What if it fails?

[Axigar]

Need proof there is a market for a "classic" version of the game? Old School Runescape is the more popular of the two.

[MoanaLisa]

It can't fail. It just can't.

Simple answer: Classic Vanilla private servers have been successful since, as early as, 2005. Indeed, early ones were built on the Mangos engine and later on most of them were based on TrinityCore. Nevertheless, point is, they've been successful since essentially the beginning of WoW, and they haven't "failed" until now. Blizzard knows this very well, and thus that's the reason they're doing this too now.

Warning: A history of private servers is irrelevant to the topic and against the rules. This can easily be discussed with bringing this up. Thanks.

[Holtzmann]

Fair point.

But this is a pretty gloomy thread in general. Every indication is that WoW Classic will be just fine.

Oh, yeah. It being part of the general World of Warcraft subscription means Blizzard won't have any reason to deactivate it. It'll keep on going until retail itself goes offline. And there are probably enough people out there to keep a baseline population on most servers if Blizzard is smart about their sharding technology and don't create a two dozen servers for each timezone.

[Nnyco]

It didn't fail in 2004; why would it fail now?

There's a good chance hundreds of thousands, if not millions, might try it for their first time in the wow universe.

If Blizz was smart, they would spend some $$$ on marketing and act like it's launching the game for the first time.

Because unlike in 2004, it wont progress and people seen it before or can not be arsed with an outdated game in the first place.

Simple answer: Classic Vanilla private servers have been successful since, as early as, 2005. )

Ye too bad a huge majority of their playerbase only plays because its free. I mean why would you on a vanilla pserver during vanilla? Exactly because youre a cheapass and dont want to pay 13€.

[Thelxi]

It can't really fail. Blizzard will have minimal maintenance work to do on it, and it is tied to regular subscriptions. Vanilla also doesn't have long-term incentives to keep people hooked; there will come a point for everyone where they hit a brick wall that is the end of their progression. I think Blizzard intends it to be more of a side project for them and for us, and that is all it will be.

[MuricaIsDead]

It's not 2004?



It isn't?

Are those actual questions, or are you just another millennial that adds a '?' after every sentence because you're too busy staring at your phone in school?

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I have a Computer from 2004 to sell you, it was top notch back then, why wouldn't it be now?

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This is not an argument and makes zero sense.

[Noxina]

like the "im just gonna play pirate servers because they are free" thread?

Actually think the biggest vanilla servers are shutting down on their own free will when Classic releases. Pretty sure I read it somewhere.

[Seranthor]

Poor peolonged participation leading to a poor overall experience for everyone involved comes to mind.

But the Vanilla Crusade promised it would bring millions and millions back if Blizzard would only genuflect and do what they were told. You mean that the Crusaders lied?

[Echocho]

If it fails it fails.

[Noxina]

Because unlike in 2004, it wont progress and people seen it before or can not be arsed with an outdated game in the first place.



Ye too bad a huge majority of their playerbase only plays because its free. I mean why would you on a vanilla pserver during vanilla? Exactly because youre a cheapass and dont want to pay 13€.

How do you know that the majority is playing it because it is free? I'm playing on one of the biggest servers, and many there play on both retail and private. It's pretty much like two different games. On retail you log in 3 times each week to raid for a couple of hours, then perhaps 30min-1hour every day to do other stuff if it interest you (WQs etc). Wheras on the Vanilla server you can spend 10 hours/day without running out of things to do.
That's how I do it, raiding both Vanilla and retail. And so is the majority of the guild I'm in, and several others I've talked with. There is of course always the exceptions.

[Cæli]

nothing, unless you care about other people's opinion.

careful, years on forums like this can burn down your ability to think for yourself.

[jac9996]

Didnt they say at blizzcon the sub for it will be part of the normal wow sub. So as long as wow is still going classic will too, you sub to either and you get both.

[Skulltaker]

This is not an argument and makes zero sense.

