There is no TLDR version, so sorry if you hate reading more than a couple sentences.
Now that #somechanges is a thing, I see a lot of people advocating for stuff like dual spec and druids having a normal rez and other such things. I think they completely miss the point of #somechanges and view it as “Things you would like in the game.” rather than addressing issues with the TBC experience.
#nochanges for vanilla classic was created not because people liked a world buff meta or wanted mage AoE boosts, in fact most of the #nochange crowd hate those things, but rather because people were worried Blizzard would screw the game up if given an inch, and they deemed dealing with known issues preferable to gambling on Blizzard. Of course as we see now, #nochanges created it’s own changes due to increased player knowledge about the game and foresight, and some changes made it in to the game anyway, but they were kept to a minimum.
Going forward in to TBC #somechanges is being attempted, and as stated earlier many people seem to completely miss the point. The point of #somechanges is not to add QoL things, but rather try to preserve the TBC experience and address potential issues that may arise from players having foreknowledge of things. The seal change is a prime example of the latter. If people went in to TBC classic not knowing how good/bad the seals of blood/vengeance were, as was the case in original TBC, they likely would of left them faction exclusive, but because people know, it will impact the choices they will make. Many tryhards would swap factions for the edge Seal of Blood gives, despite the fact in the grand picture it’s not as impactful as people act.
Players often view game design through an individual lens. This is problematic as WoW is a MMO and everything everyone does effect one another, and changes will often ripple throughout the game and effect things that appear unrelated. The job of a devs is to look through dozens if not hundreds of these lenses, and being able to do this plays a large role in the difference between a good dev and bad dev. Going in to TBC classic with #somechanges being a thing, the job of the devs is to deem if a design change will impact the TBC experience and gauge how much so, and if the deviation is worth it. I emphasis TBC experience because that’s what TBC classic is suppose to be, a recreation of TBC, not TBC+, not TBC with Wrath QoL features, a recreation of TBC.
If we look at the lifting of the seal restriction, we can see why it’s impact is not as large as say some of the other popular changes being floated around, such as druids having a normal rez or dual spec. The first thing to note is that Seal of Blood, a staple for ret, and Seal of Vengeance, which has occasional usage in tanking, were not added in Wrath, both existed in BC, the change is removing a restriction, not adding in new content. The impact of this restriction is minor and will not change the TBC experience much. Why is this? Because ret is still a bit of a meme spec in TBC, not vanilla level meme spec, but it still under-performs in damage regardless of seal being used. Ret is taken to raid for utility reasons, not for the damage it’s seals provides. The seal change will impact a paladin on an individual level, have a very minor impact on a group level, and little to no impact on a raid level. Once again because it is confined mostly to the paladin, coupled with ret’s already mediocre damage, it’s impact on PvP will also be minimal. If anything the +1 talent point being freed up is a bigger game changer, and even all that aside, I personally believe concerns of faction rerolls played the biggest part in the change, which is amusing since Arcane Torrent, not Seal of Blood, gives Blood Elf paladins the edge.
If we look at another proposed change, druids getting a normal rez, we can see the ripple effects are much larger than the seal change. Why is this? Because revive did not exist in TBC, and because of that how the druid was played was effected by this. Just because this ability was not used in combat or for increasing heals or DPS does not mean it does not effect the gameplay experience of a druid and those around them. Lack of revive had a major impact on how groups were formed, with groups feeling confident about their ability having no issue having a druid heal, while those less sure may opt for another type of healer if they believed deaths would be a thing. That’s already effecting not just the individual experience of the druid, but the collective experience of the group. And people easily forget the fact a battle rez also plays a significant role in druid utility and gives them an edge in certain other scenarios. Some classes are more desirable in certain situations and some in others, this is part of what makes TBC, TBC. Where class utility plays a bigger role on picking a class than numbers on a chart.
Simply put #somechanges is not a request for additions. It’s addressing problems that face the TBC experience. TBC not having dual spec or a druid normal rez or other proposed changes is not a problem the TBC experience has, because neither of them were in TBC. If anything they would cause problems. A good example of a TBC change is addressing the ring enchants.
I think I should also address the elephant in the room, as I hear some people thinking “the boost!” currently. That is a different topic as that was added for monetization, not to effect/change the TBC experience (even though it will as a side effect, and Blizzard has taken the stance of profit over game experience, whether you view it as a good or bad thing).