World of Warcraft Classic's game director Ion Hazzikostas reflects on the genesis of the idea, its challenging development, and the importance of a unified community
An interesting article to be sure. I'm also entirely sure WoW Classic has a lot to do with the incredible success of the Oldschool runescape version of the game set in 2007 that was released in...
An interesting article to be sure.
I'm also entirely sure WoW Classic has a lot to do with the incredible success of the Oldschool runescape version of the game set in 2007 that was released in 2013. It's now larger than the "real" runescape MMO as it's developed.
Blizzard must have seen that their MMO fit exactly the same nostalgia demographic, and that the Olschool runescape that was initially run with less than 10 employees was way, way more profitable than their actual game.
I think the story of private/pirate servers could have been a catalyst, but if the Oldschool Runescape story didn't get the ideas churning at Blizzard, then Blizzard has some real issues.
I think it had more to do with the shitstorm that ensued when Nostalrius was shut down by Blizzard's legal team. A lot of notable YouTubers spoke out against Blizzard, including the likes of...
I think it had more to do with the shitstorm that ensued when Nostalrius was shut down by Blizzard's legal team. A lot of notable YouTubers spoke out against Blizzard, including the likes of JonTron, Sodapoppin and even Mark Kern, one of the lead developers who formerly worked at Blizzard.
That being said, OSRS arose due to similar circumstances and it's eclipsed the main game because RuneScape 3 simply isn't fun anymore for various reasons like the Evolution of Combat, power creep, microtransactions, etc. Also because OSRS is seeing more frequent updates, fewer broken promises and more community feedback than the main game.
I doubt Blizzard would have attempted to bring back Classic without the runaway success of OSRS though.
EDIT: The NA and EU Blizzard store has gone down due to server overload. People literally can't resub. This is gonna be huge. I think WoW Classic is gonna be a sick wake-up call for Blizzard. I...
EDIT: The NA and EU Blizzard store has gone down due to server overload. People literally can't resub. This is gonna be huge.
I think WoW Classic is gonna be a sick wake-up call for Blizzard.
I wouldn't be surprised if Classic cannibalises Battle for Azeroth, leaves the main retail game completely barren, and leads to heads rolling within Blizzard. The question is whether J Allen Brack or the Activision overlords he serves will fire the likes of Hazzikostas, Holinka, Chilton and all the other devs responsible for the dumbed down state of the current game, or give them a chance to actually improve things.
The differences in quality, gameplay mechanics, challenge, hand-holding and overall RPG feel between the two versions of WoW are like night and day. Retail WoW has been so dumbed down, simplified and diluted over the course of Cataclysm, Mists, WoD, Legion and BFA that it'll be refreshing to finally start something like actually plays like a more casual EverQuest rather than a Fisher Price My First MMORPG.
And for those sceptical of my claims that Classic will blow BFA out of the water, WoW was once compared to crack cocaine and was the poster child for video game addiction. That certainly doesn't describe the current retail product which haemorrhages players mere weeks after a content patch.
An interesting article to be sure.
I'm also entirely sure WoW Classic has a lot to do with the incredible success of the Oldschool runescape version of the game set in 2007 that was released in 2013. It's now larger than the "real" runescape MMO as it's developed.
Blizzard must have seen that their MMO fit exactly the same nostalgia demographic, and that the Olschool runescape that was initially run with less than 10 employees was way, way more profitable than their actual game.
I think the story of private/pirate servers could have been a catalyst, but if the Oldschool Runescape story didn't get the ideas churning at Blizzard, then Blizzard has some real issues.
I think it had more to do with the shitstorm that ensued when Nostalrius was shut down by Blizzard's legal team. A lot of notable YouTubers spoke out against Blizzard, including the likes of JonTron, Sodapoppin and even Mark Kern, one of the lead developers who formerly worked at Blizzard.
That being said, OSRS arose due to similar circumstances and it's eclipsed the main game because RuneScape 3 simply isn't fun anymore for various reasons like the Evolution of Combat, power creep, microtransactions, etc. Also because OSRS is seeing more frequent updates, fewer broken promises and more community feedback than the main game.
I doubt Blizzard would have attempted to bring back Classic without the runaway success of OSRS though.
EDIT: The NA and EU Blizzard store has gone down due to server overload. People literally can't resub. This is gonna be huge.
I think WoW Classic is gonna be a sick wake-up call for Blizzard.
I wouldn't be surprised if Classic cannibalises Battle for Azeroth, leaves the main retail game completely barren, and leads to heads rolling within Blizzard. The question is whether J Allen Brack or the Activision overlords he serves will fire the likes of Hazzikostas, Holinka, Chilton and all the other devs responsible for the dumbed down state of the current game, or give them a chance to actually improve things.
The differences in quality, gameplay mechanics, challenge, hand-holding and overall RPG feel between the two versions of WoW are like night and day. Retail WoW has been so dumbed down, simplified and diluted over the course of Cataclysm, Mists, WoD, Legion and BFA that it'll be refreshing to finally start something like actually plays like a more casual EverQuest rather than a Fisher Price My First MMORPG.
And for those sceptical of my claims that Classic will blow BFA out of the water, WoW was once compared to crack cocaine and was the poster child for video game addiction. That certainly doesn't describe the current retail product which haemorrhages players mere weeks after a content patch.