Casually Classic: Basking in the glow of World of Warcraft Forever

I like to think that it’s good form and basic graciousness to be excited about game reveals that aren’t for you but bring a lot of joy to a certain group. FFXIV announces Evercold? Not my MMO, but I’m genuinely happy for y’all. EverQuest Legends is revealed and then launches? I don’t have stock in Norrath, but all of ye who are living your best 1999 lives, I’m giving you a nod of approval in solidarity.

This past weekend was my turn, so don’t begrudge me a bouncing cheeriness that took me over when Blizzard not only confirmed the long-awaited Classic Plus project, but that it was far better than I’d hoped and coming out relatively soon. World of Warcraft Forever, you just made my gaming year.

As I write this, it’s Saturday evening and we’re still in the middle of BlizzCon, so there are more details about this MMO to come. So I need a little more time to get all of the details and actually process this game, because what we know already is a whole lot.

Next week. Next week I’ll break WoW Forever down and we’ll talk about the good, the bad, and the blue elves. We’ll start making plans for November and jumping on board a hype train to end all hype trains. But today, I simply want to share my reaction to this announcement.

I don’t think I ever anticipated seeing a BlizzCon where Classic would be the show-stopping headlining announcement, but here we are. The studio obviously knew this was the big thing and saved it for the very last of the keynote, which meant that I had to wait an agonizing hour through a bunch of lesser announcements (and, to be fair, some pleasant surprises) before Holly stepped out onto the stage, spread her wings, and sang of a new version of World of Warcraft.

As I said in last week’s column, I deliberately set my expectations pretty low and pretty chill for this reveal. It could’ve been so much less, and I still would have been happy. But what delighted me the most — and you got a good sense of this watching the deep dive — is that the Classic team put a huge amount of thought and care into designing this version of the game.

This isn’t bare minimum effort or the kind of “Fine, we’ll do it” reluctant concession that we got back in 2017’s BlizzCon. This is a team that clearly cares for this MMO, its future, and even what the community thinks. The devs on stage addressed so many of my wish list items, such as transmog, additional class/race options, and even account-wide perks, that I felt like they were speaking right to me.

It’s not entirely the Classic Plus I would’ve designed, but that’s OK. I’m not an MMO designer. I really, really like the foundational pillars here that keep the focus on the world as a character and our avatars encountering that world and going on adventures through it rather than being this grand savior.

All the additional stuff is great — 1000 new quests is a whole lot to take in and should go a long way to smoothing out some of the leveling dead zones — but its the commitment to keeping that Classic feel while touching it up here and there and making it a more modern and fun game overall that I appreciate. We’ve come so far from the #NoChanges era, with its rigid dogma, and yet I don’t see this as losing the soul of Classic.

If anything, it’s investing into Classic as a long-term MMO rather than a game that’s seasonal or simply progression. For those of us weary of retail’s hectic endgame race and the dismissal of the leveling journey, it’s the kind of MMO approach that appears comforting and welcoming. I loved those first few years of World of Warcraft for all of its newness, discovery, and little person in a great big world feel, and I wonder if this might rekindle some of those feelings beyond a mere appeal to nostalgia.

So right now, I’m simply basking in content happiness over this announcement. I know that there are those who are upset for various reasons, those who have a kneejerk reflex to be snarky at anything this studio does, and those who are more confused about what Forever is trying to do. That was all bound to happen. But the internet being the internet isn’t going to take away this glow of joy that I have right now.

This November, I get to step into this next evolution of WoW Classic and hopefully call it “home” for a long time to come. And for those joining me, I can’t wait to adventure with you.

Stepping back into the MMO time machine of WoW Classic, Justin Olivetti offers up observations and ground-level analysis as a Gnome with a view. Casually Classic is a more laid-back look at this legacy ruleset for those of us who’ve never stepped into a raid or seen more than 200 gold to our names.