Rusty Blade Pit: WoW Classic Preview (Topic)

15 years ago in 2004, the world of online games changed dramatically. World of Warcraft became a symbol of gaming in the 2000s. If today at the word of video games everyone remembers some Fortnite, then WoW was heard. Today times have changed dramatically and games have become closer to our lives. In 2004, they were still a young cultural phenomenon that not everyone could digest. Vov became for the first time something big and significant, which united people from all over the world to roam the vastness of Azeroth together.

Happy childhood

My personal acquaintance in Wow, like many other children in the post-Soviet space, was rather superficial and began with pirate servers. Since I didn’t have my great mighty yet, I first saw her on the computer of a friend who, by some miracle, managed to get on a crooked pirate server. Most often we just traveled with him on the map. This world seemed big and fantastic, especially when you enjoyed one big city and headed to another.

The fun, however, did not last very long, and one day my friend said that the game just stopped running, and we continued to drive in Flatout with him, wildly obsessed with the ejection of the car driver. By the time I had the PC and the money to buy myself a full game, it turned out that WoW had already lost that magical charm that Blizzard tried to recreate today.

I experienced only a fleeting happiness from meeting WoW, so I can't judge how amazing it was, and whether WoW Classic is really its direct successor. Therefore, in the review of World of Warcraft Classic, we turn to the Western media for the sake of sincere emotions.

Pit of Rusty Blades

“Over the thousands of hours spent on Azeroth, I have defeated intergalactic armies of demons and hordes, while collecting the most powerful equipment the universe has ever known. But Classic makes it feel like going into caves filled with level 12 troggs is a huge accomplishment. This is not so much a nostalgic journey as it is nostalgia for a pit of rusty blades. And damn it, I love it, ”begins the PC Gamer journalist.

Summing up the first impressions of the Western media, so far we can conclude that at launch they received almost the same authentic experience from WoW as they did a few years ago. Of course, the Classic engine is driven by a modern system, not the original 2004 release, with vanilla graphics and game systems pinned on top. Everything looks and plays the same as before, but WoW itself works much better.

A slower but more deliberate pace is noted in the game, contributing to greater immersion, and also acting as an incentive for social interaction with other players. As the same PC Gamer notes:

“In the 30 hours that I spent at Classic, I had to join forces with countless people to stay alive. The slower pace of combat and the need to take frequent breaks to regain mana or health between fights create welcome hotbeds of conversation that often turn into meaningful relationships. So I found a guild and made a couple of new entries on my friends list.

For example, I first got into Deadmines with a group of chatty players who belonged to the same guild. More than once we accidentally got involved in a fight with too many enemies and struggled with difficulty to stay alive. Rather than fretting about how difficult it was or looking for the culprit, those moments were insane and fun.

After we defeated the last boss, our group was almost completely wiped out with the exception of me and our almost dead rogue, who was pursued by a pirate. He shouted for help, asked me to shoot the enemy - I had just run out of ammunition and I was helpless. It was like a chase scene from Scooby-Doo, trying to draw attention to myself while my comrade fled. ”

It is noteworthy that kindness returned to the game, which may seem strange. Don't think that the gaming community has always been toxic, but people used to not kill each other in the game as soon as they saw, unlike today.

Although there are a number of reasons why this is so, and they explain all the good things about WoW Classic. People know they are on the same server with the same people, and if they plan to play long term, reputation really matters.

In the end, this game was created in order for players to interact, so you have to accept its old-fashioned rules and abandon the idea of killing everyone in the name of some unknown reason. After all, as the author wrote from Kotaku:

“Oh my god, I need other people in World of Warcraft Classic. Old school Azeroth is not at all friendly with loners. I've died a dozen or more times in Westfall, a level 10-20 zone outside of Stormwind, trying to play a 2004 online RPG like a gamer accustomed to online life in 2019.

Good old quests

“The most important thing to say about World of Warcraft Classic is that the art, quest lines and NPCs are exactly the same as I remember from the original game. Even the original mistakes have been preserved. Everything works better, which is a welcome improvement, but the game itself is as close to the original as possible. I have been playing World of Warcraft for 15 years now and I was afraid that restarting would be too easy. It turned out that I was worried in vain. I was pleasantly surprised by the difficulty of Classic.

The gameplay is slightly simpler than in modern World of Warcraft - there is less anxiety during battles, but the game is more challenging when it comes to things like talent selection and leveling, ”says Polygon.

The publication says that monsters hit harder and often surpass you in strength. The hit rating is back, and this significantly affects whether you are able to contact your target at all. In general, it will be much easier to kill your character than you are used to in the modern game. The first version of World of Warcraft was challenging and it remains the same today, even if you know what to expect.

Many players in chat often shout that their memories of World of Warcraft are different from the modern version of WoW, compared to the classic one.

At ease

“World of Warcraft Classic is teeming with life. Merchants shout out their wares, offering much-needed magic items and equipment at reasonable prices. Adventurers form parties to defend against dangerous low-level foes. Earlier today, a stranger approached my magician and asked if I could conjure water for him. I can't remember the last time a random player asked me about anything in World of Warcraft. It's nice to feel needed again. "- Kotaku.

And although the servers of Wow Classic are overflowing to this day, you understand that they are filled with your like-minded people who have come for the same thing as you - to restore the friendly Azeroth of the old school, and hang together as once upon a time.

Coming home

To summarize, we can say that Classic is a game that relies on social connections and makes you seek and develop them. It's a rare thing in online gaming these days, but it's a welcome design philosophy for our time when many other electronic entertainment focuses on the simplicity of single-player play and allows for isolation.

World of Warcraft Classic does everything it has in mind. It recreates the exact 1.12 patch in vanilla WoW, with a few subtly built-in tech conveniences. And one thing is clear - people want to come there and return.

The Topic of Article: Rusty Blade Pit: WoW Classic Preview.
Author: Jake Pinkman