Hi guys! Blizzard announced on their forums that the WoW Classic pre-launch test is extended all weekend. The test will now end on Monday, August 12th, 2019 at 9 AM PDT. This is great news for the fandom if you’re interested in testing Classic WoW.
The pre-launch test has been lots of fun. I’ve already decided on what race and class I’ll be playing. If you’re still undecided on what to play, be sure to give WoW Classic a try.
The WoW Classic Pre-launch extended gives everyone a chance to try the game. If there are old friends who haven’t played in a while, maybe now’s the time to bring them back?
WoW Classic Pre-launch Extended Continued
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Blizzard has also created a new section on their forums to find old friends. The Class Connections 2004 – 2006 – Find People Hereis an awesome tool to use if you’re looking for old friends and guild mates. I’m super excited about this. I have many old guildies that I haven’t spoken to in a few years.
Character name reservations unlock on August 12th. You can reserve three characters on a realm. Wowhead released the realmstoday on their site. If you’re new to WoW and not sure how realm’s work, Check out my Classic WoW Beginners guide where I explain realms in detail.
Also, sharding is in Classic WoW. You can read my thoughts on the controversial topic. Be sure to leave a comment and let others know how you feel.
Have you participated in the WoW classic pre-launch extended test? Leave a comment and let everyone know your thoughts. Is Classic WoW as good as you remember?
I’m loving Classic WoW so far, and I’m hoping to see a Burning Crusade and a Wrath of the Lich King server. I started playing World of Warcraft during Wrath, so I’d love to relive those days again.
Want to know what Crispy Bat Wings taste like? Check out my reviewon the World of Warcraft Official Cookbook to read my thoughts.
Hi guys! Welcome to the final post in the Classic WoW Beginners guide story. In part one of the final guide, I discussed the lore (story) for the Alliance races.
As a reminder, World of Warcraft begins four years after Warcraft III (the third war) ends. The races of Azeroth saved the world. After the Battle for Mount Hyjal was won, we entered four years of shaky peace. It wasn’t long before the residents of Azeroth were fighting again. Tensions were high. Skirmishes broke out throughout the world.
The Orcs settled in Durotar. Thrall wanted to find a home for the New Horde. They were joined by the Tauren, Darkspear Trolls, and the Forsaken (undead).
The Orcs are a strong and honorable race. They’re from the world Draenor and have powerful shamanistic roots. Shamans call on the primordial elements. Orcs rely heavily on traditions, and they value strength and protecting bonds.
Warchief Thrall was the leader of the new Horde in Vanilla WoW. He wanted to make a home for his people. The Horde was called the ‘New Horde’ because it was no longer being controlled by demons.
Before the old Orcish Horde invaded Azeroth their leader, Elder Shaman Ner’zhul, made a blood pact with Kil’jaeden the Deceiver, who was a demon. As a result, the blood created a thirst for battle within the Orcs which couldn’t be quenched. Which caused them to embark on a murderous rampage through Draenor as they slaughtered Draenei.
Kil’jaeden traveled to Azeroth. He sought out the Guardian Medivh, who was the last Guardian of Tirisfal. The Guardian’s mind was shackled to the Burning Legions will, because a piece of the Spirit Lord Sargeras possessed Medivh.
Medivh opened the Dark Portal. The Orcs burst through the portal and invaded Azeroth. Thus begins the first war.
During the first war, the Orcs laid siege to Azeroth. In the Orcs crazed blood lust, they destroyed the Kingdom of Stormwind. Then preceded to head north toward Ironforge. But, not all the Orcs drunk the blood. Orgrim Doomhammer and Durotan refused to drink.
Horde Continued: Thrall’s Fate
Sadly, Durotan and his wife, Draka, were killed as they were being escorted to a safe haven. But Thrall, their son, survived. Aedelas Blackmoore discovered the Orcling among the remains of his parents and took him in.
Blackmoore named him ‘Thrall’ which means slave in human language. He then raised the Orc in Durnholde Keep as a gladiator to make him money.
Durnholde Keep was one of the many internment camps ran by Blackmoore. Thrall escaped from Durnholde Keep, because of the aid of a friend, Taretha Foxton, and adventurers.
Once Thrall was free, it wasn’t long before ex-guardian Medivh, found the young Orc and told him of a prophecy. He told Thrall to head to the distant and ancient lands of Kalimdor because a threat was coming.
The threat was the Burning Legion, and this was the third war. Thrall worked alongside Jaina Proudmoore and the Alliance at the Battle for Mount Hyjal. But, although the Orcs helped to save Azeroth, the Night Elves weren’t too pleased to have them cutting down their forests. Night Elves are protective of their ancestral homelands and of nature.
So, this led to the Orcs and Night Elves having squabbles in Ashenvale, because of the Horde’s lumber operations.
Tauren is a noble and ancient race. They worship the Earth Mother and wish to protect the lands of Azeroth. High Chieftain Carine Bloodhoof led the Tauren during the third war. Under his leadership, all the Tauren tribes are united. Carine is older and wise. He used his wisdom to lead his tribe.
When Thrall and his New Horde made landfall in Kalimdor, they soon came across Carine and his people. They were driving a caravan through Kalimdor as they headed to Mulgore. The Tauren were having problems with the maundering centaurs which threatened their lands. Carine was determined to lead his people to a safe place.
Cairne met Thrall when he and his Horde protected a Tauren from a centaur. The old chieftain was impressed by the Orcs battle prowess and nobility. So, Cairne told Thrall about an Oracle who was nearby in Stonetalon Mountains.
The Oracle told Thrall, Cairne, and Jaina Proudmoore that they must work together because the Burning Legion was a great threat. Together, the three were able to free Grom Hellscream from his corruption, and they fought the Legion. Cairne pledged his race’s loyalty to the Horde
Both the Orcs and Tauren races had a strong connection to shamanism, and Carine was excited to share that knowledge with the Horde. The Tauren settled down in the grassy plains of Mulgore and established their city Thunder Bluff high atop the pillars to protect it from the centaurs.
Trolls
During Vanilla WoW, the Darkspear Trolls are lead by Shadow Hunter Vol’jin. The trolls are a superstitious race, and they worship spirits called Loa. These spirits show them visions of what’s to come.
During Warcraft III, Thrall first encounters the Darkspear tribe on Darkspear Island after he escaped from Lordaeron. Back then, the Darkspear tribe was led by Witch Doctor Sen’jin, who was Vol’jin’s father. Thrall was followed by Kul Tiran marines. The humans created a settlement on the island, so the Trolls moved inland to avoid fighting.
Sen’jin had seen a vision, and he sent his people to find Thrall. A Murloc high sorcerer found Sen’jin and sacrificed him to a sea witch. By the time Thrall reached the Troll leader, Sen’jin was dying. He asked Thrall to take his people from the island and save them.
To repay Thrall for saving their people, Vol’jin pledged their loyalty to the Horde. So the Trolls fought alongside the Orcs against the Burning Legion. After the Third War, they made a home on the Echo Isles in Durotar.
