All the 'Hints' Blizzard Has given us to 'Confirm' Classic+

[00:01] >> video is sponsored >> that's sponsored by War Thunder. Woohoo. Uh Mad Season has a new video saying classic plus announcement is coming soon and here's why. Dude, this is what I've been saying. Let's see it

[00:13] >> War Thunder. Okay. What is this mad season? >> All righty. It's about that time again. So, I noticed that there was a startling short. It's about that time again >> of classic plus videos on the internet

[00:27] today and I decided that I would rectify things with another one here for you. The focus of this one's going to be my manifesto or I mean my thesis why I think most signs are pointing towards an announcement at this year's BlizzCon.

[00:41] >> Okay, which in September. But to be serious, I did do a search for something along these lines >> and I couldn't find anything as a >> Yeah. istic as what I'm about to provide for you. So, it might actually have some

[00:55] considered or at least >> Okay, so like I've been basically saying >> Okay, so like I've been basically saying for this last year, Classic Plus is confirmed but not announced and everyone's like, "Oh, sorry." I'm

[01:10] actually so happy Mad Season put this video together cuz guys, we have so many hints. Actually, if you do exclamation point classic plus in the chat, that's like the biggest hint. There's a literal blue post saying it. Okay, but it's cool

[01:26] that Mad Season put this video together cuz hopefully all the hints will then be cuz hopefully all the hints will then be aggregated in one place in this video so that we can just like have it in one area to link to people. Hey, look, it's

[01:39] confirmed, not announced, right? Like, let's check it out. information that when it's all put together tells an interesting story. Before we get into it though, I'd like to take a moment to thank the sponsor of this video, War

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[03:50] time. So check it out today. Anyways, so Classic Plus, it is quite the enigma. Most everyone knows what it is and yet still no one can agree what it is or when it'll be out. Will it be good or bad? It's probably one of the most

[04:05] defined, undefinable products in the history of gaming, but I'll try my best to compile all of the most common things that you see about it. So, Classic Plus is mostly generalized with the idea of the original base game vanilla after its

[04:19] final 1.12 patch. Instead of going through the Dark Portal like in the Burning Crusade expansion and similar ones after it, the game instead continues on in the old world in the Eastern Kingdoms and Calumdor. New

[04:32] content is then added that follows the spirit and design of the original base vanilla version of the game with new raids, dungeons, class balance changes, zones, and even things such as new classes, specializations, professions,

[04:47] and other similar features in line with classic MMO RPG game design. So, as you probably know, when Classic 2019 vanilla ended in 2021, Blizzard instead opted for the safer route of just going down the list of expansions released in their

[05:03] original chronological order with similar phasing schedules to roughly match their releases. As of today, they've reached all the way to the Mists of Pandari expansion. And that's all well and good, but considering that for

[05:16] version of the game ended in >> cataclysm, >> it's left quite a big discrepancy with what these players want and what Blizzard is providing with many even turning to the independently run private

[05:30] servers to fill in that void. >> As was evidenced with the almost overwhelming popularity of the Turtle WoW server, which just recently battle with Blizzard. >> Another piece of evidence which classic

[05:44] seasonal servers. First, you had the season of mastery which made various raid balance changes to increase the overall difficulty of the PvE portion of the game which a certain amount of the player base were disappointed with in

[05:58] the 2019 run. Following that, there is the more intense Season of Discovery which held quite a few changes but the most notable being the rune system which changed the class balance and their functionality in quite drastic ways.

[06:12] There were some other things such as progressive level caps and near the end some pretty popular requests within the realm of classic plus such as a new Scarlet Monastery as well as a quest line for the legendary Ashbringer.

