Why Classic WoW Feels Like the Last True Journey

[@Mithoskrasnej]

In an era when users are oversaturated by endless super-quick-serotonin content on their phones throughout the entire day, taking a step back, slow down and relax might be the right way to go when designing new MMORPGs. Back to basics. It is OK to spend the day running around a single in-game forest as long as it brings you joy.

[@f91-f97]

You can't really make a large scale MMO in 2024 that is designed like that because minmax culture exists. If the game was more niche with a smaller following then maybe but it still wouldn't get rid of min maxxing

[@paullambert7376]

Played since Vanilla. Quit during Legion. Played Classic. I’ve never had as much fun as I do now as I currently play retail. There’s so much to do in retail and that’s the point, you have the choice to play the way YOU want. People act like addons weren’t a thing back in Vanilla. Yes, they’ve gotten better, but most of that stuff has been around for almost as long as the game has existed or at least in the earliest expansions.

[@GunterXHunter]

Casual Andy here, classic just feels simpler to get into... in modern wow I need a resume and 3 references to get into a raiding guild. Players have screens with bars, meters, stats and procs everywhere. Damage numbers going up by the thousands. Their screens look like financial portfolios with an RPG playing in the background. It's getting a bit out of hand.

[@shiro2400]

⁠@@Epicloa trust me, I didn’t realize how BAD bad players are until I actually played with some. Some players cannot operate without addons blasting them with obvious mechanics lol.

[@JohnRengo-h4w]

That is because Classic is 10 times simpler than modern WoW, or even the MoP version for instance. I remember how many mechanics were even in SoO 25 HC back then, let alone now. Most of this complexity is needless however, I don't believe WoW would suffer more if it was more casual friendly. Then you wouldn't see literally every content creator using addons to play the game. Although I believe Classic is also far too simple for current day standards, many of the problems modern day WoW faces actually originated from there, for instance the leveling system. This is also not a problem regarding player skill, they could make difficult content if the game only had a third of the complexity it has now.

[@jmd1743]

The problem with WoW is that the mystery of the world itself is dead, and the fact is that we don't have next to zero obligations in life anymore. You can't go back 20 years in the past and wipe out all that you know about WoW. There are other games but we're too old to really get into like we could have gotten into them 20 years younger.

[@JohnRengo-h4w]

The mystery of some very important things were ruined at an early stage too. Some things like the faction conflict, which is a main selling point of not just Classic, but the entire franchise as a whole, is actually completely nonsensical looking at Warcraft 3. So I wouldn't say this wasn't foreseeable, I'd say they could make a new continuity where they make better decisions.

[@rossato2109]

As a returning player I agree 100% , the game indeed got too complicated. Played from vanilla to Wrath, then 1 month in cata, 1 month in mop and then 1 month in Shadowlands. Turned the game on this monday after all these years, it is so overwhelming that I was as confused as the first time someone opens an Excel spreadsheet. I took a good ammount of minutes to even find the stuff. The icons are super small now, the bags are almost invisible at the corner, all my bars were picked clean. Had to find that edit part to actually change it to something I could actually see on screen.

[@vendeti0]

@@rossato2109 I not only appreciate what you are saying, but I also completely understand what you are saying as well. World of Warcraft is a home for most. I just find it being very complicated for the average player as well as newcomers that are joining well for maybe the first time or maybe returning to wow. It’s a great game that I will probably continue to play. But I know trying to get some of my friends to maybe try wow for the first time. Probably will need one on one coaching.

[@rossato2109]

@@vendeti0 I fell like I am in the exactly spot of some of the things you mention in your video so I thought about sharing. I dont know how they keep such high player numbers, I supose the overwhelming majority are due to play retention. There are way too much info to absorb even for me that used to be a diehard player. Even the UI is nighmarish. I have been reading forum posts and stuff in the last 2 days, among watching videos. It feels like players dont even look at the "real" game now, its most cluster on screen with all kind of info and the view is so far away it looks more distant than the default camera view of Warcraft III.