Something that was perceived as good in the past isn't necessarily percieved as good in the present. Just saying 'It worked befor, why wouldn't it work now?' isn't an argument.

Tastes change and evolve. So does perception and demand. Why do you think Hollywood stopped making long epic movies, like "Lawrence of Arabia" or "The Ten Commandments"? Because usually people don't want to sit in cinemas for 3.5 hours anymore. The few movies these days that are actually that long are a rare exception. Yet both of these movies were considered masterpieces at the top of their fields when they were released. I recently rewatched Lawrence of Arabia. The first five minutes are nothing but staring at concrete, listening to the main theme (which is epic). You know what Infinity War did in 5 minutes? Introduce the main villain, his henchmen, have a fight between Hulk and Thanos, kill of one of the main characters and set the plot in motion. In 5 Minutes, Lord of the Rings (and if we have a huge epic these days, its LOTR) introduced us not only to the world, but also told us how we got to the 'present' in the story.

And the same is also true for the video game market, which might be the fastest evolving form of entertainment in existance. Look at game genres. RTS is almost dead, Flight or Starship simulators are almost extinct aswell.

If taste and style of entertainment didn't change we'd still wear frill dresses, powdered wigs and listen to classical music and opera. Barely anything new is created in these fields these days, it has been replaced by a more modern adaptation of the art.

And the same holds true for WoW. Simply saying 'it was good back then, it still is now' is contradictory to the very nature of entertainment - to evolve. Not always for the better, a lot of people would say, but, tastes differ. Look how Hip Hop has changed, how Rock evolved, what movies make the big bucks today.

[miwonehema]

Actually think the biggest vanilla servers are shutting down on their own free will when Classic releases. Pretty sure I read it somewhere.

we'll see. as long as free servers exist, people are gonna flock to them. I can assure you that.

[MoanaLisa]

we'll see. as long as free servers exist, people are gonna flock to them. I can assure you that.

Whether they do or not they aren't really a topic that needs to be discussed here. I would very much like to keep the focus on WoW Classic and away from illegal content.

[MuricaIsDead]

Something that was perceived as good in the past isn't necessarily percieved as good in the present. Just saying 'It worked befor, why wouldn't it work now?' isn't an argument.

Tastes change and evolve. So does perception and demand. Why do you think Hollywood stopped making long epic movies, like "Lawrence of Arabia" or "The Ten Commandments"? Because usually people don't want to sit in cinemas for 3.5 hours anymore. The few movies these days that are actually that long are a rare exception. Yet both of these movies were considered masterpieces at the top of their fields when they were released. I recently rewatched Lawrence of Arabia. The first five minutes are nothing but staring at concrete, listening to the main theme (which is epic). You know what Infinity War did in 5 minutes? Introduce the main villain, his henchmen, have a fight between Hulk and Thanos, kill of one of the main characters and set the plot in motion. In 5 Minutes, Lord of the Rings (and if we have a huge epic these days, its LOTR) introduced us not only to the world, but also told us how we got to the 'present' in the story.

And the same is also true for the video game market, which might be the fastest evolving form of entertainment in existance. Look at game genres. RTS is almost dead, Flight or Starship simulators are almost extinct aswell.

If taste and style of entertainment didn't change we'd still wear frill dresses, powdered wigs and listen to classical music and opera. Barely anything new is created in these fields these days, it has been replaced by a more modern adaptation of the art.

And the same holds true for WoW. Simply saying 'it was good back then, it still is now' is contradictory to the very nature of entertainment - to evolve. Not always for the better, a lot of people would say, but, tastes differ. Look how Hip Hop has changed, how Rock evolved, what movies make the big bucks today.

your post is nothing but one long treatise on subjectivity. None of that can be considered fact nor statistically relevant.

When wow first released it was already outdated, both in gameplay and graphics. it still managed to climb to the #1 position. all your assumptions are pointless, and are based solely on your own opinion and perspective.

