New Player Reviews WoW Classic vs Retail (with no nostalgia)

[00:00] For almost 20 years, I have completely

[00:02] avoided World of Warcraft. I have no

[00:05] specific nostalgia for it either. I

[00:07] haven't played any of the Warcraft games

[00:09] before, and I can only just vaguely

[00:12] remember my sibling playing Warcraft 3

[00:14] when we were growing up. It was never

[00:16] about a lack of interest. [music]

[00:18] Actually, much to the contrary, it was

[00:20] just one of those things that just never

[00:23] happened for no reason in particular

[00:25] really. And then as the years just kept

[00:27] passing by and I still hadn't played it,

[00:30] I kind of started to make this weird

[00:34] plan where I would just actively choose

[00:37] to avoid everything about it. I didn't

[00:39] watch trailers. I wouldn't listen to the

[00:41] music. I wouldn't even look at

[00:42] promotional artwork at that point so

[00:44] that I could eventually, when the time

[00:47] was right, finally have my satisfying

[00:50] experience of playing it the right way

[00:52] with fresh eyes. And after around two

[00:55] decades in the making, today is that

[00:57] day. So, in the little experience that I

[01:00] do have, I vaguely remember hearing the

[01:03] terms classic and retail being thrown

[01:06] around in conversation. And I always

[01:08] assumed that classic was referring to

[01:10] the beginning of the game prior to all

[01:12] the DLCs and updates and all that fun

[01:15] stuff. And then retail was in reference

[01:17] to the more modern expansions and

[01:20] graphical updates and whatnot. While I

[01:22] was not entirely wrong, what I failed to

[01:25] realize was that during all this time

[01:27] that had passed, like more than 20 years

[01:29] at this point, retail and classic had

[01:32] virtually become two different games and

[01:34] I [music] would have to experience them

[01:36] separately. And this effectively

[01:38] crumbled my entire image of my perfect

[01:42] WoW gaming experience that I had been

[01:44] idealizing for so long. So, I reframed

[01:47] my entire objective because I don't have

[01:50] any experience or preconceived ideas

[01:53] about it. I realized that this would be

[01:55] a great opportunity to take a look at

[01:58] what people fell in love with at this

[02:00] game's birth and then what it evolved

[02:03] into that kept them playing to try and

[02:05] get a somewhat comprehensive

[02:08] understanding on what made and continues

[02:11] to make World of Warcraft the MMO of all

[02:15] time. This video is a bit of a spiritual

[02:18] successor to a previous video of mine,

[02:20] What the Kids Who Didn't Have WoW Played

[02:23] Instead, where I talked about my

[02:24] childhood MMO, Shia, and the lasting

[02:27] impact it left on me. I've seen

[02:29] firsthand just how fondly Warcraft is

[02:31] remembered by its fans. And while I

[02:35] haven't experienced this myself, what I

[02:37] do know is just how emotionally

[02:40] significant an amazing childhood game

[02:42] can be on someone. So today I plan to

[02:45] spend about two and a half hours with

[02:47] both classic and retail, which I think

[02:50] seems like an ample amount of time to

[02:52] get through the beginning portion of a

[02:53] game, and take a look at them with zero

[02:56] nostalgia or experience, and share my

[02:59] thoughts and comparisons I made between

[03:00] the two at the end of it all. So, we're

[03:03] going to be starting off this journey

[03:04] first with retail. At the time of making

[03:07] this, the Midnight expansion had just

[03:09] dropped, and I was really feeling the

[03:12] collective hype, and I really hope that

[03:14] there would be some kind of active

[03:15] player base online that we could engage

[03:17] with in response to this. The first step

[03:19] in any game before you get started is,

[03:21] of course, character creation. And if

[03:24] you're familiar with my channel, you'll

[03:26] know I take my character customization

[03:28] pretty seriously. Okay, so we have the

[03:30] Alliance over here and the Horde over

[03:32] here. The noble races of the Alliance

[03:34] are bound together by proud traditions

[03:36] of nobility, honor, faith, justice, and

[03:38] sacrifice. The many different alliance

[03:40] peoples all contribute their technical,

[03:42] [music] arcane, and spiritual wisdom

[03:43] towards the goal of a peaceful and just

[03:45] world. I am not going to be able to

[03:46] choose a race. This is going to be

[03:48] really hard. Okay. The proud nations of

[03:50] the Horde are loosely joined in an

[03:51] alliance, loosely joined, interesting,

[03:53] of convenience against a hostile world

[03:55] that would see them destroyed. So, I

[03:57] guess it's like a situation of like your

[03:58] enemy is my enemy. We have human, the

[04:01] noble humans of Stormwind, the dwarves,

[04:04] night elves,

[04:06] the gnomes,

[04:08] the dr.

[04:12] They're pretty cool. Oh, that's pretty

[04:14] cool. The the Dra fled from demonic

[04:18] corruption, now lend their might to

[04:19] defend Azeroth. Morgan and the Pandarin.

[04:24] Interesting. That's a cool background.

[04:26] The orcs,

[04:28] the undead. Pretty cool. The torin

[04:33] troll. I like her protruding bottom

[04:37] fangs. That's awesome. Basically, half

[04:39] my time here, which no joke already took

[04:41] me over 20 minutes, was spent just

[04:43] deciding which race and job to choose. I

[04:46] feel like this is an important decision.

[04:48] You know, after you pick these things,

[04:50] you're kind of stuck with them forever,

[04:52] unless there's like an overpriced option

[04:54] to pay for the privilege to change your

[04:56] mind. Okay. So, I think I'm between

[04:58] night elf the drain

[05:02] draani draani draani.

[05:06] I don't know. I'm so bad with names. I

[05:08] don't know anything.

[05:18] I'm just going to go with the D the

[05:20] Drai. Let's uh let's take a look at the

[05:22] classes now. Man, I don't know what

[05:23] decision to make. Um MMOs are not a good

[05:27] game for people with decision paralysis.

[05:29] Jeez. All right. Okay. I think we're

[05:31] going to go with the D the Oh my god,

[05:34] the the Drai after all. And I think

[05:36] we're going to go with Hunter because

[05:37] I'm kind of intrigued by the idea of

[05:40] having your a pet that deals damage. And

[05:44] I like that they have a gun as compared

[05:46] to everybody else that has a bow and

[05:48] arrow. So I think we're going to go with

[05:49] the the dry after all. Okay, the tedious

[05:53] part. You thought that me selecting my

[05:56] race took a long time. The actual

[05:58] character customization is going to go

[05:59] crazy. Okay, unbeknownst to me, the UI

[06:02] here was like completely bugged out and

[06:05] not displaying properly, which in

[06:07] hindsight was probably due to the recent

[06:10] expansion without it being patched yet.

[06:12] And unfortunately, this would not be the

[06:15] last of the minorly infuriating and

[06:18] inconveniencing bugs that I would

[06:20] experience in my time with retail today.

[06:23] After tediously combing through all the

[06:25] available customization options on my

[06:27] favorite races, I decided to go ahead

[06:29] with a drain hunter and we finally

[06:32] embarked on our journey. You are a

[06:34] soldier of the Noble Alliance, a

[06:37] coalition of kingdoms upholding the

[06:40] ideals of valor and justice across

[06:43] Azeroth.

[06:45] Your commanders have learned that an

[06:47] expedition bound for the Dragon Isles

[06:50] has been shipwrecked on a deserted

[06:52] island. As a bold new recruit, you have

[06:56] joined a rescue mission led by the

[06:58] dragons Rathon and Caligos. and D to

[07:01] Okay, I'm an A and D to turn my

[07:03] character kind of person. A and D move

[07:06] your character. That's so strange. I'm

[07:09] I'm Oh, I've never I've never I don't

[07:11] have any experience with that. Why is

[07:12] that the default? That's interesting.

[07:14] Oh, I see. I see. I see. Okay, I'm going

[07:18] to Yeah. Okay, I'll stay with that,

[07:20] actually. Good thing [laughter] Good

[07:21] thing I tried it out. I thought it would

[07:22] just disappear when I selected it. Okay.

[07:24] Ya. Proud. Jamie. Jana. Ya. I I could I

[07:30] don't know if this is like an English

[07:31] speaker's problem or if I'm just stupid,

[07:33] but I can think of like four ways to say

[07:36] one name if I've never heard it spoken

[07:39] before. I don't know if that's just a me

[07:41] thing. I I don't know. We're going to go

[07:43] with Jana. That's probably the the the

[07:46] most likely

[07:49] solution answer to that to that problem.

