---
title: 'Why Classic WoW Feels More Immersive Than Retail'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=BH7kzVnHRbE'
video_id: 'BH7kzVnHRbE'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 1859
---

# Why Classic WoW Feels More Immersive Than Retail

> Source: [Why Classic WoW Feels More Immersive Than Retail](https://youtube.com/watch?v=BH7kzVnHRbE)

## Summary

The video analyzes why Classic World of Warcraft feels more immersive than its Retail counterpart. It argues that the core difference lies in 'friction'—the deliberate inconveniences and slower pace that force players to engage with the world. The video explores how Classic's friction creates a sense of progression and community, while Retail's removal of friction leads to a checklist-like, less immersive experience.

### Key Points

- **Friction as the Core Difference** [1:55] — The video argues that the core difference between Classic and Retail WoW is the presence of 'friction'—deliberate inconveniences that slow the player down and force engagement with the world.
- **Walking vs. Flying** [2:54] — Classic WoW's slow RPG pace, where players must walk everywhere, creates a sense of place and awareness of surroundings. This friction makes achievements like getting a mount feel meaningful.
- **Resource Management (Arrows, Reagents)** [7:02] — The need to buy arrows, reagents, and feed pets in Classic WoW adds an immersive RPG element that makes players feel like their class. Retail's removal of these systems reduces immersion.
- **Hardcore Mode and Permadeath** [9:10] — Hardcore Classic WoW adds the ultimate friction: permadeath. This makes every decision matter and creates a high-stakes, immersive experience.
- **Musical Immersion** [10:04] — Classic WoW's ambient music is praised for creating a strong sense of place and immersion, making players feel like they are actually in the zone.
- **Zone Inconsistencies in Retail** [13:16] — Retail WoW's zones are stuck in past expansions, creating timeline inconsistencies that break immersion. Classic's static world avoids this problem.
- **The Chore List Problem** [18:15] — Retail WoW's dailies, weeklies, and multiple currencies turn gameplay into a chore list, pulling players out of the world and into a spreadsheet mentality.
- **The 'Chosen One' Problem** [22:02] — Retail WoW's narrative of making every player the 'chosen one' or 'champion' undermines immersion. Classic's approach of being a normal adventurer in a dangerous world is more immersive.
- **Community Events as Immersion** [26:13] — Simple community events like the Tuskarr soup event and Brewfest are praised for creating genuine immersion and a sense of a living world, unlike the world-ending threats of the main story.

## Transcript

Now, I encountered this video out there
in the wild, why World of Warcraft
doesn't feel as immersive anymore. I
don't know how this dude made a
17-minute video, but there's only one
answer. The game is too damn fast.
>> Today I want to talk about why World of
Warcraft doesn't feel as immersive as it
used to. And that's not to say that
retail WoW isn't immersive. There's
plenty of times I feel immersed in
retail WoW.
>> The only time you feel immersed in
retail WoW is when you rage quit and go
outside to touch grass. That is the only
way to feel immersed, because you're
immersing yourself in the real world
rather than the garbage that is called
retail.
>> But there was something about classic
WoW that really just
>> That's what he meant, I think.
>> pinnacle of immersion. Like when you
played the game, you felt like you were
in the Barrens. You felt like you were
in Feralas. You felt like you were in
Tanaris, right? All these different
zones. And I think there's a few things
that kind of play into that that classic
WoW did that retail WoW doesn't do. Um
and so I kind of want to just go over
some of those things today cuz uh I
wrote down a few bullet points of why I
think all of this is. And so, let's just
jump right into it with uh classic WoW
is that slower RPG type of game. And you
hear this all the time, right? People
>> There you go.
There you can end the video right here.
You called it. Man, he's right. True and
real. Very, very based. Now, I don't
know how he's going to elaborate on
that, but I think he's going to go into
more fine details because
the game the game needs to slow down is
like it's the root of all things. So, I
guess he's just going to see how it
went, right? Just you talk about all the
little stuff. I appreciate that.
