My (new) experience 1-60 vanilla WoW as a paladin and why current WoW players won't like classic

TheScavenger

I'll put it in bullet points

1. Combat is much slower, but at the same time feels a lot more smooth (BFA has global cooldowns on each ability, while BFA combat is much faster and much easier since enemies die so fast, it far less smooth feeling due to GCD). 
  a. Low level paladins expect to auto attack...a lot...gets a bit better later though

2. Far grindier. For one example...like a true oldschool RPG, if you want to switch from (for example) one handed hammers to two handed hammers, gotta grind up the skill by actually using it. Same if switch from hammers to swords

3. Talent trees are far more indepth. And just like BFA, you can choose the optimal path or choose your own path, except in vanilla the path has a lot more choices

4. Crafting is far more useful. Blizzard has over time made crafting less needed. In BFA by the time you can craft the good crafted stuff, you'll already have better items from dungeons and even quests

5. Very few race choices. This will hit many, because there are no blood elves, worgens, goblins or any of the other races. Just the 4 basic race choices for both factions.

6. gotta buy abilities, you don't auto learn them

7. Money is super hard to get. I was always bad at money even in Legion and it was far easier to be rich in legion than vanilla
   a. don't expect to be able to afford your mount of you play "normally" by just following quests and occasional dungeons
   b. don't expect to be able to afford all your abilities since gotta buy them and starting out you gonna be poor poor poor
   c. no mounts for a long time, if you can even afford the mount

8. speaking of mounts...no flying mounts. the mass amount of people that whine about flying every expansion won't like classic AT ALL. cause they'll have to run everywhere until they are both at right level for a mount and have enough money...and they still won't be able to fly

9. Soloing is possible, but obviously not to the extent it was when WOTLK started with DKs

10. Shamans are actually good

11. Gotta do class quests (for some classes) to earn some of the special abilities or some special rare items (like paladins at level 20 get an unique hammer. Shamans need to quest for their totems)

12. barrens chat
   a. barrens chat
   b. barrens chat
   c. 4chan
   d. barrens chat

13. Some class specs aren't gonna be wanted in groups like how shamans are the worst class in BFA. Like...ret paladins you'll be laughed at out of the game. And if you don't quit out of the game as a ret paladin, you'll be harassed nonstop until you quit. Luckily blizzard takes harassment and real life threats seriously so this should be a non issue compared to the free server that is available.

14. No shamans for alliance, no paladins for horde

15. Hey hunters! you are actually really hunters again. Carry that ammo, feed that pet, take care of that pet or it will leave you. 

16. expect to die a lot if you solo. I actually died in the human starting area cause I got the attention of too many bandits by accident. 

Feel free to add more. I probably missed a bunch of stuff

knightaudit

If you want to do a Dungeon ... You need to be there, not camped in Stormwind waiting to run Scarlet Monastery. Yes this means getting there on your own at times and that can be a big challenge in itself.

TheScavenger

knightaudit said:

If you want to do a Dungeon ... You need to be there, not camped in Stormwind waiting to run Scarlet Monastery. Yes this means getting there on your own at times and that can be a big challenge in itself.

ah, yeah I forgot that one. Gotta actually run to do dungeons

The other one I forgot is leveling is super slow. It takes a lot of time to level. I can get to level 120 so quick in BFA even with their leveling changes compared to classic WoW.

TheScavenger

A few other things I missed

17. Mobs aren't shared. So its either you hit the mob first or your group does

18. Spawn time for some quest mobs are pretty long. And if there is a lot of people all trying to get the same quest and not joining a group, it can get pretty annoying
   a. I still remember blood elf starting area when BE was recently released (okay so not vanilla but same mechanic for #18) and one of the last things to do was fight this guy in a tower and there was literally 100s of people all trying to get the quest target. I literally logged off and did it the next day rofl. Even getting into a group wasn't working cause so many people trying to do it so couldn't progress the starting zone

19. raid for hogger is really a thing because in classic wow no one just starting and still even then many classes (if not all of them) can't 1vs1 an elite mob. 
   a. elite mobs really are elite, don't expect to solo them

20. no achievements 

WalkinGlenn

Looking forward to my homie BrokenTooth being special again and using invisibility potions and shadowmeld to infiltrate horde city's to get my gank on.

btdt

Your title is misleading.  This is what you think will be different in classic WoW versus retail as the demo only includes 2 zones, no dungeons, no PVP, limited to level 15-19 only.  

