Blizzard announced "Classic" World of Warcraft

[Metro]

It would surprise me if they kept stuff like multiple ranks of skills.

 

[Direwolf]

"Classic" WoW is going to be such a hilarious clusterfuck. Can't wait.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

If they do it like that, I imagine it overshadowing retail at one point, maybe around the middle of TBC or at the start of WotLK. It's not like it's unprecedented, classic Runescape is the template for that kind of thing. It HAS to progress, though, it gives meaning to the whole experience, perpetually sticking to vanilla will devalue it because there are no stakes at place.

The cycle of decline.

 

[Makabb]

If Blizzard made TBC and WOTLk again, it would be retarded...... I don't think blizzard is THAT retarded...... the only real solution is to make new content or stay vanilla forever.

 

[Lacrymas]

Staying at vanilla forever is retarded, especially if they don't make more content for it. Which I think will be the case, they already barely support retail with content, let alone vanilla. Not to mention that WotLK was the time with most players, so it makes sense to progress to it. I despised WotLK and saw it for what it represented, but I know I'm in the minority. The progress of time is what gives meaning to anything, perpetually sticking to vanilla will alienate new players because they'll feel years behind everyone else, with no hope to catch up. The population will decline once people get their T3's and there won't be enough new people to start progressing through MC. People start only raid logging when AQ launches on private servers, which leaves pvp and the AH barren. You must realize that there's nothing to do in vanilla besides raiding once the pvp itch is scratched and that's quite fast, trust me. Starting vanilla all over again when TBC launches is the best possible solution to all these problems.

 

[Makabb]

Starting vanilla all over again when TBC launches is the best possible solution to all these problems.

No, because if they make TBC then they have to make WOTLK and then what? Cata pandaria wod etc and they will be back at same point ?

The only solution is to make new 'alternative timeline' content or whatever.

Because if they only are making classic to stay classic forever it would also be stupid because in like 2-3 years everyone would have everything and they would leave also.

but blizz said they are making separate team for this, which would imply that team will be making content also.

 

[Lacrymas]

No, it doesn't imply that at all. What I think about that is they are making a team now to develop classic servers and will then scale it down to provide technical support. There is no reason to think they'll make new content for it. And yes, these servers will have to progress to the retail expansion. If you don't want to play post-vanilla/TBC/WotLK then you'll make a new character in the expansion you want, that's the point of launching fresh servers for them.

 

[Makabb]

No, it doesn't imply that at all. What I think about that is they are making a team now to develop classic servers and will then scale it down to provide technical support. There is no reason to think they'll make new content for it. And yes, these servers will have to progress to the retail expansion. If you don't want to play post-vanilla/TBC/WotLK then you'll make a new character in the expansion you want, that's the point of launching fresh servers for them.

Making a new team for this HINTS at making new content.... because if they would just want to do one version of classic wow server and never patch it and never make anything for it, the current team would just do it...... there is no reason to make a new team if they do not plan on making new stuff.

And yes, these servers will have to progress to the retail expansion.

at this point everything is speculation

 

[Lacrymas]

The current team is supporting retail, they don't have an excess of people that can casually go work on vanilla, that's just not how it works.

 

[Makabb]

The current team is supporting retail, they don't have an excess of people that can casually go work on vanilla, that's just not how it works.

Actualy there will be a separate team just for vanilla.


'Are these going to be separate development teams? One working on Battle for Azeroth and one working on WOW Classic?'

J. Allen Brack: Yeah, so it was really important for us to be able to answer the community honestly. How many raids is this going to cost them in Battle for Azeroth? The answer is zero. We're going to hire people specifically for this effort. We already are.



http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-11-04-wow-classic-blizzard-answers-some-of-the-big-questions

 

[Lacrymas]

I know! That's what I'm talking about. You said "if they don't make new content for it, the current team would just do it" and I said they can't do it because they work on retail and can't casually transfer to work on vanilla. Any aspect of vanilla, from the initial release to technical support. Teams at big companies like Blizzard are calculated to the smallest detail, the team is only big enough to support retail, it doesn't have excess people "just in case". That's why they are making a new team for it, there is no way the current team can do it with their schedules.

 

[Wulfstand]

They should absolutely just start releasing separate servers for each expansion, even fucking WoD. I never got to play Wrath, and I'd *much* rather play wrath than classic. Vanilla had horrible class design. I remember reading how someone said that Vanilla raids were more about tactics than class rotations. Hilarious stuff.
The one thing it has going for it is that it actually feels like an RPG which forces you to socialize with others in order to achieve your goals. MoP had fantastic class design, I *really* want to get to enjoy its pvp as well as progressing through Throne of Thunder/Siege of Orgrimmar.

 

[Lacrymas]

The one thing it has going for it is that it actually feels like an RPG which forces you to socialize with others in order to achieve your goals.

Nope, check out my post for details why. It also depends on what you mean by "goals". If your goals are going to dungeons and raids, you are "forced" to "socialize" for them even in retail. In vanilla "dungeons" and "socialize" means "LFG BRD Princess run", you don't have to say anything to each other after that. You have to "socialize" to be able to do Mythic raids and Mythic+ dungeons on retail, that's the real content, not LFG/LFR bullshit. If you are only doing LFG/LFR and are happy with that, then that's your problem, I don't see how it's the game's. I'm not defending retail, quite the contrary, it's extremely shit, but it's not due to lack of "socializing".

 

[Wulfstand]

The one thing it has going for it is that it actually feels like an RPG which forces you to socialize with others in order to achieve your goals.

