Blizzard’s long awaited World of Warcraft: Classic is now out and it’s a very different kind of experience to the one newer players are used to. As a result, there are many people who have questions; lots of questions. The strangest thing so far about the Classic experience is that people are answering these questions, both correctly and helpfully. This isn’t the WoW experience I remember.

Toxic Trade Chat

Back in the olden days, World of Warcraft was somewhat of a gamble if you ventured into the public chat channels. Cities, in particular, would be spammed with people insulting others and generally being an annoyance. Gold sellers and trolls flooded the public channels, making it difficult to use the chat in most areas for its intended purpose.

Trade chat especially was so toxic that many players disabled it completely unless they had to use it for something specific. While general chat was improved somewhat, you rarely saw people being kind or helpful. Often anyone asking a question was met with an insult, usually containing the word noob. My experience in WoW Classic so far has changed that experience.

A New Way Of Doing Things

I joined a low population server to avoid the queues and fired up the game, expecting to immerse myself in a world of chaos. What I found surprised me.

As those who are new to the game struggle to get their head around the differences, veterans are stepping up and helping out. This is an amazing thing to see and something I’ve sadly rarely encountered in the game before.

Casters struggling with mana have been pointed towards a wand vendor, those being overrun by mobs who aggro much more easily are being helped, and people are being buffed left, right, and center. More knowledgeable players are also helping with directions to quest objectives and warnings about the level you need to be to tackle specific areas or dungeons.

We’ve even seen players all politely lining up to complete quest objectives, one by one, queuing in the most British way I’ve ever seen in a video game.

Classic Brings Changes

WoW Classic is a lot to get your head around if you never played back when it was released. There are so many differences that, in many ways, it’s like playing an entirely new game.

Maps don’t track anything, mobs and quest items respawn more slowly, and casters run out of mana every time they finish a fight. Then there are the complex talent trees, a vast array of spells and entirely new ways to do things.

You have to play the game in a very different way if you want to survive. For those who have no clue what to do and where to go, having some of their questions answered can make a big difference.

Enjoying The Experience

I’ve only been playing for a few hours and already I’ve had a few people help me out of a scrape, someone heal me when I was about to die and another person pull a newly spawned mob so I could finish collecting my quest item.

WoW Classic has changed and it’s an amazing thing.

I’m not on a PVP server, which probably helps, but regardless I’m truly enjoying this new experience. I’ve also been able to help out myself, giving some advice to players feeling overwhelmed by all the changes and stepping in when I see someone overwhelmed.

It feels great. Being kind in an MMORPG is an incredibly rewarding experience if you give it a try. Helping someone out may mean you miss a tag on that mob or need to find another quest item but it doesn’t matter. Leveling is a long slog, adding a second or two to a quest makes no difference. Enjoying the experience is what it’s all about and being able to make sure others succeed alongside you is part of that.

Team Work

One of the best things about playing World of Warcraft in the early days was always team work. Far more content required a group and getting a good one was a really rewarding experience. This new and friendly general chat and the amazing queues give me hope that in Classic newbies and veterans alike can come together and experience some of the truly great quests and experiences which Cataclysm erased.

Classic offers an experience many of us thought we’d never see again and enjoying it on a friendly server where players are considerate makes the whole thing even better. Keep it up WoW players, because so far Classic is Classy.

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