I can’t even compare my experiences to retail, I’ve never played retail past vanilla, quit before the first expansion came out. I’ve only ever known classic, and classic now does feel similar to vanilla back then. Just has some new graphical options, new menu options in general, and I don’t recall there being built in voice chat.
Compared to modern day MMOs in general it’s refreshing to experience a classic from the classic age once again. Things feel more meaningful, and you seem to hang around the same areas for quite a bit longer. It’s also easier to die. The world also feels quite lively, especially with the general chat. Don’t really see that in modern MMOs, usually silent.
I will say this, I probably won’t touch retail outside of raids this week. But that’s shiny new stuff and I can afford to miss a M+ box for a week. I’ll probably be juggling both before too long though
Coming from somebody who started WoW in late Cataclysm and never once had any experience of the old game…
community is fairly friendly and helpful, already made three new friends
unlocking skills actually feels like a major achievement
quite populated
not outleveling zones, quests feel like a chunk of the game and not a chore
difficulty difference
don’t gotta show off my gosh-dang ‘raider io’ score to join a group
Could go on and on but that’s just the first that come to mind. Retail obviously has some of its own strengths and I’ll continue to play it sometime in the future but right now it’s full speed ahead to 60!
I crafted a two handed sword for myself, that admittedly I will replace quickly but… it felt like an accomplishment. I had to find a friend to use his light leather to make it as well.
You don’t really get that in retail, professions are garbage.
It feels much more… grounded and meaningful? With everything I do? It was fun needing to work with my priest buddy to go into the mines in Elwyenn forest. We almost died a few times… we weren’t running from a point on the map, smashing face on keyboard and running to the next marker on the map. We were exploring, trying to find the mine/where to go/what to do.
Everything feels more rewarding, every item, even greys feels like an upgrade, every level has a spell and/or talent, the community seems more social, lots of people asking for groups in general chat, people buffing you when they run by you, I just love it so much.
I was in a group of 4 people total, and we were struggling to fend off murlocs that attacked us in groups of 3. we’re not godly anymore, just foot soilders again. This game just feels deep again.
It’s nice to see a starting zone where lowbies aren’t decked out in heirlooms and riding around on motorcycles. That totally killed immersion. We really are peons starting from the ground up, facing difficulties from the start.
Retail simply became too bloated with everyone having over a decade to collect toys, mounts, boas, gear. Leveling there is just one giant chore you try to skip over.
-The Class quests to teach you new skills
-Professions that feel relevant as you work them up
-Slower leveling, makes each level feel relevant
-SKILL TREE! Let me customize my character skills in ways that feel relevant!
-Class trainers, which make things feel much more RPGish as you have to be trained to learn new skills and not just magically become mastered at a new ability
-Ammunition for bows and guns, which makes sense since you’re shooting projectiles
-Open world feels more dangerous. I’m not a One-Man-Army.
-Class identity. Not every class has a heal, mobility skill, or a CC, or a ranged attack. Not every class has buffs.
It’s the game in its original form. Everything feels more important, more involved, more social. Retail just feels so impersonal and disconnected from everything.
I love the fact I was able to remake my original character I started playing the game with my father after my parents divorced. WoW was how me and him were able to spend time together and now I’m able to relive those old feelings. my first character was a tauren druid named Exterminator. but after a few years and multiple server transfers I lost the name. I feel like a little kid again.
The pace is the biggest. But also its all the minor things, like having to be in a party to tag mobs. Simple stuff like that has had me in more parties for questing then in the last 5 xpacs.
For me, every class feels more… accomplished. As a hunter, I have to quest to get my pet. It feels more meaningful. As a warlock, I have be taught how to summon my imp, and then I have to defeat a rogue apprentice to earn my voidwalker. As a rogue, I have to spend time training and working on lockpicking.
All in all, Classic has always felt as if the work you put in gets rewarded as opposed to simply having it all.
All parts of classic seems relevant and intended to exist and is engaging in it of itself.
The devs treat most of retail like they’re ashamed of the content and adds all types of stuff and fluff to allow players to skip it so they can get to the “end game” aka the only part of the game that matters quickly. That relevant part unfortunately is a small part of the overall game. Like they’d be better off branching that endgame into a single player standalone or something.
