So a less profitable version of wow, I don’t see Blizzard jumping on that concept.
That always sounded cool but was rarely the case.
I think the slice of potential WoW subscribers that this would appeal to is likely too small, resulting in a low return-on-investment for the effort to provide it, and thus it never getting off the ground. Certainly my kids (perhaps their generation in general) do not even care for an MMO… too much time commitment; they like quick games that are “won and done” in 10-15 min, then they have other things to attend to. They don’t plunk down in front of their PC or console for hours at a time like when they were teens since they’re too busy with home maintenance, looking after kids, just wanting sleep after exhausting workdays, etc.
So Blizz has to ask “what’s the potential ROI? How many new subs might this attract and is that worth it?” Clearly they thought Classic (and it’s variants) was worth it, so this might be too, but I didn’t think there’d be enough nostalgia players that would come back for Classic, so I could be dead wrong on this Pristine thing as I was on Classic.
I guess as a director I’d ask next “If Classic serves those that want the nostalgia bite, will I just move players from Classic to Pristine with no gain in subscribers, or will I attract even more nostalgia players that want Pristine but did not go for Classic? How likely is that? Enough to pay for the project and maybe have a profit?”
I do think it’s trying to capture dollars from nostalgia players, because I just do not see a worlds where Gen X/Millennials that are not already playing WoW are suddenly going to pay a sub to try out this new Pristine Server concept. They need new revenue, not a shift of players from mode X to mode Y with no increase in revenue.
Unfortunately no, but I think it would have been interesting to see. It went out the window because it was presented as an -alternative- to classic, and people just wanted classic.
Honestly though, I would love to see them try something like this in retail, but they never would because it would probably hurt WoW token sales. With that being said, all of the stuff listed as being removed specifically from pristine servers is stuff that has actually been added to CLASSIC due to community backlash, which is kind of funny.
Leveling acceleration? Exists in classic now. Level boosts? Same. Character transfers? Also exist in classic. WoW token? lol. Group finder? Yup.
I am personally a classic purist. I don’t want any of these things in classic, but other people whined and they added it so I quit playing. I suspect the same thing would happen with pristine servers. At least seasonal servers like Season of Discovery are still untouched by stuff like this, but we’ll see how long that lasts, lol.
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Imagine this story, my experience in a nutshell. I get home from work, eat some food, grab some water and sit down to play. I have maybe 2hrs or so. I log into WoW and jump into the LFG channels and start looking for a group. “Recruiting for… GDKP.” Skip it. “LFM need 2 dps for … min bid 500g.” No, thank you. I have to sit there and filter these GDKP runs. I just want to find a regular group and play. If someone wins the roll, great. But I don’t want to swipe a credit card to get any sort of power progression.
Now, expand this to many thousands of players looking to do the same.
I’ve seen so many boosting community advertise their Discord channels in public channels. GDKPs are effectively that. “Looking for carries” and such are common.
Also, I main a healer and currently have 90+ parses in 25man, and as high as 99 in 10man. I am literally better than most of the Classic community at my role. (The game isn’t hard. I’m just looking to slay internet dragons.)
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I enjoyed Classic for a time back in 2019 when it released.
Same with SoD last year.
But what stopped me from continuing to play, among other things (it’s just a slower game), was the overwhelming amount of GDKPs.
Ffs, even BFD, the lvl 25-man raid, people were doing GDKPs.
The fact they banned them made me happy and I played SoD until the next phase, but still lost interest. It just wasn’t Classic+ enough for me.
GDKPs are absolutely not in the spirit of Classic at all, and just promote people to buy bots’ gold since token doesn’t exist.
Ain’t nobody gonna play just to grind gold, especially when bots can do it while AFK and have armies.
And the amount of people selling stuff for gold instead of just playing for it, ruined it for me personally.
Yes, I don’t care about running raids or dungeons if they are being sold, period.
Yes, it does affect me, at least if large amounts of people are doing it.
Kinda why I lost interest in raiding in retail, same problem.
It’s not special if it can be bought.
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How would it even work though?
No chromie time? Level to 150?
Pre SL professions?
Undo stat squish/item level squish?
Sounds like a ton of work.
not an issue - join a guild or create your own group.
problem solved: glad i could fix that for you 
that’s fantastic to hear! so you obviously know all of the boss fights well enough to lead your own group to success!
