World of Warcraft Classic is steadily embarking on its time-travelling trip through WoW of old. The next stop is apocalyptic 2010 expansion Cataclysm, which we now know is due to, uh, re-shatter Azeroth at the end of next month.
]]>As World Of Warcraft Classic - an MMORPG that is, confusingly, a new version of the old version of World Of Warcraft - enters phase 3 of its Season Of Discovery, PCGamer has an interview with some of the devs where they talk about the decision to not run Player Test Realms - servers where they roll out the new content to smaller numbers of players to road test it. This means that when they launch new stuff for Seasons Of Discovery it'll probably break more often, but it means players get to discover brand new things together. Which is great! And the developers think it's good too.
]]>Blizzard have revealed their approximate update plans for the next year of arthouse oddity World Of Warcraft, which if I remember correctly is a "massively multiple-player" experience of some antiquity that involves Orcs - a kind of always-online Baldur's Gate, if you will, or a strictly fantasy-themed Fortnite with dungeons instead of forts. Seems far-fetched, but let's roll with it.
As a reminder, WOW now comes in two broad flavours: classic and modern. In modern World Of Warcraft, you can expect three more updates for the existing Dragonflight expansion before the release of World Of Warcraft: The War Within later in the year. This introduces a new subterranean playspace, the Ringing Deeps, and is the first in a trilogy of expansions called The Worldsoul Saga.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic is introducing Hardcore realms where death is permanent. Blizzard say testing of Hardcore will begin on the Public Test Realm today, June 29th, and have outlined how it'll impact PvP, Battlegrounds, quests and more. In short: they're all being changed to try to stop your death being random or cruel.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic returns to the Wrath Of The Lich King expansion in September, but there’s a pre-patch coming today that resurrects the game’s first hero class a little early. The Death Knights aren’t the only thing arriving in WOW Classic before the expansion though, as there’s a fresh profession and a zombie infestation to consider too. Have a watch of some of the senior dev team discussing Death Knights in the video below.
]]>It’s not just Stranger Things that gets to star undead wizards this year. World Of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King Classic releases on September 26th, Blizzard have revealed. Take a nostalgic trip back to Northrend to tackle the evil Lich King, Arthas Menethil, and check out what’s changed since the original. Watch the trailer below to refresh your memory from all the way back in 2008.
]]>Blizzard Entertainment revealed the latest expansion for their mega-MMORPG World of Warcraft, the high-fantasy Dragonflight, last night. It has an Azeroth-load of dragons in it. That is all.
Well, not all, because Blizzard also showed off that Wrath of the Lich King is coming to World of Warcraft Classic later this year. WoW, it’s not just the economy that feels like 2008.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic has had aughties Azeroth lovers back in the original days of Blizzard's mega MMO for a while now. If the nostalgia of early WoW has worn off, don't you worry. You can now load up the nostalgia of awaiting its first expansion. The Burning Crusade Classic pre-expansion patch is live now, after a bit of extended downtime last night, so you can hop in and start working on your level 1 Blood Elf ahead of next month's crusade if you'd like.
]]>I like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but I loved the original Counter-Strike. While CSGO is the prettier, more polished version of the same set of ideas, so many of the maps, so much of the feel that I loved, isn't present in the latest iteration.
The original Counter-Strike is still available to play, but its final update, 1.6, isn't the version I want either. I want beta 5.2, or thereabouts, from back before Valve bought the game and its rougher edges got sanded away.
That's me. But I'm here to ask you: what live service game would you like to see relaunch and preserve an older version of itself, as World Of Warcraft: Classic has? And what version would you want?
]]>The leaks were correct. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic will launch on June 1st, letting players with a nostalgic bent experience the long-running MMO's first expansion.
Unlike the first time around in 2007, Burning Crusade doesn't replace the original game in any way. You can continue to play the base World Of Warcraft Classic if you prefer, and from May 18th you'll be able to clone an existing character in case you want to play simultaneously in WoW Classic and Burning Crusade Classic.
]]>Seems like BlizzCon has arrived early for World Of Warcraft fans, thanks to a leak from, err, Blizzard themselves? Turns out that World Of Warcraft Classic is getting an expansion, in the form of Burning Crusade Classic. Plus, we now know World Of Warcraft: Shadowland's upcoming 9.1 patch is called Chains Of Domination, which will bring a new area, mega-dungeon, and raid.