[07:52] >> Good. Wow. Next.

[07:53] >> That was so much fun.

[07:54] >> It's raining. The skies were supposed to

[07:57] be clear.

[07:58] Uhoh. Her outfit is really cool. Oh, I

[08:02] really appreciate that. Let's Can we get

[08:04] a better look at that?

[08:07] That's awesome. She's got like a layered

[08:10] corset with a belt on top and then this

[08:12] bolero piece. That looks awesome. I

[08:15] really like that. Good. Looks like

[08:16] you've kept up with your hunter training

[08:18] during our voyage. I'm concerned about

[08:19] the sun turned weather. Spar with

[08:20] private coal while I investigate this.

[08:22] Yes, little weakling underling. Go do go

[08:25] busy yourself while I deal with

[08:26] important matters.

[08:28] >> I bet we'll save the expedition in no

[08:29] time.

[08:32] >> So true. Goal.

[08:38] >> I yield.

[08:39] >> Hold on. What's that sound? I think

[08:42] something big is headed our way.

[08:45] >> Captain,

[08:45] >> race for impact.

[08:47] >> Storm belong.

[08:48] >> Everyone below decks now.

[08:50] >> Oh, hell no. I'm out of here.

[08:52] >> What is that? will endure.

[08:55] >> Hello. That's so cute. Okay. Nice little

[08:59] rag tag of uh

[09:02] >> We cannot let fall.

[09:11] >> That does not bode well.

[09:19] >> Oh, what are those little guys? Oh my

[09:22] gosh.

[09:22] >> [laughter]

[09:24] >> They're so cute. After our ship was

[09:27] wrecked in the storm, we got our feet,

[09:29] or I guess Dre and I have hooves, so I

[09:31] guess we we got our metaphorical feet on

[09:33] some land, and I got some time to

[09:35] practice the basics and get familiar

[09:37] with how my class works. Can we fight

[09:40] the crab?

[09:43] Oh. Oh, just one shot the crab. I'm

[09:46] sorry.

[09:48] Oh, I love how I love how the mountain

[09:50] of coins is just a pre-rendered like

[09:52] blob and the coins just get cut off.

[09:55] That's so charming. I love that. These

[09:58] are the kind of things that I love in

[09:59] games, man. Is he dancing?

[10:02] Oh. Oh, he's got moves. Hell yeah,

[10:05] brother. Okay, I'm going to leave him to

[10:07] dance. We're going to head over here. It

[10:09] was genuinely really awesome to see some

[10:11] other players in the beginning areas. I

[10:13] don't know. That just felt really

[10:14] special to me. I'm not really used to

[10:16] playing active MMOs besides like Wizard

[10:19] 101, which is funnily like the most

[10:21] active MMO I've played. It was just cool

[10:24] to see people also starting their

[10:26] journey at the same time. So, it's at

[10:28] this point where we start to encounter

[10:30] our next set of mildly infuriating bugs.

[10:34] My mini map had no markers or character

[10:36] locations whatsoever. So, everything was

[10:39] all just like a shot in the dark here.

[10:42] In some ways, I guess we can say my

[10:44] first playthrough of Retail was a little

[10:47] bit more similar to classic than most

[10:49] people's. Oh my god, it's a goat.

[10:53] Hungry. All right. Yeah, but I'm looking

[10:55] at a goat. Hold on. For our next

[10:57] lifesaving mission, Captain Garrick

[10:59] sends us off to hunt some of the local

[11:01] wildlife on the island and fix up some

[11:03] emergency snacks. I love how in all

[11:06] MMOs, there's always these NPCs that are

[11:09] requesting you, the apparently very

[11:12] special hero, to perform incredibly

[11:14] menial tasks that they could very easily

[11:17] perform themselves. But I guess I kind

[11:20] of understand where Captain Garrick is

[11:22] coming from here. Because if you

[11:23] actually think about it, going out and

[11:25] getting your food, preparing it, and

[11:27] then having to cook it over a live fire

[11:30] would be painstakingly slow and

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[13:00] see how factor works out for you. After

[13:02] serving Allaria her meats, we push

[13:04] deeper onto the island with Captain

[13:06] Garrick now in tow. What is that?

[13:10] What? What is that? A juggler? A a d

[13:16] jogger? I don't know. I'm not Let's go

[13:19] find out. Actually, I'm incredibly

[13:22] curious.

[13:23] I still can't see. I'm blind. I'm sorry.

[13:27] A Drokar.

[13:29] That's really awesome. Oh, I can talk to

[13:31] him. I'm not messing with that. I don't

[13:33] really know what's going on. I'm not

[13:34] messing around with that just yet. A

[13:36] level 30 elite. Okay, good thing we

[13:38] didn't go over there.

[13:39] >> Over here, the Quillbore are conducting

[13:42] some sort of ritual.

[13:56] What did he just do to that goat? Oh my

[13:59] gosh, he like smooched that goat. What

[14:00] just happened? I've got some good news

[14:02] and some very, very bad news.

[14:04] >> The hunt goat. As a hunter, you need a

[14:05] trustworthy beef at your side, or else

[14:07] Quillborg will slaughter you when you

[14:08] do. I get to kiss my own goat. Oh, hell

[14:11] yes. Oh my god. I think that we get our

[14:14] own goat. That's so awesome.

[14:18] >> I'm out of range.

[14:19] >> No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[14:24] Yes. Okay.

[14:26] Not kill it. We want to be friends. All

[14:28] right. From what I can gather, the

[14:30] cobbore are performing a shadow ritual

[14:32] on one of the expedition members. Slay

[14:34] Greco and save the captive member from

[14:36] the expedition. He may know where the

[14:37] others were taken.

[14:38] >> The expedition is counting on us.

[14:41] >> Whoops. Whoops. Wait, wait, wait. Hold

[14:42] on, I got L. Okay. No, not L. What was

[14:45] it? I

[14:47] It was L. Okay. I thought that was map.

[14:50] Sorry. That brings up the same thing.

[14:51] Okay. Um, Slice 7 within the Quill Brier

[14:56] patch. Okay. Blah blah blah blah. Cool.

[14:59] Can we name Can we name our pet?

[15:03] rename.

[15:05] Oh. Oh. What? What? What's going to be

[15:07] our pet's name? I tried to give our new

[15:09] goat my name of choice, but for some

[15:12] reason, the name Vegeta was classified

[15:14] as reserved. Whatever that means, I

[15:17] don't know. So, we had to settle for

[15:19] second best.

[15:21] How come we could do Goku, but we can't

[15:22] do Vegeta? That's stupid. All right,

[15:25] we'll just deal with this. My first

[15:27] impressions here are really great.

[15:29] Overall, everything has been smooth and

[15:31] easy to understand for players of all

[15:33] different skill levels. And instead of

[15:34] just like being thrown in and expected

[15:36] to figure it out, there's a decent bit

[15:38] of structure, and there's still intrigue

[15:41] there with the little engaging story

[15:43] unfolding in the background. Even early

[15:45] on, I'm appreciating the character

[15:46] design a lot, and the atmospheric

[15:48] design. It's all really whimsical and

[15:51] light-hearted, which surprised me a bit

[15:54] since my impression of the Warcraft

[15:55] games are much more dark and a little

[15:58] bit I think you guys are going to know

[16:00] what I'm talking about here, but a

[16:01] little bit cold. I suppose it's really

[16:04] difficult to describe that early

[16:07] American fantasy RPG style. I'm not

[16:10] really sure what words to use, but I

[16:12] just had a different impression of the

[16:14] series. We next regroup with the

[16:16] recovered expedition leaders and deploy

[16:18] some interesting tools to scope out the

[16:21] commotion ahead of us. From that, we

[16:24] find out that one of our dragon escorts,

[16:26] Rathon, has been captured by ogres. And

[16:29] we begin crafting a kind of silly rescue

[16:32] mission. Oh, they have a baby. Oh my

[16:35] gosh, that's so cute.

[16:38] Oh, I love that. The ambiance here is so

[16:41] amazing. I really love it. It just feels

[16:44] really alive. I found the interactive

[16:46] elements like the resisomatic really

[16:48] engaging and just plain fun and it

[16:51] helped keep everything interesting as

[16:53] compared to the usual get quest do thing

[16:56] turn-in quest repeat cycle of most.

