Stray Thoughts on WoW Classic

I thought I'd play WoW Classic for a few hours, then give up. But I still haven't stopped.

Like It's 2004

I was very young when World of Warcraft came out in 2004. I don’t remember exactly when I made my first character, the Night Elf Warrior Weaselofdoom, but it wasn’t much later. I have incredibly fond memories of leveling him alongside my elder brothers. Back then, my entire family was into WoW. My parents raided every weekend. Their dungeon schedule defined my childhood. It is strange to think back and realize that world is all very long gone.

Weaselofdoom never made it past level 20. I liked a lot of different games, and I could never dedicate the attention to WoW that it required (though I tried many times). I mostly watched my parents and brothers play.

This meant that I had an enormous amount of nostalgia for the old versions of the game. With the upcoming release of Classic, I was put in an interesting situation. Here was a game I knew very well, and yet had never really played.

I wanted to try it again now that I was older. I expected I’d bounce off of it, like I always had before, but I logged on, made a human mage named Saline, and gave it a shot.

I made it past level 20.

Not only did I reach 60, but I joined a guild and started raiding. My sole goal was to get any purple weapon, preferably the Azuresong Mageblade. If I could do that, I would have “won” WoW.

I didn’t win. But I still consider Saline a success. There is much to dislike about WoW Classic; it is a gigantic timesink, filled with badly designed quests, tedious grinds, and mind-mulching repetition. It is apparently still doing something right, because its endless content, deep progression systems, and beautiful zones kept me coming back for over 19 days /played.

I insisted on being a Fire Mage through all I did. Despite Trade Chat’s insistence that you can’t play Fire in Classic, you can, and you will be fine. I fell in love with Fire, and it was only made better by the fact that no one else was playing it. This was what made the game for me. I discovered my own spec and forged my own path, and the results were in the DPS: when it came time for a race, I always won, and thus was I vindicated.

This is a peculiar quirk of Classic’s shoddy balance, it turns out. But it worked out in my favor, and I had an amazing time playing Fire.

What Else Works?

How did I put 400 hours into Classic when I can’t get to max level in Retail?

I have tried. The Fire Mage gameplay in Retail is far better than Classic. Modern WoW is tight and responsive and effectively an aRPG. Time is spent playing and not walking. There is much less grind.

How is Classic more interesting than Shadowlands? This should not be possible.

I played through part of Wrath while going from level 10-45 in Shadowlands. In that time, I encountered zero players. Literally none. It was a completely singleplayer experience. In the end, this is what makes the difference. The mere existence of multiple people on a server is not what makes WoW an engaging MMO. The reason why these games are truly memorable is the social engagement the systems force.

The grind I experienced while leveling Saline has blurred to nothingness in my memory. But I shall never forget the time the level 45 Tauren Warrior saved my life while I was doing my class quest. I remember the friendship I formed with an older woman who was getting into WoW after her children had moved out, and the way she and I kept bumping into one another while leveling. Going forward, the important moments to me will be the shittalking my brother and our guildmates did while farming Hand of Justice in BRD, and the incredible excitement we felt when it finally dropped.

These are the experiences that define Classic. I would say the world and the atmosphere are even more memorable than the gameplay. An enhanced version of WoW that captured these things while also improving the gameplay really could be the best MMO of all time.

I Am Not Prepared

Now comes the dawn of Burning Crusade: Classic. BC is the expansion I have the most nostalgia for; every Sunday I would watch my brother raid with his guild (over Ventrilo!), killing Kael and Vashj and Illidan, and I am eager to face them down myself.

I have no idea if I’ll make it that far. I always expect myself to give up. But Classic has been a highlight of my time spent gaming over the last few years. I recommend that anyone give it a try.

As for Retail, you can skip it.