When WoW Classic is released, will anyone still play the “regular” WoW? For Cortyn, the answer is clear: Both games complement each other perfectly.
Next week, after years of waiting, WoW Classic will finally launch. Azeroth as it was 15 years ago is once again within reach. I am looking forward to diving back into Classic. However, I also don’t think that Classic can replace the “current” WoW.
I belong neither to the faction that thinks Classic will utterly fail because everything is completely outdated, nor do I think that the current WoW is bad and that Blizzard has long strayed from the right path.
I enjoy both games, both WoW Classic and WoW Retail. And I’m already quite sure that I will play both games, although with different motivations.
WoW Classic – What is earned lasts forever
The big advantage of WoW Classic for me is that there is absolutely no reason to rush anything in WoW Classic. I already know which content will be released in the coming months, and character improvement is only minimal, at least compared to Retail.
Everything I earn in Classic, every piece of the T0 set, every skill point in tailoring, or every reputation level with the furbolgs of Timbermaw Hold is basically for eternity.
Of course, this also means that there will be a definite point in time when Classic will have nothing more to offer me, and I will come to the conclusion that it was simply enough. That in the end, it was a nostalgic journey back to the beginnings of WoW, the rekindling of a passion from my youth.
The day will come when I have my T3 from Naxxramas completely and the feeling of being “finished” settles in. From a developer’s perspective in an MMO, this is probably something terrible, but I look forward to it, even if that moment is still a few years away.
The certainty that everything I earn in Classic will have a certain value “forever” and that my progress will not be reset with the next patch makes WoW Classic the perfect counterpart to the rather hectic retail variant.
At least, as long as Blizzard doesn’t also push out “The Burning Crusade” in two to three years.
Retail – Constant change and ongoing story
In stark contrast stands the current WoW, also known as “WoW Retail”. Here, there’s a patch roughly every three months that brings new gameplay mechanics and content, often devaluing old content.
Whereby “devalued” is of course a difficult term. After all, what I earned in patch 8.1 was quite strong and helpful in overcoming the challenges of patch 8.1. I find it understandable and not so bad that new challenges arise with the next update (8.2) that require better equipment.
For example, I like to work long towards the crab mount.
The big advantage, however, is that in Retail, the story is driven forward significantly. In Classic, there was comparatively little story. Instead, Azeroth was a static world that had a persistent “status quo” that fundamentally never changed.
Retail tells the exciting stories of Sylvanas, Jaina, the Lich King, and introduces fun characters like Flynn Fairwind and brought back lost people like Calia Menethil.
This feeling of a constantly advancing story has never really been present for me in Classic. The story was (with a few exceptions) in the background and basically only built on what Warcraft III had established and then further inflated.
Additionally, the mechanics of “WoW Retail” still keep me entertained.
I enjoy having to relearn the “Mythic+” dungeons after a new patch and working to be able to clear things like a “Mythic+10” instance again. I don’t find the item spiral bad as such, and it motivates me because the other content around it fits.
Both games form a unit for me
In summary, I think I will spend a lot of time in both versions of World of Warcraft in the future. I want to know how the story of Retail continues, eventually have my 400th mount, or finally complete the 1000 pets.
At the same time, I also want to have the feeling from Classic that my progress lasts, that everything earned remains for the time being, and that I don’t have to worry that nobody will want to take me into Scholomance with my T0 set tomorrow.
I have come to believe that both games separately give me exactly what I seek in World of Warcraft.
But what do you think?
If you need a few tips to prepare for WoW Classic, you can find them here:
