I'm sure it will be profitable but long term I think it will sink back into obscurity. I'm basing this on my recent experience with the new Cox servers. I was chuffed to wade through the character creator, arguably the best part of the game, but then when I tried out a few archetypes for a couple of hours I began to remember why I left Cox for greener pastures. The older MMORPGS were just too damned tedious and repetitive to hold my attention today. I had some brilliant times back in classic Wow, but it wasn't really the game that made those memories special, it was the people I was playing with. That is something Blizzard can't replicate no matter how hard they try.
But again, what about the people who don't find them tedious?
Those are the people who want these games.
Let's take City of Heroes. There was a private server for years. The people on that server were certainly not playing because they thought the game was tedious.
It's these people, whether it's City of Heroes or World of Warcraft who are the audience for these games.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I played the beta and from the launch of wow up until last year and when I started it was a time when I was young and had plenty of time to spare farming mats and gear and getting those raids through a 3-4 hour evening schedule.
I honestly cannot see these fortnite youngsters doing that today, nor the old veterans like us having the spare time needed, due to family, work, etc...
Having said that, I will be first in line to play Classic wow when the servers start, even though raiding will be a stretch goal.
I played the beta and from the launch of wow up until last year and when I started it was a time when I was young and had plenty of time to spare farming mats and gear and getting those raids through a 3-4 hour evening schedule.
I honestly cannot see these fortnite youngsters doing that today, nor the old veterans like us having the spare time needed, due to family, work, etc...
Having said that, I will be first in line to play Classic wow when the servers start, even though raiding will be a stretch goal.
The olds farts will do the 40 mans and show up......For like a week or two. I think once the novelty and trip down memory lane loses its shine people won't have the same vigor for the real endgame.
I could see classic end up being a much more laid back social experience with a heavier focus on world pvp then it was the first time around. I Think the old vets will stick around but its going to be done in a very casual way with org and iron forge raids, alot of ganking, mat farming and alot of 5 man scholomance and strat runs for the tier set, was was it .5 in 5 man ? Its been awhile
I agree having just the original WoW will not be sustainable for the long haul. However, by adding BC and then STOPPING after deploying WotLK, many of those who left WoW will find a good home for multiple years.
I don't know really, can only speak for myself and what others want or will do is a mystery to me. I doubt I will do 40 man raids.Takes too long to start.
I can speak only for myself : Yes. It. F@ck$ng.Can.
I've played in the famous private servers in the past, and all I have to say is I found the game experience to be BETTER than the original back in 2005.
Don't really see why it would be successful longterm but I can see it being huge for the first few months.
2004 WoW was never a great game but anyone could run it when the competition was EQ2 which ultimately killed itself by gaming on single core CPU performance. It released at the most perfect time. Balance was completely whack and some of the worst of any game (Blizzard have always been trash at balancing their games lets be real).
One problem is that a lot of people are going to classic wow with their experiences in the back of their head which will never materialise into anything other than "oh i remember the arcanite reaper i felt badass when i got mine". You can't experience mystery or not knowing things again.
Will be definitely huge success shortterm but long term? I don't see how it holds up. People get bored of games that feed them content every 3months and classic wow will not be able to do this.
WoW was a really good game in 2004, compared to EQ which had you logging in and doing nothing but grinding AAs. EQ had already turned into a raiding treadmill by the time 2004 rolled around, so it was like WoW is today, except with tons of old school elements which many people simply didn't have time to waste on anymore. If you weren't raiding, why were you bothering to play it, IMO. Low level content was dead, as there were few people running that content and many were PLing the AAs on their alts at PoFire Tables and other places, while gearing them up by killing the goats in GoD for class armor:-P
Also, if your computer was really bad... WoW wasn't going to perform as well as EQ, either. WoW actually needed a better GPU than EQ, and even today, EQ will lag on pretty modern PCs (luggish UI, etc.) while WoW runs well - due to its ability to use multicore CPUs and GPUs better.
