The original thirst for Classic came largely from players that missed the old-style of WoW and wanted to re-experience (or experience for the first time) the original game and subsequent older expansions. Some wanted to try out new classes or conquer old raids that they never did previously.
Classic was largely terrific. A huge win was when Blizzard offered us the ability to clone our characters to maintain our progressed Classic characters in Classic as well as the option to take them onto TBC.
Like most players, I went onto TBC but I also cloned my Classic toons since I didn’t nearly accomplish everything I wanted to. I could always go back to Classic in the future.
TBC was fun but it felt rushed. There was so much more I wanted to enjoy but I figured I could always go back and finish things off with an assumed TBC Era server… but that just wasn’t offered.
Very disappointedly, I decided to progress into WotLK, a very popular expansion. Surely, WotLK Era servers would eventually be offered, right? It would be inconceivable that they would just progress players to Cata and risk losing a good chunk of their player base but here we are.
I actually liked Cata… and MoP. I would play WoD again and even Legion. However, it looks like Blizzard is just going to rush the experience and not offer up any Era servers. What’s the point of this, especially for older players that lack the free time that they once had and probably won’t do many of the things they wanted to do?
For myself, the only WoW experience left to me that doesn’t throw away my progression so quickly is Classic Era. I hope other expansion Era servers are eventually offered but since that is currently off the table, I’m off the Classic progression train. Good luck to those continuing on.
Hot take, I would even support a small fee if one wanted to say copy or move to the next server in progression, say Vanilla - BC, BC - Wrath, Wrath - Cata
I would also pay a fee (whether it was to transfer or clone) to move to the next expansion at a time of my choosing. For example, if I was fully done with Classic Era, pay a fee and move the character on to TBC Era.
One day you will be able to roll a toon and have a copy of it on at least the first three games if not the rest after Blizz figures out how to make a crazy profit off it by implementing their half baked ideas of what players want.
That’s a ways off though as Blizz is still relatively new at the whole resurrecting the classics thing and why should they even bother at this moment in time as players are content to simply repeat history even though we all know where it goes - that is to say, nowhere good.
It’s clear that the appeal of Classic for many players lies in the nostalgic experience and the chance to revisit or explore content they missed in the past. The option to clone characters for both Classic and TBC was indeed a significant move by Blizzard, providing players with flexibility.
Your sentiments about TBC feeling rushed and the disappointment in the absence of Era servers for TBC are shared by many in the community. It’s understandable that you were hoping for a similar option with WotLK and subsequent expansions. The lack of Era servers can be disheartening, especially for players with limited time who wish to savor each expansion fully.
It’s interesting to hear your positive experiences with Cata and MoP, and your willingness to revisit expansions like WoD and Legion. The concern about the rapid progression and potential loss of content for players with time constraints is valid.
It’s unfortunate that the absence of Era servers has led you to step off the Classic progression train. Your perspective highlights the importance of catering to the diverse preferences and time commitments of the player base. Hopefully, Blizzard takes player feedback into account for future developments.
You’re likely correct with this. Monetization of Classic is selling these deluxe packages with each classic release and moving a chunk of the player base forward. The problem is that in retail progression, part of the players dropped off after each expansion past WotLK. Where do they find their WoW home? Probably another progression stream that does support more Era servers.
So, for me, I’ll wait for that support and stick with Classic Era.
In fairness, it is hard for Blizzard to cater to all the diverse preferences without spreading the community too thin. As much as I would enjoy Cata to Legion, not having Era support coupled with limited play time is a combination that takes me off the progression path.
Having Classic Era is still nice for a player like me. Plenty for me to see and do with different classes. I will keep my eyes open for future expansion Era support, which would provide more variety.
I don’t think that’s true. Even at its lowest point Classic Era still had multiple communities running raids weekly. I don’t think there really is a concept of “too thin”, there’s always going to be a community of players who will want to be on any given expansion.
Additionally, for those players, that’s also the difference between paying Blizzard a subscription or not. I lost interest in playing retail and canceled my sub last spring. I came back because I wanted to play Era and Era only. Fortunately for me that version exists. How many subs did Blizzard lose when they forced people off of TBC who just wanted to play that version? How many will they lose when they force everybody off of WotLK and onto Cata?
Blizzard just needs to provide the server. Players will figure it out for themselves and promote their community.
100% agree. We’re well past the point of preventing playerbase fracture: Retail, Era, HC, SoD. And the world still spins and people still play all of these versions. I wouldn’t play tbc or wotlk era, but I hope they provide those one day too. More choice of the game type we want to play is only a good thing I think.
I never liked clones nor have I ever thought this was a good idea.
I would have liked it if they had implemented a system where someone could roll a new character at any point in time on a Classic Era server, and then upgrade that character to the next expansion whenever they want.
I would have left all of my toons in Classic Era, except for the ones I wanted to progress on, and either would have progressed one-by-one, or merely rerolled.
Of course that I my own personal view as someone who disliked the idea of clones when I first heard about them, and dislikes them as much or even more now after having experienced them.
I always felt there was a missed opportunity here. In my dream world, instead of an out-of-game limited cloning service, you could level up on Era and to progress to TBC you’d walk through the Dark Portal which would prompt a warning that you’re permanently moving to TBC by going through the Dark Portal (and behind the scenes would move you to TBC Era). Same for WotLK — I don’t have an equal like the dark portal, but imagine you could make a boat to Northerend have the same effect.
It would let players naturally play Classic Era > TBC Era > WotLK era, make it all RP like in game, but still provide an option for people to just roll fresh in those as well if they wanted to start over on whatever variants.
Anyways yes big miss from Blizzard in my opinion on the entire cloning service.
Yeah. I mean, there was a huge outcry on the forums, and people (obviously, and understandably) didn’t want to let go of their Classic characters, but clones, for me at least, diminish character identity, which turns out is a big deal (for me at least) in an RPG.
And that’s just one side of it. A huge other side was that it felt like people had to make a choice, and that choice ended up being to move on for a lot of people. The OP here states something that suggests they feel most people cloned their characters. That may be true, however what I thought at the time was that most people moved on for fear of missing out, and it was stressful having to make a choice, even if it was possible to “just clone” your characters.
Exactly, and without the additional stress of feeling a sense of urgency for any incredibly impactful decision making.
