---
title: 'World of Warcraft CLASSIC vs RETAIL #worldofwarcraft #gaming'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=qtgiv8BMy-4'
video_id: 'qtgiv8BMy-4'
date: 2026-06-17
duration_sec: 0
---

# World of Warcraft CLASSIC vs RETAIL #worldofwarcraft #gaming

> Source: [World of Warcraft CLASSIC vs RETAIL #worldofwarcraft #gaming](https://youtube.com/watch?v=qtgiv8BMy-4)

## Summary

World of Warcraft now exists in two distinct forms: the modern 'Retail' version and the nostalgic 'Classic' servers. This video compares the leveling, combat, and overall philosophy of the latest Retail expansion, Midnight, with the Classic version of The Burning Crusade (TBC). The core finding is that Retail is a high-speed journey to the endgame, while Classic is a slow, deliberate adventure where the process itself is the reward.

### Key Points

- **Comparison Scope** [1:36] — The video compares Retail's 'Midnight' expansion with the Classic version of 'The Burning Crusade' (TBC).
- **Leveling Speed Difference** [3:57] — In Retail, a player reaches level 10 in 25 minutes and gets a flying mount early. In TBC, a player is still level 5 after 25 minutes, drinking and hitting mobs with a wand.
- **Mount Acquisition Time** [6:05] — The first mount in TBC is unlocked at level 30, taking 20-30 hours of playtime. In Retail, a flying mount is given very early in the new expansion.
- **Story Presentation** [6:53] — Retail uses cutscenes and voice acting for story, while TBC hides its story in quest text that players often ignore.
- **Core Philosophy Analogy** [9:00] — The video uses a Ferrari vs. Bobby Car analogy to describe Retail (fast, to the point) vs. Classic (slow, bumpy, experiential).
- **Class Combat Comparison** [10:12] — In TBC, a frost mage relies on Frostbolt and Ice Lance. In Retail, the rotation is more complex with Flurry, Frozen Orb, and 'shatter stacks'.
- **Talent System Differences** [11:42] — TBC allows free placement of talent points across trees, while Retail locks talent trees to a specialization, reducing player agency.

