Classic well never have that true nostalgic feeling no matter what changes Blizzard choose to implement or leave out. Why?
Because of the players themselves. The players mindset have changed from back then to now.
Since the content is old, people know what to do and what they want to achieve. As such things like min-maxing exists on a total different level. The player base have also learned how to maximize profits and moneymaking through GDKP:s, boosts and more.
These things are not the fault of developers, but is rather a consequence of the evolving players. One can argue though that Blizzard could do better in preventing such things.
Fresh servers will most likely face the same problems in due time even without transfers. Itās just a matter of time.
Buzzkill, sorry.
My opinion the reason what changed whas the launche of Classic. People where afraid of this āNeed a Tank! Need a Tank! Need a Tank!ā spamming that they stormed on the most filled servers and stayed there like their live depends on it. Sadly with Layering Blizzard showed the players that this could be a viable alternative so Blizzard stood with their greed in their own way. Instead Blizzard would had to not offer Layers, automatically closed servers when they reached 20.000 Population and so open a new server if they are really feared of people being merely nostalgic and just say that those that need to play during first month do this with their own decicion and reopen closed servers when they reach medium again. Because even if they feared it would mostly pink tainted glasses with 20.000 per Server even if it turned out hype and so only 10-25% stay after first month it would still be enough to function like back then showed. Then they should not have brought modern servertransfers but instead those from back then where you could transfer to those with lesser population category. Because I doubt that RL friends could not communicate which server they take or that one of your beloved friends would be late for that and if would this be the case then instead this should be enough incentive to increase numbers on a not so populated realm.
The other problem I think is, Classic and TBC where still designed arround a playerbase that is new to the genre and the internet itself and so communicate the hell out of WoW.
But that is sadly not the case of modern playerbase.
Modern playerbase want two opposite things.
On the one hand a familliar community where you can talk together and on the other hand a broad playerbase so they can always do things without needing much talk or organization.
I still believe would have Classic started with WotLK engine and QoL features and would have merely unlocked time after time more content it would have been more succesfull. Or at least the DF would really have helped.
This can be only part of the explanation.
I rolled on Hydraxian Waterlords from day one, It never had layers (as far as I know) it was not severely overpopulated and so on ā¦ and still the feel of the game, from the second I logged in, was different. and I did not play much those foirst, hectic days. Standing in line for Quest objectives is not my idea of fun.
I had no real life friends playing, and almost all my old guildies had quit long ago - I re-found some only after long time- So no not that either.
And I would have abhorred QoL changes to be in from day one ā¦ maybe even stopped playing.
Maybe it is only that the Demo was not overpopulated, but somehow I doubt this.
I would hate to put on a tin-foil hat, but I feel that something undefinable changed from Demo to Classic. And Iām afraid that it was Blizz changing something. I do not know what engine the Demo used as opposed to launch. But that could be it. Calssic, when it launched, felt unwieldy, stiff, not like Vanilla, but artificial, somehow. The demo was slow, but in a Vanilla-way, if you get what I mean.
The only thing that whas changed between Demo and Classic whas a less changed Legion engine. Classic runs on a modified retail engine which is the reason why much space could be safed by having Classic and Retail in same folder.
I mean during Demo you could even open the LFR screen. Doubt you would have wanted that.
Ive found that the best way to tap in to that nostalgic feeling is to let go of the rush, the running ahead thought-wise, putting on the in-game music/sound and removing add-ons. Then, provided Im not stressed, I can during some moments tap in (a very short period) to how it felt back in the days, the earliest of them.
As I pumped more hours into WoW, I started to level on autopilot, thinking about endgame as I created the character, started to rush, blasted music or watched series, started seeing anonymous mobs (not different creatures of the world), stopped reading quests and ignored whatever I looted - knowing it ācantā be valueable.
I became to old for Neverland and started seeing the strings behind the scene.
Nostalgia wasnāt the reason I stayed in Classic tho, perhaps not even fully why I started again. I quite enjoyed the new ways of playing, some parts more than others, and it makes me appreciate the game on another level (pun intended).
Like my Super Mario Speedruns or similar. Same game, another way to play.
People that hope that it will be like the good old days should remind themselfs why hooking up with an Ex is always a bad idea (even when some memories are good). Some things are best left in memories.
Because the players donāt try hard during a beta/demo they are chilling.
Anyway, experiencing MMORPGs prior 2009 was a 1 lifetime experience. We should be able that weāve been able to experience it. 1999-2008 was the golden era for the best MMORPGs experience.
Most of the players were playing for fun. Now fun must come from the performance.
