What is the long term plan, if any?

[Littleraven]

They probably don't have one. They may move on to BC and then Wrath "classic" but beyond that I doubt they will do much else. I don't see them going the route of a like classic + with all new content because I don't think they want to put in the work OR split the fan base anymore.

I will be genuinely shocked if they do actually go that route though. Would make me actually return to classic to see it.

[CostinR]

TBC. In contrast to classic there were very few TBC servers and out of those only a handful that were anywhere close to the quality seen on retail Burning Crusade. Vanilla and Wrath private servers came close to the retail quality. BC servers were quite far away.

Today in classic the guilds that dominate are those that have played on vanilla private servers for years. APES, Progress, Dreamstate, Onslaught and many, many others were very well established long before Blizzard even announced Classic with an enormous amount of experience behind them.

Burning Crusade...just doesn't have anything comparable to that. The lack of quality servers has ensured that. There are some names: Panacea for instance if they were to be a thing, but nowhere near as many and besides there's never been a server comparable to the actual experience of retail Burning Crusade so you'd have some adjustments to make.

[FlubberPuddy]

I'd rather see them resetting everything 1-3 months after Kel'Thuzad is down, instead of watching everyone getting decked in t3.

Do you realize that the majority who play MMOs like to keep all the shit they get?

Get this ARPG/Private server mindset outta here.

[kieraTM]

Unless they're doing BC servers, I'd rather see them resetting everything 1-3 months after Kel'Thuzad is down, instead of watching everyone getting decked in t3.

I played classic up until level 39, 1 level off mount. I enjoyed the journey and playing with friends, but the novelty wore off quickly. The only thing that would bring me back to classic is if a bunch of mates wanted to level up as a group. That is a strong 'if'.

A 100% concrete 'if' would be an introduction of some sort of reset would definitely stop me considering resubbing. The whole allure of classic was either 1) trying to recapture the long process of levelling and becoming attached to your original character, or 2) living that experience if you didn't. A reset would be absolutely awful in either of these circumstances

[Tojara]

Diden't pirvate servers live for years and years without any new content?

Not really. Most people quit a few months after Naxxaramas.

One of the big things that kept it 'fresh' for people on private servers is the need to restart because a lot of these servers got shutdown.

[Seranthor]

As much as I prefer Classic over Live/Retail for the MMORPG aspect, it's always been obvious that Classic lives upon burrowed time. Content that used to keep people surprised, confused and lost nowadays has a thousand and one guides exactly how to progress.
WoW classic raid content is being cleared near-ridiculously quickly, and people in Orgrimmar look like they've all been in Nihilum for half a year, gathering gear.

So what do you think Blizzards wants to do with Classic once Naxxramas is cleared? Will they keep players running naxx until people are decked in t3, or will they prefer resets?
I have to be honest, I'd prefer Blizzard doing server resets rather than people getting absolutely decked in T3.
WoW Classic will either need "resets" or Blizzard making BC/LK releases for Classic going forward.

Unless they're doing BC servers, I'd rather see them resetting everything 1-3 months after Kel'Thuzad is down, instead of watching everyone getting decked in t3.

it was pretty clear to me that Blizzard's communicated intent was that Classic was going to be a museum... so based on that I would not expect any resets and that once they got to the end of the Classic content then that was it... Kinda like what they do with ghost planes... let them run until they expend all their fuel.

[deenman]

As much as I prefer Classic over Live/Retail for the MMORPG aspect, it's always been obvious that Classic lives upon burrowed time. Content that used to keep people surprised, confused and lost nowadays has a thousand and one guides exactly how to progress.
WoW classic raid content is being cleared near-ridiculously quickly, and people in Orgrimmar look like they've all been in Nihilum for half a year, gathering gear.

So what do you think Blizzards wants to do with Classic once Naxxramas is cleared? Will they keep players running naxx until people are decked in t3, or will they prefer resets?
I have to be honest, I'd prefer Blizzard doing server resets rather than people getting absolutely decked in T3.
WoW Classic will either need "resets" or Blizzard making BC/LK releases for Classic going forward.

Unless they're doing BC servers, I'd rather see them resetting everything 1-3 months after Kel'Thuzad is down, instead of watching everyone getting decked in t3.

plenty of private servers have ran with no resets for years,they can open new realms i guess,but i rly dont think they will ever reset anyone,its not in blizzards style to delete your stuff,and tbc will come im sure,but the thing is,many people who like classic...dont want tbc,and many who are waiting for tbc dont play classic

[Kathranis]

If it's anything like other MMORPGs, they'll launch a second wave of "progression realms" that start fresh on Phase 1.

