Cata is the real classic+

WoW Classic Cataclysm Classic Discussion
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So what happened?

Vanilla Launch

  • Long Grind to 60
  • No one knows how to play the game
  • Everyone starts at level 1

Result

Majority of the player base spends time leveling, essentially making leveling and exploring the dominant playstyle of the game.

Cataclysm Launch

  • Blizzard Intend to copy the world scale and the RPG factor of classic
  • Spends huge amount of resources to redo the whole world
  • Tries really hard to copy the magic of classic
  • Completely forgets that the endgame is now at max level

Result

  • Majority of the player base was already level 70, making low zones irrelevant
  • Guides are already out online how to min max, players reach max level within days/weeks
  • Max level is just instance spamming simulator , essentially becoming like retail
  • Players ignore the world. The number 1 selling point of the expansion

Maybe if the devs would put some effort in making the world relevant at MAX level Cata it could actually be goateed.

Some random suggestion would be

  • Summoning hard bosses out in the world that drop endgame loot.
  • Limiting flying at certain times permanently in certain zones.
  • Empowering zones rotationally , scaling them up to max level with valor points as quest rewards.
  • Simple PvP event’s out in the world like WPL towers with Conquest daily rewards.

It’s sad to me that they are neglecting Cata over SOD which feels like a private server.

3 Likes
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I started Cataclysm and I can say it still looks like can be that older classic wow - beside leveling. Leveling and dungeons are easy (old ones). Not that much grind.

But the UI and the look is similar, maybe even in MOP. I think WOD is where it was changed a lot.

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One of the solutions would be to allow players to level from 80 till 85 in any zones, just like we had 1-60 leveling in Classic zones Legion. This way even Wrath alts could see all of the content.

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Which was part of the point - the journey, not the destination.

MoP is closer to Vanilla than Retail, but WoD was where they really started the kill, and Legion was the death knell.

Nothing stops players from questing through old content.

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Except low motivations as they would still need to do Hyjal/Vashjir, Deepholm, Uldum and Twilight Highlands over and over agian during 80-85 leveling. Classic had at least 3 questing paths for each Faction in this regard.

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And that’s their problem.

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For me Cataclysm still is classic. We still have the old talents, raid are still have 2 difficulty, normal and hard (until LFR), we don’t have to farm absurd amount of borrowed power, we don’t have all the same legendary (ring, cape, artifact weapon…), no mythic plus dungeon.
Yes, i know, the world was remade, in part to accommodate old world flying, in part to drive the deathwing narrative, and yes, we got LFR toward the end.
For me, retail truly start in MoP. Cataclysm is like a bridge expansion between classic and retail, bu still classic for the most part.

1 Like
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As someone who has played since original Cataclysm, I’ve been shouting this for years and people call me a madman.

When Classic released in 2019, it felt way more like how I remembered the game to be in Cataclysm than it was in BFA. WOD was the real split between classic and current “retail” because of the model updates and was fully realised and completed by the introduction of Mythic+ in Legion. The truth is though, it was a slow process to get from Vanilla to “retail”.
Watching a lot of the popular streamers assume that MoP/WoD QoL changes such as auto-learning spells were not actually introduced in Cataclysm made me feel vindicated.

2 Likes
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Cata is the real classic for me
cause i can’t go further back
I just don’t like how wotlk/tbc/vanilla worked
it’s design choices the long leveling or weird empty zones with quests here and there class design was wierd without logic in my opinion

If you ask me what my favorites expansions are
and you can hate me if you want and think i’m wrong
but for me it’s cata/mop/legion/BFA/DF
I like those expansion simply because the systems in them were ok for me i really enjoyed doing legion/BFA grinds
I loved how they changed classes in cata/MOP
some of my best memories are the balance druid from MOP where you press starsurge.
Putting dots on target or pressing your CD and you could spam both of them in one global
good times

But in reality all of this is just personal preference
some people like vanilla because it was slow and leveling was the ENDGAME for them and they could have 2000 spells and potions and bombs and all that on their bars or
they really enjoyed doing those long session farming copper ore and i do not hate them for it cause that is for them a lot of FUN.
And i wish blizzard will do one server for every old expansion
cause i personally want to play throne of thunder till the end of time :smiley:

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