I was thinking about this - I am biased somewhat against changes (though not without an open mind). The question is loaded but I think it is obviously loaded (much like a rhetorical question has an obvious answer).
The point is that the question escalates your defence of your position to an absurd amount to illustrate the absurdity itself. Essentially, popularity in itself is not enough of a limiting gauge on changes to provide sensible outcomes. There needs to be some other justification (as well as popularity) to act as a limiter to a change else we can argue that any change is compelling if it is popular enough. I think that’s the point of the question.
However, I am open to the change being suggested in this thread - if it is limited to cosmetic changes that don’t break RP immersion.
While popularity is important I think the design intention and preservation of TBC’s identity are important limiting factors on changes too.
Except we got WoW Classic for those very reasons. This is a hobby that we partake in because we want to partake in it. It’s not like food and water where we need it, we do this out of pure desire, not out of necessity.
That being the case, if we ask for any changes, it’s going to be because we want those changes. And Blizzard, being the business that it is, might have a financial incentive to deliver those changes given 1) They said #SomeChanges and 2) They stand to gain more subscribers and continued subscriptions because of it.
Does there need to be? What would that be? And why?
Good question. I’d argue because the game isn’t progressive - the only new content we can expect is old beaten content. And therefore it has no identity or reason for existence beyond its reference to the original expansion.
If we had a Classic+ situation where Blizzard actively developed new content like new raids and quests lines to the original TBC world, then you could argue that it is a genuine offshoot with scope for the development of it’s own genuinely unique identity.
But … it isn’t - it is seemingly forever locked into a known and beaten content cycle. The only identity it has is rooted in nostalgia - which is fine, it’s why I play it after all, but it is limited and has a built in “used by date”. Nothing wrong with that - I know I’m enjoying the nostalgia trip and will move on once the trip is complete.
Giving it modern gameplay is simply putting pop beats on top of classical music - ugh. It takes what little there is to draw people in, nostalgia and a strong brand identity, and scribbles over the top of it various popular features.
Either TBC classic attempts to nurture and enhance the TBC identity of the game or it attempts to completely rewrite it with new content and an evolving identity. Overlaying disjointed features by vote without regard for the design intention of the game simply vandalises a good product. That’s my view.
You asked “what would that be” in terms of the “some other justification”. To my mind it would be this:
Change would be justified by changes that seek to more fully realise the original development ideas and intentions of the TBC game. Things like limiting world buffs where there were unintended player usages of the feature fit here, but also graphical enhancements and improvements to the batching system. They could go even further with this too.
The identity and design intention of the original should be a guiding and limiting influence on changes - it should inform the scope.
Not for everyone. New people are playing the game plus old players are doing things they never did before. Not everyone who played the game back when it was first released experienced it to its fullest.
But I don’t understand what is in an old game with no new content to draw in a new market. It looks to me like a dead end. It is more indicative of the weakness of retail (and the MMO genre as a whole) than it is of the strength of the concept of a hit “rerelease”. I don’t think paining modern features over it will make it a real compelling option for new gamers either. A better investment would be to pump more innovation into a new title, or into the current retail release.
I wouldn’t play a game with old content if it failed to bring back the nostalgia.
That’s what #SomeChanges stimulates. The chance at looking at old content in new ways.
Really, the game is about people. We’re experiencing old content, but people are the variable. That’s what keeps us coming back to WoW or any MMO. It’s not the same as single-player experience where everything is scripted and predictable.
New content (retail) is new by default. It’s gone in a direction many of us in Classic don’t want, but there’s a middle ground of some sorts we’d accept.
Imagine if they re-released Cata, except no revamped experienced gains or revamped content. Crushing blows are still in place. Cata another tier of content, but with all the Classic ammenities. Moreover, they don’t increase the level cap. Instead, your character is set to a level 60 state and all the Outlands or Northrend gear is restricted to Outlands and Northrend.
That’s what Guild Wars did. Level 20 was the max, but they still managed to add new content and make it interesting for anyone at max level.
Think of this. A change made to WotLK to Engineering–namely the ability to put a “parachute cloak” into any cape. Stuff like that, would have been really cool in TBC Classic.