Blizzard was right, retail is better.

[dacoolist]

@MoanaLisa why this thread is still open even if people have proven that OP is a liar and a troll? This thread is getting nowhere and just becoming a huge flame fiesta.

Listen bro, we can't have fun? Leave the thread open so we can have our last bit of fun in the wow community

[Mazaxist]

You are not everyone. If you don't like classic just don't play it. I actually love that people who like BFA will leave us alone soon. Thank you

[toffmcsoft]

Retail has better graphics, dungeon mechanics & raid mechanics.
Classic has a better community, interaction and game philosophy.

That's the difference between the 2.

I'll sacrifice graphics & mechanics for community & interaction on any game. Classic is more fun, hands down.

[j0hncramer]

I have to admit,

Blizzard was correct. I did think I wanted Classic, I followed Classic news every single day and even took off work to play it on day 1. However, after playing to level 15 and putting about 15 hours into the game the nostalgia completely wore off.

Classic is not a good game. The mob mechanics are outdated with bad AI, the graphics are really really bad, the quests are so boring and bland (pick up x, kill z, talk to y) with no justification to be doing anything no cool story, the game design is horrible (quests sending you to an area and then walking back and then another quest sends you back to the area or having to go back and forth to deliver a letter to someone 5 feet away?), the UI elements are so lacking (no HP showing? Quest tracking inconsistent, node tracking inconsistent, etc), the game is slow for no reason (i.e. having to kill 55 boars for 4 livers?). Really it's so boring, there is no appeal to this game.

Anyway,
I have to give it to Blizzard, I did forget how bad Classic actually was and I do say that retail is much better.

I suspect in the coming weeks the nostalgia will wear off for everyone (it seems to be already happening as full servers on day one are medium or low now) so players are dropping off like flies and this will just have been a big waste of development that could have been done to make retail much better.

I've had a ton more fun with Classic launch this year than BFA launch. BFA I felt like was a chore before I even hit max. This coming from someone who loved the entirety of Legion. I came back to BFA when Nazjatar launched, and still I didnt find myself enjoying it, I quit again right after unlocking flying. Classic I'm hyped to login every day. But this is all just me and my feelings on both games. Just like you and your feelings. Stop trying to project your feelings onto everyone else because Classic wasnt the game for you.

[Jyggalag]

What I was more referring to is how people who binge-play tend to not last very long before they get "bored" and move onto something else. That's not to say that I think Classic is a problem, rather that your anecdote says a lot more about you than it does about Classic.

#doubt. I've waited since MoP for WoW to be this engaging again. As long as there's people online and content not cleared for me personally, you couldn't be more wrong.

[crewskater]

Which gear? Mythic raid gear?

Gear in general. I can get the same equivalent gear from daily quests as high end raiders.

[WowClassic]

This game is going to ruin lives it's THAT GOOD. I've never seen trade chat so buzzing with genuine trading and no bullshit spam/carries etc. The community is just as great as I predicted.

The thing that has amazed me is that even after years of being desensitized to epics and legendaries etc. just seeing an epic BoE in classic as a low level feels almost as incredible as it did before the days of welfare epics.

[Granyala]

I've had a ton more fun with Classic launch this year than BFA launch. BFA I felt like was a chore before I even hit max.

How can you not perceive leveling in classic as the biggest chore in WoW history?

Esp factoring in that the world and the quests/stories are nothing new to most of us because we've seen and done the quest a dozen times already.

[unbound]

Imagine watching Blizz open additional servers because of the massive number of people locking in their names, then opening additional servers on top of that, then extending how many layers each server can handle, then opening additional servers on top of that, and then offering free server transfer...but, because that particular person didn't like it, thinking Blizz was right to claim people didn't want Classic.

/doublefacepalm

[yoma]

I have to admit,

Blizzard was correct. I did think I wanted Classic, I followed Classic news every single day and even took off work to play it on day 1. However, after playing to level 15 and putting about 15 hours into the game the nostalgia completely wore off.

Classic is not a good game. The mob mechanics are outdated with bad AI, the graphics are really really bad, the quests are so boring and bland (pick up x, kill z, talk to y) with no justification to be doing anything no cool story, the game design is horrible (quests sending you to an area and then walking back and then another quest sends you back to the area or having to go back and forth to deliver a letter to someone 5 feet away?), the UI elements are so lacking (no HP showing? Quest tracking inconsistent, node tracking inconsistent, etc), the game is slow for no reason (i.e. having to kill 55 boars for 4 livers?). Really it's so boring, there is no appeal to this game.

Anyway,
I have to give it to Blizzard, I did forget how bad Classic actually was and I do say that retail is much better.

I suspect in the coming weeks the nostalgia will wear off for everyone (it seems to be already happening as full servers on day one are medium or low now) so players are dropping off like flies and this will just have been a big waste of development that could have been done to make retail much better.

That sucks. Millions disagree. I for one despise logging into retail (both before and after Classic launched). I wouldn't have a sub right now if not for Classic. Catch you later I guess. O/

[exochaft]

Interesting thought, but I think he was genuine but later on somewhere down the road they probably realized it was good marketing for Classic. It was also him that announced Classic, kinda bittersweet like a feeling of "we won".

I think we're also at the point where Classic and retail are very different games with focus on different aspects. Brack was right when it comes to certain QoL issues and balancing aspects of the game, and you can tell that from the points he brings up in the answer where the quote is from. However, where I think Brack and the team was very short-sighted is when it comes to community.

