I'm sure by now most folks have either heard about the release date (Summer 2019), seen some gameplay footage or even played the demo of WoW Classic. I have no doubt it's going to be a blockbuster event for gamers everywhere and Blizzard (I'll definitely be playing it!).
I think Blizzard expending the resources and time to bring back a "more challenging" version of WoW bodes well for the future of Pantheon and VR. Let me elaborate.
I think we all can agree over the past 10 years the MMO market has been pretty stagnant. Release after release of the next "WoW clone" and the "dumbing down" of content for established games have left many gamers feeling meh about the genre.
Personally, over the past 5 years I've pretty much played exclusively on the EQ TLP's and casually dabbled a bit on some WoW emu's. Circa 2018/2019, I think many gamers (including many WoW players) are hungry for a game that provides an increased challenge. Hungry for a game that isn't full of easy mode encounters and hand holding.
I think the success that will be WoW classic could usher in a new perspective/mindset/expectation to gamers, enlightening them to what many of us here already embrace. Playing tough, challenging content provides the player and community (guild, friends, group etc) an incredible sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and dare I say it.. .fun!! =)
The success that will be WoW Classic (and let's all agree, it’s going to be huge) could turn on an entirely new player base interested in playing challenging, tough and "classic" style games such as Pantheon.
So what do you guys think? In the years to come, could WoW Classic enlighten many new gamers who've never tried a "hard classic" type MMO (or reignite that enjoyment in "older" MMO gamers) to give Pantheon a look?
I have always felt that WoW Classic would ultimately end up helping Pantheon in the long run. I think plenty of people will take a crack at it for the sake of nostalgia but eventually they will realize that there is no real sense of discovery or adventure because everything has already been done thousands of times over.
From what I understand, they're not going "back in time" to when things like choosing a spec meant something. So, I'm not sure the point?
If it's not going to be the same as TBC was, as in, class balance/imbalance/changes, choices, abilities, etc, then.. I don't see the value? It's content restricted? Ok, uh... that's great, I guess?
Seems like a missed opportunity, to me.
They are not the only ones. LOTRO is coming out with a "legendary server" this month. With maximum level capped at 50 for a while.
This is very much a progression server not a "classic" server - it will have current game mechanics and current versions of the lower level zones - slmost nothing changed from the current servers other than the level cap which will go up every 4 months or so.
I am kind of seeing it also spread into the whole diablo thing. The pendulum is swinging in the other direction back to where the game is in the back in the developers hands, instead of the players hands. Where there is no pandering to the public or the one voice that threatens to quit for some benign reason. Pantheon could quietly come on the scene and in doing so- be the sleeper hit. Like the movies Memento or the Big Lebowski that became popular and remained popular almost cultish years after their release and stayed there. Consistency of coolness. Relevant.
Keno Monster said:There are already so many vanilla wow emulators.
I'm not sure what you're implying with this statement, I assume something along the lines of "we already know how popular it is" ?? But I could be wrong.
If that is what you are implying. Alot of people refuse to play on a private server, so having blizzard actually endorse and create/manage this will allow a much greater number of people experience it.
vjek said:From what I understand, they're not going "back in time" to when things like choosing a spec meant something. So, I'm not sure the point?
If it's not going to be the same as TBC was, as in, class balance/imbalance/changes, choices, abilities, etc, then.. I don't see the value? It's content restricted? Ok, uh... that's great, I guess?
Seems like a missed opportunity, to me.
What are you talking about? In classic wow your spec is everything. And you cannot change it at will without suffering a monetary penalty which can become fairly steep.
I'm not sure I even understand what you mean when you say "if it wont be the same as tbc"
Like TLP servers, P99 or nostradamus, it will be fairly popular but not every player consider doing the same things forever is a solution. Neither do they consider paying for something they already had a decades ago is a good design.
I liked vanilla, but I won't play such a server. It's bringing back the bad balance of classes beeing undesired for more than one spec (if even desired for one) withouth the magic of discovery back then. Most people will know what to do, how to do it, and the spirit on warrior gear will be back to remind you that between the evolution of the game development and the itemization department, there was a wall that only got holed months later.
Porygon said: I'm not sure I even understand what you mean when you say "if it wont be the same as tbc"
The service that Blizzard is offering won't be that. As pointed out in this thread by others, it's the modern client with content blocking. That's it. It's a progression server, not a classic server.
If you could go back in time to TBC, that would be great. Your spec matters. Now though? They're not going back to that. It's going to be the 2019 client, with all the class balance changes up until that current client, limited in content to what was available during TBC.
Which is great, if that's all the paying customers want, but it will certainly not be the same experience as what people call Vanilla WoW, imo.
vjek said:Porygon said: I'm not sure I even understand what you mean when you say "if it wont be the same as tbc"The service that Blizzard is offering won't be that. As pointed out in this thread by others, it's the modern client with content blocking. That's it. It's a progression server, not a classic server.
If you could go back in time to TBC, that would be great. Your spec matters. Now though? They're not going back to that. It's going to be the 2019 client, with all the class balance changes up until that current client, limited in content to what was available during TBC.Which is great, if that's all the paying customers want, but it will certainly not be the same experience as what people call Vanilla WoW, imo.
You are sadly misinformed if that is what you think Blizzard is doing. They are using the old talent trees/class abilities & balance as of 1.12 along with the old (no longer available as they redid the old world in the Cataclysm expansion) content. OTOH they are (foolishly in my opinion) also apparently dead set on using some modern conveniences they have that will completely alter the experience.
vjek said:When were those details enumerated from Blizzard, Zyellinia? That's the first time I've heard of a specific patch they're going to use.
Here's an article from June. You can also check out the info from Blizzcon.
oneADseven said:I have always felt that WoW Classic would ultimately end up helping Pantheon in the long run.
The WoW Classic announcement from last year is how I eventually found Pantheon. Once I watched that on Youtube, I started getting suggestions for "old-school MMOs in development". I then got sucked in to binge watching all of the previous streams.
I'm one of the people Brad described as "turning off the TV". Meaning that I completely lost hope in the MMO genre and stopped paying attention to all related news.
I wonder how many other people are out there that would want to play a game like Pantheon, but haven't heard about it becauase they've stopped following anything related to MMOs.
Naunet said:vjek said:When were those details enumerated from Blizzard, Zyellinia? That's the first time I've heard of a specific patch they're going to use.
Here's an article from June. You can also check out the info from Blizzcon.
Yea... this info has been out for a while now. That's why I was confused.