>> WoW is like it's a slower RPG game. Some
people don't like that. Some people like
this is boring. And then the modern game
is much more like action RPG. And
while I think those are kind of great to
compare and contrast, I think one big
factor stands with these two, and that's
friction.
Right? And so,
classic WoW is all about friction and
slowly either removing that friction or
kind of like learning to appreciate that
friction in a way. While retail WoW is
much more about reducing
all of the friction like
>> [laughter]
>> just reducing as much friction as
possible in various ways. So, let me
give you some ex-
>> It's teleporting you to the mountain top
without needing to climb. That's what
he's trying to say. Absolutely, he's
100% right. And that's exactly why
people don't like retail. I mean, I
listen, if someone is going to pull the
9 million players argument like don't,
okay? We've been over this too many
times. It's 9 million bots. Enough,
okay? You can't be that stupid. You
can't believe it. Please, just oh my
god, like these type of people. I
already know I'm going to get that
comment.
>> examples, right? Um, it's like when
people bring up walking versus flying.
In Classic WoW, you had to walk
everywhere. You know, you start out the
game, you have to walk through Durotar,
you have to walk through the Barrens,
you have to walk through all these
places, right? That's that's friction.
It's I want to be able to fly. I want to
be able to get my mount and just, you
know, move faster and not have to do
this.
>> And stuff happens while you're walking,
by the way. That's why flying is so
frowned upon these days because people
know like flying completely deteriorated
the friction of the game. It didn't even
deteriorate it, it just deleted it. So,
yeah, there was ba- barely any friction.
If you played retail, I played it
unfortunately, my condolences, right?
Um,
it's so bad. You have dragon flying,
it's cool, it's fast, you go from A to B
in a matter of seconds, but you don't
really play the game. You're playing a
solo game. It's definitely not an MMO or
at least it doesn't feel like it.
>> But by being forced to do that, it
actually makes you
stop and kind of be aware of your
surroundings, right? Like when you're
walking through a zone, you go, "Oh,
there's these mobs over there. I need to
be careful of those mobs. There's
There's a city over there that I need to
actually go look at." And
you're you're always looking around and
being aware cuz you're just moving
through the zone. Now, you could just go
on auto run and be like, "Whatever."
But,
that's more of like once you kind of
know the zone, right? But, now in the
game, you just get flying and you fly
around and that's it, right? You just
fly over stuff and you're like, "Oh, is
that something I need to look at?" I
don't even know, right?
>> [laughter]
>> And so, sure, there are you could fly
around and stop and look at something
and fly somewhere else and look at some
That's what I do for Poile's top 10,
honestly.
But, it does remove something, right?
Like that that friction has been removed
and you can kind of say the same thing
for
instances, right? It's why people go,
"Oh, remember when you had to run to the
instance and summon people and then go
in, right?" Versus just open your menu
and click do dungeon, get into a queue,
and it pops and you're in the dungeon,
right? That's That's friction. You're
removing that element of friction, which
I think in return is a form of
immersion.
And so, that slow RPG feel, I think
plays into that because sure, you have
that source of friction of, "Oh, man, I
have to walk everywhere. It's slow."
But, then you get your movement
abilities and you're like, "Hey, this is
actually pretty nice. I can move a
little faster, right? I can, you know,
get
>> Such a great point. He made such a
fantastic point there because you used
to have solution for such problem and it
always felt good whenever you achieve
that. Same thing goes for the mount
itself, by the way. Like the normal
mount, not TBC flying mounts. If we're
talking strictly vanilla, the moment you
hit 40 and you manage to save up the
gold for that first mount, boy, you feel
that change immediately.
It's crazy and I'm not even going to
bother mentioning the epic mount, which
is 10 times faster, right? It's so crazy
good. And the only reason that you
appreciate it is because you get it at
level 40. In Ascension World of
Warcraft, which is a private server, you
get you get your first mount for, you
know, classic plus, right? You you get
it I think level four or something like
that. And it's horrible. It's one of the
things that I hated about the server.
