WoW Classic - "Is you is, or is you ain't my baby"

So the title may be confusing but it's kinda relevant, and I thought it'd be funny to use a song lyric from one of the old Tom n Jerry episodes I recall...

Anyhow,  here's my dilemma.  I was a young 20 something back when WoW originally released.  Played it from Vanilla---> Wrath of the Lich King.  Quit shortly into Wrath due to feeling like I was lost in the game at times, and after taking a break felt so far behind that I could "never catch up".  

Fast forward through the last 16 years.  I ended up playing vanilla, BC, and wrath private servers for small stints here and there, before they inevitably died out due to propaganda from competing private servers or due to C&D orders (i.e. shut down). 

As of 2019, played classic wow at it's re-release (re-launch?) with a friend.  I was the one to convince him to play.  Then in December of 2019 had some person issues I had to take care of and deemed it was necessary to cancel my sub and take a break for awhile.  Now here we are.  Friend is wondering if I'll ever come back.  He isn't pressuring me, but I told him I'd been thinking about it the past few months.

The problem: I don't really like classic wow.  Yes I enjoy it more than say current wow.  But if I'm being truthful, the class balance, itemization, etc was horrible in vanilla.  I don't want the super-heroes of modern wow where every player is the savior of the alliance/horde and can swarms of enemies with a snap of their fingers...but I also don't want vanilla wow where itemization is crap, your player looks like Joker on laundry day, and all that.  

The problem part 2: My favorite expansion is BC.  I love the theme, the atmosphere, the quality of life updates, the flying mounts, the gear. Everything.  Everything in BC was just way better.  Ultimately I was honest with myself and the only reason I played Classic WoW and encouraged my friend to play it, was in the hopes that some day Blizzard would release "Classic BC" and I'd be able to relive that time period again.  

The thing is...We are at LEAST 1 year away, if not longer....before that is a even a smidge of a reality.  And I'm growing bored with the games I'm playing (Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, Hearthstone, some Diablo3 here and there...)

The problem part3:  Part of the reason I took a break from classic wow in December was because of job issues and stability in my relationship.  Both have been resolved now and things are much better...but now I'm afraid that the one thing that enticed me (raiding, doing dungeons, etc....waiting for BC) isn't actually feasible.  

Even if I don't raid (a 2-4 hour commitment once or twice a week) dungeons in Vanilla don't hold the same attention as BC.  Secondly,  I thought well I could farm gold, just casually do dungeons, level alts, etc in the meantime but there's not a ton of fun replayability just dungeoning in vanilla for me over and over again on multiple alts.  Lastly my favorite class was a Blood Elf paladin, so leveling alts doesn't do much for me because my main in BC is gonna have to be re-rolled/start fresh as it is.  

So my conundrum is: Should I even try to play classic WoW in the hopes that BC Classic ever comes around?  Am I living too much in the past (I guess you could say others who play classic are living in the past as well...)  Just looking for some advice on what to do, and how to move forward being a 30-something person and realizing that I can't necessarily commit the same amount of time that I used to when I was 20, and not sure how to enjoy WoW when the one thing in WoW I really enjoyed but hated the extensive time commitment to was raiding...

Thanks in advance!

So I've never actually played WoW (except for that one time when it was free and I wanted to unlock Liadrin, but something went wrong and I ran around in circles for twenty minutes until I realized that all enemies were somehow invisible and I couldn't progress...so I just quit) but I can at least tell you about a similar experience with League of Legends.

Basically I used to play the game for years, putting up with all its nonsense until I realized that the game did absolutely nothing for me and I kept hanging on the an idea of what it used to be and not what it actually turned into. Mind you, this didn't mean that I fully quit the game and from time to time I return...but I get annoyed very quickly and quit again very soon.

The main factor that made me realize how bad the game was for my general well being was the huge amount of time commitment. Obviously at some points I had a lot of fun, but those times were heavily outweighed by the times it just felt like garbage and a complete waste of time. Nowadays, I don't even have that much time to spend (or I do, but rather would use it for something more productive).

