Reasons why vanilla World of Warcraft was so popular.

[Crashdummy]

Because it was a casual version of EQ and every single competitor was insanely more elitist, required a lot more farming and punished mistakes more.

[Greyvax]

It took all the flaws with EQ and fixed them.

/thread

[coldfiredragon]

Rose tinted goggles is what makes Vanilla popular. You're new to an amazing game where everything makes you literally go "Woaaaaaah...", you can't have that more than once.

This is so true. Also I want to point out that as far as popular, it wasn't. Compare peak subscription numbers. The later expansions were a lot more popular.

[varren]

The only valid reason you listed was Warcraft 3.
All the other reasons actually drove more people away than it gained, Blizzard has statistical proof of this.
BTW leveling was not really all that hard, depends which class/spec you were playing.

Because it was a casual version of EQ and every single competitor was insanely more elitist, required a lot more farming and punished mistakes more.

Its funny isn't it. WoWs "casualness* is what drew in so many people. MMOs were no longer made only for the basement dwellers.

[coldfiredragon]

And also illegal.

This is really a misnomer. Illegal would mean there was a law against it, meaning the police could show up and arrest your for breaking the law. There is no law on the books against this. It is however against the ToS, and they can take civil action. That would be suing you for monetary damages etc. Although they would be far more likely to sue the people running the server.

[wookybear]

It was new, Im sorry but it really is that simple.

In other news, it was actually less popular if you go off sub numbers, it just seems that some people who played it back at launch felt special because that was before the unwashed masses joined.

[coldfiredragon]

Its funny isn't it. WoWs "casualness* is what drew in so many people. MMOs were no longer made only for the basement dwellers.

And now people complain about how it is too much for the casuals. It is funny. I moved to WoW from EQ and I was amazed how much easier a game it was and I loved it. I would love to see these people that whine that Heroic DS is too easy go back to EQ and try the Plane of Fear when it opened or Sleepers Tomb when it came out.

[Prokne]

1) Warcraft 3 - most of the new players don't know what Warcraft 3 was or they knew, but they have never played it. Warcraft 3 was one of the greatest strategy games of all times and without doubt it was the best strategy game of its era. This game was revolutionary in every aspect, it had great graphics, gameplay, amazing music and sounds, great map editor and let's not forget the great story it had. I can say that the majority of vanilla WoW players(me included) played a lot of Warcraft 3. We all wanted to visit great places from game, explore them, do the quests and do it with your friends or even other random people. I can't even describe how if felt when I visited Ashenvale or Barrens - it was beyond amazing.

btw there was bonus campaing in Warcraft 3, where you played as Rexxar and did quests given to you by NPCs, while you were gaining levels and items. Does it sound familiar?

The reason i didnt play vanilla WOW was because they game had very little resemblance to the story in WC3. They use the same main characters but they really arent doing anything related to the main Warcraft storyline, just killing minor characters that were made up to flesh out an MMORPG. The real sequel to WC3 is TBC which is one reason why subscriptions went way up during the expansion. Wrath continued it but Cata went back to more vanilla style story and lots of people left.

The way hero characters level up in WC3 was a combination of the traditional RTS and Diablo style character leveling.

[SamR]

Playing my original druid again on vanilla servers would be awesome. Feral and Balance can be made useless again and for Resto I can just run around spamming Rank 4 Healing Touch. And then other people can turn me down for dungeon groups because I have no AoE heal and no real rez. Wait, that sounds horrible. Nevermind.

[nuttymuffins]

The reason i didnt play vanilla WOW was because they game had very little resemblance to the story in WC3. They use the same main characters but they really arent doing anything related to the main Warcraft storyline, just killing minor characters that were made up to flesh out an MMORPG. The real sequel to WC3 is TBC which is one reason why subscriptions went way up during the expansion. Wrath continued it but Cata went back to more vanilla style story and lots of people left.

The way hero characters level up in WC3 was a combination of the traditional RTS and Diablo style character leveling.

I have to agree, the lore was more together in BC, but the order of BC and Wrath technically isn't correct. Which is where they really screwed up. The lore is kind of all over the place and even made up sometimes it seems.
-I think they tried to take Cata back into Vanilla story a bit, but if you include the story of the dragon flights, it's more related to WotLK than anything because that is where they're mostly introduced. Though I see your point because of the medieval/dark age type of storyline of Vanilla...Warriors, knights, dragons, and such.

[vesseblah]

This is really a misnomer. Illegal would mean there was a law against it, meaning the police could show up and arrest your for breaking the law. There is no law on the books against this. It is however against the ToS, and they can take civil action. That would be suing you for monetary damages etc. Although they would be far more likely to sue the people running the server.

Running private servers is misusing Blizzard's IP, and hence illegal. I guess I was bit unclear about the legality of playing in one, morality on the other hand...

-I play on a blizzlike private servers. Their goal is to make it as close to original retail as they can.

As close as they can, but those aren't actually anywhere even close, missing several key things.

For the third time, my first point was that I actually played vanilla, and followed with that information just for added detail.

You said you never leveled to 60, therefore you are unable to say anything about the endgame content which you extensively commented in grouping and gearing.

Derp again genius.

Derp is not a word, genius.

-Your ability to sense sarcasm amazes me.