No one knows for sure what classic will actually be like.  What is pretty evident is that it will NOT be the old vanilla, but a take there on.  So past experience may not actually be relevant.  

Since it hasn't been released and even the demo is heavily gimped, no know knows anything for sure as to how it will play out.

TheScavenger

btdt said:

Your title is misleading.  This is what you think will be different in classic WoW versus retail as the demo only includes 2 zones, no dungeons, no PVP, limited to level 15-19 only.  

No one knows for sure what classic will actually be like.  What is pretty evident is that it will NOT be the old vanilla, but a take there on.  So past experience may not actually be relevant.  

Since it hasn't been released and even the demo is heavily gimped, no know knows anything for sure as to how it will play out.

This is my experience with the most popular (currently) vanilla WoW server. Not what I think might be different or not different. People are expecting and requested blizzard to do vanilla WoW, not something different. So this thread is for those expecting a vanilla experience and what to expect out of it from my own experience on the vanilla wow server I play.

Dagon13

I miss early hunters and paladins.  I have no idea what version of the game I was playing back then but being a hunter actually meant I played the game differently.  Managing pets and ammo never felt like a hassle to me, it was fun.  

I left and came back later to tank paladin.  It may have been after the first expansion but I loved the block and hp/mp restore elements and it was a lot of fun to sustain myself through the tough fights that actually existed in the open world.

I think the hardest thing for me to deal with would be the limited races, but I would love to enjoy the world without magically hitting end game and bypassing most of it.

Octagon7711

I remember those days. Having to save up for my first mount and for skills.  The long grind to level.  Players kill stealing either by accident but some on purpose.  Lots of corpse runs. No thank you but you guys and gals have fun.

Galadourn

Paladins can dps, with the right gear.

Dagon13

Octagon7711 said:

I remember those days. Having to save up for my first mount and for skills.  The long grind to level.  Players kill stealing either by accident but some on purpose.  Lots of corpse runs. No thank you but you guys and gals have fun.

I forgot about being too poor to level my skills!  I once traveled from Darnassus to Stormwind as a wisp, was lost out of my mind.  Got stuck in the underground castle dungeon with lava, I forget the name.  It took me days to finally get there.

I didn't realize I enjoyed my time in WoW that much, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly rose tinted glasses.

Kyleran

TheScavenger said:

btdt said:

Your title is misleading.  This is what you think will be different in classic WoW versus retail as the demo only includes 2 zones, no dungeons, no PVP, limited to level 15-19 only.  

No one knows for sure what classic will actually be like.  What is pretty evident is that it will NOT be the old vanilla, but a take there on.  So past experience may not actually be relevant.  

Since it hasn't been released and even the demo is heavily gimped, no know knows anything for sure as to how it will play out.

This is my experience with the most popular (currently) vanilla WoW server. Not what I think might be different or not different. People are expecting and requested blizzard to do vanilla WoW, not something different. So this thread is for those expecting a vanilla experience and what to expect out of it from my own experience on the vanilla wow server I play.

He's not wrong though,  there is a reason they are calling it classic, it will not replicate vanilla in total.

Simple changes will be made, especially in the background along with some minor QOL improvements, class balancing and bug fixes of course.

TheScavenger

Kyleran said:

TheScavenger said:

btdt said:

Your title is misleading.  This is what you think will be different in classic WoW versus retail as the demo only includes 2 zones, no dungeons, no PVP, limited to level 15-19 only.  

No one knows for sure what classic will actually be like.  What is pretty evident is that it will NOT be the old vanilla, but a take there on.  So past experience may not actually be relevant.  

Since it hasn't been released and even the demo is heavily gimped, no know knows anything for sure as to how it will play out.