[06:26] Overall, it was kind of a mixed bag and people were pretty split on it with some people loving it and some people really disliking it. So there's been a large demand for it for quite a few years now and certainly a lot of frustration es

[06:39] >> guys we we we might need to do a sod project at some point. I'm just saying like it it's cooking up here like I miss enclave I like I miss carac crypts dude. Oh my gosh with blizzard not providing it and also now shutting down the actual

[06:54] classic plus turtle. Wow. If you look in the comments of this video, most likely people are not going to have a very fond opinion of Blizzard. But whatever you is to just give you the information of why I think there's a 99% chance that

[07:08] it's probably going to be announced at Blizzcon, at least in some capacity. So, starting here first with some older information, and that's the survey. Several months ago, Blizzard started sending out surveys to players which

[07:24] requested for them to not share them publicly. But because it's the internet, did. They had held a variety of questions, many of them relating to typical features and elements related to Classic Plus. This is something that we

[07:37] did actually cover previously. But what makes it relevant to this video is that despite its age, none of these features have been seen in any version of Classic. despite it having like five different versions at this point. So all

[07:50] of the information that they've gotten from this survey has yet to be utilized in any public way. So maybe they're just doing nothing with it or maybe they're using it to guide them with this currently theoretical classic plus. Next

[08:03] we have the 2025 Blizzard yearbook which details some milestones for their various games. In this yearbook, yep, is of course a section about classic which reads, "Season of discovery wound down with a bang in the Scarlet Enclave."

[08:17] This was the Scarlet Crusade raid I mentioned. As we got cooking on the mentioned. As we got cooking on the long-term future of World of Warcraft, just below that are a series of plus signs.

[08:31] The elers. >> So like there's I I hope he covers the blue post too, but this was the year in review and it literally says we're cooking on the long-term future of WoW Classic.

[08:45] We are cooking on the long-term future of WoW Classic. I emoji plus signs. Like if you guys if anyone has been paying attention, like I said, like Yeah. >> And just below that are a series of plus signs. Now, if you're in the Elder

[09:00] Scrolls trailer analysis community, this alone is probably at least a 4-hour video. But due to the large classic plus-sized elephant in the room and this Discovery, which is Blizzard's closest thing to Classic Plus so far, many

[09:17] people see this as a tease for an official Classic Plus, which I think is reasonable. Throughout the development and run of Season of Discovery, if you notice, the developer said many times that the whole thing was an experiment

[09:30] and they wanted to see what worked and what didn't work. Quoting the team directly in this blue post we have, "Season of Discovery was always meant to "Season of Discovery was always meant to be an ephemeral seasonal experience. And

[09:42] while it became so much more for a time, we're extremely excited about the things we're extremely excited about the things we're working on for the future. So, >> uh I think there there is another blue post. It actually

[09:56] might have been this one, but this is not the blue post I was or at least maybe let me see if I can find the blue post I was thinking of. I think it's post I was thinking of. I think it's this blue post, which

[10:10] this blue post, which is this a different blue post? swear there's like a different line of text. It's the same blue post.

[10:22] Oh, yeah, he skipped over this. This to me is more evident. So, he skipped over Um, that future of Season of Discovery is somewhat bittersweet as we've made the decision to slow down on Sod and begin work on our next major project in

[10:39] begin work on our next major project in the original WoW design space. That I I can't believe you didn't say that one. That's the one in my head. Like this was a year agoish now. But when I read that a year ago, I

[10:53] was like, "Guys, like, yeah, there it is." So to me, that's like the singular line. There's all, you know, the the video has, you know, a bunch of different things, but that's the singular line here in a literal blue

[11:07] singular line here in a literal blue post for people that are doubters. Okay. for a time were extremely excited about >> exactly classic uh classic in the chess is not even hinting just saying it outright that well yeah that's what I've

[11:21] been saying for a year >> the things we're working on for the future so the thought process here being that the reason for an experiment is to gain information for a bigger project so I take this as the season of discovery

[11:37] especially due to its eventual end date was just this testing ground for a more solid foundation for presumably an unending Classic Plus version of the game. Assuming that this is true, this could even give you a rough idea of what

[11:50] their version of Classic Plus could be based on the feedback of Season of Discovery. You know, what did players generally like and dislike about the season? That itself is up for debate and

