Even if it was a new game, these…players - to even call them that - would do the min max garbage no matter what. There were players who did it back at the time also, there were just less of them. GDKP barely existed back then either, as it was seen as an unethical way to play the game by the majority.
I tell you I had good nostalgia in Vanilla Classic, TBC too for the most part (with the aid of chat filters ofc). The issue is these…players have decided to start playing Classic during TBC or late Vanilla. The players who don’t talk, or say thanks, or enjoy the game as it was intended. The boosters, the “Gotta Go Fast” players, the tanks/healers “selling” their services, the GDKP guys, the streamers, and any I’ve forgotten.
This has, in my opinion, been a major factor in driving away a decent portion of the Classic players. Retail mindsets seem to be common. The same mindsets that ruined WoW for a lot of people late in Wrath and into Cataclysm with the changes they supported that ripped the RPG out of the MMORPG, creating the MMO that has been Retail for many years.