WoW Classic launched on August 26, 2019 and I just now hit level 60. Yes, it took me 4 years, 11 months, and 13 days to reach max level. Obviously that’s not my in-game play time but that is how long it took me to reach 60. Maybe that’s some sort of world first?
When World of Warcraft Classic launched I was extremely excited. I’m a long time MMO player and I was there when the WoW servers first opened in 2004. Actually, I was there even before then because I played the WoW beta. All this to say I was eager to revisit an older version of Azeroth that hadn’t been seen in more than a decade.
When WoW Classic launched I remember zoning into Durotar on my new Troll Rogue and seeing masses of players everywhere. Revisiting the world with all these players, both new and old, was a unique experience. It was fun being able to see the original Orgrimmar and other areas that have changed so much over the years. There was just so many little things to notice and explore and some things like Barrens chat were still filled with Chuck Norris jokes. The game was just as enjoyable as I remembered.
I didn’t approach classic with the goal of raiding or participating in the end game content. I just wanted to experience the world, go back to some of my favorite ganking spots (I am a rogue after all on a PvP server), enjoy a few dungeons, and play with friends. I did all of that and then stopped playing before reaching max level.
Eventually Hardcore Classic came out and whenever I’d go back to WoW Classic I’d just spend time on the hardcore servers. Even there I still haven’t hit max level, my hunter is only level 42. Then, for whatever reason, I decided to go back to my Rogue. The server was dead and I had to be very self sufficient but I found joy in continuing to explore Azeroth on my own. That’s the thing about World of Warcraft, the world is enjoyable to be in. At least to me.
So I’d get a few levels and then take a break for weeks or months and then come back and get some more levels, then walk away again. The problem for me eventually became grinding the last few levels. The game assumed you’d have people to group with. There are plenty of quests in the late 50’s for dungeons or elite mobs that would have made it a breeze to level but I just had to grind. I don’t hate grinding but the mobs in the Plaguelands were so boring I just lost interest.
I should have gone up to Winterspring or other areas but in the end I decided to just bunker down in Silithus. I had a quest or two down there I could finish and the humanoid mobs weren’t that bad. So for the entire last level I sat there pick pocketing and grinding out the mobs at the Twilight Basecamp. After a few hundred mobs were looted, it happened. Ding, level 60.
Unlike when WoW Classic first launched there was no fan fare upon hitting 60. No one whispered me, I wasn’t in a guild who would congrats me, no one was around. At the time there were only 11 people on the entire server. None of that mattered though. This journey was for me and I’m happy I was able to once again have a max level character in the old world of Azeroth. Ding.