'World of Warcraft Classic'

If you haven't heard of World of Warcraft Classic, let me be the first to welcome you to the old school MMO that sucked the lives out of everyone playing it. WoW Classic is just as it's labeled. Going back to the original game before all the expansions, streamlined content, easy combat, and leveling. Shed all of the fat and go back to the cut and dry World of Warcraft. To be honest the original recipe is my cup of tea. WoW Classic brings you back to when you actually had to read quest to find your destination; you have to put in the time and effort to learn and craft a character that you are on this adventure with. Nothing is given, you have to earn it. So far I am ten hours in. I have a level ten dwarf hunter. Just a little perspective of the time that you will need to put into the game to achieve what you want in it. Now let's dive into this.

When you first load up WoW Classic you get to see the original portal, nostalgia overload inbound! You get to feel the drums of the sound track and know that you are entering something grand. After you log in, you get to see the create a class, and they return the graphic back to the original state, so you get to see the low resolution textures and old models of the eight races to choose from. When you have the great adventurer you created, you then enter. You get the original narrations explaining where your character came from and why you are essential to this world. Blizzard was nice enough to add tutorials—that's about where it stops.

When you start to dive in you soon realize that you have to read quests to find out what direction that you need to go. The game only gives you little dots on the map to tell you there is a quest available; the rest is up to you. You have to pay attention to the details. This is a great immersion that forces you to have to pay attention. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where that tool box was because all the quest says is "Southwest of Anvilmar by the troll den." Thank you, there are three troll dens—now which one could it be? I see this as fun, really making you work for it. To some this would become a tedious task. After a while of walking around you will start to see that it takes a very, very... VERY long time to get anywhere. Maybe it's my stumpy dwarf legs, but wheew it's a haul just to get to an inn.

While you're on your mountainous hike, you will fight wonderful creatures that WoW is known for. These fights take time. Like I have stated before, the game takes time, in which killing that Ice Claw Bear for the fourth time in a row is time consuming. This isn't a bad feature, but if you are coming from 2019 WoW it is quite the change. You have to wait for your skills and even the level three bear can kill you. After a bit of quest and killing, you get to advance your character. This is where I fall back in love. WoW Classic goes back to the trainer's system, where you pay for someone to teach you new skill. I feel as though this is one of the most immersive aspects that 2019 WoW has lost. I enjoy having a reason to go back to town, sell all the junk I have collected, and get some new skills while I am there. As you see in the image above that is the world. No random islands, no rifts, just a wonderful open world, filled with players.

The WoW Classic has a great comm... Never mind folks. One of my biggest negative isn't the game's fault at all. The community. I honestly don't really play game to make friends or even to talk to people but sometime the game needs it; WoW is no different. Without a group finder you go to the general chat to find someone to help you kill that epic beast. I saw a fellow ask for help; the chat lit up with bullying and calling the fellow profanities. That is an honest let down because you can read articles of how great the community is and how they all help each other. Huh, not my server I suppose because anyone that needs help gets ridiculed for it. For me I asked for help with killing an epic beast. Instantly, someone messaged me and journeyed to the location; they had a friend as well. Another player came up before my group got into the fight and started fighting the beast. I started to help the random person kill the beast. My group started to say "don't help him," "we don't get credit," etc. Then I was called stupid and kicked from the group. I'm still puzzled by the selfishness of the community. Why have a community at all if you're not there to help one another thrive within the game?

In the end, it is WoW as it originally was made; it is actually wonderful. You lose all the overwhelming attributes that 2019 WoW has. There are no ancient weapons, no world quest, just location to location quests. That is wonderful. I love how you have to work for all that you have, put the time in so you get the rewards that you want. The game also make you feel so much more immersed in the vast open world to explore; with that vastness you do have to walk for a long time to get to wherever you are going. No matter how hard you try, this game takes time. That is what really makes it pop though. Bring you back to that simpler time when it wasn't about all the different colored dragons you have. It is just fun.

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