[0:00] What's going on, guys? And welcome back
[0:01] to another video. So, I've been getting
[0:02] a ton of comments lately, and I think
[0:04] it's because of the time of year that
[0:06] we're at and what's coming out uh for
[0:08] WoW Classic, for WoW retail. Um, you
[0:11] know, a lot of people have been asking
[0:12] me, "Hey, I'm new to WoW. I just want to
[0:15] start playing. Where do I go and play?
[0:17] Should I play classic? Should I play
[0:20] retail?" Now, I'm making this video as
[0:22] basically an answer to all of these
[0:23] comments because quite frankly, I'm
[0:25] tired of typing the same exact answer
[0:27] over and over again to people. Um, and
[0:29] and it's a pretty easy thing, right? So,
[0:32] I've I've actually made a little bit of
[0:33] a list, a very small list of some of the
[0:36] key differences between classic and
[0:38] modern. So, if that's you, if you're
[0:40] someone who doesn't know which version
[0:41] of WoW they want to play right now, uh,
[0:43] this video is definitely going to help
[0:45] you out. I'm not going to go into every
[0:46] single version of the of the six or
[0:48] seven versions that we have of Classic
[0:50] WoW. I'm just going to talk about
[0:52] Classic WoW in general and as a whole,
[0:54] right? So, you have classic WoW, which
[0:56] has its own little ecosystem of like
[0:58] hardcore, anniversary, classic era. Um,
[1:01] and then you have uh modern WoW, which
[1:03] is going to be midnight very soon,
[1:05] right? Um, and for those of you who
[1:07] don't really know where to go and you
[1:09] want to start playing WoW for the first
[1:11] time, or maybe you're coming back after
[1:12] like a 10-year break, I'm going to break
[1:15] it down for you as simple as possible.
[1:17] Right? I'm not going to go very
[1:18] in-depth, but I'm going to give you the
[1:20] simplest reasons uh the simplest
[1:22] differences between both versions of the
[1:24] game. So, let me tab over to this little
[1:27] list that I made here, right? We have
[1:28] classic. So, let's look at classic as
[1:30] basically anniversary era um and
[1:34] hardcore, right? And then we have
[1:36] Midnight, which is what the next
[1:37] upcoming expansion for retail. Wow.
[1:39] Currently, we're we're with uh in the
[1:41] War Within um and we're going to be
[1:42] moving into uh Midnight. So, for some of
[1:45] these very simple differences that I've
[1:47] listed here, you have classic is more of
[1:49] an old school MMO, right? Think of like,
[1:51] uh, you know, a 20-year-old kind of like
[1:54] Dungeons and Dragonsy vibe experience
[1:56] baked into an MMO. It was amazing 20
[1:59] years ago. It's amazing today. Uh, you
[2:01] know, it's with stood the test of time,
[2:03] still very popular, tons of players.
[2:05] Classic is a massive community. Um, and
[2:07] that leads me to the next point that
[2:09] Classic gives you a sense of community
[2:11] that you do not get in retail. Um, yes,
[2:13] you could join a guild. Yes, you're
[2:15] going to be raiding and all that in
[2:16] retail if that's what you want to do.
[2:17] But the sense of community in classic,
[2:19] uh, it just far surpasses retail. You
[2:22] actually have to talk to people and
[2:23] communicate with other players to get
[2:25] into raids to do endgame content in
[2:27] classic. Um, but that's not really where
[2:30] classic shines, right? Classic is a much
[2:32] slower pace. You level much slower. It
[2:35] takes, you know, if you're just a casual
[2:36] player, it could take you months to hit
[2:38] level 60. Um, and the focus is really on
[2:41] that, right? the focus is on leveling
[2:43] and the world. Uh, you know, taking your
[2:45] character from level one all the way
[2:47] through to level 60. Um, and and you
[2:50] know, once you hit 60, yes, you can PvP,
[2:52] yes, you can raid, yes, you can do
[2:54] dungeons and farm your pre- raid uh best
[2:56] in slot gear. Um, but the content is,
[2:59] you know, generally seen as very easy.
[3:02] Uh, you know, even knacks, people
[3:03] struggle with it a little bit, but at
[3:05] the end of the day, compared to retail
[3:06] raids is very, very simple. Um, you
[3:10] know, playing classic does require
[3:12] communication. If you want to do
[3:13] endgame, however, if you want to just
[3:15] level from 1 to 60 as like a solo
[3:17] experience where you really don't talk
[3:18] to anyone, you could do that as well.
[3:20] You can kind of play the game however
[3:21] you want. Take as much time as you need.
[3:23] There's no real rush to get to anything.