EQ2 did make bad developer assumptions from that end, but if you think the system requirements were the only reason why it lost to WoW despite a launch advantage, you CLEARLY didn't play it when it released.
WoW GREW the MMORPG market, so the people who couldn't run it well didn't really matter. By 2005, PCs were a lot better than what a lot of older EQ players were playing on. WoW actually knew how to use Multi-Core CPUs and utilized GPUs much better than both EQ2 games... this actually allowed it to run better on lower end hardware than EQ.
It had nothing to do with graphics quality, but more to do with better development and developer assumptions/reaction to market changes.
EQ2 had tons of issues on launch, with basic game design elements.
The developers assumed the millions of players prepared to flood into the MMORPG genre were "okay" with something more like "EverQuest," but they weren't and they didn't care for it.
EQ2 was also a reputationally damaged franchise, by that point. The world had already been subjected to numerous stories about people killing themselves, killing others, and wasting away playing the game. It brought gaming addiction into the lime light, which is why it was called "EverCrack."
I don't think EQ2 was ever going to compete with WoW. Blizzard just had better developers, and they actually recruited top players and guilds from EQ to give input (and even work at Blizzard) during the development of WoW - something SOE should have done, but didn't really bother to do.
The results speak for themselves.
And think about that... The input from top EQ players had a huge hand in making WoW what it was. Not the drones that regurgitate FUD and talking/markering points on forums... But the people who spend countless hours pushing the limits in that game. It's only the non-factors that seemed to want things to stay "status quo."
Probably not but i don't care, I'll take my trip down memory lane and enjoy every minute of it until it starts to bore me. I am very curious though to see how the newer players to the game receive classic and by newer I'm talking MOP to BFA. I view Classic as such a superior experience to anything current WOW offers and everything you do has so much more value & meaning, I wonder if they will feel the same.
Newer WoW is better than Classic. Classic is just where you formed your more memorable moments because the game was newer, you were probably newer to the genre, and it's likely where you formed a lot of memorable bonds with other players - as these games were more social, in a more personal way, than they are today.
The newer expansions did make the game better to play. Whether or not you agree with the content direction is a different matter... but Classic didn't offer much in the way of challenge, and was just as grindy as later expansions.
People who think otherwise are likely willfully deluding themselves - or they never played WoW back then, anyways.
Had WoW not evolved over the years, it would be in the same place EQ2 is right now.
I'm sure it will be profitable but long term I think it will sink back into obscurity. I'm basing this on my recent experience with the new Cox servers. I was chuffed to wade through the character creator, arguably the best part of the game, but then when I tried out a few archetypes for a couple of hours I began to remember why I left Cox for greener pastures. The older MMORPGS were just too damned tedious and repetitive to hold my attention today. I had some brilliant times back in classic Wow, but it wasn't really the game that made those memories special, it was the people I was playing with. That is something Blizzard can't replicate no matter how hard they try.
But again, what about the people who don't find them tedious?
Those are the people who want these games.
Let's take City of Heroes. There was a private server for years. The people on that server were certainly not playing because they thought the game was tedious.
It's these people, whether it's City of Heroes or World of Warcraft who are the audience for these games.
Sure there are people out there who won't find the game tedious. But I highly doubt there will be Fortnite numbers of people who feel that way. While there certainly are people who still want to play these older games, they are a drop in the bucket when compared to the mainstream gaming population.
That's absolutely correct.
and it's the developers job (or their managers) to know this. I see no evidence that Blizzard is thinking of reclaiming the millions that no longer player World of Warcraft.
I believe they saw a sizable amount of people on certain private servers and were persuaded, and agreed, that making a classic server would bring in some players and some money.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Probably not but i don't care, I'll take my trip down memory lane and enjoy every minute of it until it starts to bore me. I am very curious though to see how the newer players to the game receive classic and by newer I'm talking MOP to BFA. I view Classic as such a superior experience to anything current WOW offers and everything you do has so much more value & meaning, I wonder if they will feel the same.
