Waking up from Classic Dream

Me at the sealed entrance into Hyjal.

Do you ever had a dream? People can dream of many things... Some want new computer that would be much better than their current low budget laptop. Others hope for their financial struggles to disappear. Perhaps you just want to find your inner peace and have a live full of happiness and tranquility. World of Warcraft: Classic was a dream for many people, including me. The one that came true despite all odds.

Of course, it wasn't perfect and I acknowledge that. There're many issues that Blizzard could've avoided and solve much better than they did. I'm aware that many players struggled and didn't had a good time, but that's not what I'm going to focus on. I want to look back at my personal Classic experience and share my thoughts on what made it so wonderful.

The Adventure of a Gnome.

I think I've might be just lucky. At first, I played for 3 months starting at the end of December 2019. Pretty much since the beginning I had a certain goal and expectations in mind: just level and have fun. It took me some time to choose which PvE server to pick (because I knew PvP ones aren't for me) and ended up in Pyrewood Village. I didn't regret that decision, even though at the time my friends played on other servers before quitting. That's not something I would say I expected to happen, but in the long run it's good that I started as a lonely gnome.

Sometimes things got weird, like this bug in Deeprun Tram.

In terms of gameplay, I didn't bother all that much. At first I wanted to avoid using any addons, but then I quickly realized that I'm not that good and would probably end up abusing Internet anyway. So I picked 4 addons (Questie, AtlasLookClassic, WeaponSwingTimer and Deadly Boss Mode) as a bare minimum and it was fine. Although I didn't change any keybinds except for running and walking, so I clicked "Charge" and stances. It was great. Of course, I also picked "Classic" graphics.

I mostly sticked to leveling through quests on Eastern Kingdoms, but explored all zones on both continents. I liked adventuring around the Azeroth, meeting with other people and do quests with them. Even when I was on my own, there was this great sense of old school adventure and it's beautiful. I didn't ignored dungeons completely, but perhaps could've visited them much more... It doesn't really matter, becuase I still had a lot of fun. That's what matters.

Some might say I wasn't efficient enough because I decided to use a bow and kept quiver in my bag, even though I was an engineer and making bullets for a gun would've made more sense. Or because I wore Fire Hardened Hauberk all the way to max level without switching to other chest when I used it. Moments like this make your game experience special and memorable. Reaching level 60 was a special moment and I decided to end it on a high note with Linken's questline. I just thought it was a perfect way to "conclude my journey".

Literally got Level 60 by completing the questline. That was cool.

Of course, I still had some time in my third month and I used it to go through dungeons in search of Battlegear of Valor, getting Diamond Flask and (even before that) tested my will on Alterac Valley. I didn't had anything against that battleground, but after reaching Exalted with Stormpike Guards, I can see why some people didn't want to see it again. Both times I was successful, but I bought the mount only after my comeback: I was lucky and didn't had much issues with gold, but still needed a bit more for Stormpike Battle Charger.

I wish I visited at least Molten Core. Reason why I didn't look out for raids and guilds was simple: I knew I wouldn't be able to commit and stick around for long. If I was in better position IRL, I would've probably play Classic much more regularly. Anyway, I came back in December of 2020 for one thing: Scourge Invasions. I wanted that Tabard of Argent Dawn because I missed out on it during Zombie Infestation. These attacks were pretty fun and even managed to do some other stuff, like getting Dal'Rend's Arms and defeating Razelikh the Defiler...

What now?

You know, I'm one of those people who believes that Classic+ would've great. I knew that it's very unlikely to happen, but still believed in that slim chance simply because I wanted to have something positive about Warcraft. That was another sweet dream, but it never came to me. I was willing to be openminded this time and give Classic team a chance, knowing that most likely something would've gone wrong yet again, but there's just too much potential that will remain untouched.

I'm just not interested in Burning Crusade Classic. I don't want to walk the same path with same mistakes that started with expansions and end up with another Retail. Some might say that the same could've happen with Classic+, but at least there's more chances for it to actually do something unique and repeat the success of Old School Runescape. Some people suggested the idea of "TBC+" or "WotLK+", but I just don't think it would work because they're closer to current version of World of Warcraft than what it originally was back in 2004-2006.

To be honest, I'm surprised that they're keeping Classic servers, but was right about them moving existing ones to The Burning Crusade. At least that's something. Although offering the option to get your character on both servers only through paywall is just a scummy move. I'm not a fan of character boost either and it's also surprising to see how much people are fine with it in contrast to discussions they had about Classic at the time. I also wish they kept Classic webpage and made the different one for The Burning Crusade. There seems to be some good changes as well, but so far I'm staying skeptical and expect it to get worse in time.

Perhaps it's for the best that Classic+ didn't happen, who knows. My plan is to just make sure my characters stays on Classic and then... Maybe I'll return at some point if I can that chance, we'll see. I'm just glad that this was my last World of Warcraft experience and if it stays that way... Well, so be it.