The game changed a lot throughout Wrath - itemisation, classes, UI, core features, etc.
Also, it was the first expansion that had this pre-prepatch like retail - patch 3.3 added a lot of Cataclysm features, and 4.0.1 was pretty much Cataclysm prepatch with all the new classes, it just had the old world and ran for a bit longer.
So, basing the Wrath servers on 3.3.5 or 4.0.1 with just content unlocks would make little sense, per-patch progression is the way to go. Now this can be done with the server-side selective loading from 1.14 .
The question is, at which patch should Wrath end and split up into Cataclysm - because a lot of players will want to progress to Cataclysm and later return to Wrath or even Vanilla. Progressing Wrath servers into 4.0.1 to leave there would be weird, while having Cataclysm servers without Cataclysm for so long would also be weird. And patch 4.0.1 cannot be skipped or rushed too much because it was a nice period of time, with new classes and Mastery and Reforging but still Wrath and old world.
Well thecnicaly 3.3.5 is the last patch of Wrath and 4.0.1 is the pre patch to cata so a wrath server is going to be based on 3.3.5 everything els would be wrong, just like classic vanilla was based on 1.12.1 and not on 2.0.1, and we are not on 3.0.1 in tbc.
Technically 4.0.1 was also a Wrath patch because of how long it was before the world got broken. It even had old login screen and Wrath logo and music.
And 3.3 also introduced Cataclysm things such as Dungeon Finder, new tutorial, new character creation screen, removal of class quests, real ID, quest tracking, etc.
Dungeon finder was a wrath feature, and the class quests were not fully removed before MoP even (atleast the Warlocks had quests for their pets untill MoP)
But, to be honest, classic needs to stay without Dungeon Finder even in Cataclysm if it happens. As far as I remember, there weren’t any random dungeon rewards yet.
TBC had few QoL stuff and lost few, hopefully WotLK will lose more.
But the class balance is going to be quite significant in raids
They’ll pretty much always balance them around the end patches. (class wise anyway)
Not pre-patches.
But with WOTLK, stuff like dungeon finder will be unknown whether it’ll be added at the start.
Especially since TBC was meant to have group finder at launch and we got it after the first big patch?
LFD was part of WotLK, just like dual spec. And yes, we already had LFD-specific rewards even in WotLK (2 EoF for first successful LFD for the day at 80, and blue items for lower levels).
Unless they have some kind of problem like with GBank in TBCC or keyring in Classic, I’d expect it to be in from day 1. Both LFD and Dual Spec, and possibly weekly raid quests too.
Why? Itemization didn’t really change between 3.0 and 3.3.5, so it’d be the same thing regardless. And original 3.0 talents were way more broken and all over the place than 3.3.5 ones. If anything, starting pre-patch from a 3.3.5 state instead of a 3.0 state will make it feel a lot less of a mess.
Tho yeah I don’t expect to see LFD until Northrend actually becomes available. As for dual spec… who knows. Doesn’t rly matter that much either way by then, since with WotLK pre-patch content already gets nerfed so hard that any notion of Dual Spec “trivializing” content simply no longer makes sense.
Not sure what you’re hinting to, here. What do emblems have to do with itemization? The stats of the items themselves stayed the same from 3.0 to 3.3.5.
This is WotLK, not TBC or Vanilla. If you think it’s already too far for you, just don’t play it, but Dual Spec and WotLK talent trees belong to WotLK whether you like it or not. Much like flying mounts belong to TBC no matter what some ppl had to say about it.
Also, ftr, hybrid builds have been dead in WotLK from the getgo, so it’s not really a matter of which version of WotLK talents we get.
but there were those multipurpose talents on the top that were useful to other builds, such as Shapemender which was useful for both feral and moonkings, but was in restoration tree. I think they also moved the +4% intellect talent to resto in that changes. They also killed support builds, such as buff paladins.
There was also a lot of broken stuff, such as ret paladins and holy priests, that we don’t really need in 3.0 and we certainly can’t have in the entire expansion just to satisfy your need for hybrid specs. Hybrid specs are obsolete anyway with dual spec allowing you to keep two at all times, and I’d much rather have a druid in my group with a focused feral and a focused balance spec than one who has some kind of hybrid spec just so he could have, I dunno, a PvP spec on the side or something.
Either way, it’s really a matter of accepting that’s just how the game is, and that you’re far from the first or last person who believes this or that change is the “beginning of retail”, and that your complaint is as pointless as the ones of those who came before you. As with TBC, if you don’t like it, just don’t play it.