What made classic wow better than current?

[Bapestar]

One of the most popular private servers out there that re-opened and people here had all the hopes in the world for it has altered drop rates while saying that it doesn't (or at least clueless loud players of this server say that it doesn't), since when having 5 6slots by the level 5 became unaltered drop rate?

I was also shocked that people on private server talk about live server more than people on live servers instead of focusing on the game. I've got into a party for a elite quest for low levels and these 2 guys couldn't stop talking about how cool it is, playing on an illegal server. It reminds me of 14 years old kids smoking and thinking that it's cool because it's forbidden

So basically you are just assuming and don't actually know. Your second point is entirely irrelevant.

[Charge me Doctor]

So basically you are just assuming and don't actually know. Your second point is entirely irrelevant.

Sure it's just an assumption, but seeing every 2nd rogue running with sunrazor dagger says a lot about drop rates. Either that, or sheer amount of bots running in there

[De Lupe]

Classic WoW had that "new game smell". The classes were new, the races were new, the zones were new, the quests were new, EVERYTHING was new.

Now? We've all gotten used to it. Current game has time working against it. Even with the game being unquestionably better today, it doesn't hold onto it's "new" feel for long. So, it's harder to hold onto that excitement of it being new.

[yetgdhfgh]

The first taste of beer was the best
Your first intimate moment with someone you care about was the best
The first shot of heroin was the best

Lets be real anything that gives you pleasure the first time will always be or at least feel like the best. Iam not gonna lie i was obsessed with wow back in the day (mid BC) and i would spend nights and days grinding BUT now iam so far past that. Iam 36 and i know there is nothing blizz can do to motivate me like they did back then just like any other pleasure i once had.

So please give the nostalgia a rest there is nothing blizz will do that will bring it back if you have been playing for over a decade.

[Ielenia]

What would be the point in collecting irrelevant data? The whole thesis is to find things that made one version better than the other. It's like writing an article about why Blu-ray is superior to DVD and then starting to talk about why DVD is better. I'm sure there are arguments why DVD is better but they are completely irrelevant to the subject.

And here is where you get things wrong. Y'see, your example is perfectly fine, because, in it, you're writing an article talking about the advantages of one product over another. You're not asking people for their input.

However, here, you're not doing that. You're stating a conclusion (vanilla is better than retail) and then asking other people to support your conclusion. You're not giving your reasons why you think vanilla is better than retail. You're just stating it as fact, without giving a single reason why you think so.

When you make a statement (a false statement, in this case), and ignore all dissenting opinions, that is what an 'echo chamber' is like. You want to hear only opinions that support and validate your own, without even acknowledging opposing ideas and opinions at all, as if they don't even exist.

Research would mean listening to both sides AND not starting with the conclusion already set in stone.

[Blazefrost]

I'm actually kinda happy to see genuine responses to this topic for the most part for 27 pages in a row.

I have to agree with people here on some things. A -lot- of what made classic "better" than now was nostalgia, yes, and the grind to actually get your things was hard and long, but proved how good a player you were (in some respects). I remember getting my first mount like a moment of joy and pride (I was also still in elementary school at the time). But the issue is that nostalgia. Game balance ensures each class is played a lot (relatively), and no class can be singled out and discarded (sorry warlocks, you're still undertuned D, and classic wow had none. This is more due to Blizzard learning how to MMO than anything. A lot of the RPG elements were carryover ideas from Warcraft 3, which was (and still is) a fan favorite game of Blizzard's.

Nostalgia tints people's views towards things in a bad way often enough, so they consider the content from back then as being better, when really it was new, relatively cutting edge design and tech, and limited movement induced a sense of vast world (even though it suffers from "EVERY ZONE IS BORDERED BY MOUNTAINS BUT NO GEOLOGICAL SENSE IN IT ARRRRGH" syndrome). The super short draw distance "fog" helped a lot too in open zones, where it could be percieved at the time as dust, fog, rain, blizzard, or even snowstorms (looking at Tanaris here). While Nostralus (Spelling check someone please, I probably messed it up) had a lot of people playing, there's a large number of people who see that gameplay and go back to it, and that quest design (or lack there of), find themselves bored and wanting for current content. A number probably are suffering from the gut check reaction of "No! This was good! I'll prove it! I... I... I will! Just... how to prove it... I know it was good, trust me!" and do not want to admit the shortcomings of a game over a decade old compared to the newer iteration, and will go to any lengths for the simple fact of not being wrong. Then there's a group who honestly enjoy the challenge and grind and server community idealism that popped up with classic WoW, and those people I respect. They are free to do their own thing, and they have their interests in place.

