How far is classic going to go?

[reallyexactly]

I really don’t see Cata having longevity no matter how many settings they tweak. That expansion already killed WoW once, after all.

Panda, on the other hand, will probably be more well received. It was the last true “classic” xpac before they started pruning abilities. Since they’ve already stumbled off the cliff by doing Cata Classic, they might as well keep going to Panda.


WoD classic, though, would just be a step too far.

Actually Cata saved WoW from being a dead game by making guilds matter again and bringing back content for socially invested players, which was all WoW and MMOs are about.

During most of WotLK, thanks to Activision takeover at the time, everything in the game has been dumbed down to make the game accessible to everyone without requiring people to join fixed groups and guilds to play endgame content so they would make a lot of money with 10M+ subs. I remember I wished vanilla and BC servers exist as that time.

I firmly believe if Cata was on the same design paradigm than WotLK the game would’ve dropped even deeper than it has when it drove out people that couldn’t finish heroics by spamming AoE and forget about crowd control just like in WotLK.

[schwank05]

I really hope they go through MOP after that I don't really care I hate the game after MOP. I just hope they figure out a good balance with CATA I also loved this xpac, but it needs to probably be shorter than WOTLK since I believe the community as a whole is basically waiting for MOP and will tolerate CATA for a while. I think they will go as long as people are willing to play though.

[troqu]

Actually Cata saved WoW from being a dead game by making guilds matter again and bringing back content for socially invested players, which was all WoW and MMOs are about.

During most of WotLK, thanks to Activision takeover at the time, everything in the game has been dumbed down to make the game accessible to everyone without requiring people to join fixed groups and guilds to play endgame content so they would make a lot of money with 10M+ subs. I remember I wished vanilla and BC servers exist as that time.

I firmly believe if Cata was on the same design paradigm than WotLK the game would’ve dropped even deeper than it has when it drove out people that couldn’t finish heroics by spamming AoE and forget about crowd control just like in WotLK.

Cata would probably be remembered pretty fondly if the content deadzone didn't happen during one of the worst raid tiers ever while it added one of the most divisive systems ever in the first ever LFR raid Dragon Soul. I even like Dragon Soul as a raid but I never want to go there again. And I know I'm in the minority for liking it, a lot of people HATED that raid, even outside of the LFR context.

[CaptainV]

The main thing I will say honestly is that I cant see classic going past MoP at absoleute most.

MoP was the last wow expansion that used pre-WoD models and WoD onwards the systems clutter started, MoP kinda introduced this with the tillers but the farm was entirley optional content not a mandatory feature though you could argue Scenerios were also added and later not actively refused, which is a shame, it was also the first expansion to add the time trial mode later used as Mythic+.

Imho, the problem is, once you go past Cata the last shreads of wows identity begin to blur since really classic models were all that really restrained cata, and once you get to MoP the classic models are never used in WoD onwards save the goblin/worgen ones introduced in cata, which are later replaced in BFA.

So unless their only justification is to go all the way back to BFA for that one reason, which is daft and stupid, they wont go past MoP at most plus MoP was really the last time they used classic systems like teh badge of honor/justice systems and refined them.

MoP was also what id call weirdly the best middle ground point between WoW's post WOTLK era, because MoP had some very well made systems, like item leveling which was later reused in WoD/Legion and to a lesser extent in BFA/Shadowlands and reforging which sadly didnt come back after MoP.

If you want to argue when did wow loose its identity around factions you could technically keep classic going to BFA being the final faction expansion but honestly that again would be dumb, and legion would only be loved for nostalgia reasons alone, nobody would actually really go through the pain of RNG Legendary jesus again or the titanforged grind of hell, Legion had amazing story but lets not forget it had some of the worst RNG in wow period.

And WoD without its extended features might aswell be like selling vanillia without raids, since wods only appeal was raiding and without faralohn and the ogre isles or the shattrath raid its ultimatley an empty half-finished expansion.

[Foszil]

The main thing I will say honestly is that I cant see classic going past MoP at absoleute most.

MoP was the last wow expansion that used pre-WoD models and WoD onwards the systems clutter started, MoP kinda introduced this with the tillers but the farm was entirley optional content not a mandatory feature though you could argue Scenerios were also added and later not actively refused, which is a shame, it was also the first expansion to add the time trial mode later used as Mythic+.

Imho, the problem is, once you go past Cata the last shreads of wows identity begin to blur since really classic models were all that really restrained cata, and once you get to MoP the classic models are never used in WoD onwards save the goblin/worgen ones introduced in cata, which are later replaced in BFA.

So unless their only justification is to go all the way back to BFA for that one reason, which is daft and stupid, they wont go past MoP at most plus MoP was really the last time they used classic systems like teh badge of honor/justice systems and refined them.

MoP was also what id call weirdly the best middle ground point between WoW's post WOTLK era, because MoP had some very well made systems, like item leveling which was later reused in WoD/Legion and to a lesser extent in BFA/Shadowlands and reforging which sadly didnt come back after MoP.

If you want to argue when did wow loose its identity around factions you could technically keep classic going to BFA being the final faction expansion but honestly that again would be dumb, and legion would only be loved for nostalgia reasons alone, nobody would actually really go through the pain of RNG Legendary jesus again or the titanforged grind of hell, Legion had amazing story but lets not forget it had some of the worst RNG in wow period.

