I would not be opposed to some sort of classic+ situation. Problem is it can't be done without splitting the playerbase. I do think people will get tired of classic eventually. Truth is, vanilla was only a couple of years, and we're down to months when it's only the patch 1.12. Where were you two years ago, in may 2017? It sure went fast didn't it. Now people are longing for something that felt endless back in the day, but was only so brief. I do think classic will be fun far beyond only 2 years, but you can only do something for so long until it becomes a bore.
Another problem is that blizz feels too incompetent to be able to pull off a classic+ path. IMO it would have to be in the style of vanilla/classic, both visuals and audio, or at least very inspired by it, and the Wc3 style that vanilla was based on.
Pretty interesting idea! Definitely sounds blizz like.
Like at the time, when they planned Death Knight, you had to sacrifice on of your characters at level 70 and, after a long chain, having it transformed in DK.
That would have been awesome! Shame they didn't go that route.
I really hope Blizzard ends up going the OSRS route with community voting for new content and features. In OSRS, 75% of the subscribed community has to agree to said new stuff in order for it to be implemented.
I do think people will get tired of classic eventually. Truth is, vanilla was only a couple of years, and we're down to months when it's only the patch 1.12. Where were you two years ago, in may 2017? It sure went fast didn't it. Now people are longing for something that felt endless back in the day, but was only so brief. I do think classic will be fun far beyond only 2 years, but you can only do something for so long until it becomes a bore.
Yeah the OSRS route indeed sounds very promising for WoW. I'd say 75% is a good mark (just don't make it 51%).
One thing about OSRS vs. Classic would be, how long does it take to "max out" in both games. I hardly played OSRS, but from what I can tell for pro players it is 1.6k hours and about 2k hours for an average player. That is a lot longer than Classic. To be fair to WoW, you can always roll new characters, grind for Rank 14 etc.
But I digress. My point is, how long is needed until Classic is considered "stale" by the large playerbase? 2 years? 3 years? Personally I get only about 6-10 hrs play time every week, so for me it can last for a few years easily. I know I know it's a very "cross that bridge once we get there" situation, but it never hurts to have a discussion about it.
It's also not solely a "Classic gets stale" argument either. I think the game has great potential, and I think possible future updates to Classic (either Classic+ or whatever) could have great positive effects on the game. Think about updates that are true to the Classic spirit. So obviously no bullshit like LFR/Flying etc. No new "systems". Just new "things"; zones, dungeons, raids, battlegrounds etc. And yes, with Classic graphics.
Even if Blizzard would do it, could they actually accomplish it? Would the Classic fanbase have faith in a Classic+? Those are the big questions, as well as what happens to others who just want a constant Classic (as splitting the playerbase point is something that comes up quite a lot and with good reason).
All in all, I'm pretty excited about what the future (potentially) holds. Personally, if one thing is (almost) certain, is that we will almost definitely get TBC and extremely likely Wotlk servers at some point. But hey that's just my gut feeling.
No Veteran will transfer his character when he get lost on the classic server. Tbh. why would I transfer my T3 priest to Burning Crusade to crush all my progress?
I probably would start fresh and let my old character stay there.
I've always felt this way. Especially when they would never let you bring gold/what's in your bags anyhow or players would spend months and months prepping to take a chunk out of the economy. Best case scenario, they allow you to duplicate your character with its gear into the new game. Worst case they would completely transfer that character and it would totally invalidate your progress on the Classic realm and wouldnt be worth it. You'd be better off leveling your own duplicate 60 while you were waiting for BC release and transfer over a fresh 60 and leave your progressed 60 in Classic. I can see the argument for roleplayers who identify with their specific character, but for everyone else it seems like a net loss.
Great ideas! I enjoyed the way you worked the character transfers into the game!
I think the hardcore stance I'm seeing around the web of accepting absolutely nothing after Naxxramas is a bit too much in my opinion. Yes it's not the classic experience from 2006, but so what? Why shut the door on a potentially amazing (truly) new adventure with the same feel and spirit of Classic WoW? It might suck, sure, but it might also turn out to be just exactly the path WoW should have taken 13 years ago.
