Surely every WoW player has wondered why the first version is so popular among users? It would seem that World of Warcraft Classic was released on November 23, 2004, and its army of fans is still growing steadily.
Those who played this MMO back in 2004 well remember that Warcraft was a very complex, in some ways long, but very interesting game that fans were literally going crazy over. Now we will try to figure out why WoW generated such rabid interest and at the same time was so difficult for both newcomers and experienced players.
Reasons for the popularity of MMO World of Warcraft
It’s no secret that the initial hype surrounding World of Warcraft arose for one simple reason: the immense popularity of the RTS version, the dozens of books released & the presence of key universe characters in the MMO. Players who until recently had only read or met Jaina, Thrall, Uther & other significant characters in strategy have been able to get to know them better with their story.
Famous locations such as Stormwind, Lordaeron, Orgrimmar & dozens of others became available for full exploration. You could look into every corner, visit every cave and ancient ruins and find many interesting and unusual things. On top of everything else, there were over 100 quests connected by a huge chain in each location. Gamers learned the world around almost anew, completing quests previously unknown inhabitants of the world of WoW and its famous characters.
On top of that, the long-awaited dungeons and, later, raids appeared. Each particular dungeon was linked to one story — either completely new to the world of the game, or already known from some missions in Warcraft III and previous parts of the series. In the process of conquering the dungeons, the heroes met various new and already known opponents:
- Sectarians, legion worshippers trying to bring the demon invasion of Azeroth closer.
- Bandits from the Defias Brotherhood, trying, by all means, to seize control of Stormwind and Elwynn Forest, by releasing dangerous criminals from the Prison.
- Tribes of pig-beasts and trolls who are adepts of dark ancient magic.
- Tribes of ogres who worship dark gods and demons, who have taken over an entire city, turning it into a huge portal for the coming of the Legion.
- Hundreds of other dangerous enemies and bosses waiting to meet the heroes of Azeroth.
Raiding, which was added extremely slowly in the original version, has also gained the attention of tens of thousands of gamers. Conquer the Molten Core and kill their lord — Ragnaros, defeat Onyxia and her flock, fight with the lord of the Blackrock Mountain — Lord Nefarian, open the gates of Ahn’Qiraj and kill the ancient god C’Thun and, finally, conquer Naxxramas and defeat the great lich — Kel’Thuzad — this is just part of the reason thousands of heroes rushed into the vastness of Azeroth.
Thousands of challenging missions are another incentive for players. In later versions of the missions have lost their «charm» — they are quickly run through the players, especially in the story, no one goes into, trying to gain experience as quickly as possible. Of course, this is true for WoW Classic, but given the specifics of leveling and its speed, gamers are often read into the story, getting real interest from the process. It would seem that a chain of errands associated with the extraction of ordinary drinking water for the soldiers turned into a whole adventure associated with the main plot of World of Warcraft. And there were hundreds of such quests. Players really enjoyed experiencing a new world.
The process of crafting and obtaining items is also a great reason. In later versions of the game, there’s a whole chasm between BiS stuff and passable stuff, in WoW Classic there isn’t. A character dressed in an average-quality outfit could feel quite confident in any type of content. This applies to both the equipment you create and the loot you receive.
Creating items in WoW Classic was also quite interesting and challenging. Required to collect a lot of details in different parts of Azeroth, get the right professional level, a recipe, and only then rely on the equipment — in the modern version of the game, the process has been greatly simplified.
And, of course, deserves special attention the process of fighting between the players. In World of Warcraft Classic, PvP was as classical as possible, and the outcome of the battle was determined by the skill of the player, not the level of his items. It is no exaggeration to say that the process of battle on the battlefields and in the open world enthralled me for a long time.
We have already said that the game was not only interesting but also difficult — now let’s talk about just that!
World of Warcraft Classic difficulty
Seasoned gamers remember well, but newcomers, who want to plunge into the world of the original World of Warcraft, should know that this version of the game is really difficult.
The main difficulty is probably character development. Players used to the development process in later versions of the game will find it very difficult. No inherited items, experience bonuses, auto-learning abilities, or other bonuses. There are not even half of the usual skills for some classes — you have to go through special chains of quests on them. In addition, experience is extremely low, and killing opponents is much harder than many are used to.
One of the other difficulties is the process of acquiring equipment and gold. Even buying a mount can be a real challenge for many gamers right from the start. Obtaining good weapons and armor is difficult because the number of raiders is usually 25-40, which causes great competition.
And the last difficulty is pumping the chosen profession. In WoW Classic there is wild competition for all sorts of resources because the process of improving the skills in the profession can be very long, up to the fact that the player simply gives it up.
There are special services to help players, one of the most popular of which is ExpCarry. Anyone can use WoW Classic Boost and purchase any service from professionals in their field.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to say that World of Warcraft Classic is a game that everyone, who is a fan of the series, should definitely play. Especially since November 16 will be the opening of the Season of Mastery — a great chance to get back to the roots and try your hand at it!
