Classic WoW's influence on 10.0

[username993720]

Since Shadowlands was well into development by the time Classic WoW launched, the developers didn't have the time to implement the lessons they have learned from Classic WoW's feedback into the base expansion. Therefore, it is reasonable that they would do so for 10.0.

What kind of lessons do you think they have learned from Classic WoW's feedback and what do you think they will apply to 10.0?

For conveniency, you can list your answers according to categories:
Leveling -
Storylines -
Raiding -
PvP -
Professions -
Classes -
RPG -
Zone design -
Gearing -
Social -
Etc... Etc...

I'll start:
Leveling - i hope they focus on questing and storytelling (written text quest), make leveling slower (the journey instead of the means for an end), and get rid of all those markers.
Storylines - simple, yet expansive. No need for a main storyline with a lackluster baddie, his sidekick and those recylced group of heroes.
Raiding/Dungeons - hoping they get rid of the instant group match-making and teleportation. Moreover, i hope CC would be an integral part instead of just a DPS race.
PvP/PvE - i hope they bring back things such as Dodging, Resisting, Parrying, Blocking and such. It made encounters more thrilling and suspenseful. Hoping for a revitalization of world PvP and some more World bosses.
Professions - more variety instead of a few, relevant, homogeneous items. Maybe profession quests. I hope they matter again in PvE and PvP.
Classes - more emphasis on classes than specs, meaning you should be able to use most, if not all, of the class abilities, except for spec-specific talents.
RPG - i hope they bring back the RPG elements. They'e focused so much on streamlining the game, that it almost became a facebook game. The game shouldn't focus on windows popping up, icons on your map, numbers on your screen or buttons to be pressed daily. It should focus on the adventure, the discovery, the wonder and the thrill of being part of a fantasy setting.
Zone design - less crowded, more vast, open spaces?
Systems - Oh god, i hope they stop introducing them. Settle for glyphs or something and that's it.
Social - more emphasis on social gameplay. Don't encourage players to do content on their own. Encourage grouping, interacting and trading.

[Soon-TM]

If SoM is any hint, they are much more likely to make Classic more similar to Retail rather than the opposite.

[Unlimited Power]

When they brought back a bunch of abilities for every class that had previously been pruned, that was a direct response to Classic reception. Blizzard said that they were learning important lessons from Classic that could be applied to retail way before SL launched.

I think it's safe to say any lessons Blizzard have learned from Classic have already been implemented on retail, even if you personally wish otherwise.

Besides, a lot of the things @OP is asking for are wholly unrealistic. Things like a lack of automatic grouping and slow leveling might be things the Classic crowd appreciates (and even then, Season of Mastery has sped up leveling significantly), but the retail target audience would complain endlessly if those were ever implemented, if not outright quit.

[Stickiler]

Hopefully zero influence. I fucking hated Vanilla, still didn't like it in Classic, but enjoy Retail a great deal.

[username993720]

When they brought back a bunch of abilities for every class that had previously been pruned, that was a direct response to Classic reception. Blizzard said that they were learning important lessons from Classic that could be applied to retail way before SL launched.

I think it's safe to say any lessons Blizzard have learned from Classic have already been implemented on retail, even if you personally wish otherwise.

I am aware of partial implementation. But, they couldn't get everything in for the expansion launch because they somewhat overlapped.

[Bomba the Shaman]

I'm hoping for 10man raiding to make a return, either as stand alone 10mans like Karazhan or ZA or an alternative for flex and mythic 20mans.

[ReleaseDay]

If SoM is any hint, they are much more likely to make Classic more similar to Retail rather than the opposite.

What is SoM in this context?

[The Stormbringer]

What is SoM in this context?

Season of Mastery for Classic WoW.

[Zulggun]

Some good yet bland ideas here and there. But it's 2022 already and anyone who is still hoping for removal of dungeon finder, lfr and so on is delusional.

[ceall]

The only bullet point I agree with OP is the social one.
WoW is still a multiplayer game, make it hard for those that think it's gotta be played solo 100% of the time to accomplish anything.

All the rest is a hard NO. This isn't '05 anymore.

[shise]

They should base it on a mix of BC and WotLK.

Those two shared some of the best game times WoW has known.

[Jazzhands]

Why would they incorporate Classic feedback into retail? They're basically different communities, who enjoy the aspects of their version that the other lacks.

This is literally just asking for retail to be classic and that ruins the point. I also never, ever want to go back to spending an hour spamming "LFM Gundrak" then wasting another 30 minutes while everyone drags their butts there, it was one of the worst aspects of the game.