ALSO! The whole "First time is the best" thing is absolute crap, but the idea behind it is actually really good. (I loved and enjoyed Mists of Pandaria -far- more than classic WoW, for instance). The idea that the source of nostalgia is... well, the source, and it colors your opinion of the topic involved is absolutely true. We do tests on this with mice all the time (poor mice with wires in their brain). It's human reaction. There's no reason to despise people who like new as well as there's no reason to despise people who prefer the old. Unfortunately, this is the internet, and people will treat you like a war criminal sometimes for simply saying "For the Horde" or "For the Alliance".

[kail]

No flight, no arenas, epics were difficult to obtain so they acted like a status among others, not everything was que-able through the interface, and...classes were less homogenized.

That's about it, otherwise the game has easily come a long way to improvement. I do feel that some of the convenience added did affect how social the game is in comparison.

My biggest request for Blizz right now is to grow a pair, merge the servers and keep as much content server based as possible. Even the most basic dungeons IMO should be limited to those in the same server.

[Gamez]

being a new game no one ever played before, NEXT.

[Trollfat]

I never played actual Vanilla, my experiences are based on my recent private server experiences so this isn't nostalgia talking.

The biggest difference between Vanilla and Legion is this: Vanilla is far more immersive in exchange for QoL. It has more of an "old RPG" feel. For instance, Shaman have 5 minute imbues that they have to refresh. Rogues gather reagents for their poisons, which have finite duration. Hunter arrows are finite and they must restock them. Raids have attunements which are lore-filled quest lines you must complete before entering.

The game in general has a TON of ideas but is not balanced. Its quirky and unpolished but that adds to its character. It's chock full of past-gen RPG elements like hit rating, spell resistances, attributes providing additional effects, defense rating, weapon skill, etc. The trinity of heals-tank-DPS isn't as black and white, for example Shaman is more of a support class with tons of utility but less damage. You will find that not every spec is viable for raiding but may be more useful in PvP, and visa-versa. There are tons of since-pruned spells that add a lot of flavor and classes feel unique and not homogenized. There's class quests. You get a talent point for each level. You have to visit your trainer every few levels to learn new spell ranks or abilities.

The pace of the game is much slower and more grindy. Leveling is a legitimate, challenging journey instead of the ultra-streamlined chore it is on live. Mobs are actually lethal. You often run out of mana/health. The vanilla WoW dev team was small so the game isn't ultra-populated with quests. Many quests ask you to travel across entire zones, many quests drops are RARE with no bad luck protection. Professions actually matter. When you actually get to 60, epics are extremely hard to come by. Raids ask you to group up with 40 friends and the bosses only drop a few pieces of gear. Because of this, none but the elite few are ever expected to be in BiS. Veteran players have probably heard this cliché a million times but I truly believe it now: Vanilla is all about the journey, not the destination.

[truckboattruck]

It's not wishful thinking. It's true. It's fact.

sorry bud, thats "russian hackers" level wishful thinking

[Fakevox]

*Puts on Rose-Tinted Glasses*

Back in my day when the world was new and the grind was long there was one glorious thing that made WoW what it was.....

...the other players!

You were locked to a server where actions had consequences. People got to know each other a lot better by running content together and not having the luxury of LFG/LFR etc. People had to remember their manners and guilds were formed out of people's desire to work together to take down content. This content that required a lot of teamwork from everyone (All 40 of ya!).

Now it's just a bunch of idiots linking achievements with the word Anal around it. You've got to really sift through the filth to find those same people today!

[voidillusion]

Immersion, example: My dwarf hunter has only used guns from lvl 1, now i picked a decent bow, a solid upgrade, obviously i have to learn how to use it because i never had any experience with bows right? Not only that, but i first have to talk with a weapons master than can teach me the basics of it.

Now, wich is more logic from a RPG point of view, this i just said, or you being completly decked in 890ilvl gear, getting a xbow from a mythic boss and despite never having used one, start it using immediatly on the next fight to it's max capability?

[Beelzebull]

Well I been playing since April 2005 and never missed an expansion.

IMO WoW went through a constant positive evolution. I always mained the same character which also evolved with QoL and system improvements. Just to give an example, I remember the hours i spend in orgrimmar building a group for UBRs. Today, with the help of tools, I can build up a premade for anything with ease with battle tag friends, PuGs and guildies. Thats just mentioning 1 of he huge QoL improvements.

