Finally died in HC… had a moment

WoW Classic WoW Classic Hardcore
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I invested I think a bit too much time into HC, only for the rug to be pulled from under me. I was almost 60, and died at 55, because the tank decided to just… not tank for a second and lose all aggro. I then died, at level 55, last night.

Then, it all just hit me at once. Like a peak, where everything you’ve done and the investments you’ve made have all culminated. I was mastering my professions, organically min-maxed, felt useful most of the time where I felt like whatever I did mattered in the world I was in, and… it all had to end right there. That’s how I die? By a mob in BRD that bashed me so I couldn’t Ice Block, and the tank saying, “oops, sorry man”.

I guess that’s it, right? I think I was way too invested in not only the HC mode, but the character himself. It’s like when you get that one guy who is so invested in his/her D&D character, and then they die off, and they’re sorta permanently dead.

After all of this, I logged into retail and… stared at the character screen. It sincerely just isn’t the same. You’re not going to see people of all levels in the zones anymore. It seems everyone is maxed level. Professions don’t actually matter now. A lot of the specs are extremely convoluted alongside button bloat (at least for me, I have sensory issues). When I did “/who” in HC, there was always 50+ people. Doing that in retail… lmfao.

It’s sincerely like night and day.

Made me realize that I’m not quite sure what I’m doing with how I spend my time, and that retail in a lot of cases, at least right now, really has lost a lot of the magic that brought me into WoW in the first place.

I guess my question is: If I were to start a new character on retail, is it even worth it? Knowing the end-game (again, at least to me), is so linear and tailored to just doing Mythic+ until your eyes pop out, or the current raid over and over and over and over again where it doesn’t matter anymore? Will zones even be populated like it is in HC? I strayed away from many specs due to the amount of skills/buttons that I find completely unnecessary, as when you do classic/HC, it’s a non-issue and even the most beginner of players can pick up almost any class and go play without having it be a chore.

I know I can always “GO AGANE”, but… I just don’t think I can do it again. I carefully catered to my character in HC, and that’s how I even got to level 55. It wasn’t easy. That, at least for me, is an achievement of itself.

I enjoyed how the world seemed populated again. So many people, helpful and not, that made the adventure interesting and worthwhile. In retail… it’s really not happening. The game just seems like that what really matters is the end-game, and all that is, is bashing your face into M+.

All in all, maybe I was too invested. Was 5 levels away, and it all ended so quickly.

Queue up “Creep” by Radiohead, entering stage-right… that’s that.

Edit: To those wondering, I was on Defias Pillager, and I was a mage named “Lilfrostie”, for any reference.

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I think I noticed your death announcement last night and thought to myself “that’s a bummer.”

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HC isn’t about having a character, it’s about the experience.

You don’t go to a sports game or movie and then when it’s done say: “that was fun but I have nothing to show for it”. The fun and experience you had while doing it was the point.

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IMO, retail was ruined by the expansions. We should have never left Azeroth, and instead, new raids and dungeons should have been woven into the existing game. Each “expansion” should have revamped existing content to make the BBEG the prime focus in all zones. Not necessarily re-writing existing quests, but more like temporary quests added in each zone for the duration of the “expansion”.

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Stop treating WoW like an investment.

WoW is a game. A diversion. A pastime. A hobby.

The only question you need to answer is “am I having fun.”

If yes, go agane.

If no, go do something else.

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My paladin on Mankrik made it to 52 without dying. Not exactly stoked to do that over again anytime soon.

He originally started out on Shadowstrike (SoM server.)

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It be like that.

Hopefully we get SoM again soon so we can stop pretending it’s fun to die to server instability.

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It is an experience.

Seriously though if you feel that invested in your mage transfer to Classic Era Mankrik and, find a chill guild to join, get your mage to 60 and gear up your mage and have fun that way.

You don’t have to go back to Retail and you might still have some fun. You won’t be as surrounded by people but at level 55 there are still many people around on Mankrik you can play and do dungeons with, it’s just not HC.

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There are other modes for your gaming enjoyment.

