I was never really a fan of vanilla back in the day. Coming from Ultima Online and playing other MMOS like City of Heroes, vanilla wow seemed like such a time sink with meaningless grind and weird immersion breaking systems like loot that binds to you, mobs that reset health if you get too far, and limiting character customization and classes.
But boy do I appreciate it a lot more now. I only leveled to like 5 on my classic priest and already its such a different experience. People are chatty on general, so much roleplay going on (Im on a PVP-RP realm) . The zones are so much better, just running around in the dwarf starting zone made me feel like I was really in this snow covered wonderland, with trees much bigger than my character. Exploring for mobs with friends, delving into caves, having to share loot and quest drops just makes me feel like the stuff in the game is actually there. I dont feel rushed to go to max level, also knowing there isnt just some new expansion that will render it all useless really helps. I cant wait to get high enough to go to deadmines.
I know that a lot of the grind can become tedious, and it will all become old, and vanilla has some serious balance issues especially for hybrids. But I do hope classic succeeds immensely even if I’m most likely gonna get sick of it and go back to retail, because I want the Devs to learn from the design philosophy of the game, and to work on creating an expansion centered on the RP aspect, with crafting and leveling content that isnt all obsolete at max level, not just making some arcade paced esport mythic clearing zerg fest.
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It feels good to be playing an actual MMORPG again 
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Glad you’re having fun. I myself am having a good time also.
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You definitely do have to suspend a lot of disbelief, all blizzard games are several healthy steps down from their more mature and serious origins. But Blizzard’s main strength is making that not matter so much with Incredible gameplay and tech that “just works.”
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QFT, couldn’t have said it better
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This is how I felt in the beta. I’ve been a skeptic from day one. I was a firm believer in “you think you do, but you don’t”. I’ve been saying since then that the thing that made vanilla great was the people and the experiences with those people and people are forgetting how bad the game design was. I forgot just how much the game forces those interactions though. It’s been much more fun than I expected.
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The devs know all about the design philosophy in vanilla. Many of them played and enjoyed it. Thinking they will change the live game because of it now is very unlilkely. I hope I’m wrong, but don’t hold your breath waiting for changes.
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Aren’t a lot of the current Developers new or from other Blizz games?
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I agree, getting back to Vanilla has been wonderful. I forgot about so much and am enjoying learning all over again and visiting areas in whole new light.
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Chage many to some then. I was thinking specifically of Ion and lore who do the Q&A and seem very happy with the current game philosophy. Again, I hope I’m totally wrong, but I expect no changes to the live game.
Its been interesting to observe player behavior in both.
The big item is it seems most players will never talk, group, or interact with anyone else unless the game “forces” them to do it with things like non shared mob tagging and quest items.
Ive been in several groups already and all were driven by non shared mob tagging.
As someone who doesnt fancy rp. Im wholeheartedly glad you are enjoying yourself. Everyone finds something fun that they make their own. The journey of classic is discovering your own adventures with your friends, not a zerg to max and time trials. (As much as i enjoy M+ and multi tier difficulties in raids)
Classic is a special game in my heart because thats where it all began and hopefully more people will come to love it as we do.
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“Looks at BFA, looks back at you” You sure that is the hill you want to die on? lol
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Most of the ones i have joined was due to an elite /boss that was whoopin my rear lol
It’s been fun as heck. Guild chat has a lot of comments about what a great diet Classic is, forget to eat, or how it feels like an hour and it’s been five.
So much to do, so much to plan for, love it!
Heh, actually yeah. I hear the buzz about [insert newest expansion here] but, even though I’ve only played for a few hours or so, I’m willing to bet a good chunk that the gameplay is smooth and enjoyable, for their current target demographic. Few can stand with Blizz there.
Fun. Pure and simple. A real MMOPRG.