Retail WoW is at the point where the systems and design choices over the years have lead to a very anti-social experience that's enabled in most aspects of the game. Things like 'server identity' are still touted, especially when it comes to mythic raiding, but considering the extremely small amount of people who even do mythic raiding the argument is rather pointless when it comes to the vast majority of players (and personally, I think it's just an excuse on Blizz's behalf to keep some arduous restrictions on mythic raiding that don't exist anywhere else in the game anymore). Beyond mythic raiding, almost every activity in the game can be done solo, and when a group is required you don't even need to communicate with any other player. Even when it comes to loot, there's no roll window or discussion amongst the group concerning who gets what, it just shows up in your bag and you are not obligated to communicate at all. And you know what, all this is perfectly fine for a game... but it's this aspect of retail WoW that drives people to Classic.

Maybe it's a sign of the times, as the original WoW community likely grew up in the early computer days or grew up w/o computers and well before social media was even a thing. Such a community was already used to interacting with others and had some semblance of courtesy and social norms (obviously not everything, but the general idea works). Fast forward to today, there's barely any meaningful interactions for some people, and retail WoW certainly reflects such a mentality of keeping the players from having to have those situations where you need to communicate with players. Honestly, it may not even be intentional but rather the natural result of constantly trying to make player's lives easier and easier to the point where there's barely any adversity to force players to even need a community to play the game.

I like both BfA and Classic, but the reasons I like the games are completely different for each verison. I mentioned it in another thread, but BfA has basically turned into D3 in so many aspects, but such a game can still be enjoyable for various reasons. However, I think it's easy to say Classic is extremely different from D3, but that's not a bad thing either. Coming full circle to Brack: his comment makes complete sense if all the recent expansions emulated Classic and were basically the same game with just bug fixes and QoL changes that kept the essence of Classic intact, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

[Granyala]

Blizz was right to claim people didn't want Classic.

Honestly, that remains to be seen.
If classic is still thriving half a year from now, yes people definitely wanted it.

But I expect a rather sharp decline in a few months and then another one once people clear the content that is available and realize that there is never ever coming sth new.

Ofc a few diehard fans will remain, considering that it requires a sub it'll probably be enough to keep the lights on.
Personally, I'd love a hybrid game. have the community aspects of classic but cut down on the rather punishing travel time / downtime when solo leveling. The game just wastes too much of a players time being inactive. That's not fun in the long run. Playing for an hour and feeling as if you've barely accomplished anything is annoying if you have only little free time available.

[Florena]

For me personally, retail is better than classic. A BC or Wrath server MIGHT tempt me, but I didn't get far into classic. While I miss some things classic they're mostly small details and I prefer retain in the broad strokes. (That said, I liked Legion and MOP more than BRA it's not like I think BFA is perfect and ALL changes have been for the better.)

That said, I can understand why people would like classic more. The game has changed a lot over the years.

[thunderdragon2]

ive been playing for quire a few days straight, only logging on retail for guild mythic raids i loved classic as a 1st timer till i hit stv.... im at level 34 but its losing its appeal for me

[Granyala]

ive been playing for quire a few days straight, only logging on retail for guild mythic raids i loved classic as a 1st timer till i hit stv....

PvP server?

[thunderdragon2]

PvP server?

yes, tho its not just pvp server, its the small amount of quest mobs too many ppl and no1 wants to grp for the kill quest, its just monotonously slow to level so its a combination of things

i really dont see the point of players killing each other in this phase there 0 point to that

[CrawlFromThePit]

Well, the ”concerns” you raise have been discussed frequently in news about classic, so I can’t see how you misses that?

In fact, most of the issues you mention are not concerns at all, but rather design choices. Perhaps an mmorpg is not your cup of tea?

Most concerns in video games ARE design choices, just bad design choices. Just because something is how it is by design does not make it okay, in fact, it's way worst because it means someone DECIDED to make it bad and other people who worked on it, tested it, tried it, all said it was okay when it objectively was not okay.

I'm not taking OP's side or anything, I'm enjoying classic, just saying that this happens in every game (or every piece of entertainment product for that matter) and it's all about good deign vs bad design. 15 minutes respawn timers for a quest mob is NOT good design in any way shape or form, same goes for everything he mentioned. I just think the fun of classic is in other aspects of the game.

[Granyala]

yes, tho its not just pvp server, its the small amount of quest mobs too many ppl and no1 wants to grp for the kill quest, its just monotonously slow to level so its a combination of things

I'd imagine that the early 30s is where most players are right now, so that makes sense. At Lv 15 I only have a hand full of people in the zones I'm in.

[Yhcti]

I disagree, I love it. Endgame content bores me, levelling is where it's at. There's something satisfying about frost bolting a mob until I'm oom then wanding it to death, it's very relaxing. Getting blizzard will make it very entertaining.

[lukkoth]

- - - Updated - - -

I have to admit,

Blizzard was correct. I did think I wanted Classic, I followed Classic news every single day and even took off work to play it on day 1. However, after playing to level 15 and putting about 15 hours into the game the nostalgia completely wore off.

Classic is not a good game. The mob mechanics are outdated with bad AI, the graphics are really really bad, the quests are so boring and bland (pick up x, kill z, talk to y) with no justification to be doing anything no cool story, the game design is horrible (quests sending you to an area and then walking back and then another quest sends you back to the area or having to go back and forth to deliver a letter to someone 5 feet away?), the UI elements are so lacking (no HP showing? Quest tracking inconsistent, node tracking inconsistent, etc), the game is slow for no reason (i.e. having to kill 55 boars for 4 livers?). Really it's so boring, there is no appeal to this game.

Anyway,
I have to give it to Blizzard, I did forget how bad Classic actually was and I do say that retail is much better.

I suspect in the coming weeks the nostalgia will wear off for everyone (it seems to be already happening as full servers on day one are medium or low now) so players are dropping off like flies and this will just have been a big waste of development that could have been done to make retail much better.

Why does your anecdote about how you, personally, don't enjoy the game, mean that "retail is better"?