[Kithelle]

It didn't fail in 2004; why would it fail now?

There's a good chance hundreds of thousands, if not millions, might try it for their first time in the wow universe.

If Blizz was smart, they would spend some $$$ on marketing and act like it's launching the game for the first time.

It wasn't pushing a decade and a half in 2004...it wasn't done, done, and done again in 2004.

[Skulltaker]

But the Vanilla Crusade promised it would bring millions and millions back if Blizzard would only genuflect and do what they were told. You mean that the Crusaders lied?

Lying indicates intent.

I have often said, and stand by it, that a lot (not all!) enthusiams for 'vanilla' comes from a skewered perception.

People don't like to admit that something is wrong with them. If you eat the exact same meal again and again, it will start to taste bland, even if you prepare it exactly the same over and over again. And the sense of novelty can never be brought back. You cannot have a second first kiss, a second first beer, a second first sunset over the sea. And the same holds true for WoW. The sense of novelty will never, ever return. And after 14 years of WoW, your brain realizes that you've been doing the same shit over and over and over.

Classic WoW was the first open world (I know it technically isn't, but still) many gamers explored. It was an all new experience. And for many, it was the first mmo aswell. Making friends, defeating enemies together, not with 2 or 3 people in a LAN, but 20, 30, 40 people, online? People who'd become your friends, people you'd meet, maybe fall in love with (not me, but a good friend of mine met his wife in WoW).

This is what people want back. And they can't. This is what that poor bloke at Blizzcon wanted to say a couple of years back when he said "you don't want that."

Now, I'm not saying that there aren't some features from classic that were better than live, or that it is all nostalgia. I'd like spellranks back, for example. As a Pen and Paper fan, I always liked a big spellbook. But there are also many Quality of Life implementations that vanilla didn't have that were just great. Of course, they always took something away in return.

People, however, will never admit willingly that their perception is just as improtant in the quality of the game then the actual game itself. "No, WoW didn't get boring because I did it for 14 years. MoP/Cata/BfA is just shit! (I left out WoD, that was actually shit...)" "Vanilla was the best!"

They believe it. They geniuinly believe that the quality of their experience is 100% dependand on the game they play. But they will walk Azeroth again, and their brain will keep telling them 'We did this already.' 'This isn't as good as we remember.' 'There's an elite in that cave, no need to explore it, you can't kill it anyway.' 'That dungeon is over there and the questitem you are looking for is in that cupboard.' And they will get bored.

I doubt Vanilla will fail. It will do ok. And why not? It was an ok game back then. I doubt it will retain a huge audience for a prolonged amout of time, though, seeing how there won't be any new content.

Or there will, but then it isn't Vanilla anymore. It's just another WoW live.

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your post is nothing but one long treatise on subjectivity. None of that can be considered fact nor statistically relevant.

When wow first released it was already outdated, both in gameplay and graphics. it still managed to climb to the #1 position. all your assumptions are pointless, and are based solely on your own opinion and perspective.

But it was set in a huge universe with a huge fanbase to begin with. That alone gave it a huge edge. And again, I'm not saying it was considered good back then. I'm just saying that, objecitvly speaking, there is no reason to assume that just because it worked back then, it will work now.

[DesoPL]

What if classic fail? Nothing it will be abandoned like Diablo.

[Kynario]

Warning: A history of private servers is irrelevant to the topic and against the rules. This can easily be discussed with bringing this up. Thanks.

I understand, I'm sorry.

I don't agree with the fact, however, that it's entirely irrelevant, because the fact of the matter is that players have been seeking to play the game even by illegal means namely since The Burning Crusade launched. They missed the base game and its fundamental aspects and game-style as early as 2007.

Ultimately, my point is, for the past 10+ years the demand for Classic WoW certainly hasn't faltered. Whether people in 2030 are still playing it is largely irrelevant.