As the launch date of World of Warcraft Classic rapidly approaches (whoa, is it mid-August already?), I find myself getting excited to dip my toes into Blizzard’s reincarnation of their megalithic MMORPG smash-hit.
November’s WoW Classic announcement definitely piqued my interest, but ultimately, I was ambivalent. At the time, August 2019 was far away, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to dedicate the time to an MMO of this size and scale.
Fast-forward to now, and I’m still not sure that I’ll be able to make the commitment. As heart-warming and compelling as vanilla WoW is, nostalgia can’t blind me from the truth: this game is a goddamn investment. If you want to get good — let alone make tangible progress — you’d better be prepared to put in the man-hours. Hell, even at age thirteen, I was astounded by what WoW demanded of its players. I don’t think I ever leveled a character past its 20s-30s.
Pictured: the final form of a max-level WoW player
But truthfully, romping about in the colorful, virgin lands of old-school Azeroth with a burgeoning player base sounds like an absolute blast. Hopping online during Blizzard’s early character name reservation session didn’t help my case for abstinence, either. I opted against resurrecting my childhood characters and created the opposite of what 13-year-old me would play: a female Undead Mage.
Rotten to the core, but still sexy.
Now, as I stare at the login screen, I can’t help but yearn for launch day. Character name reservation is a brilliant move by Blizzard, by the way: increase player investment by providing early-access character creation, but delay gratification and build hype by slapping their hands away at the last moment.
No game world for you!
Anyway, I can’t say how invested I’ll get, but I’m all aboard for release. If the community excitement behind World of Warcraft Classic truly is infectious, I think I might be coming down with the sickness.
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