Newer WoW is better than Classic. Classic is just where you formed your more memorable moments because the game was newer, you were probably newer to the genre, and it's likely where you formed a lot of memorable bonds with other players - as these games were more social, in a more personal way, than they are today.
The newer expansions did make the game better to play. Whether or not you agree with the content direction is a different matter... but Classic didn't offer much in the way of challenge, and was just as grindy as later expansions.
People who think otherwise are likely willfully deluding themselves - or they never played WoW back then, anyways.
Had WoW not evolved over the years, it would be in the same place EQ2 is right now.
having played since day 1, i disagree, they turned an mmo into a spo game, its almost as bad as ff14, not quite...bt almost.
When I look back at what made my WoW experience it was all about the time and place while the game itself was secondary to my experience. Everything was new to me and that's what made it interesting and I have no desire to return to the old times.
TBC and WotLK was a much better game than vanilla.
Iselin: And the next person who says "but it's a business, they need to make money" can just go fuck yourself.
I still think based on reception that they will eventually add or update content to Classic servers using the old model of progression. They are two vastly different games and if they keep Classic core the same, I'm sure people would welcome new content.
Example, Karazhan was supposed to release in Vanilla, I can see them 100% scaling the raid down to 60 and moving it into Classic servers. They could also do prepatch Lich King events if they wanted to spice things up on occasion.
All classic needs to do is stay true to the gameplay and progression for it to remain classic, in my opinion. Content can be added as long as you don't change the core game design.
I think it's much more likely they would release a Burning Crusade server if classic is a big success rather then adding to classic, as alot of people would be really mad if Classic is not left as is.
I think retail players will be considered lesser by classic community , classic will have more players than current for first few months , look at wow servers right now empty as fuck , guilds struggling to find new players having to merge, I'm personally waiting for 8.2 before resub , if classic was released tomorrow it would kill current wow
I still think based on reception that they will eventually add or update content to Classic servers using the old model of progression. They are two vastly different games and if they keep Classic core the same, I'm sure people would welcome new content.
Example, Karazhan was supposed to release in Vanilla, I can see them 100% scaling the raid down to 60 and moving it into Classic servers. They could also do prepatch Lich King events if they wanted to spice things up on occasion.
All classic needs to do is stay true to the gameplay and progression for it to remain classic, in my opinion. Content can be added as long as you don't change the core game design.
I've been supporting this idea from day 1; the poll by Mark Kern about how players view Classic prior to submitting the petition points in that direction. New areas, new lore, adjusted content from subsequent expansions, all these options were highly preferred by those voting in that poll.
We will only know of it's long term success by people's perspective who play it long term and if they do server merges or not. Even if they do server merges, it will still hold up for a small group of players. Thing is, we won't know the numbers. Blizzard has not released sub numbers and they won't release them here. They could probably tell pretty easily who is just playing Classic, but they won't give out those numbers. If the numbers are super high then they prove that Modern WoW is bad and that people prefer Classic. If the numbers are low then people's outlook of Classic will turn sour and the people playing it suffer from people crapping all over their game.
There is no reason for them to announce numbers. The most we will see is "Quarterly earnings went up this quarter as well as sub numbers due to classic release", or something a long those lines. So it doesn't really matter ultimately. Personally I think WoW Classic would be a waste of my time, but I don't really care either way.
We won't see a new direction for WoW classic where it continues through expansions with the same vision. That will not happen. They are already essentially supporting 2 WoW's for life now with one being essentially a skeleton team. Do you really think that after it took them all this time, to get a snapshot of the game at a certain point, to recreate the next expansion(s); let alone recreate it using different philosophies? No, they won't. The replay value in this long term will likely be Seasonal. That is not to say that this won't affect the live game, because the more successful classic philosophies are; the bigger the chance is some of them are applied to the live game.
ahh but will they have the option for EU players to play with NA players and vice versa or still be segregated?
All they need to do is let us choose what server region to play on (like other games and diablo etc) have. but nope you must buy that regions game version and have someone willing to pay for the subscription as well, which is shitty.