Update: Yep, Burning Crusade Classic and Chains Of Domination are now official.
]]>There's this reality TV show in the UK called "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!". The premise is simple: a bunch of 'celebrities' are flown to a camp in the Australian outback (last year it took place in a castle in Wales because covid, innit), they're subjected to trials which involve necking mealworms, and the public votes for their favourites.
Honestly, it's a banger. And on one of my daily walks, I came to the realisation that one particular moment from last year's show lined up nicely with my thoughts on Elwynn Forest in World Of Warcraft. Let me explain…
]]>Ah yes, a tale as old as time—or at least as old as old-school MMO players. You've got multiple World Of Warcraft accounts, for one reason or another, and are "multiboxing" to sign in to both accounts simultaneously. Blizzard have updated their policy on multiboxing to clarify that multiple instances of the game are fine, but they'll be issuing warnings and bans to players using third-party software to automate playing them.
]]>Brought your bug repellant, adventurers? World Of Warcraft Classic is going back to Silithus to revisit the game's most notorious bug hunt. Today's update for the throwback MMO is preparing to re-open the lost Silithid empire of Ahn'Qiraj - which is to say that the long and arduous task of funding an army, piecing together an ancient staff worthy of a Scarab Lord, and knocking down that stubborn door at the bottom of the world has once again begun in earnest.
]]>Onyxia, Broodmother of the Black Dragonflight. If you're a veteran World Of Warcraft player, that name will immediately conjure long-buried feelings of dread - from the precision play needed to take her down, to the hours spent grinding quests to even enter her lair. But Azeroth's scariest dragon seems to have lost her touch, as a band of 40 World Of Warcraft: Classic adventurers worked out how to fell Onyxia in nought but their undies earlier this week.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic has a bot problem. Harking back to the days when MMOs required a hell of a lotta grind, Blizzard's throwback MMO is filled with folk looking for an easy out. Following a particularly nasty few months of scripted heroes, game-breaking exploits and a parade of Orcs marching against cheaters, this month saw the developers wipe the realms clean of over 74,000 accounts suspected of using bots to give them an edge over their human counterparts.
]]>What happens after World Of Warcraft: Classic? It's something the MMO throwback was always going to have to deal with, eventually. There's only so much content to revisit after all. As Classic's expiration date slowly draws closer, Blizzard have begun asking players what they'd like to see next - specifically, whether they're ready to head back through the Dark Portal in a Classic-style return to World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.
]]>Originally released in World Of Warcraft back in July 2005, Assault on Blackwing Lair has made a comeback in WoW Classic. In the raid you'll be challenged to defeat Deathwing's son, Nefarian, who's been doing some nasty sounding experiments on the poor dragonflights. The 40 player raid dungeon arrived in a nice big update yesterday, along with some brand new reputation rewards and class quests, too.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic has gotten a lot of love lately. So much so that it's become quite easy to miss the monstrosity of a game that is World Of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth lurking just around the corner. But like the old gods it loves so much, contemporary Warcraft is plotting, scheming, and preparing to unleash another calamity upon the fantasy denizens of Azeroth.
Battle For Azeroth's next update, Visions of N'Zoth, brings a new raid, worldwide invasions and two quirky new races into the fray. Compared to all that, Classic's big new update is just a footnote.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic is here to stay. Good job, everyone. We've successfully avoided dealing with 2019 by hiding inside a 15-year-old MMORPG. But Warcraft didn't get those terrible Mr T commercials by staying put, and even its retro throwback must evolve or perish. With that in mind, Blizzard are ready to roll out the next phase of Classic's rebirth. Phase 2 of Classic is ready to roll out, bringing honour-bound PVP points, a new (old) dungeon and two frightful world bosses into the fray. But only once Classic's realms put their dimensional splinters back together.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic has been running for 30 minutes and there are Minotaurs everywhere. I’m standing in the Tauren starting region of Mulgore, and the area around me contains more beef than a guild forum. Bull-shaped adventurers, as far as the eye can see, are racing each other to the one ostrich-like enemy in reach, as the bird’s respawn rate fails entirely to keep up with the flood of people spawning in. But the chat is excitable, happy, even constructive.
