At the end of August, Classic World of Warcraft finally graced our screens after a long two-year wait. Players had their different theories about how successful Classic would be. Some players felt that it was all nostalgia and those romanticizing the game would soon come running back to retail after being killed for the tenth time by a few level 10 mobs. Others felt that Classic would be hugely popular and force Blizzard to contemplate where they had gone wrong over the years as their player base continually shrunk.
It’s fair to say that Classic has been extremely successful and brought tons of positive attention to Blizzard in the month since its release. Classic WoW streams have dominated Twitch in a way never seen before, and Blizzard’s stock price has seen a healthy spike too. The number of players signing up for the game vastly exceeded Blizzard’s expectations, resulting in them opening new server after new server. But will Classic WoW’s success change Blizzard’s plans for World of Warcraft going forward? Well, it looks like it already is.
Battle For Azeroth 8.2.5
Shortly after Battle For Azeroth’s (BFA) release, it was dubbed as “the worst expansion ever” by disappointed players. On September 24, BFA’s latest patch (8.2.5) was released. This patch brought an update to the Goblin and Worgen models, as well as a revamped Recruit-a-Friend system. However, the patch also has some interesting updates that suggest that Blizzard is taking inspiration from the legacy game.
Old Alterac Valley
Alterac Valley is a 40 v 40 battleground that was released back in Vanilla WoW, and Blizzard is bringing it back in its latest BFA patch. Although Alterac Valley has survived every expansion, the current retail version of the battleground is worlds apart from the original. Old Alterac Valley could last for days on end, had intricate strategy elements, and featured many more NPCs thrown in to frustrate players. Old Alterac Valley was an iconic part of the Vanilla landscape and although it was challenging, it was extremely rewarding for players who experienced it.
It’s no surprise that Blizzard wants to focus on bringing more people back to the game and keeping the subscribers it already has. Old Alterac Valley may not bring old players back to BFA, but it may convert bored BFA players to Classic WoW if they enjoy the battleground, and that’s what this is all about. Classic WoW is an entirely different play style that isn’t suited to every player, but some players will find the experience tempting. The challenges in Old Alterac Valley represent the challenging nature of Classic WoW where Classic WoW Gold is hard to come by, unlike the easily obtainable Classic WoW gold in mainstream version and every victory is earned through sheer hard work.
Blizzard has designed its subscription plan so that if you subscribe, you get both retail WoW and Classic WoW. Blizzard seems to be injecting certain elements of Classic or old WoW into BFA to entice players to try Classic. Another example of this tactic is with the Memories of Fel, Frost and Fire event in which players have to relive Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm bosses to receive a new epic mount called the Obsidian Worldbreaker.