[17:00] After following through with our plan to

[17:01] recover Rathon through some odd methods,

[17:05] we cleared out the area, secured the

[17:07] target, and our objective now changes

[17:09] over to rescuing Caligos. The second

[17:12] dragon still held captive by the ogres.

[17:14] >> Chaotic ogres are trying to start a

[17:16] ritual to gain control of him and his

[17:18] magic.

[17:21] >> And there it is. [snorts] Caligos and

[17:24] his power will be theirs [music] at

[17:25] these rituals finish. I will do what I

[17:29] can to slow down their magic while our

[17:31] forces disrupt these foul rituals.

[17:34] We will not let Caligos fall to such

[17:37] beasts. For the Alliance.

[17:40] I was so excited at this part because

[17:42] another player actually approached me

[17:45] asking for my help with a boss and it

[17:47] was just so awesome that other people

[17:49] were actually online. I kid you not,

[17:52] this was like my first time being

[17:53] approached on an MMO and it made my

[17:55] whole impression of the game even more

[17:57] positive. After finishing up with our

[18:00] friend, which I later realized was for

[18:02] an optional quest I did not accept and

[18:04] then could not finish on my own without

[18:07] help later on, I progressed forward to

[18:09] explore the rest of the island and save

[18:11] the last two remaining expedition

[18:13] members. I find it a little strange that

[18:15] I you don't see yourself on the mini

[18:17] map. That's

[18:20] intriguing.

[18:21] >> Fresh meat.

[18:27] >> [screaming]

[18:29] >> That's a That's a cool design. I like

[18:31] the the purpley colors. That's fun. I

[18:34] like when things are colorful.

[18:37] Yeah.

[18:39] Burn that thing. Burn. Burn that. What

[18:42] was it? What was it called? The totem.

[18:45] Burn that totem.

[18:47] Oh, they are really cool. [screaming]

[18:49] I love humanoid monster enemies.

[18:53] Oh, she's a little bit different.

[18:56] like [screaming] the the goth harpy.

[19:00] [groaning]

[19:01] >> At least

[19:03] I won't starve.

[19:08] >> Oh, that's a little sad, actually. I

[19:10] don't know. This place is magical. We'll

[19:13] get you in a second, Marie. But just

[19:14] look at this. Wow. I love the way that

[19:18] looks.

[19:20] The flat rendered skulls. That's

[19:23] awesome. I love it. I love this.

[19:27] [screaming]

[19:28] [groaning]

[19:38] Got him. All right, cool. Before we were

[19:41] allowed to continue on our rescue

[19:43] mission, I had to complete a couple job

[19:45] related quests that helped teach me how

[19:47] to actually use the skills that I've

[19:49] been learning, which I actually really

[19:51] like that there was some structure here.

[19:53] And it made me feel like I had some

[19:55] concept of what I was supposed to do

[19:56] instead of just guessing around because

[19:58] honestly, I probably would not have

[20:00] understood these things as much without

[20:02] the help of Huxsworth. I have prior

[20:04] experience with games and MMOs, so I can

[20:08] see how this is a little bit of like

[20:10] drawn out handholdiness, but on the flip

[20:12] side, I do see the value in making it

[20:14] accessible for newbies who might not

[20:16] have the same experience. This is just

[20:19] going to be a pet simulator now. That's

[20:21] that's great. This is my new main focus.

[20:24] I wonder what else we can make pets. I

[20:25] think we probably couldn't make uh Oh,

[20:28] let's get a deer. Wait, come on. Oh,

[20:32] can't Oh, I have to make them stop

[20:34] moving.

[20:36] Oh, I can do it.

[20:39] Oh, they don't like me.

[20:41] Oh, they don't like me for that. Oh,

[20:44] they Oh. Oh, they hate me. Oh, they hate

[20:47] me. Oh, wait. Wait. They can faint

[20:49] death right?

[20:52] Okay. Oh, no.

[20:55] Let's move. Let's move. They don't like

[20:58] it. Are they still on me? No. Go away.

[21:02] No, no, no. I'm in I'm in a safe area.

[21:03] Go away. Okay, I think we made it. I

[21:05] think we got it. Okay, you're injured.

[21:07] Recuperate to restore. Okay.

[21:12] Watch as your health recovers. Amazing.

[21:15] Oh, they're just hanging out now. Oh,

[21:21] hello.

[21:23] It's a little family.

[21:26] Oh, he's so cool.

[21:30] I hope they're not coming back to beat

[21:31] me up. I'm just going to avoid them.

[21:35] Okay, so you might notice a bit of an

[21:37] outfit change here. I was a little

[21:39] pressed for time and had to return and

[21:41] finish the next day. So, if you were

[21:43] wondering, that's why. I'm also going to

[21:46] take this as my chance to mention if

[21:48] you're interested in watching a mostly

[21:50] unclipped version of my gameplay

[21:53] experience here that is available on my

[21:55] Patreon along with a whole bunch of

[21:57] other exclusive content. I need a

[22:00] target. Nice area looting. Looting a

[22:04] course will not also loot all nearby

[22:05] enemies. Oh, awesome. Okay, what do we

[22:08] get? A new piece of gear.

[22:18] What? Why does it keep doing this?

[22:26] This seems to be a problem. We finally

[22:28] got rid of that. I don't know what was

[22:29] going on. Run the exiled.

[22:33] Okay,

[22:33] >> you will be

[22:34] >> more like dead the exiled. Got him. Ow.

[22:40] Oh, he's draining my spirit. Can I break

[22:43] that? Okay.

[22:45] I don't like that.

[22:48] >> Is he gonna blow up? Come on.

[22:52] >> I knew it.

[22:53] >> I need to return the favor. Hop on.

[22:56] >> Hop on. Oh,

[22:59] >> you

[22:59] >> He's a druid. That's awesome.

[23:01] >> I guess we just sit around for the ride.

[23:04] >> Man, this kind of makes me regret not

[23:05] being a druid. This seems awesome. These

[23:07] poor creatures. We cannot stop to help

[23:10] them.

[23:12] >> You did a good job saving those people

[23:14] and dealing with those spiders.

[23:16] >> Those spiders were victims, too. They

[23:18] just lost their home.

[23:20] >> Yeah. Well, I guess you could see it

[23:23] that way.

[23:28] >> You should have known better than to say

[23:30] that to a druid.

[23:34] You are just telling me how much you

[23:36] hate spiders.

[23:39] >> The light shines on all creatures. That

[23:42] does not like them. [laughter]

[23:47] >> Together, we'll see our way through

[23:49] this.

[23:49] >> Prepared with our new understanding of

[23:51] our class skills, we were now ready for

[23:53] the final push. Hello.

[23:56] >> Sacrifices.

[23:58] >> Go to cooking pit. Wave at Gorgroth.

[24:02] >> Got it. Ooh,

[24:04] >> that guy

[24:04] >> we have here.

[24:09] >> Take them to the back.

[24:12] >> Dance in the cooking area. Optional.

[24:15] >> THEN ALL WILL BOW before us. This one

[24:19] got some

[24:19] >> Oh, yeah. [laughter]

[24:21] >> You dance good. [clears throat]

[24:24] >> Thank you, brother.

[24:26] >> I think you're taking the ogre act a

[24:27] little too far.

[24:29] Nah, definitely not. See you later,

[24:31] brothers. W

[24:36] >> I really did like these guys. I hate to

[24:38] have to kill them. Unfortunate. They

[24:41] were cool.

[24:42] >> I need to target something first.

[24:47] >> Sorry, W. So far during the time I've

[24:50] spent playing, I've been pretty

[24:51] impressed by the atmospheric design. I

[24:54] noticed a lot of intentional

[24:55] environmental storytelling. Like the way

[24:58] the different areas are designed was

[25:00] more than just your average place assets

[25:02] randomly here kind of setup. And I can

[25:05] tell it was thoughtfully and lovingly

[25:07] done. The ogres had a fun little base

[25:09] and it felt very lived in like the

[25:12] enemies were really using and living in

[25:14] this space. I wanted to mention this

[25:17] because terrain and environmental design

[25:21] I feel like is kind of an aspect of

[25:23] games that often gets overlooked since

[25:25] it's enhancing the [music] experience on

[25:27] a more subconscious level for most

[25:30] players, but it's definitely a major

[25:31] part of the overall enjoyment of

[25:34] everything and retail really delivered

[25:36] here on this front. After dealing with

[25:38] all the ogres, we got to experience a

[25:40] little taste of what dungeons are like.

[25:46] We've almost cleared the room. Keep

[25:48] pushing.

