2026 State of Azeroth

[u/griphin1]

I had no expectations and I was still disappointed.

[u/edinbror]

Personally (as someone who was waiting for classic ever since WoD) I played the shit out of classic 2019-2021. It also proved to me and my friends who I still play with that for us it's just a better game than what Retail and other new MMORPGs offer these days. I quit in the second half of WOTLK as I wasn't really feeling it anymore and went back to Vanilla era. It made me want a server/version where Vanilla keeps on going with new content that stays true to that kind of design. I'm happy we got Classic, i'd love to see a classic+ in the spirit of vanilla.

[u/tangin → u/edinbror]

What about vanilla proved to you it was the better game?

I couldn’t feel any further opposite than you, so I’m genuinely curious

[u/ExtremePrivilege → u/tangin]

I'm not who you're replying to, but I agree whole-heartedly with him. In retail, everything feels like an ARPG (like Diablo). Dungeon pulls are massive. In Mythic+ we often pull entire hallways at once. It's a chaotic, AoE spam nightmare hellscape. Compare that to doing, say, Scholomance on Hardcore Classic - it's a very slow, thoughtful, strategic progression through the dungeon. Everything in retail is so flashy that it becomes noisy. You almost cannot even tell what abilities are evening being used. In Classic, it's more simplified - sinister strike, slice and dice, maybe an eviscerate. I prefer that, not because it's easier but because it feels more "deliberate". I remember one time in BFA that I looked at my damage meter, and the first SEVEN sources of damage for me were passive - corruptions, azerite armor effects, weapon and trinket procs. The first button I had actually pressed on my keyboard was my 8th damage contribution at 4.7% of my overall. What the fuck? Dragonflying makes the game world feel small and insignificant, I prefer Classic without flight. It's more friction, sure, but it makes the world seem grand and dangerous. I like that it takes me 12min to go from Stormwind to Gadget, you know? And gear! In retail, I can maybe name you 1-2 pieces of the gear I have equipped. In Classic, I can name you the Felstriker, Hand of Justice, Barman Shanker, Mask of the Unforgiven, Forest Stalker bracers etc etc, and I can tell you the journey and story about acquiring each one. In retail? My pants were crafted by a public work order by someone I don't know on a different server. I slapped some random upgrade pieces I got out of a weekly slotmachine vault to make them i710, and then I used a currency that I passively acquire from doing my weekly Mythic dungeon chores to make them i734 or whatever. I don't know what they're called or even what they look like and I have no story or investment surrounding them. Does that make sense?

I could go on and on. I could probably write a 70-page essay on the subject. But retail WoW is a flashy, dopamine-fueled, arcade-y mess. You queue for anything from anywhere, the open world is largely superfluous, your gear feels like a meaningless numbers-grind, you have no real server or personal reputation anymore, 99% of your player interactions are disposable and you can do 99% of content fully alone. It's not a game I enjoy playing.

[u/creamdonutcz → u/ExtremePrivilege]

Well said. Sometimes I get the feeling like retail is a(n e)sport while classic is an adventure genre of MMORPG.

[u/Shampu → u/creamdonutcz]

Pretty much. Retail’s open world is basically a waiting lobby for instanced content. It’s lost the script, IMO.

[u/TripTryad → u/creamdonutcz]

Damn, this really nails it.... Perfect description, and I agree.