How long will the Classic servers actually last?

[kamuimac]

as who thinks? blizzard? I don't think I've ever heard them stating that it was going to be popular or not.

as what people here belive

they think that somehow magicaly 10 mln will come back to play vanilla - and this simply wont happen

they will be lucky to have 100-200k on launch and then 10-20k after 2 weeks when people realise how slow tedious and boring leveling is. imo the biggest shock for most will be having to run on feet up to level 40 which mean literal fuckton of wasted time spend only on runing from point A to B. and this is not 2004 anymore - the graphic is not appealing at all compared to other games to bring this "wow" foactor when runing.

[Alienshroom]

as what people here belive

they think that somehow magicaly 10 mln will come back to play vanilla - and this simply wont happen

they will be lucky to have 100-200k on launch and then 10-20k after 2 weeks when people realise how slow tedious and boring leveling is. imo the biggest shock for most will be having to run on feet up to level 40 which mean literal fuckton of wasted time spend only on runing from point A to B. and this is not 2004 anymore - the graphic is not appealing at all compared to other games to bring this "wow" foactor when runing.

lmfao this will have 1 million subs the first month.

[LazarusLong]

Even when we were progressing in Naxxramas, we still did 10-15man Molten Core runs to get people their Binding of the Windseekers, Eye of Sulfuras' and bind on equip T1 items to auction.

Blackwing Lair runs were also still on the cards for Elementium Ore and gold farming as well.

We had three Thunderfuries (2 tanks+ rogue)and quite a few Sulfuras (Pretty sure even our GM, Rank 14 shaman had one), But yes, some people were running MC with alts too. If I remember correctly, our third tank got Thunderfury that way. Oh and AQ20 - books sold for good amount. Everyone kinda hated BWL runs though, and pulling threat with winfury was often the issue at that point.

[Phuongvi]

What are the actual plans for these servers long-term?

I would say it depend on how Blizzard are going to put things up.

Too many improvement or modification will nullified the Vanilla/Classic experience, not enough improvement will piss people off. Just imagine if they put the Blizzard shop button right next to our talent tree.

Again, I think classic is address to another crowd of players ( those who are playing on third party servers),and not the people who are going to play the current content.

Then again, I predict Blizzard will take more time to put new expansion because in the dead season people will or could stick to Classic instead of current content.
You know, after all they can make another TBC and Wrath, that's adding 6 years of content *again* , and it's with old content, nothing new, almost hiting the lottory jackpot

[Hunterwep]

Level another toon and deck that one out in T3?

[Theoris]

I can imagine it will stick around for a long time.

[Airlick]

as what people here belive

they think that somehow magicaly 10 mln will come back to play vanilla - and this simply wont happen

they will be lucky to have 100-200k on launch and then 10-20k after 2 weeks when people realise how slow tedious and boring leveling is. imo the biggest shock for most will be having to run on feet up to level 40 which mean literal fuckton of wasted time spend only on runing from point A to B. and this is not 2004 anymore - the graphic is not appealing at all compared to other games to bring this "wow" foactor when runing.

It is quite clear that the interest is much, much larger than 200k on launch. These forums have half of the posts of BfA, and the only 2 topics you can really discuss about Classic is how excited you are and whether or not Blizzard should make any changes to it, and if so, what should they be. Pretty much all the topics you can discuss about new x-pacs don't apply to Classic.

I'm pretty sure there will be more than 200k people subbing strictly for Classic. I, for one, am one of the people that haven't actually played WoW for years (might have played for some 6 months in total since Cata launched), but are thinking about coming back just for Classic. Just browsing these forums you can say I'm not unique. Sure, many of us won't actually come back, but a lot will, and even if a lot burn out fast, there will still be a good amount of players both dedicated to Classic and cycling between it and current x-pacs.

Just as people are overestimating with their claims of several millions coming back just for Classic, you're massively underestimating the numbers, claiming it will have 20k players. Private servers alone have several times that, even with all their flaws that far outweigh the fact they are free to play.

