The Burning Crusade Classic
The Burning Crusade is a much better game than World of Warcraft
In my brief piece on the "Vanilla" phase of WoW: Classic two months back, I wrote that I wasn't sure how far I'd make it into The Burning Crusade Classic. My expectation was that I'd play for a while, maybe level to 70, and then lose interest.
That didn't happen.
I've now crafted all my Best-in-Slot armor, cleared Karazhan twice, and, as of last night, defeated Gruul in his lair. Magtheradon still awaits and I'm approximately 5200 gold away from my epic flying mount. It remains to be seen whether I will get to either. Content is wearing thin.
Yet I still log on every day to make my spellcloth and check auction house prices. The game continues to hold my attention. I'm more engaged than I ever have been.
The Burning Crusade is a much better game than World of Warcraft
This is my first WoW expansion at max level. What I expected, informed by social osmosis, was massive stat inflation, some new padded content, and the ability to fly. I suppose that's not an inaccurate assessment, but it is monstrously unfair. The key to deducing why TBC works so well is realizing that it feels not like simply 'more,' but that it feels like more late-game content.
In other words: if you were already at 60, you haven't had anything taken away. But much more has been added. Leveling up to 70 feels very much like pursuing content at max level in Classic did, except it's inconceivably more interesting. Meanwhile the game itself feels expanded in the best possible ways
I've continued playing Fire spec exclusively on my Mage. Fire was already the most interesting caster in Classic, in that it had the most active abilities and the most engaging rotation, and in TBC it's the same. But there's so much more. The niche Fire fills has been expanded significantly. There's twice as much to do while DPSing and twice as much to keep track of. The game, in a single word, is far more fun.
Every single class and spec has received this treatment.
Frost and Arcane specs are now interesting enough to justify playing as a Mage, in that they're viable and have more than one button to press (Arcane has 2, Frost has 3). Paladins and Shamans have been overhauled and are now competitive, top-tier classes. Everyone has a place, and the endearing-but-inept balance of the base game has been almost completely rectified.
Meanwhile flying, so often detracted by long-time players, is an ingenious addition to max level gameplay. It allows the player to experience content in a literal new dimension once 70 and allows designers to do all sorts of interesting new things, like creating a multiplex dungeon that requires a flying mount to reach.
The proliferation of spellpower, spellcrit, spellhit, and haste equipment has introduced a significant element of decision making into the gearing process. Is it worth trading that +20 crit for 40 intellect? That's a call only you can make for yourself, and different players may reach different conclusions.
More than anything else, though, the pacing of the content is improved so much that the game is almost unrecognizable. By the time I gave up on raiding in Classic, after a year of regularly attending my guild's runs, I had received five purple items: a belt and set of robes from Molten Core, the cloak off Hakkar in Zul'Gurub, and the Tier 2 wrists from Blackwing Lair--which I proceeded to replace literally the following day with purple wrists from AQ20.
After only a month at max level in TBC Classic, I've crafted a purple robe, gloves, and belt. I've purchased a purple trinket, cloak, and off-hand using the currency from Heroic-difficulty dungeons. I've received my Tier 4 hat from Karazhan, and I've bought two purple rings and a purple Best-in-Slot sword from reputation vendors. All of this gear is as good or better than anything raiders will get, with a few exceptions.
In Classic progression was disclaimed to RNG on a massive scale. If, like me, you were unlucky with rolls and drops, you would never get good purple gear. This has been rectified. Now the determining factor on gear received is time dedicated to the game, as well as the difficulty of content cleared--not luck.
Raiding continues to not be especially interesting past the first clear. The reduction of raid sizes from 40 to 25 and 20 to 10 was brilliant on Blizzard's part, but the content itself grows stale quickly. Overall, as it was before, raiding remains a primarily social phenomenon. It's only fun if the people you play with every week are your friends and you enjoy spending time with them (regardless of what you're doing).
That, unfortunately, is the one experience I haven't yet had with World of Warcraft, not in this expansion or the initial release. I've passed through many guilds and in general I find they're filled with nice people who have Southern accents and take the game and progression way too seriously--and I've been playing three hours per day for nearly two months! In all my time in Classic so far I've made many acquaintances but few friends, and I doubt, at this point, I'll ever find people I truly enjoy playing with.
It demonstrates World of Warcraft's power that this is so minor an issue. Unlike Classic, TBC succeeds because of excellent design--not purely due to its social elements. That isn't to say the multiplayer mechanics aren't important, because they are, and in all the same ways they are in Vanilla WoW. But for the most part, the lone wolf can still have a spectacular time, forging groups, tackling content, and making his way to max level. It's no surprise that this game has had such resplendent financial and critical success. It deserves it.