Achievements and You - Classic WoW

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
1

The new Anniversary realms in WoW Classic feel like the perfect opportunity to try out features that could enhance the game while keeping its classic charm. One of the most controverial ideas is adding achievements, but I believe they’re not as bad as many people think. In this thread I want to explain why achievements could work and how they can be implemented in a way that stays true to Classic.

Why Achievements Make Sense in Classic

For completionists like me, achievements add an extra layer of fun. They provide motivation to grind reputations, collect rare pets and mounts, and complete obscure quests. Classic is already about the journey, and achievements would celebrate every milestone along the way.

I understand the concern that achievements could change the game, like encouraging “LFM XXX Achiev required” behavior. But there are ways to implement them without disrupting Classic’s social dynamics.

Implementation Options

Here are some possible ways achievements could work in Classic:

  1. Private by default – Achievements are visible only to you and cannot be inspected by anyone else (by Compare Achievements).
  2. No public linking – Achievements cannot be linked in chat or whispers, removing any pressure to “prove” your progress.
  3. Optional sharing – Achievements could be compared with friends or guildmates, but only if you allow it.

This would ensure achievements remain a personal and optional experience for those who enjoy them.

Backup Option: Achievement Criteria Tracking

If full achievements feel like too much, another option is background tracking of achievement criteria. This way, progress toward achievements would still be recorded, even if achievements aren’t actively displayed in Classic. Players transitioning to expansions like WotLK (because we know we are) wouldn’t miss out on retroactive progress, solving an issue from the original Classic run.

Alternatively, Blizzard could implement:

  1. Core tracking only – Background achievement tracking enabled, with no further additions, as said above.
  2. Tracking with API – Background tracking plus an API for creating achievement-focused addons.
  3. Optional addons – Let players opt into achievements using an official addon, rather than a built-in system.

Achievements wouldn’t change how Classic plays, they’d just add an optional way to celebrate your progress. I mean, whether through private achievements or background tracking, this feature could give completionists like me more to enjoy while keeping the game’s core experience intact. With the Anniversary realms coming soon, now feels like the perfect time to explore this idea… always with a choice to opt-out for those who don’t want to have anything to do with these.

Thanks for reading this wall of text, I hope we can have a civilized discussion about this.

2

Achievement system and its derivatives have been the sole reason it took me 17 years to be able to change my main (in retail). I sadly have to say “hard pass”. Sure its far less scary on a server type that probably is going to be phased out within very few years…But then what is the point of an achievement system if everything you achieved will be wiped out upon Anniversary servers expiration?

3

I don’t think it’s gonna get wiped, I think it’s gonna either progress quickly and merge with main Classic, or be second branch of Classic.

You could make achievements account-wide as well, but I’m not really a fan of this. As I said, that could be completely optional, even private.

4

I mean at the moment, the limit is TBC. If Anniversary progresses to WOTLK, fine, but after that? What if it simply ends like Season of Mastery has? Your characters will be moved to Era.

And Era has no achievement system. Then what?

At least your idea has the “no public linking” part, that ensures even if the cycle would start anew after TBC/WOTLK/whatever, people cannot use the past cycle achievements to get an easier pass to new cycle groups…

5

Then you could still have some access to your achievements, like, an email summary, or straight up in-game support for private achievements