What takeaways should Blizzard add back to retail from classic?

[Nnyco]

Nothin, keep that grindfest to the masochists that enjoy it.

[Yunaqt]

I like talents, they're pretty basic sure. But it's something when you level and 'feels' exciting when working towards a decent one

[Mrbleedinggums]

Nothing, because there's a reason Classic was from 15 years ago. It's a terrible system that should never actually be replicated other than to appease all the boomers that want the "good ol' days where we walked 15 miles up a hill both ways in 5 feet of snow"

[Dystemper]

Bring back server community, get rid of sharding and crz. Bring back talent trees. Bring back reagents, ammo, quivers, soul shards all of that. It added so much depth to the game. Class specific questing was awesome. Make Retail a MMORPG again

[Xemioza]

Barrens chat?

Everything from Classic got already fixed in expansions. Class balance, talents, in game calendar, transmog, challenging end game content, and much much more.

[unbound]

There's a lot of things you just CAN'T get back from playing Vanilla. Even classic only has moderate success with these - Such as the old communities of Warcraft or the sense of wonder in exploration when you didn't know everything already.

From having played Classic, what are the parts where you really stop and think "Damn, I wish Blizzard hadn't got rid of this - It needs this back"

For me it's all the RPG elements of being a rogue and finding shady dealers hiding under buildings to mix up stashes of poisons and buy flash powder etc. Sure it's a chore, but i feel 1000% more connected to my rogue as a rogue.

I think ultimately, there is truly little Blizz can do. Retail really is a pretty different animal from Classic. They won't be able to suddenly bring back in RPG into Retail...it would be too jarring for the players that like Retail, and would be completely counter to all the effort Blizz has expended removing RPG from the game for many expansions now.

It is entirely likely that Classic is not going the way Blizz was expecting. They were thinking that Classic would bring in a few hundred thousand new subs, it would go on for a few months, then they could close it out with a big "Told ya so!". After 2 weeks, the Classic servers are as crowded as they were on the first few days (you don't see as many queues because this is post extension of the layering).

Blizz may be faced with a more thorny problem...that both Retail and Classic are popular enough to keep, but neither is making such a compelling case that they can abandon one over the other. If Classic actually grows (I give it 50/50), especially beyond Retail, then Blizz may make serious adjustments, but certainly not in time for 9.0.

Keep in mind that Blizz always claims to learn things, but they consistently only seem to learn lessons that point them to short-cuts. Each expansion since Wrath was cheaper than the previous, with the sole exception of Legion (which was more than WoD, but not as much as, say, Cata...possibly on par with MoP). As long as their attitude is to produce expansions as cheaply as possible to suck up money, WoW will continue to wane.

[Redroniksre]

I mean one of the charms of vanilla was something that everyone seems to ignore (read: purposfully forget). Raids were not the sole source of best items, because of vanillas bad itemization (which some people love for god knows why) meant some items were worthwhile for a long time.

I honestly think retail should simply ignore the hardcore (mythic raiders, high m+, pvpers) and focus on making a fun and engaging game, not one where every decision has to be held back because "just think about the poor raiders".

[Doomchicken]

2/3rds of your levels in Classic are without mounts.

:thinking:

Do people really want that? Every day is leg day in Classic!

Considering people cry about flight being delayed, that would never happen.

[neik]

WoW was never really unique from the start. It’s basically a re-skinned Everquest that is catered to a wider audience.

I see where you coming from.

What I was trying to say is that in retail you are just another sausage in a bucket, where in classic versions of the game you can feel being unique and powerful.

[Big Thanks]

Only one thing.

Server community

Edit: Herm...but there is no point in server community when almost everything in the game is either automated, instanced or a easy solo experience. So...i dont know.

[Ivanstone]

Raids were not the sole source of best items, because of vanillas bad itemization (which some people love for god knows why) meant some items were worthwhile for a long time.