This implementation, with aeh's modification, seems interesting to me, it'd allow the core experience to be preserved. If the experiment turned out to be unsuccessful, then nothing would have been lost and everyone could just go back to the plain vanilla servers.
I am not opposed to content after Naxx. The problem I see is better gear breaking the game even more.
Also the general problem with instanced content is that it takes away players from the world. So for Classic+ I would rather see content that does not compete with Vanilla content but rather complements it.
I am not opposed to content after Naxx. The problem I see is better gear breaking the game even more.
Also the general problem with instanced content is that it takes away players from the world. So for Classic+ I would rather see content that does not compete with Vanilla content but rather complements it.
Fair point on the gear thing, the way blizzard drastically changed their itemization in Naxxramas and the character power ramp-up from that change would pose a difficulty. It'd be hard to sell a step-down in itemization on an hipothetic new tier of content and most likely players would become just too extremely powerful with new-tier gear. I guess they could still upgrade items just not with perfect itemization, maybe that would increase the viability of some less-accepted class/spec combos (along the lines of T2.5).
I don't see a big problem with new instanced content (new dungeons, raids, battlegrounds), I doubt those would really draw that much population away from the non-instanced world. It could be difficult to come up with new un-instanced content without additional levels though.. And for that there's already much content in TBC (as much as I dislike it).
Now, if they created an all new 60-70 experience retaining all the essential characteristics of Classic (e.g. no flying mounts), that for me would be a dream. And yes, I know, it's farfetched and probably not really well thought-out.
For outdoor content I would love to see areas that are designed to be done with raid sized groups. Basically the trash equivalent to a world boss. You can easily add these mobs into otherwise rarely used areas. Badlands, silithus, desolace coast, azshara... these mobs dont need to drop loot, they can just drop (new) materials, quest items or similar stuff. The best world pvp occurs when you force people to compete for ressources, not when you give them meaningless pvp objectives.
For outdoor content I would love to see areas that are designed to be done with raid sized groups. Basically the trash equivalent to a world boss. You can easily add these mobs into otherwise rarely used areas. Badlands, silithus, desolace coast, azshara... these mobs dont need to drop loot, they can just drop (new) materials, quest items or similar stuff. The best world pvp occurs when you force people to compete for ressources, not when you give them meaningless pvp objectives.
The problem I see with that suggestion is those would be droplets of content, put into already existing zones. It wouldn't feel natural at all, we all know a random giant with a unique name isn't by itself interesting enough to matter.
I think I'd like to see a zone that is centered around PvP, with meaningful rank progression potential and some other interesting rewards. Maybe you need to fight to defend a small area that is the only place a new material spawns, or secure the entrance to the new dungeon/raid complex, only after which you could enter.
Will classic just be stuck like it was at the latest vanilla patch for years to come? Do you think Blizz will come out with TBC servers as well? Just speculating what Blizzards move will be.
Ion hazzikostas said if vanilla meets their expectations, then they plan to release TBC and possibly WotLK afterwards.
As for what happens after Vanilla is complete, they might have a fresh reset after some years, but who knows.
Ion hazzikostas said if vanilla meets their expectations, then they plan to release TBC and possibly WotLK afterwards.
As for what happens after Vanilla is complete, they might have a fresh reset after some years, but who knows.
That seems fair. A reset would be cool. Even with how much we love vanilla, I'm wondering if something doesn't get a bit boring if there's never new content being released. That makes me think the lifespan for the majority of classic players will just be a couple years at most, until the last phase is done and some year after. I mean - I still remember everyone whining when there weren't new content being released for months before a new expansion release.
I am hoping for new content in classic, not a move to TBC. It is on the table it seems: https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/bparxp/when_asked_if_new_level_60_content_after/
I am hoping for new content in classic, not a move to TBC. It is on the table it seems: https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/bparxp/when_asked_if_new_level_60_content_after/
That'd be mad. A bit controversial though I would think, especially with the "no changes" crowd. I'd be happy as long as they follow the vanilla mentality.