What made Vanilla magical for you?

[Nigel Tufnel]

That's not me trying to brag about being "elite in Vanilla" or something because I wasn't. Not by today's standards. But most of the things that people talk about "being charming" back then were really just a product of their being new players to the game and genre, not super magical parts of the game itself.

Yep, fair enough.

But what's the conclusion you're drawing here?

If an experience isn't new it isn't worth reliving?

[Donald Hellscream]

Yep, sure. But learning mechanics was only one part of it?

I'm not playing devil's advocate here: more likely than not I probably won't resub in order to play classic as I don't know where I'll find the time.

It's more: if there was one experience from Vanilla that you could relive, what would it be? And do you think it'd be as good ten+ years down the line? Or does time passed not matter?

I've just got so many that I'd like to enjoy again.

I mean the only thing would be the hunter bow questline, partly because I never managed to complete it fully back then.
I am gonna try and recreate my original character as faithfully as I can even though that also means not picking up what turned out to be the best ranged weapon pre-raiding, namely https://www.wowhead.com/item=19107/bloodseeker#comments which I didn't pick because https://www.wowhead.com/item=19106/ice-barbed-spear looked cooler to my 13 year old self. Yes I am gonna play it and it is gonna be fun for a little while but it will never be as magical as it was when I started playing it at 13.

[Hell-Nicø]

But MMOs had been around for ages? Runescape? EQ?

Sure, but I never played them, and at the time when WoW started, MMO where still a fresh idea.

And 'clunkiness' was just the way the game played. Only today's player would call it clunky?

So... you aren't a player today?

Anyway - I want to know what made it special at the time.

I just told you what made it special at the time for me, it was the right game at the right time, something you can't replicate no matter what.

I'd tell you why you're wrong, but I've argued with this exact type of sentiment so many fucking times that I can only assume you're trolling by repeating it.

Wow watch out we got a edgy try hard over there !
Gota love your shitty "I know meme mom, look! I'm an anon" attitude.
Also, I don't think "shill" means what you think it means. A shill would be someone like you who can't accept that these thing will fail no matter how obvious it is.

Mmorpgs were completely new to me at that point. Its definitely not going to be as magical when it comes out in 2019 as it was when I started playing in 2005.

My point exactly.

[Curaga]

Pros:
- Server Community.
- Pacing, you had to work for your goals.
- (follow up from pacing) Rewards felt extremely rewarding.

Cons:
- only 1/3 of the class/spec/builds were viable.
- game balance... Rogues, Mages and Warriors would destroy absolutely everything in PvP and PvE damage.
- PvE was extremely simple, not saying easy ...but simple. Bosses with 2 mechanics and a damage over time? /yawn.

'nough said

[Powerogue]

The sense of a huge, unexplored world, which is dead and can't be re-created by nostalgia alone.

[Lochton]

The feeling of it, the experience at that moment and the bonds created. We ventured into a new chapter of the Warcraft universe, a new realm to call our home, to follow and see develop a new story. Everything was a 'oooooh' or 'aaaaah' moment, well, there were a lot of 'oh shit' and 'fuck it' moments too but that is among the life of explorating this new realm.

Some of these feelings I still get from getting new content but I don't get them from going back to it.

It was magical because we were on a new journey, we were able to follow the hero characters and rank up from just being the small guys to being part of the overall narrative of the story.

[JustRob]

All the crazy shit that could happen. Warlocks unleashing infernals upon Goldshire. People kiting Kazzak to Stormwind and everyone wondering what the fuck is going on.

[vindicatorx]

What made it magical for you?

Well I had played FFXI for around 2 years before I came to WoW and as anyone who played FFXI can tell you, you needed a full group to do anything in the game like leveling we also had tons and tons of custom macros and a clustered interface. The world was sectioned off in zones. WoW you could simply decide to go and level at anytime by yourself. The interface was simple and easy to use. That was what sold me on WoW. The community was much better in FFXI. WoW has improved a lot of what I hated about Vanilla which is why I don't understand the amount of people who want to return to those dark times.

[Sencha]

- server community
- I don't click to queue and be teleported to a dungeon
- no transmog/toys/mounts/achievements/[insert useless crap]/etc. to collect
- no dailies
- relevant professions that you don't max in 1 day
- no free epic

[Deleted]

Yes because the main reason why it was magical was because it was the first time I played a mmorpg and that everything was new and also that I was pretty clueless as a player, i basicly bumbled my way through 1-60 without any real clue to what the hell I was doing which is where all the mystery came from for me.