I'm not sure what they'll do with current servers. I doubt they'll leave them locked in a state of perpetual Naxx, but they might.

More likely I think they'll progress existing WoW Classic realms to BC while launching new phase 1 fresh start realms.

But we'll see. There isn't really an elegant way to give everyone what they want.

[Timewalker]

Nothing. Just raid Naxx until you're geared then quit.

[Vofka]

Classic was a financial success so i bet Blizzard will try to cash in on TBC next.

[enigma77]

What's next? They will obviously do TBC, it's a given now.

Agreed.

As much as I would like Classic +, TBC is a fine option and the obvious (easy) choice.

[Trumpcat]

Reset will never happen. But it will be amazing and at the same time pathetic to see WoW expansions re-released in the coming 15 years.

So the people who want Classic got it, it is what it is. They will be doing the same thing people used to do on the private vanilla servers for so many years, that's apparently amazing to do. Whatever it is.

[Powerogue]

I reckon they ask the community when they get there and just roll with it. They have the infrastructure for BC and further servers, or additional content patches, whatever they figure will get them the most money.

Will be funny to see me miss the ball again because all the progression is supercharged this time with raids released far closer to each other so my casual ass still can't keep up.

[TJ]

I for one would instantly cancel if they just reset everything

Same. TBC seems the most viable option and I'd be insanely excited for that. Blizzard would have to be pretty stupid not to, since it would make them another pile of money and gain potential long term subs.

[Hinastorm]

There is not really any problem here. A very tiny minority of people want to sit in classic forever. It's the true "you think you do but you don't".

BC will come, all realms will have BC launched on them, easy.

If Bliz wanted to bother with placating the classic only delusionists, they could open 1 or 2 servers for people to transfer to that will sit in classic forever. For some reason.

[Shockzalot]

If they reset and wiped the servers I'd quit, plain and simple. That retarded "FRESH" mentality from private servers is nothing but cancer. With the immense popularity of classic servers they'll launch TBC after Naxx 40 has been out for a period of time.

[Raven]

And what would a server reset fix ? Those few that would actually be ok with it and level new chars will go through the raids and content just as fast again.

[Adamas102]

TBC seems like a counterproductive move for the Classic crowd. Will just end up spreading the playerbase even thinner. That being said, I imagine they'll do it anyway for the quick cash grab that comes with anything new.

[Holian]

People underestimate how many people actually just want to play vanilla, i think the only reasonable thing to do is open BC servers a good long while after Naxx has been released, and offer character copies over to these new servers so that people can keep their vanilla characters aswell, and when the vanilla population dwindles, merge vanilla servers to keep those populations healthy and active.

This way you get active BC servers aswell as healthy vanilla servers with an active playerbase... And maybe alongside the BC server release, put out a "fresh" vanilla server aswell, and do that once every 2.5 years or something, alongside new expansion releases.
The "Fresh" meme is a thing... but there are also a large ammount of people that actually do enjoy this, no reason to shit on other peoples enjoyment, it's the same as when we wanted vanilla servers originally and retail people were shitting on that, if you dont like it, dont play it, but dont try to put down other peoples enjoyment, makes no sense.

So i guess the way i think it SHOULD go something along the line of 6-9 months after Naxx has been released, new servers with BC get released, where you are offered a character copy to, so you can preserve your vanilla character, the original vanilla servers are put in stasis on the last patch, letting people complete whatever goals they happen to have, at the same time a few fresh vanilla servers are released where people can start all over, if they so wish.
When eventually sunwell is released, we give it another 6-9 months, and release WoTLK servers, again with character copies offered over to these servers and BC servers go into stasis, at the same time another few "fresh" vanilla and BC servers are created... and so on and so forth.

This would eventually give you the oportunity to play any expansion you want, either from the beginning if that's what you want, or on an already established end game server, aslong as server mergers are kept going to keep the populations healthy and active, i really think this would be the way to do it.

[Mysterymask]

And what would a server reset fix ? Those few that would actually be ok with it and level new chars will go through the raids and content just as fast again.

Dont even see the point..I mean whats the difference between restarting and leveling 40 more people to do the raids all over again. Only thing you miss is the ever so fun "OH NOES HONOR WITH NO BATTLEGROUNDS" and some people in Naxx gear is going to be walking around every so often...

So every late starting player back in the day without Burning Crusade looming in the background.