This is my experience with the most popular (currently) vanilla WoW server. Not what I think might be different or not different. People are expecting and requested blizzard to do vanilla WoW, not something different. So this thread is for those expecting a vanilla experience and what to expect out of it from my own experience on the vanilla wow server I play.

He's not wrong though,  there is a reason they are calling it classic, it will not replicate vanilla in total.

Simple changes will be made, especially in the background along with some minor QOL improvements, class balancing and bug fixes of course.

Well, if its so different from vanilla then all the people that have been asking for an official vanilla WoW aren't gonna be very happy.

If it isn't like vanilla at all, and its mostly just vanilla zones/quests with little of the mechanics/classes/skills/crafting etc...all the complaining for WoD and BFA combined will look like nothing but a tiny drop in a big lake.

That be one sure fire way for blizzard to shoot themselves in the foot lol. 

Imagine the mass amount of hate posts there'll be from that.

Pretty sure blizzard isn't gonna go down that route though. 

Warlyx

i played tons of classes on classic but my main was a warlock here are a few

Soul shards !!! omg !

pet quests ........traveling to the other side of azeroth for the fellhound >.>

CURSES everywhere!

farming  elementals in badlands for hours for the mount !

broken tooth 1.0 attack speed pet camping!

the guild leader not inviting u to raid until the end to avoid ppl begging for summons >.<

Class specific channels for raids (and how we warlocks cursed mages the whole raid on our channel! , CoE CoE CoE, $!$!$ mages)

Nightmare mount quest , what a pain in the rear.

Farming plants for hours to no end !

your first epic (usually crafted after faming for days!)

OP horde racials , stuning orcs fail , fear undead? GL

Guild recruiting Dwarves priest 24/7

Windfury 1 shot

Lawlmonster

Current players, or players who started during WotLK and onward may or may not enjoy the Classic experience, though the verdict is out. BFA has been fun in a fleeting sort of way, but if you were to read the general forums or talk to the average player, I think you'd find a large portion of the subscriber base is very unhappy with the experience right now. Everything being discussed here is speculation at this point, but as someone who's been playing vanilla private servers, who started playing WoW during the open beta, all of the the reasons in the OP and beyond are exactly why I'm looking forward to Classic servers so much more than I am raiding BFA content with my guild every Friday and Saturday.

Aethaeryn

What about flight paths?  I don't recall when they got changed.   I remember on my dwarf hunter doing a LOT of running until I finished a quest that got me a key to some gate. . It was awesome to get that key!  Then flight paths made the key useless.   Ah . . will still enjoy buying cloth bags buy the mailbox in the starter town.

TheScavenger

Lawlmonster said:

Current players, or players who started during WotLK and onward may or may not enjoy the Classic experience, though the verdict is out. BFA has been fun in a fleeting sort of way, but if you were to read the general forums or talk to the average player, I think you'd find a large portion of the subscriber base is very unhappy with the experience right now. Everything being discussed here is speculation at this point, but as someone who's been playing vanilla private servers, who started playing WoW during the open beta, all of the the reasons in the OP and beyond are exactly why I'm looking forward to Classic servers so much more than I am raiding BFA content with my guild every Friday and Saturday.

Yup this. And if it is like a couple posters say above and WoW classic is barely like vanilla...even if its 50/50 or even 60/40 like vanilla...unless its 95% like vanilla or greater I don't see the reaction being positive in the slightest. I'm not so sure Blizzard would do that to themselves. The amount of bad feedback from players would be insane. 

On the other hand more relating to the topic at hand...on the vanilla WoW server I'm on, Ironforge is super active like it was back in...vanilla. Darnassus sees a lot of people too from when I ran through. In current WoW, barely any of the cities are used (and ironforge is almost always empty) except Orgrimmar/Stormwind and the latest expansion cities.

its awesome to see so many people using ironforge

GeezerGamer

There are some who feel that not taking everything for granted and having to earn literally everything you have and do was actually good for the genre. In vanilla, nothing was taken for granted and nothing was given. You had to earn it. That means it has value.