They've completely made me just
not tolerate it, to say the least,
because it completely skipped the entire
premise of classic. Classic needs to be
slow. That's the definition for classic
that I think most people hold.
>> around and explore a little bit better,
then you get your ground mount.
>> Yeah. As a Guild Wars 2 player, I tried
to play WoW and I didn't even leave the
tutorial. Man, do you have any idea how
many WoW players are saying the same
about Guild Wars 2?
>> You're like, "Okay, that was pretty
cool." And I saved up enough money and
it gives you this sense of progression.
>> And I think that's one of the biggest
factors. It It gives you the RPG
progression system of like, "I was slow.
Now I'm less slow.
Now I'm getting a lot faster and now I'm
going fast cuz I got my epic mount,
right?" Or I mean, you could even play
into like Burning Crusade. Like you
started with ground mounts and then you
eventually got flying, even though it
was very slow flying, right? It was all
sources of friction that you remove by
playing the game and just earning stuff.
Now, another form of that, I would say,
is the the old like arrows, right? Like
you had to buy your arrows. You had to
um you had to buy reagents to to do
stuff. And while that is annoying,
right? You're like, "Oh, I ran out of
arrows. I got to go buy them." There is
an element of immersion to that. Like,
"Hey, I'm a hunter. I'm buying my
arrows. I'm buying food. I'm feeding my
pet." Right? All these different things.
And I don't think your pet
>> And also, it made one legendary bow
extremely
cool. I Oh, man, I forgot the name. Was
it Quel' No, wait. What
Oh my god. The bow name just slipped my
mind. It was the cool hunter bow from
the raid. Ah, damn it. Any anyone
members? I literally forgot the name.
I'll check it out. I'll check it out
after. My bad. I It completely slipped
my mind. I even remember some of the
flavor text. You're like, pull this ring
back and like an arrow conjure something
like Rock Delar. Thank you. Thank you,
my brother. Yeah, exactly. For some
reason I remembered it from Hearthstone.
I don't know why. The image just popped
to my mind. Never mind that. But yeah,
exactly. It was so cool, right? It was
amazing and you can only have this type
of weapon if you have arrows. So, I
really wish they bring arrows back.
Maybe not the same way where you have
like, you know, infinite stacks clogging
up your bag, but in some sort of a
different way. I really wish arrows
would make a comeback.
>> I should run away from that feeling.
>> And also, I really wish it would come
back in a form of you can upgrade arrows
and you can equip different arrows. I
think that would be cool like equipping
poison arrows, equipping uh enchanted
arrows, something like that that is
unique to hunter.
>> I think it will. Although, I get why
they did it, I guess. Um
>> Surely Blizzard will take the mental and
do that.
>> kind of bring you into the world. It
makes you feel like again, you're
role-play. You're like, I am a hunter. I
have bought my ammo and I have my ammo,
right? And now it's just kind of like,
I'm a hunter. It's just I'm shooting my
gun. I don't have to buy arrows or
bullets or whatever. And so,
again, that's a form of friction. It's a
a little thing you have to do, but that
little thing can add an element of
immersion. Now, adding on to that, I
would say that hardcore classic wow
actually adds to that friction and
immersion, right? Because now, if you
mess up
>> Yeah, I was about to say Quel'Delar.
>> So, you're you're trying to make these
potions. Like, you're getting potions to
buff your stuff up. You're trying to
increase your stats. You're making sure
that everything is correct and you're
going to be as strong as possible when
you go out into the world so that you
don't die because
the the ultimate level of friction is
you die and you start over and you're
like, oh my god, this is terrible,
right? And so, that becomes very
immersive because now you're just like
it's essentially real life in the game.
Um
and I think that's one of the reasons
that classic WoW is also so much fun is
you're you're hitting like max levels of
friction at that point cuz you know if
you die you start over. And then in
retail WoW or even just normal classic
WoW or whatever, if you die you just
respond and there's no friction there.
