World of Warcraft CLASSIC vs RETAIL #worldofwarcraft #gaming

[00:00] This is World of Warcraft. And this is

[00:02] also World of Warcraft. And this is also

[00:04] Wait, no, that's Fellowship. But this

[00:06] this right here, that's World of

[00:08] Warcraft. As one of the most influential

[00:10] MMORPGs in the world, WoW has lived

[00:13] through multiple expansions, additions,

[00:15] retractions, multiplications, and other

[00:17] math related words. But there is one

[00:19] unique thing about this MMRPG which no

[00:22] other title on this market has.

[00:24] >> Have you ever thought about adding

[00:26] servers for previous expansions?

[00:28] >> No. And by the way, you don't want to

[00:31] that to do that. Several months later,

[00:37] >> World of Warcraft, developed by

[00:38] Blizzard, has two different renditions

[00:40] with World of Warcraft Midnight being

[00:42] the current patch of so-called retail,

[00:45] while WoW Classic is still going strong

[00:47] with its vanilla version. Then there is

[00:49] The Burning Crusade and Mist of Pandaria

[00:51] and even hardcore for those daring folks

[00:53] that enjoy pain. like oh

[01:00] but how does the 20 plus year old

[01:02] classic actually compare to the newest

[01:04] version? Are they just the same type of

[01:06] game with more or less to do? Do they

[01:08] still have the same focus and vision?

[01:10] That is what we are trying to find out.

[01:12] So let's ask ourself the question WoW

[01:14] classic and WoW retail. What's the

[01:17] actual difference? First up I want to

[01:19] clarify that I cannot compare vanilla,

[01:21] The Burning Crusade, Hardcore. I'm

[01:23] [laughter] not that stupid. And Mr.

[01:25] Pandaria with retail since, well, my day

[01:29] only has a limited amount of hours.

[01:31] Therefore, I am comparing retail with

[01:33] the most recently released classic

[01:36] version, which is The Burning Crusade,

[01:38] an expansion that came out in 2007 and

[01:41] then again as a classic version in 2021,

[01:43] and now again as a classic version in

[01:45] 2026. Guys, it's the same game. Why are

[01:47] you playing it again? Oh, door's open.

[01:49] So, to have a fair comparison, I've

[01:51] created two new characters in both

[01:54] renditions. One in the recently released

[01:56] Midnight expansion and one character in

[01:58] the Burning Crusade version to get to

[02:00] level 70 for the endgame experience I've

[02:03] once lived through in 2007. In every

[02:07] MMOR RPG, the first step is to create a

[02:09] hero and begin your journey by traveling

[02:11] through various zones to fulfill quests

[02:13] and kill mobs to gain experience points

[02:15] and level ups. Starting out with the

[02:18] similarities, it is quite simple. In

[02:20] both versions, we create a character

[02:22] with slightly different customization

[02:24] options, but in both cases, we start out

[02:26] at level one. The next similarity is,

[02:30] yeah, that's about it. The starting

[02:32] areas are the same, basically the same

[02:34] with TBC. TBC being the short version

[02:36] for the Burning Crusade, giving us still

[02:39] the same quests we get to pick at

[02:41] retail. However, retail offers us the

[02:44] old and also a completely new starting

[02:47] experience with Exile's Reach, which

[02:49] gives new players a great entry point.

[02:52] Let's start out with TBC, picking up

[02:54] quests, hitting our first mob, and with

[02:57] a few casts, kill them with ease. So,

[02:59] let's hit the second mob. And we are out

[03:01] of mana, hitting them with our mace

[03:03] retail. Same same experience. We pick up

[03:06] quests, hit our first M. Oh, he's dead.

[03:08] Then, let's hit the second mob and he's

[03:10] dead. The third and why am I not running

[03:13] out of mana? Back to TBC. We are taking

[03:16] on one mob at a time. Clear out kill

[03:18] quests. Sit down to drink and refill our

[03:20] mana and gain our first level up.

