Should You Play Classic WoW or Retail WoW?

[00:00] What's going on, guys? And welcome back

[00:01] to another video. So, I've been getting

[00:02] a ton of comments lately, and I think

[00:04] it's because of the time of year that

[00:06] we're at and what's coming out uh for

[00:08] WoW Classic, for WoW retail. Um, you

[00:11] know, a lot of people have been asking

[00:12] me, "Hey, I'm new to WoW. I just want to

[00:15] start playing. Where do I go and play?

[00:17] Should I play classic? Should I play

[00:20] retail?" Now, I'm making this video as

[00:22] basically an answer to all of these

[00:23] comments because quite frankly, I'm

[00:25] tired of typing the same exact answer

[00:27] over and over again to people. Um, and

[00:29] and it's a pretty easy thing, right? So,

[00:32] I've I've actually made a little bit of

[00:33] a list, a very small list of some of the

[00:36] key differences between classic and

[00:38] modern. So, if that's you, if you're

[00:40] someone who doesn't know which version

[00:41] of WoW they want to play right now, uh,

[00:43] this video is definitely going to help

[00:45] you out. I'm not going to go into every

[00:46] single version of the of the six or

[00:48] seven versions that we have of Classic

[00:50] WoW. I'm just going to talk about

[00:52] Classic WoW in general and as a whole,

[00:54] right? So, you have classic WoW, which

[00:56] has its own little ecosystem of like

[00:58] hardcore, anniversary, classic era. Um,

[01:01] and then you have uh modern WoW, which

[01:03] is going to be midnight very soon,

[01:05] right? Um, and for those of you who

[01:07] don't really know where to go and you

[01:09] want to start playing WoW for the first

[01:11] time, or maybe you're coming back after

[01:12] like a 10-year break, I'm going to break

[01:15] it down for you as simple as possible.

[01:17] Right? I'm not going to go very

[01:18] in-depth, but I'm going to give you the

[01:20] simplest reasons uh the simplest

[01:22] differences between both versions of the

[01:24] game. So, let me tab over to this little

[01:27] list that I made here, right? We have

[01:28] classic. So, let's look at classic as

[01:30] basically anniversary era um and

[01:34] hardcore, right? And then we have

[01:36] Midnight, which is what the next

[01:37] upcoming expansion for retail. Wow.

[01:39] Currently, we're we're with uh in the

[01:41] War Within um and we're going to be

[01:42] moving into uh Midnight. So, for some of

[01:45] these very simple differences that I've

[01:47] listed here, you have classic is more of

[01:49] an old school MMO, right? Think of like,

[01:51] uh, you know, a 20-year-old kind of like

[01:54] Dungeons and Dragonsy vibe experience

[01:56] baked into an MMO. It was amazing 20

[01:59] years ago. It's amazing today. Uh, you

[02:01] know, it's with stood the test of time,

[02:03] still very popular, tons of players.

[02:05] Classic is a massive community. Um, and

[02:07] that leads me to the next point that

[02:09] Classic gives you a sense of community

[02:11] that you do not get in retail. Um, yes,

[02:13] you could join a guild. Yes, you're

[02:15] going to be raiding and all that in

[02:16] retail if that's what you want to do.

[02:17] But the sense of community in classic,

[02:19] uh, it just far surpasses retail. You

[02:22] actually have to talk to people and

[02:23] communicate with other players to get

[02:25] into raids to do endgame content in

[02:27] classic. Um, but that's not really where

[02:30] classic shines, right? Classic is a much

[02:32] slower pace. You level much slower. It

[02:35] takes, you know, if you're just a casual

[02:36] player, it could take you months to hit

[02:38] level 60. Um, and the focus is really on

[02:41] that, right? the focus is on leveling

[02:43] and the world. Uh, you know, taking your

[02:45] character from level one all the way

[02:47] through to level 60. Um, and and you

[02:50] know, once you hit 60, yes, you can PvP,

[02:52] yes, you can raid, yes, you can do

[02:54] dungeons and farm your pre- raid uh best

[02:56] in slot gear. Um, but the content is,

[02:59] you know, generally seen as very easy.

[03:02] Uh, you know, even knacks, people

[03:03] struggle with it a little bit, but at

[03:05] the end of the day, compared to retail

[03:06] raids is very, very simple. Um, you

[03:10] know, playing classic does require

[03:12] communication. If you want to do

[03:13] endgame, however, if you want to just

[03:15] level from 1 to 60 as like a solo

[03:17] experience where you really don't talk

[03:18] to anyone, you could do that as well.

[03:20] You can kind of play the game however

[03:21] you want. Take as much time as you need.

[03:23] There's no real rush to get to anything.

