The speculation about “Burning Crusade Classic” is running high. But Cortyn from MeinMMO only thinks back to the greatest sins of the past.
In recent days, the chatter about a Classic version of “The Burning Crusade” has grown louder. This is due to a survey that players of World of Warcraft received which is supposed to explore exactly this interest. This has made me think strongly about my WoW past and the time of Burning Crusade again. It almost triggers some cold sweat and post-traumatic stress disorders for me – all of which, however, I have to take responsibility for myself.
Looking back, The Burning Crusade was certainly my “worst” time that I spent in World of Warcraft. This was mainly because I was no longer a “noob” like I was at the beginning and was now deeply involved in the game mechanics. However, this was also the time when I was juggling two characters. I still had my main character, a Mage, on one server and raided intensively with her – we were the most successful raid group on the realm at that time. We defeated Kael’thas in the raid “The Eye” after having to practice on him for many weeks. I can still recite his damn long monologue in my sleep today.
At night, there were always long farming sessions on the Elemental Plateau in Nagrand. I still involuntarily flinch today when I see the fire elementals there that I surely killed by the thousands.
Two mains at the same time on two realms – RP and PvE
At the same time, however, I had started to play a Priestess on the “promised RP realm” and invested hundreds of hours in role-playing with her. It was the golden age when “The Aldor” was virtually inhabited only by role-players and one could find interesting characters at every corner. The whole thing was even quite fanatically organized.
In all starting areas, role-players would inform newly logged-in characters that this was an RP realm. If one needed help or showed interest in RP, one was immediately referred to the corresponding forums or mentors. Those with RP-incompatible names were educated, and people who had nothing to do with RP were virtually driven away.
As mean and nasty as it may sound – it was a wonderful time when role-playing was not the hidden exception, but the norm at every corner, and this state was defended at all costs. At least until the RPers tore each other apart 6 months later.
For comparison: Those who search for RP on “The Aldor” today primarily find it in large hotspots like Stormwind or Silvermoon, within theme guilds or at large events (such as against the Void Elves), and only rarely in the open world – at least compared to back then. And no, Goldhain I still do not see as “real RP”.
But exactly this excess of RP combined with my (willingly undertaken) commitment to raid 2-3 times a week with my Mage led to difficult decisions.
- Do I cancel the RP event to be able to raid?
- Do I stroll for another hour through Silvermoon or do I farm gold for epic flying on my Mage?
- Do I study for the Latin exam or would I rather farm mana herbs?
Since you see my current profession, you can roughly guess how I decided at least on the last question.
RPers wanted to raid – and role-play
But it got really bad when the RPers on “The Aldor” slowly wanted to gain raid experience as well. And because we were role-players, it could not just be a normal raid. It had to be an RP raid, even during the instances we stayed “in character” and played our roles. This way, communication in TeamSpeak was out of the question, only small announcements were made in the group chat.
Karazhan became a hell trip of a very special kind.
The unholy combination of “half the players have no idea about Karazhan” and “let’s do this in RP walk with conversations” was simply not a good idea. Rarely did an outing to Karazhan take less than 5 hours, and even more rarely were more than 3 or 4 bosses defeated during it.
Additionally, almost every time some medium to large RP drama arose, costing the raid 2-4 players who absolutely had to discuss something and therefore fell behind. Highlights included:
- The Blood Elf rogue has a marital crisis with her undead lover, who somehow wants to undermine her leadership position in this expedition group.
- An elf spontaneously has the super idea of having her eyes gouged out because a voice in her head thinks that’s a good idea.
- The two mages suddenly argue about whether Kael’thas’ actions were a betrayal or a heroic act for their people. They decide that one of them has to go, as they can no longer fight alongside the other.
Yes, I admit it – I was responsible for one of these three cases. I was young and needed the RP.
Since then, I have also been for a pretty strict separation of PvE matters and “serious RP” – a bit of silliness with pseudo-RP is of course also possible in dungeons.
The best and most exhausting time in WoW
The Burning Crusade completely drained me. In hindsight, I absolutely overdid it during this time – and I loved it. Falling into bed every weekend at sunrise was amazing. Being the first character on the realm revered by the Netherwing was grand.
Despite all this madness and all the stress from two realms on which I played, Burning Crusade was an incredibly great time. I loved being the “mana battery” in the RP raid and simultaneously gradually tackling the 20-minute boss fight with Illidan, which was one of my most satisfying first kills of all time.
But that is why I am also a little afraid of Burning Crusade. Because a “Burning Crusade Classic” cannot bring back all those feelings, just as WoW Classic could only do for a very brief moment.
The Burning Crusade was certainly my most intense WoW time, with which I associate many memories. Being subjected to that now again immediately triggers my defensive response: “Thanks, but no.”
I hope I remain strong.
