Putting Classic Into Perspective

Lexemic-tichondrius · April 9, 2019, 1:45pm

When Vanilla was first released with Molten Core and Onyxia, they were legitimately difficult raids.

The player base was slowly learning what items were best and which bosses in which dungeons dropped the best gear. Databases like Thottbot were being updated to provide references for bosses and items.

Guilds spent raid night after raid night every week for months getting through Molten Core encounters. On off-nights, guild members farmed gold, materials for consumables, fire resist gear, etc. to prepare themselves for the next raid night. In short, there was some serious end-game in Vanilla.

I fear this will not be the case in Classic. The player base is simply too well informed this time around for Molten Core to pose even a fraction of the difficulty that it did originally. Any prospective raider in Classic will be up to date with their classes’ pre-raid Best in Slot gear and which dungeons they can repeat to get it. A good number of these players will have likely cleared Molten Core at some point at 60 and probably even killed Ragnaros again in Cataclysm.

Simply put, using common sense and the progression we’ve seen in private servers as a reference, Molten Core will be expected to be puggable within a couple months of Classic’s Launch. Most private server pugs in pre-raid BiS blues clear MC in less than 2 hours and Onyxia is a quick 1-fight raid.

The content plans show that for the first 4-6 months, the only end-game available will be Molten Core and Onyxia. There will be no Honor System for PvP Rewards. There will be no Battlegrounds.

All that will be available at level 60 is your weekly Molten Core and Onyxia which would average about 3 hours of endgame. Outside of this, you can enjoy yourself in World PvP and ganking low-levels, leveling professions, gaining reputation.

But is World PvP and ganking really 5 months worth of content? Will a respectable portion of the player base really stick around for countless hours of the slow push between horde and alliance at Tarren Mill?

I believe this is a huge oversight. So many people are honest to god SCARED that Blizzard is going to ruin Classic they cling on to #nochanges for dear life. This prevents the possibility of making Classic a truly spectacular game in its own right, and not a mere regurgitation of something that has been done numerous times in the last 12 years.

We MUST make changes in the way content is delivered in Classic. Old raid content will not provide an endgame for a modern Vanilla. This current Content Plan will be completely void of an end-game that enthusiasts and hardcore players will DESPERATELY NEED.

I posted what I thought could be a solution to the lack of endgame in the opening months here:

https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/honor-system-should-be-released-in-phase-1/145650

I would very much like to hear everyone’s opinion on this. I know plenty of you are going to call me names; I take your passion for Classic as a compliment, as it’s something I’ve been passionate about for a very long time.

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/18000060722?page=1

If you made it this far, I APPRECIATE YOU. Thank you.

TL;DR: The modern player base will be able to PuG Molten Core within months of release, clears lasting only 2-3 hours. Molten Core progression, and the endless farming of mats, gold, and FR gear provided a proper endgame in Vanilla. There will be no comparable endgame in Classic for the first 4-6 months. This will cause players to lose interest in Classic, only having a few hours of playability PER WEEK for endgame players.

Eaglesgift-ravenholdt · April 9, 2019, 1:54pm

We are getting Vanilla packaged as Classic.

This is what many of us have wanted for over a decade.

You are complaining now, before release, about content drought? Retail is that way =====>

Mergons-terenas · April 9, 2019, 1:55pm

This troll again who does nothing but complain…

Bucc-malganis · April 9, 2019, 1:57pm

Its all about the journey my friend

Duskee-frostwolf · April 9, 2019, 1:58pm

Okay… I’ll bite.

Who cares? Level some alts, pvp for fun, work on your tier set, whatever. Lots of people here have been waiting 10+ years for vanilla, they can wait 4-6 months for more content after MC/Ony.

Hypexclassic-moon-guard · April 9, 2019, 1:59pm

Really this sounds like u have a problem

Mairamen-chromaggus · April 9, 2019, 2:02pm

Either the validity of private servers is being vastly overestimated, or people are wildly under estimating the time investments of Vanilla WoW. Either way, I look forward to the challenges about to be laid before us. And I will congratulate the server first 60s when it happens, a few weeks/ a month into launch.

Velwind-moon-guard · April 9, 2019, 2:04pm

Classic WoW… is the endgame content.

It isn’t like BfA where the only “meaningful” thing to do is a handful of things at 120.
Raids, Mythic+, and Arenas are the “endgame” content for Bfa.

For BfA… they are the game.

For Classic WoW… The entirety of Classic is the game.

