Vanilla Can Only Mean One Thing, World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft Classic

There was a time, long ago, that the phrase “Vanilla was better” had never been spoken before.  These were the days before the first World of Warcraft expansions.  Ever since this time you’ve had a number of players say that the original World of Warcraft game, usually referred to as “Vanilla” or “Classic”, was the best version of the game.  Well, now they get their chance to re-live the glory days!  At BlizzCon 2017 it was announced that there will finally be an official World of Warcraft Classic edition server for all to play on.

Riding Dragons

This is significant for a few different reasons.  Community servers have always popped up trying to run classic editions of the game or enhanced versions where everyone has cards, max level, random spells, etc., but this is the first and only official version that’s not up-to-date or on the Public Test Servers (PTS).  This also will give us the opportunity to see if people will actually play it.  Lets not forget that lower level PvP is dominated by Twinks rocking heirlooms (I’m guilty of it too). Blizzard made a “twink only” queue for lower level twinks who froze their XP and no one played it.  I guess it wasn’t fun when they no longer face rolled non-geared players.

Paladin

Blizzard says it will be a good place for new players to start since the game is a much simpler version, but I do have my doubts.  I played WoW, I actually played the WoW Beta and then played it on release as a Troll Rogue and hit max when there wasn’t much to do.  The game will be harder for players to level, less forgiving, and not to mention classes will have different abilities and trees than they do today.  WoW Classic is an entirely different game than the current WoW being played by millions.  Sure it’s still the same world with a lot of similarities but it’s vastly different.  I’m sure though WoW Classic won’t be exactly like the original.  Hopefully they will implement group finders, iron out some of the kinks with the original, but people forget (or never experienced) having to walk to dungeons.  It’s even blurry for me thinking back all those years.

There is an official announcement video that starts off pretty cute.  The video takes you through time reversing all the expansions.  You see scenes from Mists of Panderia, Cataclysm, Wrath of the Lich King, and going all the way back until you see a Dwarf hunter and his pet overlooking Ironforge before the words “World of Warcraft Classic” appear on the screen.  Like most videos from Blizzard it does get you excited, especially if you’ve ever experienced one of the many expansions of WoW.  I’m sure players will go back, even if just briefly, for both the nostalgia factor and to experience the “new” of this classic version of the most successful MMORPG’s of all time.  I’ll see you there.

About Matt 90 Articles
I enjoy writing, learning about new games, and seeing what creative people are coming up with. The constant in my life has always been a passion for gaming so in my spare time I'm going to bring that passion to life here. I hope you enjoy.