[25:52] >> What' I get? All right. I can't be

[25:54] bothered with this right now. Please

[25:55] leave me alone. Tutorial. Oh my god.

[26:00] What's this new this new gear that I've

[26:02] got? Okay, maybe I'll just go away if we

[26:05] equipped it. Jeez, please. Okay, go

[26:09] away. Hello, Trump.

[26:11] >> One of top lieutenants. A little rat or

[26:14] a spider. Hello, spider. Decaying

[26:16] corpse. Oh.

[26:20] >> Oh, it's our dragon friend. No.

[26:23] Is that an evil dragon? Oh, no. It's our

[26:24] friend. I think we had two dragons in

[26:26] the beginning. All right. I'm a little

[26:28] confused.

[26:31] Okay.

[26:32] >> The bosses are immune to status effects.

[26:36] >> No, he's completing the ritual.

[26:38] >> Nothing happened. I think we stopped it.

[26:41] I think so too. I feel like I should

[26:44] mention here while we fight Caligos that

[26:48] I actually had no idea who Caligos and

[26:51] Ratheon were while playing. Like I was

[26:54] hearing what the NPCs were saying, but I

[26:56] didn't put it together somehow that they

[26:59] were the same dragons that were with us

[27:02] in the beginning of everything.

[27:05] So we Oh, they're the dragons.

[27:10] Okay, that makes a lot more sense now.

[27:12] Okay, okay, this is him the whole time.

[27:15] Okay, cool. He also has an awesome

[27:17] outfit. His feet look like they're

[27:19] clipping into the floor, though. Okay,

[27:21] let's not worry about that.

[27:22] >> How can I help?

[27:23] >> Of course, you can consider aspects to

[27:25] be the leaders of their respective

[27:26] dragon flights. There are blue, red,

[27:28] green, bronze, and black, [music] red,

[27:29] green, blondes. Let me try one more

[27:32] time. There are black, red, green,

[27:34] bronze, and blue. My dragon flight is

[27:36] focused on the preservation of arcane

[27:38] magic. I'm ready to get out of here.

[27:40] Okay, now we can probably see his feet.

[27:42] Ah, little little pointy shoes. I like

[27:44] that. Cool outfit. I also like his hair.

[27:47] Really good designs here. I'm I'm really

[27:48] satisfied. They all feel very like

[27:50] whimsical, and I'm really digging the

[27:52] whimsical, the whimsy. I guess our only

[27:55] option now is to head out.

[28:10] I did not expect to see you again so

[28:13] soon, my friend, after you'd answered

[28:17] the call of the aisles.

[28:20] >> Something has happened, Katgar.

[28:23] Something terrible.

[28:26] >> Galacos,

[28:28] tell me.

[28:30] >> It all happened so quickly. And Ratheon,

[28:34] young as he is, bravely or perhaps

[28:37] foolishly tried to stop it.

[28:43] But he was too late.

[28:47] The Tempest had already been unleashed.

[29:04] That's like the big evil dragon

[29:07] movie

[29:08] >> with a message. They are coming to

[29:11] cleanse the world of the Titans stain.

[29:18] Alexrazza,

[29:20] who is she?

[29:22] >> What is she?

[29:24] She is Razagth,

[29:28] youngest of the primal incarnates.

[29:32] >> Incarnate

[29:34] four dangerous adherence of the

[29:36] elemental forces

[29:39] >> of the aspects.

[29:40] >> That sounds familiar.

[29:41] >> Our flights embraced the Titan's gifts.

[29:44] >> They did not.

[29:48] >> The war that followed was

[29:50] >> They're cool. These

[29:51] >> unimaginable.

[29:53] And it took all of our strength combined

[29:56] to banish them.

[29:58] >> If they were so dangerous, why were they

[30:00] not destroyed?

[30:03] >> I hadn't the heart to do it.

[30:06] We were once as clutch mates.

[30:12] >> Time, it seems, has not quelled their

[30:14] fury. And look at us. Should she free

[30:18] her kin now, we haven't the strength to

[30:21] stop them. And if Irram's hunger is

[30:25] unleashed,

[30:27] >> then we have no choice. If we are to be

[30:31] protectors once more, the aspects of

[30:34] [music] our dragon flights must be made

[30:37] a new.

[30:42] >> Our queen is determined, Kgar, but we've

[30:45] only just begun to find who we are

[30:47] again. And I fear that without help, we

[30:52] may never get the chance to see our

[30:54] future secured.

[30:59] H.

[31:09] Then it seems the mortal races too must

[31:13] answer the call

[31:16] and face the storms ahead.

[31:20] >> That's us.

[31:23] >> Oh, that's cool artwork. Oh my gosh,

[31:26] they look so awesome in this art.

[31:29] Heck yeah. With the island secured and

[31:32] Caliggo safe, he brings us to the Dragon

[31:34] Isles, concluding the little intro area

[31:36] and bringing us to presumably the rest

[31:39] of the game and the end of my initial

[31:41] play session. That's an awesome eagle,

[31:44] Wild Feather. Oh, sweet. Maybe we can

[31:47] make him a pet. What's this one?

[31:51] It's a bunny. Oh my gosh. Earlier I was

[31:53] like, the one thing that's going to make

[31:54] this game better is if there were

[31:56] bunnies. Wait a minute.

[31:58] Can I

[32:00] Can I

[32:03] in No.

[32:05] No.

[32:07] I can't I can't make him my pet. That is

[32:10] tragic. Is there any way that I could

[32:12] have him as a pet in the future? That is

[32:16] devastating. Oh, I have a lot of

[32:19] thoughts. I especially like the

[32:21] structure. It all felt like a purposeful

[32:23] chain of events with a final goal rather

[32:25] than just the average random asks from

[32:28] random NPCs. But I want to save my

[32:31] reflections for the end of the video and

[32:34] hop right into classic now. Okay, it's

[32:37] time for the part of the video where we

[32:40] try out classic now. Let's just go ahead

[32:43] and start making our character because,

[32:45] you know, that's going to take a while.

[32:46] Okay, so there are significantly less

[32:49] race options here than in retail, which

[32:52] I suppose makes sense. This will

[32:54] definitely um make the process here a

[32:57] little bit uh shorter, I hope. So on the

[33:02] alliance, we have humans, the dwarves,

[33:06] night elves, and the gnomes. And then on

[33:09] the horde side, we have the orcs,

[33:11] undead, torin, and the troll. So, I

[33:13] guess that's like our main original

[33:15] eight races. I want to preemptively say

[33:18] that I think I'm just going to go ahead

[33:20] with the Alliance. Again, it's

[33:22] interesting to see the differences

[33:23] between like how the these races have

[33:26] evolved in the retail version with all

[33:28] like the graphical updates and

[33:29] everything. Especially the trolls have

[33:31] really uh had a bit of a a glow up in

[33:34] retail. This one's pretty cool though,

[33:36] actually. I quite like that. If I was

[33:38] going to go for horde, I would probably

[33:40] pick a troll to be honest. Okay, I think

[33:44] I'm deciding between night elf and

[33:47] human. Um, I'm assuming they start off

[33:51] in two different places.

[33:54] You know what? I don't want to overthink

[33:56] it this time. I think we're just going

[33:57] to go right with human. I think that's

[33:59] kind of like the iconic starting place

[34:03] for WoW, if I remember correctly.

[34:06] Honestly, I don't really know, but I

[34:07] think I'm just going to go like pretty

[34:08] basic this time. The first thing I

[34:10] noticed, of course, was that there were

[34:12] a lot less race options here compared to

[34:14] retail. And in general, there were just

[34:17] a lot less options for everything, which

[34:19] is not necessarily a problem. I just

[34:21] personally love character customization.

[34:23] So, more is always better to me, but I

[34:26] wasn't necessarily dissatisfied with any

[34:28] of the options here. What did stick out

[34:30] to me here was the style compared to WoW

[34:33] in its shiny polished state. There were

[34:36] a lot less polygons here and it was just

[34:39] really cozy and homely. Okay, for

[34:41] today's journey, we're going to be

[34:42] accompanied by Clovery, our human

[34:45] warrior. I decided to just go basic with

[34:48] it and not overthink it. I just want to

[34:50] get that like very basic classic WoW

[34:54] experience. I feel like warrior human is

[34:56] like the iconic way to start. So, let's

[34:59] just do it.