Or is Hardcorpse a pre-release condition?

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Going to outland/draenor through the dark portal is fine IMO as there’s extensive lore and precedent for that in the warcraft universe. The thing with draenei flying spaceships was stupid though. Remove all the space stuff and just make it about demons and orcs on the broken world of draenor and it would be fine. Overall it was mostly good, though there were a few missteps.

It was legion and shadowlands that ruined a lot of the game universe. Legion ruined the idea of the legion being an infinite and ineffable cosmic threat similar to the chaos powers in WH40k, and instead made them just another faction to raid on a few planets. And by ending that threat it destroyed most of the mythology of the universe. Shadowlands did even more damage to the universe by showing that death is lame and meaningless and “tHe JaIlEr wAs BeHinD EvErYtHinG” buildup which then ended in a wet fart like the final season of Lost where he’s just a meaningless robot.

The narrative was mostly fine until the end of cata, with a few missteps here and there, and since then they’ve been jumping the shark and making huge errors in various ways.

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It looked cool which is why I’m sure they did it.

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Sucks dying at such a high level. That is definitely a motivation blow.

However, like you said, you enjoy the time and got really invested into the character. You enjoy the hardcore experience.

What I would suggest doing is try another class, maybe even try the other faction. Play that for a while and see how far you get. Then after you’ve taken a break, go back and try a round 2 with this character.

Or just take a break and come back later. The great thing about hardcore is there’s no rush. You can take a break and it doesn’t matter. Feels like you can’t do that in retail.

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oh sweetie
retail was never worth it :expressionless:
i’m glad HC has helped you realize this
take a break and go agane when you’re ready

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Thanks all for the comments.

I’m not quite sure I can “go agane” anytime soon, unfortunately. I sincerely enjoyed my time in HC. I went into this thinking I was just gonna give it a try, but as I got higher in levels, the entire world/mode unfolded an entirely new experience for me. The world was vibrant, populace with people of all levels almost at all times, and people actually communicated and made your journey something to write home about.

This is something that retail lacks, and will never get back.

Maybe one day I’ll go again. Who knows?

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Hi OP.

You could really consider playing on Classic Era. It’s a perfectly fine middle ground between Hardcore and Retail, so it doesn’t need to be one of two extremes.

The early zones probably aren’t as populated, but you’ll get to experience the content for those later levels.

In Hardcore, I insulated against this ennui by leveling several characters simultaneously. It’s a lot slower, but that’s sort of the point. I’m not in a race. I’ve got other characters to fall back on, and I’m not invested whole-hog into a single toon. Plus, I’m learning a lot about how to sync with other players. I might actually play a paladin or a shaman for once, two classes that I’ve never dabbled with.

Just a thought. Having multiple toons going can make the loss a little less disheartening.

Either way, I hope that you continue to have fun in Azeroth, OP.

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A few things here…

  1. As folks have pointed out, HC is about the journey. Starting over you will stil have fun. Just don’t expect to get to the destination. Maybe that’s the investment you were talking about? You gotta shift your brain I think.
  2. Your character is not gone, just transfer it to Classic Era and keep enjoying the game as you were. I think think Era is pretty populated right now too. I logged in a few nights ago because I wanted to play on my 60 and immediately found back to back UBRS groups.

Enjoy your time in whatever way you choose to spend it!

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Since they announced Dungeon Finder for Wrath Classic, I started playing Retail, and I’ve come to find that the QoL/Automation and the focus on rushing to end-game is both exactly what a lot of people are and do ask for, and exactly what makes the world feel empty, and the game feel like single-player.

If you’re asking yourself this, it might be a good time to just walk away and take a break. It’s just a game, and as such is a complete waste of time. If you have time to waste, it’s a great way to do it, but there are other things you could choose to spend that limited resource on.

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The single life in Hardcore is a blessing and a curse. The only reason why any of it has any meaning is due to that one life. But that also means it can all be over in a matter of seconds.

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you will :expressionless: you just need some time to grieve.

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we literally told you this over and over but few believed :expressionless:

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