Forsaken (Undead)
Lady Sylvanas Windrunner is the leader of the Forsaken. She was once a High Elf from the Kingdom of Quel’Thelas. When the Death Knight Arthas ransacked her kingdom, he killed her and raised her from the dead as a banshee.
Sylvanas eventually broke free from his control, and she found her body. She then rounded up other undead and freed them from Arthas’s mind control.
Not long after, Arthas murdered his father, King Terenas of Lordaeron. Arthas then killed the citizens within the capital of Lordaeron. He set them loose on the rest of the kingdom as mindless minions of the undead scourge. They then murdered everyone in their wake.
So, Sylvanas worked with some of the undead in Lordaeron to liberate the kingdom from the scourge. They created a home underneath the Ruins of Lordaeron and named it The Undercity.
The Forsaken knew they needed allies in a hostile world, so they sent emissaries to the Horde. But, although some of the Tauren, such as Archdruid Hammul Runetotem, were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, many others in the Horde, like Thrall and Cairne, were suspicious of the Forsaken’s motives. Thrall eventually granted the Forsaken entry into the Horde as an alliance of convenience.
Classic WoW Beginners Guide Story: Conclusion
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So, this concludes the final post in the Classic WoW Beginners Guide Story. I hope these Classic WoW beginner’s guides were helpful. If you’ve got any questions please leave them in the comments below. I’d love to answer any questions you have.
Hi guys! This is part one of the final post in the WoW Classic Beginners guide. In this post, I’ll be covering the Alliance lore (story). If you have more questions please leave them in the comments.
Classic WoW begins after the events of Warcraft III (the Third War). The end of the third war brought about four years of peace. As you can imagine it didn’t take long for that peace to shatter.
The human kingdom Lordaeron fell in the third war. So, Stormwind, which had just rebuilt its city, took up the mantle to lead the Alliance, which the Night Elves from Kalimdor joined. The Night Elves problems were with the Orcish Horde which had settled in Durotar. Basically, the Orcs were camping in the Night Elves backyard.
So, let’s get into the meat of the story.
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Four years after the third war ended, the drums of war thundered once again.
By the beginning of Vanilla WoW, the Horde and the Alliance are in a cold war. After the Battle for Mount Hyjal, where the factions stopped Archimonde from destroying the world tree, Nordrassil, the Horde and Alliance formed an agreement for peace. But, the pact was weak and began to crumble. Soon the factions engaged in skirmishes in designated battlegrounds.
WoW Classic Beginners Guide: Humans
During the first war, the Kingdom of Stormwind was destroyed by the savage Orcish Horde. The brutish Orcs barreled through the Dark Portal and laid waste to the land. Nothing but destruction laid in the wake of the Orcs. Survivors traveled north to take refuge in the human Kingdom of Lordaeron, which became the center for the Alliance of Lordaeron.
Stormwind rebuilt its city after the third war. But, during the third war, the Kingdom of Lordaeron fell to the undead scourge. As a result, Stormwind led the Alliance.
The kingdom faced problems though because King Varian Wrynn had gone missing on a diplomatic mission. His son, Prince Anduin Wrynn, became king instead. Anduin was only a child. So, the day-to-day governing affairs weren’t handled by him. Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and Lady Katrana Prestor served as regents.
What the residents of Stormwind didn’t know, is that Lady Katrana Prestor was the black dragon Onyxia in disguise. She purposefully caused chaos by whispering in the ears of the nobles. As a result, Stormwind’s streets faced riots because the Defias Brotherhood (Stonemasons Guild) was being denied payment for honest work. Lady Prestor also plotted with the Defias Brotherhood to kidnap the king.
The Defias Brotherhood helped to rebuild Stormwind. They didn’t receive the compensation they deserved. So, the Defias Gang led by Edwin VanCleef were out for revenge. He took his gang and moved into Westfall, where they took refuge in the Deadmines.
As a result of the Alliance troops fighting wars on distant shores, the Kingdom of Stormwind was unable to stop VanCleef from causing problems throughout the kingdom. Which is why the residents of Westfall created The People’s Militia to fight the threat.
During the Classic, the Kingdom of Ironforge was led by King Magni Bronzebeard. Ironforge city is located in the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh. It’s a city built within the mountainside. The dwarves joined the Alliance of Lordaeron during the second war. It was to protect Ironforge from the Orcish horde, which had invaded Azeroth through the Dark Portal.
After the third war, the Bronzebeard clan lived in Ironforge. There are three Dwarven clans, Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron. They have divided about 230 years ago during the War of the Three Hammers.
But, the Dark Iron dwarfs are the main enemy to the other clans. During the War of Three Hammers, the Dark Iron clan tried to take Ironforge from the Bronzebeard clan and the Wildhammer clan. Eventually, the war ended, and the Dark Iron clan was kicked out of the mountain city. Their clan headed south. Then they created a city in Redridge Mountains.
The War of the Three Hammers was brutal. Once the war concluded, the Wildhammer clan settled in the Wetlands. Wildhammer dwarfs share a special bond with griffins, and today provide them for the Alliance. After the third war, however, the Wildhammer’s weren’t in the Alliance, but they were friendly to its members. The clan was on good terms with the Bronzebeard clan.
Dwarves Continued: After the War of the Three Hammers
Years later, the Dark Iron clan did a two-pronged assault on the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer clans. The Dark Iron dwarves succeeded in destroying Grim Batol, which is the city the Wildhammers had built in the eastern Wetlands. But, the assault on Grim Batol made the city uninhabitable, and that’s when the Wildhammer clan moved north to Aerie Peak.
In Vanilla (classic) WoW, King Magni’s daughter, Moira, is assumed to be kidnapped by Dagran Thaurissan, the leader of the Dark Iron dwarves. Also, Magni’s brother Muradin Bronzebeard was missing, as it was believed he’d been murdered by Arthas Menethil (Prince of Lordaeron) during the third war.
WoW Classic Beginners Guide: Gnomes
Gnomes are engineers. They’re always tinkering with new machines, and innovating new ideas. The gnomes are led by High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque. He refers to himself as “King of Gnomes” but his position is an elected one.
The gnomes joined the Alliance of Lordaeron in the second war and provided the Alliance with weapons and machinery. So, the gnomes weren’t really on the front lines back then.
Their city, Gnomergan is underground in Dun Morogh. It was taken over by a trogg infestation during the third war. The dwarves felt sorry for their gnomish neighbors, and King Magni invited them to live in Ironforge.
Mekkatorque’s best friend and advisor, Sicco Thermaplugg, convinced him to gas the Troggs out of Gnomergan. However, the plan backfired and many gnomes were poisoned and became Leper gnomes. The gas turned Thermaplugg crazy, and he stayed within Gnomergan as a shadow of his former self.
Thermaplugg had always been jealous of his old friend. His secret plans to gain control came out once the gnomes moved into Ironforge. He’d planned to only gas about 30% of Gnomergan and rule the rest. However, the plan was a disaster as about 80% of the gnomish population died in the city.
Now, High Tinker Mekkatorque is determined to reclaim Gnomergan for his people.