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Cant commit to a schedule. Doesn’t fix my problem.
GDKPs directly reduce my ability to enjoy the game. The alternative is to stop playing the game mode I’ve been able to enjoy for nearly two decades.
Irrelevant to the GDKP topic. You tried to call me bad, I’m telling you I’m objectively better than most of the players in this game mode. Skill isn’t my issue, my ability to enjoy raiding is worsened by the existence of GDKPs.
I’m not looking to run a group. I’m here to relax and slay internet dragons after work. I’m not look to herd cats.
this method doesn’t require you to commit to a schedule.
i am so glad to hear this! that means you are perfectly capable of leading YOUR OWN GROUP to valiant success against those
I can play the way I want. You can play the way you want.
You can tell me “make your own group.” I can tell you GDKPs are dumb.
There’s nothing to argue. I’m not looking for a “solution” to playing a video game. I’m explaining my experience with this game is getting worse due to GDKPs.
I’d rather buy gear directly from Blizzard instead of giving some random shell company in SEA my money to ruin more games. GDKPs directly encourage these goldselling companies to exist, and they’re universally hated by the majority of engaged audiences. As such, GDKPs are dumb.
well let’s look at your situation, shall we?
you can’t commit to a schedule and you don’t like the way that other people run their groups.
you have three options:
-
run your own group
-
join the GDKP
-
don’t play the game
if you can’t do 1 or 2, enjoy #3
Option #4: Join a group that isn’t a GDKP.
But you’re a GDKP supporter, can’t expect you to think of that option.
So, clearly you’re a shill for GDKPs. I’ll leave you to your own devices. Have fun paying for pixels from 10-20 years ago. I’m not looking for some random adult to give me the privilege of paying their rent. If that’s how you roll, by all means, more power to you. I just think GDKPs are dumb.
but that’s not an option as you’ve stated there are nothing but GDKP groups in the LFG channel.
you said yourself you can’t find a normal group.
doesn’t that tell you something? there are no groups out there that you want to join - maybe no one wants to play the way you want to play.
you don’t get to complain there are no groups where you don’t “agree with their philosophical loot rules” when you refuse to create your own groups.
No, I did not. It takes far more effort to filter them out. And because they are ran by multiple accounts, I have to keep ignoring more and more players.
The rest of your post is stupid. A shining analog to the GDKP community’s shills.
I don’t want to support anyone who directly funds companies/individuals who RMT.
ok if you are able to find groups, then why are you here complaining?
The existence of GDKPs funds a RMT market that would not otherwise exist on such a large scale. These companies and individuals rake in a stupidly high amount of money when they sell their gold to chumps who participate in GDKPs. They create unwanted spam in-game due to advertising their services. They promote a “pay to play” attitude in a video game for which you already pay to play. This cash flow is directed to companies who further promote their services, creating more and more spam.
I do not want to promote a system where the end result is a worse experience for me. I do not want to pay some kid’s rent. I would much rather gold be made a cosmetic currency, like it was in Diablo 3 Seasons.
I do not want to have my only viable route of power progression to involve a credit card. I want to play the video game for fun, not for profit. And I strongly believe that anyone trying to profit as a player is poison for any game community. The mindset places a dollar value on personal entertainment.
GDKPs are dumb, and supporting them is dumb.
i.e. speculating. Thanks.
Nobody cares. That’s not the point of the post.
Absolutely 100% the truth. Ultimately that’s the solution I’d like most. If they want the integrity audience to take retail at all seriously though, pristine is a path forward.
Oh is that why a rerelease of 2005 got them their BIGGEST subscriber return (4 million players) and sustained a population at peak legion levels? All that innovation doesn’t hold a candle to the original. Sorry!
It was literally their idea.
What makes you say this? We have a pretty massive audience that goes for Vanilla-paced WoW.
I feel you, and I’m sorry we’re in this boat. This is exactly why “no changes” had to be a thing. 
And where is classic now? Once most people get their nostalgia fix, they move on. Look how quickly even SoD fell off. The majority of the playerbase is in retail or remix. Starting a new vanilla server is just going to be a repeat of an initial rush of new players and another dead server a month later.
Classic is over right now. They haven’t rereleased Vanilla since 2019, five years ago.
A repeat how? Classic 2019 was at peak legion population until TBCC prepatch where they introduced a cash shop. You’re not based in reality bud.