[@Kristers_K]

To me WoW has lost it's Warcraft feel/vibe almost completely. The story/narrative is soft and downright cringe-worthy with the whole friends and adventure vibe, factions no longer matter, classes are homogeneous without any distinction or niche, and game design philosophy is downright atrocious with a sole focus on new raid tiers and player endgame progression systems and dull, repetitive grinds. WoW is no longer an immersive community driven RPG experience but an endgame performance simulator. For players like myself Retail WoW has precisely 0 to offer because i could not care less about raids and mythic+...it's an awful snorefest, despite being overly complex on top of complex and bloated class design.

[@kittykatstealer]

Classic is just nostalgia. Brought some of my friends in when it was launched. Watching a new player play it just showed me how much of a waste of time it really is.

[@PurpleLightning6was9]

Absolutely, it's the reason why I didn't get into wow until Legion. I tried it at launch and it was too much of a time sink to be worth it.

[@suprementmgr3586]

retail wow is the definition of wasting your time let me domonstrate 1:95 percent of the world irrelevant! 2:lvling is pointless and useless/everything scales to your lvl which makes you feel like a bitch power wise! 3:thousands of mounts transmog and useless achievements that mean nothing and do nothing but further waste your time because you have to farm the god forbid you are not a peasant! 4:Reset of your gear and progress every 2 year invalidating everything your did ! 5:adding cosmetics wow tokens mounts and pets that cost anywhere from5 to 90 dollars even though you pay a sub and buy the expansions and furthermore predatory tactics like early access! 6:The need to download addons to play the game because without some of them good luck in any competitive field in this game.. 7:PVP is one of the most horendous experiences you could ever have as a human being and even if you do master it noone cares about wow pvp except 10 people in the whole fanbase you cant even bragg about it for the bitches like any other pvp games! 8:Group finder is trash the queqes are horrible unless you are a healer or a tank. 9:little to no interaction with the world because there is no need because this is no longer an mmorpg its a single player hub gatcha game 10: the pussyfication of every single wow char and the destruction of the warcraft spirit to appeal to mentally ill and fragile people that cant tell reality from fiction!

[@fluxx7217]

Then you are just a minmaxer that cant slow down in games and just want to rush endgame and then complain that theres no content. I bet .

[@kittykatstealer]

@@fluxx7217 I disagree. I was watching my friends being bored out of their minds levelling. It's just not really fun, and there are better alternatives in video games.

[@suprementmgr3586]

@@kittykatstealer classic wow has many issues and its 20 years old its defintely not for everyone! but i wouldnt reccomend retail wow to noone the game is designed to keep depressed boomers in an endless loop ! but i agree with you.. there are far better alternatives in games!

[@conquer535]

You think you want it but you don't

[@hansklaus6556]

i completely agree with you. there is nothing more to add. wishing everyone a good start to the week!

[@Phanterus]

I've got 1 word: LotrO So no

[@candlestyx8517]

Every time I try to play retail I just log out within 20 minutes and go back to classic. It doesnt feel like the World of Warcraft that I remember and loved

[@PurpleLightning6was9]

Are you still the same person from 20 years ago? It's an odd take wow players make, everything changes. Just be glad wow isn't like swtor, wildstar, guild wars, literally every mmo made besides WoW is dead or dying.

[@Nobleshield]

Because TWW is the same bullshit formula since legion: Endless grinds and toxic bullshit content (M+) with harder and harder encounters. Classic was actually fun because it wasn't full of tryhards and raids didn't need to be treated like a job

[@shiro2400]

Actual classic back then? sure. The classic right now? Huge cap lmao.

[@tjturner4461]

oh yeah love the classic hang on OOM lemme drink after every encounter....was soooo much fun

[@TheRevan1337]

Yeah, it was, because no one got excited by Battle of Azeroth, Shadowlands, or whatever the name of the current one is.

[@PurpleLightning6was9]

@@TheRevan1337 Stop capping, "Revan", you know what the current one is called.

[@doomraven0]

Oh yeah, removing all the role playing, never watching your health or mana is soooo much fun🙄

[@JohnRengo-h4w]

@@TheRevan1337 Then why is BfA the 2nd most watched cinematic trailer after WoD?

[@PurpleLightning6was9]

You wow players are never happy.

