine but that's not how a business is run.

[@jared4832]

I would just say, an MMO doesn't inherently need to update or be updated. It is, at its core, a video game, and at the core of that is a game. It only needs to be a fun, unique, and/or engaging experience. It only needs to be good or great. The idea that it inherently needs to update is odd, even though I understand the various places the idea comes from. Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7, the original cartridge and discs, haven't updated, yet I return to play them from time to time. The same with old Mario Party games when I happen to have family or friends around. The same principle goes for WoW, and I think Classic Era sustaining a group of people, or even drawing new and curious players, makes a lot of sense.

[@deejgames94]

Blizzard need to create an official Hardcore cluster of servers, take away the flaws such as Infernal griefs, balance some specs and it would be perfect. Host weekly/monthly additional challenges for content such as BG weekends, arena tournaments etc. My wife and I play as a duo using the Hardcore addon made by the community and love the fresh experience with the added challenges of not during/using AH etc. Highly recommend it to all, come to Bloodsail Bucaneers and say hi!

[@andromidius]

I would be tempted to play - but there's only so many hours in the day (and others things to do)! Does look fun, though. Maybe in future I'll give it a go, if there's fresh servers.

[@Ryan_hey]

I honestly used to think you needed a lot of time to play, but I started leveling a warrior with just a few hours played on the weekends and ended up hitting L60 in just under a year. Always had rested XP and was always very excited to level because I played so little per week. Didn't have any end game goals; just wanted the 1-60 journey again.

[@silentslayergaming8469]

People get 1-60 in like a week I remember a guy getting lvl 60 within 3 days when classic launched. It’s not as bad as it seems. I payed casually and got level 50 in like 2 weeks of evening play

[@XyphonXero]

Classic = RPG (It's about the journey, gaining meaningful experience, rich in lore and casual friendly) Retail = Action/Adventure (It's about the competition, experience acts more like gaining scoreboard points, very little lore, not so casual friendly) Both are technically Massive Multiplayer Online games. Blizzard's 'Diablo' influence via merging the teams in-house, created the conversion and it is easy to see this influence in Retail. Norm, Nightmare, Hell vs. Norm, Heroic, Mythic. Even loot drop prefixes were used more and more. Multiple sub-stats on varying but similar pieces of gear (along with, same items that have different ilvls) that only have meaning toward avoiding diminishing returns. In pair with that, the "loot hunting" aspect became more and more prevalent to the point where gear is all that matters when it comes to players increasing in strength or power. Both can be fun but if you like Diablo... just play it.

[@barryjames73]

I took a break from Classic and when I came back it was 2 weeks after the clone service was discontinued. I was sad because I spent a lot of time farming on my main and had a good amount of gold which helps when starting alts.

[@timschwarz1386]

It is always weird, that people are confused by things like this. A lot of players stopped playing with tbc or wotlk and that should not have been a surprise for anyone. It happened back in the day as well. People didn´t just complain about "wrath-babies".. they also quit the game... a lot of them. People have been playing private servers for more than a decade, always the same game, because they liked the vanilla version the most. Of course we will have people play it. And the low playerbase? Before i played official servers, i played on a few private servers. They never had that many player. On one server, basically every player had to sign up, if we wanted to do things like Alterac Valley. It was still fun. 90 percent of the wrath players could quit and we would still have enough players to do everything and have fun. Also having all the content out, doesn´t hurt the game a bit. You can do everything at your own pace. You want to spend months first leveling and getting tier 1 in Mc? Do that.. You want to rush through the content and conquer Naxxramas within a month? If you join one of the guilds still raiding Naxx or you have a few insane friends, you can do that as well. I love it.

[@TheRealSalali]

We were the last Naxx progression guild on Whitemane-US, after 2 years and many obstacles from server transfer of the entire guild to guild leadership changes, we have survived 2 years and are now 15/15 Naxxramas. We also just got our first one-night clear, 15/15 and are now trying to obtain that every week and get it on farm status. Monday will be our 4th KT kill! Whitemane has both hardcore raiding guilds and casual raiding guilds, GDKP guilds, 3+ leveling guilds, and at least one PVP guild plus a thriving set of about 10 Discord servers for all the guilds and communities, and most of this is all from the Horde side -- BUT THERE'S JUST AS MUCH FOR ALLIANCE, TOO!

[@lordcorgi6481]

I'm one of the few who stayed on classic era on some characters instead of going into TBC. It's fun to just live in the game. Classic is the only version that lets you do that. I've actually found myself making new characters just to level up and enjoy the experience.

[@mrillis9259]

The classic Era realms, are the AH linked? Is there an added group finder, similar to TBC one where you put yourself in que for the dungeon? (I don't understand why people didn't like TBC group finding system)