Help me understand the appeal of Vanilla WoW as a new player

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
62

Get dungeon gear.

There’s only a bunch of prep if you want to do the quests.
If you just wanna run the dungeon you run the dungeon.

That’s warrior life without gear.
You need good gear(Particularly the weapon) to have a good time on a warrior.
If you can get the Whirlwind weapon at level 30 it’s basically an Epic Weapon in power level and turns you into a God from 30-40.

lJoin LookingForGroup - Official LFG channel.
join LFG - Unofficial LFG channel.

Use the LFG tool(Little green eyeball on the minimap).

Get LFG Bulletin Board(Addon) if you use the channels.

You’re too focused on the end game and are missing the rest of the game.
Engage in wPVP.
Quest zones you don’t know.
Talk to random people.
Group for quests.
Help people on their quests even if you don’t need it.

It’s your approach to the game that’s the problem.
You’re coming at Vanilla the same way that you play Retail.

They have the same name(World of WarCraft) but are very different games.

1 Like
63

Whats wrong with the players on anniversary realms? im out of the loop

64

Nothing, there’s just a small group of people who think vanilla was a perfect game, they’re upset that the anniversary realms have some minor but highly popular WoL improvements instead of being fresh #nochanges realms like era.

So they try to dump on anyone who likes it.

3 Likes
65

Nobody ruined the game but the people complaining themselves.

WOW when it started out, was a game without addon support, guides, YT Videos … It was not a fully researched product, where you could measure every bit of your performance. We were not knowing what the outcome was of our actions, sometimes we got lost and started to run to Thottbot. At this point, we created a market for shortcuts, it was our own desire that lead to what we have today.

At one point, people started to develop addons that solved problems for us and Blizzard added an API that supported real time tracking of data across the party and later raid wide. Entire webites and content creators started to dig deep into every stat of WOW, developed walkthroughs, addons to track quests and video tutorials of every quest, profession and dungeon.

All that was done by people that played back then, long before todays WOW gamers were either born or in touch with a keyboard.

We Vanilla gamers had the power to stop things in 2003 and 2004 by not using addons, by not using third party websites or YT videos but we did not so it´s our own damn fault, that WOW became what it is today.

As for what made WOW so special,

it was a journey where you did not know the outcome of. The first few months, a lot was mouth to mouth information, be it quest item locations, hidden NPC´s and lore, entrances to dungeons…

It was like playing Monkey Island without a PC magazine, you had to figure stuff out for yourselfs and with others, that was the beauty of it.

1 Like
66

The Goblin Jesus statue at Booty Bay has the essence of why classic WoW was such a great game: a little reminder of our culture hidden in an immersive world which is somewhat familiar but still super immersive land to explore, made by a super talented team, full of creativity. That talent is not there anymore in 2024, they were replaced by factory workers.

1 Like
67

The thing w classic (i didnt get into wow until about 5 yrs ago. I am very much in the age of those w the wow classic nostalgia) is that the part you dont like, is kinda the main focus. Its that slow journey accross the world to reack L60. Its very diffrent compared to retail where leveling is the annoyance before end game. If tou dont enjoy leveling dont force urself. Play what you enjoy.

68

Make a night elf hunter

69

Thank you for the suggestions. Ill give those things a shot

70

It’s what WoW was when you actually needed groups, and the game was, you know, actually social.

Not whatever retail is now.

71

The problem with newer players to classic is they hear “warriors are top dps” and force themselves to roll warrior. Warriors while are amazing end game are probably the least fun class levels 1-30, they get playable 30-45 then they get insane. Even with all that, warrior certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Warlocks and mages are vastly different playstyles that are generally way more fun to level. Next is that even though warriors are top dps, every class is useful. Maybe not every spec (sorry ele shaman/ret paladins) but, every class has its uses. Retail is just, everyone spam your buttons, faceroll everything and get bored in 10 minutes.
others have mentioned the reason you don’t like it is exactly why we do and visa versa, like killing 50 mobs in a row with 0 downtime, we like the struggle or 2-3 in a row or if you’re lucky, at one time.

1 Like
72

I like its utility. Giving out buffs, ghetto healing. Basically I get side things to do.

But I mainly do pvp where this can matter more. It can be Less DPS meter watching there.

In an AV where no GY has been taken yet, that dude you just rez’d on a tower since the healer(s) are at noob hill is one player who is very grateful. they won’t care if you are like 30th on the meters lol.

So its the dps class that is more than smash buttons to me. I have rogue for that. And hunter.

1 Like
73

You gotta remember OG WoW was our social media.
That part of the game has been lost a bit.

You see it somewhat in barrens chat.
WoW itself was built on the community.
Vanilla servers were only like 3000 players online at a time and that was the full ones.
This server(Nightslayer) is 80,000 people online at any one time and 210,000 tracked characters.

74

I didn’t start until wrath, that was and had held the spot of favorite for me. Vanilla is rough, I do enjoy the storyline and lore. There is a voice addon you can get that will read the quests out to you, at least most of them. Makes it a bit more fun for my mom and myself to a point.

75

Night Elf Mohawk!

1 Like
76

I got my copy of WoW on release day, with 2 of my roommates. I was 20, and in my first apartment away from home. I still have my disks and game manual. So, like, I’m willing to admit that there’s nostalgia involved. And wow, this post got away from me. Sorry…

  1. The gameplay. Having played on and off fo 20 years, I feel comfortable saying that retail WoW is jittery and frantic. I’m constantly doing something with my fingers - ususally rattling along the number line to try and maintain my rotation. My focus is on maintaining that. In Vanilla I felt I could breathe, and plan my next step, much easier. We had access to most of our kit no matter the spec, and we could use abilities in unorthodox ways to suit a situation. I’ve heard people say that Vanilla is on ‘boomer time’ and I don’t think that’s true. The action economy was slower, but, you were still doing a lot - moving, using your abilities, and planning.

