Almost 20 years in, World of Warcraft is the freshest it’s been in years — and it’s thanks to WoW Classic
polygon.comWorld of Warcraft heads into its next expansion, The War Within, due Aug. 22, in the best state it’s been in years — for the simple reason that the developers at Blizzard seem to be having fun with it, using older versions of the game to try out surprising and experimental new ideas. The updates have come thick and fast, and they’ve been creative and unexpected. The predictable rhythms of an online game that is fast approaching its 20th anniversary have been pleasantly disrupted. It’s fragmented, with its players scattered across several different versions of the game, each with its own pocket community. But it’s a much more vibrant one.
Most of this positive change has happened within the last 18 months or so. And there can be no doubt about the source of the creative energy and good vibes: World of Warcraft Classic. This version of WoW emulates the way the game was at launch in 2004, takes players on a tour through classic expansions, and more. It sits alongside modern WoW under the same subscription fee but has its own distinct community (itself divided into a series of pocket communities) and its own team of developers. Those developers have been taking some wild risks with their ancient charge, much to players’ delight. And now their infectious spirit of experimentation seems to have caught on with the rest of the WoW staff.
What World of Warcraft as a whole seems to be learning from WoW Classic is that MMOs don’t have to be monolithic, contiguous experiences at all — and when they reach WoW’s ripe age, perhaps it’s better if they’re not. They can be broken up, scrambled, reassembled, and rebooted within themselves. They can offer a tasting menu of different experiences rather than one giant banquet of content. They can lean into nostalgia but also use looking backward to look forward, experimenting with the MMO form itself.
Nearly 20 years in, WoW and its players are deep into uncharted territory. Other online games have been in operation for longer — EverQues
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