I stopped playing when my EU guild fell apart, friends left the game or moved servers. I have NA friends who still play but alas i carnt join them. hoping classic allows me to join up with them if they go classic server. if not i wont be joining wow again.
I keep saying it but they should take Classic and start developing from there. New classes, new content, expansions etc. to get an alternative version of WoW running next to the current one. I would be all over it, they could do so much cool stuff...
/Cheers, Lahnmir
'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
I'm sure it will be profitable but long term I think it will sink back into obscurity. I'm basing this on my recent experience with the new Cox servers. I was chuffed to wade through the character creator, arguably the best part of the game, but then when I tried out a few archetypes for a couple of hours I began to remember why I left Cox for greener pastures. The older MMORPGS were just too damned tedious and repetitive to hold my attention today. I had some brilliant times back in classic Wow, but it wasn't really the game that made those memories special, it was the people I was playing with. That is something Blizzard can't replicate no matter how hard they try.
But again, what about the people who don't find them tedious?
Those are the people who want these games.
Let's take City of Heroes. There was a private server for years. The people on that server were certainly not playing because they thought the game was tedious.
It's these people, whether it's City of Heroes or World of Warcraft who are the audience for these games.
Sure there are people out there who won't find the game tedious. But I highly doubt there will be Fortnite numbers of people who feel that way. While there certainly are people who still want to play these older games, they are a drop in the bucket when compared to the mainstream gaming population.
I don't think anyone, even Classic fans and Blizzard, expect Fortnite numbers.
I doubt they expect ESO numbers.
For those folks and Blizzard (by their own statements) they just need enough folks to play the game with others.
I keep saying it but they should take Classic and start developing from there. New classes, new content, expansions etc. to get an alternative version of WoW running next to the current one. I would be all over it, they could do so much cool stuff...
/Cheers, Lahnmir
Developing two different games would be expensive and just not fly.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I keep saying it but they should take Classic and start developing from there. New classes, new content, expansions etc. to get an alternative version of WoW running next to the current one. I would be all over it, they could do so much cool stuff...
/Cheers, Lahnmir
Developing two different games would be expensive and just not fly.
I know, I know. But it would be F-ing awesome.
/Cheers, Lahnmir
'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
If the EQ progression servers, L2 classic servers (still the longest queue i have ever waited for in a game) and OSRS are any indications, classic WoW won't just be successful, it will be patently bananas successful.
I hope unlike the games above, blizz can push resources into a root cause type of dive into what it is that make players love vanilla and bc, like LK, then lose interest after that.. and address it.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Comments
Those are the people who want these games.
Let's take City of Heroes. There was a private server for years. The people on that server were certainly not playing because they thought the game was tedious.
It's these people, whether it's City of Heroes or World of Warcraft who are the audience for these games.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I played the beta and from the launch of wow up until last year and when I started it was a time when I was young and had plenty of time to spare farming mats and gear and getting those raids through a 3-4 hour evening schedule.
I honestly cannot see these fortnite youngsters doing that today, nor the old veterans like us having the spare time needed, due to family, work, etc...
Having said that, I will be first in line to play Classic wow when the servers start, even though raiding will be a stretch goal.
New players can get a welcome package and old/returning players can also get a welcome back package and 7 days free subscription time! Just click here to use my referral invitation
I could see classic end up being a much more laid back social experience with a heavier focus on world pvp then it was the first time around. I Think the old vets will stick around but its going to be done in a very casual way with org and iron forge raids, alot of ganking, mat farming and alot of 5 man scholomance and strat runs for the tier set, was was it .5 in 5 man ? Its been awhile
Aloha Mr Hand !
Beta tester maniac
Also, if your computer was really bad... WoW wasn't going to perform as well as EQ, either. WoW actually needed a better GPU than EQ, and even today, EQ will lag on pretty modern PCs (luggish UI, etc.) while WoW runs well - due to its ability to use multicore CPUs and GPUs better.
