Three Versions of WoW

[Mullet Man]

Would like to have a real adult discussion about the following topic.
Players are very passionate about all things WoW, but with competing desires.
There is a reoccurring theme of server requests coming from the community.

Retail

• No need for description

Classic

• No changes
• Frozen at a specific patch for bugs/features (Probably 1.12.1)
• Time gated release of content (MC,ZG,BWL,AQ,NAXX,Etc...)
• Class imbalance intact
• Transfers to similar BC server at some future date

Classic - Plus (Listing ideas I have seen requested, not a a definitive list, you get the idea)

• Class Balancing and tuning
• QoL Additions
  
  • Voted by community?
• Additional "Classic" content
  
  • New 60 Raids?
  • New Dungeons?
• Future unknown
  
  • A reboot of the WoW universe, lore, and game?
  • New Expansion packs using existing content?

Do we have a large enough player-base to support three versions of WoW?
Is it reasonable for the community to request multiple versions of WoW Classic from Blizzard?
Would it be helpful for Blizzard to clarify their vision of Classic and what might change?

[MoanaLisa]

Do we have a large enough player-base to support three versions of WoW?
Is it reasonable for the community to request multiple versions of WoW Classic from Blizzard?
Would it be helpful for Blizzard to clarify their vision of Classic and what might change?

Probably yes.
No, it isn't.
They've been pretty clear so far. People aren't really listening.

[Mullet Man]

They've been pretty clear so far. People aren't really listening.

I disagree with this. Too much ambiguity in their wording.
Saying a "Classic Experience" leaves a lot to interpretation.

[JaceDraccus]

Probably yes.
No, it isn't.
They've been pretty clear so far. People aren't really listening.

Pretty much this.

And as far as 'Classic Plus' goes, if that's where the Classic server goes it's not outside the bounds of reason to ask for updated features like the models and flight paths. Like making the original WoW as if they were doing it for the first time, but with modern knowledge and tech. But new dungeons and raids?

WTF do you want to play Classic for if you want new dungeons and raids as well?

[Deleted]

I disagree with this. Too much ambiguity in their wording.
Saying a "Classic Experience" leaves a lot to interpretation.

No it doesnt and thank you that you just prove MoanaLisas point to 100%.

[slavrix]

Why would "Classic" progress onto a "Similar BC server"...

The point of this whole exercise is NOT to have expansions on Vanilla.

[Hctaz]

WTF do you want to play Classic for if you want new dungeons and raids as well?

Well, I think there are plenty of people who keep playing retail WoW because they like to see new content added, but they also wish that the game had never strayed away from the Vanilla experience. I think there are things that retail does right, but it lacks the feeling that Vanilla WoW had and was proven to still have on places like Nost and Elysium.

Some of us stuck around to actually see how the content was ALMOST good so many times. Cata is a really good example of this for me. I hated so many of the changes made there... But I was around in the beginning to see the dungeons. I was SO fucking happy that they went back to a harder dungeon difficulty. I remember walking into heroic Grim Batol like day 2 or 3 of the expansion with my guild. It took us nearly 2 hours of wipes to figure out a working strategy for our group comp. I felt like it was a lot closer to the old TBC heroic dungeons that we had. We had to actually use our brains again instead of just AoE-festing everything. At this point, I hadn't really been too upset with LFD, but then they announced the dungeon nerfs. I IMMEDIATELY realized the problem. LFD introduced a lot of the casual audience to doing dungeons. It made them expect to see the same type of content because they had never experienced Vanilla or TBC dungeons.

There are a lot of times when I sit there and wonder how much better the game would have been if LFD wasn't introduced. Or flying. Or catch up mechanics, or the emphasis on leveling and how expansions made older content entirely irrelevant. There are a lot of people who weren't necessarily upset at the direction the lore took, but were upset at the features that removed the community and difficulty of the game. I, myself, want to play on an official Classic server, but I also see the potential for an alternate timeline. A "what if Blizzard didn't fuck up" timeline.


