How much hype you think there is for WotlK classic?

[schwank05]

And that's fair, however on the other side if the aisle you also have people that felt very much backstabbed by this because they dislike the boost out of principle and see it as the first step(s) towards further monetizing Classic and indeed shortly quit after TBC launch, because they lost faith in Blizzard that they keep further monetization out of the game.

Let's not forget, before the launch of Classic, Blizzard famously commented on boosts with

I think it is dumb that Classic is "Free" from a business standing, I am not going to lie Until 2 weeks ago I thought that I needed to purchase TBCC and didn't mind spending the $60.00 to get what I thought was base $40.00 for game and the other $20.00 I thought was for the mount and month of game time. Made sense to me, I would gladly pay a separate Sub for Classic servers only and not support retail as I think it is hot garbage ever since the introduction of M+. I have no issue spending money on a game as I view $15.00 a month as no big deal as that just requires I get 15 hours of enjoyment for my money to make sense. So I raid 6 hours a week and raid log on my main account and play probably 15 or so hours a week on my other account so it easily pays for itself. I think the boosts being a thing are what saved TBCC from dying after a week or 2 from release as people that played Classic had their characters and played them for the first tier and then boosted and leveled an alt for their T5 content grind.

[csguba]

I think it is dumb that Classic is "Free" from a business standing, I am not going to lie Until 2 weeks ago I thought that I needed to purchase TBCC and didn't mind spending the $60.00 to get what I thought was base $40.00 for game and the other $20.00 I thought was for the mount and month of game time. Made sense to me, I would gladly pay a separate Sub for Classic servers only and not support retail as I think it is hot garbage ever since the introduction of M+. I have no issue spending money on a game as I view $15.00 a month as no big deal as that just requires I get 15 hours of enjoyment for my money to make sense. So I raid 6 hours a week and raid log on my main account and play probably 15 or so hours a week on my other account so it easily pays for itself. I think the boosts being a thing are what saved TBCC from dying after a week or 2 from release as people that played Classic had their characters and played them for the first tier and then boosted and leveled an alt for their T5 content grind.

The reality is next to noone stopped playing because of boosts. Imagine having a level 60 decked in good gear hyped for the expansion. You don't then not play because some random Joe gets a boost for a character 2 levels lower than you in rubbish gear. People complain because they can and want to prevent it happening. It won't have stopped many people actually playing though. The number of people that did play because of the boost will be much, much higher.

It's not representative of course, but in my circle of friends/guildies I don't know a single person that didn't play because a boost is available but do know several that played purely because of it.

[Kralljin]

I think it is dumb that Classic is "Free" from a business standing

It's not.
You might say it's free if you also play Retail, but if you want Classic, you need to pay.

I have no issue spending money on a game as I view $15.00 a month as no big deal as that just requires I get 15 hours of enjoyment for my money to make sense.

Okay and that personal anecdote has what to do with the topic?
You're willing to spend extra money on the game, others aren't, so what now?

I think the boosts being a thing are what saved TBCC from dying after a week or 2 from release as people that played Classic had their characters and played them for the first tier and then boosted and leveled an alt for their T5 content grind.

That's just horseshit.

More than enough people played right until the end of Classic, these people did not need a boost, saying that the boost "saved TBCC from dying after a week or 2" is just a complete asspull.
Disregarding that a lot of already had a multitude of alts ready for TBC even without the boost.

[Chilela]

You're greatly underestimating people's ability to "forget" controversies, it's seen all the time in all kinds of markets. E.g. Iphone's batteries being built to fail, VW diesel scandal, Amazon dodging UK tax. People care for a bit and then they don't care when trends change and shiny things come out and WotLK won't be released for some time yet .Not to say it won't be factor at all, but it's not going to be the reason WotLK isn't a success. Also there is no way WotLK won't be more hyped than TBC, to say TBC hype is the ceiling is baffling to me. And again, the cash shop might have annoyed people but anyone who wanted to play the game didn't not play because of that, these are non-factors in the grand scheme of things relatively speaking.

