The core game and playstyle might be like classic, but there are definitely features in retail that classic does not have. I actually spend a lot of time running old raids on multiple classes for the xmog, gold, mounts, and battle pets - there’s such a bigger choice on where to go and what to farm than classic. It’s not even in the same ballpark, all that expansion content. There are more battlegrounds. There’s arena. There are more races and more classes, more mounts, more custom looks that can be account-wide.
Let’s not pretend that because we have to grind for rewards in both classic and retail that it’s the same content. Retail has BC - BFA, and that’s a lot of stuff to occupy one’s time. I spent 4 hours farming Pandaria stuff yesterday on alts…I completely forgot I’d logged in to finish the Korrak’s mount lol
A lot of this… I’m back in classic and I truly believe that people should play what they enjoy. But I’m having fun in classic. About to get my first character to 60 (yeah I’m slow… but time is limited).
They are completely different games as of this point. Retail has it’s place, but honestly recent announcements and ideas of upcoming content just have totally soured me on retail. I’m having fun in classic and with a great group of people.
Had one ‘retailer’ come back to the guild… They were gone for a while. They were there a couple of days, but this person couldn’t understand why quests were sending her against mobs she couldn’t defeat. I asked was it elite quests? No… Looked at where she was… Told her to get the questing addon… She had it… So then asked her why she was questing in areas that were way over her level? Her answer was ‘she could do it in retail’… I stopped the conversation at the point. This person obviously was not cut out for classic.
That being said, I’m not going to bash people who are enjoying retail either… Again it is play what you enjoy.
“Not cut out for classic” just because of a misconception this person had probably because they did not play vanilla? So you cut the conversation there…real great community full of elitism and poison
I gave Classic an honest try. Got a warlock to 42 and just got tired of it. There were aspects of that game I liked, and wouldn’t particularly mind seeing in Retail, but there were other parts to it I never want to see here.
What I liked…
-Tougher open world, having to be careful of pulls and mindful of surroundings.
-Professions mattering. I could spend time away from leveling to work on fishing/cooking/alchemy, and use what I gained from that to make a noticable impact on the leveling process.
-Greater emphasis on travel. It makes sense that some quests would send you all over the world. I also like that parts of the world don’t necessarily have purpose. That’s how it is in any world, fantasy or otherwise.
What I didn’t like…
-The community having greater control over your playtime. What really drove me crazy was the elitism and opportunism that ran rampant. Dealing with constant node ninjas, mob ninjas, and chest ninjas while trying to clear a camp got seriously irritating after a while. And when you confront them, they just laugh and go tell you to screw yourself.
-Elite quests. I don’t mind that there are quests that require help. It just sucked trying to get help for them. Especially really obscure and out of the way ones. I remember having a warlock quest that would have me kill an elite demon all the way smack dab in the middle of Dustwallow Marsh. No amount of begging my guild and asking people in the zone got me assistance on that one. By the time I hit a new zone and got a whole new round of elite quests, I was just done.
-People using dungeon access and guild status as weapons against their fellow players.
-The lack of customization. I really did miss all of the cool stuff I had access to in retail, namely, better models/spell effects, transmogs, mounts, toys, pets, etc.
I’m glad those who prefer Classic have their game. I have no animosity for them. I just simply prefer Retail.
This practically sums up my feeling on why I never even tried classic. I liked vanilla for when I was playing it buut with all the QoLs and advancement we got through the years, I just want to keep moving forward and not repeat something i have done more than 10 years ago.
Ah yeah that’s part of it too. I do genuinely look forward to seeing where this game will go. Unless they turn Classic into some sort of progression server deal, it will always remain stagnant and I just don’t know how much fun I could have with that.
Yep seeing the story moves and our characters grow with the world is nice.
Even if they decide to move classic to tbc and beyond it will still be behind and purists will eventually complain it is no longer classic as they move from vanilla to other xpac. Eventually moving back to bfa etc lol
You mean running the same quests you did wile leveling etc over and over and over, with no challenge. Logging in to LFR and afking and receiving free loot. Being so inundated with free epics that you’re more surprised when you get a green or blue drop? Having so many sources of free epic gear that the whole gearing cycle feels meaningless?
Yup I completely agree OP, however I do understand why some will stay and play classic until they die! I was this way with Asheron’s Call and I would be playing that but it was shut down a few years ago
We’re gamers, and we gotta game no matter where or what it is!
I like classic. I played then. I haven’t play “retail” for a very long time now, I wouldn’t even know where to start. I find plenty to do in classic but I do not pvp and I see that many people are begging for the ability to be able to transfer from lopsided servers but they cannot for now. No paid transfers yet. Transfers were offered in the beginning to play with friends, so it got real lopsided with servers mostly horde and servers mostly alliance. No one is having fun with that for sure. except us PVE people, we are not affected. Its crowded on my server, no CRZ though (love that).
In any event, I would never criticize anyone’s like or dislike of either game. yes its the same but no it is not. I guess I’m old school, I like trainers, I like recipes that don’t “fall into my bags from the sky”, various other things like that. But I don’t fault those who do. I hope that in the future, its not required to mirror other people’s likes and dislikes, what a boring place that would be.
I did log onto my “retail” characters recently, I, well, I don’t even know where to start, where I left off years ago. I just go back to classic, I know my way there. It was a little overwhelming to log onto “retail” at the moment, I might even have to start all over again, oh wait…I already am.