[03:22] Feeling incredibly proud and

[03:24] accomplished. While on retail, we want

[03:26] we are level four and the new spell

[03:28] flies into our action bar. Uh-huh.

[03:31] Compare this with TBC. We are running to

[03:33] a class trainer. sell our complete

[03:36] inventory to obtain enough money for the

[03:38] few new spells we gain every once in a

[03:40] while. A few more minutes later, we are

[03:42] still drinking and hitting mobs with our

[03:44] maze. While on retail, we are flying a

[03:46] wonky machine bombarding the undead with

[03:49] powerful projectiles which could have

[03:50] won us heads and technology on the sorry

[03:54] Austrian genetics. 25 minutes into

[03:57] retail and I'm level 10 and unlock class

[04:00] specializations using the first talent

[04:02] point and gaining powerful new skills

[04:04] while 25 minutes into TBC and I'm still

[04:08] drinking and hitting mobs with a maze

[04:10] with countless item drops, a few new

[04:13] spells, quick level ups, and a dungeon

[04:15] showing the ropes of how game mechanics

[04:17] work. We get out of the starting zone in

[04:20] roughly 40 minutes. While in TBC, I am

[04:23] level five and making it out of the

[04:25] starter zones, still drinking and

[04:27] hitting mobs with a maze. While movement

[04:29] up until this point was similar in us

[04:32] traveling the short and long distances

[04:34] by foot, the beginning of the new story

[04:37] chapter in retail sees us instantly gain

[04:40] access to a flying mount. a flying mount

[04:42] that breaks the sound barrier every time

[04:44] it takes off, getting us from point A to

[04:47] point B in less than 10 seconds, which

[04:49] is also the reason why questing now

[04:51] amounts to a guiding arrow, showing the

[04:54] next point of interest we need to visit.

[04:56] The transition from slowly running to

[04:58] our grounded allies, two flying with

[05:00] neckbreaking speed across the map,

[05:03] blasting through gorgeously designed

[05:05] environments. It it's it's far too

[05:07] quick.

[05:09] This hasty pace of travel that rhymes of

[05:12] traveling is kept up throughout the

[05:14] whole leveling process with only a

[05:16] handful of quests amounting to a level

[05:18] up. While a random dungeon we can

[05:20] instantly teleport and have no

[05:21] connection to amounts to two to three

[05:24] level ups each time granting us new

[05:26] spells, new talent points, and shower us

[05:28] with rare and even epic items. It's just

[05:31] insane. while we are still drinking and

[05:33] hitting enemies with a maze in TBC.

[05:35] There each level up is a challenge. Two

[05:37] enemies at once are a struggle if not a

[05:40] fatal encounter, providing us with a

[05:42] slow but actually well balanced leveling

[05:45] experience in which we need to find

[05:46] allies to finish even the earliest of

[05:48] quests. Exploring a cave of Tros alone.

[05:52] Suicide. Doing the same game with a

[05:53] handful of players.

[05:56] Less suicide still dangerous. Three out

[05:58] of 10. Wouldn't recommend. And the first

[06:01] mount is far from inside and overall an

[06:03] actual undertaking with the first slow

[06:05] 60% mount being unlocked at level 30

[06:08] taking about 20 to 30 hours of actual

[06:11] play time. 20 to 30 hours. In that time,

[06:14] I've reached level 90 in midnight and

[06:16] I'm going through dungeons that can

[06:18] result in a seizure even for healthy

[06:20] people. What's happened, Chris?

[06:23] >> I don't [laughter] know.

[06:24] And even if we reach level 30 on TBC,

[06:27] who's to say that we have enough money

[06:29] for the writing skill? But back to the

[06:31] leveling experience in World of Short

[06:32] Attention Spancraft. There we venture

[06:35] through the previous expansion, Dragon

[06:36] Fire, Dragon Fluffer, Dragon Something,

[06:39] I haven't played it, and rush through

[06:41] dungeons we have no connections to.

