Out of all of the things that I didn’t expect to be on my 2024 MMO bingo sheet was “Getting absolutely sucked into a re-release of WoW Classic.” Yet ever since the announcement of the 20th anniversary servers at Warcraft Direct earlier this month, I couldn’t contain my excitement. And when the servers went live last week? I dived in head-first as if were 2004 all over again.
Sure, the accusation might be leveled that this is a fleeting hit of nostalgia, here today and gone, if not tomorrow, then in a month or so. After all, we’ve seen the drop-off that’s happened in previous iterations such as Season of Discovery. But I truly think that it’s more than a simple nostalgia trip this time. It’s something the Classic community’s been prepping for these last five years — and it’s something Blizzard could grow.
I’ve long held the feeling that vanilla WoW has become this bucking beast that Blizzard can’t tame but only hold onto and pray for dear life. Let’s not forget that the whole idea for Classic came out of a decade-plus of private servers filling a strong demand for legacy gameplay. The studio tried to shut those down and deny that the demand was there… until it finally gave in and made it happen.
The WoW Classic beast continued to buck and juke ever since its tremendous 2019 release. The community deeply cared about this version of the game, bringing fierce debates to the table over #nochanges or #somechanges. A vocal segment started agitating for Classic+ content. Hardcore began as a community-driven mode until that, too, was made into an official part of the game when it became so popular that Blizzard couldn’t ignore it.
And that’s not even factoring in how the community didn’t fully go along with the constant progression to Cataclysm and beyond but emigrated in droves back to Classic Era. This version of the game, which all but died when Burning Crusade Classic released, experienced an astonishing renaissance in recent years.
This is all to say that the history of WoW Classic in its many iterations has been absolutely nuts and driven just as much by the community as the studio.
That brings us to this month’s announcement and launch of “WoW Classic Classic” — fresh start servers that many had requested for a while now. These weren’t going to be the same-old 2019 edition of the game but an improved version that capitalized upon technological improvements and lessons learned.
For starters, instead of launching dozens upon dozens of servers, we got a mere handful of megaservers with all sorts of layering to handle the load. Hardcore players were treated to new realms on Day One alongside PvP and PvE, almost as if Blizzard invented the mode or something. Welcome changes such as dual specs, no buff/debuff limits, and a modified looking for group tool smoothed over some of the rougher spots of vanilla.
As far as we can tell, these servers are going to be full progression, going to Burning Crusade in early 2026 and presumably — although not confirmed — to expansions beyond. Everyone I’ve talk to is a mixed mind about that, but those who showed up at launch seemed generally amenable to whatever happens as long as they got to experience Fresh alongside an uplifting community of new characters.
Indulging in so very much WoW Classic this past weekend reminded me how great the core game is despite its well-known flaws. It’s not merely getting hit with a wave of nostalgia but appreciating the little details, the gradual and well-fought progression, the exploration of the world, and a game design that, yes, brought players together for many mutual goals.
Even as we go through this latest iteration of Classic, there seems to be this eye on the future — to where we are going and what characters we want to take on that grand journey. There may have been many variants of Classic since 2019, but my gut says this is the best so far.
Stepping back into the MMO time machine of WoW Classic, Justin Olivetti offers up observations and ground-level analysis as a Gnome with a view. Casually Classic is a more laid-back look at this legacy ruleset for those of us who’ve never stepped into a raid or seen more than 200 gold to our names.