Did you detect sarcasm in the previous answer?

[gamingmuscle]

Giant wall of text

Thank you for stating your opinions as some sort of factual driver of the games success. Also I do not share the same viewpoint on several of your points..

[Demithio]

And now people complain about how it is too much for the casuals. It is funny. I moved to WoW from EQ and I was amazed how much easier a game it was and I loved it. I would love to see these people that whine that Heroic DS is too easy go back to EQ and try the Plane of Fear when it opened or Sleepers Tomb when it came out.

If the current WoW player base had to deal with real difficulty like that, there would most likely be a sizable run of nervous breakdowns and rage quits. It is sad that people playing WoW these days think they should "win" just for showing up. But, that's what sells to the current slacker group that plays MMOs these days. So Blizzard is just going where the money is, or where they think it is at the time.

[gamingmuscle]

-Wrong. Any "illegal" issues would have been handled loooooong ago. So sorry to be redundant here, but no, just NO.

Yes because all illegal activity can be instantly stopped...yes private server are likely illegal since I haven't heard of blizzard making their server source code open or available to the public under any kind of licensing. So to me that sounds like stealing.

[nuttymuffins]

Running private servers is misusing Blizzard's IP, and hence illegal. I guess I was bit unclear about the legality of playing in one, morality on the other hand...



As close as they can, but those aren't actually anywhere even close, missing several key things.



You said you never leveled to 60, therefore you are unable to say anything about the endgame content which you extensively commented in grouping and gearing.



Derp is not a word, genius.



Did you detect sarcasm in the previous answer?

-"missing several key things." Which you fail to mention, which leads me to believe you have no clue what you're even talking about. *edit* And about morality, your "moral compass" goes so far as to video games that one cannot play a free version from a company that makes MILLIONS of dollars? Why don't you take your morality talk to them, see how that goes.
-NOW you actually mention the part where I pointed out that I didn't reach lvl 60. *slow clap* Took you long enough. And actually, I personally never did, correct, but my brother did. And we shared the same account back then, so yes, everything I said in my first post is legit. Which you haven't even touched up on yet, and you're still stuck on me being legitimate or not. Hmmm....Don't know if internet dipshit being an ass for fun or just has no life...Hmm...
-*facepalm* That comment fails on so many levels. Technically, based on social standards, it's a word and a very popular one I might add. So DERP DERP DERP AND DERP AGAIN SIR.
-"First time" Oh that's sarcasm? *cough* My bad, my bad, I actually just made a logical conclusion that you didn't understand my sarcasm, well, since that comment doesn't even make sense to begin with. Is it my first time being a badass ooor first time playing vanilla? Really, you're not witty at all with this kind of stuff.

[nuttymuffins]

If the current WoW player base had to deal with real difficulty like that, there would most likely be a sizable run of nervous breakdowns and rage quits. It is sad that people playing WoW these days think they should "win" just for showing up. But, that's what sells to the current slacker group that plays MMOs these days. So Blizzard is just going where the money is, or where they think it is at the time.

Hit the nail right on the head.

[Syran]

As close as they can, but those aren't actually anywhere even close, missing several key things.

One of them is actually pretty amazing with scripting and has more or less everything sorted out. Plenty of guilds, server competition and people online at all times.

This is so true. Also I want to point out that as far as popular, it wasn't. Compare peak subscription numbers. The later expansions were a lot more popular.

This statement is wrong on too many levels, seriously, do you read what you post man?

[leggomydairy]

That "Woooah..." feeling is gone for everyone who had it. If you're waiting for the next game that will give you that feeling, you'll be waiting 'till you die. It's like sex - that first "So THIS is what I've been waiting for!" feeling never comes back no matter how many partners you have. Sure, there'll be good times again - but you can only have your "first time" the first time :P

This. Forever this.
Also, I think this will be my signature.

[nuttymuffins]

And here I thought the same Naga-esque character model was the reason Vanilla was so great. Admittedly I didn't play in Vanilla. I didn't jump aboard until Burning Crusades was released.

Vanilla and BC wasn't all too different gameplay-wise. There were a lot more details added to the game in BC, such as UI and tons of dailies. Same formgroup-walktoinstance style and basic progression climbing ladder for gear.

[ringpriest]

Yeah...I'm such a badass for wanting to play Vanilla WoW again...Ever heard of Blizzlike private servers?*gasp* they're free to play! >.>

And also illegal.

I am not a lawyer, but I think that saying "it's illegal" is overly simplistic.

As l understand it, playing on or hosting a private server is certainly a violation of Blizzard's Terms of Service and End-User License Agreement. But just because a corporation writes usage rules regarding their game does not mean those rules are law. (At least not yet.) Profiting from running a private server is certainly illegal in the United States. To the best of my (and Wikipedia's) knowledge, there has yet to be an actual judgment involving a non-profit game server emulator. (Blizzard Entertainment v. Alyson Reeves involved a for-profit server and the defendant didn't even bother to show up to court.) Of course, anyone who manages to be perceived as threatening the profits Activision-Blizzard can probably look forward to being buried under a multi-million dollar avalanche of lawyers and lawsuits regardless of any relevant legal technicalities. And it also should be obvious that the ToS and EULA do allow Blizzard to pretty much do whatever they want with your account, especially if you have violated them.