Level 60 Love pines for the olden days of Azeroth
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 29th 2008 at 2:00PM
We've heard the idea of "classic servers" passed around before -- some players believe that things were better way back at level 60, when Molten Core was the beginning of the endgame, Tier 3 was as high as things got, and you had to coordinate a whole 40 man raid (shudder) just to pick up a few epics. Blizzard has already said no -- they think it would be trouble to run two different versions of the game at a time, and you have to wonder if they have the capability, as much as the game has changed, to run an old server anyway.But that hasn't kept some players from continuing to ask -- someone has even put together a whole site called, cleverly, "Level 60 Love," designed to convince Blizzard to re-offer the vanilla game again. They've got a mission statement, a FAQ and forums, and even a few ways to "help" out (though you could question how signing a petition helps, but we guess every little bit counts).
It's not too farfetched -- as they point out, Dark Age of Camelot once hosted "classic" servers, and the idea of legacy raiding is something that's already happening in game. But of course it's up to Blizzard -- even if they feel the demand is there (and it sounds like it would take a lot of demand), they might just see it as a sign that they need to justify the newer content and do more things like the recruit-a-friend and quicker leveling.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Blizzard, News items, Expansions, Bosses, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Zuldim Oct 29th 2008 2:08PM
Who would roll on one? It would be exactly the same as getting a group to do MC now.
Invisible Elf Oct 29th 2008 2:13PM
Except that you would actually find a group... I know many people also miss the more simple level 60 days without all the new abilities, the huge talent trees, no badges etc
zappo Oct 29th 2008 2:27PM
Not sure why people would have problems with the badge system. It was invented (after the token system) because so many people were having problems with drops. Running the same instance 30+ times for something to drop? I'll pass on the "good'ol days". Not to mention how many class/spec combos were not really taken seriously until they were adjusted in TBC. Druids come to mind in particular. I'd be happier with old instances scaled up to 80 myself.
Turtlehead Oct 29th 2008 3:16PM
"I know many people also miss the more simple level 60 days"
WHICH "more simple level 60 days"? Got to choose. Strat as a raid or not? Pre-DM or post? The day before BC or game launch? Pallies reck-bombing or not? Arcane explosion trainable or not?
I don't see the appeal one tiny bit (take a 60 with no Outlands gear and exalt AD; let me know how much fun it was a year from now when you've finished) but even if I did the whole thing founders on where you plant the stick.
I suppose they could open twenty new servers at different patch points (millions up front and more ongoing), most of which would be ghost towns. The shareholders would storm Blizzard HQ with torches.
Nostalgia is a disease.
offday Oct 29th 2008 4:43PM
I agree with the last guy. If you don't like the new expansion content, then don't buy it, or don't do it.
People complain because they get bored of the current content, so Blizz releases new content, but then they complain because they miss the old content. You can't please everyone.
jbodar Oct 29th 2008 9:18PM
@Turtlehead
I'm with you. Can you say "complete waste of server hardware, infrastructure and manpower"?
Buriel Oct 29th 2008 2:54PM
Regarding Recruit-a-Friend, and Speed Leveling: Perhaps they could institute a new system, where every new players would start at level 10. They would get all skills and spells that would have at level 10. The starting areas could be tweaked or a new ones could be created in the areas where a level 10 character would feel at home. I'm sure this has been raised somewhere already.
Aldheim Oct 29th 2008 3:12PM
I don't see how that would do anything but deprive brand new players of the "how the heck do I control this character?" experience of the first 10 levels. The issue isn't getting from 1-10, it's getting from about 35 to 60. (More like 35 to 50 for me, but that's because I'm nuts for the Plaguelands and have a blast when I'm in the region.) 1-10 takes an experienced player no time at all.
nutroll Oct 29th 2008 2:14PM
they dont need classic servers, all they need is a way to create a "classic character" kind of like how the diablo 2 expansion gave u the choice. people are going to get free lvl 55 death knights anyway
the talent trees for classic characters would be way underpowered compared to the wotlk trees, the talents would be too. the characters could be distinguished by a special dragon border (like an elite) and players could just choose to congregate with all "classic" wow characters
and one more thing that could be extended to all characters would be an option to stop gaining experience from kills. that way those characters choosing to start at lvl 55 and use the classic pre 2.0 trees could.