All that is gone because I have more than a decades worth of experience with WoW at this point which means that even if vanilla is so much different than the current iteration of wow I will still be a much better player and still have a much better clue when it comes to playing the game and understanding how the mechanics of the game works.

I was following your point until here, So you're saying that the game won't be as magical because you're not as clueless as you was back then, so it won't be as magical because its an old experience or a new one?

I'm not sure how you can say you have so many new skills and so much more insight into the game but think the experience won't be a new magical one? the meta you didn't realise existed in vanilla.. the pre raid BiS farming, the honour grinding, consumable farming.. all this stuff a clueless player wouldn't of done but you will this time, right? i loved my vanilla experience and i'm super excited to give it another shot, albeit with less time but much more knowledge!

if i could take you back to watch an old sporting event as if it was live but you already knew how it ended, you'd probably put a bet on or something? Wouldn't think the opportunity as a hindrance or any less magical, You'd just make different magic.


Disclaimer: I know this was just YOUR opinion on the game being less magical for YOU personally, i just wanted to put a different perspective on things.

[anon5123]

People often go about thinking they can recapture the feel of "when this was new" if they just find "the right thing" to rekindle that feeling. And then they're always disappointed and find excuses and place blame on the thing they had pinned their hopes on.

Again, I really don't get this mindset of "HURRRRR YOU'RE JUST PLAYING THE GAME FOR NOSTALGIA XDD YOU DON'T REALLY LIKE IT, IT'S SHIT, YOU'RE JUST WEARING ROSE TINTED GLASSES!!!"

like

did you ever stop and think that maybe, JUST MAYBE, some people.....play it because they like it, not because "hurr trying to rekindle those old nostalgic feelings!!" or whatever other bullshit?

I never played retail vanilla. I joined in late BC and didn't even hit 70 until like 2 months before WOTLK launched. I'm not "nostalgic" about vanilla, but I still love playing it because it's just way more fun than the garbage fire known as retail.

- - - Updated - - -

- relevant professions that you don't max in 1 day

Actually it's pretty easy to max a profession in 1 day if you've got the gold for it.

- no free epic

Crafted epics are pretty easy to come by, as is MC/Ony gear.

[Jervaise]

Community for me. I've made so many friends back then that I still have most of them around.

[Deleted]

Magically? When walking inside IF for the first time, thinking it was .... no idea what it was. Then seeing so many online players at the same time. That was pretty magically.

I remember talking to every 2nd npc, no idea if it was a player or not

[anon5123]

It's just that it'll never be as good as some people on this forum seem to want to believe.

And why are you projecting this generalization onto people?

Most people playing Classic have either:

-played retail vanilla
-played private servers

so I'm not sure where you're getting this idea that people are going to have unrealistic expectations for a game that they've already played.

[Teri]

It was new, and after playing Closed beta as Horde (got to around level 40), we had an Alliance guild set up like a year before launch to play on RP server.

The first weeks were great, having all the Elves come to Elwynn (the famous Wetlands-Ironforge run) and basicly level together with all races in the same zones, Elwynn, Westfall, Redridge, Duskwood, Stranglethorn are my most memorable line of zones.

[schwarzkopf]

It was new and it saved my life.

Both pretty significant.

But my first entry into Auberdine as a night elf was absolutely memorable. I will be repeating that experience come vanilla

[Reachie]

I have to say; the Embalmers Revenge quest-line in Duskwood where you basically create Stitches, and then the abomination walks towards the town killing everything in his sight is still to this day one of the best quest lines ever created.

Standing in Darkshore, watching the guards, and quest NPCs die to him and sometimes him ravaging the entire town, is still amazing.

[Aleks0410]

No sharding and no loot trading made it special. Among other things

[neik]

Playing Alterac Valley for 60 hours straight without sleep, yeh epic times!

[Gungnir]

Just having a game where the focus lies on your characters adventures and the social interactions within the game, a game that is a LOT more centered around the RPG aspect than the current game is.
A lot of my magical moments came from just earning my levels and rewards, experiencing that adventure, teaming up with people to run hard quests and dungeons, building my character and its reputation within the community.