You're like, "Whatever, I just keep
going." Now, that brings me to my next
point which is the musical immersion and
the musical immersion is one of my
favorite parts of playing WoW. Like when
you play classic WoW and you hear that
ambient music wherever you are like in
the barrens or in a forest or wherever
it might be, it really hits. Like it
makes you feel like you're in that zone,
you're a part of the game and sometimes
it it gives you that feeling of you're
not even listening to music. It's almost
like you're just there and then
>> I love this guy. Nah, this guy this guy
is a G. He knows what's up. He knows
what's up. No, that's absolutely true. I
played, unfortunately, Season of
Discovery just a couple of days ago.
Even though I quit because it's just
same lame rehashed garbage.
I I loved leveling in the barrens so
much, dude. It's just the music. It
truly feels like you're there. Even on
stream, which is very difficult to
disconnect yourself from like, you know,
try to imagine you're from a streamer
perspective. I mean, you know, minus the
doing crimes on Twitch and all that
stuff. Just imagine you're a streamer.
You need to be on chat and in the game.
You need to kind of split your
attention. Bro, I completely lost myself
in the game and I went silent for like
minutes on end, right? Sometimes even an
hour I barely speak because I just I get
immersed killing quillboars. That's
insane. And only World of Warcraft can
pull me this this way. No other game has
managed to do that. Literally no other
game. And it's all due to the music.
It's so good. And I will say
you know, to retail credit, I don't
think the music has dropped off
significantly. I still think that retail
World of Warcraft music is still kind of
good. I did enjoy midnight music. It
wasn't as good as let's say Warlords of
Draenor. Warlords of Draenor music was
top tier in my opinion. I still listen
to the soundtrack. Or Pandaria. Pandaria
was goated. Even BFA had some really
good tunes. But it was good. It was
still good.
>> The music belongs there. And I think
that's
something that's like really powerful.
Cuz I always have the music on when I'm
playing
just really any video game, but
especially WoW. And that's not to say
retail doesn't have that because there's
actually a lot of times in retail WoW
I've felt very immersed from the music.
Like the the Undermine, honestly.
Places like Zuldazar.
>> Yeah, but the problem is you have seven
different NPCs yapping in your ear about
irrelevant garbage. Like that is the
problem. It's like, oh, okay, I'm about
to be immersed and then it's like eight
different RP sessions that you didn't
ask for. Just the unsolicited advice of
Jaina and Thrall yapping in your ear.
Nobody wants that. It completely screws
up the immersion and that's why I'm
always advocating for less RP in retail
World of Warcraft.
>> Drustvar.
Even like the the Isle of Dorn had some
really good music at times. Like there's
a lot of good music in retail WoW that
is immersive, but I think classic World
of Warcraft just had
it was like the perfect
>> Classic had less noise.
>> perfect. Like I think that's like to me
classic World of Warcraft music is
almost like the pinnacle of video game
music. Like it's just phenomenal. And so
I think that is also another element of
why it felt so immersive. And speaking
of zones, that actually brings me to my
next point, which is sometimes in retail
WoW going to zones can pull you out of
that immersion because you get kind of
warped back to periods that have already
happened. And so let's say I'm going to
Booty Bay as a great example, right? And
I see the goblins just repairing Booty
Bay and I'm like, man, it's been
like what, 16, [laughter] 17 years of
the goblins repairing Booty Bay?
>> Yeah.
>> And sure, you could make the argument
like they're they're
>> Don't worry, next expansion surely
Gazlowe would come in and fix
everything. That's okay. He's just uh
too busy on drinking some elixirs.
>> Like actual construction, they're taking
forever to get to
>> He's He's chugging noggenfogger elixir.
>> that to where you see a lot of these old
thing. For example, like Stonetalon
Mountains. When you go there, there's
like the big war going on with Garrosh
and the Alliance and stuff and you're
like, this already happened. And so,
obviously, the the logistical real life
part of you kicks in is like, yeah, you
know, this is an older expansion, right?
