Classic will be a test of Times Not a test of Nostalgia

[Big Thanks]

For Classic to be a test of nostalgia it would require for its entire playerbase to be a former Vanilla player.

The thing is, there are more players who never played vanilla than actual vanilla players.
From a small research in 2013

https://www.statista.com/statistics/327289/years-wow/

I know this is a very small research and feel free to point it out but out of 3550 players 55% never played Classic.

What do i want to say by this?

Classic will be a test of times.
It will be a test if oldschool RPG design olds up to todays day and age.
A question we have all been speculating about on MMO-C for years!

If Classic fails is not because it was all nostalgia...it was because todays kids dont enjoy oldschool RPG design.
Its impossible Classics failure will be due to nostalgia when the majority of people playing Classic never played in Vanilla.

(in my opinion...and with a small pitiful research to back me up)

[JustaWarlock]

I know this is a very small research

The phrases you're looking for are "statistically insignificant" and "drawing any conclusions would be flawed".

[Biomega]

I'm not sure you know how nostalgia works. It's far more complex than just remembering your OWN past - it's about a construction of a past, and that can work by proxy as well.

It's how people can be nostalgic for, say, the Jazz Age, even though they were born in the 1990s. Same thing applies here.

[vsb]

I don't think that kids will be a primary player base in Classic. I'm sure that it'll be at least 25+ for a majority (or even higher). A lot of people did not play in vanilla for variety of reasons.

[Big Thanks]

I don't think that kids will be a primary player base in Classic. I'm sure that it'll be at least 25+ for a majority (or even higher). A lot of people did not play in vanilla for variety of reasons.

You are of the opinion "only" Vanilla players will play Classic WoW?
My honest opinion is that the majority never played it.

[Charge me Doctor]

You are of the opinion "only" Vanilla players will play Classic WoW?
My honest opinion is that the majority never played it.

Well judging by this very forum - a lot of people haven't played vanilla and are hyped about classic, so i kinda agree. In fact, i've tried to get back players from our warsong guild but none of them wishes to play anymore, because they don't want to go through it again. But those who i used to play with in wotlk are very happy about classic.

[draynay]

A lot of mechanics and design from vanilla didn't just go away once BC hit - a person doesn't have to be playing since 2004 to have experienced vanilla design elements. People who joined in BC or LK remember talent trees, they remember pre-Cata leveling, and there is still a degree of nostalgia for them.

[Vargulf the Happy Husky]

as much as i shit talk classic i want it to do well. if it does well then maybe blizzard and other companies take heed and start popping out some better MMO's. and honestly we've been so removed from a game like classic wow that younger players may love it. who knows?

as i've said before, first company to copy past wow into a sci fi game will have my money for the next 20 years.

[klaps_05]

Classic is a pet project for Blizzard - it can have 10 players or 100k players, it doesnt matter. Once its setup, they just leave it there forever so everyone can enjoy Classic at any time. There is no test it needs to pass and no amount of players it "must" have.

[Super Kami Dende]

All it will show is that after Years of being told by Vanilla Fanboys how "amazing" Vanilla was, People that started from Wrath onwards will be able to experience the old trash heap in all it's time wasting glory.

[Qnubi]

The phrases you're looking for are "statistically insignificant" and "drawing any conclusions would be flawed".

Eh? For a 2% margin of error survey for a million+ population you would only need to get responses of 2400ish people. The survey has 3500, it's representative by those standards. If the survey included the margin of error then it is 53-57% of people never played Vanilla. Representative studies and surveys don't need a lot of responses after a certain threshold. It does not scale proportional with population. The bigger the population the smaller the amount relative to the size of the population is what you need. While you need quite a lot of people to respond for a small group of say 10-100k, if you get above 100k you basically don't need more responses anymore.

[Big Thanks]

All it will show is that after Years of being told by Vanilla Fanboys how "amazing" Vanilla was, People that started from Wrath onwards will be able to experience the old trash heap in all it's time wasting glory.

Yes, pretty much this...but i would have put it more delicately.

[Veggie50]

I'm not sure you know how nostalgia works. It's far more complex than just remembering your OWN past - it's about a construction of a past, and that can work by proxy as well.

It's how people can be nostalgic for, say, the Jazz Age, even though they were born in the 1990s. Same thing applies here.

Eeeeehhhm.. No... Nostalgia IS purely by your own reference. There are other words to describe envy of a certain age experienced by others.

[micwini]

3550 is nowhere near a representative number, since the subcount was around 6 million back then? This thread is pretty useless.

[WolfWeasel]

I agree Blizzard just want to quiet the private Vanilla players, give them what they want for years. Plus hey, they are paying a subscription again. But you never know Blizzard might see that there are a few old things players actually like and bring it back to retail.

[Qnubi]

3550 is nowhere near a representative number, since the subcount was around 6 million back then? This thread is pretty useless.

Wrong. Did multiple searches and the amount for a 7+ million based population to be representative with 2% margin of error is around 2400-3000.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I agree Blizzard just want to quiet the private Vanilla players, give them what they want for years. Plus hey, they are paying a subscription again. But you never know Blizzard might see that there are a few old things players actually like and bring it back to retail.

Although anything they would port to Retail would most likely just be minor things. They won't, for example, be bringing back the class/spec paradigm of the day or talent trees.

[Big Thanks]

Wrong. Did multiple searches and the amount for a 7+ million based population to be representative with 2% margin of error is around 2400-3000.

My hero T_T thanks
I searched the internet for days...only to encounter this research on the matter.
There is zero information about how old are players accounts today

[Qnubi]

My hero T_T thanks
I searched the internet for days...only to encounter this research on the matter.
There is zero information about how old are players accounts today

I sent you a PM with the sources since I don't want to spam multiple links in here.

[Jurwi]

You are of the opinion "only" Vanilla players will play Classic WoW?
My honest opinion is that the majority never played it.

I would say it's more than likely the vast majority of Classic players will be those who already played Vanilla. I.e those seeking the nostalgia. Small minority will be seeing it for first time.