  2. Class balance and philosophy. Vanilla was balanced around the group, not a 1v1 match-up. And I liked that. There was a fantastic rock-paper-scissors feel to play - a plate wearer was highly resistant to physical damage. But would be withered by magical damage. Rogues and hunters could tear apart clothies and leather wearers but had more issues with more armored people. Mages and warlocks could blast away tanks, but if a physical DPS class got the jump on them they were effed. (This all relates to PvE too, tank mobs, caster mobs, and physical combat mobs) Related to 1. above - you had to plan out your play more - decide what combat to take and what to be careful about. You had to select your targets thoughtfully, etc. etc.

  3. The social aspect. In Vanilla, your name mattered. You couldn’t just queue up and find an infitate supply of groups. You had to cultivate the community, and work together in a real way to get anything done. I feel that the gameplay was much less toxic when we couldn’t just find another set of faceless people in 10 minutes.

  4. Environmental storytelling and exploration. WoW has been slipping down the ‘NPC Theatre’ slope since the end of BC. Now phased zones and cutscenes tell the story to us, rather than we exploring a world to learn the story. I know every inch of pre-Cata Azeroth because I had to go over it with a fine toothed comb to get anywhere. The lead-up quests to dungeons, the important quest-lines in zones. It made the world feel like a WORLD, not a game I can queue up and play in 30 minute chunks. I don’t even know where on the map any of the dungeons are post Wrath, or why I care to go in there beyond getting loot. I wasn’t made to build a relationship with them, like I was in Vanilla. Razorfen Kraul and Razorfen Downs are a great example of this - you had to work up to them and flit around outside the dungeon for a time before actually going in. You had to WALK to dungeons, dodging mobs or cutting through them. A dungeon trip was like planning a dangerous expedition. It placed us in the world, like we were exploring a world. Of Warcraft. Now, it feels like I’m sitting in a lobby queuing for matches. It feels like a game.

4 Likes
77

wow itself as a game is not a good game and here is my 2x points.

1-if you’re alone in wow playing/leveling/doing whatever then you will find the game with no meaning unless you enjoy the story and quests.

2-if you have irl friends playing with you from level1 toward stepping into dungeons and pvp together against other players and later at max lvl raiding together then you will find wow is the most amusing game since it will connect you with your friends toward the same goal and you will progress and you will keep achieving things over time with your irl friends.

wow is not meant to be played solo and this is why vanilla was well loved because it gathered many friends while later expansions shattered this to a degree.

P.S most people who started and loved wow in 2005 was warcraft3 lovers, so they had a preconceive idea about loving wow, and then the others who never played wc3 but joined wow joined it because their friends was playing wow, later on people started to play wow because they wanted to try the game played by millions and has commercial of famous players saying “i play world of warcraft”

78

No one can give you the magic of Vanilla. It’s either there for you or it isn’t.

79

class
is really the feature you need to consider most for classic. for example, mages summon food and water, for themselves and others. they can teleport themselves and eventually, other people, to the main cities of your faction. they can gather up and kill groups of mobs. etc.

professions
are the second most important. when you make something in classic, you can sell it on the auction house and other players will buy it, especially if its in demand. for example, tailors can make bags and players buy them if the price is right. etc.

vendors
have purpose and are often not just useless npcs. you train your weapons at a weapon master vendor, you train your skills at your class training vendor, etc. your skills dont jusr appear on your action bar, you have to go to your trainer, train them and drag them to your action bars. you need portal stones to portal or teleport, as a mage. you need maple seeds to rez, as a druid. etc. so you become intimately familar with the game’s vendors and your character’s functionality.

gear
not only ramps up slowly, the game teaches you how your gear impacts your game play and how to enhance it to make it better, such as applying armor kits, getting enchants and applying scopes / poisons / sharpening stones to weapons.

roleplay
as a gaming device, not as merely storytelling, but as world building. its an mmoRPG, and as such involves more intimate connection with the game world. for example, hunters must feed their pets, which creates a bond between the player and pet. warlocks must quest for each pet type. druids must quest for each shapeshift type. and so on. you really learn the game, inside and out.

1 Like
80

I joined WoW back in TBC era and experienced leveling classic WoW at its worst I guess. I remember dying with my rogue in starting zone because you couldn’t dual wield until lvl 10. My friends played a warrior and a paladin and didn’t know anything about rogues so I have to figure things out on my own. I kinda appreciated the game more because of it.
And yes, finding groups can be a bother but that’s what general and trade chats are for in classic.
Because of everything you wrote, I think you would love playing WoW SOD. I think Season of Discovery is just the right thing for you. It’s WoW Classic how it was meant to be. Depending on who you ask. Come to WoW SOD and I think you’ll enjoy classic a lot more.

82

Vanilla has aged considerably but I also think it is just a brilliantly designed MMO. The game really feels like you get to explore a large, rich world full of cool places to see and lots of different people. The game brilliantly encourages players to interact with each other in interesting ways. I really like how the game makes you feel like a part of a bigger picture rather than trying to fluff up the player’s ego.

Vanilla is FAR from perfect and when the flaws show up they’re obvious. I also think that there’s a lot here that many MMOs missed over time.

1 Like