And these items are? Because I remember starting BWL in full MC/ZG gear. I was mostly PvPing in the same gear. The gear progression was mostly the same as now. Quest Gear - Dungeon Gear - PVP/Raid Gear. Except now you have world quests, emissaries and mythic dungeons providing alternate paths.

Hell most of my current gear I didn't get from raiding.

[Redroniksre]

And these items are? Because I remember starting BWL in full MC/ZG gear. I was mostly PvPing in the same gear. The gear progression was mostly the same as now. Quest Gear - Dungeon Gear - PVP/Raid Gear. Except now you have world quests, emissaries and mythic dungeons providing alternate paths.

Hell most of my current gear I didn't get from raiding.

Apparently Edgemasters from ST (i think) are super op for anyone who can use them. And crowd pumbler from Gnome.

Problem with vanilla items was no stat budget, so lower level items could straight up have better stats than higher levels.

[Bangdingow]

Make it feel like an MMORPG again and not some run of the mill lobby based game where you occasionally have to fly somewhere. The world should matter and be a place where you spend time.

Gearing. I'm sick of the braindead, herp derp item level>all approach. Let me customize the feel of my character via gear, let me target certain pieces that enhance the build I'm going for. If classic has proven anything to me personally it's that I enjoy researching my class, their gear and spending time gearing my character appropriately.

Lastly, fuck all the catch up mechanics, Blizz has taken that shit waaay too far. Dump those in a trash can and light it on fire.

[Rumred]

Classic AV and idk maybe the old honor system. PVE wise I enjoyed the mega dungeons like BRD so something like that.

[Byleth]

Nothing, Retail and classic should remain separate games.

Retail has it's flaws, but it's 100% better than Classic.

[Ivanstone]

Gearing. I'm sick of the braindead, herp derp item level>all approach. Let me customize the feel of my character via gear, let me target certain pieces that enhance the build I'm going for. If classic has proven anything to me personally it's that I enjoy researching my class, their gear and spending time gearing my character appropriately.

Lastly, fuck all the catch up mechanics, Blizz has taken that shit waaay too far. Dump those in a trash can and light it on fire.

So like Retail then? Only an idiot takes a pure item level > all approach. I've scrapped, vendored or disenchanted every single Crit/Vers or Crit/Mast item I've received the last two expansions for example. The only flaw with retail is that Titanforging and gem sockets are far too random. Scrapping gear or some other method should allow us to upgrade our gear somewhat.

Vanilla had almost no customization. You simply chased decent items in longer dungeons or raids. Nothing more.

And there's nothing wrong with catch up mechanisms. You play the game how it currently is, not how much time you've invested. As someone who's actually led a guild, I can say recruitment is a giant pain in the ass. I'd rather have people to play with for content I'm currently doing and not waste huge amounts of time farming trivial gear.

[chrisnumbers]

Barrens chat?

Everything from Classic got already fixed in expansions. Class balance, talents, in game calendar, transmog, challenging end game content, and much much more.

[irspacehamster]

I'm a bit above lvl 30 at this point and I'm shocked how much I enjoy classic. First off the feeling of space. Not in every area but in loads of them I feel that I'm actually in a huge area with real immersion and adventure. Now compare this to that gnome Island with Mechagon quests. That Island made me feel like going to a small store to buy the same stuff(dailys) every day. Basically as many dailys as possible in as few pixels as possible. If theres 3 more toons its crowded...

So bring back zones that are LARGE and remove flying and dailys.

Levelling engineering is also fun and above all not as focused on "get +10 of this at max lvl" only. I like how certain stuff ties in with other classes like ammo etc.

[Aphrel]

Wouldn't remove LFD. as scrolling through a cesspit of a world chat for groups would turn into someone making an addon for that anyway.

They could atleast stop forcing lfd on ppl.
As the game works right now you dont get the end dungeon rewards unless you use the lfd feature.

[DarkBlade6]

Remove Flying, LFR/Normal, LFD, Arena, titanforging

Bring back epic BGs, World PvP, Talents Tree, Buffs, Profession, Attunement, Class identity, PROGRESSION