I basically realized I grew out playing a game just to play something and get a false sense of progress. The reason I stuck with HEarthstone is because the game demands very little actual commitment and if I don't have time...I just don't play.

What you're doing sounds basically the same to me. You're holding on to an idea of what used to be when you've already moved past it, and you hope for it to go into a direction that would help recapture that old feeling...even though it probably won't.

TL;DR you're somewhat forcing yourself to commit time to a game that you no longer truly enjoy because you're hoping that at some point you'll be able to recapture the old magic, even if that is probably not going to happen.

I'm not going to tell you what you should be doing, I'm just gonna tell you to ask yourself if you couldn't be spending your time doing something you actually enjoy instead of making yourself unhappy. Maybe at the end you do find a reason why you want to keep playing the game, or maybe you can close that chapter of your life.

Well, I've got to say - congratulations for resolving your issues irl. It might be a cliche for some, but those are really the things that matter at the end. As fun as WoW could be, we must never forget it's only a game and as such it should just satisfy our need for entertainment. So, once again, gratz for having a stable relationship and a solid job position.

As for the rest of your thread - tbc is definitely going to happen, but you have to be patient. To my understanding, bwl was recently set in stone and there's still Ahn'Qiraj and Naxx before tbc gets released. I can understand your current dilemma - even though I have never played on classic servers, I've watched a lot of Classic WoW videos and got the impression that there's just a lot of tedious grind, that some people enjoy. Just like you I also don't like the fact, that classes aren't balanced in vanilla and some specs can't see the light of the day (I main feral kitty in wotlk with a boomkin offspec). If you can't stand those aspects of the game, then I could advise you to be honest with yourself and your friend and tell them, that you will return to WoW only when tbc launches. In the meantime you could try out a different game (or a different MMO), switch to a different hobby or try to find another tbc private server and invite your friend there. I'm sorry to say, that I can't recommend a good one, since I am a wrath baby and only play that expansion (for now) on Warmane. Imho you shouldn't punish yourself doing things you don't like and just find something, that can entertain you in your free time. So, good luck with your dilemma and I hope you found something useful in my post.

Quote From YourPrivateNightmare

You're holding on to an idea of what used to be when you've already moved past it, and you hope for it to go into a direction that would help recapture that old feeling...even though it probably won't.

 

TL;DR you're somewhat forcing yourself to commit time to a game that you no longer truly enjoy because you're hoping that at some point you'll be able to recapture the old magic, even if that is probably not going to happen.

Well said. I've watched some Classic WoW videos, where people complained that Classic =/= Vanilla. To my understanding, the old, innocent playthrough is gone. Most people play the game with a new, goal-oriented mindset. While that may not be a bad thing on its own, reliving that old magic isn't possible anymore. We aren't the players we used to be in our childhood/youthful years. We have developed new, more optimal strategies on how to play that game.

[Edit] Ahm, in the quoted paragraphs you were talking about how we as players can grow out of our nostalgic feeling for a game and leave it behind us. And I agree with that statement. I just wanted to add, that reliving the old magic we got from a game isn't possible. Not when the players' perception and knowledge of the game developed throughout the years.

Thanks Nightmare,  yea ultimately I guess I need to just find a reason to either play, or not to play.  And if I don't truly enjoy it, not to force myself to do it and find something else productive to do with my time.  

The only caveat is that I enjoy playing WoW to an extent, it's just that committing to a dungeon in the past built up some tension with my relationship.  My GF was always understanding that I was a gamer (she isn't).  But when I started doing dungeons that took 1-2 hours, or raiding that took 2-4 hours, it definitely put a strain on our relationship.  As I recall raiding/dungeons were parsed down in BC and trash was taken out to favor more mechanically complex encounters.  Part of the reason BC held a special place was that most dungeons could be completed in an hour, and most of the time raiding only took 1-2 hours if you knew what you were doing.  (Also the fact that a lot of the early raids were relatively short and didn't take long to complete (gruul, maggy, kara, and to a lesser extent TK)

Anyhow guess I have some introspection to do to determine if it's healthy to try and continue playing or not.