I'm hardly saying there won't still be a fair bit of hype around WotLKC, I just have a hard time formulating how it can realistically surpass TBCC, outside of "WotLK is more beloved than TBC is". Blizz doesn't have the fanatical following at this point that Apple did and still does, nor the stranglehold on its market that Amazon does. Can't really speak on VW's case, though. There's ultimately no singular factor will hurt WotLKC, it would likely be a combination of several smaller factors.

As an aside, I think the cash shop, among the other changes made to TBCC, is what caused me to ultimately park my Classic character on the Evergreen servers. So take of that as you may.

[csguba]

I'm hardly saying there won't still be a fair bit of hype around WotLKC, I just have a hard time formulating how it can realistically surpass TBCC, outside of "WotLK is more beloved than TBC is". Blizz doesn't have the fanatical following at this point that Apple did and still does, nor the stranglehold on its market that Amazon does. Can't really speak on VW's case, though. There's ultimately no singular factor will hurt WotLKC, it would likely be a combination of several smaller factors.

As an aside, I think the cash shop, among the other changes made to TBCC, is what caused me to ultimately park my Classic character on the Evergreen servers. So take of that as you may.

The three examples I gave are just examples, it happens all the time and by the time in a year + when wrath is released I don't think it's going to be a significant reason for there being less hype. It should matter more, but it won't.

Being more beloved is a valid reason, WotLK had the higher subscription in WoW's history and nostalgia is a huge pull for hype. Compared to both WotLK and vanilla private servers, TBC's numbers dwindle and WotLK is quite significantly the highest last time I saw. These alone will factor for more hype. Another factor we won't know will be the state of retail at the time, though I'm sure Blizzard will strategically release it between a lull period in retail content to maximise the financial benefit.

On the side cash options, just looking at the official forums you can see requests to additional access for paid changes (in this case from pve to pvp servers), literally almost every other thread. Cash options are a larger pull than they are push, the boost TBC offered being another example. A large portion of the player base that return will have had a high amount of time to play TBC/wrath in their younger years but now have full time jobs and families. Time is money and people will be wanting and willing to pay to be able to join the fun with their friends. There will be people put off by this like yourself but it's not proportionate.

Time will tell!

[schwank05]

It's not.
You might say it's free if you also play Retail, but if you want Classic, you need to pay.

Okay and that personal anecdote has what to do with the topic?
You're willing to spend extra money on the game, others aren't, so what now?

That's just horseshit.

More than enough people played right until the end of Classic, these people did not need a boost, saying that the boost "saved TBCC from dying after a week or 2" is just a complete asspull.
Disregarding that a lot of already had a multitude of alts ready for TBC even without the boost.

My overall point is they need a separate sub for each version of WOW. that way you can actually see which version is the most popular or how popular a particular version of the game actually is. I think love the boost and know there are 6 guildies in my TBCC guild including myself are only able to play because of the boost. I do hate the fact that they just bound it to 1 per account though as I have to have 2 subs going to have and play an alt because fuck leveling in Classic. But I think there are several thousands of people that are only able to play TBCC because the boost was a thing. I hope for WOTLK they just open it up and allow as many boosts as you can afford.

[Chilela]

The three examples I gave are just examples, it happens all the time and by the time in a year + when wrath is released I don't think it's going to be a significant reason for there being less hype. It should matter more, but it won't.

Being more beloved is a valid reason, WotLK had the higher subscription in WoW's history and nostalgia is a huge pull for hype. Compared to both WotLK and vanilla private servers, TBC's numbers dwindle and WotLK is quite significantly the highest last time I saw. These alone will factor for more hype. Another factor we won't know will be the state of retail at the time, though I'm sure Blizzard will strategically release it between a lull period in retail content to maximise the financial benefit.