[Hottage]

as what people here belive

they think that somehow magicaly 10 mln will come back to play vanilla - and this simply wont happen

they will be lucky to have 100-200k on launch and then 10-20k after 2 weeks when people realise how slow tedious and boring leveling is. imo the biggest shock for most will be having to run on feet up to level 40 which mean literal fuckton of wasted time spend only on runing from point A to B. and this is not 2004 anymore - the graphic is not appealing at all compared to other games to bring this "wow" foactor when runing.

While I agree some people might be over-emphasizing the demand for Classic, I think you are significantly playing it down.

There are already hundreds of thousands playing a ghost of Classic on private servers, and a good portion are there because it's free a lot have already expressed a large willingness to pay for Blizzard quality realms.

I think a stable population of 100-150K isn't an unreasonable expectation, that works out at about 7-10 medium population servers.

[Vladar]

Classic servers can last a very long time as long as they dont import the garbage that are killing retail (LFR, LFD, free epics, etc.). As long as the game remains rewarding to people that make the effort the game can last even longer then the retail version which I cant play more then 1 or 2 months at the time before getting bored and unsubbing.

[Jagscorpion]

I think one of the core strengths of classic will be server community. That's one of the the big strengths of wow at it's height, and some of the innovations have cut down on that. Whether the gameplay is particularly fun or not, I think community will help it last.

[vipers]

Naxxramas isnt even gear though, sure you need to be geared but some if the mechanics are just insane, Thaddius, Gothik, Four Horsemen...it was all nuts

Instructor Razuvious where need priests to mind control adds to tank boss

[Daffan]

I was not talking about difficulty, I was talking about longevity

Lolk son if you say so

[corebit]

How long are the Runescape classic servers lasting? I believe they're still running, so there's your answer.

I believe the costs with making and maintaining Classic will be quite minimal, so Blizzard will be making a profit as long as there's a small and stable population playing regularly. Small as in the range of "tens of thousands.", or about the same number as the ones playing on the pirate servers.

[In Ogres We Trust]

I want a BC version of the game (WotLK is okay, too).

[gkai]

lmfao this will have 1 million subs the first month.

I would definitely bet on it. Whether or not people are going to continue their sub after that first month is another question. I think the transition back into a game that has nothing is going to be hard for a lot of people. I think the current version of the game is too convenient for a lot of people to back to sticks and stones.

[Deleted]

You ask how long long the servers will last and use the "limited" amount of content as the base for your opinion. I'm 100% certain that the population is more dependent on how many tourists show up and give up before they even reach 60 because of the care and patience required in generally everything you do. You are not powerful leveling up. You are fragile. Getting random buffs from people while questing makes a difference. Having food buffs and potions on hand makes a difference. The minutiae that separates smooth questing and a stressful time will be what causes most people to stop playing.

And please, this is not an argument about mechanics difficulty. It literally usually is as simple as being able to pull mobs one at a time, and using utility spells where appropriate.

Better then being godmode half naked right now

[In Ogres We Trust]

Ssshhhh, don't talk about it. Grinding lotus is CONTENT. Getting 40 people to stfu and log on at the same time is SKILL. Don't you be disrespecting vanilla raiding, the pinnacle of SKILL and CHALLENGE in WoW raiding in general.

I mean 40 >> 25 >> 20 >> 10, it's simple math really, checkmate.




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/s

It's highly unlikely that they go with the 40 man requirement for raiding.

[Binaris]

It's highly unlikely that they go with the 40 man requirement for raiding.

i honestly doubt they change all of the raid encounters retuning them for smaller groups.

[In Ogres We Trust]

i honestly doubt they change all of the raid encounters retuning them for smaller groups.

As it relates to UBRS, Brack has already discussed this topic. What about Scholomance and Stratholme? For the health of the project, they have to draw "a line in the sand."

[Deleted]

I assume a year or two but it all depends on the community