With the implementation of the official Classic server for World of Warcraft, Blizzard is responding to a request that has often been formulated by the community. But even if the newly formed development team can implement the vanilla experience perfectly, the flop is inevitable – at least our editor Karsten is sure of that. He provides the reasons for his thesis in his new column.

I have fond memories of Classic WoW . To the fascination that this huge fantasy world exerted on me, to the countless hours I spent before, after and partly during my training in Azeroth. WoW was my first online roleplaying game, and like many firsts, that experience shaped me. However, it is mainly for nostalgic reasons that I would rank Classic ahead of a Wrath of the Lich King or Legion in my personal ranking of the best WoW sections. And it will be for nostalgic reasons that I will make myself an undead villain on the official vanilla servers that Blizzard announced at Blizzcon 2017.

However, I am already certain that my journey into WoW’s past will be short-lived and that many other players will quickly turn their backs on the official Classic servers. From my point of view, it doesn’t matter how perfectly Blizzard can capture the vanilla experience from back then on the new realms. Because at the end of the day it will be the community that turns the repeatedly requested nostalgia project into a flop with announcement.

WoW Classic: Frustration instead of desire
If I had to list the best WoW eras as objectively as possible without all the nostalgia with editor’s glasses on my nose, Classic WoW would probably end up somewhere in the back third. While I agree with fans of the time that some Classic features would look good in today’s WoW (like the class quests during the leveling phase), there were good reasons for many changes during and after Classic. For example, as much fun as I had in PvP with my rogue and my Horde tribe, it was a frustrating time for many of my opponents. Thanks to the animal set and epic weapons, I literally shredded cloth carriers in the air, I was able to win duels naked thanks to complete stuns, and the alliance sometimes waited hours for an invitation to the battlefield,

If a vanilla fan raves about how challenging everything was back then, I would like to agree with them at least in part. Thanks to the old threat system and the equipment that was accessible back then, which wasn’t thrown at you in epic form at every turn, I remember many classic challenges as crisp. Even if the combat mechanics seem simple from today’s perspective. The organization of 40-player raids or the clashing of two PvP tribes in the battlefields was also not without. But I would also say that for a lot of content, the time factor was much more important than skill. This applied to mastering a craft as well as reaching the highest PvP rank or working in a raid guild. I had this time back then and had a lot of fun in Classic.

In addition, there are numerous comfort functions of the last few years that I actually wouldn’t want to do without in Azeroth. For example, that I can tell the Flugreitmeister my destination and then go “afk”. Or that I can store my crafting materials in an extra storage space. Or that there are now umpteen display and interface options that make the game more readable. The community is already discussing whether and what Blizzard should do for the classic server. One group threatens to return to the private servers if the vanilla feeling is not “for real”, the other does not even want to touch a WoW with pliers without such comfort. Blizzard is really not to be envied here.

WoW Classic: A child of its time
What you shouldn’t forget: WoW Classic was also so successful because it appeared at the perfect time, and by that I don’t just mean the fact that flat rates and DSL connections in German households spread like wildfire around 2005. Back then you couldn’t look up everything on the internet, you had to connect with other players, exchange ideas, discover things yourself. An important reason for the sense of community on the servers, which is now gone. While Blizzard can offer official Classic servers, it cannot turn back time. Today everything is known about Classic-WoW. We know which classes were strong, how to defeat the bosses and what to expect in each zone.

In addition, we players have also changed in recent years. If you don’t take the time to exchange a few words with foreign players in Azeroth today, you won’t just start again on official vanilla servers. If it is already too much for you to visit a crisp dungeon with players below a certain Mythic Plus score, you will not suddenly die through the black rock for several hours. The urge to consume everything in small bites and get there as quickly as possible is now ingrained in so many players that they fall out as the target audience for the Classic experience.

I’m no longer a trainee either, who can spend every evening and all weekend on the battlefields to eventually get the fast mount at rank 11. Visiting Molten Core for months or later visiting Blackwing Lair until I’m lucky enough to eventually own all parts of both animal sets? That was annoying twelve years ago. It will be similar for other WoW veterans. We have outgrown the target group for Classic WoW, even if our heart will always beat for vanilla Azeroth.

WoW Classic: Private competition
In addition, there are countless private servers for World of Warcraft (buy now) , which are illegal but have one supposed benefit: they’re free. I can’t imagine Blizzard offering this expensive service for free. I’m sure there are Classic fans out there who don’t want to start over and even pay for it. Especially when they can continue playing the characters they have invested hundreds of hours in elsewhere for free.

So if I lump all the WoW players into one pot who a) aren’t interested in Classic WoW, b) miss the comfort or are bothered by the corners and edges, c) just can’t find the time anymore, d) be disappointed because the community feeling from back then is absent, or e) eke out their free existence on private servers, only a very small group of players remains who could actually have a lot of fun with Blizzard’s classic servers over a long period of time. However, considering the wind that the community has made about the whole thing … For my part, I hope that my thesis is wrong. Because of the success of the Classic server, it could well depend on whether Blizzard will think about TBC or WotLK servers in the next step.

What is WoW Classic?

World of Warcraft Classic is a true recreation of the original WoW as you know it from 2006. All parts of the game – from combat mechanics and talent trees to character models and zones – have been recreated, contributing to the authentic experience.

Getting Started

All players with an active World of Warcraft subscription or game time on their accounts have access toWoW Classic at no additional cost.

1. Open the Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App and select World of Warcraft from the menu.
2. Select World of Warcraft Classic from the Version menu. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, you’ll see a second Account drop-down list. In this column, select the active account you want to play with.
3. Click the Install button. The progress bar will tell you when your game is ready to play.
4. Click the Play button when the installation is complete.

You will need to select the realm you want to play on from several different realm types. Make sure you choose the same realm as your friends – in World of Warcraft Classic, you can only group with characters that are on the same realm as you!

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