Blizzard is currently working on WoW Classic. An announcement that has been making waves since Blizzcon 2017. Our author Benedict has a personal comment on this..
Actually, I expected Blizzard to announce two things for WoW at the Blizzcon opening ceremony: Antorus and the new expansion.
The announcement that Vanilla WoW would be playable again made me let out a short delighted shout here in Japan at around 4 AM.
Now, a week later, I have some distance from the topic, given it a lot of thought, and read a lot about it. I still maintain: Classic WoW will be great! Despite all the flaws and inconveniences that will accompany it.
What does WoW Classic actually mean?
Classic WoW, sometimes also called Vanilla, is the original version of the MMORPG. It is a WoW without any expansions.
Characters were limited in many areas compared to today. The maximum level was 60. Each faction had 4 races, and there were a total of 9 classes. The shaman was available only to the Horde, and the paladin only to the Alliance.
In return, you could customize the characters somewhat more freely. Each class had an additional weapon slot for ranged weapons such as guns and staves, or totems (shaman), idols (druid), and tomes (paladin). The choice of equipment was also not so limited, as there was no bonus for classes wearing the same type of armor (plate, etc.) in all slots.
The content itself is also significantly less than at the moment. The map only consisted of the two continents Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms at that time. There were 9 raids, 20 dungeons (some of which were split), and 3 battlegrounds. Manageable, but in Classic the journey was also more the goal.
Why I want to play Vanilla WoW
I played WoW back in Classic. However, the release of “The Burning Crusade” came when I was only level 20 or 30 and casting my shadow spells in Duskwood. I only saw the end content of Classic much later.
Exactly that is also the point I am looking forward to the most: Raids with 40 people were already no longer available by BC. The epic battles against Ragnaros, Nefarian, Onyxia, and C‘thun I only know from stories. Experiencing that will be great!
I am especially looking forward to Naxxramas. I was only able to visit the necropolis during Wrath of the Lich King – because it simply vanished after Classic! But even in Northrend, it was one of my favorite instances.
The feeling of sneaking in as an unwelcome guest through a large stronghold of the Scourge and taking down the generals was wonderful. How fantastic must it be then to take on this adventure in its original form?
What has changed since WoW Classic – and what will change again
In the past few days, I have also thought about how much raids have changed in general. Raid buffs have disappeared, classes have been significantly adjusted to each other. By BC, you still needed mages for High King Maulgar, in WotLK warlocks for the blood princes.
The relevance of classes is finally returning, even if that means raids will become harder again. As a die-hard Alliance player, I will miss Battle Roar, even though the Horde didn’t have it back then – but I am curious to see how loudly the paladins will curse when they have to rebuff every 15 minutes.
Most likely it will draw me back to my warlock. This means for me: Every new demon requires its own quest chain. I will have to work hard for the warlock mount. Soul shards will take at least 2 or 3 inventory slots, and I will need them to raid properly.
It will be exhausting, and that’s a good thing!
I will also happily stand for hours on low-level mobs to beat them with automatic attacks, just to increase my weapon skill. These are all things I had forgotten – but actually miss because they give depth to the characters.
We were not heroes in Classic, to whom one hands one of the most powerful weapons of Azeroth. The current state: My character has never seen a two-hander before? It doesn’t matter, just hit and it’s fine!
We were adventurers in Classic who were fed up with the world’s problems. So we set out to solve them – or die trying. Often. And I will have no problem being a complete failure at the beginning.
What takes a long time will finally be good
The path from farm boy to dragon slayer is indeed long, and it begins with the first wild boar you take down without bleeding out. It takes time, experience, and training – both as a character and as a player. It feels… right.
This story that truly defines the character has been lost over time. In Classic, I get to experience it once again, to remember how I actually became the hero who today faces the Lord of Demons himself.
