MoP v. TBC

WoW Classic Mists of Pandaria Classic Discussion
1

I think MoP Classic was always going to struggle, since it’s my opinion that the expansion is only so fondly remembered in juxtaposition with Cata (that most of the MoP Classic players won’t have played, being so maligned in the minds of most players who played at the time). It seemed like there were lots of new players levelling with low achievement points and no looms during the first phase of MoP classic, so I figured it was at least in with a fighting chance of not being a ghost town by the mid point. For what it’s worth I’m a big MoP fan, but the replacement of raiding’s tourism and practice mode with endless barely changed do-overs of the limited number of dungeons was huge boo-boo IMO.

However… TBC Classic round 2. Classic already competes with Retail (badly, it seems) for Dev time, and now MoP has to compete with a re-do of the most critically acclaimed post-Vanilla expansion for players as well. Seeing on the roadmap that SoO is going to be competing for attention from players and devs with Black Temple, I don’t see that working in MoPs favour.

I’d like to know if anyone can fathom the logic here - not only making Classic compete with Retail but also with two other ongoing versions of Classic at different points in the timeline. Surely fragmenting the playerbase like this can’t be sustainanble? It’s already getting hard to get raids going beyond Wednesday evening each week since TBC pre-patch arrived on Anniversary, and raids haven’t even opened there yet.

2

IDK what you mean by classic competing on dev time with retail when is obvious MoP have been mostly abandoned by them, lots of bugs unfixed, ticket time of 1 week that end up in AI response… Anniversary will be the same at some point, once they get every dollar from boomers paying boost it will become classic progression 2.0.

They already killed the low expectations we had for classic progression, not announcing what comes after SoO wasn’t their smartest move, as usual they are so out of touch with the playerbase is a joke.

No,things looking bad for MoP, people that raid with solid groups will still raid without problems mostly with GDKPs, but I can’t see a casual raiding group surviving till its end. Population splitted happened with SoD and ICC too, but at that there wasn’t an army of clueless andy boomers thinking TBC is being released for the 2nd time ever and classic progression never existed, so yea MoP looking grim for now.

3

Mop merge to retail , tbc = wotlk = END , future two versions of WoW retail + classic +

4

I believe that the reason why everything wasn’t written in the roadmap at the end of the “event” is because future versions of Classic are always announced at BlizzCon. So I expect to hear the final verdict at BlizzCon and not now.

This would be true if we didn’t live in a world where people want to play the same three versions of the game over and over and over again. There will be a Vanilla “back” again sooner or later, and then TBC and Wrath again.

5

its because MoP remix was not that long ago so people already played a lot of it recently.

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6

Why the hell would I ever want to play retail? LOL.

There’s a REASON people were asking for classic. If somehow, Blizzard in all their infinite wisdom, decides to merge to retail… I’m unsubscribing and uninstalling, again. I came back for classic, not retail.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe, MAAAAAAAAAYBE, I would consider playing retail if they allowed us to have an option to view the old models like we could in WOD. That’s a huge maybe and even then, I would very much rather endure the painful and agonizing grinding of TBC than to play that 255 lvl funserver they call “retail”.

I suspect there’s a not so insignificant amount of people here that literally would rather play anything but retail and that’s why they’re playing TBC/MOP instead of retail, which is literally right there for them to play.

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7

Divide and conquer? They still want people to subscribe but they don’t want us too concentrated in one place and that’d bring in less revenue for them. Better to split us up and get us to purchase stuff from their shop while still being scattered all over so they can continue “justifying” restarting classic over and over again.

If we remained united on a single expansion, they’d have no choice but to continue that expansion. Because that’s where the money is going, and they like money above all else. But of course, TBC HYPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, BABY!!!

Can anybody even play TBC right now? Lol.

8

A lot of us rejoined for TBC classic and then Wotlk. Once we were forced onto crapaclysm we cancelled our subscription.
Then we came back for TBC anniversary, will stay for Wotlk, then will leave again when forced onto crapaclysm.
Now you know what we felt like starting wrath with no knowledge of what blizzard would do. They could keep every customer with every expansion running but seem intent on fast milking people with boosts and bot subscriptions.