Night Elves
The ancient Night Elves are from the continent of Kalimdor. They can also be referred to as Kaldorei which translates to “Children of the Stars” in Darnassian. Led by the High Priestess of Elune, Tyrande Whisperwind, the Night Elves have existed for thousands of years. During the third war, the Night Elves joined the Alliance to stop the Burning Legion.
About 10,000 years ago, when Azeroth was only one continent called Kalimdor, the Burning Legion (an army of demons) were attracted to Azeroth because of the Highborne’s use of magic. Highborne elves were like nobles in the Night Elven society. They practiced the arcane arts (magic) and drew power from the Well of Eternity.
Queen Azshara ruled over the Night Elven empire. She was said to be the most beautiful elven woman, and Azshara was also one of the most powerful mages. The queen wanted more power, and eventually made a pact with the Burning Legion. Many of the Highborne elves, including Lord Xavius her high councilor, pledged allegiance to the Legion.
But, the queen’s actions led to the War of the Ancients. The conclusion of the war saw the Well of Eternity being destroyed. The destruction of the well was so great, it caused the Sundering, which ripped the continent of Kalimdor apart, and left a chaotic swirling mass of water in the ocean called the Maelstrom. Queen Azshara and her city, Zin’Azshari, were swept away in an enormous tsunami, which killed millions of her people.
Night Elves Continued: After the Sundering
Azshara made a new deal with the Old God, N’Zoth, so that she and her followers would be spared from the drowning. N’Zoth made her a sea creature called a naga, and she ruled the sea for 10,000 years.
After the War of the Ancients, the Night Elven society began to break apart. Some of the Highborne still resided in Kalimdor, but the rest of the Night Elves didn’t trust them. It was illegal in Night Elven society to use the arcane, and Malfurion Stormrage(Tyrande’s husband), was a druid who enforced the law. Night Elven society turned toward nature, which caused druidism to become popular.
Eventually, the remaining Highborne, led by Anasterian Sunstrider, sailed across the sea, until they reached the Eastern Kingdoms and the continent of Lordaeron. The elves who settled in Lordaeron became known as High Elves.
In the Burning Crusade expansion, those same High Elves joined the Horde and renamed themselves Blood Elves. But, during Vanilla (classic wow) some of the High Elves were still in the Alliance. As the original High Elves had joined the Alliance of Lordaeron during the second war.
As for the Night Elves, they joined the Alliance during the third war. Tyrande Whisperwind and Fandral Staghelm were leading the elves because Tyrande’s husband was sleeping within the Emerald Dream. All Druids must sleep within the Emerald Dream to preserve the natural world.
But, once Malfurion was asleep, he became trapped in the Emerald Nightmare. This meant that Fandral Staghelm became the Archdruid of Darnassus. Most of the Night Elves were loyal to Tyrande, but a few followed Fandral and his aggressive military views, which led to strife within the kingdom.
WoW Classic Beginners Guide Story: Conclusion
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I hope this WoW Classic Beginners Guide made the Alliance side of the lore easier to understand. If you have questions, please leave a comment below.
EDIT: WoW Classic Name Reservations open today, August 12, 2019. Blizzard posted on their forums this morning to remind us that all players with game time or an active game subscription can create up to three characters. WoW Classic releases worldwide on Monday, August 26th at 3 PM PDT.
As long as you have an active game subscription or game time you can reserve your character name. You’ll be able to create three characters per WoW account.
Blizzard said they will release the realm information at a later time. So if you’d like to coordinate with your friends on what realm to play on stay tuned. They also said that PvP servers will only allow one faction per realm to be played.
According to Blizzard, our accounts can have a maximum of 10 characters per WoW Classic realm, and we can have a maximum of 50 characters across all WoW Classic realms in your region. There is also no overlap with retail WoW, so you can have 50 characters in Battle for Azeroth and 50 characters in Classic WoW.
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Now, although the WoW Classic Name Reservation is exciting, don’t forget that the WoW classic pre-launch test is coming up this week. It’s going to be on August 8th.
Here’s more information on the WoW Classic pre-launch test. I’m excited to play in the pre-launch test and see if there have been any changes since June.
If you’re new to Classic WoW, or if you haven’t played Classic in many years and would like a refresher, you can check out my beginner guide.
Besides the WoW Classic name reservation, I’m super excited to get my hands on Warcraft III: Reforged releasing later this year. This game is the story that leads into WoW Classic. Check out the character models for Tyrande Whisperwind, Thrall, and Archmage Antonidas from Warcraft III.
Also, BlizzCon 2019 is coming soon. Check out the current rumors for the next WoW expansion.
Hi guys! Blizzard posted a message on their forumsfor the Classic WoW Pre-launch test. The test will begin on Thursday, August 8th at 11:00 AM PDT and will end on Friday, August 9th.
All World of Warcraft players with a current subscription or game time can participate. Players can level their characters to level 15. Blizzard is asking players to log in for the first two hours so they can test the game for launch issues.
Are you excited to participate in the Classic WoW pre-launch test? Leave a comment with your thoughts.
This week the fandom also received an awesome interview from Eurogamer.net about Classic WoW. Lead software engineer, Brian Birmingham, and senior software engineer Omar Gonzalez were interviewed.
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Now that we’ve covered the Classic WoW pre-launch test, let’s get into the interview by Eurogamer.net.
The interview began with Brian and Omar discussing the epic end of the beta. The Firelordwas spawned in both Stormwind and Orgrimmar. The giant Firelord rained down fire and brimstone on the players littering the ground with fresh corpses. By spawning Ragnoros, they wanted to recreate the feeling of a small community from the early days, and they wanted to give the players an experience they’d never forget.
I remember during Wrath that WoW still had a sense of community. Players would offer me a helping hand as I attempted to complete difficult quests. Some players would just stop and say hello. I even remember players from the opposing faction waving at me in a friendly manner, as they assisted me in killing a boss. It was also common for players to cast a buff on you which would raise your stats.
Game masters were more prevalent in the game. If you had a problem, a game master would find your location and make sure you were okay. There were also famous game master jokes, most were corny but fun. I miss that sense of community, and I’m excited to see it return in Classic WoW.
Player habits can change over 15 years. The interviewer, Robert Purchase, asked Omar and Brian if they’ve noticed any differences in player habits. They emphasized player enthusiasm. The developers were happy to see players exploring the world, interacting with other players, and choosing to play the game late into the night.
Classic WoW Pre-launch Test: Interview Continued
Classic WoW will have six phases of content. This is exciting news because we’ll be able to experience Vanilla the way it was when Blizzard rolled out content.
Layering is a controversial issue in Classic WoW. When you experience layering in retail WoW, it’ll be as if you’re on a different layer of your server. So even if you and a friend log in at the same time, you may not see each other. You can read about layering (sharding) in Classic WoW.
Brian said that Blizzard was testing the feature. So the levels of layering on the beta were lower so Blizzard could test it. Layering helps to control the population on a server so we experience less trouble while playing.
They weren’t sure if Classic WoW would have long ques. It depends on how many people show up. I remember waiting in long ques in Wrath. It was exciting and frustrating to wait for 30 minutes or more, but when I got on the game it was so worth it.