Albatroes

According to Blizzard, between 70~80% of the game's population didn't raid past LFR difficulty in Legion, yet Normal/Heroic/Mythic carry on. As with many things in wow (pet battles), not everything is for everyone, its just about the choice of access. "Smart" people know that Classic isnt going to be the 'wow killer' or even anything close to that. Its strength will be when the current game hits dead periods (which happens often), so people will have the choice to bounce between the 2 during those times. This is even more obvious as to why they are doing the demo now vs next year when they have to announce the next expansion at the next blizzcon. My guess is Classic will either release a couple of months after the current game's last raid/patch or 2 years after. Release date will probably heavily depend on how well the demo is received.

TheScavenger

Albatroes said:

According to Blizzard, between 70~80% of the game's population didn't raid past LFR difficulty in Legion, yet Normal/Heroic/Mythic carry on. As with many things in wow (pet battles), not everything is for everyone, its just about the choice of access. "Smart" people know that Classic isnt going to be the 'wow killer' or even anything close to that. Its strength will be when the current game hits dead periods (which happens often), so people will have the choice to bounce between the 2 during those times. This is even more obvious as to why they are doing the demo now vs next year when they have to announce the next expansion at the next blizzcon. My guess is Classic will either release a couple of months after the current game's last raid/patch or 2 years after. Release date will probably heavily depend on how well the demo is received.

yeah, vanilla wow and current wow are two pretty different playerbases. That doesn't mean everyone who likes current WoW won't like classic, or classic WoW'ers don't still play BFA...but in general they are pretty different games despite still being "WoW".

Just WoW changed a lot as it evolved, for better or worse is up to the person's preference

Keller

Do we even know what Classic WoW will be like? So far I know is that people can playtest lvl 15-19 during Blizcon. All we know is that isn't going to be a 1 on 1 copy from Vanilla.

Jamar870

Well when it comes out I'll give it a look. Played WoW since Vanilla and remember going "Damn I'm never going to get a mount."

Lawlmonster

Keller said:

Do we even know what Classic WoW will be like? So far I know is that people can playtest lvl 15-19 during Blizcon. All we know is that isn't going to be a 1 on 1 copy from Vanilla.

We know a bit. Some screen shots were leaked a couple days ago, several content creators have made videos or have been clipped from streaming services displaying them. This is the one I've seen, and from other anonymous sources they are confirmed to be real (according to Asmongold), but there's really no way to be certain until those sources are revealed. They seem legit to me, however. Take that with a grain of salt, because I'm just a dude.

Albatroes

Lawlmonster said:

Keller said:

Do we even know what Classic WoW will be like? So far I know is that people can playtest lvl 15-19 during Blizcon. All we know is that isn't going to be a 1 on 1 copy from Vanilla.

We know a bit. Some screen shots were leaked a couple days ago, several content creators have made videos or have been clipped from streaming services displaying them. This is the one I've seen, and from other anonymous sources they are confirmed to be real (according to Asmongold), but there's really no way to be certain until those sources are revealed. They seem legit to me, however. Take that with a grain of salt, because I'm just a dude.

The main issue with this "leaked" info (and the guy mentions it a few times too in the video), is that we really dont know anything higher end. Stuff could look the way it does because blizzard hasn't gotten to it yet or is still undecided. So unless more demos happen, we wont "know" anything from these "leaks." The only thing we do know (because they said so during the reveal) was that there wont be updates, so all content will be in the game whatever they decide and that's it.

moosecatlol

Galadourn said:

Paladins can dps, with the right gear.

Nothing like spending your entire vanilla career gearing up to pull sub 500 dps on a cherry picked Noth Fight. DPS paladins made Boot-leg electric mages look good. Don't worry though, with enough delusion you too can be that asshole who dropped consecrates on Farlina Worshipers to pad your sub-par-warlock tier dps.

acidblood

OPs list is pretty much all the reasons I'm looking forward to Classic... a well-made game with smooth gameplay, challenging content (even in the open world), class customisation, a steady pace of progression and milestones that actually feel like you've achieved something.

And yes I'm sure I will get bored of it eventually, but it should be a good few months before that happens (depending on where Blizzard takes it), which is far more than can be said for most of todays MMOs.