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9

I was duped into playing partly because people kept saying that raids in Cata and MoP were great and partly because of MOFO.

I have not enjoyed a raid in either expansion since probably Ulduar. The raids become increasingly souless.

10

I played tbc in the past, dont have to do it again, but many love to play the new shiny release. It was always like this and it will continue to be like this. When ever a new WoW expansion or server releases, the other versions will suffer player losses.

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11

The sheeps will always follow the streamers.

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12

For the week ended March 3rd 2026:

Population of logged raid alts in MoP: 63733 (-8000 vs last week)

Population of logged raid alts in TBC: 269543 (+27000 vs last week)

The gamers have spoken.

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13

Just wait a month and most people stop playing TBC when they get bored at the super simple raids that you just run through with no effort.

14

It doesn’t matter anymore.

MoP topped at 200k vs TBC 270k ( as of now ). The rest is history.

But, should I remind you that in the week TBC got 270k was also the week where WoW Midnight got early access and released the same week? Yes?

“Look mommy, so many kids are playing a better game than what I play and having more fun then me. But they are all wrong mommy!! MY GAME better mommy!! /cries…”

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15

You mean the game with lower ratings than retail? Yikes

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16

When people compare MoP and TBC they are usually comparing two completely different design eras of World of Warcraft rather than two expansions that were trying to do the same thing.

The Burning Crusade still follows the original early-MMO philosophy. The game world is slower, progression takes time, and preparation matters. Gold is harder to earn, consumables matter more, reputations take real effort, and raid composition plays a large role in success. The systems are less balanced and sometimes rigid, but the upside is that progress often feels meaningful. When you get gear upgrades or defeat a difficult raid boss, it feels like the result of weeks of preparation and coordination.

Mists of Pandaria comes from a later stage of WoW where Blizzard had already spent years refining and streamlining systems. Class design is far more polished, rotations feel smoother, and almost every spec is viable in PvE. The expansion also offers more structured activities outside traditional raiding such as challenge mode dungeons, daily quest hubs, scenarios, and other systems that give players multiple ways to progress.

Because of that, the experience is very different.

TBC emphasizes long-term progression and social dependency. Raids require specific compositions, some classes provide essential buffs, and players often rely heavily on guild structures. This can create a strong sense of community, but it also means the game can feel restrictive and sometimes unfair for certain specs.

MoP emphasizes gameplay refinement and flexibility. Classes feel more responsive, balance is significantly better, and players have more freedom in how they approach endgame content. The downside for some players is that the world can feel more streamlined and less demanding compared to the older design.

Neither expansion is objectively better. They simply appeal to different expectations of what an MMORPG should be.

TBC represents the older MMO model where the world itself is the challenge and progression takes patience.

MoP represents a more modern approach focused on smoother gameplay, stronger class design, and multiple endgame activities.

So the real question is not which expansion is better, but which design philosophy you prefer, a slower world-driven MMO experience or a more refined and mechanically balanced one.

17

https://www.metacritic.com/game/world-of-warcraft-the-burning-crusade/ Score: 8.2

vs

https://www.metacritic.com/game/world-of-warcraft-mists-of-pandaria/ Score: 5.3

Its really not that hard to understand and have common sense.

Now shu ..in Pandarian Language.

Oh and : 200k vs 270k

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18

Time to move on to legion classic

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19

As i said check the classic version. Have a nice days. :slight_smile:

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There are 134 die hards fans who voted Classic down. The game is literally the same…literally. Btw, we talk about Anniversary not Classic ( see what I did there?! ).

But .. where is MoP Classic there? LOL

HAHAHAHAHAHA

They didn’t even bother to add it.

Really, THAT BAD! Now off you go and play with your Pandas.

Yes please! Last WoW Expansion to worth playing it.

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