Like they're going to update it
eventually hopefully.
Uh and it's in No, it's just part of it.
But, there's that's still something that
takes you out of the game, right? Like
you have to go You have to get out of
the game mindset to realize that and be
like, you know, this is just an old
expansion cuz you're
>> Exactly. Exactly. And let me add
something on top of it. It's so weird
that you go to
Let me Let me think of a zone. Man, why
why did Why was zone's name just escape
my mind? Like if I I want to say
Winterspring, but that's not when the
one I I mean. Like the woods one, the
one with the woods where the Alliance
and the Horde fight. Like completely
like Ashenvale. Oh, dude, what the hell
is wrong with me today? Okay, so you go
to Ashenvale and you see the Horde and
the Alliance kind of fighting each other
for resources. And then you go up and
the story tells you that they're cool
now, but they really aren't. And that's
just confusing the hell out of you. It's
so weird, it's inconsistent, and it's
all due to Blizzard keeping piling on
expansions on top of each other. Nothing
in the old world makes sense anymore.
And that's a huge problem that actually
really really hurts the game long-term
because you're getting no new players.
New players can't immerse themselves
inside of the world. They're losing
their interest. They're dropping out
quickly. And you're basically staying
with the same old veterans over and over
again. Eventually, you're going to run
out of whales, right? I know right now
it seems like an impossibility, but it
will happen in a couple of years,
surely.
>> If you're playing in the game, you're
just like, this is weird. Like, what's
going on? This happened 15 years ago.
Why is this still occurring in the zone,
right? And classic wild doesn't have
that because it's just all static. Like,
it's it's classic wild. The zones are
the way they are. It like it really does
pull you out of a zone when you go there
and everything's just kind of outdated
and things have already been completed
and you're just like, yeah, I don't
know. It's
that's the way it is, right? And now
having said that, retail does do a lot
of stuff well, right? Like rating and
mythic plus and collect
>> That's the only thing they're doing
well. Everything else is trash. Okay, I
I want to see I want to hear what he has
to say here.
>> thing pets and mounts and transmogs and
all that stuff,
>> That's the only stuff.
>> Um well, actually, I don't really like
mythic plus. It's not my thing. I'm bad
at the game.
Uh but sometimes it almost
>> Okay, he literally said retail has a lot
of things.
And then he gave the three things that's
going on for retail. Literally, there's
nothing else good about retail save for
mythic plus, rating, and collectibles.
These are the only things that makes
retail survive. Without them, retail's
cooked. If you make classic plus with
today current rating,
people will never play retail again.
>> feels like
there's too much to do and that can kind
of take you out of it. Um for example,
when I logged in for this past patch,
uh I got to the new zone with all the
mushrooms all over and stuff and I was
like, this is pretty cool, right? And I
was going through and I got it all done
and I was like, well, that's that. And
it didn't really feel like I immersed
myself in this new patch zone. It didn't
really feel like I was like, whoa, I'm
like I'm in the game right now and I'm
loving the aesthetic. Like I I thought
>> Why, you got a command prompt bug? Like
why why weren't you immersed? Wait, your
NPCs glitch through the mountains? I
mean, hey, that's a Okay, wait, did you
get the same dialogue three times in a
row again? Oh, okay, maybe those things
actually hurt immersion a little bit. I
don't know. But hey, at least we have a
pretty solid PTR, no? What do you say,
guys? Blizzard would never finish a
buggy PTR into live service game. No,
they would never do that.
>> The zone was cool.
>> Never.
>> I thought it looked great, but I didn't
feel immersed in the zone. And I
realized that part of that is due to the
way the game is currently structured.
So, we have things like weeklys, we have
dailies,
>> Yes.
>> we have all these different currencies.
>> Yes.
