Reasons why vanilla World of Warcraft was so popular.

[Deleted]

Most of the people don't know how the intial success of World of Warcraft did happen. I would like to mention some points why the game did become so popular. Feel free to add more or discuss.

1) Warcraft 3 - most of the new players don't know what Warcraft 3 was or they knew, but they have never played it. Warcraft 3 was one of the greatest strategy games of all times and without doubt it was the best strategy game of its era. This game was revolutionary in every aspect, it had great graphics, gameplay, amazing music and sounds, great map editor and let's not forget the great story it had. I can say that the majority of vanilla WoW players(me included) played a lot of Warcraft 3. We all wanted to visit great places from game, explore them, do the quests and do it with your friends or even other random people. I can't even describe how if felt when I visited Ashenvale or Barrens - it was beyond amazing.

btw there was bonus campaing in Warcraft 3, where you played as Rexxar and did quests given to you by NPCs, while you were gaining levels and items. Does it sound familiar?

2) Leveling - people tend to hate on vanilla WoW leveling, but I have to disagree with them. Yes, leveling was tought, but we loved it. Mobs had high hp pools and were hiting for a lot, pulling more than two will most likely result into corpse run. You had to actually use your brain, develop a strategy and use all your class abilities effectivelly to level up quickly. Even AH was very important for quick leveling. Quests were very simple, but most of the time you felt like part of the world and you even felt like you are helping npcs - like in real RPG

3) Social aspect - As I mentioned, leveling was pretty hard and the best way to make it easier was to group up with other players. I like how friendly people during vanilla WoW were. You could just talk to random person and 95% of time he would respond in friendly way. I've mad countless friends in vanilla.

4) No addons - yep, there were almost no addons and it was great. You don't know where the quest mobs are? Ask friends, guild or even general chat. Try to do this in WotLK or Cata, you would get typical "google it, use wowhead" answer. Addons are taking the fun factor out of the game. Why are people using addon to help them with rotation or addons like DBM? That's just silly.

5) RPG aspect - Why am I mentioning this? Back in a day... No, seriously. Back in a day you had to carefully choose your class and stick with it. There were no alts, only some people who played a lot could afford this luxury. Your character was part of you, you were part of your character. It was great, because this game is RPG after all and not just some Dota or LoL game.

Why am I writing this? I just want to tell people that WoW wasn't always only about raiding, arena and daily quests. It was far more. Game had soul, it felts like RPG and leveling was important and possibly the best part of the game. The true mmorpg.

[Soisoisoi]

Rose tinted goggles is what makes Vanilla popular. You're new to an amazing game where everything makes you literally go "Woaaaaaah...", you can't have that more than once.

Looking back at it, Vanilla was actually pretty bad. The community was good though, because it was required.


>> That's my personal view, btw. Not for anyone else.

[Deleted]

Just move on with something else...
WoW is over for me, i just wait silently until the next revolution comes out.

[Kakokun]

Vanilla was popular because of the timing of when it was released and because it toned down on the grind compared to other games at the time.

So yeah, WoW is king because it was "first" and because it was "easymode".

[Rambo]

Reasons why vanilla World of Warcraft was so popular:
It was new.

[Deleted]

Rose tinted goggles is what makes Vanilla popular. You're new to an amazing game where everything makes you literally go "Woaaaaaah...", you can't have that more than once.

Looking back at it, Vanilla was actually pretty bad. The community was good though, because it was required.

That "Woooah..." feeling is gone for everyone who had it. If you're waiting for the next game that will give you that feeling, you'll be waiting 'till you die. It's like sex - that first "So THIS is what I've been waiting for!" feeling never comes back no matter how many partners you have. Sure, there'll be good times again - but you can only have your "first time" the first time :P

[Deleted]

Just move on with something else...
WoW is over for me, i just wait silently until the next revolution comes out.

You're clearly silent.

[Bryce]

I still play Warcraft 1-3 during maintenance unless I'm on the beta lol. Loved those games, but I didn't play vanilla, well I did but in spurts, I didn't actually really play it til WoTLK for some reason =/. I think my highest level was 50 or so on a account I have no idea where it's at now. Fast forward to today and about 20+ accounts and here I am XD.

