The real Classic experience is that “ZOMG CRAP!” moment that comes because you ran into elite mobs scattered among normal mobs out in the world, and, maybe, manage to run for your life.
Personally - I keep getting caught out by running on memory of leveling, and forgetting my earliest leveling experiences. I get so complacent I pull before noticing its a red level elite. Or, I forget just how narrow teh margins are for dealing with certain mobs (that were ignorable a few expacs into Retail).
I mean - I remembered Son of Arugal correctly. He still killed me a few times. I remembered teh Trolls in Hinterland, and the Ogres in Stromgarde… But I forgot the free range trolls in Tanaris.
I remembered the Crushridge Ogres, but underestimated them. Repeatedly.
I forgot how stealthy devilsaurs can be. And I totally forgot about the tower guard elites in Andorahl.
But -I think we can all agree that that moment you break and run because OMG is as close to those days in Vanilla as we’ll get.
One of my favorite moments thus far was in Stranglethorn when we put together a group to do The Mind’s Eye. After we got the Eye we were slowly fighting our way out and a bunch of respawns jumped us. Me, my buddy and this other guy led all these ogres on a merry chase and all three of us were down to 5% health and I was popping renews and bubbles and trying to fear them and the whole thing was just a giant cluster of craziness. Probably the most memorable and hilarious thing that’s happened to me so far in Classic.
The only thing that could have made it better is the Benny Hill theme song playing softly in the background.
Had a similar experience with that quest. Myself and a hunter 2-manned it; things went smooth, until they didn’t. On the plus side, my vanilla leveling buddy was a hunter, and I had, basically, the same lock, so I was familiar with the synergy or lack.
Best part was I had accidently dropped a soulstone on the hunter, and he died at the end…and rezzed. So I got brownie points.
I’ve always been a player who enjoys things most when they go south and you have to scramble to survive. And I love it when total strangers manage to pull off team work.
Vanilla/Classic seems made just to supply outlier moments you never expect. Yesterday, ended up teaming up with a human lock in the gorilla cave in Ungoro. We were alternating mobs up to Uchu. I let him go first, and helped with an add. He waited, helped me.
On teh way out, somebody dropped a train of apes on us. We had an awesome couple of minutes using fear to kite and peel gorilla’s off each other.
Honestly, Classic being Classic means little interactions like that matter in ways that won’t be evident until months later.