[06:45] >> I don't even know who you are.

[06:46] >> Stories that are already obsolete for

[06:48] the new expansion. But to be fair, this

[06:50] is where retail World of Warcraft shines

[06:53] in the presentation of its story,

[06:55] especially once we reach Midnight. The

[06:57] cutscenes not only become more frequent,

[06:59] but further are wellvoiced, nicely shot,

[07:02] and give us a good sense of what the

[07:04] actual hell is happening here. Although,

[07:06] don't ask me what this Dragon Ball fight

[07:08] is about. In TBC, the story is hidden in

[07:10] the quest text quest text in the texts

[07:14] of the quest. Jesus with a far more

[07:17] grounded story line which I have to be

[07:19] frank I haven't read in 2007 nor in 2021

[07:24] nor now. So want me to kill 10s? You got

[07:27] it. Why? No idea. Furthermore, if I

[07:30] wouldn't use an add-on called Questy,

[07:31] the map wouldn't even show me where all

[07:34] the TRS are. I would have to read that

[07:35] quest text often giving the quest info.

[07:39] Yes, that's better. Often giving some

[07:41] vague directions. With retail, it's a

[07:44] little different. With Azeroth maps

[07:47] guiding us with an arrow towards shining

[07:49] items we need to interact with, talking

[07:51] to 100 NPCs 10 m apart, and with the

[07:54] flying mount, which rivals a fighter

[07:56] jet, those distances are, let's say,

[07:58] oddly placed, just like our role in the

[08:01] main story. Since throughout the 300 or

[08:03] so expansions WoW had over the 20 years,

[08:06] each playable character has transformed

[08:08] from simple soldier in the Horde or

[08:10] Alliance to one of the most powerful

[08:12] heroes of Azeroth. We are fighting gods,

[08:15] venture into the abyss, and literally

[08:17] run through time. On the other hand,

[08:19] with TBC, we are helping a drunk dwarf

[08:21] getting his fix, defend a shepherd's

[08:24] flock from a yeti, and clear the walls

[08:26] of annoying trucks while still drinking

[08:28] and hitting enemies WITH A WAND. WAND.

[08:31] LOOK AT THAT UPGRADE. ROUGHLY eight

[08:33] hours later, I've clicked enough shiny

[08:35] objects, spammed go enough times in the

[08:37] dungeon finder, and reached level 80,

[08:39] prepared for the new expansion. While in

[08:41] TBC, 8 hours would maybe bring me into

[08:44] my first dungeon, if at all. So, I

[08:47] changed tactics, created a mage, locked

[08:49] myself in a room, took some vacation

[08:51] days, and leveled this new character in

[08:53] record time to enter the dark portal

[08:55] once again. Comparing the leveling

[08:57] experience is as if we would compare a

[09:00] Ferrari. ready to rev up its 1,00

[09:02] horsepower engine against the Bobby car.

[09:05] Both are red and both can get you from

[09:08] point A to point B. But while the Bobby

[09:11] car sees us experience the world around

[09:13] us and overall is uh bumpy, right, the

[09:16] Ferrari is designed to bring us to the

[09:18] finish line in the fastest way possible.

[09:20] Leveling in retail feels far more like a

[09:22] nuisance, an obstacle to reach the end

[09:24] game, which is like a contentfilled

[09:26] pinata ready to be smashed. WoW Classic,

[09:29] on the other hand, is a grounded

[09:31] adventure providing a slowly paced

[09:33] experience with a focus on character

[09:34] progression. Each new item feels

[09:37] impactful and earned. Every new level is

[09:40] like a step of a stairway. You can feel

[09:42] the increased height and also the

[09:44] burning your legs because damn, we are

[09:46] doing a lot of running. This difference

[09:49] in speed and pace is just as apparent in

[09:52] the gameplay overall with every single

[09:54] ability in TBC having an actual impact

[09:56] you can feel and see in the enemy's

[09:58] health bar. Retail has far more

[10:01] abilities that are quickly being used in

[10:03] succession, but have less of an impact.

