You have already played World of Warcraft: Classic and enjoyed it a lot. Now you’re wondering, “Should I stick with The Burning Crusade (TBC)?” Don’t worry, they won’t force you because Blizzard has allowed those who don’t want to continue the expansion to stay on standard WoW. This also means that you will have to create a new character for TBC, but you will be given a token to level up a new character to level 58, or you can pay for Blizzard’s character cloning service as well. In practice, you can choose between a ‘classic-classic’ version of the game or the standard classic. Most, but not all, servers are both TBC and non-TBC versions. This idea is interesting, however, as it has also drastically reduced the number of players on each standard server. The question is if and when Blizzard will continue in that direction; or whether other expansions, like the hugely popular Wrath of the Lich King, also follow the same policy.
For those of you looking forward to playing the two new races, these were already available in the pre-expansion premiere so players can level up in time. In my opinion this idea works, especially since the starting zones are much more compact and require much less travel than in the starting zones of the ‘old’ breeds. The bad thing is that from there everything is as always, with a lot of travel time: old-fashioned. Nothing has been done to better fit the starting zones of the two new races into the world and, as with most things added to Azeroth, it doesn’t seem to be an integration (with any expansion), but rather something that has been shoehorned been. Because of this, TBC makes a lot more sense: It’s a completely new world with no connection to other existing zones and therefore won’t feel out of place like the Silvermoon blood elf starting zone or the worgen zone in modern WoW.
The Burning Crusade and its content will begin in phases as the new Arena Seasons and Raids unfold over time. The original TBC didn’t work that way when it came to raids, but it did work from the settings and rig check mechanics (or at least that’s how I remember it).
Let’s talk about the story: The enemy forces have reopened an intergalactic portal to our homeland Azeroth and someone has a great idea to stop the attacks from the origin, especially with new allies like the blood elves or the draenei. This turns out to be a great plan because entire villages and armies believed lost in the past, including unspoiled orcs, have survived a world torn and frightened by battle (the problem is, it’s full of demons and machines of war . demonic). It’s best not to get too involved in the whole Burning Legion-Draenei-Illidan thing because I think it doesn’t make a lot of sense compared to the rest of the WoW universe. To get the most of the story, you must have played Warcraft III before, too, but the thing is, demons are bad, they don’t like you and Illidan Stormrage, and since The Horde and The Alliance don’t like each other, basically Anyone who does not belong to a faction with which you can gain a reputation is taken, you want to kill.
I decided on the apparently “simple” solution and chose a new server with a level-up character. It might not be for the best because you might forget how much grind the final levels are and start with a disappointing team, no money and just improving the basic skills. No fishing, no first aid, no cooking, no skills gathering, no building … nothing.
Then the Dark Portal opens. Although everyone now likes to put the extension in 4K, the textures are unpolished as this is still an old game, but many of the areas where there are shadows and reflections in the water have been greatly improved. Everything else is as you remember it. Well, maybe you’ve forgotten about the extreme, if strangely rewarding, grind up to level 70 and your flying mount.
At this point you will find that the system balances things out very well because, unless your character has a great team, it is normal for your character and mine who have been promoted to be the same team to level 63 or 64 to have .
It used to be different, but now there is a lot of spam waiting for you on the channels like “Let’s go XXXX, damn it!” … thats how it works. However, I had completely forgotten about those chance encounters, which made the game enjoyable but were a bit “random”. Since most WoW Classic players are veterans looking for fun, I haven’t had any bad experiences with this yet.
If you are used to modern WoW, you know that on live servers (which will soon have an update that will allow you to fly in Shadowlands) the pace is very different and skills and resource regeneration are limited, everything combined with a fierce battle in all mining nodes, plants and mobs. At least that’s how I remember all the extensions.
It also means that the game time, even for those who level up very quickly, is much longer than people are used to from today’s games and even WoW itself. More than ten years ago (January 2007) it took a certain amount of commitment, so to speak, and today we are moving on, and we haven’t even scratched the surface of one of TBC’s trademarks: the daily missions to make a name for itself. And the thing is, in a vast, inhospitable place that is unforgiving, there’s a lot to grind, be it a thick forest, a swamp, or wherever you are. This will set some back, but for others, it will be exactly what they wanted to revive, to top it off with leveling up characters and getting the best gear possible. It’s pure nostalgia for those who have the time.
Although the graphics quality is outdated, it has been adapted to today’s standards. However, your system may pay the price when you play in 4K like us. The basic game engine stays the same, with the same old sharp edges, so when combined with the most modern shadows and reflections it creates an odd visual hodgepodge that makes you feel right at home too.
The launch of Wow Classic was plagued by waiting times, but Blizzard seems to have put the batteries on its servers: this time there were no delays and the server latency was typically less than 30 ms. Although I like such unusual and different areas, I still find 40 dollars for an existing expansion together with 11 or 13 dollars per month, depending on the subscription, still too much money. In my opinion, it would have been much fairer to charge $ 10 for the expansion, plus $ 5 a month for Classic servers or $ 7-8 for access to both Classic and direct / modern WoW.
The expansion really does make you feel like you are practically alone in this huge and terrifying new place. Thanks to the improvements in the world through the PvP mode, this part also brings us a much-needed incentive for those who have been in the game, mainly to explore its contents and not stare at others, which has always bothered me.
TBC will continue to be one of the best (if not the best) additions to the franchise for me, despite the grind, because reliving the serenity and relative calm of Zangarmarsh is already a gift. I hope Blizzard stops, or at least waits long before releasing Wrath of the Lich King so everyone can enjoy Outland again.
