Classic vs Retail WoW - Which One Should You Actually Play

[00:01] What is up, guys? It's your boy Swollem

[00:02] here, back with another World of

[00:04] Warcraft video, and this one is going to

[00:06] be a little bit more classic-centric,

[00:08] but it's a video about World of Warcraft

[00:10] in general, and it's going to be retail

[00:12] versus classic. It is inspired by, and

[00:15] I'll be talking about this Reddit thread

[00:17] right here, which is titled the same,

[00:19] classic versus retail. And the thread

[00:22] itself is, "I have started wow with

[00:24] midnight retail, but got completely lost

[00:27] on the story and left. I'm a casual

[00:29] player of 2 to 4 hours most weeks, and I

[00:31] just don't have an interest to game more

[00:34] than that. Would classic be an okay

[00:36] option for a casual gamer like myself,

[00:38] or would a different issues arise?" So,

[00:41] I want to know I want to invite you guys

[00:43] in the comments down below as well,

[00:45] which version of wow would you be play

[00:48] if you only had 2 to 4 hours of gaming

[00:51] on a weekly basis? Are we thinking

[00:54] hardcore, Season of Discovery, even

[00:57] though that's kind of dead-ish,

[00:59] classic era, TBC classic, Mists of

[01:02] Pandaria classic, or retail, even though

[01:06] he's already left retail. Let Let me

[01:07] know your thoughts in the comments down

[01:09] below, and try to like be a bit

[01:12] like give me some reasons for why you're

[01:14] choosing what you're choosing. I guess

[01:16] that I made most of my content around

[01:18] classic, so there might be a bunch of

[01:19] classic comments, but I want to hear

[01:21] like why, why you would play classic

[01:24] over anything else. And I've obviously

[01:26] played quite a lot of both classic and

[01:28] retail recently. I'll be chiming in with

[01:30] hopefully what could be an objective

[01:33] opinion on this as well, instead of

[01:35] Well, actually, it's going to be

[01:36] subjective from my point of view, but

[01:39] having played both classic and retail,

[01:41] I'm not going to be like the usual

[01:42] classic Andy who's just like, "Ah,

[01:44] retail is bad, it's trash, everything

[01:46] sucks." And I'm not going to be like the

[01:48] retail Andy who's like, "Ah, classic is

[01:49] so stuck in the past." I'm I like both.

[01:52] I like retail, I like classic. Actually,

[01:55] I love retail, and I love classic.

[02:00] So, I would say for me, the answer to

[02:02] this question of the which version to

[02:04] play depends way more on who you are as

[02:08] a person, and how you want to game as a

[02:11] person as well. So, just based on what

[02:13] you like doing in video games. The thing

[02:16] is, classic WoW is great, [music] but

[02:18] leveling it takes time. If you're

[02:20] playing, let's just take an average

[02:22] here. He says 2 to 4 hours per week. So,

[02:25] let's say 3 per week. If you're playing

[02:28] classic anniversary, you will

[02:31] or TBC TBC anniversary actually, because

[02:33] TBC leveling is slightly faster now. So,

[02:35] getting from 1 to 70 in TBC is roughly

[02:38] the same time as 1 to 60 is in regular

[02:42] classic era. So, in that case, you will

[02:45] spend 1 year leveling up. In which case,

[02:50] if you play TBC and you spend a year

[02:52] leveling up, TBC is going to be over.