[3:26] Um, and that's that's a very important
[3:28] thing about classic. So, if you're
[3:30] looking for a more relaxed uh, you know,
[3:34] experience where you're kind of just
[3:35] like the focus is on leveling and
[3:37] getting to level 60 and going on this
[3:39] massive journey, classic is probably
[3:41] going to be for you. It's way simpler as
[3:43] well in terms of combat, uh, systems in
[3:45] the game and all that, you know, you
[3:47] have your gear that you're trying to
[3:48] get. Um, and the combat is is very
[3:51] simple compared to retail. You know,
[3:53] your most classes damage rotation is is
[3:56] under three buttons, right? So then we
[3:58] move over to retail, right? This is more
[4:00] of a modern MMO vibes. The the graphics
[4:02] are enhanced. It's a little bit more
[4:04] bubbly looking. I personally feel like
[4:05] retail has a little bit of a Disneyish
[4:07] vibe to it. It's definitely a different
[4:08] vibe. Um leveling is almost
[4:11] non-existent. You could hit cap level in
[4:13] a few hours. Um but the focus in retail
[4:17] isn't on the leveling, so that's okay,
[4:19] right? Retail, the main focus is on the
[4:22] endgame content. Um or collecting,
[4:25] right? There's two ways you can you can
[4:27] play retail. You could play it as a
[4:29] casual player. There are hundreds and
[4:31] hundreds and hundreds of different
[4:32] things to collect in terms of pets and
[4:34] mounts. And now we're going to have
[4:36] player housing in retail. So, you're
[4:37] going to be collecting all these things
[4:38] to put in your home. So, if you want to
[4:41] play retail as a casual player, you
[4:42] could do that as well uh and play it as
[4:44] a collector. But if you are someone who
[4:46] likes to play, you know, do and do
[4:47] endgame content, you have raids, you
[4:49] have PvP, which is, you know, iffy. Uh
[4:52] but you have mythic plus. Uh, you have
[4:54] delves, which are, you know, basically
[4:56] solo endgame content. There's so many
[4:58] different ways to play it. And then the
[5:00] raids themselves have multiple
[5:01] difficulties. You have LFR, you have
[5:03] normal, you have heroic, and then you
[5:04] have mythic. So, you could still do
[5:06] endgame and make it very easy in retail.
[5:09] But, if you're looking for a challenge,
[5:10] that challenge is there as well.
[5:12] However, with retail, like I said, you
[5:15] don't get that that leveling experience
[5:18] and that sense of community and like the
[5:20] living world that you get from classic,
[5:22] right? retail shines more in the
[5:24] collector's aspect and the [music]
[5:25] endgame aspect, the, you know,
[5:27] challenging content. Um, but another
[5:30] major thing that I do want to bring to
[5:32] light about both of these versions of
[5:33] the game is the future of both of the
[5:35] versions of the game. For classic, we
[5:37] know the Burning Crusade Classic is
[5:39] launching again probably within the next
[5:40] 3 months. Um, so that's the future of
[5:43] Classic Anniversary. If you want to play
[5:44] on Classic era, that is basically a
[5:46] server that is stuck in uh, you know,
[5:49] 2019 Classic WoW when that ended. uh
[5:52] that is where that server is. It's in
[5:53] the next phase, the end phase of of that
[5:55] version of the game and will never
[5:56] progress out of that. If you want to
[5:58] progress into the Burning Crusade, you
[6:00] do need to play on the anniversary
[6:01] servers. Whereas, uh you know, we don't
[6:04] really know what's coming after that.
[6:05] Are we getting a Wrath of the Lich King
[6:07] classic again? Are we getting classic
[6:10] plus? We have no idea. So, the future
[6:12] for classic is very uncertain. And I
[6:14] know a lot of people out there that kind
[6:15] of uh is important, you know, for for
[6:18] you where you know where you're going to
[6:19] spend hundreds of hours and invest all
[6:21] this time. You want to know the future
[6:22] of of what you're doing and I completely
[6:24] get that. So for retail, WoW, we know
[6:27] that we're getting Midnight and then we
[6:28] know we're getting the next expansion in
[6:30] the World Soul saga and then after that
[6:32] it's a little uncertain as well, but I'm
[6:34] sure it's going to continue in some way.
