The major problem with Cataclysm is the world revamp - and it ruins the experience of Classic players

[Elisandé-stormreaver]

Only one thing I liked about Cata is the new zone Vashj’ir. most hate it but it’s my absolute favourite zone.

[Vanillataur-nethergarde-keep]

If we could have the new zones and so on, but old Talent trees, specs, levelling speed, UI, ect I would not be opposed. It’s all those game-play-altering changes - and the shattering of Azeroth - which make me oppose Cata and to some extend WWrath.

[Retherz-gehennas]

your second point is not valid, wotlk already made all quests soloable with ease. there is practiaclly no difference in difficulty between wotlk and cata quests. main difference is the cata quests feel less repetitive than the classic-wotlk ones

[Gøthik-ravencrest]

If you guys like the classic world so much just go play classic or SoM?

You use that argument for retail players right?

[Vanillataur-nethergarde-keep]

Why do you think we post in Classic Era Forum? … rigth!

[Daigar-gehennas]

Completely agree. The extremely railroaded and boring leveling experience was awful. I went through it when Cata prepatch launched and don’t remember what any quest was about.

Also, while some zones had neat redesigns based on results of old quests, others feel like they were changed just for the sake of change (Swamp of Sorrows? Dustwallow Marsh? Like, what the hell?)

[Kraktor-rexxar (Kraktor)]

That and the removal of many Classicrp features like Hunters needing Ammo and two Weapons and many more. I would have less problems with Cata if the revamped areas are instead of 1-60 for 80-86 and Blizzard would instead of pruning trees and Class features expand them.

[Volgran-giantstalker]

@Retherz-gehennas

your second point is not valid, wotlk already made all quests soloable with ease. there is practiaclly no difference in difficulty between wotlk and cata quests. main difference is the cata quests feel less repetitive than the classic-wotlk ones

You’re half right.

The biggest mistake Blizzard made was their utter failure with regards to scaling the world with the increased power of our characters. A level 60 with WOTLK talents is on a different planet in terms of strength compared to their Vanilla or TBC counterparts. There was absolutely no attempt to scale the world to reflect this and this became more and more pronounced between each expansion.

It’s bad enough in WOTLK when you hit big power spikes at level 40 and 50 but this starts to become absurd in Cataclysm when you get your first huge leap at level 10. Abilities like Revenge, Kill Command and Ambush start deleting mobs without there being so much as a fight.

When you factor in features such as Intellect granting Spell Power, you end up seeing every class bulldoze their way through levelling content with laughable ease.

This cannot be allowed to happen again.

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

It changed the world in a way that made capital cities unpleasant. Stormwind ruined. Orgrimmar - changed. Gone was the good old pastoral Orgrimmar with wooden huts and another one with iron architecture that I never liked appeared. Forsaken towns were changed - gone were the human buildings. Southshore was destroyed.

Absolutely agree. Not just the towns and cities but the whole world felt artificial following the Cataclysm. Nothing felt ‘lived in’ anymore. The Vanilla world felt timeless and has ironically aged far less than the Cataclysm rework.

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

Questing was streamlined and made easier. Gone were the hard group quests. Gone was looking for people to help with Hogger. Yes, it got progressively easier with the release of BC and WOTLK, but Cataclysm was the final nail of the coffin. For a person like me who enjoys questing more than raids/dungeons, the experience was ruined forever. Back in Classic we had easy quests and hard quests which were doable in groups. In Cataclysm questing was affordable for everyone, thus bland and dull.

Again a huge agree. The number of silly gimmick quests was also far too high.

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

To add further salt to the wounds, class quests were removed. Back in Classic classes had identity. You as a player had to pass certain rites of passages so you could learn how to use certain skills. This was done by doing class quests which took you everywhere on the map. It was no trivial job to learn to use your skills to summon a succubus or a felhunter as a warlock. Not to mention the mounts on level60 in pure Vanilla.

This is the most egregious mistake of all. Class quests were something Blizzard should have doubled down on, hard. Not removed. I actually believe there is a tremendous opportunity to make a Classic version of the Legion Order Halls where you could give this idea a resurgence.