[02:55] We're going to be in Wrath, if we get

[02:57] the Wrath. So, if you're playing 3 hours

[02:59] per week, you will spend way too much

[03:01] time leveling, and you will never get to

[03:04] the end game. Likewise, in classic era

[03:06] as well, you will spend a year of your

[03:08] time leveling up a character before

[03:11] getting to the end game. And then the

[03:12] question is, how is the end game like in

[03:15] a year in classic era? Just any version

[03:17] of classic, leveling takes time. It is

[03:20] slightly faster in Mists of Pandaria

[03:22] classic, cuz every expansion we get,

[03:25] they do make leveling faster and faster

[03:27] and faster. So, I would say in Mists of

[03:28] Pandaria, if you're playing 3 hours per

[03:31] week, you're probably going to spend

[03:32] like half a year leveling. But, in half

[03:35] a year in Mists of Pandaria as well,

[03:37] we're not going to be in Mists of

[03:38] Pandaria anymore. We are either probably

[03:41] going to be in Warlords of Draenor

[03:42] classic, if we get that, or whatever

[03:45] happens after BlizzCon this year. So, if

[03:48] you enjoy leveling, classic is an

[03:50] absolutely amazing choice for this

[03:53] person right here. It is just you have

[03:55] to think about leveling as a piece of

[03:57] the content and not just a chore. Many

[04:00] people really look at leveling as a

[04:02] chore. I'm not one of those. I've

[04:03] leveled way too many characters and

[04:06] guess what I'm doing right now when I'm

[04:07] playing off a stream and stuff. I'm

[04:09] leveling alts in a season of discovery

[04:12] for fun. So, I'm leveling more

[04:14] characters off stream, off videos, off

[04:17] content creation. Just whenever I'm

[04:19] planning to have fun, I sit down, I game

[04:22] some season of discovery. I'm level 25

[04:24] right now on a brand new shaman that I

[04:26] made just to experience what shamans

[04:29] were like in season of discovery because

[04:31] all of sudden I played alliance, so I

[04:32] never got to play a shaman. So, I'm

[04:34] playing a shaman this time on the horde

[04:36] side on wildgrowth.

[04:38] So, if I tell you that leveling is going

[04:41] to take you between half a year and one

[04:44] year of your time, you have to ask

[04:46] yourself how do you feel about that?

[04:48] Does that make you happy? And you think,

[04:50] "Oh, dude, I get to spend so much time

[04:52] leveling and just having fun." If so,

[04:55] classic is a great choice. But if I tell

[04:57] you that leveling takes between half a

[04:59] year and one year and you respond with,

[05:02] "That's long, really? That sounds so bad

[05:05] and boring." Then maybe classic isn't

[05:08] for you or Mists of Pandaria would

[05:11] probably be the best classic suggestion

[05:14] that we have at the moment based on

[05:15] leveling speed. Season of Discovery as

[05:17] well, we have a leveling buff, so

[05:19] leveling there is faster. But the uh the

[05:21] whole uh the season of discovery is kind

[05:24] of dead at the moment until at least

[05:26] June 19th when we have a Guesu and Joker

[05:29] that are doing a fresh simulation on EU

[05:32] for example. I think they're playing on

[05:33] EU. I really hope so. Um so, we might

[05:36] get a small resurgence when streamers

[05:39] play there for a while. But in general,

[05:41] season of season of discovery is kind of

[05:43] over. So, if you want to level fast and

[05:45] get to end the game, the best version of

[05:47] classic is probably Mist of Pandaria at

[05:50] the moment, which feels weird to say.

[05:52] Now, for end game, I'm just going to say

[05:54] that is where retail really shines in my

[05:56] opinion, cuz I'm just going to say it,

[05:58] the lore in retail right now is trash.

[06:01] It's It's just gotten away too off

[06:03] track. It's like it's taken so many

[06:05] detours that I don't know where the

[06:07] story is going anymore, nor do I really

[06:10] care. I stopped caring probably around

[06:13] the Warlords, I think. They pulled me

[06:15] back in with Legion, but after BFA, I've

[06:18] just not cared about anything story-wise

[06:21] in retail ever since then. So, it's

[06:24] gotten away off track, and it's It's a

[06:27] struggle to follow. It feels like

[06:28] they're just adding story for the point

[06:31] of adding story, and it's no longer a

[06:33] cohesive book. It's like you read the

[06:35] main three books, and the IP just makes

[06:39] 10 more books, but they never had to.

[06:42] It's just to milk the IP, and retail

[06:44] feels the same. They never like BFA, we

[06:46] didn't really have need to have BFA

[06:48] lore-wise.

