And the “if” is true. Blizzard says it’s for new players who want to play with their friends.
“There’s a lot of my friends, for example, who maybe didn’t really play Classic when it first came out, right? So now they’re behind, and they’re interested in playing the Burning Crusade. This was, for a lot of people, their favorite expansion that we’ve done. We want to make sure those people are served, too. One of the ways we can do that is provide a boost to people that are interested in coming back that maybe aren’t interested in doing the Classic WoW experience but maybe wanna hop right into Outland as quickly as possible.”
“Yeah, so, the team – we spent quite a lot of time discussing it because we want to make sure we respect the time and people who have been playing Classic for two years but also we want people to be able to enjoy Burning Crusade. They loved it the first time and maybe missed Classic, so we are gonna offer a level 58 boost for purchase, but it does come with some restrictions. It’s gonna be one per account, it’s not gonna be usable on Blood Elf or Draenei, it’ll have some dungeon blues, it’ll have level 40 mount skill, no professions. The basics. Basically your Outland starting kit.”
“That’s cool. I mean, that’s a really great way to jump into the game, for sure.”
That’s the full quote for the boost in the deep dive that was aired during Blizzconline. Certainly seems like it’s for new players to me.
Let’s look at the official page for TBC.
"I have never played WoW Classic but I’m interested in Burning Crusade Classic. How can I join my friends?
If you don’t have characters ready for the journey beyond the Dark Portal and are interested in adventuring in Outland with your friends, we will offer an optional Level-58 Character Boost service closer to the launch of Burning Crusade Classic.
This boost will not be usable on Classic Era realms or on the new blood elf or draenei races; in addition, players will be limited to boosting only one character per World of Warcraft account. Further details, including details around pricing and availability, will be announced at a later date."
Wow, that certainly reads like it’s for new players. Especially the part where it says “I have never played WoW Classic.” What about some blue posts on the forums?
“… avoid minimizing the accomplishments of existing players or skipping any new content at launch.”
Existing players. As opposed to… well, NEW players.