In this first half-hour a group of us wish a player happy birthday, we share mid-2000s pop culture references, and we say “aww” at a player who ran her character from an entirely different starting area to this one (a huge undertaking) so she could play with her spouse. A player whispers thanks to me as I share a macro that will help them target a creature without needing to see it. The atmosphere is one of adults being set loose in their childhood playground, responsibilities a remote concern.
]]>Continuing to replicate the vintage WoW experience, following over-full servers, World Of Warcraft Classic has now been slammed by blaggards launching denial-of-service attacks. European and American servers were hit by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Saturday, Blizzard said, resulting in players being disconnected or having trouble connecting in the first place, high latency, and other frustrating issues. Just like the old days! Europe's attacks ended on Saturday night, Blizzard say, while America's got a second wind on Sunday.
]]>It's with great shame that I admit I've fallen down a bit of a World Of Warcraft Classic hole. It's a massive pain in the arse, though - even at the best of times, it's rubbish to be fighting fellow adventurers for the last handful of XP in each clearing, sharing murderous glares as we race to get the first stab in on a gnoll. It was probably bad enough when 2-hour-long login queues turned into actual in-game queues to take down boss monsters in a timely, British manner.
Enough's enough, say Blizzard. It's time to give these crammed adventurers a one-way trip to quieter worlds.
]]>Who really has the time to do this? It took me so long to get to World Of Warcraft's mythical 60 level cap that three expansions had passed and I was 20 levels behind the new bar. Didn't even touch a raid until 2 years back, and by then all the folks I started with had quit the game and started real, adult lives. Typical.
Now there are all these new kids, putting me to shame in a videogame I've plonked an embarrassing number of hours into. The absolute state of it.
]]>The launch of World Of Warcraft Classic this week was faithful enough to the vintage WoW experience that players have again found themselves waiting in digiqueues to join certain servers, some waiting for hours. Some players have even started queueing in-game for their chance to kill the monsters everyone now needs to whack for low-level quests. So how come Blizzard haven't brought more servers online to meet demand? They say they're thinking of long-term server populations. If they opened too many servers too rashly now, they say, the players who stick around might be spread too thin and leave many servers half-empty in time. But for now, players may be queuing to join more queues.
]]>The problem with revisiting somewhere familiar after a long absence, is that your memory has become crystalised. To you, this place will always look like it did in the final moments you spent there, sealed off from the passage of time. The fading paint, the creaky chair, the doors unlocked, the garden landscaped. This was a valid concern for those returning to the vanilla World of Warcraft presented in WoW: Classic. Azeroth has been through cataclysm and upheaval since its inception. To revisit it in its earliest days risks making the colourful ever-changing world feel like an interactive museum exhibit. But Blizzard are taking care to replicate the patch-by-patch experience of what it was like to live through the highs and lows of the genre’s monolith.
]]>An old nemesis has risen in World Of Warcraft to claim his former throne as the scourge of Elwynn Forest. You mission, if you dare accept, is simple: kill Hogger. Blizzard's MMORPG jumped back 13 years last night with the launch of World Of Warcraft Classic, an official vintage version undoing over years of changes, overhauls, and expansions. If you miss the days when WoW was more rugged and less friendly, this is for you. And unlike unsanctioned pirate servers which kept interest in vintage WoW alive over the years, Blizzard's lawyers won't try to shut this down.
]]>Next week we're gonna party up like it's 2006 with the launch of World Of Warcraft Classic. The official vintage version of Blizzard's MMORPG (as opposed to the unofficial pirate servers which for years have sustained interest in vintage WoW) will roll the game back to shortly before the launch of its first expansion, inviting old people to jack in and briefly pretend they haven't gained too many responsibilities over the past 13 years. In a new video, a number of Blizzard's own old people sit down to play WoW Classic and reminisce about making the dang game in the first place. It's quite nice.