[06:50] Warlords of Draenor as well was kind of

[06:52] a detour. BFA was a detour. Shadowlands

[06:55] was definitely a detour. Dragonflight

[06:57] was a slight detour. The War Within as

[06:59] well, we ended the expansion

[07:04] So, Warlords also felt like a massive

[07:06] detour. I don't know. Like, retail to

[07:08] me, leveling sucks. The lore sucks. The

[07:12] end game is great. Um espe- At least

[07:15] with PvP, PvP sucks uh a little bit at

[07:17] least, but um Mythic Plus dungeons is

[07:20] great. Uh raiding is great. So, like,

[07:22] the PvE end game of retail is honestly

[07:26] really good for for gamers like me who

[07:29] enjoys that style of content. It's more

[07:31] modernized, absolutely, and it's more

[07:34] based on just like increasing your skill

[07:37] as a person, as a player, as a group

[07:39] over time, and doing harder and harder

[07:41] content over time, which I think is fun.

[07:44] And for Classic, I feel like the end

[07:46] game is not as great as in Classic as in

[07:49] retail, mainly because we've been here

[07:51] before. To me, that automatically makes

[07:54] the end game a way more boring cuz I've

[07:56] already cleared all of these raids. I've

[07:58] already progressed through all of these

[08:00] raids as well. So, I've already been

[08:01] there pretty recently as well. And in

[08:03] Mists of Pandaria, that's when I started

[08:05] hardcore raiding back in actual mop. So,

[08:08] I've already done those raids as well on

[08:11] the mythic or I guess heroic or mythic

[08:13] siege actually in the pre-patch. So, um

[08:17] I've already done most of those raids on

[08:19] the hardest content before. But leveling

[08:22] in Classic, I honestly feel like it's so

[08:24] fun. And there's a reason why I never

[08:26] level alt in retail. The only times that

[08:28] I level up alt in retail is it during a

[08:31] remix event like Legion remix when we

[08:34] had that for example because that we had

[08:37] a new way of leveling which was fun.

[08:40] Anything new is fun at least for a

[08:42] while. So, I level up characters when

[08:44] there's something new to do, but the

[08:46] general leveling experience in retail is

[08:48] just so well lost beyond redemption.

[08:53] So, the TLDR for me at least is that

[08:55] Classic does take a way more time,

[08:58] especially leveling takes way more time,

[09:01] but it's a way more fun. So, if leveling

[09:04] if you hear if you think about leveling

[09:05] and that sounds like a chore to you,

[09:08] Classic it it it it's a lot of leveling

[09:10] and when you're playing 3 hours per

[09:12] week, you will spend a year or something

[09:15] leveling up your character, which if you

[09:17] don't enjoy leveling at all, that does

[09:20] not really sound like a good way to

[09:22] spend your free time when you can game 3

[09:24] hours per week and the gaming is meant

[09:26] to be fun. So, you're meant to do

[09:28] something you think is fun. I think the

[09:30] PvE end game in retail is great. And for

[09:33] PvP, I would unironically play TBC. TBC

[09:38] to me is probably peak PvP. Like the

[09:41] introduction of arenas, for example, Eye

[09:43] of the Storm Battleground. PvP in TBC is

[09:47] honestly amazing. It does like Wrath as

[09:50] well is I think PvP in Wrath is great as

[09:53] well, but after Cataclysm it just takes

[09:56] a massive downhill. Like yeah, it goes

[10:00] downhill a lot I feel like. And retail

[10:02] right now PvP is just not great. Either

[10:05] way, I would love to hear your takes on

[10:07] classic versus retail. I honestly think

[10:09] they're both great. It just depends on

[10:10] what type of a gamer you are. And I feel

[10:13] like

[10:14] retail is just more modern. It's a

[10:16] modern MMO focused on the modern ways of

[10:20] playing video games. It's way more

[10:22] fast-paced. It's way more challenging

[10:24] content, especially when you get to

[10:26] mythic plus and also PvE content is just

[10:29] more modernized and more quality of life

[10:31] and stuff, which I don't think is a bad

[10:33] thing. It just depends on who you are as

[10:36] a gamer and kind of the mood you're in

[10:38] as well. Because every now and then I'm

[10:39] in the mood for some retail gameplay.

[10:41] And every now and then I'm in the mood

[10:43] for some classic gameplay. Just depends

[10:45] entirely on

[10:46] where I am in life at the moment. Either

[10:49] way, a kind of a the weird video here I

[10:52] guess, but I just wanted to talk about

[10:53] this post right here and chime in with

[10:55] my opinions. Just like I went from

[10:57] no-lifing classic anniversary to

[11:00] no-lifing hardcore to no-lifing Legion

[11:03] remix to no-lifing

[11:05] TBC pre-patch to no-lifing TBC itself.