EQ2 did make bad developer assumptions from that end, but if you think the system requirements were the only reason why it lost to WoW despite a launch advantage, you CLEARLY didn't play it when it released.
WoW GREW the MMORPG market, so the people who couldn't run it well didn't really matter. By 2005, PCs were a lot better than what a lot of older EQ players were playing on. WoW actually knew how to use Multi-Core CPUs and utilized GPUs much better than both EQ2 games... this actually allowed it to run better on lower end hardware than EQ.
It had nothing to do with graphics quality, but more to do with better development and developer assumptions/reaction to market changes.
EQ2 had tons of issues on launch, with basic game design elements.
The developers assumed the millions of players prepared to flood into the MMORPG genre were "okay" with something more like "EverQuest," but they weren't and they didn't care for it.
EQ2 was also a reputationally damaged franchise, by that point. The world had already been subjected to numerous stories about people killing themselves, killing others, and wasting away playing the game. It brought gaming addiction into the lime light, which is why it was called "EverCrack."
I don't think EQ2 was ever going to compete with WoW. Blizzard just had better developers, and they actually recruited top players and guilds from EQ to give input (and even work at Blizzard) during the development of WoW - something SOE should have done, but didn't really bother to do.
The results speak for themselves.
And think about that... The input from top EQ players had a huge hand in making WoW what it was. Not the drones that regurgitate FUD and talking/markering points on forums... But the people who spend countless hours pushing the limits in that game. It's only the non-factors that seemed to want things to stay "status quo."
Newer WoW is better than Classic. Classic is just where you formed your more memorable moments because the game was newer, you were probably newer to the genre, and it's likely where you formed a lot of memorable bonds with other players - as these games were more social, in a more personal way, than they are today.
The newer expansions did make the game better to play. Whether or not you agree with the content direction is a different matter... but Classic didn't offer much in the way of challenge, and was just as grindy as later expansions.
People who think otherwise are likely willfully deluding themselves - or they never played WoW back then, anyways.
Had WoW not evolved over the years, it would be in the same place EQ2 is right now.
and it's the developers job (or their managers) to know this. I see no evidence that Blizzard is thinking of reclaiming the millions that no longer player World of Warcraft.
I believe they saw a sizable amount of people on certain private servers and were persuaded, and agreed, that making a classic server would bring in some players and some money.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
TBC and WotLK was a much better game than vanilla.
I think it's much more likely they would release a Burning Crusade server if classic is a big success rather then adding to classic, as alot of people would be really mad if Classic is not left as is.
There is no reason for them to announce numbers. The most we will see is "Quarterly earnings went up this quarter as well as sub numbers due to classic release", or something a long those lines. So it doesn't really matter ultimately. Personally I think WoW Classic would be a waste of my time, but I don't really care either way. We won't see a new direction for WoW classic where it continues through expansions with the same vision. That will not happen. They are already essentially supporting 2 WoW's for life now with one being essentially a skeleton team. Do you really think that after it took them all this time, to get a snapshot of the game at a certain point, to recreate the next expansion(s); let alone recreate it using different philosophies? No, they won't. The replay value in this long term will likely be Seasonal. That is not to say that this won't affect the live game, because the more successful classic philosophies are; the bigger the chance is some of them are applied to the live game.
All they need to do is let us choose what server region to play on (like other games and diablo etc) have. but nope you must buy that regions game version and have someone willing to pay for the subscription as well, which is shitty.
I stopped playing when my EU guild fell apart, friends left the game or moved servers. I have NA friends who still play but alas i carnt join them. hoping classic allows me to join up with them if they go classic server. if not i wont be joining wow again.
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
I doubt they expect ESO numbers.
For those folks and Blizzard (by their own statements) they just need enough folks to play the game with others.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
I hope unlike the games above, blizz can push resources into a root cause type of dive into what it is that make players love vanilla and bc, like LK, then lose interest after that.. and address it.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
You stay sassy!