The push for TBC servers has taken off in quite a big way. Blizzard may choose the ignore the EU forums, but they are less likely ignore the US forums, where the push is also gathering momentum.
For myself I’d be happy with either TBC or WotLK - and feel that both options would be ideal, but the majority are favouring TBC right now, which perhaps is unsurprising.
First:
Why are people asking for this?
Simple. We had TBC taken away from us far too quickly - just over one and a half years. Many people didn’t even get a chance to explore Sunwell content before WotLK went live, and given the lengthy, complex attunements needed for most TBC end game in which raids largely need to be completed sequentially, this was clearly nowhere near long enough.
Of course right now, we’re completely denied the opportunity to do any of it, unless we play on Cataclysm servers - and who wants to join a Cata server just to play TBC? Not very many is my guess.
But player numbers tanked during TBC Classic
Are you surprised? Consider what happened.
Rather than forcing people to play organically and at the intended pace Blizzard instead made the shortsighted move to implement level boosts. For many this soured the experience entirely. For others who used the service a sparsely-populated world was the end result.
Rushing people to level cap, skipping the preliminaries, skipping the journey and focussing only on the destination ultimately leads to a 'log in / raid / log out / wait a week / log in / raid… playstyle’ None of this is healthy. Raid logging is not fulfilling gameplay for most, but what else was there for them to do?
OK so if we let people bring their L60s to TBC won’t that create a similar problem, even without level boosts?
Yes, perhaps - but bringing a character you’ve put time and effort into and have thus created a bond with is not the same as just playing on an instant ‘pre-made’ character, as there is no connection with that character. Ask yourself which are you most likely to be most proud of? A classic car you bought from an auction or one you put blood, sweat and tears into restoring in your own garage until it was roadworthy?
But beyond that allowing boosting created a specific ‘rush, rush, rush’ mindset among the player base. This created a scenario in which all TBC content was gobbled up in nanoseconds, leaving nothing in it’s wake. Hence people eventually quit, awaiting WotLK for the next big thing.
So clearly fresh starts are a better option?
Pros:
- Everyone starts on the same level playing field
The open world will remain populated, INCLUDING the old world, making the game feel more vibrant and alive - The economy won’t be inflated due to people starting TBC with bags full of gold
- People are more likely to concentrate on multiple alts, due to general length of levelling process creating a desire for something fresh when they’re feeling a little burned out from levelling their mains. This will extend the expansion’s life.
- Better social aspect for obvious reasons.
Cons:
- People have invested a lot of time and effort into their vanilla mains and abandoning them can be hard - it’s the sunk cost fallacy at play here. It’s hard to cast aside a thing you’ve put a lot of time and effort into.
- Fresh starts will be an ‘inauthentic’ experience, given that previous incarnations of TBC allowed us to bring our L60 main characters into the expansion.
- Not everybody has a desire for the ‘slow lane’ and the anticipation of experiencing the new TBC content will make having to play once again in the old world feel like a roadblock. They’ve done it already, often multiple times on multiple alts - now they have to do it all again.
So there it is. Please feel free to add your own thoughts below.