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

The storyline was absolutely ruined. Back in Vanilla you had an authentic story and the pop-culture references were subtle. In Cataclysm however pop culture references were dictating the main storyline. You had to help Horatio Caine (Laine) in Westfall or Rambo in Redridge.
The Horde was presented as villains, plaguing and destroying Alliance cities. As for the Alliance experience … it was simply depressing. A story of loss isn’t necessary a bad story, but in the case it was bad. You never saw Alliance leaders in actions, and sometimes you even helped Horde leaders. This was especially egregious with the case of Thrall - he was turned into a Green Jesus, a Mary Sue and nobody enjoyed sticking to him all the time.

Uldum makes me sick to this day.

Zones like Azshara were utterly ruined.

Dustwallow Marsh in TBC is the gold standard regarding how to revamp an underutilized Classic Zone and bring it up to speed without destroying the integrity of the atmosphere and feel.

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

Revamping the world meant huge efforts that took away efforts from making some nice end-game zones. There’s a reason why 12 years later Blizzard never did another revamp, and there’s a reason why 12 years later Blizzard never released another expansion which didn’t have a separate continent (or world plane, or a planet). For example, Blizzard abandoned creating a compelling story in the Twilight highlands which was supposed to expose Benedictus as a traitor. Instead, the Alliance players were forced to do the Horde quests where you had to meet red dragons who were angry at you for no reason.

There’s no doubt about this either. Spot on.

[Svetlio-mirage-raceway]

@Volgran-giantstalker

Uldum makes me sick to this day.

Zones like Azshara were utterly ruined.

Dustwallow Marsh in TBC is the gold standard regarding how to revamp an underutilized Classic Zone and bring it up to speed without destroying the integrity of the atmosphere and feel.

Thanks for these comments!

By the way, there was an awesome blog called Children of Wrath (childrenofwrath.blogspot. com) that documented the changes from WOTLK to Cataclysm and then Pandaria. It’s cool to reread it now, when they’re considering releasing Cata servers.

[Femke-mograine]

I hate how they revamped zones that didn’t need revamping.

Like they destroyed Darkshore, one of the best early zones in the game.
I cried.

[Tecky-exodar]

What if they add a NPC to change between old world and new world? Just like how they do nowadays in retail with zones that change.

[Lilyfae-gehennas]

This would be a compromise I would love.

[Nightfairy-nethergarde-keep]

Dont know about you all,but I would like to play Cata and Pandaria after .

[Svetlio-mirage-raceway]

@Nightfairy-nethergarde-keep

Dont know about you all,but I would like to play Cata and Pandaria after .

You can still play Cata and Pandaria, because all zones and content are available in retail.
But if WOTLK progresses to Cataclysm, the old zones, what we love, will be gone and Classic will become Retail.
I’ll certainly like to replay certain aspects of Cata and MOP, like the 3-man scenarios, and certianly Pandaria was a good addition as a continent.
The problem is the revamped world.

[Nightfairy-nethergarde-keep]

Build my druid since the first day,all this years with professions,reps,achievements and everything,and you tell me to move to retail?No!No way.

[Tiky-transcendence]

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

I’ve noticed that Blizzard are polling the players about progression of Classic servers to Cataclysm

where? /11231312132123

[Svetlio-mirage-raceway]

@Tiky-transcendence

where? /11231312132123

I can’t attach links here, so you can google the wowhead news: "World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic Survey Sent by Blizzard
"

[Tiky-transcendence]

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic Survey Sent by Blizzard

got it , thanks for that. quite informative. i get the impression they actually do think about a re-release but with a lot of changes. oh well …

[Maruyama-nethergarde-keep]

@Svetlio-mirage-raceway

You can still play Cata and Pandaria, because all zones and content are available in retail.

Have you played it? I played on Shadowlands launch and made a void elf…I literally was level 42 by the time I’d finished Loch Modan alone. You can’t even do a full expansion before hitting 50 from level 10, its an absolute joke.