[35:14] The noble humans of Stormwind are a

[35:17] proud, tenacious race. Though the recent

[35:20] invasion of the demonic Burning Legion

[35:22] decimated their sister kingdom of Lord

[35:24] Aron, the defenders of Stormwind stand

[35:28] vigilant against any who would threaten

[35:30] the sanctity of their lands.

[35:33] Nestled in the foothills of Elwin

[35:35] Forest, Stormwind City is one of the

[35:38] last bastions of human power in the

[35:40] world. Ruled by the child king Anduin

[35:44] Ren, the people of Stormwind remain

[35:46] steadfast in their commitment to the

[35:49] Grand Alliance.

[35:51] Backed by their stalwart allies, the

[35:53] armies of Stormwind have been called

[35:55] away to fight the savage horde on

[35:57] distant battlefields. With the armies

[36:00] gone, the defense of Stormwind [music]

[36:03] now falls to its proud citizens.

[36:06] You must defend the kingdom against the

[36:08] foul mongrels that encroach upon it and

[36:11] hunt down the subversive traitors who

[36:14] seek to destroy it from within.

[36:17] Now is the time for heroes. Now

[36:20] humanity's greatest chapter can be told.

[36:28] I love how I just like panned into a

[36:30] different player that wasn't me. Okay,

[36:33] welcome to World of Warcraft. When you

[36:35] encounter something new, a help button

[36:36] will appear in the bottom center of your

[36:37] screen. Click the button for a brief

[36:39] explanation of how to interact with that

[36:40] part of the world. These hints will

[36:42] start with the basics and then progress

[36:43] to more advanced topics as you gain an

[36:45] experience. Thank you for playing and

[36:46] good luck in your adventure. I guess

[36:48] we'll just tips. I feel like I could I

[36:50] could probably use that. Okay, so I am

[36:54] already

[36:56] seeing a huge difference between this

[36:58] and retail just like right off the bat.

[37:01] We start this one with an actual setup

[37:03] of a story, which I really appreciate.

[37:05] While I really like the atmosphere of

[37:07] retail, I do feel like we were just kind

[37:09] of thrown in without any kind of

[37:11] explanation on why we should care about

[37:14] anything that's going on. This place is

[37:16] so cool.

[37:18] I love this area. Wow.

[37:22] The style is so great and nostalgic. It

[37:24] makes me nostalgic for something that I

[37:26] didn't even experience. Hello.

[37:29] >> You need something?

[37:31] >> I hope you strapped your belt on tight,

[37:33] young warrior, because there is work to

[37:34] do here in Northshshire. And I don't

[37:36] mean farming. The Strowman guards are

[37:38] hardressed to keep the peace here with

[37:39] so many of us in distant lands and so so

[37:41] many threats pressing close. And so

[37:43] we're enlisting the aid of anyone

[37:44] willing to defend their home and their

[37:46] alliance.

[37:52] Marshall McBride. Hello. Hey, citizen.

[37:55] You look like a step one. We guards are

[37:56] spread a little thin out here and could

[37:58] use your help.

[38:00] I quite like how the quest boxes kind of

[38:03] unveil themselves as they go. It's

[38:05] pretty uh engaging. I I I think it's

[38:07] kind of unique and nice. Your first task

[38:09] is one of cleansing Clovery. A clan of

[38:11] cobalts have invested the woods to the

[38:12] north. Go there and fight the cobalt

[38:14] vermin you find. reduce their numbers

[38:15] that we may one day drive them from

[38:17] Northshshire.

[38:19] >> Okay,

[38:20] our first little bout of action. Let's

[38:22] see how it goes. Before heading off to

[38:25] take care of Marshall McBride's Cobalt

[38:27] issues, I picked up a couple side quests

[38:29] to complete along the way to familiarize

[38:31] myself with the combat system.

[38:33] Everything has been very figure it out

[38:35] yourself, aside from the little tip

[38:37] boxes that pop up here and there, but I

[38:39] don't necessarily view this as a bad

[38:41] thing. Sometimes figuring it out and

[38:42] using just a little bit of your brain

[38:44] can be some of the fun. I encountered a

[38:47] bit of a learning curve when it came to

[38:48] the auto attack, but I think that was

[38:50] genuinely also me just being stupid and

[38:53] having basic comprehension issues. Also

[38:55] not explained was the rage system, which

[38:58] allowed me to use stronger warrior

[39:00] skills when I accumulated enough rage

[39:02] from auto attacking. Warrior abilities

[39:04] require rage. Rage is gained when you

[39:05] cause damage or take damage. In order to

[39:08] use this, we need 15 rage. Okay, got it.

[39:13] So, that used up our rage. Okay, so when

[39:15] I hit the attack thing, it will take me

[39:19] out of attack, it seems like. Yeah. And

[39:23] then after that, I died on the very

[39:26] first quest.

[39:27] >> What?

[39:30] I died already. And very suddenly it

[39:34] dawned on me there were no screen

[39:37] elements or special effects to alert you

[39:39] to your current status. I felt like such

[39:42] a pampered new age gamer here because

[39:44] this is just simply not something I ever

[39:47] really had to worry about much before in

[39:50] other games. After my wakeup call, I

[39:53] started to get into the flow of it and

[39:55] began to really enjoy the ambiance of it

[39:57] all. I noticed a big difference between

[39:58] my energy playing classic compared to

[40:01] the retail starting area. It was

[40:03] definitely less engaging in the way of

[40:06] constant things happening and

[40:07] stimulating you, but it wasn't

[40:09] necessarily boring by any means either.

[40:12] I wasn't really being held to any

[40:14] specific path or direct story here. It

[40:16] was overall less structured, which has

[40:18] its pros and cons for sure. It's just a

[40:20] different experience altogether. This is

[40:23] such a wonderful early gaming

[40:25] environment. Can we equipped any of

[40:27] this? Do we We don't have any gloves.

[40:29] Okay, cool. Um, leather vest. Guess we

[40:33] can put that on, right? What's this?

[40:37] Recruit shirt. Okay, so we have a chest

[40:39] and then we have like a shirt option.

[40:41] Okay, cool. All right, getting a little

[40:44] dripped out. Okay, the starting outfit

[40:46] is really awesome, though. I do really

[40:48] like it. Let's kill some more cobalts.

[40:50] Hopefully, we're a little bit more

[40:51] robust now. Take a little bit less

[40:54] damage.

[40:55] >> [snorts]

[40:56] >> Oh yeah, I think we're already doing a

[40:58] lot better. I continued on to fight the

[41:01] cobalts per request, but I eventually

[41:04] realized that you had to specifically

[41:06] make sure you were fighting the correct

[41:08] enemy, which is something I am also not

[41:10] used to happening. Oh, am I not getting

[41:13] progression from fighting the workers?

[41:15] Do I need to fight only the vermin? I

[41:17] think that I think yes, it does seem

[41:19] that that is true. Okay. Oops. Two armor

[41:23] versus four armor. Don't mind if I do.

[41:26] And a cloak. Is this a ver? Okay,

[41:28] vermin. Good. That's what we need. So, I

[41:31] don't think that the workers were

[41:35] going towards our little quest here.

[41:37] Uh-oh.

[41:44] What is that? Mark of the Wild increases

[41:47] armor by 65 and all attributes by two.

[41:49] That's awesome. Causes three nature

[41:51] damage to attackers. Why? Why' that

[41:54] happen? Okay. I mean, I'm very happy

[41:56] about that, but I'm a little confused

[41:58] where that came from. Oh, we're going so

[42:01] much faster now. Whoa. Okay, let's let's

[42:03] finish up these guys. Hello, Clovery.

[42:05] I'm getting hungry. Did you get that

[42:06] tough wolf meat? Here you go. You've

[42:08] been busy. I can't wait to cook up that

[42:09] wolf meat. I have some things here. You

[42:11] might want to take your pick. Um,

[42:14] to be honest, I think what I have might

[42:16] be better. Maybe the bracers.

[42:19] No. 25 shoes. 34. M.

[42:23] Okay, I'll just take these. Man, the

[42:25] cobalts have better armor than the

[42:26] humans. No wonder we're having a hard

[42:28] time taking care of them. Jeez, who are

[42:29] these guys over here? Godric Rothgar,

[42:32] what's up with you? Is he a shopkeep? We

[42:34] can sell some junk,

[42:35] >> friend.

[42:36] >> Aha.

[42:39] Okay let's

[42:40] >> I supply only the finest goods.

[42:43] >> Oh, why was that oddly sensual? Can we

[42:45] hear that again?

