Even before WoW Classic launched in 2019, everyone saw the big problem that this legacy version of the MMO would be facing: What kind of future could it have? The devs were effectively limited to three options, all of which WoW Classic has explored. They could keep the game frozen in time (Classic Era), they could progress through servers (main Classic), or they could keep relaunching/resetting (20th anniversary servers).
None of these was an ideal solution to creating a future for the old era because either you stagnate in it or you move out of it to a place which is no longer “Classic” in any sense other than age. That’s why the conversation’s been shifting to this long-brewing idea of a Classic Plus — an idea that Blizzard seems more willing than ever to entertain. So what’s the studio working on behind the scenes?
We do need to establish two things out of the gate. First, the term “Classic Plus” isn’t official; it’s a fan concept that’s gained traction in the community. Second, everyone’s idea of what “Classic Plus” might entail isn’t uniform but rather widely diverse.
Generally, Classic Plus refers to taking the original vanilla game and adding more content, taking it in a different evolutionary direction than what we got with the expansions. The purpose would be to invest more in old Azeroth, flesh it out, all without bundling us up and shipping us off to Outland and flying. Retain the feel and spirit of Classic Era, but with more stuff to do — and hopefully, better class balance.
The closest we got to Classic Plus so far was Season of Discovery, an experimental server that is in the process of winding down. Initially, Blizzard launched this server with collectable runes to wildly change players’ abilities and add more build options. By the end of its run, Season of Discovery added more phases and brand-new high-level content, such as Kara Crypts and Scarlet Enclave.
It’s clear to everyone that Season of Discovery was a test bed for Classic Plus — a safe place for Blizzard to experiment without fear of permanent imbalance or features that it couldn’t walk back. And now that this server has completed its run, reports from the developer make it sound as if work on Classic Plus is picking up speed.
“When we think of the impact that Season of Discovery will ultimately have on World of Warcraft, we think about how it helped prove something that a lot of us already knew: there is an enormous appetite for new experiences set against the backdrop of original World of Warcraft,” game producer Aggrend wrote on May 27th. He then went on to say that the team is work on its “next major project in the original WoW design space” that will “make the most impact on the long-term future of WoW Classic.”
“We’re extremely excited about the things we’re working on for the future,” he added.
For players who have been naysaying that Classic Plus was never happening, it looks like there’s a crow-eating session in their future. For the rest of us, it’s an exciting time of speculation about what Blizzard will do.
I don’t have any sort of special insight here, but I do have two firm ideas. The first is that the dev team will bring back the brand-new (as well as the revised) dungeon and raid content that it made for Season of Discovery. The second is that whatever Blizzard does here, it’s going to be a bit different than most people anticipate.
Beyond that, I have wishes. I’d love to see the O.G. game world fleshed out with a lot more quests and leveling content beyond raids and dungeons. Casual players love Classic too, and leveling is the real meat of this design. So more quests, more quest hubs, better breadcrumb quests, better rewards.
As I mentioned earlier, class rebalancing is a must for any Classic Plus if we’re going to be in this for a long while. WoW Classic’s original class design has a lot of charm and quirks, but it’s unbalanced and clunky, favoring certain classes and builds far above others. A rebalancing is needed to shake up the Classic Era meta.
Of course, there are plenty of zones on the map that are either empty or inaccessible, and these make the most sense for future development. It’d be so cool to see an alternate vanilla version of these areas, with brand-new storylines to draw us in.
What do you want to see in Classic Plus? What are your predictions for the future? Let’s get a conversation going in the comments!
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.
