WoW Classic is taking a peculiar path. It brings back exactly the expansion that made “Classic” necessary.
No matter how you look at it, it’s somehow an absurd situation in World of Warcraft Classic. After Blizzard had refused for many years to offer official Classic servers for World of Warcraft, and after a “You think you do, but you don’t” debacle, they changed their minds. The community was ecstatic, and Classic was a huge success.
Following Classic came The Burning Crusade Classic, and most recently Wrath of the Lich King Classic.
Now the next expansion “Cataclysm” is coming, and this is quite a controversial decision.
What was the problem with Cataclysm? With Cataclysm, Blizzard made significant changes to World of Warcraft. These were not just comfort improvements like the transmog system (which was also viewed critically at the time), but primarily the destruction of the old world. Almost all quests from the “Classic” era have completely disappeared or been reworked.
Additionally, Cataclysm altered the quest flow and provided most areas with small “quest hubs.” You could now always accept quests bundled together and travel back after completing them. It was also less common to have to travel to the same place for multiple quests in a row.
For many, this caused the flair and feeling of the old world to be lost. For many years, players had gotten to know Azeroth and could navigate the game almost by heart – knowledge that is now lost and useless.
That Classic will now bring back exactly this expansion may seem strange when considering these problems. However, there are also many who have fond memories of Cataclysm. Above all, the heroic dungeons were popular, and flying in the old world was well received by many.
After all, this time there is the option to completely close yourself off to it and simply switch to “Classic Era” servers or to see what “WoW Classic+” has in store.
At the latest with “Shadowlands Classic,” the idea may have run its course. But who knows, maybe there will be some old players who nostalgically remember the “good old days in Shadowlands.”