>> When I wanted to go do the new zone, I
was like, all right, where do I go? And
there was like a million quests all over
cuz I don't I didn't do much of the last
patch and I was like, okay, here's a
quest, but is this quest for the new
patch or is this for the old patch? Then
people in chat were like, Kraridor, what
are you talking about? It's from the the
previous patch and like this one I'm
like I play this game and I'm confused.
>> [laughter]
>> That's so true. Oh my god, I'm pausing
constantly in this video about this guy.
He's just spitting fire and brimstone.
That's crazy. Exactly. Dailies should be
abolished, weeklys should be abolished,
monthlys should be abolished. Everything
in World of Warcraft that forces you to
log in to the game on a weekly or daily
basis should be gone. There is no such
room for this in an MMORPG. I know that
nowadays it's the meta and everyone's
doing it. I don't want to see it in
World of Warcraft, okay?
>> Imagine a new player
here trying to be like, "Hey, a new
patch." And there's like stuff all over
the place. Like it it pulls you out.
Again, like I'm talking about immersion
here. And from a immersive standpoint,
being in the game trying to like figure
out which quest is which and like
dailies and weeklies and stuff. And I'm
>> It's all technical.
>> Like what am I even doing here? Like why
why is this happening? And it's just
it's it's almost overwhelming. And it
>> It's not almost, it is.
>> When I do that type of stuff, I'm doing
chores rather than immersing myself in
the game and just like experiencing the
game. And I think that's my biggest
issue with modern WoW is when I log in,
it's like I have to pull up my my
chore list and like check stuff off.
Like did I do my weekly? Did I do my
daily? Did I do my dungeon? Did I do it,
right? And you're going down the list
and you're just checking. And sure, you
can kind of do that in classic WoW. Like
you can make a checklist for yourself of
like
>> Here's the things I have to do.
>> Of kill 10 quillboars? What what
checklist you need in classic? Listen,
even badges for dungeons weren't that
big of a deal. Like yes, there were
dailies, true. But I mean, once you got
enough badges, you were kind of done
with it. So, it's not that big of a deal
in my opinion and you can afford to miss
a day or two. It honestly wasn't that
bad. So, this form of dailies was
acceptable. I would still be happy if it
was abolished, but
this was okay. I guess it was fine. But
no, these [ __ ] are right. These are
chores. These are dark patterns. You
don't want this in your games. This is
something you do to grab the attention
of whales and addicts. Basically, it
completely turns away people such as
myself because I'm not into that FOMO
garbage, okay? I'm just too old for that
[ __ ] I'm 28, dude. Like I literally had
my birthday uh like what, three days
ago? I'm old. I'm about to be bald, I
had enough. Okay? I don't want any of
this. I don't want to waste my time
doing a checklist. I just want to have
fun anymore as myself in a game that I
love with a community that I appreciate.
>> But it's not the game kind of telling
you what to do. And I saw and so when
you do that, I think
the immersive part of just going into
the world and being like, "What am I
going to do in this world?" right? Like
you're just a part of it. One of the
things I love about Classic WoW is
you're just another adventurer out in
the world and you're going on the hero's
journey. And you're just trying to make
it in the world, right? Like you're you
start out, you're just some person. And
then you play through the world, you go
through the world, and you kind of earn
your stripes, and you earn your title,
and it's like,
>> I'm 28.
>> And now you are like a a pretty
important part of this world. Now you
are becoming a hero. And I think I think
the weird part about retail WoW that
kind of pulls me out of that immersion
aspect is
they're like, "It's you, champion, the
chosen one." And it's like, "Yeah, I
mean, I guess. I've been playing for
like 20 years, right?" It's like, "All
right, yeah." But then somebody's been
playing for like five years
also gets the same treatment. Somebody
who's been playing for like three months
can also be at the same tier of you.