Dalaran was always packed during Wrath. The lag was terrible though. I’d be running through the majestic streets of the magical city, with its tall purple spires, and my game would just freeze.
One of the most exciting aspects of the interview was how Blizzard is dealing with the Classic launch. Classic WoW is being treated as important as a new expansion. All hands will be on deck. Omar said they’re going to be set up like a NASA mission control room. Just imagining that has me pumped to play Classic. And, to Shop Amazon.com for Zippered Tote Bag, World of Warcraft Collection – Cute But Deadly.
The WoW fandom certainly received exciting news this week. Now that we know that the Classic WoW pre-launch test will be August 8th, it makes it feel more real. Check out my Classic WoW beginners guide. The guide is also helpful if you’d just like a refresher on what to expect in Classic.
BlizzCon 2019 is coming up in November. Read my predictions for retail WoW’s new expansion.
I’d also like to let everyone know that my twitch stream is on a small hiatus. I’m trying out new things and I hope it comes off well when I’m ready to show it.
Classic WoW stress test has been postponed, guys! I wanted to let you know that Blizzard posted on the forums yesterday. The final Classic WoW stress test will not be taking place on July 25th – 26th, 2019.
Apparently, the game isn’t at the stage they would like it to be for testing. Community leader, Kaivax, let the fans know that Classic WoW is still on schedule to be released on August 27, 2019.
Kaivax said that Blizzard will let the community know when they have a more definite date, but hopefully, it will be soon. I was excited to jump into Classic again and relive WoW’s glory days. (EDIT: Date of the Classic Pre-launch test!)
But, what do you think? Does the Classic WoW stress test being postponed disappoint you? Are you looking forward to Classic? Did you play Vanilla WoW? What are you most excited to do again in the game? Let me know in the comments!
If you’d like to know more about the Classic WoW stress test, you can see my impressions of the Classic beta test from June 2019, which is different from retail.
I’ve also been reviewing the World of Warcraft Official Cookbook. If you’d like to know what Azeroth’s cuisine tastes like check out my review.
Anyway, thanks for hanging out at my hearth.
If I made a mistake on a lore fact or stat, please email me at warcraftlover91@yahoo.com
Happy Hunting!
Spyells
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Hi guys! Welcome to the World of Warcraft Classic Beginners guide. In this post, I’ll be focusing on classes. This is a long post, so you’ve been warned!
As I mentioned previously, you can choose to play on the Horde or the Alliance. You can read the first post in the beginner’s guide series for Classic WoW. After you make the choice of what faction you’d like to play, then you must choose a race and class.
Each race has their own racial abilities. I’ll touch on each one briefly but the purpose of this post is to help you choose a class. The races are mostly a cosmetic choice unless you’re going to participate in PvP (player vs. player) combat and environments. However, you’re unable to change your race in Classic like you can in Retail WoW, so be sure whichever race you choose you’re going to be happy with it.
And, if there’s something you’d like me to cover in my World of Warcraft Classic Beginners guide, let me know in the comments. I’d like to remind you this Classic WoW beginners guide is only meant to get you started. For a complete overview of each faction, race, and class, I’ll list sources in the summary.
World of Warcraft Classic Beginners Guide: An Overview of Races: Horde
If you’re For the Horde! then you may want to know what the differences are between the races. I’m not going to get into the story (lore) in this post, as I’m focused on the gameplay.
All World of Warcraft Classic Beginners should know that there are eight races in total. Four on the Alliance and four on the Horde. To play in the Horde, you can choose to be either an Orc, Troll, Undead, or Tauren.
Orcs are strong and filled with honor. In PvP, they have an ability called Hardiness which makes it harder to stun them. It’s a good ability to have if you’re fighting against a player playing a Rogue.
Also, Orcs have abilities such as Blood Fury, which increases melee attack. They have an ability called Command, which means hunter and warlock pets have a 5% damage increase. Orcs also have Axe Specialization, which means their skill with Axes and Two-Handed Axes are increased by 5.
The Orcs make great hunters in PvP due to the Hardiness ability. Hunters are fast and agile, so it’s a great choice if you learn to master the class. But, hunters take skill to play well, I’ll get into that below.
An Overview of Races: Horde Continued
Next, I’m going to briefly touch on Trolls. The Trolls have many tribes but only the Darkspear Tribe is in the Horde during Classic, and the Trolls shared a starter zone with the Orcs. Trolls have an ability called Berserking which is great in PvE (player vs. environment) encounters.
Berserking increases attack and casting speed. This cooldown is great for caster classes such as mages, priests, or shamans. Trolls also have Beast Slaying which increases their damage against beasts by 5%.
Also, Trolls have Regeneration which increases their health regen by 10%. They also have Bow Specialization, which increases their skills with bows by 5%, and Throwing Specialization which increases their skill with throwing weapons by 5%.
Now, we move on to the Tauren. The noble Tauren are a strong race with shamanistic roots, so they have powerful ties to nature. Tauren has an ability called War Stomp which is great for tanks because it stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yds.
The Tauren also has Cultivation which increases Herbalism skill by 15%. This racial can help you make money with the Herbalism profession. Tauren also has Endurance which increases their health by 5%, and Nature Resistance which is increased by 10.
The final Horde race is the Undead. In PvP, the Undead have a cool ability called the Will of the Forsaken. This allows the Undead to have immunity from the charm, sleep, and fear effects.
Cannibalize is an ability the Undead have which helps them regen their health faster. They also have increased shadow resistance by 10%, and their Underwater Breathing lasts 300% longer than other races.
Classic WoW Beginners Guide: An Overview of Races: Alliance
Alliance races in Classic are Human, Night Elf, Dwarf, and Gnome. Humans have a racial trait called Diplomacy which increases their reputation gain with factions by 10%. This is a great racial if you’re trying to gain rep quicker.
Humans also have Perception which increases stealth detection for 20 secs. They also have something called the Human Spirit which is good for casters, because it increases spirit by 5%.
Humans also have Mace Specialization and Sword Specialization. These racial traits increase their skills with Maces, Two-Handed Maces, Swords, and Two-handed Swords by 5%.
Next, we’re going to talk about the Gnomes. The Gnomes live in the city of Ironforge with the Dwarfs, so the races share a starter area in Classic.
Gnomes are obsessed with tinkering, so they’re always inventing new technology. This is why they have Engineering Specialization as a racial, which increases their skill in the Engineering profession by 5%.
They also have Expansive Mind which increases their intellect by 5%, which is great for caster classes like Mages and Warlocks. For Gnomes Arcane Resistance is increased, and they have Escape Artist which helps them escape immobilization and stun effects.
Now, we’re going to talk about the Night Elves. The elves are an ancient race from the continent of Kalimdor. Since the Night Elves are close to nature, they have an increased Nature Resistance by 10.
When Night Elves die, they can turn into a Wisp, which grants them a 50% increased movement speed. In Classic, it can take a while to get back to your body when you die. Honestly, no player wants to die, but if you do, at least Night Elves can find their corpse faster.
