I’m having such a hard time trying to decide between the two. I intended to be done with classic after LK but I’m having a blast right now.
In retail I’m raiding heroic for the first time and it’s been pretty stressful, I don’t actually have fun in heroic but it does feel good to finally down a boss. I really like the guild I’m in, but don’t know how to approach them about that. I love the updated UI and graphics in retail. Combat wise my shadow priest in retail plays so smooth compared to my new boomkin in Cata.
In classic I feel less rushed, less stressed. I’m enjoying playing a class and spec I never have. Going through old quests in populated leveling zones is nice… But it isn’t anything I cannot experience in retail (minus the population)
Overall I feel stuck between the two. I was going to list my overall concerns with the cata client and the massive amount of bugs I have run into but comparing that to retail would be kind of silly. Just as many bugs.
I think playing both can be pretty satisfying. you can always switch between them and treat either character as an alt.
Retail is a Lobby LFG simulator, and great for activities (dailies, special events), collections and more in depth class design / interesting rotations (imo).
Classic is an MMO with a real world to explore, more RPG elements, better reward structure and a much more social game. it’s also a lot easier and very laid back. I also think the story for the classic versions of WoW are a lot better than retail and aren’t as forced (if that matters to you).
if you’re specifically referencing Cataclysm era - i don’t really consider that to be a classic version of the game…but many of the classes were very well designed and fun to play in Cata, so it’s still worth it!
I keep opening Cataclysm trying to force myself into leveling my level 80 Mage who I got to 80 in Wrath and pretty much left to rot right after dinging 80. I even made a few alts to try leveling something else in Cata since the early zones were redone with new quests. But… I can’t get over how absolutely sluggish everything feels. Everything is a lot slower you’re right about that.
The graphics are hit or miss for me on Cata, but I much prefer retail for the great graphics and updated character models of course. Cata may have brought transmog to the game, but retail has so many more things to pick from and many cosmetic items just in general which is good for the collector in me. MoP: Remix has been really great for me for that reason since I can collect so much lol.
I want to like Cata classic, but usually, you only have like 3 things to do in classic— leveling, raid logging, and PvP. Gearing is the best part of classic probably if you’re into getting your pre-raid BiS items and doing all the heroic dungeons, but for me, I’ve farmed those dungeons so much back when Cata was current, on top of the old class design, it would just make me feel like I’m having deja vu.
Anyway, definitely not a hater of classic by any means! I’m glad the option is there for sure. It’s just for me, Cata feels like pretty much the Playstation 2 version of retail WoW. If I really wanted to relevel in the Cata revamped quest zones, I could do that on retail with much faster and smoother class design. I was more into WoW vanilla classic and Wrath classic.
I’m really excited for The War Within since it’s coming soon. I’ve been using MoP: Remix as a way to level up some random alts and try new things like playing melee classes more. It’s the perfect time to play retail right now, and even the live game (Dragonflight Season 4) is pretty great from everything I’ve been hearing. I hope this was some small help. Good luck deciding what to focus on.
I won’t play Classic just based off the simple principle of “been there, done that”, plus stuff over there just takes way too long for me today.
It was fine when I was a kid, and had hours/days to myself, that’s just no longer the case anymore.
Also, I actually enjoy the new models/graphics of retail.
Certain things I don’t like, like Evokers, but as a whole, retail WoW still looks good to me.
Especially with the zones/creatures, TWW is shaping up to be even better-looking than DF was.
You just can’t recreate the past, 2019 WoW Classic proved that.
How people played it was entirely different than the “real” thing, and tbh, it wasn’t really in the spirit of actual WoW, at least from my perspective. For example, GDKPs. Blegh.
Retail all the way for me. The graphics, combat, fluidness, speed, etc. are all unparalleled, and War Within is looking to be amazing so I wanna be all caught up for it!
I’d be stressed too if I had to prog Abberus again. Amirdrissil and vault were so much more enjoyable. I’m doing heroic this season but have and will continue to not go to abberus clears. The raid just isn’t fun. Sark is a complete mess. It’s visually frustrating and mechanically frusting.
Ngl, WoW is very boring solo, it’s understated how boring this game is solo. I wouldn’t even bother subbing if you’re pugging and solo. Solo pugging is fun for like a week, then you quickly realize you are handicapped and there is no feeling good after that, even if you list your own keys or whatever.
help.