Thanks for the advice Kova.  My only issue is that my friend knows I like TBC.  He prefers vanilla over other expansions.  I prefer BC/Wrath over vanilla.

Thing is, I keep getting this "FOMO".  Going back and not raiding feels like a "well what's the point then".  I already have  level 60 shaman with decent MC level gear.  I stopped playing before they released BWL, but apparently BWL has been out for a few months now and they just released ZG last night.

I logged on last night to say hi to my buddy and the idea of not raiding ZG (one of the few raids I truly enjoyed) was disenfranchising, in addition I got this feeling of "missing out on everything for the last few months" along with the realization that every time I take a break, both recently and back in the day....it always created this sense of "I'll never catch up" which turned into me just quickly re-quitting again.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that once I take a break, it feels like I can't catchup to "others" and then I feel like it's pointless to play the game.  (It's almost like the inverse of the sunk cost fallacy if that makes any sense)

Seems like you're quite passionate about it as well.  I think your statement that you "have to unconditionally love which I hate" is spot on though.  It's such a immersive and well polished MMO but at the same time I can't help but feel that it's like watching a child grow up, and then realizing that your child didn't turn out how you expect.  You still love them, but it's not the same.

Specifically regarding classic-expansion content.  At what point does blizzard feasibly stop the re-release train?  I always said that Wrath was the peak of WoW (both in terms of it's core demographic, popularity, peak concurrent subscribers and it's ability to create good content that didn't completely obviate the systems that it had developed prior).  I mean, I don't think it's feasible for Blizzard to just re-release all expansions.  There has to be a stopping point. I feel fairly confident that they will release Burning Crusade though. (Just look at Hearthstone and WoW...*in case of emergency, re-release BC content*)

On a side note, when did they send out a survey regarding TBC?  To whom? Was it random subscribers?  (I was unsubbed for the past 3-4 months).  

On a personal note, I still feel unsure about playing Vanilla to "fast track" my way through TBC. The class I'm looking forward to the most is horde paladins (i.e. blood elfs) and there's no way to fast track that other than hording gold and possible materials considering I'll have to level from 1-60 before I can even start the BC content.

As for other classes, as mentioned in my OP, I've considered leveling some alts in preparation for an eventual TBC release, but playing WoW casually is never something I've been great at.  Many times I'll get messages from randoms or even friends to join a dungeon or raid.  Joining a dungeon in Vanilla can be as little as an hour commitment (in the case of a dungeon like Scarlet Monastery) or can be a multi hour commitment (in the case of LBRS or BRD).  Conversely, even raiding casually can end up being more of a time sink than you like.  While there are guilds who can clear the newly released ZG in an hour or two, there are going to be guilds who can't clear half of it in 3 hours.  

TBC raids and dungeons felt more like appropriate bite sized chunks, which is partly why I love the expansion.  Personally I feel very dichotic about the situation, torn between my "love hate relationship" with the game, and my ability to play it casually in a mindset of "walk away".  But when you've done the same leveling grinding multiple times in the past.  The idea of leveling with no "end goal" other than "prepare for TBC" can create some pretty exhausting burnout, but time-investment wise and mentally.

I feel like I'm ranting, but know what I mean Flux?

Addendum: My final issue with WoW currently is playerbase.  I'm currently on Mankirk, a USEast PvE server with a very very high population.  So much so that Org feels crowded.  The only other US East PvE realms available are Ashkandi and Windseeker.  Both with VERY low populations.  I don't like overpopulated servers, and there's been queues lately, but there aren't any free transfers going on from Mankirk right now, and to top it off I don't want to force my friend to transfer either, possibly to a server that may die off before TBC releases (ashkandi and windseeker both have about 4000 less horde players than Mankirk. 