The Night Elves also have Shadowmeld which helps them slip into the shadows, making it hard to detect them. Night Elves who are rogues and Druids are much harder to detect when using both Shadowmeld and Prowl.
Lastly, the Night Elves have an ability called Quickness which increases their dodge chance by 1%
The final Alliance race is the Dwarfs. In Classic, the Dwarfs from Ironforge (the Kingdom of Khaz Modan) were in the Alliance. Dwarves are strong and sturdy, which makes up for their short stature.
Their best racial is by far Stoneform, because it grants immunity to bleed, poison, and disease effects, while also increasing armor by 10%. Stoneform is a good racial for PvP.
Dwarves love guns, so they have increased skills in Gun Specialization by 5. Since Dwarves come from the snowy lands of Dun Morogh, they have an increase in Frost Resistance by 10.
And their final racial is Find Treasure, which helps the Dwarfs sense nearby treasure by having it appear on the minimap.
World of Warcraft Classic Beginners Guide: Classes
Now, that we’ve covered the eight races, let’s get into the nine available classes in Classic. Each faction had one class restricted to it, so only Horde could be Shamans, and only Alliance could be Paladins.
What you first need to know is that different classes fill different roles in group settings. We have three roles Tank, DPS (damage per second), and Healer.
When you choose a class, try and imagine what type of group role you’d like to fill. Tanks are the strongest members of the party. Their job is to grab the attention of enemy mobs and taunt those mobs to attack the tank.
DPS (damage per second) classes are focused on dealing as much damage as possible in an encounter. If the DPS is too low, sometimes the group may struggle to kill a boss.
The final role is Healer. Healing classes are focused on keeping the party alive. Without Healers a group can’t run a dungeon or a raid.
Classic WoW: Overview of Classes: Tanks
Tanks take on a huge responsibility in group settings. If you’re more of a solo player then maybe being concerned about tanking, healing or DPS doesn’t concern you and you’ll be able to choose whichever class you want. But, I’m going to go over each class type, and which classes fit that type just in case.
Classes that can tank are Warrior, Druid, and Paladin. These classes are strong and take on a protective role in groups. Every race can play a Warrior, but only Night Elves and Tauren can play Druids, and only the Alliance can play Paladins.
A tank may fit your personality if you like to lead. Players who’re good at leading and wish to protect their allies are suited to be tanks.
Tank: Warriors
Warriors are your basic combat warrior class. They’re slow to level. You’ll have to stop and eat to regen your health often as you quest. Warriors don’t wear plate armor until level 40.
It’s a good idea to choose Mail items which fit your class spec, rather than to choose Cloth or Leather because those armor pieces won’t protect you as well.
A Warrior’s base stats are Health and Rage. Warriors need armor which increases these primary stats.
The Warrior is a master at weaponry and wields anything except wands. They have three talent trees called Fury (DPS), Arms (DPS), and Protection (tanking spec). Warriors have stances that make the class interesting to play.
These stances include Battle Stance, Defensive Stance, and Berserker Stance. Battle Stance is available at level 1 and is the primary way the Warrior does damage from a low level.
Defensive Stance provides tanking abilities that increase your threat. To acquire the Defensive Stance, the Warrior must embark on a quest at level 10.
Berserker Stance increases critical hit chance but causes the Warrior to take increased damage. This stance becomes available at level 30.
Tank: Druids
Druids can only be played by Night Elves and Tauren, as they have a close relationship with nature. The Druid is a hybrid class, which means the class can Tank, DPS, or Heal. Cloth and Leather armor are what Druids wear. Leather is stronger than Cloth, so always choose Leather armor if it increases your stats.
The Druids are also shapeshifters. They can change into a Bear Form or Dire Bear Form (tanking form), Aquatic Form (which increases their swim speed), Travel Form (which helps them travel faster), Cat Form (their primary melee form similar to a Rogue), and Moonkin Form (their primary casting form).
To be a tank as a Druid, you have to play in Bear Form. The Bear Form is similar to Warriors because the Druid gains a taunt spell and a stun to interrupt spell casting. But, unlike the Warrior, Druids don’t have different stances.
In Bear Form, Druids gain the abilities Swipe, Growl, Demoralizing Roar, Bash, Maul, Enrage, Frenzied Regeneration, and Challenging Roar. When Druids shapeshift, they may have different abilities depending on which role they’re filling at the time.
The Druid talent trees are Balance (spellcasting), Feral Combat (cat form), and Restoration (healing). Druids are able to use staves, daggers, fist weapons, and one and two-handed maces.
In this World of Warcraft Classic Beginners Guide, we’re now going to talk about Paladins. The Paladins are a class of holy warriors that were only playable by the Alliance in Classic. Humans and Dwarves were the races who could play Paladins.
Paladins are also a hybrid class. They’re able to Tank, Heal, or DPS, but most groups primarily used them as a healer. The holy warriors also gain class mounts at level 40 for free, and level 60 by doing a quest and paying a hefty amount of gold.
These holy warriors learn to wear plate armor at level 40. I would suggest to only wear mail armor to level 40 when you can because mail is stronger than cloth or leather.
A Paladin’s base stats are health and mana. Always make sure the armor they wear increases their stats. Paladin’s have three talent trees to pick from. The talent trees are Retribution (DPS), Protection (tank), and Holy (healing). Weapons available to the Paladin include two-handed swords, two-handed maces, two-handed axes, and polearms
When a Paladin is in a group, they have passive buffs called Aura’s which help the team. Paladins can also cast Blessings on the group, but only one blessing can be active at a time.
Classic Wow Beginners Guide: An Overview of Classes: DPS (Damage Per Second)
DPS classes make up the meat of dungeon and raid groups. A dungeon group has one tank, three DPS, and one healer. Depending on how large the raid group is will determine the amount of each type of player. For example, in Retail WoW, a 25-man raid group has two tanks, about 5 or 6 healers, and about 15 DPS.
When the DPS is too low in a group, some boss encounters will be challenging. There will be encounters a group can’t complete if the DPS isn’t up to par. To increase your DPS output, it’s important to choose good talents, have the appropriate armor and item level, and to make sure you know your rotation.
All DPS classes and talent specializations only focus on putting out damage. Never try and pull aggro (threat) from the tank in a dungeon or raid, or the party may wipe (die). Be careful not to pull aggro, and then have the healer take too much damage. If the tank or healer dies, then the group will most likely wipe.
Some DPS classes have pets or minions. It’s important to keep an eye on your pet and know where it is at all times. Pets and minions can sometimes pull aggro from the tank, causing a wipe. I’m not saying don’t play a hunter, warlock, or mage, but be aware of your class’s common pitfalls so the party will succeed.
Also, both Mages and Hunters can auto-shoot by right-clicking on a target. If a Mage has a wand equipped, be careful not to right-click. Hunters have the same issue with guns and bows. You don’t want to be the player who wiped the group, so be careful.
Pure DPS classes are Mages, Warlocks, Hunters, and Rogues. These classes can’t heal or tank. A well-played Hunter may be able to off-tank or kite with a pet, and so can a well-played Warlock if they’re using a minion. In general, these classes are solely focused on DPS.