[12:02] would set this video way off focus. So, I'll just leave that for you to argue about in the comments. Next up, we have the 2026 State of Azeroth. This is a new out. >> I don't know if I remember watching this

[12:16] >> Uh, all forms of World of Warcraft, classic included. And while the 2026 version was more focused around housing in Retail WoW, how they're adding a game. >> Yes, I counted. They did also have this

[12:30] weird mention/ tease of classic. That's you. And that's not all we're cooking up. I can say with confidence that all classic players across the globe have a lot to look forward to. I'm really

[12:43] excited to announce that >> I guess we'll save that for later. >> Did you get that? We'll play it again. >> I'm really excited to announce that >> one more time. >> I'm really excited to announce that

[12:58] >> Yeah. I have no [\h__\h] idea. It's Holly something, but yeah, this was the big >> y >> a rational person would say they wouldn't blueball the players unless it's something really big, right? And

[13:13] obviously the biggest thing that they could do is classic plus without a >> Y >> but hold on. This is Blizzard Entertainment who aside from the Cosby suite are entirely out of touch with

[13:25] their player base. At this point, there's been quite a rich history of them hyping something up and then it turns out to be a mobile Diablo game or >> We'd also like to let you know that the forges here at Blizzard are burning hot

[13:39] the works. >> Three weeks later, >> the current plan is to be on mobile, both uh Android and iOS. Uh we don't have any plans at the moment to do uh PC.

[14:00] situation. >> Did you guys not have phones? >> Yeah, you guys have >> Yeah, remember that [\h__\h] We got some news for you Diablo fans [\h__\h] Netflix series that never saw the light of day

[14:14] >> raping of your childhood. So, >> wow. >> This could go either way. if Blizzard were normal

[14:26] classic plus but as we know >> uh they're not normal. >> Next we have the Agrand post. Early this year in January Agrand announced his >> Yep. >> Which again is impending.

[14:41] >> So this was another here. Let me try to go back. This was another uh was this on Twitter or like blue sky or like something? But Agren said,

[14:53] something? But Agren said, if you guys missed this post, changed roles from game production to game design.

[15:05] A grand publicly posted, I'm changing roles to game design. his diminished involvement with >> Oh, yeah. Hold on. Then the next line says, "I've got my whole focus now dedicated to helping lead the long-term

[15:20] vision for content and narrative on the classic team." So, there's like Yeah, I mean, the video's halfway over. >> The 2019 Lion Classic, >> which again is in Pandaria, as well as

[15:35] Anniversary, which is now in the Burning Crusade with level boosts and likely soon the WoW token. told you so, by the way, just in case you forgot. >> Thanks for the reminder, Matt. >> Totally didn't. But in the same post, he

[15:48] announced his change from production to design and that he's working on the future of classic. But if that future isn't anniversary or the 2019 line, what

[16:00] could it be? That leaves only a new project. And some people conclude that what new project could it be other than classic? And lastly, we have a repetition of history. Earlier, we talked about the shutdown of Turtle Wow,

[16:14] a popular private server dedicated to classic plus content. It's overall been very highly received and because of that, it became quite popular. And because it became popular, it pinged Blizzard's radar leading to this and

[16:28] upcoming shutdown. I thought they because of two things. one, in the terms of the lawsuit, Blizzard wanted all the data and everything to do with the project. And two, >> someone in the chat says, "Yeah, that

[16:41] pretty much seals it for me." Guys, we've had all of this information for or okay, not all of it, but but a lot of it for a better part of a year now. For the better part of a year, we have

[16:56] had all of this information. That's why I've been saying this for a year and everyone's like, "Oh, Sarcopium." I'm like, "Nope, you're just uninformed." Cuz it's all there. Not hints, blue posts like right there,

[17:13] right? Like, yeah. Just so I'm I'm so glad this video has been made from Mad aggregates all the information that is literally Blueost videos like right literally Blueost videos like right there. It's in front of us being said

[17:28] you." >> We have a fairly similar situation to the nostalgia shutdown leading to classic 2019. So, this is just about 10 >> Someone says, "Yeah, but Mad Season's way more trustworthy."