[@goktugblack]

I hated classic back in 2005. You just couldn't get any item progress if you had no raid group. So don't talk to me about classic. Classic make me sick. No transmog no proper pvp no group finder no proper auction house system. No flying. Leveling was a nightmare. So please just dont.

[@mikeygduv]

All the things you mentioned are exactly why people dislike retail. It gives you candy without any veggies or protein. And the world itself is a dead shell. It's a single player game online.

[@tiffles3890]

@@mikeygduv My ideal WoW = WotLK + the transmog system from Legion onwards Also maybe remove dedicated PvP gear, and make crafting a viable path for getting even gear that's comparable to the highest tier raid rewards.

[@goktugblack]

@mikeygduv I had to run upper blackrock spire 20 times without getting dreadmist robe. And I could not get into any raid because I had no guild. No progress. No nothing. So spare me the nostalgic bullshit. Expansions like warlords of draenor were trash but war within fixed everything and brought so many smart features like warband.

[@mikeygduv]

@goktugblack you're still missing the point. That's what makes it rewarding. Not everyone has everything. It's an MMO, not a single player game, there should be items locked behind teamwork. In classic you are the individual character, unique with shortcomings and strengths. In retail, you are the player, controlling an army of characters all mirror images of each other with minor differences. Almost a Warcraft 3 mod. Easy does not always mean good. You're welcome to not enjoy it, that does not make it bad. There are literally millions of players that agree.

[@mikeygduv]

@@tiffles3890 transmog is great in theory but removed prestige and identity. Gear visuals served a purpose by showing how powerful you were and by clearly identifying the class in the open world. I'd like to see some sort of arena in a classic form, but it would be broken as heck lol.

[@zorgestorm]

Classic have many problems economy is the biggest one the servers are design for 2k player so do resources Class balance is fun but the specs missing buffs to group making most specs useless lack of teleports is also a rison why dire maul is so hard to found a group the healers are doing less damage then fresh 60.

[@MellonVegan]

Punctuation is your friend. Anyways, lack of teleports? Fast travel makes the world feel smaller. Even if it doesn't mean much by itself, having to actually traverse the world (to an extent) makes it feel more real. And most specs useless? You can play a lot of weird things. Many of the stereotypical memes aren't really memes. They're absolutely viable, just not optimal. Might be a bad example bc they are the 4th best dps spec in that bracket but my 99th percentile ele shaman was always able to hang with the 97th percentile mages in that alt-ish raid. That's not that much of a difference. We also had an enhancer in that raid, as well as a shadow priest. Cleared Classic without too much issue. Similarly, feral just works. Can't comment on balance druid though, honestly no idea. There are paladins who have tanked most of Classic and shaman tanks who have at least made it through BWL as main tanks. A lot is possible with extra prep. Would I prefer *minor* changes (give possible tanks a taunt and the hybrids more mana.... that's it)? Sure. But that doesn't mean things don't work without them. Also, how is healers not doing damage an issue exactly? I thought we had roles for a reason. Cata/MoP with everyone doing the same damage was fun but also silly. We 3 manned Illidan at lvl 70 back in MoP and our mage dealt the least damage. That just doesn't feel right (even though it made the whole thing possible in the first place).

[@zorgestorm]

@MellonVegan i think better solution is just meeting stones that are able to summon full party but traveling is one of the least problem when u can pay a warlock lack of 3 no pvp fraction is the biggest problem on pvp servers who played know it well. About classes that true world buffs make a lot of difference. But still i would pref that every spec have unique raid buff and having every spec in ur party should be meta play.

[@JohnRengo-h4w]

@@MellonVegan Having to travel massive distances takes a lot of time in Classic, those minutes add up. It isn't fun at all that you have to travel 20 minutes sometimes to get to a specific location, it even breaks the immersion because of how annoying it is. Not to mention the infamous world PvP aspect of Classic, thats where the entire world buff craze originated from back in 2019. Modern WoW took the fast travel aspect a little too far, but with things like dragonriding, the new version proves that travel can not only be fast, but fun as well. It is also kind of true that specs like feral or retribution were really bad back in Classic, class and even spec balance was poor. Its more like that the content was really easy in my opinion, then worse balance doesn't stand out as much.