Now, I'm not 100% sure how they would even do this tbh. People have said that they can't do it without either making more levels and invalidating the previous content, or making the further-than-Naxx geared characters insanely broken. Both of those things seem true to me. I'm sure there's probably a way to do it, but I'm not a smart enough person to do so.

[Mullet Man]

No it doesnt and thank you that you just prove MoanaLisas point to 100%.

Until Blizzard describes what they are purposing with specific words, players will read many things into vague statements.
Asking Blizzard to communicate, officially, on how they see things working moving forward, is not asking too much.
Having Hazzikostas state ''WoW Classic won't be moving away from the community and inconveniences'', is a good start. We need a lot more of this.

[Felfaadaern Darkterror]

Why stop there? How about Retail+ and Retail- ? Throw in + and - for all the other stages of WoW too. Hell, why not make it a smorgasbord and let everyone pick their rules and class variants and QoL features from a menu, then use group finder to look for others who like their recipe? Let's see how many ways we can divide and segregate.

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

Hoping for 5 versions of wow in the future. One for every day of the week!

[JaceDraccus]

Well, I think there are plenty of people who keep playing retail WoW because they like to see new content added, but they also wish that the game had never strayed away from the Vanilla experience. I think there are things that retail does right, but it lacks the feeling that Vanilla WoW had and was proven to still have on places like Nost and Elysium.

Fair enough, but adding anything _new_ automatically means it's no longer Vanilla. Especially if it's new content that was never even added in any of the expansions.

Asking them to bring back Vanilla is one thing. Asking them to develop a whole new progression for Vanilla is too much.

[Casthiel]

Well, I think there are plenty of people who keep playing retail WoW because they like to see new content added, but they also wish that the game had never strayed away from the Vanilla experience. I think there are things that retail does right, but it lacks the feeling that Vanilla WoW had and was proven to still have on places like Nost and Elysium.

So you want the classic feeling, but with new raids and dungeons? and then maybe expansions? And then you get what we currently have. So, go play current wow and maybe stop pretending you want to go back to 'the good old days', seriously.

[skannerz22]

if it wasn't from vanilla it shouldn't be added
if it was in vanilla it shouldn't be removed

[Hctaz]

So you want the classic feeling, but with new raids and dungeons? and then maybe expansions? And then you get what we currently have. So, go play current wow and maybe stop pretending you want to go back to 'the good old days', seriously.

No, I don't want what we currently have. That's the whole point of disliking flying, LFD, LFR, multiple raid difficulties, lack of class identity, artificial grinds (as opposed to organic grinds such as reputation and attunement questlines)

I do want the good old days. I played on Nost until it was closed and then on Elysium for a while, as well as Warmane. I enjoy all of those versions of WoW significantly better than current retail, but they aren't official and riddled with problems. Nost was shut down, Elysium had inside problems, and Warmane is always P2W. They're also great at experiencing the time in a bubble, but they won't ever move forward.

So no, I don't want Classic to become what we have now. I want it to exist as the better MMO for players like me who don't have a home, and who miss the unique experience that Vanilla/parts of TBC brought to the table.

[Huntaer]

I like your name OP

[Gloriandus]

Why do posts like this always tuck in the "adult conversation" caveat? It's obvious it's meant to poison the well against any vehement disagreement as being "immature".

Retail, Classic. Classic gets everything up to the end right before Burning Crusade, as it was then, and that's it. No special bosses, no special raids, no special anything, ever. The "special" is Classic itself. The "community" is in now full demand mode, as many people predicted it would be if/when Blizzard announced a Classic server.

[Echocho]

Hoping for 5 versions of wow in the future. One for every day of the week!

You only have 5 days long weeks?

[Romanthony]

Just no, you asked for Classic, its what you get.

[Queen of Hamsters]

People somehow believe that Classic servers progressing wouldn't change in ways they'd dislike. Wishful thinking at best.

Soon enough we'd have players asking for Classic Classic+ servers with a third "reboot" of a franchise that's going strong after 13 years thanks to evolving and moving forward...

[Khaza-R]

People who think Classic will get its own new content lol