About the addons though, I still wonder how people can use the default UI. I'm not talking about addons that help with quests, etc, just the basic look and feel of it. It's laid out so damn weird it's not even funny, at least it's weird to me. I like my information in the center of my screen and ONLY the bare essentials. I hate looking around the top edges of my screen for crap =/.

[Ferocity]

Very agree, especially on points 2 and 5. Nowadays you can produce lv85 alts like some factory, they partially make up for lack of things to do on mains though. Some people called this expansion as Altaclysm for a reason.

[voltaa]

You say WoW used to be more about the leveling and less about raids and arenas, which sounds absolutely horrible in my opinion, I play WoW for two reaons: I enjoy the raid content and I am a sucker for useless internet badges known as achievements. But then again that is just my one opinion among many others

[Santti]

I disagree on pretty much all the points. Levelling was okay, as I hadn't done it 5234626th time already. There were dicks back in vanilla, just like there are now. There is just more people playing wow, hence there are more dicks too, and they tend to be vocal, too. No addons? Are you kidding me? There were plenty in vanilla. Remember decursive, that cleansed everything for you? It was almost botting, it was that good. And a requirement!

Not touching your first point, as it's rather dumb.

I don't understand your last point. What do you mean people couldn't afford alts? I had many, and so did everyone else and their mother. Alts that raided and PvP'd.

Oh, and DBM existed and was used in vanilla, too. I used it. Did you even play vanilla?

[Soisoisoi]

That "Woooah..." feeling is gone for everyone who had it. If you're waiting for the next game that will give you that feeling, you'll be waiting 'till you die. It's like sex - that first "So THIS is what I've been waiting for!" feeling never comes back no matter how many partners you have. Sure, there'll be good times again - but you can only have your "first time" the first time :P

Oh, I know that - I don't plan on stopping playing WoW at all either.

[Tekkommo]

Vanilla was amazing because it was new basically, with a huge world to explore.

Although the game has improved with many new cool features, there is nothing wrong with thinking back to how much you enjoyed the game back then. Ignore the rose tinted glasses people.

[Fmr]

Vanilla was better. Every class was unique and had unique buffs/debuffs. The items were more fun with funny proccs and effects not only stats. You actually met other people and had to walk to instances. No teleporting around. It's not nostalgia. There are some who play on specific vanilla servers and guess what: They all played retail to some point and still find vanilla was way better. Nowadays every class can do the same shit buffs/debuffs with just other names, it's so innovative (irony in last sentence)

[Soisoisoi]

Vanilla was better. Every class was unique and had unique buffs/debuffs. The items were more fun with funny proccs and effects not only stats. You actually met other people and had to walk to instances. No teleporting around. It's not nostalgia. There are some who play on specific vanilla servers and guess what: They all played retail to some point and still find vanilla was way better. Nowadays every class can do the same shit buffs/debuffs with just other names, it's so innovative (irony in last sentence)

It's also a lot more balanced, you don't have to class stack (outside of pre-nerf Spine HC >.>)

[TJ]

It was new, nothing else. The game itself was a lot worse and was generally just a grind. Will agree with the community being better though, but same as before that was just because the game was new and no one knew what to do so everyone wanted to listen to what everyone else had to say and hopefully learn something.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

1. WoW was easier than Everquest.

2. WoW was liked by the media, Evercrack wasn't.

[JohnBeelick]

That "Woooah..." feeling is gone for everyone who had it. If you're waiting for the next game that will give you that feeling, you'll be waiting 'till you die. It's like sex - that first "So THIS is what I've been waiting for!" feeling never comes back no matter how many partners you have. Sure, there'll be good times again - but you can only have your "first time" the first time :P

Thank god I still have sex to look forward to then!

[Fmr]

It's a personal opinion. Don't say it was only "nostalgia". Some people may find it now better, some not. All people I know from wow say vanilla was better. I also know a few who started playing after vanilla and they regret starting after the expansions.

[Destruktion]

It was a better game, for reasons 1,2 and 5 specifically, and also because it was more of a game for casuals than it is today.
I never played it when it was current, but I did play on a private server and let me tell you, classic > present-day. The QoL changes take a bit of getting used to, though.
That's just how I feel. No rose-tinted glasses here.