A few things in WoW Classic bring Cortyn nostalgic tears of joy. Do you also have such moments that you are rediscovering?
For almost two days now, World of Warcraft Classic has been live, and I have – at least for the moment – lost myself in it completely. I enjoy the old game world, the friendly community, and the unhurried chaos in Azeroth, which is not always fair but mostly fun. I have noticed that I often have to smile or grin. This is mainly due to three situations that happen to me over and over again.
The buffing by other players
It is actually such a small and almost insignificant act, yet it makes me smile every time. When I am sitting on the ground with my mage and regenerating mana (which makes up about 50% of my playtime), it often happens that other players walk by and give me a buff. Whether it’s Power Word: Fortitude from a priest, Thorns from a druid, or even a Blessing of Wisdom from a paladin.
I then always panically turn the camera around and try to follow the person to quickly give them Arcane Intellect in return.
But the effects are gigantic. If I have 600 HP instead of 450 HP at level 20, it often makes the difference between life and death.
Just like that, I hope that the additional 100 mana points also help priests, paladins, and druids to overcome a slightly more challenging task.
I simply can’t help but feel happy every time I receive a buff. And it only works because the world is so daunting and quite tedious while leveling. In current WoW, it would be unthinkable. A new buff in the open world would probably not even catch my attention.
So many Allimania jokes
No matter which channel you look into, there is a joke about a gnome named “Dimitri” or an elf you call Uschi every few minutes. Terms like “Arthas Honecker” come up, or druids are asked to cook for the group. Even in Discord with my friends, we keep making jokes about Horst, Panski, or Kel’Thuzad, who has crashed his necropolis somewhere again. These are all references from the Allimania storyline.
If you don’t know Allimania yet: It is an old WoW audio play that started as a parody for World of Warcraft and poked fun at typical incidents and clichés in Azeroth. The audio play has received over 20 episodes and several spin-offs and is definitely an enrichment for every “Classic” newbie. Many of the jokes are timeless (and sometimes also timelessly silly), but often refer to mechanics that only existed in WoW Classic. You can download the Allimania episodes here.
Aside from the 20 old episodes, there is also a reboot that coincides with the launch of WoW Classic. You can listen to the first episode of “Allimania Classic” here (but you should listen to the earlier parts first):
After that, you should also understand all the jokes in the general channel that currently only make you raise your eyebrows.
Personally, I associate the jokes not only with the audio play itself but also with a part of my youth. Back then, staying up “secretly” at night to listen live to the latest episode of Allimania was always a highlight. This may not have directly helped with my Latin exams the next day, but what was a good grade in Latin compared to the knowledge of what Arthas and Illidan discuss in couple therapy?
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The wonderful tinkling of silver and gold
The last point is damn selfish, but I can’t help but grin with satisfaction here as well. I immensely enjoy seeing my gold balance slowly grow and discovering various “tricks” on how to earn a few coins.
There are many little things: For example, I find a nice white dagger by killing enemies and rejoice over the 4 silver pieces that come back to my account. Or I stand in Goldshire and sell my excess linen bags for a small price.
A quest that had me running across the whole area rewarded me with a coin pouch containing almost 50 silver at the end.
Now I am currently in the process of crafting a whole bunch of “Greater Magic Wands”. They cost me almost nothing as an enchanter but sell for a hefty 25 silver in the auction house. And if they can no longer be sold, the NPC vendor still takes them for a proud 15 silver.
To have nearly 7 gold “saved up” already at level 20 may not be a record, but I am very satisfied with it.
Little details that make me happy: All these points are things that I no longer experience in “Retail WoW”. Sure, I still experience other things that I enjoy. But these three little points have made me damn happy and motivated to keep playing over the last two days. Even if I have to sit back down on the ground and regenerate again.
Do you also have such moments? What do you particularly enjoy?