[17:44] All right, I'll take it. >> But there was once a private server named Nostalius that was just simply a vanilla private server. It was the old version of the game as closely as they could recreate it and it was run pretty

[17:57] well by an independent group of people. It was fairly stable and combine that with the fact that Blizzard was still adamantly refusing that anybody actually wanted to play it. It became quite popular and just like Turtle Wow,

[18:11] popular enough that they would become a threat to Blizzard's player base and IP. And so they sent a cease and desist which they did end up complying to. However, they did also send an invitation to their offices in

[18:23] California where they had a chat relating to vanilla World of Warcraft in some capacity. Then, in the next year's BlizzCon in November of 2017, the announcement of Classic 2019 was made. that ran all the way until 2021, at

[18:38] which point they released level boosts, which is when this highly attractive and intelligent uh YouTube channel named Mad Season Show told you so, by the way, >> predicted the later release of the WoW token, which a portion of the player

[18:52] base adamantly refuted and that Blizzard would never do such a thing in a million years. At which point, the WoW token was later released. And then all of these people disappeared into the [\h__\h] bush like Homer J. Simpson.

[19:06] But the point here obviously being that bad season there has been a precedent of Blizzard shutting down a popular private server shortly before announcing their own similar server. So the stellar shutdown in 2016 2017 the classic

[19:22] announcement which could precede the turtle shutdown in 2026 followed with the classic plus announcement. Regarding the data, I personally don't know about this one, but some people believe it, so I still wanted to at least mention it.

[19:36] But some people think because Blizzard is getting all of the data of the various features of Turtle WoW that they're just going to copy paste it. I don't believe this for two reasons. One, first being I highly doubt it would be

[19:50] that simple. As far as I understand, Turtle WoW's foundation was 1.12 Vanilla WoW, which was the old client that Blizzard has said in the past that they these old security vulnerabilities and other various exploits. And number two,

[20:05] I think, is that they're probably just pretty set on doing their own thing. It would kind of be a blow to their ego to just copy paste a private server. So, I that regard, but I still wanted to mention it because some people have

[20:19] brought it up. So, we have classic plus surveys, season of discovery experiment, the yearbook tease, the 2026 state of Azeroth weird tease thing, cryptic

[20:31] developer blogs, private server precedence. Of course, there's nothing rock solid yet, but I do believe that there is enough information all pointing towards one thing. To me, the most convincing sign is the eyes emoji with

[20:44] the plus signs >> or the blue post literally saying it. I highly doubt that's coincidental. So, I personally would be pretty surprised if they didn't announce it at this year's Blizzcon, especially since they teased

[20:58] it so much in various different ways. Unless, you know, they're maybe going to do another Netflix series that will never materialize or a mobile version of classic that's monetized in borderline illegal ways,

[21:11] >> which will still be entertaining. So, it's a win-win in my book. So, this all just leaves one question. Will it be good? Is it going to be classic plus or

[21:23] turtle minus as my friend clubs likes to put it? Again, if you scroll down, you'll probably find the general sentiment in the comments. People, for sentiment in the comments. People, for some inexplicable, totally unreasonable

[21:35] reason, have lost faith in Blizzard. I'm not really sure why. I think that they're personally doing a bangup job. I mean, just look at the impeccable out. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. My take on this,

[21:50] cuz I think it's a valid concern, and I share the same concern, so I think it's share the same concern, so I think it's a fair one. My take on this though is if you played Sod phase 8, and I don't know if Mad Season did, part of me thinks he

[22:04] didn't, but if you've played Karazan Crips, you've done the secret quest chain, you've done for the for the glasses, um you've done Scarlet Enclave,

[22:16] like that quality I personally, I can't speak for I personally, I can't speak for everyone, am very pleased with. I had a blast. I'm not going to say the same for the other sod phases necessarily, but

[22:30] for phase eight, which was their last one, yes, Kerosan Crips, one of the best dungeons I've ever done, right? Like Like if that quality can be maintained, I

