I genuinely think a combined version of retail and Classic will make for a superior game than what retail and Classic alone provide now.
For example, keep the adventurous feel of questing, the tier sets for PVE gear, the vendors of PvP and profession levelling of Classic, combined with the cosmetic transmog of armour, customisation of characters, vast choice of collectable mounts & updated graphics of retail as well as the difficulty in raiding/mythic content and you will have, in my opinion, a 10/10 game.
While there is some crossover, they are mostly different playerbases. You may like it (and admittedly I would as well), but there is a good reason they are separate.
I wonder about this statement. To me, especially if theyâre going with the esports deal, class balancing is important. On the other hand, letting some classes and talents be busted lets people choose their difficulty level and thatâs fun. On the third alien hand, it stinks when your favorite spec is hard mode and you donât want hard mode.
What do you mean by the âadventurous feel of questingâ? I despised classic / vanilla questing because it was time consuming and uninteresting. Every character that I leveled in vanilla was through pure mob grinding from levels ~35 to 60. It was more interesting for me to watch through TV seasons on a second monitor while aimlessly grinding mobs than it was to do the quests in Classic / Vanilla.
That said, I think retail is a complete broken mess in Shadowlands for a variety of reasons. I just donât think going back to a Classic model of gameplay is going to save the game.
Yes. It would. That has everything to do with WHY those are a problem between the two.
class balancing - Most classes brought a niche to each group. Even though the dmg balances were skewed, utility was essential! You didnât have 6 versions of Lust. You didnât have more than 1/2 the classes with insane self healing. You didnât get 2 buffs and done from a group. Unlike retail where if you arenât topping DPS AND have all the utility then your useless.
Flying - When they designed areas without flying in mind they were so much more engaging. Now everything has to be designed with flying in mind so itâs not designed to truly be experienced from a ground only perspective. So being only on the ground doesnât feel good.
Plus, personal preference. There are more than enough players happy to ride on their horse. We donât all need to be there âRIGHT NOW CUZ I GOT STUFF TO DOâ.
low % loot drops - When the content is fun you are happy to go back in to try again. When the content is dull you just want your gear so you can be done with it. Donât need high drop rates to keep you interested in good content.
Also, crafting made up a part of gearing. Donât need loot to rain from the sky if your end game crafting system is actually useful.
Grinding - lol? This game is developed to be a time sink. Grinding is inherent to the design. If you donât like to grind then you should pick a different game to play.
If the suggestion is a Classic+, I wholeheartedly agree.
They have already implemented a lot of the Classic philosophy in through the last few expansions though, and much of it is not received well, at least if you would judge by what is said here on the forums.
Personally, my ideal scenario is simply return all the content that was removed with Cataclysm.
Put the whole Classic world back into the game via Chromie time, and I will be extremely pleased.
Same with any expansion content that has been removed too, like MoP etc.
Past that though, I do not feel like creating a FOURTH version of the game for Classic+ is worth the effort right now.
Sure, class balance is leagues better than in Vanilla Classic, but that wonât be nearly as bad of an issue with TBC Classic, and SLâs smaller balance issues are multiplied with meta obsession (no, you donât actually need a fire mage for M+ under 15, but people will seek one anyway).
For the restâŚ
We wonât have flying for at least another patch
Loot acquisition in SL is a consistent forum complaint
The single biggest complaint about SL is its grindy systems
I think much of the bad reception boils down to implementation. The âclassicâ bits getting implemented in the modern game arenât bringing along their supporting bits of context.
Like loot scarcity for example, yes good loot was hard to get ahold of in Vanilla but there were also countless sidegrades and 2nd and 3rd best items that could be targeted and acquired in the midst of seeking that BiS item to hold you over. SL doesnât have much of that.
The main campaign in shadowlands feels extremely linear. What I enjoyed about Classic was the non linear style of questing and the free to roam feeling.
In shadowlands iâm forced down a path that Blizzard wants me to go down on to experience the campaign they created, as opposed to letting me roam around the world, quest in different zones etc despite what level I am.
Yes pre-cata zones are much nicer in this regard. Hit a hub, pick up a truckload of quests (or skip a couple, thatâs fine it wonât lock you out of anything), and the rest is up to you. You donât get herded around from microhub to microhub getting dripfed 2 quests at a time.
Yep. Iâd love it, but all the gripes from soloers would be the same as they still have to do the more difficult content if they wanted to progress their character. And which type of combat system are we using? The slower/auto attack feel of classic or the more fast paced feel of retail? Both games play very differently.
I certainly wouldnât mind more of the rpg elemants from classic getting into the current game. Bring back the class quests eg: warlocks actually having to acquire their companions instead of just being given the spell. I feel thatâs been the biggest thing this game has lost over the years.
