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What was Vanilla WoW like? I am curious to know...
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Post by
2259
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Post by
Varaconn
I have to absolutely agree with Prollfin. Travelling is part of the game and the immersion.
When I first made my first character - Nelf Hunter. I remember exploring every part of Ashenvale, for the sake of it. Because it was interesting and I wanted to see what was in that bottom corner of the map or what was down that little path.
Perhaps it is something to do with the reasons why players play the game nowadays. Because it's interesting? And is one of the best MMORPG's ever? Whereas people who played back in Vanilla, before it became MASSIVE (maybe just a LMORPG? ;)) were playing it for it's openness, it's sandbox feel, as one poster said...the 'World' part of 'World of Warcraft'.
I bought this game because I loved the idea of running around massive open spaces, cooking, fishing. Sure I enjoyed RPG's and had only played Warcraft sparingly. But I had no idea about instances or raids or end-game stuff. I had a small clue about rare, and epic items from Diablo 2. But that was it.
I came to the game thinking I would make my hunter, and me and my pet would take on the world. How wrong I was :)
Back to my first point of exploration; nowadays, and much to my discredit, I go to areas with the soul purpose of going only where there are quests. If going to an area is not going to get me a fine, new piece of gear, or a good 40k xp, I just don't go there. And that's sad, and thinking about it makes me feel a bit crap, because those are not the reasons I got into WoW.
However, I'm not going to leave WoW because I enjoy it for different reasons these days. And just think to myself that I am lucky to have felt that way originally about WoW, with a small hope that it might become a little bit more similar to that in Cata.
I think the hitch there, though, is that a lack of urge/reason to explore isn't a fault of the game, it's more a fault of the community. WoW itself doesn't have that sense of only doing what gives you something, only farming heroics, never going off the beaten track. It's the tone set by the community (rush to 80, gogo heroics for 5k gs) that causes this, not the game itself.
I still go exploring for fun. All the time. I work on obscure achievements while I'm out there. Sometimes you pick up valuable reagents. Sometimes you discover an interesting quest you never did. Everything's still there, you're just made to feel like you can't, or shouldn't experience it.
Post by
495454
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Post by
2259
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567203
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Post by
Rilgon
Vanilla was horrible for those reasons alone. It was seriously WoW or RL. Whoever says they had a family, job and still adequate to go out raiding is a lie, pure and simple.
I raided Naxx 40, was in college, and worked nearly full time.
I just didn't
sleep.
:P
Post by
Varaconn
I think the hitch there, though, is that a lack of urge/reason to explore isn't a fault of the game, it's more a fault of the community. WoW itself doesn't have that sense of only doing what gives you something, only farming heroics, never going off the beaten track. It's the tone set by the community (rush to 80, gogo heroics for 5k gs) that causes this, not the game itself.
I still go exploring for fun. All the time. I work on obscure achievements while I'm out there. Sometimes you pick up valuable reagents. Sometimes you discover an interesting quest you never did. Everything's still there, you're just made to feel like you can't, or shouldn't experience it.
Don't underestimate the impact of the game's rules on the players' attitude.
If players are so easily torn away from doing what they enjoy doing because of unwritten "rules and guideines", then that's another problem altogether.
Plenty of people go off the beaten track, all the time, contrary to what is implied that you're "supposed" to do. I think being "forced" to explore, or having something that makes it almost required, would take away some of the magic and mysticism behind it.
Post by
78077
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Post by
Agoraphobic
I think that's great. And from reading and following this thread closely it's been apparent that the majority of people who liked Vanilla do not necessarily want it back, but just want it to be appreciated a bit more for what it was.
Agree wholeheartedly. There was a certain feeling people got when a 40 man raid succeeded - accomplishment. Nowadays if a group takes more than 5 minutes to kill a boss, people start quitting. I'm not saying people should take their time, what I'm saying is that the game used to REQUIRE time, thinking and class management; Things that have been virtually eliminated from most MMOs these days.
I can do without the added time, but the other two I feel should be a mandatory part of any "end-game" encounter.
Post by
2259
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Post by
Agoraphobic
I agree :) And I'm not saying I loved everything about vanilla. For example:
Who remembers not having linked flight paths and having to choose each time you wanted to go to a different destination as soon as you arrived at yours?
Who remembers the mad rush to give crafted items to the quartermasters in major cities to open the gates of AQ?
Who remembers having to have a hunter to kite Drak so your raid could kill his guards, then feign him back to the raid?
Who remembers not having summoning stones, running to get to your instance, no LFG channel?
Who remembers yellow recipes rarely giving you a skill point?
But then there are a bunch of things I loved about it:
Warlock summons being useful
Aimed shotting newbies for honor on top of Gadgetzan
When your 40 man raid ran over lowbies in Silithus
Having people actually buy the stuff you crafted because it was USEFUL
There are arguments for and against vanilla, and there always will be. However, those that didn't play then cannot fully appreciate everything they have now, nor will they ever learn to.
Post by
363739
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Post by
Barek
A lot of people say they like vanilla better because it was when they leveled their very first character ever in WoW. You will never get the feeling of awe and adventure like you did on your very first character. Not even when you bring your 60,70, or 80 into a new expansion zone, its not the same. Vanilla was the FIRST time you raided, leveled, saw certain zones, and got you first epics ever. Doing all this again just 10 levels higher just is not the same.
Post by
331978
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44284
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78077
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78077
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331978
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Post by
Pwntiff
I remember back when people actually helped others out in gearing up instead of just looking at a GS number and deciding whether to take you with them or not.
Are you referring to a guilded or PuG'd scenario? If I were to join a guild that refused to help me gear up, I'd leave it. If I were to be denied a PuG because of my gear, I'd only be miffed if I was geared enough to do it.
Post by
93865
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