[22:43] Yeah, I'm happy. Very happy. Yo, PMA, thanks for the prime. >> Jesus, WHAT IS THAT? WHAT THE [\h__\h] IS THAT? Maybe if they add an eighth form of monetization, they could surpass the One Punch Man levels

[22:56] of animation. The unalienable fact is that it has the potential to be good, which was shown quite well with Turtle WoW, of course. So, that leaves the actual question of is Blizzard able to realize that potential, which we'll have

[23:09] to see. I do think that it will be pretty heavily monetized. I don't really think there's any way of getting around that. It's just kind of the culture of the company now. Jeff Kaplan actually came out and spilled the tea with a lot

[23:22] on with Blizzard. This was a good interview, his departure. Surely you himself, >> longtime World developer and the father of Overwatch. Overwatch was pretty much his baby. and he shared a story recently

[23:38] of their CFO, their chief financial officer, bringing him into his office and saying, "Okay, you need to hit these profit margins or people are going to be fired and it's going to be your fault that they're

[23:52] going to be fired." For me, like what sort of ultimately broke me in my Blizzard career was I got called in the CFO's office and he sits me down and he says

[24:10] it he gives me a date which at the time was 2020 and was going to slip to 2021 was 2020 and was going to slip to 2021 but at the time it was 2020 and he said Overwatch has to in 2020 and then every year after that

[24:28] it needs a recurring revenue. >> That is wild. >> absolutely wild. >> If it doesn't do dollars, we're going to lay off a thousand people

[24:42] and that's going to be on you. And that was just the biggest [\h__\h] you moment I had in my career. It felt surreal to be in that condition.

[24:54] And as somebody who's worked on a lot of games, made a lot of games. And you get in these meetings where they're like, there's Fortnite has 1,400 people there's Fortnite has 1,400 people working on it. If you just hire 1,400

[25:08] people and make it free to play, we'll make that money, right? And that was I I make that money, right? And that was I I had believed I would never work any place but Blizzard. I loved it. It was a part of who I was. Um, and I felt I was

[25:24] a part of it. And I literally thought I would retire from a place I never thought that day would come. >> That particular CFO is no longer working >> oh, okay. >> I do believe that this is sort of what

[25:36] lies at the core of the company today. It's just this sort of brutal corporate atmosphere that really stifles any sort of creative integrity. Hey, you stop

[25:48] bullying the multi-billion dollar company. >> So along with the classic announcement, >> wait, where is that from? >> Stop bullying. >> Captain, the multi-billion dollar

[26:01] >> Captain Hero. >> I am expecting love tokens, other similar forms of monetization. probably not at launch, but most likely in the

[26:13] think is just something that you're going to have to accept if you want to play it is my prediction. People have been asking if I'll play it. I don't know. I haven't actually played in over a year. Ever since I got into OSRS, it's

[26:27] >> oh my gosh, >> I've kind of grown to accept that I wouldn't be able to resist the heroine unless it just looks really terrible. But yeah, we'll see. No promises either way. Thanks again to the sponsor of this

[26:41] video. Play for free today on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and mobile by using my link in the description or All right, there it is. Matt sees him. Thank you for aggregating all of this. I have like a little command in my chat that I put

[26:56] in like 6 months ago that says it's like exclamation point classic plus that links to the blue post. But it's kind of nice now to have this video with like nice now to have this video with like the scrapbook, the blue post, the um the

[27:09] the scrapbook, the blue post, the um the survey, the holly tease, the what else? Um turtle wow being shut down. Uh I feel like there was one other thing. Oh, the adren um tweet or wherever that was. Um

[27:26] is there anything else? Yeah. Anyway, if you've been paying attention, paying attention, there it is. If you've been paying attention, this video is nothing new that we we we haven't had in Yeah. Like a lot of this info is like 5

[27:41] months to a year or over a year old, but now it's in one video. So, there we go. now it's in one video. So, there we go. Okay.