As someone who played on private servers in the past, I don't mind small populations.  You manage just fine without having thousands of players online at the same time, but it does pose a problem both perception wise, and logistically.

Thanks, that actually helps.  And it does make the situation a bit more bearable if there's a small possibility of allowing people to start at level 58 on a BC server.  To me that's probably the best situation, it creates an even playing field for everyone to start fresh without having to grind 1-60.

I knew that Flux would come here and share his opinion on the matter. Glad to see, that he is also hyped about tbc.

Anyway, I don't think I can contribute more to the thread, since both of you started a very thorough discussion and you are commenting on some specific things (like realm transfers), which I'm not knowledgeable of. Sykomyke, you probably feel more confident about what you should do after reading Flux's posts. But since you wrote to me earlier and I assume you would like to hear my opinion, I must say that your dilemma is really complicated. On the one hand you can't/don't want to log in regularly because of things irl or lack of motivation to grind, but on the other hand you still want to experience the content the game offers. And I assume, that you can't afford to log in too casually, because you won't get enough value out of your subscription. If I dismiss the previous sentence for a bit, I would tell you to join your friend in his raids, when you have time and you are in the mood, and to try to satisfy that feeling of "FOMO" as much as you can. But imho the other feeling - "falling behind others" - will stay and you just have to decide what's more important for you - to have fun or to grind. Because, as you already know, the game requires a lot of time investment from you for 1) farming gold, 2) farming materials (for craftables), 3) farming rep, 4) doing attunement quests, 5) farming honour (if you are a pvp person) and 6) obtaining gear. That's why you will constantly get that feeling of falling behind others, if you take breaks. I don't know anything about good gear in vanilla and the gear requirements for the classic end-game raids. If you don't want to miss out on the content and at the same time you don't want to put yourself in that tedious grind, you could try to convince a GM/RL to save a spot for you. In the worst case scenario you'd have to pass on the loot but I think you would manage to participate. If that's not the case (like Naxx, for example, that is a gear-check), then, as terrible it may sound, you should do something else other than playing Classic WoW in your free time.

So that would be my answer - if you are enjoying reliving some of the Classic content on a casual matter and you think you would get enough value out of your subscription, then you could stay and continue to play. If you think people would want you to be well geared for raids and you don't want to grind it, you should quit Classic WoW and do something else (switch to a different game, hobby etc), until tbc launches. It wouldn't be worth it to punish yourself doing something you won't feel satisfied from. You will just feel worn-out and you won't have any energy for your daily tasks. This is the thing you should say to yourself whenever you have that "FOMO" and just recall how you feel, when you log in and don't get any enjoyment from what you are doing. Not to mention, once tbc launches, the previous grind for gear would become pointless. You would replace it with green items from Outland elites or quest rewards. If you feel some kind of a remorse towards your friend for leaving them, then I would say that even in that case you shouldn't be hard on yourself. You can explain them how you feel with the game and I'm sure they would understand. You are spending your own free time in it, after all; you don't have to play for the sake of someone else.

Btw

Quote From Author

Specifically regarding classic-expansion content. At what point does blizzard feasibly stop the re-release train? I always said that Wrath was the peak of WoW (both in terms of it's core demographic, popularity, peak concurrent subscribers and it's ability to create good content that didn't completely obviate the systems that it had developed prior). I mean, I don't think it's feasible for Blizzard to just re-release all expansions. There has to be a stopping point. I feel fairly confident that they will release Burning Crusade though. (Just look at Hearthstone and WoW…

Someone can correct me, if I am wrong, but I didn't see an official response about the final legacy expansion. It's very likely to be Wrath due to the reasons you and Flux mentioned above, but IMHO we will see another survey from Blizzard asking us what we would want next. If enough players want Cata, then we might see that expansion as well. If people aren't in the mood for it, then Classic would be based on a 2-expansion package.

looks good. i like it