Ten years is a long time in World of Warcraft. Maybe even too long. We only bend our fingers for epic items, preferably legendary ones. But there was a time when we did things without reward…. just because.

There we sit in our garrison and let the fire warm us. Our cooks, smiths, and guards make us comfortable while we put our feet up. Idleness reigns in Dreanor, and we only go into battle for the wages we’ve earned. Demoted from hero to mercenary. We let our gaze wander into the distant past and remember the frequent attacks on cities of the opposing faction. In small bands of thugs, the heroes of the Alliance fought their way through the sewers of the Undercity with the prospect of a skirmish. The greenskins and ashskins are also deprived of their leader at best. For what reason? For the sheer pleasure of killing, of course! There were no ranks, no honor, and no rainbow-colored PvP armor. But why does Blizzard need to encourage us to do anything? Would so many players raid if there were no rewards? Where is the fun in just having fun? But to answer such questions, a journey is necessary. A journey back to the time when World of Warcraft was born.

The birth of WoW
It’s 2005 and winter hasn’t left us yet – so it’s the perfect time to invest every single minute into a completely new experience. The term MMORPG is not yet on everyone’s lips, and most younger gamers have heard of role-playing games where you can roam the world with your friends, but they haven’t tried it yet. But magazines are reporting a historic turning point in the gaming industry. And so it was. Millions of people pitched in and immersed themselves in a parallel world. Every single quest was magical and every text was read. Even just roaming the world to find cave entrances, underground systems, or new dungeons was fun. It didn’t take long for the first players to reach level 40+. That’s a special moment. You got your first mount, got to wear a plate as a warrior, and heard rumors about a magical place called “Crossroads” for the first time.

The first encounters of the factions in WoW
Sure, you knew that the “Others” existed, after all, you could choose between the two factions in the character editor. But so far you only met NPCs and every now and then a player of your own faction. There was still plenty of room on the servers. Meanwhile, as a member of the proud Alliance, you roam the other continent, Kalimdor, and you can literally feel the Horde’s presence. Rumors drive us to the site of the crossroads and here the unbelievable happens: The armies of both factions make powerful dents in their armor. Until now, multiplayer took place mostly on split screens on the sofa and with vulgar cries of triumph or frustration. It was a completely new experience and a special moment to be able to perceive other players only virtually. The goal of the brawl: just survive and hit as many hordes as possible or vice versa. And believe it or not – it was a lot of fun and sometimes went on for four hours and more. And it was done without reward, without success, and without profiling. When one side had “won” the battle (you could tell at the latest when they jumped up and chased off in all directions), it was time to spur your horse and chase the last stragglers through the wasteland.

Highest level and conquest in WoW
In the early weeks, players got the idea that it was somehow possible to conquer enemy capitals. Of course, this was complete nonsense, but it was also a good motivation to dare to do more. So we regrouped, much better equipped, more experienced and more combative, into even larger groups and met at one of the most popular and now iconic locations in the game: Tarren Mill. From there we tried to invade the undercity. Of course, word spread quickly among the greenskins, and soon after they were already waiting with sharpened weapons for the Alliance to arrive at the mill. Every now and then, however, they managed to penetrate the sewers, and really large groups even managed to defeat the Banshee Queen. Larger groups even ventured as far as Orgrimmar, but very few triumphed in the huge fortress. Smaller groups tried to milk the cows in Thunderbluff. But since there were hardly any hordeers there, the interest quickly faded.

Patch 1.4 and 1.5 of WoW Classic
Was it planned from the start?

was or just a response from Blizzard to community habits is uncertain. What is certain, however, is that patch 1.4 brought the honor system to Azeroth. Killing players of the opposite faction or killing chiefs, leaders and kings provided honor in the form of points for the winner. This quickly turned into a tough fight. There were 14 ranks, but they didn’t require a fixed minimum number of honor points, but the requirements scaled with the honor points collected by all players of their own faction on the server. You only reached the highest rank, 14, if you led your own faction for a week. Each rank came with its own rewards. Blizzard laid the foundation for one of the most important engines in modern MMOs. Players were quickly overwhelmed as professional open-world PvP teams formed and fled to PvE. While no dungeon offered as good rewards as the highest ranks in PvP, it was at least a way to improve. So it came about that interest in the Molten Core raid grew steadily, as similarly strong items lured there. To keep PvP interesting, Blizzard introduced the first battlegrounds with Patch 1.5.