>> No, that's not a real problem. The real
problem is them calling you a champion
and then you need to give them 10 bear
asses. That's the problem. It's
completely immersion breaking. And in
the old World of Warcraft war world,
sorry, you were a nobody. You just bunch
yourself with another hoodlum, and you
made progress together. Eventually, you
teamed up with 39 more hoodlums, and you
went to a raid. That's how it worked. It
made sense, and it was beautiful. There
was no reason whatsoever to change it
into a single player where you are the
sole hero of Azeroth. You're the one
saving it. It's cringe. It's cringe
self-insert millennial writing. Nobody
likes that [ __ ] save for a few Blizzard
employees. And you need to make sure
that this is gone. Along with the
employees, by the way. Just completely
give the boot to Holly Longdale and the
entire HR department.
>> And they're just like, you're the chosen
one, man. Like, you you're going to save
Azeroth and all this stuff. And then
you're like, okay, and then you talk to
your friend and your friend's like, no,
wait, I'm the chosen one. I'm going to
save Azeroth.
And some other guy is like, I'm going to
save Azeroth.
>> [laughter]
>> We're all the chosen ones.
>> I'm the hero. I'm going to save Azeroth.
And so
it just becomes like that.
>> Yeah, for that reason I hated Legion
artifacts. For For the sake of soul
immersion, I think artifacts themselves
as an idea were great. But like in terms
of immersion, like, oh, you get an
Ashbringer, you get an Ashbringer, it
was not. Like it was way immersion
breaking.
It It was way too much.
>> argument, where if everybody's a hero,
then like nobody's a hero. Or
if everybody's like a chosen champion
hero, I guess I guess I should say.
Because like everybody's a hero
technically. Um it it's kind of like the
epics, right? If If everybody has epic
gear, it's not epic anymore. It's just
common.
Like if everybody has the same gear,
it's just common gear. It's just they
painted it purple and go like, yeah,
that's epic. And I think a lot of the
lore that ties into the world-ending
threats every expansion plays into that.
Like, we need the ultimate hero champion
to save the world, right? And it almost
like amplifies that need of you wanting
to be this big hero. And like to me
personally, it just becomes this thing
of I don't want to be the most important
person in all of Azeroth or the hero of
the world. Like, I just want to be
somebody that's a part of the world. And
that doesn't mean I have to be a
blacksmith or whatever, but
>> Azeroth bleeds.
>> She needs to be in a house somewhere.
But like, I just I want to just be part
of the world in some way
>> It was so good.
>> the most important person
>> So good to laugh on.
>> And I think that's just a much more
immersive experience. And there might be
other people that like like being the
champion of Azeroth. That's fine. And
it's kind of hard to even
>> If they love it, just play a
single-player game. MMO RPGs are not for
you, son. Like if you love Magni yapping
in your ear that you're the sole hero of
Azeroth, dog, you're in the wrong game.
Like this is not for you, okay? Like
just go play something else. Go be the
hero in whatever game you choose to be
in. World of Warcraft is not your thing.
>> And dodge that at this point cuz we have
killed Titans. We've killed Arthas.
We've killed like Illidan. We've killed
all these heroes and everything. So we
technically are like these insane
champions, but I just hope they figure
out a way to just knock it down a few
pegs. You know what I mean? Cuz I'm just
>> [laughter]
>> It like it really does
>> You can do it without completely nuking
the current story. You cannot do that
because it's gone too far. You've
already done too much, and I don't think
any reoccurring villain would make the
cut. So I think Zovaal should kind of
end the world with the last Titan, and I
think classic plus should be the new
standard. I think Blizzard does have a
way out with this, and I really hope
they would take that ticket.
>> pull you out of it um
when everybody else is also a hero and
you're like, "I'm the hero." And it's
just yeah, like I said, if everyone's
the hero, nobody's the hero. Now with
all that being said, I kind of want to
wrap this up with one of my favorite
parts of retail WoW in terms of
immersion, and that's a lot of the
community events or holiday stuff
because
>> Yes, he's talking about the Darkspear
Trolls rainbow dash run. Yes, dude.
Dude, I for some reason I missed it. I
wish I was there. I wish I was there. I
heard it was like it's great event.