[10:06] So, let's compare two of the same

[10:07] classes and their actual fighting styles

[10:09] to outline this difference further. A

[10:12] frost mage in TBC works mostly with

[10:14] frostbolts, shooting enemies from afar,

[10:16] slowing them down, and on occasion

[10:18] freezing them on the spot, which results

[10:21] in a higher crit chance and powerful

[10:23] hits. The most powerful upgrade can be

[10:26] found at level 66 with ice, an instant

[10:29] cast that deals triple damage if used on

[10:32] frozen targets. On retail, a frost mage

[10:35] also uses frostbolt to hit enemies from

[10:37] afar, slowing them down, and they also

[10:40] use icecelance as an instant spell.

[10:42] However [sighs]

[10:44] we further build up shadow stacks, which

[10:46] can be activated by ice lance to explode

[10:48] on targets. While flurry is an instant

[10:50] spell that also builds up stacks, which

[10:51] can also proc and then deal 50% more

[10:53] damage. And then we have frozen orb

[10:54] working as an AoE hitting spell that

[10:55] slows down our enemies further.

[10:57] Frostbolt, Frostbolt, Frostbolt and

[10:59] Icelands, Frostbolt, Frostbolt. With the

[11:01] fire spec being just as loaded with

[11:04] animations and abilities, seeing us gain

[11:06] an instant pyro blast every time we have

[11:08] two crits in a row. While fire blast is

[11:11] a spell that guarantees a crit and can

[11:13] also be used during casting, making us

[11:15] pump out countless pyrolast especially

[11:18] during one specific cooldown called

[11:20] combustion, increasing our crit chance

[11:22] by 100%. The fire spec on TBC on the

[11:25] other hand is well not really viable for

[11:28] leveling PVP and even PvE. It is

[11:30] lackluster compared to frost or even

[11:33] arcane mages or rather needs a bit of

[11:35] tweaking from other talent trees to

[11:37] work. Which brings me to one huge

[11:39] difference between the two iterations.

[11:42] The choice. In TBC, we actually have a

[11:45] free choice on how to play our class.

[11:47] You might not get invited to groups, but

[11:49] it is your choice. We have three talent

[11:52] trees to choose from where you can

[11:54] freely pick and place your talent points

[11:56] in. And changing those talent points is

[11:58] costly. In retail, on the other hand,

[12:01] there we have also three possible play

[12:03] styles. But the talent tree changes

[12:04] according to the picked specialization.

[12:07] So a frost mage can never have fire

[12:09] spells and a fire mage can never have

[12:11] frost and an arcane mage, well they can

[12:13] go. So there is a lack of choice

[12:16] although there are a few ways to play a

[12:18] fire mage. Though at least there is a

[12:20] bit of agency, but still lackluster

[12:23] compared to the TBC choices we have. The

[12:26] seemingly overwhelming specs and

[12:28] abilities are further impacting the PvE

[12:30] and PvP content with raids and dungeons

[12:32] being rather simple and straightforward

[12:34] in TBC with only a handful of mechanics

[12:37] you actually need to keep in mind. While

[12:39] the same content in retail can be rather

[12:42] complex and tiring for the eyes.

[12:43] >> What happened?

[12:45] >> I don't know. The comparison in PvP,

[12:47] however, is something I want to show

[12:48] with musical notes. TBC having a slow

[12:51] reaction time needed and a more heroic

[12:54] feel to it, while retail well 2 3 4.

[13:00] [music]

[13:05] [screaming]

[13:09] I would like to go deeper into PvE and

[13:11] PvP comparisons, but that may have to

[13:14] wait for another video since I am still

[13:15] not level 17 in TV. So, what are your

[13:18] thoughts on classic versus retail? Have

[13:20] you played one or the other? Both or

[13:23] maybe neither? And what is the capital

[13:24] city of Czech Republic? Let me know in

[13:26] the comments. and have a great day or

[13:28] evening.