World of Warcraft has gone through several iterations at this point, all ranging from Classic, Classic Era, Season of Discovery, and Retail (also known as current patches and whatever expansion it’s in at the moment). It’s an MMORPG that constantly reinvents itself, while also attempting to keep the core feeling of what it was like playing the game in the early aughts alive. It’s an MMORPG that I’ve fallen in love with for this reason.
Now if you’ve read the title and you’ve dropped off the game somewhere between Mists of Pandaria or Cataclysm, you’ve probably got your mitts on and are ready to have a go at me. But the chances are, that I probably agree with you. (I love all World of Warcraft, but I don’t care for Cataclysm, at all.) Because while I am still relatively new to World of Warcraft, the most time I’ve spent in the game has been on the Classic Era servers and Season of Discovery. And while I do enjoy Retail a lot, I love the roughness of the game as it existed in 2006. So much so that I’ve even dipped into playing on private servers on occasion just to really experience what the game was like without any user interface or major gameplay adjustments and improvements.
I started playing MMORPGs at the tender age of twelve. Lineage II was the first MMORPG I really sank my teeth into, thanks to some really kind NCSOFT employees at GenCon. I remember fiddling around at one of the stations, just absolutely enamored at the prospect of playing a game online that wasn’t a Ragnarok Online private server. Since then, I’ve been hooked on MMORPGs. I’ve played AION at launch, I made a QQ account with some help of a friend that had a Chinese ID to play Blade & Soul during it’s early years through the QQ (now Tencent) launcher. I’m old, and I love the weirdness of MMORPGs early in their lifespan for how utterly bizarre some gameplay changes can be.
And World of Warcraft Classic (and by extension Season of Discovery) had everything I wanted. I played a Paladin at first, trudging through Hardcore and absolutely getting eviscerated by kobold in the Human starting zone. And then I moved to Hunter in Classic and Season of Discovery and loved the intricacy of it all. This was during a period where I was feeling particularly anti-social, completely burnt out because of several projects I had to juggle, and running around Darkwood with my Black Ravager (a large wolf with protruding tusks that I felt my character would have accompanying him on his lonely journey) was just a lot of fun. I loved having to feed my pet and raise it’s affinity. I loved teaching my pet new skills and having to buy arrows for my bow. I loved the intricacy of old World of Warcraft.
Everything in World of Warcraft existed for a reason. It existed with intent. I had to take damage to raise my defense, I had to use a bow to become more proficient and deal more damage. It felt like my character was growing, that he existed and belonged in the world in a way. I was engaging in the game in a way that felt natural, and there isn’t really another MMORPG on the market that does this specific thing. It’s inconvenient, and at times trying, but it feels good to play.
But sometimes I don’t want that challenge. Sometimes I want to use the Dungeon Finder to easily queue up with people to run the latest content and get new gear pieces for my extensive collection of Death Knight transmogs (or glamours, if you’re an FFXIV player). Or I just want the general ease of access to reach Dungeons or Raids that I can mow through on my own as I chew through World of Warcraft’s extensive backlog of content as a new player. And that’s when I jump into Retail.
World of Warcraft Dragonflight and The War Within have added their own significant gameplay changes and updates. Dragonflight added a new flight system, which admittedly is a lot of fun and makes traversal through maps quick, and The War Within expanded on this, and made a new version of a roguelike mode that appeared in Shadowlands more single player friendly. There’s also general quality of life updates like Warbands, which unlock transmogs and achievements across all characters, and has saved me from playing through Shadowlands a second time for a specific outfit. It’s all about convenience, which is fine. It doesn’t detract from Classic, and it allows me to play a more modern version of a game that I really have come to adore with friends that don’t want to experience the rough edges of what the game used to be.
Both versions existing simultaneously isn’t an issue either. If you want that more involved experience, you can play Classic Era, even if the servers aren’t nearly as populated as Retail there is still a decently healthy community there. (Play on RP servers, the people there are generally very friendly, and seeing open world RP is awesome.) And Retail is alive and well, even if players dip in and out at various points.
I’m just saying that it’s awesome that World of Warcraft players can have their cake and eat it too. I wish more MMORPGs would do this, or at least let players experience the games as they were throughout their lifetime. But I understand this isn’t a possibility. World of Warcraft makes a lot of money, and Blizzard Entertainment is allowed to funnel that profit back into the game. Though I’m grateful that these various game states are allowed to exist. Because if they didn’t, I’m not sure if I’d love World of Warcraft as much as I do now.
World of Warcraft is available for PC.
Published: Sep 2, 2024 12:00 pm