Nope, check out my post for details why. It also depends on what you mean by "goals". If your goals are going to dungeons and raids, you are "forced" to "socialize" for them even in retail. In vanilla "dungeons" and "socialize" means "LFG BRD Princess run", you don't have to say anything to each other after that. You have to "socialize" to be able to do Mythic raids and Mythic+ dungeons on retail, that's the real content, not LFG/LFR bullshit. If you are only doing LFG/LFR and are happy with that, then that's your problem, I don't see how it's the game's. I'm not defending retail, quite the contrary, it's extremely shit, but it's not due to lack of "socializing".

I was mainly thinking of doing quests. Even non-elite ones, more often than not you were better off doing them in a group rather than by yourself. Based purely off of my own experience on Nostalrius, that sort of thing almost always led to conversations. 'Have you also done quest X or Y?' "Anyone of you interested in going over there to do some more quests after we finish these?' That sort of thing.
Of course, all of that didn't really apply if you were playing a lock or a hunter. Even then, and even after hitting cap socializing was still a thing. I remember farming Dire Maul East as a mage, it was so popular that there'd always be ganking squads that were waiting for their bgs to pop, farming mages at the entrance to DM. That would lead to counter-groups banding together.

 

[Lacrymas]

No, doing non-elite quests on your own is a) viable and completely normal, and b) encouraged by the game because it shares xp between the party members otherwise. The quests AREN'T difficult at all, I don't know where this misconception comes from. The fact that you get most of your xp from killing enemies due to the grindy nature of the quests also means you'll get severely less xp if you are grouping up and the quests WILL dry up before you are even close to 60.

 

[Makabb]

Vanilla had horrible class design

That's why it was fun, balanced classes are not fun.

 

[Lyric Suite]

All they have to do is have servers for each expansion. Once you've gone through all the progression, you can transfer your character. It is the only possible solution.

 

[Lacrymas]

It isn't the solution because if you wanted to play vanilla and then transfer to TBC (for example), you'll be severely behind everyone who started on the server before you, years behind even, with no guarantee you'll find enough people to start from Kara again. The competitiveness between the guilds will also be lost, I know people usually don't play on that kind of level, but I do and it's one of the few exciting things about classic servers.

 

[Wulfstand]

No, doing non-elite quests on your own is a) viable and completely normal, and b) encouraged by the game because it shares xp between the party members otherwise. The quests AREN'T difficult at all, I don't know where this misconception comes from. The fact that you get most of your xp from killing enemies due to the grindy nature of the quests also means you'll get severely less xp if you are grouping up and the quests WILL dry up before you are even close to 60.

Yes I agree, it was more efficient to do non-elite quests alone, but on Nostalrius at least having to always race who gets the first hit on a mob was far more tiresome than actually having to grind another half a level due to lack of quests. Elite quests may be doable solo by some other classes, sure. Personally as a mage I always had problems doing them up until level 45+, when Spell Power gear actually started to drop.

Vanilla had horrible class design

That's why it was fun, balanced classes are not fun.

For me the problem was that as a mage, you'd always want to just spam frostbolts. As a warlock, you always wanted to spam shadowbolts. It dealt more dps and was mana efficient, always. That's terrible class design, in my book.

 

[Wulfstand]

It isn't the solution because if you wanted to play vanilla and then transfer to TBC (for example), you'll be severely behind everyone who started on the server before you, years behind even, with no guarantee you'll find enough to people to start from Kara again. The competitiveness between the guilds will also be lost, I know people usually don't play on that kind of level, but I do and it's one of the few exciting things about classic servers.

They could implement a sort of ladder-style of doing things, ala Diablo. Once a classic server reaches 1.12, you can either a) stay on it indefinitely, b) switch to an ongoing tbc server that's on whichever patch or c) wait for the new season to start and move to a fresh tbc server.

 

[Makabb]

All they have to do is have servers for each expansion. Once you've gone through all the progression, you can transfer your character. It is the only possible solution.

and when you reach the end then what ?

 

[Lacrymas]

and when you reach the end then what ?

The server will catch up with retail and become a normal retail server. That's the only realistic option. I very much doubt they'll make more content for older expansions. At most, if classic servers overshadow retail, they'll shift their design on retail to more closely match the classic era.

They could implement a sort of ladder-style of doing things, ala Diablo. Once a classic server reaches 1.12, you can either a) stay on it indefinitely, b) switch to an ongoing tbc server that's on whichever patch or c) wait for the new season to start and move to a fresh tbc server.

That's the same thing as starting a vanilla server when the original one transfers to TBC. I guess it prevents them making new servers constantly, so that's one middle-man down and cuts some costs, and can work.

 

[Lyric Suite]

All they have to do is have servers for each expansion. Once you've gone through all the progression, you can transfer your character. It is the only possible solution.

and when you reach the end then what ?

Than you stop playing, or re-roll. How's that different from now anyway?

 

[Lacrymas]

The problem is that they are going to stop playing, as opposed to re-rolling, and the perpetual vanilla servers will be ghost towns. There is a finite amount of people who are interested in vanilla, the majority of who will start playing on day 1 or close to that. Yes, there will be stragglers here and there, but they'll be statistically insignificant. Progression is the only sensible and realistic way to retain players for more than 2 years (max). You seem to underestimate the importance of progression and new things in the context of MMOs, even for relaunches of previous content. People don't want to feel left behind and trapped at the bottom with nobody to raid with, which will happen in a non-progressing server.

 

[Makabb]

All they have to do is have servers for each expansion. Once you've gone through all the progression, you can transfer your character. It is the only possible solution.

and when you reach the end then what ?

Than you stop playing, or re-roll. How's that different from now anyway?

Difference is they are churning out new expansions which are dumbing the game down