[03:26] Um, and that's that's a very important

[03:28] thing about classic. So, if you're

[03:30] looking for a more relaxed uh, you know,

[03:34] experience where you're kind of just

[03:35] like the focus is on leveling and

[03:37] getting to level 60 and going on this

[03:39] massive journey, classic is probably

[03:41] going to be for you. It's way simpler as

[03:43] well in terms of combat, uh, systems in

[03:45] the game and all that, you know, you

[03:47] have your gear that you're trying to

[03:48] get. Um, and the combat is is very

[03:51] simple compared to retail. You know,

[03:53] your most classes damage rotation is is

[03:56] under three buttons, right? So then we

[03:58] move over to retail, right? This is more

[04:00] of a modern MMO vibes. The the graphics

[04:02] are enhanced. It's a little bit more

[04:04] bubbly looking. I personally feel like

[04:05] retail has a little bit of a Disneyish

[04:07] vibe to it. It's definitely a different

[04:08] vibe. Um leveling is almost

[04:11] non-existent. You could hit cap level in

[04:13] a few hours. Um but the focus in retail

[04:17] isn't on the leveling, so that's okay,

[04:19] right? Retail, the main focus is on the

[04:22] endgame content. Um or collecting,

[04:25] right? There's two ways you can you can

[04:27] play retail. You could play it as a

[04:29] casual player. There are hundreds and

[04:31] hundreds and hundreds of different

[04:32] things to collect in terms of pets and

[04:34] mounts. And now we're going to have

[04:36] player housing in retail. So, you're

[04:37] going to be collecting all these things

[04:38] to put in your home. So, if you want to

[04:41] play retail as a casual player, you

[04:42] could do that as well uh and play it as

[04:44] a collector. But if you are someone who

[04:46] likes to play, you know, do and do

[04:47] endgame content, you have raids, you

[04:49] have PvP, which is, you know, iffy. Uh

[04:52] but you have mythic plus. Uh, you have

[04:54] delves, which are, you know, basically

[04:56] solo endgame content. There's so many

[04:58] different ways to play it. And then the

[05:00] raids themselves have multiple

[05:01] difficulties. You have LFR, you have

[05:03] normal, you have heroic, and then you

[05:04] have mythic. So, you could still do

[05:06] endgame and make it very easy in retail.

[05:09] But, if you're looking for a challenge,

[05:10] that challenge is there as well.

[05:12] However, with retail, like I said, you

[05:15] don't get that that leveling experience

[05:18] and that sense of community and like the

[05:20] living world that you get from classic,

[05:22] right? retail shines more in the

[05:24] collector's aspect and the [music]

[05:25] endgame aspect, the, you know,

[05:27] challenging content. Um, but another

[05:30] major thing that I do want to bring to

[05:32] light about both of these versions of

[05:33] the game is the future of both of the

[05:35] versions of the game. For classic, we

[05:37] know the Burning Crusade Classic is

[05:39] launching again probably within the next

[05:40] 3 months. Um, so that's the future of

[05:43] Classic Anniversary. If you want to play

[05:44] on Classic era, that is basically a

[05:46] server that is stuck in uh, you know,

[05:49] 2019 Classic WoW when that ended. uh

[05:52] that is where that server is. It's in

[05:53] the next phase, the end phase of of that

[05:55] version of the game and will never

[05:56] progress out of that. If you want to

[05:58] progress into the Burning Crusade, you

[06:00] do need to play on the anniversary

[06:01] servers. Whereas, uh you know, we don't

[06:04] really know what's coming after that.

[06:05] Are we getting a Wrath of the Lich King

[06:07] classic again? Are we getting classic

[06:10] plus? We have no idea. So, the future

[06:12] for classic is very uncertain. And I

[06:14] know a lot of people out there that kind

[06:15] of uh is important, you know, for for

[06:18] you where you know where you're going to

[06:19] spend hundreds of hours and invest all

[06:21] this time. You want to know the future

[06:22] of of what you're doing and I completely

[06:24] get that. So for retail, WoW, we know

[06:27] that we're getting Midnight and then we

[06:28] know we're getting the next expansion in

[06:30] the World Soul saga and then after that

[06:32] it's a little uncertain as well, but I'm

[06:34] sure it's going to continue in some way.