]]>Hello! Gera here. I have been given the keys to RPS HQ while Alice takes her usual evening sabbatical into the Rock Paper Sensory Deprivation tank where she goes to ruminate on the day's news. In the meantime I am using my newfound power like anybody would, which is by making many tiny yet still perceptible changes to the RPS homepage. Hey, nice vertical border. Be a shame if it was MOVED 3MM TO THE LEFT.
All of this HTML hacking is making me yearn for the simpler days of yore. It was a time when websites were still built with HTML. A time before monetization. A time when our MMOs were vanilla - and that's how we liked it. The year was 2004. And thus, I bridge the introductory paragraph to the subsequent news item:
World of Warcraft Classic, a server option that recreates the game in its purest and uncut form as it was before the first Burning Crusade expansion, is launching August 27. And with sweet nostalgia just over the horizon, Blizzard is letting players reserve names for their characters ahead of time. Dibs on FearonGillen.
]]>World Of Warcraft Classic will be throwing players back to the halcyon days of 2004 come August, reverting the MMO back to its original state. But it seems that some have been looking back through rose-coloured glasses, or at least gotten so used to the 15 years of quality of life improvements that they’re confused by some of the game’s original details. As such, Blizzard have released a very lovely list of things to please stop telling them are bugs.
]]>Blizzard have finally announced a release date for World Of Warcraft Classic, the official back-to-basics version of the game. While the genre-defining MMORPG first launched in 2004, Classic will be based on version 1.12.0, aka "Drums Of War", released in August of 2006, although polished up with a few modern conveniences. A series of invitational stress tests have been announced, starting next week on May 22nd, though only a few active WOW subscribers will be invited. You can see the test schedule here. When released, Classic will be free for active WOW subscribers.
]]>Blizzard have stretched out their plans for World Of Warcraft Classic, now intending to roll out new raids and dungeons and other content updates for the vintage version of their MMORPG over six phases instead of four. They want it to better reflect the pace of original content updates, where additions slowly prepared players for the next to come rather than loads blasting out at once and upsetting the flow. WoW Classic is still expected to launch this summer, as far as we know, and will come included with standard WoW subscriptions.
]]>When I was in my late twenties, I went back to visit the house I’d grown up in. It felt strange, walking into rooms filled with memories, where everything felt smaller, older. It wasn’t a bad house, but my view of it was compromised by all the other places I’d lived since. It was also the house where, on Christmas Eve 2005, I came home with a copy of World of Warcraft, an exciting new game based on the lore of a strategy game I already loved. I took one step into Azeroth and began a journey that still hasn’t ended.
In 2017 Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Classic, a way to play WoW near-as-dammit as it was when it first came out. There’ve been opportunities to experience it like that before, of course, if you were willing to dip your toe into the waters of the private server community. Blizzard have made no secret of how they feel about unauthorised versions of the game, but the time has finally arrived for an official one. The BlizzCon demo this week presented us with a playable leap back through time.
]]>While I bounced off it back in the day, the original incarnation of World Of Warcraft remains beloved by many. Some are even nostalgic for the days of chunky character models and grinding werewolves for a pittance of gold. That, and Barrens chat, although anyone hungry for that is just weird. Today, Blizzard announced that their retro MMO throwback - World Of Warcraft Classic - will be launching next summer. Better still, the polished-up legacy version of the game will be free to all existing World Of Warcraft subscribers.
]]>Blizzard has been working on launching World of Warcraft servers that just run a classic version of the game, back before all of the updates were added to the world... of Warcraft... over the years. It's an ambitious choice because it's not just about re-launching some early version of the game; it's about perfecting and updating a very specific slice of the game so that it will run well on 2018 hardware and engage with players in the same way that the most updated version of the game does. Today, we've got an update from the developer on how the World of Warcraft Classic restoration / anti-expansion is going.
]]>World of Warcraft is getting a new expansion, Blizzard announced today, but also an anti-expansion. For people who want World of Warcraft as it was way back when, before expansions came along with all their bells and whistles, Blizzard will finally launch official 'Classic' servers. WoW fans have run bootleg vanilla servers for years, and Blizzard's lawyers shutting these down without offering an alternative has riled many. This came to a head around the vanilla server Nostalrius in 2016, when upset over its shutdown led to Blizzard meeting with the people behind it. We've still a while to wait for official vanilla WoW but it is coming.
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