Gordimort-illidan · April 9, 2019, 2:04pm

You are only accounting for the absolute no life try hards that will level cap and hit pre raid BiS in the first month. Blizzard cannot tune the game for only the hardest of hardcore. A lot of players behind the curve won’t be 60 for 2-3 months of casual game play (consistent casual game play) maybe longer. Then getting pre raid with sub 5% drops is not like it is today where you can quickly gear up. It can take weeks to build a proper pre raid BiS. Then the actual MC progression which may not be just in and out for the middle and late bloomers. (Depending on how Blizz tunes the dungeon) So let’s assume 3-4 months before the bulk of the WHOLE community sees the content not just the neck beards. Then there is also SO MANY things to work towards besides rep. Lvling up in vanilla is NOT like it is now, very very very slow and wont be done in a day. 10-20 days PLAYED TIME

EPIC mount?
Stock piling consumables for BWL release, forward
Tarren mill vs South shore
Rep grind/stock piling AQ event mats
Crafting/gathering

all of which is plenty of a time sink, and although there will be a lul for the hardcore players, that is something that has ALWAYS existed and is unavoidable.
so, here is my big STOP COMPLAINING opinion

Hythee-tichondrius · April 9, 2019, 2:05pm

The game isn’t only about clearing raids and gearing up your main!

I think there will be plenty to have fun with even with only MC and Ony. Plus, I don’t think I, or the guild I build, will be in the category of being able to clear MC in 3 hours within a month or two. It will take some progression!

Each server will be a community with lots things to experience beyond raiding.

Mergons-terenas · April 9, 2019, 2:05pm

avg time to get 60 is 14 days, I did it in 19 days on a Pserver.

Which is 456 hours, say

I’d play 8h a day, I would need 57 days. That is playing 7 days a week without stopping and I’d be 60 in 2 months
well u can guess where ths leads to were i not to play every day or even less every day.

Kahldea-proudmoore · April 9, 2019, 2:07pm

The fact that Classic WoW will be bundled in with your retail sub will basically mean that you are getting access to two different games for the monthly price of one.

Retail WoW does not really interest me in the slightest to be honest, but will I play it because I am already paying a sub for Classic? Definitely. Even if content drought were to become a problem early on in WoW Classic’s content timeline, you can always step away and put some time into retail. Honestly, I can’t help but think that Blizz may even be counting on players doing this.

Lexemic-tichondrius · April 9, 2019, 2:07pm

OMG Mergons, this is the first time you’ve actually said anything relevant. Thank you, my dude.

Mergons-terenas · April 9, 2019, 2:08pm

Hope it helps u to put your threads to rest.

Derkarn-area-52 · April 9, 2019, 2:09pm

“The modern player” is currently throwing an unholy fit because they can’t use flying mounts yet. That person isn’t going to make it 40 levels strictly running and using flight paths.

On the off-chance that they do get to 60 and rush through gearing up and getting the raids cleared and then start screaming that they’re bored, the good news is that they can quit and absolutely no one will be bothered by their departure.

Lexemic-tichondrius · April 9, 2019, 2:09pm

You’re going to need a few more. Sorry

Mergons-terenas · April 9, 2019, 2:10pm

Lexemic-tichondrius · April 9, 2019, 2:16pm

You got a mean emoji game bro.

My biggest concern is Classic fizzling down. I suppose it will spark back up with every new phase, and the endgame will be more robust during AQ40/Naxx.

After this, however, I hope people begin to see the opportunity to make changes towards long-term viability of Classic at 60. A new raid after Naxx, changes to the PvP System perhaps that people can work for. All in the spirit of Vanilla.

Derkarn-area-52 · April 9, 2019, 2:28pm

It will fizzle. At some point, people will beat the game and either try to make their own fun, re-roll and start all over again or move on. That’s perfectly fine. That’s exactly what Classic WoW is supposed to do.

The problem there is that this isn’t supposed to be a viable MMO experience with a long-term sustainability plan. That’s what Retail WoW is for. Classic is just taking a bunch of old toys out of the attic and throwing them in the sandbox.

It’s impossible for new content to be developed “in the spirit” of Vanilla. The people who made Vanilla are long gone from World of Warcraft. This would be like someone suggesting that you and I go into a recording studio and try to make a record that captures the spirit of the Beatles in the Sgt. Pepper era. We’d never be able to do it; it would end up being something completely inauthentic. Seeing people run around with gear sets from raids after Naxx would immediately create an experience that is not authentic.

Kennister-stormrage · April 9, 2019, 2:38pm

Rush to 60 to get to end game then complain about lack of endgame content. I just have to laugh at this. These are the people Blizzard should not be listening too. Go roll an alt.