[06:36] Um, so the future is a little bit more

[06:38] certain when it comes to World of

[06:40] Warcraft uh retail, modern, whatever you

[06:42] want to call it. Uh, you know, at last

[06:44] BlizzCon, they announced the next three

[06:47] expansions, whereas classic, we kind of

[06:49] don't really know what's coming until

[06:50] like 5 6 months prior uh to it

[06:53] happening, and it's probably always

[06:55] subject to change. The moral of the

[06:57] story here is that if you're looking for

[06:59] a more old school experience where the

[07:01] focus is on leveling and you're just

[07:02] taking time going through this world and

[07:04] uh you know you just you don't really

[07:06] care what's after it. You just want to

[07:07] enjoy that journey. Classic is going to

[07:09] be for you. You're going to join a guild

[07:11] if you want or play solo. There's a

[07:13] massive sense of community. There's

[07:14] people still leveling all out in the

[07:15] world. The world in classic is very much

[07:18] alive where the world in retail is very

[07:20] much instanced and feels a little bit

[07:21] more of like a solo journey while you're

[07:24] leveling. And then endgame obviously,

[07:25] yes, to, you know, to join in these

[07:27] raids and stuff and dungeons, you're

[07:29] just kind of queuing for them. You can

[07:30] kind of go through the whole experience

[07:32] unless you're doing really hard content

[07:34] without talking to anybody. Uh you don't

[07:36] have to form groups manually. You you're

[07:38] just using queue systems and then, you

[07:39] know, getting teleported to the

[07:40] dungeons. Um so the difference there is

[07:42] that there's a there's a much lower

[07:45] sense of community in retail, but you

[07:48] have the promise of constant updates,

[07:50] right? every few months at this point,

[07:51] you're getting a new update. There's new

[07:53] content, there's new systems, there's

[07:54] catch-up mechanics, whereas classic is

[07:56] is is just way slower. There's a lot

[07:58] less content. Uh the game takes a lot

[08:00] longer to play. In my opinion, feels a

[08:03] lot more rewarding as you're leveling up

[08:05] and you get a piece of gear when you

[08:06] equip it, you know, and you're you're

[08:08] hitting for harder damage on these mobs

[08:10] or or in PvP. You really feel that sense

[08:12] of accomplishment, like your character

[08:13] is really progressing. uh whereas retail

[08:15] takes a little bit longer for you to

[08:17] feel that progression to feel like

[08:19] you're getting stronger. So, I just

[08:22] wanted to make this video because I've

[08:23] been getting literally so many comments

[08:25] and it's probably because there's

[08:26] marketing that like, you know, uh, you

[08:27] know, Midnight is coming for retail and

[08:29] Blizzard is pushing the anniversary

[08:31] servers and all that. So, a lot of, you

[08:32] know, older players, uh, that maybe are

[08:35] returning for the first time or, you

[08:37] know, even people who have never played

[08:38] WoW ever and want to give it a shot.

[08:40] This video is is for you. I kind of want

[08:41] to give you this breakdown because I get

[08:43] I'm not kidding. I get like 50 comments

[08:45] a day asking, "I'm new to WoW. Should I

[08:47] be playing retail or should I be playing

[08:49] classic?" Um, there's no right or wrong

[08:51] answer. It really is based on what fits

[08:54] your play style and what what the

[08:56] experience is that you're looking for

[08:57] out of World of Warcraft. I think both

[08:59] versions of the game offer something

[09:02] special. Um, I'm more of a classic Andy

[09:05] myself. I I I truly enjoy the classic

[09:07] version of the game. And if you're

[09:08] someone who wants to come back and have

[09:09] like a like a really hardcore

[09:11] experience, you have World of Warcraft

[09:12] Classic hardcore where your character

[09:13] has one life. Um, you know, and you

[09:15] could try and get to level 60 without

[09:17] dying and go slower and, you know,

[09:18] there's ways to play. Classic is a

[09:20] sandbox uh at heart. Not fully. Um, but

[09:23] there's some sandbox elements to

[09:25] classic, whereas retail is definitely a

[09:27] more linear path that you're going to

[09:28] follow uh towards endgame and then, you

[09:30] know, to achieve whatever you want

[09:31] there. So, I hope that this helped you

[09:33] guys out. Um, you know, and when I get

[09:35] these comments, I'm going to refer them

[09:36] to this video from now on. This video is

[09:38] something I just wanted to make and

[09:39] leave on the channel. Uh so that you

[09:41] know people can I could refer people to

[09:43] this. So if I helped you out, drop a

[09:44] like, subscribe to the channel if you

[09:46] love WoW as much as me and my community.

[09:48] Uh follow me over on kick

[09:50] kick.com/hammerdance. We stream Monday

[09:52] through Friday 8:00 p.m. Eastern over

[09:53] there. We just hit partner. So if you

[09:55] want to come show some support by just

[09:56] hanging out, come on and do that. But

[09:58] anyways guys, that's all I've got for

[09:59] you today. Thank you all so much for

[10:00] watching and listening in. I'll see you

[10:02] all in the next