10/28/2018 04:25 AMPosted by ZahaeraIf you have in fact only just started playing, the simple difference is this: You're level 11. In classic the journey to 60 meant something, and everything you partook in had meaning.
Your journey to 120 in retail will have none of that.
Not dismissing your statement its just very vague and nebulous.
What made it different was several thing.
Time investment, leveling was enormously longer then the current game, getting to one place to another took time, leveling professions took time, getting a group time... just about everything in Vanilla was a crawl. Thus you felt a different kind of gratification for your accomplishments.
Class limitations, not every class was good at everything they had flaws and uniqueness to them, classes also had skill bloat having a bunch of limited skills that you would only use on occasion. this has good and bad sides to it but its part of its charm I suppose.
Raids had 40 players and dungeons (way back when) could have 5-15, this had a unique appeal for some, it was some times a logistical nightmare at other times.
Bumming thru a dungeon/raid with so many people was an impressive site and carried an epic feel to the run. Dungeons also had pre-dungeons full of elites and quests, dungeons were also not linear pinata fest they are now, they had a maze like feel to them and you could get lost, the run could last several hours and you may only be able to clear some sections at a time, some serious dungeon crawls.
PvP could happen anywhere at any time (except safe zones), you could not just fly into the air and be safe, then pop down to mine a node, people were so bloodthirsty they would even run rampant in neutral towns despite the guards chasing them down. You always has a sense of immanent dander on a PvP server.
Gear, because you would level so slowly your gear would last you a long time but better drops were rare! you might to 6 or more level before getting a better green sword. This meant that professions were more relevant for gearing, the AH was important for finding essential gear upgrades, you had to earn your gear and not just have it handed to you just because you decided to log in. Of course you may not be interested in running a dungeon 50 times just to get that one item.
Also gear was very far from optimized, bad stats everywhere, but you also had items with unique effect so special you may not want to ever part with them.
PvE, the world was dangerous, fighting more then one mob at a time was dangerous, some sections of the game were full of elite mobs. Food, potions, fist aid were all relevant and needed to say alive in the world. There was also a sense of wonder and exploration for many of us at the beginning, I don't know if many of us will still hold on to that feeling.
Community, you need to talk to people to get things done, group, trade, PvP, trolling. and because you often meet the same people on a regular basis your actions would often reflect your reputation in that community.
I hope that helps, its just may take on it, I'm sure Vanilla has different meaning for others.