[42:48] >> See you around. What can I do for you?

[42:51] [laughter]

[42:52] Okay, Dermont John's, let's see what

[42:54] you've got. Looking around, I feel like

[42:57] even though retail is like touted as

[42:59] this very like whimsy, Disneyi kind of

[43:02] game, I think that classic has a lot of

[43:05] its own whimsy, it's just in a different

[43:08] font, if that makes sense. It's still

[43:10] very whimsical. It's just done

[43:13] differently. Marshall McBride gave us

[43:15] another cobalt related quest and I got

[43:17] the chance to pick up a new class skill

[43:19] from the warrior trainer Lane along the

[43:21] way. Ah, you got my letter, Clovery.

[43:23] Good. There's been an influx of warriors

[43:26] in Elwin recently, which is good for

[43:27] Stormwind but bad for the cobalts and

[43:29] defas in the area.

[43:32] >> See you around.

[43:32] >> Defas,

[43:34] I don't freaking know. Okay, get

[43:36] yourself squared away, learn the layout

[43:37] of the land, and come back to me

[43:38] whenever you need training. I'll be here

[43:39] night or day. This guy never sleeps.

[43:41] Lain awake 24/7. He's a special kind of

[43:44] breed of man. The knights of the silver

[43:46] hand have done well making this place

[43:47] fairly safe, but as you meet other

[43:48] citizens, I think you'll find they have

[43:50] problems they could use some help with.

[43:51] Help a warrior can give them. Good luck.

[43:54] I don't know why I literally can't read

[43:55] any of these quests today. Jeez. Uh,

[43:57] what level are we? Three. Okay, so when

[44:00] we get up to four, we can come back to

[44:01] Lain and he'll teach us some more tricks

[44:05] of the trade, I suppose. All right, what

[44:07] are we doing now? Cobalts, I believe.

[44:09] Correct. Well, it does not appear that

[44:12] there's anywhere on the map to tell us

[44:15] where to go.

[44:18] Um,

[44:19] so we're just going to have to figure it

[44:21] out, I suppose. I'm going to say, oh,

[44:26] this kind of looks like a cave over

[44:27] there. So, I'm going to head over there.

[44:30] We have to camp to the Echer Ridge Mine

[44:33] to the north, which that is a north.

[44:35] Okay, let's head up over there. I

[44:37] believe that this is the correct Is

[44:40] there an auto walk? No. Cool. Don't know

[44:43] why I tried. So, let's head up over

[44:46] there and see see if my uh instincts are

[44:50] correct. And then I encountered a bit

[44:53] more confusion again about what enemy to

[44:55] kill. The quest specified cobalt workers

[44:58] and I was only finding cobalt laborers

[45:01] within the described area in my quest

[45:03] log. It was really interesting to see

[45:05] how much my brain relied on having some

[45:08] kind of marker on my target enemies to

[45:10] do that mental work for me. These are

[45:13] all laborers. No.

[45:16] What the hell? Am I missing something?

[45:19] After I searched the mine like twice

[45:21] over, I realized that there was just no

[45:23] way the cobalt workers could be here.

[45:25] And I finally came up with the idea to

[45:27] go and check outside instead. Okay, so

[45:30] I'm assuming the next quest is going to

[45:31] kill the laborers. did all that for

[45:33] nothing. All right, it's okay. We were

[45:35] doing a little recon. It's all right.

[45:37] They have little candles on their head.

[45:39] Oh my god. I just noticed. I was like,

[45:41] why are they dropping candles? Is that

[45:43] how they see in the mines? That's That's

[45:46] really cute. Oh my god. This is such a

[45:49] delightful little forest starting area.

[45:53] The little forest areas in every MMO are

[45:55] are just so charming. It's I feel like

[45:57] it's something that I never get sick of.

[45:59] I think a lot of people want something

[46:00] new when it comes to gaming experiences,

[46:02] like a brand new, never-before-seen

[46:04] experience, something different, never

[46:06] done before. Personally, I am very happy

[46:09] and content to just kind of do the same

[46:11] things that I like over and over and

[46:13] over again. It's good for a reason. It's

[46:15] like, oh, that's so cliche. Yeah, it's

[46:17] cliche because people like it. So why

[46:20] why would you reinvent the wheel? Just

[46:22] do the thing that everybody likes. We

[46:24] all just got to stop trying to be so

[46:26] different. Just admit that it's good and

[46:28] enjoy it. Man, I don't like hearing all

[46:30] these coal balls in our mind. No good

[46:31] can come of this. Here, take this as

[46:32] payment. And when you're ready to speak

[46:34] to me again, I'd like you to go back to

[46:35] the mines one more time. All right. I I

[46:37] think I'm pretty sure what we're going

[46:38] to have to do now.

[46:42] Oh my gosh, I love how they're just flat

[46:44] images. It's so charming, though. Like,

[46:46] can you really look at that and tell me

[46:48] that it's bad? I mean, like, I guess it

[46:50] is objectively bad, but doesn't it just

[46:54] like warm your heart? The little

[46:57] onedimensional flower pictures like I

[46:59] don't know. There's just a charm to it,

[47:02] and I can't like I can't see it as bad.

[47:04] I can just see it as charming,

[47:07] personally. I picked up some more side

[47:09] quests from Deputy Willam related to the

[47:11] Defias Brotherhood and got an

[47:13] opportunity to get a new weapon and

[47:15] explore around a bit more. All right,

[47:17] let's figure out let's uh think about

[47:20] where we might need to go. Um

[47:24] there is no more zooming in. I'm just

[47:25] going to

[47:27] follow this path. I suppose it seems

[47:31] like there is a farm. Okay, so here's

[47:34] the river. There's a little bit of a

[47:37] bridge over there.

[47:40] I'm sure we could just walk across a

[47:41] river though, like without a bridge,

[47:44] right? Maybe. I think so. The bandits

[47:47] are somewhere

[47:50] by the Okay, I suppose these are the

[47:51] bandits. Yes. At this point, I was just

[47:54] spending my time enjoying the vibes and

[47:56] the chill back and forth loop while

[47:58] taking in the sights and sounds around

[48:00] me.

[48:00] >> You need something?

[48:02] >> You're no warlock. I have no time for

[48:03] you. But oh jeez. That's okay. I

[48:05] wouldn't trade Lain for the world. I

[48:08] don't need any of their demons. Jeez. So

[48:11] stuck up. All right, Lane. Let's see

[48:13] what you've got. Okay. Charge

[48:17] a deer.

[48:23] Oh my gosh,

[48:25] it's so cute. Hello.

[48:29] Oh,

[48:32] hey buddy.

[48:34] [laughter]

[48:35] What a silly little face. I love him.

[48:37] Hello, friend. He's eating He's eating

[48:40] the grass. Oh. Oh my gosh. This is

[48:43] amazing. Peak game design. Little

[48:45] bunnies and deer. Amazing. This is the

[48:49] best game ever. Now, that is what I call

[48:52] style. That That's a pretty nice set.

[48:54] Something that I also found a little

[48:58] funky. It's just that to be honest, in

[49:01] um retail there weren't a lot of early

[49:03] armor options. Like everything that you

[49:05] would put on would look pretty similar.

[49:07] And not going to lie, the sexiness of

[49:10] this one uh kind of kind of peak design

[49:13] here as well. Garrick Padfoot, a

[49:16] cutthroat who's plagued our farmers and

[49:17] merchants for weeks, was seen at a shack

[49:19] near the vineyards, which lies east of

[49:20] the abbey and across the bridge. Okay, I

[49:23] have to remember that. East of the abbey

[49:25] and across the bridge. Bring me the

[49:27] villain's head and earn his bounty. But

[49:29] be wary, Clovery. Garrick has gathered a

[49:31] gang of thugs around him. He will not be

[49:32] an easy man to reach.

[49:34] >> Okay, so where would that be?

[49:38] east of the abbey

[49:43] and across the bridge. Wouldn't that

[49:45] just be where we came from? Why would he

[49:47] not specify that? That's literally where

[49:49] we were just sent. But oh, a horse.

[49:53] Hello.

[49:54] That is a very nice horse model. I was

[49:59] expecting it to be a lot more janky. A

[50:02] lot of early games for some reason they

[50:04] struggle with the ecquin but um that was

[50:09] impressive. Like the deer was a lot more

[50:11] janky than that. Aren't deer considered

[50:14] like

[50:16] are they in the same family as horses?

[50:21] I don't know.

