The “Season of Discovery” in WoW Classic has started and the servers are overcrowded. The concept is well received – but can it retain the players?
In World of Warcraft, a new era has begun – once again, one must say. Because at least for Classic fans, a dream has come true, as they have received a variant of “Classic+” – The Season of Discovery is live. In this season, there are fresh Classic servers, but with many new features.
All over the world, there are new hidden areas, secret treasures, and some new quests, all adorned with little secrets. Additionally, there is a glyph system that allows classes to break out of their pre-defined roles and acquire new spells – for instance, warlocks can become tanks and mages can become potent healers.
More about the current season has been revealed by the developers here:
At the beginning, there was great concern that fans might not take it so well. After all, the idea is quite far from the original Classic.
The initial rush to the servers makes it clear: Many want to see this and engage with it.
This is why the season excites: Blizzard did not provide a test realm for this game mode beforehand, so the entire community has to discover all the new features “live”. Although more guides spring up with each passing hour, most new content has yet to be discovered, and you tend to stumble upon something “by chance”.
The likelihood is quite high that you will stumble upon something while playing that hardly any other player has seen before you – these can only be small details or really beautiful secrets.
If you don’t like that, you might as well wait a few more days and then just play “by guide” to collect all the new glyphs or other secrets. However, that would probably ruin much of the appeal that the new mode brings.
This is the criticism: As with nearly every launch of any WoW content, there is also criticism. Especially at the beginning, there were long queues that could range from 10 minutes to several hours. Blizzard has already opened some new realms to reduce waiting times.
Still, there is criticism from people who took the day off to jump straight in. They feel, almost in good old tradition, betrayed by Blizzard. In addition, Shmexy writes in the WoW Classic Subreddit with some agreement in the subreddit:
First of all, calm down for heaven’s sake. If you took the day off, that is your fault. Never take off on release day.
Secondly, it’s only been 20 minutes. I see posts from people complaining about 15-30 minute queues as if that were a problem.
Has none of you played WotLK Classic? Or literally any other expansion from Blizzard? (…)
Servers are not designed for launch, but for long-term stability.
What is feared? The community is still skeptical about whether the “Season of Discovery” can keep players’ interest in the long term. Many fear that this is just a small “snack” – leveling up to the maximum level within 2-3 days, visiting the new raid once, and then stopping again. Whether the season will truly remain alive for a longer time remains to be seen.
But at least the initial rush is large – and that is already a good sign. Blizzard has even set up a few new realms to manage the rush.
Are you checking out the Season of Discovery? Or is it really not to your liking?
In WotLK Classic, meanwhile, the mood is bad – because players hate the gold situation.