On the side cash options, just looking at the official forums you can see requests to additional access for paid changes (in this case from pve to pvp servers), literally almost every other thread. Cash options are a larger pull than they are push, the boost TBC offered being another example. A large portion of the player base that return will have had a high amount of time to play TBC/wrath in their younger years but now have full time jobs and families. Time is money and people will be wanting and willing to pay to be able to join the fun with their friends. There will be people put off by this like yourself but it's not proportionate.

Time will tell!

By your logic, TBC Classic should have had a larger launch than OG Classic, since TBC had a higher sub count than Vanilla, but as far as I can tell, that didn't happen. A lot of OG Classic's hype was the novelty value of a legacy server, and that had already dwindled to a degree once TBCC came out, so I'm expecting that pattern to hold with WOTLKC. Admittedly, I'm not super familiar with the PServer scene as of late, but I do remember one of the big reasons Vanilla did so well compared to TBC is that there weren't any actual quality BC servers for the longest time, can't speak on Wrath, though. Also worth noting that TBCC had released when SL was nosediving, so I'd definitely agree that Blizz will time WOTLKC's schedule according to when the timing is best.

As for the forums, they're a sketchy indicator of the feelings of the playerbase as a whole, and people generally utilize them to express their grievances with the game more than anything else. That said, Blizz would most likely pull more money by adding Cash Shop options, but profit and userbase size aren't always one and the same, and I'm thinking more in terms of the latter than the former. And with Retail and Classic's subs effectively joined at the hip, it will be really finicky to measure based on readily available data.

But as you said, time will tell regardless. I could very well be way off the mark on my predictions, and I'm sure there will be plenty of X factors between now and then.

[aceperson]

I am having a blast and only playing Blizz games, not a fan boy. But definitely prefer old games. I am playing TBCC and D2R now because the old games are just better IMO and provide me more fun per my time played currently raid Logging in TBCC and loving it and fill the rest of my game time with D2R.

please don't get me wrong. i'm not saying you can't have fun with their games either. fun is subjective and while i don't find any of wow, most of hearthstone, and most of diablo 3 fun, other people will. again, i am referring only to products that are not released. especially those that aren't even announced. i would be a hypocrite if i said you couldn't find shadowlands fun when i found most of bfa fun and quite a few found it rather bad. fun is not something that can be objectively measured.

i suppose a most likely slightly off analogy would be a kid getting excited about christmas in march. the longer you hold that excitement when it's not even reasonable, the more likely it won't even meet the standard expectations. think cyberpunk and no man's sky (though cyberpunk was released under false promises).

[Konteil]

I didnt play TBC at all...but Wrath for me is something of epic proportions...out of this world...legendary expansion.
How do you think the rest of the world feels?

personally wrath being a thing is teh main reason i been pwrkign my way up thru teh cl;assic servers for the last 2 years. i have my toons capped so far and ready to go when wrath goes live. i honestly cant wait. taht ios where my toons will retire.

[Mamut]

I'm not that hyped for WotLK per se but I'm hyped for blood dps DK. I miss those arm pen dps specs.

[csguba]

By your logic, TBC Classic should have had a larger launch than OG Classic, since TBC had a higher sub count than Vanilla, but as far as I can tell, that didn't happen. A lot of OG Classic's hype was the novelty value of a legacy server, and that had already dwindled to a degree once TBCC came out, so I'm expecting that pattern to hold with WOTLKC. Admittedly, I'm not super familiar with the PServer scene as of late, but I do remember one of the big reasons Vanilla did so well compared to TBC is that there weren't any actual quality BC servers for the longest time, can't speak on Wrath, though. Also worth noting that TBCC had released when SL was nosediving, so I'd definitely agree that Blizz will time WOTLKC's schedule according to when the timing is best.

As for the forums, they're a sketchy indicator of the feelings of the playerbase as a whole, and people generally utilize them to express their grievances with the game more than anything else. That said, Blizz would most likely pull more money by adding Cash Shop options, but profit and userbase size aren't always one and the same, and I'm thinking more in terms of the latter than the former. And with Retail and Classic's subs effectively joined at the hip, it will be really finicky to measure based on readily available data.

