Could WoW Classic Create a Domino Effect?

Even if you’re unfamiliar with World of Warcraft, you may have heard that Blizzard has announced they will soon allow players to play the “vanilla” version of the game. That is, players will have the opportunity to play the original game with no content from any expansion packs and only a few content patch updates.

Blizzard refers to this version as “WoW Classic,” and it’s set to launch on August 27, 2019. Players with an active World of Warcraft subscription won’t have to pay extra to access WoW Classic once it releases, though they will likely have to install the older version of the game in order to play.

Personally, I absolutely cannot fathom why anyone would want to play a version of World of Warcraft with very few, if any, of the beneficial quality-of-life changes and updates that have been added to the game over the course of its existence. For example, I see no point in leveling a character without my heirloom gear and chauffeur mounts, but perhaps I’m just too accustomed to having constant access to these benefits.

However, that’s a discussion for another day. The topic I’d like to discuss today is the idea that WoW Classic might potentially lead to something of a domino effect, which could prove to be either positive or negative depending on a few different factors. By that, I mean the reception to WoW Classic could, in theory, entice Blizzard to make certain decisions which the game’s community might very much enjoy.

Of course, that would hinge on the hope that Blizzard doesn’t take things too far, and it would also likely rely on the game’s community to attempt to somehow keep Blizzard’s decision-makers in check. I’ll elaborate upon my thought process in as much detail as I can.

To begin, I shall discuss what I think (and, to a significant degree, what I hope) might happen once WoW Classic is available to the public. As I said, WoW Classic doesn’t appeal to me, so I don’t exactly see myself playing it very much other than if I end up playing alongside friends. My own disinterest toward Classic aside, though, I still hope that it’s well-received by the community.

I hope WoW Classic succeeds, because if Blizzard keeps track of the statistics regarding how well Classic is being received, and they consequently decide that they really want to cash in on the nostalgia dollar, WoW Classic’s performance might entice them to create another set of servers just like Classic which are dedicated to Burning Crusade content.

That’s where my theoretical “domino effect” begins to take shape. If my thoughts and hopes on this matter actually come to pass and Blizzard does create WoW Classic-like Burning Crusade servers, they would likely start monitoring statistics which show how well the Burning Crusade content is being received. If that goes well, Blizzard might go one step further and repeat the process with Wrath of the Lich King content, and so on.

That idea could potentially lead to something of a slippery slope, though. I recently had a lengthy conversation on this matter with one of my colleagues here at Phenixx Gaming. During that conversation, my colleague presented the possibility that if Blizzard ended up attempting anything like what I’ve just described, they might start to push the metaphorical envelope and see how much they could get away with before they provoke the ire of the player base.

Whether that would be charging for access to older content; i.e. requiring players to re-purchase old expansions in order to play them as if their content was new, or anything like that remains to be seen. Regardless, while such things are definitely entirely possible, I sincerely hope nothing like that happens.

As I mentioned earlier, Blizzard doesn’t currently intend to charge extra for access to WoW Classic once it’s released; if they take this process of reviving older content any further, though, I can easily see that policy changing.

In light of everything I’ve discussed thus far, I propose a compromise. Something I would really like to see Blizzard implement is the expansion of the paid character boost system, and I think sometime near WoW Classic’s release window would be a great time for them to consider that.

By that, I mean to say Blizzard could keep the boosts to near max-level as they are, but also introduce less-costly boosts to lower levels for players who don’t want to immediately jump directly into current content.

Such boosts would raise characters to a level appropriate for the content any given player might wish to experience first. I would personally like to see this system implemented within the current zone level-scaling system that has been in place since Patch 7.3.5.

For example, Blizzard might decide to charge, say, $20 for a character boost to level 60 so that a player could choose between going through Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King content. They might then charge $30 for a boost to level 80 so that players could begin either Cataclysm or Mists of Pandaria content, and so on.

I personally believe that’s a more player-friendly system than potentially requiring players to pay for access to revived older content. Sure, WoW Classic can still be its own entity and have its own set of servers, but I’m almost unshakably convinced that most players are eventually going to want to return to playing current content (or even older content with modern amenities) as a sort of palate cleanser after spending time within Classic.

Call me cynical if you will, but I honestly think the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses are going to fall off the faces of most players within their first couple of hours within Classic content.

Judging by the fact that there exists on the game’s forums an entire list of intentional aspects of Classic content that players mistakenly reported as bugs, the argument could be made that the game isn’t quite the same as many players remember experiencing it all those years ago.

I’d like to conclude on a personal note. I started playing WoW about six months after Wrath of the Lich King released. Back then, the computer I had could only run the game at about three frames per second and usually crashed if I went into a crowded area, such as a city.

Because of that, I didn’t get to experience much at all of the game, or especially the game world before Cataclysm. That’s why I’m glad Blizzard implemented worldwide level-scaling in Patch 7.3.5. Thanks to the level-scaling system, not only can I freely choose which content I want to experience rather than being forced through the same zones repeatedly, but I can also experience all the content on which I missed out at my own pace.

Don’t get me wrong. I do like the idea of a system like Classic. I’m very glad to see that Blizzard appears to have finally begun listening to a specific portion of their player base who have been clamoring for something like this for years on end.

I think Blizzard is well aware of the fact that many people have turned to private servers to get their nostalgia fix. I’m quite pleased to see that Blizzard is taking steps to make people want to come back to WoW rather than just shutting down private servers left and right while taking no other action.

I sincerely hope things go well after Classic’s launch because of the possible benefits to which Classic might lead. Personally, though, I’ll just stick to level-scaled older content until I see something promising enough to entice me to change my mind.