In order to encourage players to make classic chars, classic chars should gain a type of credit (like boj) from old school raids that can be transfered to characters on the same server for higher end gear.
The entire Role play of this could be setup through the CoT faction.
almsivi Oct 29th 2008 8:25PM
Exactly. Instead of creating some "classic servers", they could just add possibility to create nonexpansion characters capped at level 60 and unable to enter Outland. That way, people would be able to experience both new and old content, at appropriate level. If they would somehow redesign the loot so it wouldn't take months to equip everyone, it would be even better..
Terry B Oct 29th 2008 2:16PM
So just level a character with others and head on into those places. Do not buy BC or WoTLK and you will be good to go.
Darthregis Oct 29th 2008 2:18PM
Heh, beat me to the punch! :)
Darthregis Oct 29th 2008 2:17PM
Uninstall BC. Don't install Wrath.
I know it won't be quite the same, but it's a surefire way to stop yourself at 60!
Satrix of SSO Oct 29th 2008 2:38PM
Unfortunately once you upgrade your account to "tBC" it is no longer possible at all, to downgrade back to vanilla World of Warcraft. Starting a new account would be the only way to make that happen.
Naix Oct 29th 2008 2:17PM
No no a thousand times no. I am happy Blizzard opted not to do this. You have to leave the past in the past to move onto the future.
Let's keep on trucking forward.
Darthregis Oct 29th 2008 2:21PM
*in old man voice*
Baaaack when I was level siiiixty, there was no level 61! You actually needed fire resist gear for Molten Core! It took six wipes before you could figure out Ony!
Flying mounts?! What's up with that?!
/voice
The old days are always "better"... /rolleyes
Fletch Oct 29th 2008 2:17PM
I'm willing to bet there would be no lasting demand to support it. Yes, I've heard all the people lamenting about the 'good old days', but the truth is the 'good old days' weren't really all that good. Nostalgia sadly is never what it used to be.
Solex Oct 29th 2008 2:41PM
NAILED IT! I'm a bc guy, so while its interesting to go back and see all these old instances, I don't really care about them. Most of the pre bc raiders in my guild always say "it was fun, lots of fun... Please don't let me ever see them again."
The beauty of WoW is you're never "perfect" you always need that one enchant, that one piece of gear, that one last reputation to exalted and when you're getting close, when you can taste it? Blizz wipes it clean. At first glance this sounds horrible and tragic but then you put it in perspective, while you were getting close to perfect there were another 11 million people becoming perfect too and the challenge is gone.
Thats what would happen with classic servers, everyone keeps running and running until t3 isn't an achievement to wear, its a class uniform, sulfuras isn't a legendary, its the neo retro lolherald. Once you get that last piece of gear you sit back and say "Wow that was fun, I got it all... now what?" And you realize for the first time that you climbed the mountain and broke the game for what it was, a mountain that's growing taller with every step you take, the mountain isn't the goal it never is, never was, its looking down at that one ledge that you barely made, that one called Kael'Thas or that jagged peak that you slammed your head against, Bloodboil. That's something I don't want.
Its when Wrath comes out and every one is on the same page, when everyone is in greens and blues, you realize that mage who beat you on dps? It was only because of his gear and you're watching his get his face eaten by Wolverine men. I'm looking forward to the reset.
Bigdaddyjay Oct 29th 2008 2:19PM
To me, this is like a man aged 25+ wanting to go back to the more simple days of high school. To him things may have been more fun then, so he'd rather do that again than live in the life that his has become.
What makes this game great to me is it's evolution. Things change in real life. Situations get better or worse over time. Life progress's, as does our favorite MMORPG. Some people don't like what WoW has become and long for the old days... I know many people that feel this way about their RL. But there's nothing you can do about it. You have to adapt to changing environments. At least, if you're not happy with the state of Azeroth, you can just log out.
Tim Hettler Oct 29th 2008 2:20PM
I think it would be a better investment to offer heroic versions of Classic dungeons that were tuned for 25-man raids and offered only badges as loot.