## Transcript

This is World of Warcraft. And this is
also World of Warcraft. And this is also
Wait, no, that's Fellowship. But this
this right here, that's World of
Warcraft. As one of the most influential
MMORPGs in the world, WoW has lived
through multiple expansions, additions,
retractions, multiplications, and other
math related words. But there is one
unique thing about this MMRPG which no
other title on this market has.
>> Have you ever thought about adding
servers for previous expansions?
>> No. And by the way, you don't want to
that to do that. Several months later,
>> World of Warcraft, developed by
Blizzard, has two different renditions
with World of Warcraft Midnight being
the current patch of so-called retail,
while WoW Classic is still going strong
with its vanilla version. Then there is
The Burning Crusade and Mist of Pandaria
and even hardcore for those daring folks
that enjoy pain. like oh
but how does the 20 plus year old
classic actually compare to the newest
version? Are they just the same type of
game with more or less to do? Do they
still have the same focus and vision?
That is what we are trying to find out.
So let's ask ourself the question WoW
classic and WoW retail. What's the
actual difference? First up I want to
clarify that I cannot compare vanilla,
The Burning Crusade, Hardcore. I'm
[laughter] not that stupid. And Mr.
Pandaria with retail since, well, my day
only has a limited amount of hours.
Therefore, I am comparing retail with
the most recently released classic
version, which is The Burning Crusade,
an expansion that came out in 2007 and
then again as a classic version in 2021,
and now again as a classic version in
2026. Guys, it's the same game. Why are
you playing it again? Oh, door's open.
So, to have a fair comparison, I've
created two new characters in both
renditions. One in the recently released
Midnight expansion and one character in
the Burning Crusade version to get to
level 70 for the endgame experience I've
once lived through in 2007. In every
MMOR RPG, the first step is to create a
hero and begin your journey by traveling
through various zones to fulfill quests
and kill mobs to gain experience points
and level ups. Starting out with the
similarities, it is quite simple. In
both versions, we create a character
with slightly different customization
options, but in both cases, we start out
at level one. The next similarity is,
yeah, that's about it. The starting
areas are the same, basically the same
with TBC. TBC being the short version
for the Burning Crusade, giving us still
the same quests we get to pick at
retail. However, retail offers us the
old and also a completely new starting
experience with Exile's Reach, which
gives new players a great entry point.
Let's start out with TBC, picking up
quests, hitting our first mob, and with
a few casts, kill them with ease. So,
let's hit the second mob. And we are out
of mana, hitting them with our mace
retail. Same same experience. We pick up
quests, hit our first M. Oh, he's dead.
Then, let's hit the second mob and he's
dead. The third and why am I not running
out of mana? Back to TBC. We are taking
on one mob at a time. Clear out kill
quests. Sit down to drink and refill our
mana and gain our first level up.
Feeling incredibly proud and
accomplished. While on retail, we want
we are level four and the new spell
flies into our action bar. Uh-huh.
Compare this with TBC. We are running to
a class trainer. sell our complete
inventory to obtain enough money for the
few new spells we gain every once in a
while. A few more minutes later, we are
still drinking and hitting mobs with our
maze. While on retail, we are flying a
wonky machine bombarding the undead with
powerful projectiles which could have
won us heads and technology on the sorry
Austrian genetics. 25 minutes into
retail and I'm level 10 and unlock class
specializations using the first talent
point and gaining powerful new skills
while 25 minutes into TBC and I'm still
drinking and hitting mobs with a maze
with countless item drops, a few new
spells, quick level ups, and a dungeon
showing the ropes of how game mechanics
work. We get out of the starting zone in
roughly 40 minutes. While in TBC, I am
level five and making it out of the
starter zones, still drinking and
hitting mobs with a maze. While movement
up until this point was similar in us
traveling the short and long distances
by foot, the beginning of the new story
chapter in retail sees us instantly gain
access to a flying mount. a flying mount
that breaks the sound barrier every time
it takes off, getting us from point A to
point B in less than 10 seconds, which
is also the reason why questing now
amounts to a guiding arrow, showing the
next point of interest we need to visit.
The transition from slowly running to
our grounded allies, two flying with
neckbreaking speed across the map,
blasting through gorgeously designed
environments. It it's it's far too
quick.
This hasty pace of travel that rhymes of
traveling is kept up throughout the
whole leveling process with only a
handful of quests amounting to a level
up. While a random dungeon we can
instantly teleport and have no
connection to amounts to two to three
level ups each time granting us new
spells, new talent points, and shower us
with rare and even epic items. It's just
insane. while we are still drinking and
hitting enemies with a maze in TBC.
There each level up is a challenge. Two
enemies at once are a struggle if not a
fatal encounter, providing us with a
slow but actually well balanced leveling
experience in which we need to find
allies to finish even the earliest of
quests. Exploring a cave of Tros alone.
Suicide. Doing the same game with a
handful of players.
Less suicide still dangerous. Three out
of 10. Wouldn't recommend. And the first
mount is far from inside and overall an
actual undertaking with the first slow
60% mount being unlocked at level 30
taking about 20 to 30 hours of actual
play time. 20 to 30 hours. In that time,
I've reached level 90 in midnight and
I'm going through dungeons that can
result in a seizure even for healthy
people. What's happened, Chris?
>> I don't [laughter] know.
And even if we reach level 30 on TBC,
who's to say that we have enough money
for the writing skill? But back to the
leveling experience in World of Short
Attention Spancraft. There we venture
through the previous expansion, Dragon
Fire, Dragon Fluffer, Dragon Something,
I haven't played it, and rush through
dungeons we have no connections to.