Wait, did it actually happen? I don't
even know, you know. I I'm not been
following up with the times, but uh
people were excited for it. Yeah, for
sure, for sure. There was a lot of
discourse around it.
>> Um much like the soup event with the
Tuskarr, it's not the most important
event. It's nothing crazy, right? It's
just helping the the chef make soup, but
it was one of my favorite parts of
Dragonflight. Like you just show up at
the Tuskarr area and they're just like,
"Hey, come on down. We're making a big
pot of soup." And they're just stirring
it up and everyone's contributing and
gathering stuff and you see everybody
else like contributing. You're like,
"Dude, this is so fun, right?" Like
everyone's working together and it
creates that sense of like immersion in
the world and community and you're
you're all helping the Tuskarr make this
soup and they're just like, "Hey,
everybody come eat it, right?" Those are
some of my favorite events. Like even
helping the ancients in the Emerald
Dream. I enjoyed doing that and I'm sure
there's people that didn't enjoy doing
it but
like those were some of my favorite
events. And so, it's one of the reasons
I love holidays where you have things
like Brewfest and everybody's gathered
around at the festival and everyone's,
you know, drinking and running around
and it's like
more music that immerses you in,
right? And so, I I really love those
types of things cuz it makes it feel
like the world is alive. It makes it
feel like everybody's out and about.
They're doing their thing and, you know,
it's nothing groundbreaking. We're not
saving the world, but we're just living
in the world of Warcraft. And so, it
actually gets really depressing. You're
kind of sad or eerie to me even when I
go to something like Brewfest and it's
it's like an empty server or just
nobody's there. Like maybe it's towards
the end of Brewfest
>> or it completely filled with bots. Yeah,
don't forget about option number three
there, which is the most likely one.
>> cuz people have already gotten all their
stuff and you're just like walking
around. It's just empty.
And I'm just kind of like,
um I guess I'll
get a beer or do my ram racing. It's
just you walking around alone. Maybe one
person like runs by and it's just like
>> [laughter]
>> and you're just like,
"Okay." Like that that's another thing
that just pulls me out of the immersion
cuz I'm like, "Where are the people at?
Like is the game dying?" Like it like
that really does pull me out. So,
I think
the the main point I'm trying to get at
here with everything that I've gotten at
is
there's a lot of different things that
make up immersion and some of them
impact the game I'd say more than others
and some of them maybe even impact
certain people more than others, right?
Like some people might feel very
immersed when they're doing all these
like RPG elements like buying arrows or
doing these things and other people
might not feel immersed at all. I'd say
it's also a very subjective type of
thing to you know deal with like
different
>> He's absolutely right and that's what
actually makes developing an MMO so
difficult because you always have
constant struggle balancing between
immersion and
gameplay, right? There's always this
discussion Jeff Kaplan used to talk
about it like way back in the day when
he actually worked on World of Warcraft,
right? You know the the famous quotes of
dragons don't actually hide loot beneath
their wings. Yeah, you know that's true,
right? That's obviously. So I mean yeah,
you always have that constant discussion
but I think if Blizzard actually were
talented and had some competent people,
they would have managed to pull this off
like they had back in the day.
>> People are going to have different
things that immerse them into a world
but at the end of the day I think most
people want to be immersed in the world
and most people want to live in the
world and feel like they're a part of
this world and
really can pull you out of it when so
many of these little things add up and
it hits a point where you're just like
why am I not feeling that sense of
immersion and I think all of these
little things going one way or the other
way, right? Making you feel immersed or
not feel immersed really do add up and
change how you feel and so
yeah, I just wanted to make that video
and rant about immersion cuz it's been a
topic that's just been on my head for a
while. So thanks for watching. If you
want more videos, I just made
>> Yeah, dude this guy is great. I think
that's the second video of him that I
watched. This video he absolutely
cooked. Thank YouTube for recommended it
to me I think but I'm going to leave it
link You guys should watch it for
yourself. Give him a like. That was
amazing.