Why people bother with vanilla?

[xpose]

A lot of people ITT are assuming these servers are just going to be rolled back to another patch and that its all "Nostalgia" and "going to suck" but the reality is they are most likely bringing out a hybrid with content/restrictions from vanilla but specific QoL features from the current game. That's why they specifically say "vanilla experience" in their announcement.

Are they are going to slowly release raid unlocks which means perhaps another AQ event? The questions are really endless with this announcement.

[Sorrior]

A lot of people ITT are assuming these servers are just going to be rolled back to another patch and that its all "Nostalgia" and "going to suck" but the reality is they are most likely bringing out a hybrid with content/restrictions from vanilla but specific QoL features from the current game. That's why they specifically say "vanilla experience" in their announcement.

I mean transmog could be cool or items obtained here going towards lives transmog list.

But honestly they just better not touch actual gameplay imo. I loved it even the faults..and frankly i don't trust current blizz to do the rpg feeling justice

[moremana]

Why are people assuming it will be a separate subscription? I mean they haven't said but I figured it would just be another server type we could choose from and play using our existing subscriptions. I don't think they would expect everyone to have two WoW subscriptions.

They may do something like Classic/BFA for $19.99 and BFA $14.99. I dont know its all speculation, if they did it like that I think people would pay the extra $5 to at least try it. Im sure they need some compensation for the effort, it wont be cheap.

[Deleted]

I would love to see them doing the same route they did with Runescape, a new team working on updates and bug fixes for the vanilla game

[Heathy]

Another thing I will like about classic servers - the leveling will have some challenge.
As it is now, leveling is so easy that it's a really boring and bland experience. I have a level 40 paladin which was naked and wearing level 1 gray weapon since the start and it still is much easier to kill mobs than it was in vanilla.

it was bland and bloated in vanilla you got crafting tiers every 10 levels that you blow past without even noticing. the whole of 1-60 was meant to let you familiarise yourself with your abilities. its 50 levels of filler face roll questing and walking miles back and forth. the questing as a whole was better in the expansions, better quests in general better tech, more unique quests with better rewards. tbcs questing was a substantial improvement over classic having certain zones that were completely pointless, *cough* winterspring for the alliance. or zones with one quest chain and nothing at all, *cough* the swamp of sorrows among others. there were far too many massive zones with pretty much fuck all content to do in them.

at 60 the game shrinks down to a handful of zones, you got the dungeon areas, epl/wpl/ferelas/brm/zg/silithus. looks like the size of an expansion to me when all is said and done, ppl complain about the relative size of the expansions, and yet vanilla for max level condensed down to the size of an expansions playable area. the areas that actually have any meaningful content for you at max.

you spend a hell of a long time running around the world to finally get to 60 so you basically don't have to run around the whole world anymore, getting to max level is rewarding because from then on out you can fly directly to pretty much any dungeon you'll need to do.

[namecraft]

why bother with anything, just lay in bed all day

[Synstir]

A lot of people ITT are assuming these servers are just going to be rolled back to another patch and that its all "Nostalgia" and "going to suck" but the reality is they are most likely bringing out a hybrid with content/restrictions from vanilla but specific QoL features from the current game. That's why they specifically say "vanilla experience" in their announcement.

Are they are going to slowly release raid unlocks which means perhaps another AQ event? The questions are really endless with this announcement.

Then it would not be a vanilla experience I think.
Let's say they add LFD/LFR to it, just to avoid spamming channels for it for hours to fill a group, then it isn't vanilla anymore right there.
Let's say they will have spells and abilities level up with your level, then it wouldn't be vanilla exp anymore right there.
Hell, even using advanced materials to lvl up profs wouldn't be vanilla.
Slow mounts at llvl 40 and epic at lvl 60.
Not being able to join a raid if you don't have the pre-reqs.

[Jazzhands]

it was bland and bloated in vanilla you got crafting tiers every 10 levels that you blow past without even noticing. the whole of 1-60 was meant to let you familiarise yourself with your abilities. its 50 levels of filler face roll questing and walking miles back and forth. the questing as a whole was better in the expansions, better quests in general better tech, more unique quests with better rewards. tbcs questing was a substantial improvement over classic having certain zones that were completely pointless, *cough* winterspring for the alliance. or zones with one quest chain and nothing at all, *cough* the swamp of sorrows among others. there were far too many massive zones with pretty much fuck all content to do in them.

Face roll questing where accidentally getting two mobs at once could spell death for half the classes in the game. Also Wintergrasp was a WoTLK zone, and SoS had plenty of stuff for horde, some zones were basically controlled by a single faction. Blasted lands had very little for horde, but an entire alliance town with quests.

[Viikkis]

Well for me it's the feeling of adventure. Even leveling feels like it worth of something. The world is dangerous, it feels vast because you can't fly (and mounts are at lvl 40). You get so excited the moment your first shoulder pads drop! Ain't got that feeling with heirlooms man! And I've noticed that on vanilla servers the community is often really nice. (yes you have your generic shitposters in world chat I don't mean it like that!) but the people I've met were always nice and generous.

For example a Deadmines run with strangers. Before the run I complain how I need so much linen cloth to level tailoring. No problem! Two guys start handing me stacks of it because they don't need it for other than selling. Sweet!