>> I don't even know who you are.
>> Stories that are already obsolete for
the new expansion. But to be fair, this
is where retail World of Warcraft shines
in the presentation of its story,
especially once we reach Midnight. The
cutscenes not only become more frequent,
but further are wellvoiced, nicely shot,
and give us a good sense of what the
actual hell is happening here. Although,
don't ask me what this Dragon Ball fight
is about. In TBC, the story is hidden in
the quest text quest text in the texts
of the quest. Jesus with a far more
grounded story line which I have to be
frank I haven't read in 2007 nor in 2021
nor now. So want me to kill 10s? You got
it. Why? No idea. Furthermore, if I
wouldn't use an add-on called Questy,
the map wouldn't even show me where all
the TRS are. I would have to read that
quest text often giving the quest info.
Yes, that's better. Often giving some
vague directions. With retail, it's a
little different. With Azeroth maps
guiding us with an arrow towards shining
items we need to interact with, talking
to 100 NPCs 10 m apart, and with the
flying mount, which rivals a fighter
jet, those distances are, let's say,
oddly placed, just like our role in the
main story. Since throughout the 300 or
so expansions WoW had over the 20 years,
each playable character has transformed
from simple soldier in the Horde or
Alliance to one of the most powerful
heroes of Azeroth. We are fighting gods,
venture into the abyss, and literally
run through time. On the other hand,
with TBC, we are helping a drunk dwarf
getting his fix, defend a shepherd's
flock from a yeti, and clear the walls
of annoying trucks while still drinking
and hitting enemies WITH A WAND. WAND.
LOOK AT THAT UPGRADE. ROUGHLY eight
hours later, I've clicked enough shiny
objects, spammed go enough times in the
dungeon finder, and reached level 80,
prepared for the new expansion. While in
TBC, 8 hours would maybe bring me into
my first dungeon, if at all. So, I
changed tactics, created a mage, locked
myself in a room, took some vacation
days, and leveled this new character in
record time to enter the dark portal
once again. Comparing the leveling
experience is as if we would compare a
Ferrari. ready to rev up its 1,00
horsepower engine against the Bobby car.
Both are red and both can get you from
point A to point B. But while the Bobby
car sees us experience the world around
us and overall is uh bumpy, right, the
Ferrari is designed to bring us to the
finish line in the fastest way possible.
Leveling in retail feels far more like a
nuisance, an obstacle to reach the end
game, which is like a contentfilled
pinata ready to be smashed. WoW Classic,
on the other hand, is a grounded
adventure providing a slowly paced
experience with a focus on character
progression. Each new item feels
impactful and earned. Every new level is
like a step of a stairway. You can feel
the increased height and also the
burning your legs because damn, we are
doing a lot of running. This difference
in speed and pace is just as apparent in
the gameplay overall with every single
ability in TBC having an actual impact
you can feel and see in the enemy's
health bar. Retail has far more
abilities that are quickly being used in
succession, but have less of an impact.
So, let's compare two of the same
classes and their actual fighting styles
to outline this difference further. A
frost mage in TBC works mostly with
frostbolts, shooting enemies from afar,
slowing them down, and on occasion
freezing them on the spot, which results
in a higher crit chance and powerful
hits. The most powerful upgrade can be
found at level 66 with ice, an instant
cast that deals triple damage if used on
frozen targets. On retail, a frost mage
also uses frostbolt to hit enemies from
afar, slowing them down, and they also
use icecelance as an instant spell.
However [sighs]
we further build up shadow stacks, which
can be activated by ice lance to explode
on targets. While flurry is an instant
spell that also builds up stacks, which
can also proc and then deal 50% more
damage. And then we have frozen orb
working as an AoE hitting spell that
slows down our enemies further.
Frostbolt, Frostbolt, Frostbolt and
Icelands, Frostbolt, Frostbolt. With the
fire spec being just as loaded with
animations and abilities, seeing us gain
an instant pyro blast every time we have
two crits in a row. While fire blast is
a spell that guarantees a crit and can
also be used during casting, making us
pump out countless pyrolast especially
during one specific cooldown called
combustion, increasing our crit chance
by 100%. The fire spec on TBC on the
other hand is well not really viable for
leveling PVP and even PvE. It is
lackluster compared to frost or even
arcane mages or rather needs a bit of
tweaking from other talent trees to
work. Which brings me to one huge
difference between the two iterations.
The choice. In TBC, we actually have a
free choice on how to play our class.
You might not get invited to groups, but
it is your choice. We have three talent
trees to choose from where you can
freely pick and place your talent points
in. And changing those talent points is
costly. In retail, on the other hand,
there we have also three possible play
styles. But the talent tree changes
according to the picked specialization.
So a frost mage can never have fire
spells and a fire mage can never have
frost and an arcane mage, well they can
go. So there is a lack of choice
although there are a few ways to play a
fire mage. Though at least there is a
bit of agency, but still lackluster
compared to the TBC choices we have. The
seemingly overwhelming specs and
abilities are further impacting the PvE
and PvP content with raids and dungeons
being rather simple and straightforward
in TBC with only a handful of mechanics
you actually need to keep in mind. While
the same content in retail can be rather
complex and tiring for the eyes.
>> What happened?
>> I don't know. The comparison in PvP,
however, is something I want to show
with musical notes. TBC having a slow
reaction time needed and a more heroic
feel to it, while retail well 2 3 4.
[music]
[screaming]
I would like to go deeper into PvE and
PvP comparisons, but that may have to
wait for another video since I am still
not level 17 in TV. So, what are your
thoughts on classic versus retail? Have
you played one or the other? Both or
maybe neither? And what is the capital
city of Czech Republic? Let me know in
the comments. and have a great day or
evening.