![]() ![]() If you can appreciate good worldbuilding, you are in for a treat. But with each zone looking so radically different from the last, whether you’re on the Eastern Kingdoms or Kalimdor, you’re always discovering new sights even when you’re running essentially the same fetch quest from last week. It’s something Blizzard only started to mess around with in its expansions. Quest variety wasn’t massive in World of Warcraft Classic. ![]() You come across newer, stronger enemies along the way, but you’re just as likely to end up fighting the same Knolls or spiders you saw 30 levels prior, only beefed up to beat you down again. This raw approach stays mostly the same no matter which zone you reach. ![]() And with how little resources there would have been back at launch, finding something else to do was just as risky a time investment as staying and beating up boars until the sun came up. There’s just not enough to go around, and when you’re fighting over the same three mobs each with what feels like a 5% chance to drop one of the six things you need to earn a tenth of your level, you do start to question how much of your life you are losing to basically nothing. It really starts to hammer in the logistical problems of designing an MMO. That sense of exploration and mystery has always captivated me, but having to spend close to an hour camping mob spawns with 200 others slapping the same 12 wolves with sticks and swords made me realize just how good I had it by joining the game four years into its life. But imagine what you’d find if there was one. Growing up with a game like Ocarina of Time, I’ve always been fascinated with green forests and the secrets they can hide behind every tree and mossy crack in the earth. The quests are largely the same hunt six of these, collect 12 of those, take this to that guy over there, but it just didn’t instill that same sense of adventure. Dun Morogh, by comparison, is a bleak, blindingly white expanse of nothingness. It’s where I started my adventure, and it will always have a special place in my heart. I’ll never defect to the Horde side, but I could rarely stomach leveling outside of Elywn Forest on the outskirts of Stormwind. Starting off in Dun Morogh was new for me. You’re just as likely to end up fighting the same Knolls or spiders you saw 30 levels prior, only beefed up to beat you down again. I’m glad the same appears to be true today. Despite its geeky undertones, World of Warcraft Classic is a great social space known for creating long-term friendships. Chat channels filled with sarcastic replies to genuine questions and horrendous dad jokes was just what I needed four days into a busy work week. It might just be a British thing, but we love spouting coarse language at each other while grinning ear to ear. Which brother they’re referring to is a question I didn’t have the heart to ask. I used the spitting emote on someone for stealing a quest mob - a non-player character you kill for a quest - only to have them tell me how they liked my brother better anyway. I loved every second of its stupidity, and it’s something I’ve been able to experience again with the WoW community’s refreshing sarcasm and laid-back nature. It’s probably the most amount of roleplaying I’ve ever done. I’d get into very public shouting matches each and every time we ran into each other, fighting over who “stole” who’s name. It’s a name that stuck with me for years and caused a bitter rivalry with a Human Mage on my server simply called Noodle. My original character, TastyNoodle, was obviously based on a snack I’d scoffed down when making my first steps into Azeroth. With limited ways to mess around with a name in World of Warcraft, making something eye-catching and memorable is a big part of the experience. World of Warcraft Classic is a great social space known for creating long-term friendships, and I’m glad the same appears to be true today. ![]()
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