[6:36] Um, so the future is a little bit more
[6:38] certain when it comes to World of
[6:40] Warcraft uh retail, modern, whatever you
[6:42] want to call it. Uh, you know, at last
[6:44] BlizzCon, they announced the next three
[6:47] expansions, whereas classic, we kind of
[6:49] don't really know what's coming until
[6:50] like 5 6 months prior uh to it
[6:53] happening, and it's probably always
[6:55] subject to change. The moral of the
[6:57] story here is that if you're looking for
[6:59] a more old school experience where the
[7:01] focus is on leveling and you're just
[7:02] taking time going through this world and
[7:04] uh you know you just you don't really
[7:06] care what's after it. You just want to
[7:07] enjoy that journey. Classic is going to
[7:09] be for you. You're going to join a guild
[7:11] if you want or play solo. There's a
[7:13] massive sense of community. There's
[7:14] people still leveling all out in the
[7:15] world. The world in classic is very much
[7:18] alive where the world in retail is very
[7:20] much instanced and feels a little bit
[7:21] more of like a solo journey while you're
[7:24] leveling. And then endgame obviously,
[7:25] yes, to, you know, to join in these
[7:27] raids and stuff and dungeons, you're
[7:29] just kind of queuing for them. You can
[7:30] kind of go through the whole experience
[7:32] unless you're doing really hard content
[7:34] without talking to anybody. Uh you don't
[7:36] have to form groups manually. You you're
[7:38] just using queue systems and then, you
[7:39] know, getting teleported to the
[7:40] dungeons. Um so the difference there is
[7:42] that there's a there's a much lower
[7:45] sense of community in retail, but you
[7:48] have the promise of constant updates,
[7:50] right? every few months at this point,
[7:51] you're getting a new update. There's new
[7:53] content, there's new systems, there's
[7:54] catch-up mechanics, whereas classic is
[7:56] is is just way slower. There's a lot
[7:58] less content. Uh the game takes a lot
[8:00] longer to play. In my opinion, feels a
[8:03] lot more rewarding as you're leveling up
[8:05] and you get a piece of gear when you
[8:06] equip it, you know, and you're you're
[8:08] hitting for harder damage on these mobs
[8:10] or or in PvP. You really feel that sense
[8:12] of accomplishment, like your character
[8:13] is really progressing. uh whereas retail
[8:15] takes a little bit longer for you to
[8:17] feel that progression to feel like
[8:19] you're getting stronger. So, I just
[8:22] wanted to make this video because I've
[8:23] been getting literally so many comments
[8:25] and it's probably because there's
[8:26] marketing that like, you know, uh, you
[8:27] know, Midnight is coming for retail and
[8:29] Blizzard is pushing the anniversary
[8:31] servers and all that. So, a lot of, you
[8:32] know, older players, uh, that maybe are
[8:35] returning for the first time or, you
[8:37] know, even people who have never played
[8:38] WoW ever and want to give it a shot.
[8:40] This video is is for you. I kind of want
[8:41] to give you this breakdown because I get
[8:43] I'm not kidding. I get like 50 comments
[8:45] a day asking, "I'm new to WoW. Should I
[8:47] be playing retail or should I be playing
[8:49] classic?" Um, there's no right or wrong
[8:51] answer. It really is based on what fits
[8:54] your play style and what what the
[8:56] experience is that you're looking for
[8:57] out of World of Warcraft. I think both
[8:59] versions of the game offer something
[9:02] special. Um, I'm more of a classic Andy
[9:05] myself. I I I truly enjoy the classic
[9:07] version of the game. And if you're
[9:08] someone who wants to come back and have
[9:09] like a like a really hardcore
[9:11] experience, you have World of Warcraft
[9:12] Classic hardcore where your character
[9:13] has one life. Um, you know, and you
[9:15] could try and get to level 60 without
[9:17] dying and go slower and, you know,
[9:18] there's ways to play. Classic is a
[9:20] sandbox uh at heart. Not fully. Um, but
[9:23] there's some sandbox elements to
[9:25] classic, whereas retail is definitely a
[9:27] more linear path that you're going to
[9:28] follow uh towards endgame and then, you
[9:30] know, to achieve whatever you want
[9:31] there. So, I hope that this helped you
[9:33] guys out. Um, you know, and when I get
[9:35] these comments, I'm going to refer them
[9:36] to this video from now on. This video is
[9:38] something I just wanted to make and
[9:39] leave on the channel. Uh so that you
[9:41] know people can I could refer people to
[9:43] this. So if I helped you out, drop a
[9:44] like, subscribe to the channel if you
[9:46] love WoW as much as me and my community.
[9:48] Uh follow me over on kick
[9:50] kick.com/hammerdance. We stream Monday
[9:52] through Friday 8:00 p.m. Eastern over
[9:53] there. We just hit partner. So if you
[9:55] want to come show some support by just
[9:56] hanging out, come on and do that. But
[9:58] anyways guys, that's all I've got for
[9:59] you today. Thank you all so much for
[10:00] watching and listening in. I'll see you
[10:02] all in the next