[11:08] And now no-lifing Midnight WoW. And now

[11:11] that Midnight WoW is out of the

[11:12] honeymoon phase, I'm doubling a little

[11:14] bit in everything. I'm checking out some

[11:16] hardcore. I'm replaying Season of

[11:18] Discovery. I'm leveling a character on

[11:20] Spine and Shatter in TBC. I'm still

[11:22] playing some Midnight WoW as well as I'm

[11:24] just playing a little bit of everything,

[11:26] which I thankfully have the time to do

[11:28] that, but not everybody has. Plus I'm

[11:30] playing very casually at the moment. I'm

[11:33] just doing whatever I think is fun when

[11:35] I think it's fun. So, let me know your

[11:37] thoughts about everything in the

[11:38] comments down below about both classic

[11:40] and retail and the state of things in

[11:42] the comments down below. All right,

[11:44] that's it for now. Thank you for

[11:45] watching. I'll see you next time.

[11:50] Now, whether you're playing retail or

[11:52] classic, one of the things that I like

[11:54] to do in the game every now and then is

[11:56] simply shut off my brain and follow an

[11:58] arrow. Now, for this, I have I'm using

[12:01] Zygor right here. I have a following I

[12:04] have a following I'm following a guide

[12:07] for leveling through Zygor right now and

[12:09] it's following like the side stories of

[12:11] the zone. Now, I like Zygor a lot

[12:13] because even though yes, like when it

[12:15] comes to following an arrow, there's

[12:17] multiple free add-ons out there. There's

[12:19] even a add-on I think called Follow the

[12:21] Arrow. So, when it comes to leveling and

[12:22] questing, you don't need Zygor. You can

[12:24] just have any add-ons out there. I think

[12:27] even Harden has an add-on as well. But,

[12:29] what I really like about Zygor is that

[12:31] they have a bunch of guides for a bunch

[12:32] of things. So, when it comes to leveling

[12:34] for example, I can go to Midnight and

[12:36] either follow the story campaign or I

[12:38] can finish every single stone story and

[12:41] side quest or extra story lines. So, you

[12:44] can just like pick and choose what you

[12:45] want to do based on how you want to

[12:47] level your character. You also have a

[12:49] bunch of guides for dailies for example,

[12:51] so you can go in old expansions and do

[12:53] dailies, cooking dailies, Burning

[12:55] Crusade dailies. You can even do

[12:57] Midnight Wow dailies. Now, if you don't

[13:00] know how to do an event as well, for

[13:02] example, Brewfest, Children's Week,

[13:04] Darkmoon Faire, Feast of the Winter

[13:06] Veil, Hallow's End, you name it. They

[13:08] also have guides for those. They have

[13:10] gold making guides. They have profession

[13:13] guides. There's a bunch of things all

[13:15] bundled in to one add-on, which is

[13:18] honestly what I like. It's not it's just

[13:20] for leveling, it's for a bunch of

[13:22] everything. Leveling, completionist

[13:25] content, gold farming content,

[13:27] profession content. They even have

[13:29] profession guides as well for every

[13:30] single profession out there. Farming

[13:32] mounts, farming pets, farming titles,

[13:35] farming achievements, everything in

[13:37] bundle in one place. Now, I have an

[13:39] affiliate link for Zygor you can check

[13:41] out through the link down below. That

[13:43] way, if you are planning on getting

[13:45] Zygor, you can also use that link and

[13:47] I'll get a kickback. So, you're

[13:49] supporting me and getting yourself a

[13:51] great add-on at the same time. Either

[13:53] way, that's basically this a shoutout or

[13:56] sellout here, I guess, for Zygor. So,

[13:58] honestly, it's great to have affiliates

[14:00] like this. It's helping out my channel a

[14:02] lot. And if you're planning on getting

[14:03] it anyway, you're supporting me and

[14:05] getting the guide or add-on at the same

[14:07] time. So, yeah, check it out. Links down

[14:09] below.