Did Blizzard really think this through? Are they aware how many people HATE retail for the game it has become? Full with paid boosts and microtransactions? Do they think the classic crowd are going to put up with their shenanigans?
I can’t look into the future, but why wouldn’t players go back to private servers? They also have microtransactions added, but do you know what the difference is? They’re free to play.
Not to mention some private servers have realms that automatically put you at level 58.
Note that I do not play private servers and do not advocate for them.
If you think it’s okay to add microtransactions on top of a game you charge people to play, so be it. But don’t be surprised when people choose the option that costs them less money.
WoW costs you around 12e per month,thats it.No need to buy anything else.People hate retail because how game is made and in what direction it went and not because of microtransactions.
I really think ppl overestimate the impact of mtx on how ‘retail’ went downhill…its the gameplay, class design decisions that make it crappy …ofc for some ppl, i still do enjoy casual raiding and stuff.
My issue with retail is there’s nothing to do beyond raid logging. The open world became almost pointless in just a couple of weeks - as did, every dungeon below a mythic +10 once the covenant campaign was fully released.
Hence a collective “wow this sucks and I’m out” - at week 10-12.
The fact people can change their race, faction etc and buy transmog gear, mounts, whatever has no impact at all.
TBC Private servers are, by and large, very empty. There’s never been a large, titan of a TBC private server, and most servers that have popped up last a few months and end up getting shut down, have terrible population, or are constantly cycling F R E S H realms every couple of months to try and retain a player base even though their previous one still only has up to T5 opened.
If people didn’t play TBC private servers before, why would they play them just because Blizzard are making controversial decisions with the official product?
Pretty much every popular TBC private server that I found tended to have an in-game cash shop that you could purchase gear with.
Main reason I avoided them heavily.
People don’t just hate retail for the in-game cash shop, it’s the mechanics and in general… the actual expansion.
Shadowlands = Do covenant storyline / Did every M+, but prideful ruins it for me, since 1 ninja pull = run could be ruined / Raiding = I got bored in general, due to the fact we cleared heroic and it was basically on farm, so everyone was geared and thus bringing alts.
Shadowlands in general has pretty much nothing to do in the world, arena = unbalanced as hell, especially at lower ratings lol.
BFA = Azerite power in general, then adding higher ilvl of the same gear… but you had to increase your azerite level again and again just to get the same azerite ability…?
One of the main reasons I quit BFA.
Legion = Rather good replayability, M+ was fun, artifacts in general was fun… we still had tier pieces, main con was the legendaries being RNG as hell.
Though it did make doing world quest emissaries worth doing, since it was rewarding you with possibly a legendary.
These are small examples of why I quit SL/BFA and at least that legion was very fun compared to them.
Monetization aspects are one of reasons people want older version. Level boost or soon super likley wow token bring retail skips to classic version. Also the deluxe edition with a exclusive mount is also retail in nature and somewhat predatory monetization as collectors and alike will be heavily inclined to buy it.
Old WoW was purely “what you do is what you have”, while Classic now becomes a Korean MMO where playerbase expects that if they don’t have time or interest for something they can skip it with money - and for classic that’s official or unofficial transactions.
Honestly, I dont care about monetization, boosting, mounts, or whatever.
I simply dont care, I dont use those services and I just play the game, and hey, I’m happy.
I’ve seen a lot of people critizising blizzard arguing that they are making classic tbc look like retail… And the only thing that cross my mind is, this person has NEVER played retail… I mean, give it a try and you will se why retail is bad.
Retail is bad, and it’s not because WoW token, not because mount store and not because double spec. Play Retail and you will understand the pros and cons (Yes, Retail actually has some pros).
And no, a boost to 58 doesn’t make tbc look like retail, not at all.
If you think Retail is bad mainly because of MTX I’d heartily disagree. And there’s plenty of pservers out there with shops selling far more impactful content than mounts or lvl 58 boosts. And still, I’d much rather play a TBC or WotLK with a shop than a BFA or SL without. Shops are one of the least important flaws of the mess that retail is
Meanwhile ffxiv has more microtransactions then retail and the game keeps growing. As many has said retails downfall aint due to microtransactions. Its more have to do with other bad decisions.
…ofc for some ppl, i still do enjoy casual raiding and stuff.