Mages can be played by Humans, Trolls, Gnomes, and Undead. They wear cloth armor (like a t-shirt) so they’re veeeeeeery squishy. Remember, Mages are a ranged class. If your spells are red to a target, only step forward slightly until the spell turns white. The distance is far, but that’s what you want because you want to DPS the target down before they catch you.
Whenever I quest with a mage, I normally hug the sides of the map, and I stay close to trees. I try to only pull one mob (one enemy) at a time, and to make sure I always have an escape route behind me in case I need to run.
In a group setting a mage doesn’t need to worry about having an escape route. The tank should be holding aggro, and the healer will keep the group alive. What the mage needs to focus on is dealing as much damage as quickly as possible.
During a dungeon or raid, Mages are useful because they can provide the group with free food and water. Playing a Mage is also a great way to make gold, as Mages can teleport players to any major city. In Retail WoW, we have portals in Stormwind and Orgrimmar, but in Classic it wasn’t like that, so getting around was harder.
Mages’ primary stats are health and mana. Mages can use wands, daggers, staves, and swords. Their three talent trees are Arcane, Frost, and Fire. Classic gave all the classes more freedom to choose their talents. In Retail WoW, a frost mage is only a frost mage, but in Classic, you could also learn fire and arcane spells.
DPS: Rogues
Rogues are the master of stealth. These skilled assassins are hard to catch in PvP because they’re always hiding in the shadows. The class is cunning and knows when the best time is to strike.
Playable races for Rogues are Humans, Orcs, Trolls, Gnomes, Undead, Night Elves, and Dwarves. Their primary stats are health and energy. Rogues wear cloth and leather armor. Leather armor is always stronger than cloth.
If you come across a locked chest, Rogues are excellent at picking locks and picking pockets. They also create and buy poisons. To buy poisons, keep an eye out for Shady Vendors in the game. Rogues can deal with powerful DPS in both PvE and PvP combat.
The class can use Fist Weapons, Swords, Guns, Daggers, Bows, Maces, Crossbows, and Thrown. Rogues can be good in groups if they’re stealth ability is high. They can scout ahead and find mobs to pull, without aggroing a whole instance (dungeon or raid). Their three talent trees are Assassination, Subtlety, and Combat.
DPS: Hunter
Hunters are a unique class. If you prefer to play solo, they’re a great class to choose because they have a pet that can hold aggro. They’re close to nature and understand the beasts in the wilds. As a hunter, you won’t tame your first pet until you’re about level 10. Hunters have to remember to buy ammo for their gun or bow, or they risk not being able to attack from a range.
The races which can play Hunters include Trolls, Dwarves, Night Elves, Orcs, and Tauren. Classic WoW featured a Dwarven Hunter in it’s first cinematic. He was in the snowy mountainous hills of Dun Morogh with Ironforge in the distance. The dwarven hunter was wearing warm furs, and holding his gun, with his animal companion a bear, by his side.
Night Elves are a great choice for hunters because they’re rangers. They can also use shadowmeld to stealth because Hunters are agile, this can make them a formidable opponent in PvP.
All Hunters have to remember to control their pets in a group setting. Pets can hold aggro because they’re like the Hunters personal tank when they quest, but within a group setting, turn off Growl so that the tank doesn’t need to compete with the pet.
Hunters have the ability to auto-shoot and need to remember not to right-click on bosses unless the tank already has aggro. The Hunters primary stats are health and mana in Classic. Hunters can wear cloth, leather, mail (level 40) armor. Until the Hunter is level 40, be sure to wear leather armor when possible.
Their talent trees include Marksmanship, Beast Mastery, and Survival. Hunters are able to use Axes, Guns, Bows, Fist Weapons, Crossbows, Daggers, Swords, Thrown, Two-Handed Axes, Staves, Two-Handed Swords, and Polearms.
Warlocks were once mages. These casters were fascinated by demonic power, and some have chosen to work for the Burning Legion and others against. They have minions which are shackled to them against their will. They use the minion’s demonic power to aid their master (the Warlock) in battle.
Humans, Orcs, Gnomes, and Undead can be Warlocks. The class’s primary stat is health and mana. Warlocks are a great class to solo play with because they have their minion which can hold aggro, and create health stones to heal themselves. Warlocks are also handy in groups because they can cast a Ritual of Summoning, which summons team members to the instance.
They have a class mount that they can obtain through quests at level 40 and level 60. Warlocks wear cloth like Mages and Priests. This means they’re squishy! Their minion can act as a tank when they quest.
Their talent trees are Affliction, Destruction, and Demonology. For weapons, Warlocks can use wands, staves, daggers, and swords.
World of Warcraft Classic Beginners Guide: An Overview of Classes: Healer
Healers provide support in a group. These casters are crucial in order to keep a party alive. Healing classes include Priests, Druids, Paladins, and Shamans. This final section will focus on Shamans and Priests.
Healer: Shaman
In this World of Warcraft Classic Beginners Guide, we’re going to now talk about the Shaman. The Shaman class was exclusive to the Horde in Vanilla WoW. If you’d like to play a Shaman your options are Tauren, Orc, and Troll. These spiritual casters are connected to elements like Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. A Shaman is always focused on keeping the natural order. If the elements are out of line, a Shaman will try to help.
Mail armor is available to wear at level 40. Always try to wear leather armor until then when you can. Shamans are able to use totems in combat which can aid themselves, allies, or harm enemies. Totems are learned by questing, and you can have four totems active at a time.
Ghost Wolf is a unique ability available to Shamans. It’s similar to a Druid’s travel form so that the Shaman can travel faster through the world. Shamans have an ability called resurrection which allows them to resurrect themselves. They can also grant a group the ability to walk on water, and their Astral Recall ability gives the Shaman an extra hearthstone.
In Classic, Shamans are primarily used to heal within a group. Their talents are Restoration (healer), Elemental (DPS), and Enhancement (DPS).
Healer: Priest
Priests use the power of the holy light to heal their allies. They wear cloth armor only. So they’re squishy just like Mages. When playing a Priest as you level, always remember to cast your spells from a ranged distance. You want to kill the enemy (or at least have them at half health) before they can start chewing you up.
In a group setting, a Priest is protected by the tank. Priests can be played by Dwarves, Undead, Night Elves, Humans, and Trolls. Their primary stats are health and mana. The talent trees are Discipline (healing), Holy (healing), and Shadow (DPS). In combat, Priests can use wands, staves, One-Handed Maces, and Daggers.
A unique trait Priests have are the additional racial talents they add. Dwarves had Fear Ward (a friendly target can’t be feared) and Desperate Prayer which instantly heals the caster.
Night Elven Priests have Starshards (which rains star shards on the enemy and causes arcane damage), and Elune’s Grace (which reduces range damage).
Humans also had Desperate Prayer, and they had Feedback (it surrounded the Priest in a shield which protected them from bad spells).
Undead Priests had Devouring Plague (which placed a disease on the target and healed the Priest). They also had Touch of Weakness (which increased the Priests spell power when attacked by a melee enemy).
