Wrath Classic have made me excited about WoW again: Maybe a good future for WoW now?

[Flurryfang]

Okay, i will start out by being very honest - I was not initally interested in Classic Wrath or even Classic at all after being burnout of WoW last year. I had been playing for too many years and it just did not feel that interesting or exciting to play anymore compared to many other games.

That said, after seeing the Wrath trailer, my interest was peaked and when i got into the game, i could feel this love and excitement about WoW return to me. Wrath Classic makes me want to play the game, i am lured into the system of the game and even though i have played Wrath when it was current, i feel like its a completly new experience.


Am i alone in feeling this way? I know we are just a week or so into Wrath, but remembering back to SL and Classic TBC launch, the start experience feels very different compared between the 3 things.


If Blizzard are aware of this and takes notes about how to recreate such a game feel in the future, i would say that WoW might have a chance of a bright future.

[Big Thanks]

To be honest i cant quite put my finger why Wrath Classic feels so different..."different good".

A part of it is nostalgia
Gameplay and class design (ex: talents)
Professions are insane and sense of community is strong because of professions
"Yo bro, can you help me out over here? Group quest, need gold, need summon etc"
Server recognition, see the same faces everyday

This to me are the 5 important things that make the entire vibe

[Jowany]

I was hyped, because part of my old Wotlk guild was returning with classic..

My hype was slowly dying as I saw changes they did.. like really broken and slow AH, removing RDF and replacing it with really bad LFG tool (why they didnt use LFG tool from retail?), nonstop botting without banning, really weird mining nodes respawns (mithril was ultra rare and in Ungoro were ores almost inta respawning), not to mention ores in Outland..

Add to RDF - after few days full HC clears I see no difference between RDF dungeoning and LFG tool dungeoning but long travelling to dungs - mostly afking on flying mount and using really bad tool for finding players - getting request to join party, quite empty unbalanced listing, no results until I refresh few times.. like yesterday, whole evening I saw group with setup heal + tank and no DPS, when ANY DPS showed in list, it was instantly taken by someone. At weekend same, just with tanks..
Better social aspect without RDF? Hell no.. same as with RDF, when you are lucky, you get at least "Hi" and "ty bb". Living open world? Yea.. afkers on flying mount pointed to dungeons or on flying points. World PVP? Dead, as my realm is 95% Aliance and PVE realm..

[DarkAmbient]

The Blizzard that created Wrath is gone, dead and buried. Legion demonstrated that they had some of that old magic left, but look what happened since. WoW is in its twilight years and it will never feel like it did back in the day.

[Aeula]

I've gotta be honest. WotLK made me appreciate Shadowlands and all the beneficial QoL changes over the years. Levelling in Wrath 70-80 has gotta be the single worst levelling experience I've ever had, it was slow, tedious and absolutely riddled with bugs that were there back in 2008-2010. Then I got to max level only to discover that your content pipeline consists of only dungeons and wintergrasp until raids come out and invalidate the former outside of rep grinding. Probably the second worst expansion I've played in terms of gameplay alone.

I'd probably like it more if they at least kept LFD in, that group finder is awful.

[loras]

The Blizzard that created Wrath is gone, dead and buried. Legion demonstrated that they had some of that old magic left, but look what happened since. WoW is in its twilight years and it will never feel like it did back in the day.

I remember pretty much exactly this being said here when Cata disappointed.
Which is not to say i don't agree with your assessment, but it serves us both better to put things in proper perspective; none know the future.

Though that is not to say you should have no expectations, i for one will likely restrict myself to playing the prepatch a little and then to wait and see if Dragonflight is worth anything.

[Utrrabbit]

I've gotta be honest. WotLK made me appreciate Shadowlands and all the beneficial QoL changes over the years. Levelling in Wrath 70-80 has gotta be the single worst levelling experience I've ever had, it was slow, tedious and absolutely riddled with bugs that were there back in 2008-2010. Then I got to max level only to discover that your content pipeline consists of only dungeons and wintergrasp until raids come out and invalidate the former outside of rep grinding. Probably the second worst expansion I've played in terms of gameplay alone.

I'd probably like it more if they at least kept LFD in, that group finder is awful.

