Sunday, April 24, 2022

Some News About WotLK Classic

I've been reading that there won't be any Dungeon Finder in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. I am guessing Blizzard made this decision because they think most people want it that way, but as usual a vocal minority has made it clear that they don't agree. Or maybe they're not a minority? I am just assuming a behemoth like Blizzard would know what they're doing before they announce a huge thing like that. After all the Dungeon Finder was a thing of the real Wotlk, but apparently Blizzard think this might've been one thing that took the game series a step in the wrong direction (whatever direction that is).

I queued to get the Collector's Edition.

Here are my 2 cents though - I disagree with Blizzards assessment that the Dungeon Finder would ruin the game. I don't however entirely mind that they won't implement it. In that way I also disagree that not adding it would ruin the game. I guess you could say that I am, boringly enough, quite meh about the whole thing.

I've been playing for several years now without the Dungeon Finder, just using LFG-channel and it works perfectly fine. Do I always find a group for where I want to go? No I don't. Does it some times take quite long to gather people? Yeah, it happens. But some thing that I recall being a huge issue in Vanilla specifically (and TBC considerably less thanks to summon stones) is people leaving an instance mid-run and everyone having to waste loads of time to find another person (or just having to wait for everyone to get to the instance). Off the top of my head I can't recall that happening to me even once. Maybe once. But either way not often enough to be even remotely considered a problem that needs fixing. 

In fact, the Dungeon Finder has one major flaw and this is where I think the main issue lies regarding whether you're pro-Dungeon Finder or anti-Dungeon Finder. To me who plays something like five character simultaneously, it's not an issue to log onto character lvl 12 and do questing while I gather a group for character lvl 70 heroic run. In fact I did just that this evening before writing this post and it worked a charm. Rather than just getting annoyed at wasting my time hanging around in Shattrath waiting for my group to happen, I actually got something done. And this is also where the flaw of the Dungeon Finder comes in. With the Dungeon Finder I am actually forced to be on that specific character to get an instance, and must wait rather than do something more productive with my time (I am not one of those people who enjoys farming mats). Maybe not a big issue on a tank or healer character, but I recall 30-45 min queues not being uncommon for a dps character.

For the way I personally prefer to play the game I think the Dungeon Finder might actually be more of a hindrance than a boon. But for all those people sinking every second of their time into their main, I can understand how they want something that would shorten the wait.

TLDR: I don't care either way and I'm definitely not upset they're not going to implement it.

The other news is that dedicated TBC servers will disappear with the launch of Wotlk Classic, just like in the original launch of Wotlk. 

I'll be honest, when I first read about this I was a bit sad. Even though Wotlk is probably my favorite expansion, TBC is second in line and I absolutely love it. Like I've already established, I don't feel anywhere near done with it yet and this announcement just made me feel even more stressed for achieving whatever it is I imagine I need to achieve. I am also notoriously sentimental and want to save every happy memory forever.

But who am I kidding? I haven't gone back to Classic Wow for even a second since TBC was launched, even though I intended to. I actually went to do it but then it required a complete download of the game and I couldn't be bothered... When Wotlk launches I won't have time for any shenanigans I think I need to finish off in TBC, of which there really aren't many. And like the post (in the link) rightfully points out, it's not actually like Outlands goes away with the launch of Wotlk. I can still go there and do... whatever.

I don't actually recall whether Outlands was an area one had to visit to level between 60-70 before being ready for Northrend in Wotlk? If that's the case I'm not even leaving it behind, just like Azeroth, but will get to re-visit it over and over.

I think Blizzard is making the right call here with pushing everyone forward to Northrend to get that launch off to a good start. Maybe that was less of an issue with TBC? Either way, Outlands will still be there and I see more of a point in preserving an OG version of Vanilla WoW than Classic TBC.

TLDR; I am ok with it. Knowing myself I won't give Outlands a second of my thought once Wotlk is released.

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