‘World of Warcraft Classic’ is a smash-hit that’s bringing gamers back to the mid-2000s, but the launch was a fiasco that made me wait 8 hours to play

Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft Classic launched Monday. This is a new version of the original game, with a decidedly retro bent that pays homage to the experience for millions of players back in the 2006.
Blizzard, the company behind "World of Warcraft," calls Classic a "faithful recreation of the original."
Fans have clamored for a Classic experience after years of new expansion pack releases and the culling of older content.
But Classic players were met with obscenely long wait times upon release, as they rushed to re-experience the early days of the game.
Here’s how one player’s experience during the launch went.
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The moment has finally arrived.

"World of Warcraft Classic" launched Monday on 3:00 p.m. PST — and in typical fashion for the biggest massive multiplayer online game around, the occasion was marked with obscenely long wait times just to get started. In the end, I wound up waiting 8 hours or so just to log on.

Classic is a subtly-revamped version of the original version of "World of Warcraft, which was originally released in 2004. Technically speaking, it’s based on version 1.12 of the game, which was released in 2006. To put this into perspective, the modern "World of Warcraft" is currently at version 8.2.

"World of Warcraft Classic is a faithful recreation of the original World of Warcraft," Blizzard’s website says of the game. "Combat mechanics, original character models, and [player skills] all contribute to a truly authentic experience."

The new version of the game, called "vanilla" by long-time fans, was a curious one for many people. I mean, who wants to pay a $13 to $15 monthly fee just to play a more difficult version of a game that already has a bevy of expansion packs?

There are many players who first stepped into the world of Azeroth in the 2000s and can reminisce about sinking countless days spent grinding; finding groups for quests and raids; and just walking around, taking in the sights.

All of these elements made it the nostalgic experience that many have called for in the wake of the big changes that "World of Warcraft" has made over the years, bringing fresh content and user interface features that simplified the overall experience. This new approach makes it easier to survive in-game and look for groups — but at what cost?

The original game was a cultural icon. It spawned viral memes, was featured in TV shows, and eventually helped combat the denigrating stereotypes of "gamers." It defined an entire genre of games, broke sales records, and became the gold standard for the countless of online games that emerged.

I first started playing WoW a year or two after it’s original release and sunk countless hours leveling at least a dozen characters from different factions, classes, and races. Unlike the more dedicated players, however, I never managed to clear all of its 40-player raids, or participate in world-assaults against a faction’s capital.

Still, despite this slightly more casual approach, I stuck with "World of Warcraft" for a while. But over the years, I lost touch with all of my former guildmates and renewed my subscription only when Blizzard released an exciting new expansion pack. Otherwise, I sort of fell off the wagon.

Will "Classic’s" launch redefine gaming as it did 15 years ago? Probably not. But Blizzard’s move to cater to the sentimental desires of its fans is a positive step in a refreshing direction.

Here’s what the highly anticipated "WoW Classic" launch looked like:

Blizzard first teased ‘World of Warcraft Classic’ in 2017.

Blizzard Entertainment

J. Allen Brack, then a VP with Blizzard, offered a delicious metaphor for the development of Classic, during Blizzcon in 2017.

"I want to talk about ice cream. Ice cream is great. Ice cream is one of my favorite desserts," Brack said to a cheering audience of fans.

"Personally, I love chocolate, and I love cookies and cream," he added. "Cookies and cream is actually my all-time favorite dessert. But I understand that for some of you, your favorite flavor is vanilla."

This was a winking reference to "World of Warcraft" fans, who have long referred to as the original game — before all the expansions, patches, and gameplay changes — as "vanilla."

Nostalgic content with a renewed look.

NVIDIA

The demand for a classic experience has long been demanded by fans after years of releasing new expansion packs and culling older content. "WoW" enthusiasts had even launched their own, private servers that let players experience the vanilla game — servers that prompted Blizzard to take legal action.

While Classic is supposed to bring back fond memories of the original "WoW" experience, there are a few changes throughout the game.

Classic will allow players to boost the graphics settings for a more robust look — if your computer hardware (graphics card and CPU) can handle it.

Like most of Blizzard’s games, "WoW" relies heavily on the CPU. Having a newer graphics card could actually bottleneck Classic’s performance if your CPU is still outdated.

Gamers were excited for ‘WoW Classic’ — Google search interest for ‘WoW’ skyrocketed in the US in the weeks ahead of launch, and overtook ‘Fortnite.’

Google

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