Funny take on the best xpac they have ever made. You are wrong, but it is funny.

[Jowany]

The Blizzard that created Wrath is gone, dead and buried. Legion demonstrated that they had some of that old magic left, but look what happened since. WoW is in its twilight years and it will never feel like it did back in the day.

I dont think so.. AP farm for legendary weapons, for each for every spec (I was druid, playing 3 specs), RNG drop change on RNG type of legendary.. well, never again.

[RobertMugabe]

To be honest i cant quite put my finger why Wrath Classic feels so different..."different good".

A part of it is nostalgia
Gameplay and class design (ex: talents)
Professions are insane and sense of community is strong because of professions
"Yo bro, can you help me out over here? Group quest, need gold, need summon etc"
Server recognition, see the same faces everyday

This to me are the 5 important things that make the entire vibe

Yeah I just find it funny how I am kinda having fun leveling through Wrath even though I have done it a billion times already and know every quest. And yet whenever I tried leveling in the Dragonflight Beta, I got bored 30min in. As a mainly retail player I wish that it was more like Wrath (not just leveling, but also endgame). It was easy, but also so fun.

[Flurryfang]

The Blizzard that created Wrath is gone, dead and buried. Legion demonstrated that they had some of that old magic left, but look what happened since. WoW is in its twilight years and it will never feel like it did back in the day.

The Blizzard team that made WoW is indeed dead and have been replaced since then, but that does mean that the new team can' take feedback and information gathered from the Classic Wrath players, and try to create more content that fall into these design paradigms.

Blizzard have already come forward and said, that the success of Classic will have an effect on how WoW is developed in the future and i think the return to the big talent tree in Dragonflight is the first view of this effect.

[Celarent]

I see it as validation that yes, this was my best experience in WoW.

[Flurryfang]

Funny take on the best xpac they have ever made. You are wrong, but it is funny.

He is not wrong, it is just a personal experience. While we can argue for what is good or bad game design, there are always gonna be versions, that cater to some people and does not cater to others.

If you come from retail and love that experience, it should not be easy to understand, that somebody might dislike the slower pace of Wrath, combined with the more simple content structure from level 80 and onwards.

[Djuntas]

Just wish LFG tool was added into the game. Also 70-80 is way to slow to level. Hate long lvling.

[Flurryfang]

Yeah I just find it funny how I am kinda having fun leveling through Wrath even though I have done it a billion times already and know every quest. And yet whenever I tried leveling in the Dragonflight Beta, I got bored 30min in. As a mainly retail player I wish that it was more like Wrath (not just leveling, but also endgame). It was easy, but also so fun.

I think that is proberly the most worthwhile note to take further after Classic Wrath - the leveling, though simple, does not feel exhausting.

Its easy to say, that the leveling experience is extremely simple, with most quests being about killing mobs and not much else, but what is odd is that i have the same experience as you - I don't get tired of leveling in Wrath and can go on for hours on end, yet in retail, i often need a break after a few hours.

Im surprised, because it does not really make much sense. Questing in BFA and SL are very diverse, filled with different questing structures and packed with story inside the quests. Blizzard have spent a lot of time and energy to make the experience better and yet, this more "boring" version of questing is oddly more pleasent to play through O.o

[Big Thanks]

I think that is proberly the most worthwhile note to take further after Classic Wrath - the leveling, though simple, does not feel exhausting.

Its easy to say, that the leveling experience is extremely simple, with most quests being about killing mobs and not much else, but what is odd is that i have the same experience as you - I don't get tired of leveling in Wrath and can go on for hours on end, yet in retail, i often need a break after a few hours.

Im surprised, because it does not really make much sense. Questing in BFA and SL are very diverse, filled with different questing structures and packed with story inside the quests. Blizzard have spent a lot of time and energy to make the experience better and yet, this more "boring" version of questing is oddly more pleasent to play through O.o

IMO you are experiencing some kind of nostalgia and "vibe" mixed together.
You seem to be vibing with the leveling...but it doesnt make much sense you are not as engaged in retail.

I also cant quite put my finger on why im enjoying it more...

