Blizzard has announced Classic servers for World of Warcraft. But what awaits our heroes in vanilla WoW and should Blizzard change anything at all about the original? J. Allen Brack has already announced the full package of the original Classic feeling, but what exactly that means doesn’t seem to have been definitively clarified yet. However, Blizzard seems to want to avoid the teething problems of yesteryear, such as server crashes and bugs. What do you wish for a classic server for World of Warcraft?

That we can still experience it! After Blizzard had always answered with refusal to the question about classic servers for WoW in the last years, nobody actually expected this. When J. Allen Brack suddenly spoke of ice cream during the opening ceremony, we in the editorial office only thought: What does this man want to tell us with that? When the word vanilla was mentioned, there was no stopping us. The unanimous opinion: Did that really just happen? Yes, it did. Blizzard has relented and actually wants to make official Classic servers available.

The Nostalrius drama and the resulting controversy among Classic supporters and subscribers of WoW: Legion, who are referred to as “traders,” have really made a difference at Blizzard. Initially, fans were comforted with the idea of Pristine servers, where heirlooms and other leveling amenities would have been turned off. The community rejected the Pristine servers and the calls for Classic grew louder. In recent months, the community had resigned itself to the fact that the Classic issue was simply hushed up. Especially after Ion Hazzikostast’s announcement at gamescom that he had absolutely no news on the topic, hope died completely. That’s why the announcement came as a complete surprise. However, there are still numerous questions that the team has not answered yet. At what patch level will the server be? Which things will be changed?

Classic shall remain classic
According to Blizzard, the official Classic server will offer the original gaming experience. However, J. Allen Brack has already announced that the initial difficulties of 2004 will of course not be repeated. These include server problems, bugs and exploits. Most Classic fans can certainly live with that. But the vanilla version of World of Warcraft (buy now) also had to deal with other problems that are worth talking about. It’s no secret that the Horde was at a slight disadvantage in the early days of WoW. we
Who misses the old talent trees?

Especially in the number of areas and quests. Also, the Alliance had the undisputed best healer in the game in the form of the Dwarf Priest, which naturally gave the Alliance guilds an advantage when clearing certain raids. Are such balancing stories also part of the original Classic experience? There are also decisions about classes. Some classes were more useful than others in WoW Classic raiding, so players often had to sit on the bench when their class wasn’t in demand. “Bring the player, not the class” – that was Blizzard’s credo in the later years, and classes became more and more similar in terms of special abilities (Rezz) so that no player would be disadvantaged because of their class choice. If Blizzard decides to leave everything in its original state, this could have a negative impact on class diversity. But well, maybe this is all part of WoW Classic.

Optics and interfaces
Assuming that Blizzard brings the original version of World of Warcraft back to life as we remember it in terms of game mechanics, more questions remain about convenience features. How should Blizzard handle the graphical improvements of the last 13 years? Undoubtedly, WoW looks better today than ever before, there are not only new options, but also (beautiful) new character models – some say the opposite. In addition, the developers have significantly improved the user interface in recent years. For the full Classic experience, Blizzard would have to consistently abandon all innovations and improvements. It is already becoming apparent that some fans would like to see adjustments. If Blizzard stays true to itself, then they will completely do without innovations. That means: We will get old character models, talent trees and classes will remain untouched and we will have to accept one or the other disadvantage. The interface was certainly not optimal back then, but it basically worked. Interface add-ons from the community can help with everything else.

Turning back the clocks
Perhaps it’s important that we all collectively remember that WoW was simply a different game back then. Much slower and sometimes more exhausting than Legion is today. Sometimes you’ve already blocked out certain details: Leveling was actually incredibly hard and annoying for all classes. You had to regenerate mana and health after every mob. If you accidentally drew two or even three enemies at once, it meant the certain death of the hero. The journey through Azeroth was an adventure back then, and the journey was the destination. We really hope that Blizzard sees it the same way. By the way, it is not yet clear when the official Classic servers will appear. Likewise, Blizzard has not yet commented on the payment model. However, we personally can imagine that the Classic servers will be included in the subscription. Blizzard might also offer a “Classic only option”, which could then be a bit cheaper. In any case, we are curious and will keep you up to date.

What does Classic actually mean – this is the content
Turning back the time 13 years also means to renounce some quite reasonable changes of the last years. What is actually included in WoW Classic?

Levels: 1-60
Territories: Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms
Races: On the Alliance side, humans, dwarves, night elves and gnomes; on the Horde side, orcs, undead, tauren and trolls.
Classes: Priest, Rogue, Warrior, Mage, Druid, Hunter, Warlock, Shaman, Paladin.
Not all classes can be played by all races. Shamans were only for the Horde and Paladins were only for the Alliance.
Racial skills and special class skills
Skills have to be learned from the teacher for gold
Talent trees without dual-spec
There is no dungeon finder
Long access quests for raids, keys for dungeons
Resistance equipment
Class quests
Farm reputation
Mounts: Mounts starting at level 40, there will also only be mounts that actually existed in Classic times – so no flying mounts either.
Class mounts for Paladins and Warlocks
40-man raids
Ammo and soul shards
Fewer graveyards and flight masters

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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