Two years after the initial launch and with The Burning Crusade on the horizon, a lot of players ask themselves, is World of Warcraft Classic Worth It In 2021?
World of Warcraft is one of the most popular MMORPGS in the history of gaming. Blizzard, the company behind World of Warcraft, launched the game in 2004 as a buy to play and pay to play title. Right out the gate the game was an absolute hit and broke record after record.
Since WoW first launched more than 15 years have past by and the game received a new expansion about every two years with massive content updates. But with each new expansion bringing in new content, the game shifted away from its core values, in order to compete with the MMORPG market. While it is astonishing that Blizzard managed to keep WoW as the number one MMORPG for over 15 years now, a lot of ‘OG’ players have raised complains.
World Of Warcraft Classic
For years and years on end players have been asking Blizzard to integrate legacy servers into the game that allow players to play the original World of Warcraft game the way it was released in 2004. 15 years later Blizzard listened and launched World Of Warcraft Classic. As expected the game was a massive success and players were willing to spend hours upon hours in ques to get into the game.
Two years after launch, Blizzard announced that WoW Classic will be moving forward into The Burning Crusade, WoW’s first expansion at the time. While many players are excited to see the original version of the game move forward, new players are left wondering if it is worth jumping into Classic now and level and gear up to get ready for The Burning Crusade.
In order to participate in The Burning Crusade expansion, players must level up a character to a minimum level of 58 and a maximum level of 60. Leveling from one to 60 takes on average 130 hours of playtime which is equivalent to three full weeks of a 9 to 5 job.
Unlike retail World Of Warcraft, Classic is much harder. Questing, leveling and dungeons are not doable without a properly geared group and many quality of life features players are used to from retail, for example the dungeon finder, were not part of the original game, therefore were left out in Classic.
If Classic WoW is much harder than Retail WoW, the main deciding factor for if the game is worth picking up or not in 2021 is the games player base. Since players will not be able to complete content by themselves, they will rely upon other and potentially stronger characters to help them through them.
According to the website The Gamer Journalist: ‘As of March 2021, there are roughly 215,000 WoW Classic players on US and EU servers. The breakdown is approximately 108,000 on US servers and 107,000 on EU servers.’ While this is a significant decrease in active players compared to 2020, it came as no surprise. WoW Classic content schedule has run out and most players have completed all available content so far, laying low until TBC releases.
This is however not to say that it is too late to start World of Warcraft Classic in 2021. In both US and EU many servers offer a large active player base. In order to decide which server is best for you, IronForge can help with that. IronForge has up to date statistics of each server’s population as well as how the players are divided up between Alliance and Horde.
Is It Too Late To Start?
No matter if you are new to the World of Warcraft universe or swapping over from Retail WoW, it is not too late to start World of Warcraft Classic in 2021. The game has still a massive active player base and you will find others to team up for content with in any level that you are currently in.
Yes, you will not be able to run for server first in any category, but there are still new players that have not cleared all of the current content that are looking for others to team up with. I have put about 50 hours into WoW Classic the last couple weeks and I have found players in all areas competing for resources, teaming up for dungeons, or grouping up for PvP. To answer the question Is World Of Warcraft Classic Worth It In 2021, absolutely.
If you have questions in regards to WoW or other games, follow me on my socials, and if you are a content creator yourself, this GUIDE is your you!
How to play WoW Classic?
WoW Classic is accessed through the BattleNet launcher. Locate WoW in the launcher and select WoW Classic on the game drop down menu.
Does WoW Classic cost?
Yes WoW Classic requires an active World of Warcraft subscription, which costs around $15/month.
I am subscribed to retail WoW, can I play Classic?
Yes if you have an active World of Warcraft subscription you can play Classic WoW at no additional cost.
Is Classic WoW free?
Classic WoW currently does not offer a free trail. The game requires an active World of Warcraft subscription.
Is WoW Classic already dead?
No WoW Classic still has a large active player base and with The Burning Crusade on the horizon, more players are rushing back to the game.
Is WoW Classic better than WoW?
While the game overall is the same, the core objectives and values between the two games are completely different. Therefore none is better than the other.