BUT FOR EXAMPLE:
I wasted 1 or 2 hours trying to recreate the Overlord Mok'Morokk bug to kite him to Orgrimmar (the immortal mob people used to kite to orgrimmar)
Stuff like this is fully powered by nostalgia (>_<) i think
So i assume...nostalgia is a powerful drug here.

edit: I forgot to say Overlord Mok'Morokk is leashed and no longer possible to kite...i was sad as fuck. Is still possible to make him immortal though.

[Jowany]

The Blizzard team that made WoW is indeed dead and have been replaced since then, but that does mean that the new team can' take feedback and information gathered from the Classic Wrath players, and try to create more content that fall into these design paradigms.

Blizzard have already come forward and said, that the success of Classic will have an effect on how WoW is developed in the future and i think the return to the big talent tree in Dragonflight is the first view of this effect.

Check the talents.. they will take away your basic spells and return them as talents.. For example druids Rejuvenation is basic spell from low level, now locked behind talents. Right, its first talent, but still.. they are stealing your spell to give it into talents, so talents looks cool, there is cool talent tree full of talents.. and full of basic spells you had before this talents in you spell book. And whole xpack is about flying.. as we did last 15 years. Well, I left retail with SL, it will be hard get me back in.

[Traeliorn]

The Blizzard team that made WoW is indeed dead and have been replaced since then, but that does mean that the new team can' take feedback and information gathered from the Classic Wrath players, and try to create more content that fall into these design paradigms.

Blizzard have already come forward and said, that the success of Classic will have an effect on how WoW is developed in the future and i think the return to the big talent tree in Dragonflight is the first view of this effect.

Have to agree. from what ive seen so far of dragonflight they are trying to get back to basics or at least get rid of the "systems" that most people hated. lets hope this is a huge step forward for Blizz and that they keep moving forwards and listening to feedback and implementing changes.

[Flurryfang]

Have to agree. from what ive seen so far of dragonflight they are trying to get back to basics or at least get rid of the "systems" that most people hated. lets hope this is a huge step forward for Blizz and that they keep moving forwards and listening to feedback and implementing changes.

Its a start, but it is also clearly an experiment. I am not sure about the future of Blizzard leadership, but the current leadership is clearly quite conservative about old ideas, and very focused on "modern" design ideas. So it will be hard to fight back the feeling of going back.

[DarkAmbient]

The Blizzard team that made WoW is indeed dead and have been replaced since then, but that does mean that the new team can' take feedback and information gathered from the Classic Wrath players, and try to create more content that fall into these design paradigms.

Blizzard have already come forward and said, that the success of Classic will have an effect on how WoW is developed in the future and i think the return to the big talent tree in Dragonflight is the first view of this effect.

I'll start believing they listen to feedback when they put the RDF back into Classic.

[Deferionus]

I was hyped, because part of my old Wotlk guild was returning with classic..

My hype was slowly dying as I saw changes they did.. like really broken and slow AH, removing RDF and replacing it with really bad LFG tool (why they didnt use LFG tool from retail?), nonstop botting without banning, really weird mining nodes respawns (mithril was ultra rare and in Ungoro were ores almost inta respawning), not to mention ores in Outland..

Add to RDF - after few days full HC clears I see no difference between RDF dungeoning and LFG tool dungeoning but long travelling to dungs - mostly afking on flying mount and using really bad tool for finding players - getting request to join party, quite empty unbalanced listing, no results until I refresh few times.. like yesterday, whole evening I saw group with setup heal + tank and no DPS, when ANY DPS showed in list, it was instantly taken by someone. At weekend same, just with tanks..
Better social aspect without RDF? Hell no.. same as with RDF, when you are lucky, you get at least "Hi" and "ty bb". Living open world? Yea.. afkers on flying mount pointed to dungeons or on flying points. World PVP? Dead, as my realm is 95% Aliance and PVE realm..

Disagree entirely. I prefer the classic LFG tool over the retail RDF. I have been seeing frequent PvP outside of dungeon entrances and it makes the world feel more alive. There are tons of other positives. I hope they get rid of RDF in retail even and replace it with this tool.

- - - Updated - - -

I'll start believing they listen to feedback when they put the RDF back into Classic.

Pass. My feedback is I do not want RDF to this day in classic and wish it gone from retail.