Hey guys, there’s too many version of classic and i don’t know which one i should play on and invest a lot of time.
It’s going to depend on what kinds of things you like I suppose… and WoW is kind of a spectrum right now. Here’s a rough breakdown based on my own perspectives, though this is very subjective and will likely not necessarily be the same as others. Keep in mind that this will be entirely from a PvE player’s perspective, I don’t do much PvP anymore.
I’ll start with the two most extreme ends of the spectrum…
• Classic Era (and Hardcore)
This is Blizzard’s current representation of Vanilla WoW. It has meaningful RPG mechanics and focuses more on your character’s progression and journey. Content is generally easy but slower paced. See Hardcore if you want to add a little bit of challenge by giving your character only a single life, though you can choose to transfer a HC character who has died to the normal realms.
For places to play…
- Mankrik for PvE (low Alliance pop, very low Horde pop)
- Whitemane for PvP (medium pop, balanced between factions).
- Deviate Delight for a “fresh” experience on a PvP server.
- Bloodsail Buccaneers for a “fresh” experience on a PvE server, though this has a much lower engagement than DD.
- Grobbulus for a unique community experience.
To play Classic Era you will need to pay $15 a month for your subscription fee and that is all. To launch you need to select World of Warcraft Classic from the Game Version dropdown in the Battle.Net launcher when you have World of Warcraft Classic selected. Realms for this version can be found in the Classic Era tab of the Realm Selection screen (Hardcore tab for Hardcore mode).
• Retail
This is the version of WoW that has run its course over the last 20 years. If you like challenging content that is refreshed regularly and are less interested in your character’s progression/journey, this might interest you. There is a lot of content to do and it’s fairly well structured into contained progression grinds that allow you to tackle more and more challenging content, but is effectively reset on a 3-6 month cycle where you are given new content to tackle. This version is very RPG light and can be a little system heavy, but has very robust features and generally clean gameplay mechanics.
For places to play, it doesn’t matter what server you choose, they all can play with each other and both factions can also group together. There is also no longer any distinction between PvE and PvP. Instead, War Mode is something you can toggle on/off for your character that will send you to a separate PvP phase with other players who have done the same.
To play this you will need your $15 a month subscription which typically gives you access to all of retail WoW up to but excluding the most recent expansion, which will have to be purchased separately. I don’t think it has quite released yet so if this is what you’re looking for, wait for the newest one (The War Within) to launch and then buy that so you can avoid having to buy Dragonflight and The War Within. Playing retail requires that you choose the World of Warcraft option in the Battle.Net launcher.
Now the inbetween-y flavours…
• Cataclysm
This is the rerelease of the Cataclysm expansion, released in 2010. Gameplay is more modernized but still lands somewhat in between Retail and Classic Era. Content is harder and provides Heroic variants if you’re looking for additional challenge. The RPG mechanics of Classic Era are diminished but still present and there are a decent amount of Quality of Life features present that may, or may not appeal to you (early/cheap mounts, flying mounts, dual talent spec, random dungeon finder, etc…).
In this version, servers are individual and varied, and PvP and PvE servers are seprate. If this version appeals to you, I’d recommend checking out the Cataclsym sub-forum and inquiring there.
To play this version you will only need your $15 per month subscription fee and you can select Cataclysm from the Game Version drop down in the battle.net launcher when you have World of Warcraft Classic selected.
• Season of Discovery
Play here to see what Blizzard’s reimagining of Vanilla WoW would be, taking the old world content and putting in gameplay that’s closer to Cataclysm or even Retail. Skills are obtained by leveling up and seeing a class trainer, but you can discover items out in the world that enhance existing skills or add new ones entirely. Content was released in phases with a level cap, but I believe it is currently now at a level 60 cap. There are new replacement versions of certain dungeons and raids, offering new experiences and loot to obtain if you’ve done Classic Era and are looking for more.
Server selection for SoD is on a PvP or PvE basis and if this version interests you, head over to the SoD subforum to inquire:
Accessing this version requires only your $15 a month and is the same version as Classic Era except that you choose the Seasonal tab on the Realm Selection screen.
Anyway, I think that’s a rough breakdown of all versions and I hope it’s useful. I’m sure others will put in their own thoughts and preferences. Ultimately though it’s going to boil down to what kind of game you want to play, which will be entirely up to you!
If you’ve never played WoW before, I would recommend that you try a few of them to get a feel for what you like and go from there. A good starting point might be…
- Play Classic Era until level 25, experience some questing and dungeon groups. Roll on Mankrik (Alliance) for a good PvE experience or on Whitemane (any faction) for a good PvP experience.
- Play on Retail until at least level 40. Experience questing and dungeons via the group finder.
Use that to get a feel for what kinds of things you like and don’t like, then see if any of the above mentioned flavours appeal to you.
Good luck! 
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Thank you for your breakdown of every version man, i think ill try the “fresh” era server
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Cool, good luck!
Here’s a link to a thread about it if you want more info or where to find the community:
It’s worth noting that they’re doing their own particular thing over there and so if you find that Classic Era is to your liking, but not Deviate Delight’s particular brand, you can always transfer your character to any of the main realms (Mankrik or Whitemane) for a $35 fee. You just can’t transfer characters in to Devitate Delight as Blizzard has disabled them, presumably in an effort to assist with the fresh project that community is attempting to stimulate.
One last piece of advice to you, and to anybody looking to engage with Classic Era in particular. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Folks in Classic Era, especially in game, are usually more than willing to help others learn the game because it usually means more people in our community to play with in the long run. However, also be patient. Sometimes it can take a bit to find a group for content you want to do. It’ll come… Era is about the journey, after all
Anyway, good luck and I hope you have a great time there!
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None!