Priests don’t have a class mount, but they can obtain a special weapon at level 60 through a questline.
World of Warcraft Classic Beginners Guide: What Next?
Hi guys! I wanted to go into WoW Classic for the next few posts. I’ll be covering a variety of topics, from the lore to gameplay tips.
The ongoing WoW Classic beta is ending on July 12th, with a small end game event. If you’d like to participate in the final stress test, it will take place from July 25th – 26th.
Now, Vanilla (Classic) came out 15 years ago. I only played during Vanilla WoW for a brief period, as I was too young to have the game, so I only played at my godmother’s house. As you know, I began playing WoW during Wrath.
To me, the difficulty of the game felt similar from Vanilla to Wrath, but I was a newbie at the time. Honestly, the game may have been hard because of that.
When I’m playing retail today, I feel nostalgic for the old days. WoW used to have a sense of community which was destroyed thanks to Cross-realm and sharding. Many fans even cite the dungeon queue as another nail in the WoW coffin.
It’ll be refreshing to play World of Warcraft Classic soon and relive those old days.
So, in case you’re new to World of Warcraft Classic, or if you’re new to the WoW period, I’m going to go over a few things to make your transition into Classic easier.
World of Warcraft Classic: Regions, Realms, and Servers
World of Warcraft is a massive game. Millions of players worldwide play the game everyday. So, it makes sense that we’re not all playing the same copy of the game.
One server or realm can only hold so many thousands of players at a time. Remember, before you choose a faction, a race, or a class, you must choose a region and a server.
Always pick the region and server your friends are on, or you can’t play together. In retail, we have sharding and cross-realm now, so even if your friends are on another server, you can play together, but you can’t be in the same guild.
Cross-realm is when you see players from another realm in the game world. You can normally tell because they have a dash beside their name, with the name of their realm after it.
Sharding is like a layer. I’ve used a cinnamon roll analogy before. You and your friend are both playing on the same cinnamon roll, but you aren’t playing on the same layer. Your layer may have less frosting (lower population) than your buddies layer. So, the game shards him to the center spiral, and you to the outer one. Basically, you’re playing on the same server, but you can’t see each other.
Regions, Realms, and Servers Cont.
In Classic WoW, there won’t be any cross-realm. So, be sure to pick the appropriate server.
Servers are separated by regions which include: Americas, Oceanic, and European.
Always choose the region which corresponds to where you live. You’ll find players on those servers, who speak your language, so there will be less confusion in group settings.
After you choose a region you must choose a server. Then, you can focus on choosing a faction, race, and class.
Let me give you an example of what my game looks like in retail:
Region: Americas
Server: Garona
Faction: Alliance
Race: Dwarf
Class: Hunter
You’re not limited to playing one faction, race, or class on a realm. Remember, you’re free to do whatever you like in the game, but I wanted you to have a visual of what type of choices you’ll be making before getting started.
World of Warcraft Classic: Game Play Options: Horde
The first thing any newbie should be aware of is that Classic WoW has two factions. If you’ve never played retail, or if it’s been awhile, maybe you’ve forgotten.
To play with your friends it’s a good idea to play in the same faction, especially if you’d like to be in the same guild and run raids together. Your faction options are Horde and Alliance.
During Classic, the Horde was being led by Thrall, an orc shaman with a calling on his life to lead. During the events of Warcraft III, Thrall formed the new Horde. His Horde was focused on making a home for themselves in Azeroth. So, they settled in the barren lands of Durotar, which Thrall named after his father Durotan, in the continent of Kalimdor.
It was during Warcraft III, while Thrall led his Horde against the Burning Legion, that he met Cairne Bloodhoof and his Tauren. The chieftain was impressed by Thrall, as the Horde had helped the Tauren tribe with the harpy situation.
As Thrall was an orc who upheld honor, which is one of the main factors driving the Horde, Cairne and his Tauren joined the Horde.
If you decide to create a Horde character in Classic, you can choose between these four races: Orc, Tauren, Troll, and Undead.
The Horde races are united in the belief of having the honor and protecting what matters most.
Each race has racial that can benefit them in different situations. Orcs receive an extra boost in Axe Specialization, and Hardiness, which means they’re resistant to stun effects. In a PvP (player vs. player) encounter, Hardiness could be a good move.
All the races on both Horde and Alliance have their own racial specialties. It’s helpful to look into these before you choose a race, but it’s not a terrible thing if you don’t. Really, it comes down to how you play. If you’re mainly interested in PvE (player vs. environment), your interests are going to be different from a player choosing to do PvP.
Game Play Options: Alliance
During World of Warcraft Classic, the Alliance was being led by King Anduin Wrynn. Anduin was only a child at the time, but his father Varian Wrynn had gone missing. As a result, Lady Katrana Prestor (Onyxia, a black dragon in disguise), and Highlord Bolvar Fordragon were leading the Kingdom of Stormwind (aka the Kingdom of Azeroth) as co-regents.
During the events of Warcraft III, the Alliance of Lordaeron was destroyed when Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron, was corrupted by the Undead Scourge. He killed his own father, King Terenas Menethil, and then Arthas journeyed to Northend where he joined with his master, the Lich King, to lead the undead and raise an army.
The Alliance of Lordaeron had previously led the seven human kingdoms to victory during the second war. When the demonic Horde of orcs, who were being controlled by the Blood of Manneroth, descended on Azeroth from the Dark Portal, the humans rose up to save their land. They were victorious and captured some of the orcs, imprisoning them in internment camps.
Thrall, the leader of the new Horde, had been a slave under the humans. With the aid of a friend and adventurers, Thrall was able to escape his prison at Durnholde Keep, form the new Horde, and lead the Horde to victory.
In Warcraft III, once Lordaeron had fallen, many refugees from that kingdom found their way to Stormwind. Stormwind City became the new Alliance headquarters and resides in the Southern part of the Eastern Kingdoms.
If you make an Alliance character you can choose between these four races: Human, Dwarf, Gnome, or Night Elf.
The Alliance races are joined together by a common belief in protecting the light and keeping their homeland safe.
World of Warcraft Classic: More to Come Soon
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As this post is getting long, I’m going to end it here. Let me know down in the comments if you have any questions. What would you like me to cover about the World of Warcraft Classic? Do you understand the different races? Are you confused about the story? Sound off in the comments below and let me know what your thoughts are about WoW Classic.
EDIT: WoW Classic Layering update on October 3, 2019. It’ll be turned off before World Bosses are introduced.
EDIT: During the WoW Classic AMA on August 20, 2019, the WoW Classic Developers explained sharding and layering in detail. I thought for a long time that sharding and layering were the same things. They are similar but not quite the same.
Hey guys! I wanted to talk about WoW Classic Sharding today. Sharding reminds me of a cinnamon roll. Each of us is on the same Cinnamon roll (the same server) but we may not be standing on the same layer. Depending on how much glaze is on a layer will determine which layer we’re ‘sharded’ or sent too.