And WoD without its extended features might aswell be like selling vanillia without raids, since wods only appeal was raiding and without faralohn and the ogre isles or the shattrath raid its ultimatley an empty half-finished expansion.

MoP really was the best middleground I agree.

[Itisamuh]

They'll probably just keep going as long as there's any interest. The logical cutoff point would've been Wrath, since that's the last expansion before the old world was changed in Cataclysm. I'm sure they'll go to Pandaria, since for some reason nowadays it's considered a good expansion, and there's no way they won't take it to Legion. I personally don't have any interest in any of it, what's the point of playing an old expansion if they're just going to delete it again like Burning Crusade?

[czarek]

Till they could profit thats simple as math

[vizzle]

You guys are thinking about this too philosophically. This is purely a business decision at the end of the day; they've found that people are willing to put in more hours into WoW even if it means playing an old version of the game whenever they're tired of the current version of the game. They'll literally continue Classic as long as they can. If it ever gets to the point that the numbers become too low to justify it, then they'll just restart. There is no "cut off point", lol. It's literally about MAUs and the hours you guys sink in every day/week/month, and getting the most out of the people who just can't quit.

[Nzx]

You guys are thinking about this too philosophically. This is purely a business decision at the end of the day

Would you believe it? A business, creating a product, and making business-related decisions about it. You wouldn't read about it in the mainstream media I'll tell you that much for free. I'm just so incredibly incensed that a business would create a product that I enjoy engaging with and then continue developing that product in ways that I also enjoy and therefore I continue to engage with it. It's despicable, capitalism gone mad.

[vizzle]

Would you believe it? A business, creating a product, and making business-related decisions about it. You wouldn't read about it in the mainstream media I'll tell you that much for free. I'm just so incredibly incensed that a business would create a product that I enjoy engaging with and then continue developing that product in ways that I also enjoy and therefore I continue to engage with it. It's despicable, capitalism gone mad.

I don't get where the sass is coming from considering I'm plainly stating that it's a business decision, not a decision about "What is Classic WoW?" Maybe read my post again. You people are so toxic here, lol.

[CaptainV]

They'll probably just keep going as long as there's any interest. The logical cutoff point would've been Wrath, since that's the last expansion before the old world was changed in Cataclysm. I'm sure they'll go to Pandaria, since for some reason nowadays it's considered a good expansion, and there's no way they won't take it to Legion. I personally don't have any interest in any of it, what's the point of playing an old expansion if they're just going to delete it again like Burning Crusade?

The only real farpoint for me would be Legion but that to me would be stupid, like, whats the point, once you get to legion you really have already gone way past classic and your really playing it for the nostalgic experience rather than the actual game.

So, I think honestly, MoP is a safe bet because MoP was teh last point in hte series that was really the pre-WoD era of temporary systems and changing goals.

[mercutiouk]

That's what it's always meant..

Well, yes. I completely agree. It's sort of a point that needs hammering home to the "classic only means until wrath!!!!" echo chamber though.

[Armourboy]

I think the goal is to get to MoP as they have said in the past that there are lots of people who have expressed interest in playing it. I think the problem for them becomes once you get past that you start getting into an era that for one thing isn't that old, but secondly is pretty slim on what did well. Legion is about it once you get past MoP.

It's why I think they will probably try and speed through Cata just as quick as they can, especially if numbers start to take a dive. I think if they could have skipped it and went straight to MoP they would have.

[Chapel]

Anything after MOP isn't really 'Classic' anymore and unless they are going to drastically alter talents and skills to be different from what actually exists, there is no reason to even make a Classic MOP.

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Mop is a whole lot more similar to dragonflight than vanilla.

This is true. And as such, people won't like it being pointed out.

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MoP is an easy given. Of course they're going to release Classic MoP. There seems to be way more interest in MoP than Cata, and they did Cata.

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For the 1000000000th time, "Classic" is just another name for "Reforged", or "Greatest Hits", or "HD Edition" or "Definitive Edition" or "Classics" or hell even "Classic". It's just an adjective to stick before the game name so we know it's different from the original version. All video game companies are doing this now. It's not a specific game or games or a moment in time. It's incredibly shocking to me how much of the community doesn't understand this.

But it shouldn't be 'different' from the original version. This is 'rose colored' nostalgia, but they want it changed and updated gameplay-wise. I understand putting a pretty coat of paint on something and going back for a visit, but not fully recrafting the code-base and making changes that don't really matter since they aren't going to mean anything at the end of 'Classic MOP'.

It isn't like they really needed to fix anything, since the best final version was the second before the next expansion's pre-patch. They could easily just push that and say 'enjoy the best of MOP.'

[schmonz]

I would sacrifice 100,000 bear asses at the shrine of the temple of hazzikostas if they added solo seasons.

[Grazrug]

Well the new game rolled around in MoP with new graphics and the last true continent uncovered. So I wager here that Cataclysm will be the last part of classic until they focus soley on SoD instead.

[Julmara]

definetly not further than mop
unless you love farming AP for an entire expansion again lol
in multiple expansions

[Lazerbrain]

anyone thinking your not gonna get classic legion and classic bfa are kidding themselves.

[Makaloff]

anyone thinking your not gonna get classic legion and classic bfa are kidding themselves.

i get legion but why would blizz do BFA? BFA wasnt exactly well recieved

[Chickat]

Forever. There will always be a few hundred thousand wanting to replay or play each expansion for the first time. Even SL. 250k people subbing just for SL would 100% be worth the minimal effort it would take to make it.