The run begins. It's actually a hard challenge to get into the dungeon itself! One messed up pull in that cave and we die. So we get into the dungeon. It takes us for more than 2 hours of fighting to clear it! And during this time, all the wipes, all the long ass graveyard runs back to dungeon not a SINGLE complaint. Even if someone messes up and we die it's all cool. I mean damn. I just thought to myself how often people leave on dungeon finder groups just because one pull didn't go the way they wanted. But it's true. When you've spent so much time grouping up and travelling to the dungeon you really don't want to waste it all and leave.

Now obviously I had good luck with strangers and people are nice on Legion too but still the awesome feeling of community is what I enjoyed. When you don't have cross realm and group finder stuff you have a reputation to maintain in the community. If you be an ass all the time sooner or later people will notice it and you don't get into good groups. It's really easy to spit on people whom you'll never ever meet again thanks to crossrealm.

[Granyala]

The really interesting question will be: Will classic be compatible with the 2018 gamer?
Classic felt VERY different, was incredibly slow to move, limited, clunky, awkward at times.
You often were at the mercy of others b/c you could not progress solo, no LFG/LFR, so you were forced to spam chats for hours in the hopes of finding a tank etc etc.

I don't think that the gamer of 2018 has the patience and drive to put up with it. It will see a spike of curious/nostalgic people and then fall flat down to a barely sustainable population of diehards on a half dead server.

[Xarathan]

im mostly just looking forward to playing a wow with server community again, rather than queue simulator and group up twice a week for actual raiding

[Coffeexbean]

Then it would not be a vanilla experience I think.
Let's say they add LFD/LFR to it, just to avoid spamming channels for it for hours to fill a group, then it isn't vanilla anymore right there.
Let's say they will have spells and abilities level up with your level, then it wouldn't be vanilla exp anymore right there.
Hell, even using advanced materials to lvl up profs wouldn't be vanilla.
Slow mounts at llvl 40 and epic at lvl 60.
Not being able to join a raid if you don't have the pre-reqs.

I dont think hes referring to that or that Blizz will touch those, those break the game, more in line with new models, updated ui, probably built in quest helper since it was a popular add on back at the time, bug exploit fixes, and some tuning to make sure everything feels "hard" enough as players returning that have a clue of whats going on, probably balance some classes with percentage tweaks. Im thinking like what the Pokemon series did to remaster their old gen games

[Dajeki]

Vanilla WOW was a good game for reasons different than what makes Live a good game (which both are opinions). It holds a place of Nostalgia and has a feeling of a game baked in a different era. More focus on the world and people you met in it. Dungeons required strats that you dont normaly see on Live. Characters required more focus when choosing stats and armor equipt. I honestly could go on and on (PVP is another subject, which also comes with its own goods and bads). I played Vanilla, and I will probably also dabble some of my time on Classic. He explained it best. Some people just like Vanilla icecream....

Off-Topic - Can we get to a more serious problem we have on our hands? The fact that the game industry is completely terrible at preserving anything. Games just lost to time.

[Powell]

Vanilla wow was a true RPG. You were an adventurer.

Current wow is a theme park. "be the hero, save the world, follow the story of Azeroth"

[Aflakk47]

Boy can't I wait for the whining threads to come from this after it releases

[Heathy]

Face roll questing where accidentally getting two mobs at once could spell death for half the classes in the game. Also Wintergrasp was a WoTLK zone, and SoS had plenty of stuff for horde, some zones were basically controlled by a single faction. Blasted lands had very little for horde, but an entire alliance town with quests.

wintergrasp was winterspring wasn't there was no content worth doing there, you could get juju embers and the frostsabre but that was about it, I remember i had to farm the elite demons for the eye of shadow for my bene, but i got it randomly without even really comitting to a farming session, just killed a few demons and bam it dropped. the swamp of sorrows was the same, there were certain zones that had quests for one faction and none for the other, the barrens has very little if any quests for the alliance so there was no real reason to go there other than pure curiosity, it was perfectly possible to follow the linear line of zones until cap farming dungeons when you were short a level to start the next zone. I didn't find the blasted lands to have much, they added to it over the years but from what i remember that quest with the mine, and all those mobs on the beach, there was a couple of quests there but it deadended really quickly imo, there was a much much much better quest flow in TBC and Wrath questing just felt 100x more fluid and easier to follow zones with quest chains felt more like they came to a reasonable conclusion.

[xpose]

Then it would not be a vanilla experience I think.
Let's say they add LFD/LFR to it, just to avoid spamming channels for it for hours to fill a group, then it isn't vanilla anymore right there.
Let's say they will have spells and abilities level up with your level, then it wouldn't be vanilla exp anymore right there.
Hell, even using advanced materials to lvl up profs wouldn't be vanilla.
Slow mounts at llvl 40 and epic at lvl 60.
Not being able to join a raid if you don't have the pre-reqs.

I'm more speaking of UI/setting specific QoL features

Mass Loot, Duel Spec, journals perhaps? Quest integration with minimap ect..

[lockybalboa]

People often reminisce about better things in the past when current state of things is undesirable. Simple logic.

[Sorrior]

Vanilla wow was a true RPG. You were an adventurer.

Current wow is a theme park. "be the hero, save the world, follow the story of Azeroth"

And lose EVERYTHING when a new expoansion comes out and we ditch over half the new stuff you got

[Deleted]

I'm really curious to see if you have to download an extra client for vanilla or play with the one you already have. If the latter wouldn't that be just like timewalking?