But as you said, time will tell regardless. I could very well be way off the mark on my predictions, and I'm sure there will be plenty of X factors between now and then.

OG classic is obviously different because it was the first of it's kind. Legacy servers weren't even remotely responsible for the crazy hype of the OG classic, it was that it was a completely new thing from Blizzard that catered to both players hungry for a nostalgia trip and those that had never gotten to play Vanilla. It was something completely different on offer from Blizzard that wasn't retail. Casuals are responsible for the majority of initial hype, despite being the first to drop off, not the players that intend to stick around in classic forever because the number of them are obviously much fewer.

[khazmodan]

Rehased Naxx will be an issue. It was fine when something like only 5% of the playerbase logged into the original in vanilla. But a significant portion of the Classic playerbase has experienced it this go around. Unless they add something new, I think it will really stifle the launch hype.

Then you also have ToC which is a divisive and really boring tier. I am not sure how either of these will weather a Classic re-release.

Overall I think it will be more hype than TBC but far less than original hype for Classic in 2019.

Good points made, Naxx in Vanilla is so destroyed by regular players now and replaying the whole raid is a big hype speedbump for Classic players. ToC was not a great raid but by that time I think players will be so busy with other things that it will not be that big of a deal. Wrath is still such a kickass exp pack with one of the best continents ever but the Classic experience is far from the hype it was 2 years ago.

[Tiwack]

I suspect most of the hype comes from all the raid related achievements introduced with WotLK and tbh going for the glory-metas or the undying/immortal stuff is a blast and very much right up the alley of a lot of the old glory hogs and hardcore players of current/past content.

[Coolface330]

When I first heard about Classic,

I saw it as bait, for those losers you encountered in your life.

"Remember that once in a lifetime moment? That football game in year circa. Or baseball game. Remember when this band was here or this game came out?"

Losers stuck in the past. When the wisdom to their fally was - there is an INFINITE number of Once in a Lifetime Moments. Every year, every month, something new, where people gather, and participate in. While the losers 'stuck' in their games of the past, they miss the games of today, the experiences of today. "Ours was better" or some kinda egotistical crap. They suck the dick of the Playstation 2 release date, "Remember that craze?" Meanwhile Playstation 5 release is having a History Repeat.

Anyway, I saw Classic as Glory Day Loser bait. Every loser that misses the 'glory days' was baited to Classic. While of course, completely ignoring the shit aspects of it with Classic, the constant server crashes. The bugs. The First, Early Generation Super Noobs.

My take - Going back is OK, if you have to. But stick in the Present~ It's where the Good Stuff is at~

[csguba]

When I first heard about Classic,

I saw it as bait, for those losers you encountered in your life.

"Remember that once in a lifetime moment? That football game in year circa. Or baseball game. Remember when this band was here or this game came out?"

Losers stuck in the past. When the wisdom to their fally was - there is an INFINITE number of Once in a Lifetime Moments. Every year, every month, something new, where people gather, and participate in. While the losers 'stuck' in their games of the past, they miss the games of today, the experiences of today. "Ours was better" or some kinda egotistical crap. They suck the dick of the Playstation 2 release date, "Remember that craze?" Meanwhile Playstation 5 release is having a History Repeat.

Anyway, I saw Classic as Glory Day Loser bait. Every loser that misses the 'glory days' was baited to Classic. While of course, completely ignoring the shit aspects of it with Classic, the constant server crashes. The bugs. The First, Early Generation Super Noobs.

My take - Going back is OK, if you have to. But stick in the Present~ It's where the Good Stuff is at~

Odd post and not particularly relevant to actual thread, but I'll bite.

Repetition of the past/Nostalgia isn't something for "losers", it's a sentiment that is actively encouraged by the brain. It's the reason you might watch a brilliant film multiple times, listen to songs you enjoy, order food you've already had previously at a restaurant or in this case play video games you've experienced before. Imagine if every time you ate something new you enjoyed you said "well that was amazing but I'll never have that again! Only new recipes". Sometimes you just want something where you know the outcome is one you enjoy, it's balanced to have both, moderation etc etc.