Warsong Gulch & Co for WoW Classic
Long queues formed in Ashenvale, waiting to finally join the first battlefield in WoW history: Warsong Gulch. Initially, you could only register locally – Blizzad only introduced generalized registration in capital cities later. Many players broke away from PvE, which required strict order, hierarchy, and regularity. The Molten Core has left some feeling alienated and reclaiming their former freedom. The clashes in Crossroads in the capital cities have decreased and the fun of having fun has turned into a competitive struggle that could no longer be served by PvP. All of that should change the battlefields. More structured and with an overarching goal that went beyond pure slaughter, it was now time to to get one over on the other faction. The battlefields were full and the core raiders deserted. But as it is, die-hard teams quickly formed here, especially on the Horde side, which quickly spoiled the fun of Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley for casual players. So Blizzard steered against it again and introduced the Blackwing Lair. But gradually two types of WoW players emerged: the PvE’ and PvP’ers. Only well-equipped players entered raids and only players ranked 10 and above entered PvP core groups. The first guilds require applications. which quickly spoiled Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley for casual players. So Blizzard steered against it again and introduced the Blackwing Lair. But gradually two types of WoW players emerged: the PvE’ and PvP’ers. Only well-equipped players entered raids and only players ranked 10 and above entered PvP core groups. The first guilds require applications. which quickly spoiled Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley for casual players. So Blizzard steered against it again and introduced the Blackwing Lair. But gradually two types of WoW players emerged: the PvE’ and PvP’ers. Only well-equipped players entered raids and only players ranked 10 and above entered PvP core groups. The first guilds require applications.

Job market in Azeroth for WoW Classic

So if you want to continue enjoying all of the content in the first mainstream online role-playing game, you need to join successful guilds. A rank of 14 and regular raids are utopian – so it’s best to stick to one. The trend to have your own website, your own Teamspeak and your own forum has become mandatory. Guilds require a “WoW resume”, cover letter and detailed equipment listing. So players farm their first sets together, in my case the set of honor, collect gold for enchantments and other fine-tuning. Just doing something like that is no longer possible. Blizzard served this trend and with success. Guides, videos and “theory crafters” are created on the Internet and even get the last DPS from their class. Blackwing Lair and Molten Core have become breakfast for most guilds. There is a trend: Blizzad keep increasing the difficulty from patch to patch until a zenith is reached: the Sunwell Plateau in Burning Crusade.

Raid madness with 25 men to WoW-BC
Patch 2.4 brought Quel’Danas Isle and the Sunwell; maybe also the biggest noob blocker in World of Warcraft history – Brutallus. What was only a term in WoW Classic has now become a dictum: “rotation”. Sentences like “Do you even rotate?” or “There are other buttons than Autohit!” drop in dungeons by default. And not without reason. Brutallus, the second boss of the Sunwell, regularly eats up entire raids and spits them back into the dungeons. In six minutes, 25 people have to beat down 7,351,300 life points, which translates to a DPS of 20,420. Before the big Sunwell patch it was even 29,167 DPS. Each damage dealer had to push their skills to the limit. Recount is mandatory and so is flaming and impatience. Of course there are enough players who have different demands on a game and so frustration is inevitable. Typically Blizzard, they react and make the Sunwell lighter. We are still feeling the effects of this today.

Back to WoW WoD in the present.
Blizzard’s patch policy follows the pattern of “this is way too hard!” – Blizzard makes the content easier – “this is way too easy!” – Blizzard makes the content harder – “this is way too hard” – do you see it? We are currently in the “too easy” phase. (except for the mythic raids). In practice, this means that there is a very high gear level and statements like “I logged in for two weeks for patch 6.2, farmed everything up and now I’m taking a break again” echo through the forums. or “I only log in for the raid.” The problem isn’t that the world of WoW is too small, or the opportunities to do something meaningful – no, the needs and meaning of gaming have shifted. Why not have a pet fight in between? Because you already own that legendary pet. Why not take a trip to the Blackwing Lair every now and then? No loot for level 100, the problem is our willingness to invest time in things that don’t yield a profit. That’s partly Blizzard’s fault and ours, the players. We should reopen ourselves to content that exists because of the mechanics of the game and does not have reward as a central goal. The journey is the destination and the fun is there. Blizzard should learn to control the fans again and be brave. Maybe the artifact weapons are an important first step in the right direction. For more articles, check out our Why not take a tour of Blackwing Lair once in a while? No loot for level 100 The problem is our willingness to invest time in things that don’t yield a profit. That’s partly Blizzard’s fault and ours, the players. We should reopen ourselves to content that exists because of the mechanics of the game and doesn’t have reward as a central goal. The journey is the destination and the fun is there. Blizzard should learn to control the fans again and be brave. Maybe the artifact weapons are an important first step in the right direction. For more articles, check out our Why not take a tour of Blackwing Lair once in a while? No loot for level 100 The problem is our willingness to invest time in things that don’t yield a profit. That’s partly Blizzard’s fault and ours, the players. We should reopen ourselves to content that exists because of the mechanics of the game and doesn’t have reward as a central goal. The journey is the destination and the fun is there. Blizzard should learn to control the fans again and be brave. Maybe the artifact weapons are an important first step in the right direction. There are more items on ours that exist because of the game mechanics and don’t need a reward as a central goal. The journey is the destination and the fun is there. Blizzard should learn to control the fans again and be bold in doing so. Perhaps the artifact weapons are an important first step in the right direction. There are more items on ours that exist because of the game mechanics and don’t need a reward as a central goal. The journey is the destination and the fun is there. Blizzard should learn to control the fans again and be bold about it. Perhaps the artifact weapons are an important first step in the right direction.

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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