The story and exploration elements today can be as immersive as the 'older' days because at the end of the day, a story is a captivating as you allow it to be. For me personally, I just allow myself to get lost in the stories and play it out meaningfully. If you want to rush content, then don't complain about the story.... some people don't even have the patience to watch a cut scene

Cannot wait to see what else they have for us he he as for now i am enjoying suramar's story

[Ielenia]

sorry bud, thats "russian hackers" level wishful thinking

Wow. Just.... wow.

Really? You really think that the only reason a product's sales are diminishing is because its quality is getting worse? It just couldn't be because other companies are putting out more/better games, while this product's quality remains the same? It just couldn't be that while the quality remained the same, people's interests just moved elsewhere?

Seriously, the irony and levels of delusion displayed in your statement are baffling.

[Akka]

If you know your only evidence is anecdotal, why bother refuting what I said?

Because your own affirmation is based on something more than your anecdotal experience ? No, it's not, so don't act all high and mighty about it.

People have always been assholes on the internet, the Vanilla WoW community wasn't a shining beacon of purity. People weren't holding each others' hands and singing kumbaya by a campfire. Perhaps the nature of the game forced more cooperation but people did still all of the same bullshit then that they do now. I just don't believe people are any more toxic now than they were then. It's just way more socially acceptable to be an absolute fuckwad these days.

You yourself recognize that the game enforced cooperation and that it's more socially acceptable to be a fuckwad today. That kind of speaks for itself.

[Deleted]

I dabble with vanilla and it's immersive however it doesn't require reaction skills that are in game now - it's more geared towards very twitch teen players for some reason. Which brings all the PUG rage and insults in party/raid chat. Current game is very unforgiving if you're not reacting in 50ms or less.

[MyndZero]

For me it's like, everything was considered content. Leveling was content. Now, you breeze through it in a week and you're max level. They are adding things like micro-holidays and such now to make it feel like a living world, well in a real living world, you couldn't explore that many zones in a week (going from level 1 to 110).

[Heathy]

For me it's like, everything was considered content. Leveling was content. Now, you breeze through it in a week and you're max level. They are adding things like micro-holidays and such now to make it feel like a living world, well in a real living world, you couldn't explore that many zones in a week (going from level 1 to 110).

its just a different time now, in the beginning ppl spent the leveling process learning about the game and everything it had to offer, how could blizzard recreate that without mind wiping everyone back to the days that you were clueless about everything.

creating a long levelling grind again while everyone knows so much about the game, its not the same anymore you don't need a massive levelling slog to relearn your class the game changes but it doesn't change into a completely different game that requires weeks of relearning.

I didn't play in WoD, i came back for legion and i've already managed to figure out what has changed for my class and how i can use my abilities to maximum effect, it took me a week maybe to catch up from missing a whole expansion. once you've played your class for so long, its like riding a bike, you just don't forget how to do it.

ppl did end up wanting to plough through the levelling process, i know the first time i went from 1-60 it was great but by the time i was doing my 4th or 5th alt, i wasn't looking forward to the grind to max. it became exactly as it is now, you wanted to just get to the end so you could farm max level gear. and join max level dungeon runs. the lower level dungeons were fun to do, i've always preferred to level up by farming dungeon runs. even in classic it was more fun to run dungeons until 60 than run around the world doing random quests.

[TwoNineMarine]

For me it's not that Classic was "better" it was that it was new and exciting. There was this sense of adventure when you started your very first character. Now a days everyone knows damn near everything about the game before it even launches (hello data mining) and it's hard to stay fresh/excited about a game you've played for 10 years.

My hope is that one day I can find a similar game where I get that sense of excitement and adventure back.

[InfiniteCharger]

Totally different game. Hard to compare really.

Leveling was the majority of the gameplay experience. Exploring new zones were memorable and rewarding. Epic quest lines spanning zones. The feeling of an infinite open world to explore was tangible. Even underwater areas seemed very well thought out and populated. Atmosphere within zones were well done. Dungeons felt like dungeons in the D&D fantasy type of way: dark twisty, long and full of hidden traps and secret chambers.

But that was before most players reached level cap.

That was before MOBAs and DOTAs became more popular.

So it is hard to compare a game where most people are far below level cap playing across many zones and dungeons to a game where most of the players are at level cap and playing endgame content in a handful of zones and dungeons.