OCTOBER 2019 PCWorld 69waiting down the line.
For most of its history, Blizzard’s approach
to WoW showed it adeptly understood the
old Latin adage that the times are changing
and we are changing with them. Classic
rejects that change. That makes it a good fit
for the current tendency to wallow in
nostalgia—and to our detriment. At the most
benign, this tendency makes us believe
things were better in the past in part
because we fail to account for the conditions
that color that perception. At the worst, it
leads to cynical attempts to cash in on that
perception while doing little to move
forward. Classic feels like it touches a bit of
both of those ends.a few keys and immediately know how to
defeat Ragnaros through Google or YouTube.
Even if one player insists on not looking up
anything, there’s always going to be that one
guy in the group who looks up a strategy and
tells everyone about it out of impatience. We
know exactly when this or that ability will be
removed from the game. We even know
exactly which items will sell best during
specific patches, so even the economy lacks
mystery. In a weird meta way, playing Classic
feels a bit like roleplaying the roleplaying
game. Or worse, it’s a little like trying to
watch Game of Thrones again with the
knowledge of knowing how it ends and
being unable to forget the disappointments
Risen spawning Ragnaros for the first time on the Alleria server on April 16, 2005.