Basically, sharding is a way for Blizzard to control the population in a server or a zone. WoW Classic Sharding is a huge deal because sharding didn’t exist in Vanilla WoW. It not only affects how easily you can quest mobs, or farm nodes, it affects social interaction within the game. Sharding is a controversial topic within the WoW community.
My brothers and I participated in the WoW Classic Beta Stress test. I’m going to tell you right now that the sharding was bad. Kaivax, a community leader on the Blizzard forums, said we wouldn’t know which server had which population rules in the test.
Where Did Everybody Go?
I apologize for not having my brothers (they’re twins) take a screenshot. It didn’t cross my mind then. I also didn’t get as many screenshots reflecting the population difference on the realms. But, I’ll do my best to explain what we saw at various times in the game.
So, on the first day of the beta test (June 19th), I logged in with brother number one. We created Tauren first on a random realm. Blizzard kicked everyone off within fifteen minutes. When we logged back in, only two realms were available to play, realms 15 and 3.
We chose realm 3 and created dwarfs. There was no sharding when we first logged in. Everyone looked like ants as they ran around. It was exciting to watch. We accepted our first quest to kill wolves and joined the fray of players. There were so many people the mobs weren’t re-spawning.
Well, Blizzard fixed that issue, because, within ten minutes of us creating our toons, they kicked everyone out of the game. We logged back in within five minutes.
At first, things didn’t look much different. But, Blizzard forced everyone to log off at least three more times. By the end of the third hour, things had changed significantly. In fact, it had changed so much, I questioned where everyone had gone.
That’s because Blizzard had turned on the WoW Classic Sharding.
Alone in a Vast World
My brother and I kept questing. It was hard to ignore that the starter area felt emptier each time Blizzard reloaded the game. When were first started playing, we had grouped up with random players and said hello to people.
Once the WoW Classic Sharding was implemented, it changed.
Our group disbanded because people had to eat dinner. Afterward, it was more difficult to group up with new people. I felt as if I was playing retail. Players weren’t interacting as much. We stayed in our own corners because there were less of us, there wasn’t as much need to form a group to kill mobs.
My brother and I still had fun though. We eventually left our starter area and explored Dun Morogh before logging off in Ironforge, which felt like a dead town by the way.
Ironforge was weird because the game was telling me it was populated. I typed in /who into chat and the game showed me the city had more than 50 people. On both days of the stress test, that proved not to be true on realm 3.
WoW Classic Sharding: Are we Playing the Same Game?
On the second day (June 20th), I played the beta stress test with brother number 2. We created gnomes. But, we also checked out all the servers on horde and alliance. More on that in a bit.
So, in realm 3, we created gnome mages. We logged in and the starter area looked dead. The WoW Classic Sharding was going strong. Now on the realm listing, realm 3 and realm 15 were listed as being full. Realm 3 felt dead not full. The mobs roamed in abundance. We ran into a player maybe once every 30 minutes.
I sent Blizzard a message to let them know. Kaivax did say if you felt alone in a zone to let them know, so I did.
We played our toons for a few hours. Although it was just us in a vast world, we were having a blast. We eventually decided to be nosy and check out the other realms. So, we hopped over to realm 2, which was a medium population server and created orcs.
The difference was like night and day. Although realm 2 was a medium server and not a high populated server, it felt high because there didn’t appear to be any sharding. Players ran around like ants.
We ran from the starter zone and into Durotar. The area was full of people, a stark contrast to the barren, snowy wasteland in Dun Morogh. What’s weird is that World chat, Trade chat, and General chat was still connected on every realm we visited.
So even if a realm was heavily sharded, we knew thousands of players were on the realm because they were talking. Many players asked in the chats several times, “Where is everybody? I know you guys are there.”
My brother and I logged into each and every server. We created horde and alliance toons. If the server was a medium population realm, there wasn’t any sharding, if the server was a high population realm, it was heavily sharded.
We eventually logged into realm 15 another high population server. I created a human paladin and my brother created a human warrior. We logged in at the same time. But when the opening cinematic was complete, we stood in the exact same spot but weren’t seeing the same thing.
It was so weird. It was like a strange case of deja vu. It’s like we were watching a similar movie but with different characters. We were facing the Northshire Abby, but I saw a warrior run out, and he saw a priest. That’s not all that was different. We ran to Goldshire, and not once did we see each other.
We stood in the exact same spot in the street. There were duels going on in Goldshire. But, we weren’t watching the same duel. It was exciting but lonely. If we’d been playing on two different servers it would’ve made perfect sense. The problem is we were both on realm 15. We’d been sharded to a different layer of it.
Stormwind also had sharding (as did Orgrimmar) and we were unable to see each other. We shared the same chats though. I could see all the same trolls talking in his trade chat.
In retail, I’ve gotten used to sharding and cross-realm (seeing players from other servers as I play in the game world). I’d even say Blizzard has perfected it in retail to a point where it doesn’t bother me. I see players interact when it matters in retail. It’s not like I feel alone and I always see other players.
But, I don’t need to explain to you that retail and classic are two different animals.
Vanilla WoW (Classic) came out fifteen years ago. A time when gaming was different then it is now. From what I remember, most games back then were harder to play and took longer to finish. However, you felt more accomplished once you completed your goal.
The gaming industry isn’t what it used to be. There’s more of a focus on graphics, casual players, and instant gratification. Retail WoW is great for the current gaming industry, Vanilla WoW (Classic) was great for the gaming industry of fifteen years ago.
WoW Classic Sharding won’t work in Classic because it wasn’t meant to be there. It undermines what Classic is supposed to be. I remember when I began playing WoW in Wrath of the Lich King, sharding wasn’t a thing yet (if I’m mistaken let me know in the comments).
I made some amazing friends in Wrath because sharding didn’t prevent me from meeting them. Although I don’t speak to these friends today, I treasure the memories. And, those gaming buddies were good friends for many years before they stopped playing WoW and moved on.
Sharding robs the players of the true Vanilla WoW experience. I understand Blizzard has to consider servers crashing and overcrowding, but there must be a middle ground somewhere. There must be a way to provide players with accessibility and convenience, without sacrificing the authentic Classic experience.
WoW Classic Sharding: It’s Coming
We need to be prepared for sharding in Classic. I’m not sure how it will affect the game overall, but it’s a high chance it’s going to be there. Maybe the good outweighs the bad, and Blizzard actually knows what’s best in the scenario.
Let me know what you think in the comments. Do you want WoW Classic Sharding? Why or Why not?
If you find a typo, or if I committed the cardinal sin of incorrectly stating a lore fact or stat, please send me a message here: warcraftlover91@yahoo.com!
The beta stress test will be active for 48 hours from June 19th – June 21st. Dungeons Deadmines (might be hard at that level), Ragefire Chasm, and Wailing Caverns can be experienced. The level cap is now 15. For players who’d like to participate in PvP, Warsong Gulch will be available to run.
All races and classes are available to play. To participate in the World of Warcraft Classic Stress test, download or update the Battle.net launcher. The stress test is playable at 2:00 pm PST June 19, 2019.
If you find a typo, or if I committed the cardinal sin of incorrectly stating a lore fact or stat, please send me a message here: warcraftlover91@yahoo.com!