[kranur]

Mainly it would be great to see professions being useful again and the removal of power systems but these simply don't match the treadmill design of retail.
Classic won't have any influence because because the design philosophy is much different. It's more of a hack and slash game these days but with a different camera perspective.

[Maell]

Hopefully no influence or a minor one. Stop living in the past. Early WoW was good for the gaming landscape of the time, but games have evolved, the way you play games have evolved, society has eveolved and the game should too.

Classic was fun for what it was, a nostalgia trip, and that was it.

[Grimbold21]

I think it's safe to say that most of what you've suggested would be immediately rejected by part of the crowd that plays just retail, due to the simple fact that it wants convenience above all else.

[Rosmos1]

I want the Classic Talent System back to Retail (1 Talent-point every Level, not every 15), it makes leveling even more of a dopamine-rush.
It makes the game deeper since you can customize your character(s) a lot more, but sure, there's always going to be Meta-Builds, but still!
PVP is more fun with off-meta builds, like Shockadin, Spelldamage/Arcane Shot Hunter, Reckoning Ret Pally, etc.

[Echo of Soul]

It doesn't really matter what they do if they keep strangling the game to death with secondary power systems every expansion or as it stands right now every patch.

[kranur]

Stop living in the past. Early WoW was good for the gaming landscape of the time, but games have evolved, the way you play games have evolved, society has eveolved and the game should too.

Classic was fun for what it was, a nostalgia trip, and that was it.

That's your personal opinion. You don't get to tell people what they should like. People like what they like, if they prefer the values of the older game, good for them.

[ellieg]

Leveling - levelling is what it is. Wldnt be surprised if they make all 60s into 50s again, add 10 "new" levels and make 60 the cap. Turn shadowlands into an alternate path to 50 like the other xpacs are now. 50-60 staying at roughly the same 10 hourish pace.

Storylines -ive never cared abt the story. I care abt the game play. Dont need to know why I'm killing someone, just need it to be fun.

Raiding - raids are fine from my casual perspective. I might pug normal or half of heroic, so I can't really comment here but I've enjoyed them. I mainly do m+. Would like to see more dungeons to keep it fresh. Maybe m+ rating takes ur best 8 dungeons so u don't have a bloated score requiring all 16 or however many they add.

PvP - my class has sucked at pvp all xpac so hopefully it gets buffed.

Professions - these are hard to balance. Either worthless or mandatory. Wish the lego crafting system was cheaper all around.

Classes - I think most classes are in a good spot. I like the focus on spec. Some specs cld use a rework.

RPG - this is no longer an rpg game honestly. I like that there's secrets and a little exploration, but its never gonna be as rpg as u want it.

Zone design - I like zereth mortis open design. Please more of this.

Gearing - gearing is fine except for the domination shards but that's gone. Can't make raid only system then make it work in non raids. Thats stupid.

Social - social is fine. Can q for trivial stuff. Can use lfg finder for average stuff. Need to network for very high m+ or mythic raids.

Etc... Etc. They cld probably remove heroic dungeons at this point. And I touched on it earlier, but lego costs need to be lowered. On low pop servers, highest rank base pieces go for well over 100k. Assuming they are even on the AH to begin with. And finally, merge more servers.

- - - Updated - - -

It doesn't really matter what they do if they keep strangling the game to death with secondary power systems every expansion or as it stands right now every patch.

I disagree. I personally think these systems keep it fresh, as long as they implement them well. I like how covenants are now. Disliked domination shards.

As soon as "secondary powers" stop existing, players get bored even faster

[username993720]

Why would they incorporate Classic feedback into retail? They're basically different communities, who enjoy the aspects of their version that the other lacks.

Because they said so?
If i remember correctly, they are trying to apply the lessons learned from classic's popularity into retail.

This is literally just asking for retail to be classic and that ruins the point. I also never, ever want to go back to spending an hour spamming "LFM Gundrak" then wasting another 30 minutes while everyone drags their butts there, it was one of the worst aspects of the game.

I agree. But, the social aspect of communicating is important. So, doing it for you kinda harms it.

I think it's safe to say that most of what you've suggested would be immediately rejected by part of the crowd that plays just retail, due to the simple fact that it wants convenience above all else.

Convenience is what deteriorates it in the first place.

I disagree. I personally think these systems keep it fresh, as long as they implement them well. I like how covenants are now. Disliked domination shards.

As soon as "secondary powers" stop existing, players get bored even faster

But, they have to reinvent the wheel every expansion.