Before the Crusade: Why You Should Play WoW Classic
It’s not unheard of for certain parts of a player base to play an older version of a particular game. A good example of this is the World of Warcraft Classic. Despite having the same subscription price as the retail version that has more content, Classic players prefer the old-world charms. And it’s not just about nostalgia or WoW Classic gold for that matter.
Here’s why Classic has its more than fair share of fans and why you should be one of them, even for just a short time. 
Loot is Treasure
A problem MMOs encounter that is hard to avoid – if not completely unavoidable – is power creep. This means skills and items become obsolete as more content is introduced. At times, it’s necessary, as it’s meant to encourage players to go for newer gear and skills. At the same time, however, it is a shame to rely on it, as older items and skills become obsolete and will no longer be used by players.
There is a way to counter that, but it’s not easy. Besides, we’re not here to discuss how to solve power creep, but talk about the time before power creep crept in World of Warcraft. Simpler times mean simpler gear, and potent gears among the simple ones are valuable. That means more players needing more WoW Classic bags.
While green gear has become worthless in retail, in Classic they are important, especially if you are a struggling player. Over time, this particular sense has been lost in WoW retail but was brought back in WoW Classic.
Then again, it’s not only power creep that made what were once important intermediate items useless, but also changes to the way items are obtained. Rather than settle for a particular item, retail players can instead look for quests that reward reliable gear. Now, since players can get solid weapons or pieces of armor as quest rewards, they can just ignore intermediate gear and wait for the former.
With WoW Classic, if you got yourself good loot, then you’re going to treasure it. Until you get something better, that is, but there’s going to be quite some time before you do.
Trees and Growth
Another relic from the Vanilla WoW era that was sorely missed was the talent trees. It’s something that was eventually overhauled and greatly watered down to make sure there aren’t any “mandatory” talents that would accidentally gimp characters if they were missed. Plus, to many devs and players, it became a bit of a chore.
However, there is a certain appeal to being the one in charge of your progression. While it may seem pointless now because “best builds” have already been established and players can just follow them to make their builds fail-proof, there is a novelty and a sense of progress in players being the ones to build up the talent tree themselves.
Come to think of it, other games have the same problem – the talent tree becoming tedious and semi-redundant because certain builds become established. And yet they continue to have such a system. Perhaps that’s the right thing to do because if it isn’t then no WoW Classic player would ever find the idea of being the one to fill the talent tree by themselves appealing.
Longer, Sweeter Grind
It’s understandable for WoW retail to speed up the leveling process, especially with new players. After all, life is busier now than it was ten years ago. Plus, both the WoW player base and the entire gaming population have grown up. Nobody wants to spend a month before they get to the cap – they just want to get there as fast as possible so they can run the usual endgame content when they get home. It also doesn’t help that MMOs are designed in such a way that the most exciting part of the game is the endgame.
However, there is a sense of Zen, of smelling the roses, with a much slower leveling up. The game isn’t just the endgame, but the road to get there. Not a lot of people appreciate the longer path, but those that do are more appreciative of the experience and feel that the endgame is more rewarding.
All About Community
Last but definitely not the least would be the more tightly knit community. WoW Classic doesn’t have the same numbers as Vanilla WoW, but it did manage to bring back the more personal approach players need to have in the community. Perhaps it’s because there are fewer community functions, which, ironically, have created less need for players to personally interact with one another. Goes to show that sometimes, less is more.
There’s no better time to start playing WoW Classic than now, especially that life has become slower due to the pandemic, and that Burning Crusade is coming up. See you on the older and equally green plains of Azeroth, adventurer.