Just because you may spend an hour raiding/dungeoning with friends in a classic era of wow as opposed to killing 15 year olds in the latest version of CoD doesn't mean you're giving up some crazy "once in a lifetime moment". Sure, try new things but equally happily enjoy the things you like from time to time.

[Celarent]

By your logic, TBC Classic should have had a larger launch than OG Classic, since TBC had a higher sub count than Vanilla, but as far as I can tell, that didn't happen.

Original BC benefited from large numbers of first-time MMO players who could be content with questing, playing a minimum amount of endgame, and raiding months behind leaders before staying out of Sunwell entirely or stopping at trash.

Then Wrath launched, and raiding numbers went off the charts -- we know this because ranking sites from the time show it. With raids came subordinate content like 5-mans, neither gated nor difficult. Players learning the ropes in BC had been rewarded, as it were, with complete access to the game.

TBC's barriers/limiters to play are very real, far more than Vanilla and indeed the most stringent in the franchise. For its part, Vanilla may've demanded big time commitments but in more moderate ways and with unique gameplay payoffs.

I had never played TBC fully before now. Blizzard's winning formula is evident but incomplete, and even as a Wrath hype-man I was surprised by how many QoL issues -- settled in Wrath -- I ran across now that I hadn't in the even more alien VClassic.

Bottom line, TBC was a product of circumstances more than understood back then. Barring time suddebly distancing people from WoW entirely next year/2023, I'm confident we're going to settle the question of Wrath vs. TBC definitively in Wrath's favor.

As for the forums, they're a sketchy indicator of the feelings of the playerbase as a whole, and people generally utilize them to express their grievances with the game more than anything else.

These forums, as a polling sample, yes. The TBC subreddit I linked in an earlier post is striking. It's all business and basically meme-free, and yet was set on fire by very basic mentions of Wrath. That seems like a notable data point.

[cparle87]

Classic WotLK won't last past phase 1 because who tf wants to grind a stupidly easy version of Naxx for 6 months before any good content comes out? People will also realise how much it changed towards what Retail is now, from mindlessly easy dungeons to group finder and Heirlooms. There's a reason the term "Wrath Baby" was so prevalent back in the day, because if you started playing in WotLK you were probably bad since you'd never done any remotely difficult content.

You mean besides all the other launch Wrath content? We had Sarth, Malygos, Archavon, as well as, you know, the entire continent of Northrend. Weird so many people are boiling down early Wrath to "Naxx only."

[Kralljin]

You mean besides all the other launch Wrath content? We had Sarth, Malygos, Archavon, as well as, you know, the entire continent of Northrend. Weird so many people are boiling down early Wrath to "Naxx only."

It's not like Sartharion, Malygos, let alone Archavon are serious hurdles that will keep people occupied for months.
Disregarding the continent of Northrend just doesn't matter if you're not into completionism content, outside of maybe Sons of Hodir.

That's just the difference to TBC, heroics, Reputation & Professions provided some solid items that stood up to raid quality items.
In Wotlk, they're just flyover content frankly, because Naxx is surpasses all of them in terms of loot and is so fucking easy that it's just not worth bothering.

[ArenaDk]

Wrath had the most reused content in all of wows lifetime

The story was bad with arthas acting as cartoon villain durring the quest ‚‘ muhahaha , you beat my servant X but next time i get you muahahá´´

Not even talking about all the time gating.

1 good raid with ulduar , Icc was average and the rest was just awefull

Blizzard. should not release wrath but only the tournament realms to keep its legacy alive and not reveal how lazy it was and without any love from the developer

[reemi]

For me, WoW classic is only before 2.0.

I will never play this, I will never play TBC classic too.

Everything I enjoy is in WoW 1.1xx

Right now Season of Mastery is very fun, with Soul of Iron.