[50:23] I believe

[50:27] he has to be somewhere. But there's no

[50:28] house here.

[50:36] A shack near the vineyards. Is there a

[50:38] shack

[50:39] here?

[50:41] That's not a shack. That's just

[50:43] containers.

[50:45] Those are Those are portaotties.

[50:51] I feel like if Shaq was around here,

[50:53] we'd definitely see him. There's the

[50:54] Shack. All right.

[50:57] All right. Garrick.

[50:59] Garrick's head. Ew. Let me just take

[51:02] your head and put it in my bag. Ew.

[51:04] After successfully handing over the

[51:06] severed head of Garrick Padfoot that was

[51:08] somehow stored inside our small bag, I

[51:11] picked up a stronger sword and commenced

[51:13] on a couple more side quests before

[51:15] finally venturing forth to Goldshshire.

[51:18] I am not exactly sure how to get there,

[51:20] but I'm sure if we just follow this

[51:22] path, we'll probably probably find our

[51:26] way. A sheep. Why hello. Oh, he's so

[51:31] cute.

[51:33] Little blackheaded sheep. I feel like

[51:36] it's kind of rare for MMOs, at least in

[51:40] my experience. I haven't played every

[51:42] MMO out there, but I feel like I've

[51:43] played my fair share, to be honest, of

[51:45] old and new MMOs. And I don't find, for

[51:48] whatever reason, it seems to be like a

[51:50] very simple and obvious thing that you

[51:51] should just do in an MMO. Many of them

[51:54] don't have just roaming friendly

[51:57] critters and animals around and most

[52:00] things are all just like hostile mobs to

[52:03] fight. And the inclusion of just having

[52:06] wildlife here and critters and little

[52:08] animals is so amazing and I appreciate

[52:11] it so much. Oh, we made it to Golden

[52:14] Shire. Cool. Okay, I knew we would. But

[52:16] the inclusion of like these little

[52:18] environmental

[52:20] assets

[52:22] really makes the game. I think like

[52:25] that's a really big thing. In

[52:27] Goldshshire, Marshall Dugen awarded us

[52:29] acting deputy status and tells us a

[52:31] little bit more about the currently

[52:33] strained political state of Azeroth,

[52:35] which is already way more information

[52:37] about the world than anything I got in

[52:39] the intro to retail. Our next quest is

[52:41] to go and take care of some more cobalts

[52:44] again, except it's different this time

[52:46] because we have to go to a different

[52:48] mine. After checking out some of the

[52:50] shops and the end around Goldshshire,

[52:52] including some suspicious business in

[52:54] the Goldshshire in basement. Oh, hello.

[52:58] I will say though, that is an amazing

[53:00] outfit. A demon trainer. I admit I got a

[53:04] little antsy and I started making my way

[53:06] to Stormwind City to check out the

[53:08] entrance, but then I chickenened out and

[53:10] walked back before taking any real look

[53:12] at the city. I trust that the main story

[53:14] will bring us there in due time. Remy

[53:17] two times. Well, hello there, Remy. The

[53:20] cobalts in these parts sometimes carry

[53:21] gold dust on them. I am very much

[53:23] appreciating like the Skyrim thing where

[53:26] everybody has the same exact voice over.

[53:28] You can find coals in the Fargo. I don't

[53:30] know if I trust this this guy two times.

[53:34] >> I feel like we're about to be scammed. I

[53:36] This is like coercion. I don't know. A

[53:39] chicken.

[53:41] That might be the funkiest chicken I've

[53:43] ever seen in a video game. Look at his

[53:46] big ass feet.

[53:48] Oh,

[53:49] >> he's like waddling. Rest and relaxation.

[53:53] >> That is absolutely

[53:56] disgusting. Oh my god. There's like

[53:58] little bugs just hovering around.

[54:00] William Pestl, you look identical to our

[54:03] friend Farley over here.

[54:05] >> Traveling Baker. See, like that's just a

[54:08] cute little thing to have. Traveling

[54:10] Baker. I don't know. Somebody had to

[54:11] think of that idea, put it in the game.

[54:13] I just love stuff like that.

[54:17] So, if we stay on the path, it's not

[54:19] going to particularly bring us directly

[54:22] south. We might have to

[54:25] kind of stray off.

[54:27] the beaten path for this one. To be

[54:30] honest, I got a little lost trying to

[54:32] figure out where this next cobalt issue

[54:34] was. My mini map was not expanding as

[54:37] quickly as I would have liked as I

[54:39] explored, and the enemies were getting

[54:41] harder than I could handle, and I even

[54:43] died a time or two before finding the

[54:45] right spot.

[54:48] All righty then. I was pretty hesitant

[54:50] here to get off the beaten path since I

[54:52] was used to most games, especially in

[54:54] the beginning, basically directly

[54:56] mapping out where to go. Even though the

[54:58] directions clearly stated to just go

[55:01] directly south [music] and find the

[55:03] landmarks, I hesitated since that would

[55:05] take me off the path and just felt like

[55:08] the wrong decision since the structure

[55:10] would fall away and I would need to

[55:12] venture into the unknown without any

[55:15] quest markers.

[55:17] Billy. Of course, his name is Billy.

[55:20] Billy and his Chad dad over here. Okay,

[55:22] so this is kind of where we need to be.

[55:24] I'm assuming. Okay, it's going to be

[55:26] around right there. I need to scout the

[55:29] Fargo deep mine. Large candles and gold

[55:32] dust. Perhaps they'll have a large

[55:35] candle. Guess we'll find out. Large

[55:38] candle. Splendid. Okay.

[55:46] After a couple more near-death

[55:48] experiences, I slowly collected all the

[55:51] drops we needed for our quest and

[55:52] crawled back to civilization once more.

[55:55] All right, Remy two-timer. We've got

[55:58] your gold dust.

[56:00] >> Let me see your price.

[56:01] >> Have a good one.

[56:02] >> Thanks for the dust, Clovery. Here's

[56:03] your cash. And here's a token of from

[56:05] associates of mine. You might find it

[56:07] useful. Bag of marbles. Decrease targets

[56:10] chance to hit by 25% for Tempra.

[56:13] >> That's nothing. Yeah, for some reason I

[56:15] thought we were like level 10, but we're

[56:17] only six, it seems. What's next?

[56:20] Dragons. Well, do I got news for you,

[56:22] buddy?

[56:23] >> Alliance.

[56:23] >> Back inside the inn, William Pestl had

[56:26] another quest for us that would lead us

[56:28] back to Stormwind. So, I took this as

[56:30] our best chance to explore the iconic

[56:33] city a bit more before hitting the

[56:34] 2-hour mark and logging off for the day.

[56:36] I already know the way. I believe it's

[56:39] this way.

[56:44] No, it's not that way. I believe it's

[56:47] this way. Yes, this is a common

[56:51] experience for me as I am incredibly

[56:53] directionally challenged.

[56:55] Well, okay, that's a lot. I was like,

[57:00] let's try and figure out where we need

[57:01] to go. But I see that there is

[57:04] absolutely no quest marker whatsoever.

[57:08] Okay, let's figure out where we need to

[57:10] go. Um,

[57:13] shipment of candles.

[57:15] Morgan pestles of pockets. Stormwind

[57:17] trade district. Trade disc district.

[57:24] Seems like it's going to be right ahead

[57:26] of us. So,

[57:28] the first step is making it through the

[57:30] gates. Not to very much surprise, even

[57:33] after more than 20 years of its release,

[57:35] I entered the city walls to find a very

[57:38] active player base roaming the

[57:40] cobblestone streets, sitting on the

[57:41] steps of the bank and frequenting the

[57:43] shops. Excited for the future, I held

[57:46] myself back from looking around too much

[57:48] and called it a day. So, I initially set

[57:51] out trying to understand what exactly

[57:53] people loved and remembered about this

[57:55] game so much. And with complete

[57:58] confidence, I can now say I get it. In

[58:01] both retail and classic, there was just

[58:03] this comforting, cozy atmosphere at all

[58:06] times. Retail felt a bit more

[58:09] approachable and standardized with its

[58:12] clearly abundant amount of options and

[58:15] content [music] compared to classic,

[58:17] which was obviously a little bit more

[58:19] rough around the edges. It's kind of

[58:21] hard to put words to, but Classic just

[58:24] felt less cozy in that traditional sense

[58:28] and really felt like a authentic [music]

[58:30] old school MMO experience. Something

[58:32] that left a good impression right from

[58:34] the start is that they both opened up

[58:36] with fully voice acted cut scenes to set

[58:38] the stage. There were bits of voice

[58:40] acting everywhere incorporated into the

[58:42] gameplay loop where NPCs would have

[58:44] little lines when you interacted with

[58:45] them. And sometimes your character would

[58:47] even talk to you, usually when they

[58:49] couldn't do what you wanted them to do.