Very little players that played Classic played any of the original old expansions or vanilla. Or they were very young kids and donāt remember muchā¦ Nobody expected it will be anything like vanilla, especially when the same thing happens on private servers.
It really depends on the developer and who their target audience is. What I feel has been lost from the MMORPG-genre is the scale of the world; the sense that you are entering a virtual world as an inhabitant and not as the predetermined protagonist whoās at the centre of it all.
WoW lost the art over the years, and other MMORPGs kept following in WoWās footsteps ā often using convenience as a selling point and having their games be even more streamlined when the opposite is likely required. And now we have MMORPGs who are nothing like the MMORPGs of 1999-2008. Games that really should not be called as such, but new, more appropriate definitions have not been made since āMMORPGā is such a lucrative tag for a game.
To me it was different. It absolutely did feel nostalgic all the way to 60. I did not play during Vanilla, I joined in TBC and it took me 6 months to level to 70 because I was new and chose one of the slowest classes to level with.
When I logged into Classic the first time it felt amazing. Believe it or not but I did play - and still do - on a high pop āmegaserverā as itās called these days. From 1 to 60 it absolutely felt like the old days. Running Deadmines again and staying grouped up after the first stockades run for the questline in the keep. Running all the way to SM to stay there an entire afternoon, doing BRD with a full lvl 55 party. All this stuff didnāt change.
This could be it but I somehow doubt it. I know it uses Retail machine because Retil features sometimes pop througfh the addons or whatever they used to hice all the non-Classic things. For example golden Quest-helper arrows - mostly happening around Thelsamar with the Trogg-Quests there. (defence of the Kingās Lands I think theyāre called)
Hehe no - not until ICC - what was not in the Demo, I never tried, as I was busy having fun
I played Vanilla as a grown up. Yes Iām old I never played Pservers, I expected Classic to be much like Vanilla was back then - of course not calling the whole family to watch your first FP, it was amazing! back then - but much like, and funnily the Demo had that indefinably something
Classic had not, or only brokenly. I cannot explain how or why.
From Playing IronMan (the OG death=delete) since 2012, I have that chilled, laid back attitiude to leveling, the avarenes of surroundings ect.
I rolled on HW, and did not join the race to max, but still something was lost - not between 2009 and Classic, but between Demo in 2018 and Classic in 2019. I cannot explain this.
What changed is that after 10 minutes of playing, the āhave funā wore off and the āmodernā mentality kicked in ā¦ āNow what is the fastest way to level and how do I deck out the char in the most efficient way possibleā
I strongly believe that most people simply donāt play to have fun anymore. Itās all numbers and efficiency
Demo was way more than 10 minutes And my attitude did not change with launch of Classic, I was still in it for fun. The whole game just felt subtly different ā¦ I am putting on that tin-foil hat now
Well, but I did not (I tried, but my old PC could not run the client), so please do tell
OK, thanks.
I think I still play Classic much the same way I played Vanilla back then: Run around, take Quest, read Quest, do it, open a chest, run to nearest seller, empty bags, run back, get distracted by something, pick some herbs (or mine/skin), cook, fish, learn recipes, hand in Quest, get another one, get invited to Dungeon, run one. go back, rinse and repeat. Only most of the time I have not enough time for a Dungeon, so āNo thanksā will be my answer.
And I never follow guides or use addons (only the hide OpenAllMailButton which I modified). I know Iām odd, but I have FUN!
I have 18+ days played at level 53 - Yup thatās my main.
Berny always prioritized fun. Doing weird and inefficient activities for memories sake. Berny always enjoyed doing side quests and having fun along the way. The rush to max level is cringe.
I disagree, TBC was just as good the second time around. Nostalgia is a fleeting feeling that comes from within, it doesnāt come from the game, itās entirely dependent on you and how you choose to experience and connect memories with the present.
One thing for sure is that it canāt last, itās fleeting, momentary. You have to enjoy the game for what it is now, nostalgia will come and go. The game was as good as I remember, I made a lot of friends and I played a lot, it was 100% successful in being an enjoyable game and I hope WOTLK will be too.
but I somehow doubt it. I know it uses Retail machine because Retil features sometimes pop througfh the addons or whatever they used to hice all the non-Classic things. For example golden Quest-helper arrows - mostly happening around Thelsamar with the Trogg-Quests there. (defence of the Kingās Lands I think theyāre called)
I never played Pservers, I expected Classic to be much like Vanilla was back then - of course not calling the whole family to watch your first FP, it was amazing! back then - but much like, and funnily the Demo had that indefinably something 