How RPG Is WoW?

[Cempa]

I read a comment by a poster on these forums saying that classic was the most RPG MMO of all WoW expansions, and Bfa is the least. What does that mean and what are your thoughts?

[Nalorakk]

Are the qualities of an RPG objectively defined?

In any case, both games are RPGs with different spins on what makes an RPG. Anyone who says otherwise is gatekeeping.

[garicasha]

Classic was much more about the leveling experience and exploring the world. Raiding was very tedious, required a huge time commitment, and many of the ways that raiding info got out didn't exist yet...including Youtube.

A huge part of it was also that it was a new paradigm and few knew how to optimize it, so we all just had fun instead. Sadly that is never coming back...the only way to get that feeling again is to get in on the next new paradigm!

[Varvara Spiros Gelashvili]

I like classic world but the pve like dungeons and raids bores me. I like just doing something not and not getting invovled with characeters, I give no shit about.

[Gungnir]

I read a comment by a poster on these forums saying that classic was the most RPG MMO of all WoW expansions, and Bfa is the least. What does that mean and what are your thoughts?

Vanilla WoW was built around the world you were in and your path through that world.
BfA is built around endgame progression.

To put it very simply, it's the biggest difference between them.
Being an oldschool RPG player and D&D/pathfinder/earthdawn pen and paper roleplayer, I'll personally always feel that Vanilla is a LOT more of an RPG than current retail.
Some people will feel differently, depends on how you define "RPG".

[Marston]

I read a comment by a poster on these forums saying that classic was the most RPG MMO of all WoW expansions, and Bfa is the least. What does that mean and what are your thoughts?

Aside from what others said, there are several systems which simply do not exist anymore:

- Pets had happiness, the higher it was the more damage they dealt and you had to feed them (with specific food depending on the pet) to incrase their happiness.
- Pets were different. Two different mobs which both were cats may have different stats, like 1.6 attackspeed vs. 1.5 attackspeed.
- You had many reagents to use spells, like seeds for a druid to actually cast revive or candles to cast... I think it was the group wide priest fortitude buff.
- You had weapon skills, if it was low you simply dealt less damage and missed most of the times. In order to train it you had to use said weapon.
- Quests were not shown on the minimap (unless completed), so you had to read the quest to know where to go and what to do.

There were other things of course. You could either call these "more realistic", "more immersive" or "more inconvinient", because they more or less are all of those things.

[seleri]

Considering you can roleplay and it gives you tools to encourage it (RP servers, bit cities like Boralus with a lot of flavor buildings that serve no game purpose), I'd say it's still a RPG and always has been.

[Nozuka]

Classic:
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

BFA:
Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, although while leveling often just RPG, since you don't even need anyone and sharding makes sure you are mostly alone...

[huth]

Are the qualities of an RPG objectively defined?

In any case, both games are RPGs with different spins on what makes an RPG. Anyone who says otherwise is gatekeeping.

There's multiple definitions for different contexts, even.

In the context of Videogames, it's objectively still an RPG. This definition is mostly concerned with game mechanics, and is typically what is being talked about when a video game is marketed as an RPG or to have "RPG mechanics". This is probably also the most objectively defined one, since you can objectively analyse whether those mechanics are present.

If you use the "people playing roles in a play/improv" definition, it never was beyond what players did themselves. This is the definition referred to by the RP in RP-Server, though. Kids playing pretend also falls under this.

Tabletop RPGs is a bit iffy as it's somewhere between those two, partially refering to the game systems, partially to the act of playing out the characters within those systems.

If you want to get nitpicky, Theater is essentially a roleplay too, though it's somewhat questionable if it counts as a game.

[Thage]

I read a comment by a poster on these forums saying that classic was the most RPG MMO of all WoW expansions, and Bfa is the least. What does that mean and what are your thoughts?

Classic adheres to older RPG concepts where inefficient mechanics like reagents and soul shards exist to help emphasize the illusion of a living world. BFA adheres to newer RPG concepts where the emphasis is on storytelling and character plots (rather than Classic where your character is more an avatar and the storytelling isn't as in-your-face, which can be good, bad, or neither depending on your opinion/taste) as well as an emphasis on streamlined mechanics and endgame.

When people say Classic is more RPG, they're talking about older RPG systems where needing components/reagents and going on a quest to attune yourself to a raid were emphasized. Where leveling was its own game in and of itself rather than something you get out of the way. Neither are more valid than the other, but there is a stark difference in how BFA and Classic approach RPG mechanics.