[58:51] And it felt very alive and engaging and

[58:54] enhanced my experience so much that I am

[58:57] actually fully convinced that this

[58:59] should absolutely be the standard when

[59:00] it comes to MMOs. MMOs by nature just

[59:04] really struggle with feeling like a slog

[59:06] in the gameplay loop. And I feel like

[59:08] this inclusion of voice acting really

[59:11] breaks up the monotony. And at least for

[59:13] me, it really helped keep it alive. But

[59:16] besides being the same [music] core of a

[59:18] game, I think the similarities kind of

[59:21] end there in a weird way for me.

[59:23] Starting off with Retail, the technical

[59:25] older and more established version of

[59:27] WoW. I really enjoyed myself while

[59:30] playing. There was always something to

[59:31] look at, something to react to, and it

[59:34] was definitely the faster paced and

[59:36] perfected version between the two.

[59:38] Traveling is optimized and quick.

[59:40] Gameplay is quite self-explanatory with

[59:42] copious tutorials and built-in support,

[59:44] and there is always something changing

[59:46] and moving around you constantly. If you

[59:48] chose to look for it, there would always

[59:50] be something there to engage with, but

[59:52] you could also diverge from this path

[59:54] [music] and start doing whatever you

[59:55] wanted. There was plenty of room to

[59:57] chill out or be fully engaged [music]

[59:59] depending on what you wanted at the

[1:00:01] time. And in no way is this a bad thing,

[1:00:04] but after playing Vanilla Classic and

[1:00:06] seeing where the game started off, I can

[1:00:10] understand and see how there could be

[1:00:12] some dissatisfaction [music]

[1:00:13] with retail from these early players.

[1:00:16] The game just grew basically into a

[1:00:18] completely different game with separate

[1:00:21] objective and goals. Neither are bad or

[1:00:25] objectively better than the other, just

[1:00:27] different. Retail is full of content,

[1:00:30] almost to an overwhelming point. And it

[1:00:34] really left me with this grand

[1:00:36] impression that I was playing an almost

[1:00:38] 30-year-old game with a vast history,

[1:00:41] which makes me kind of think back on how

[1:00:43] much I've heard retail be expressed

[1:00:45] [music] as the more approachable and

[1:00:48] beginnerfriendly version of the two,

[1:00:50] which I do agree with, but only on a

[1:00:53] accessibility standpoint. When it came

[1:00:56] to actually understanding World of

[1:00:58] Warcraft and its story, I find that

[1:01:00] retail kind of fell short here. In my

[1:01:03] small time spent with Classic, I already

[1:01:05] sensed a story unraveling around me.

[1:01:07] There was some setup and explanation

[1:01:09] about what was going on in this world

[1:01:11] and how we're fitting into it all in our

[1:01:13] own small way. Retail and its updated

[1:01:15] starting point just throws you in and

[1:01:18] expects you to either have some kind of

[1:01:20] prior knowledge or to not really care

[1:01:23] about the entire history of everything

[1:01:25] before that point. Next, I tried out

[1:01:27] classic. The experience of playing

[1:01:29] retail first left me with a pretty good

[1:01:31] idea about where the classic [music]

[1:01:33] experience went and what it evolved into

[1:01:36] when I approached it. And the main thing

[1:01:39] that stuck with me was the game's

[1:01:41] expectations of the player. Retail tells

[1:01:44] you exactly almost unbearingly where

[1:01:48] everything you need is. There's rarely

[1:01:51] any questions or things that require

[1:01:53] deep thought. In classic, I found that I

[1:01:55] needed to stop and think a lot more. The

[1:01:58] map doesn't tell you where you need to

[1:02:00] go. You have to read the instructions

[1:02:03] and use context clues to find your way

[1:02:05] around. And this felt way more

[1:02:07] explorative. The need to check my map

[1:02:10] actually became fun and filled the

[1:02:12] experience with this sense of

[1:02:13] self-reliance and adventure. As I

[1:02:16] mentioned earlier while playing, I was

[1:02:19] kind of surprised at how oddly troubled

[1:02:22] I was by the lack of structure. I was

[1:02:25] hesitant to get off the beaten path. It

[1:02:28] didn't feel like the right thing to do.

[1:02:30] Like surely they wouldn't send a new

[1:02:32] player to a key starting area without

[1:02:34] some kind of pre-established path going

[1:02:36] there, right? And another thing, none of

[1:02:38] the enemies I needed to fight had any

[1:02:41] kind of markers or indications

[1:02:43] confirming and assuring me that I was

[1:02:45] doing the right thing. I even fought

[1:02:47] incorrect enemy types for quite a while

[1:02:49] before I realized the error in my ways.

[1:02:51] I continuously struggled with

[1:02:53] comprehending the auto attack because

[1:02:55] I'm so used to the one keybind being the

[1:02:57] first class skill. There was absolutely

[1:03:00] no handholding here. I know I just went

[1:03:03] on a long-winded rant about how classic

[1:03:06] was more complicated than retail, but I

[1:03:09] also want to mention that despite this,

[1:03:11] it was also oddly the more chill between

[1:03:14] the two. The lack of cool but ultimately

[1:03:18] overstimulating glowing animated armor,

[1:03:21] lavish dragon mounts, and whimsical

[1:03:23] alien races made space for this chill

[1:03:27] kind of focus. As I played, I found

[1:03:30] myself commenting less and less on

[1:03:32] things to the camera, and I noticed

[1:03:34] several minutes at a time when editing

[1:03:35] where I would just sit there in silence

[1:03:38] and enjoy the ambiance of Elwin Forest,

[1:03:41] just completely locked into my task and

[1:03:43] relaxing. Retail was fun, really fun.

[1:03:46] I'm even still playing it now, and it

[1:03:48] has an awesome amount of content to

[1:03:50] explore. But my time playing classic

[1:03:52] opened my mind up to a kind of new kind

[1:03:56] of gaming experience where I needed to

[1:03:59] think a lot more about basic things that

[1:04:02] I just was not used to thinking about so

[1:04:04] much. As of right now, I have continued

[1:04:06] to play retail since that is the journey

[1:04:09] that I started first. And even at like

[1:04:12] level 50 now, I still don't really have

[1:04:14] a great sense about the world around me

[1:04:16] or the [music] characters that live in

[1:04:17] it. And because of this, I feel like the

[1:04:20] modern retail experience lacks a lot of

[1:04:23] depth for us new players. After I finish

[1:04:25] up The Dragon Isles, I'm probably going

[1:04:27] to take that natural pause and then

[1:04:29] shift back to classic and see what it

[1:04:31] has to offer. I don't have any nostalgia

[1:04:34] for the series. And I think partly

[1:04:36] because of that, I can't really

[1:04:38] conclusively say one version is better

[1:04:40] than the other, nor which one I [music]

[1:04:43] like better. They both have their

[1:04:45] strengths and weaknesses and just bring

[1:04:47] different things to the table. But

[1:04:49] through this experience, I can now fully

[1:04:51] see why this [music] game is so deeply

[1:04:54] beloved by so many. And I'm really glad

[1:04:57] that I was able to take part of it in my

[1:04:59] lifetime. I feel like video games never

[1:05:01] get the respect that they deserve for

[1:05:03] how culturally significant they really

[1:05:05] are. And I think that in like hundreds

[1:05:07] of years from now, historians will look

[1:05:09] back on video games and finally

[1:05:11] understand how important they were and

[1:05:13] how much of a showcase they were of our

[1:05:15] human nature. And I just know that World

[1:05:17] of Warcraft will be one of those games

[1:05:19] that just won't be forgotten. Before we

[1:05:21] head out, I want to say a quick thank

[1:05:22] you to my channel members and my Patreon

[1:05:25] supporters for making these videos

[1:05:26] possible. And [music] a special big

[1:05:28] thank you to my Fashion Born tier

[1:05:30] members Eizen, Hurlchin, Delore, Vile,

[1:05:33] Daniel, Liam, and Grizzio for their

[1:05:35] extra love and support. As always, thank

[1:05:38] you for watching and I will see you next

[1:05:40] time. Bye.