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Ask any OG World of Warcraft fan when they stopped playing the game and you will almost certainly be told ‘Cataclysm’ or one of the other slew of sub-par expansions that followed Wrath of the Lich King. This was the case for me back in 2010 when the original Cataclysm expansion came out. What started as excitement quickly turned sour, especially seeing a lot of the lore-significant choices made in the Vanilla version of WoW, the Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King being overturned for the sake of modernising the game. With the dawn of Cataclysm Classic on the horizon for May 20, it is painfully clear Blizzard has learnt nothing in the past decade as the company finalises its plans to remove Wrath of the Lich King servers in WoW Classic and replace them with Cataclysm-only servers.
With no plans at all from Activision Blizzard to set up Wrath or The Burning Crusade dedicated servers, one can only lament that World of Warcraft Classic is going to run the same course as it did previously. There is a clear argument to be made that WoW Classic exists because of the changes that Cataclysm first wrought in 2010. Iconic and nostalgic start areas like Mulgore and Northshire Abbey were ruined, alongside so many other beautiful locations in Azeroth. Sure, you can still play Vanilla WoW, without any expansions, but it isn’t a stretch to say that World of Warcraft was at its best during The Burning Crusade and, to a lesser extent, into Wrath of the Lich King (WOTLK). To put it simply, the introduction of Cataclysm is the point of no return in World of Warcraft, where the game fundamentally changes for the worse, in my opinion. Cataclysm is the start of modern WoW, making the ‘Classic’ moniker so far from the truth.
Having dedicated WOTLK servers would be the perfect way to keep everyone happy and provide what is truly considered the best version of classic Warcraft.
For what it’s worth, I think the biggest problem with the jump from Wrath of the Lich King to Cataclysm was that Blizzard ran out of material for a new expansion. The end of WOTLK in WoW was the conclusion of a story that began in Warcraft 3 and the Frozen Throne; the models, lore, story, and characters were all fully utilised to tell the story of WoW, and it felt like a natural continuation. Models were ripped directly from the RTS and it was pure magic to be involved in that world so deeply in the MMO.
Due to this reliance on the RTS games, this would have been the perfect time for Blizzard to introduce another Warcraft RTS or something else to lay the groundwork for the next WoW expansion. I’m paraphrasing here, but Blizzard said ‘heck no’, and got Deathwing to literally, spiritually, and mentally ruin and reshape Azeroth to start things fresh, in a manner of speaking.
Not only does Deathwing change Azeroth in terms of visuals, but Blizzard also decided it was time to mess with the established lore of Warcraft and make further changes, such as giving more races access to other classes. At face value, this is great because it is silly that humans just can’t figure out how to be Hunters, but on the other hand, there are some classes that have lore significance as to why you can’t play as them.
Sure, you can argue that time progresses in-game as expansions come out and more factions are open to learning these practices again, but that is never explained enough and is simply there. In the lore, you cannot make a Night Elf character and play as a mage in Vanilla World of Warcraft all the way to Wrath of the Lich King, and for good reason. Lo and behold in Cataclysm, after thousands and thousands of years, the Night Elves are now totally fine with everything that Azshara and her Highborne mages did and are willing to give it a try again.
I think it’s incredibly unlikely to ever see, for example, a Burning Crusade server on Classic WoW, but to me, it makes sense to allow people to continue to play Wrath of the Lich King Classic, as this is truly the last expansion that World of Warcraft could be considered ‘Classic’. The modernisations, quality of life additions, flying mounts in Azeroth, class changes, and everything else added in Cataclysm make it indistinguishable from what it used to be. As such, dedicated Wrath of the Lich King Classic servers would serve as a time capsule of when WoW reigned supreme.
For many, it must have been exciting, but for me, it ruined so much of what made World of Warcraft so enjoyable. Having dedicated WOTLK servers alongside Vanilla and Cataclysm would be the perfect way to keep everyone happy and provide what is truly considered the best version of classic Warcraft.
To illustrate this change, in Vanilla, you would have to read the quests to figure out where to go. This might sound obscene in this day and age of hand-holding, complete with mini map icons and highlighted paths, but it was all part of the adventure back in the day. Not only that, but WoW, the Burning Crusade, and WOTLK all felt rewarding to explore, especially the locations in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. I’m sure I’m not alone when I fondly recall happening upon the super secret Ironforge airstrip after hours of trying to jump up the mountain from the Wetlands. Cataclysm comes along and lets you just fly up there on a mount, severely ruining a lot of what felt great about exploration in Warcraft.
Frankly, it puts me, and I’m sure others, in a position of feeling annoyed. You can play Vanilla, but the best parts of WoW arguably came in The Burning Crusade expansion, and granting access to WOTLK servers would remedy this problem and then some. Since Blizzard seemingly loves money above all else, I have to wonder where the brand of ‘Classic’ will stop. Are we going to be playing WoW Classic: The War Within (the game’s latest upcoming expansion), while the main MMO is in its 30th expansion? All the more reason to give WOTLK dedicated servers, as Cataclysm is the end of Classic WoW in the eyes of many.
You don’t have to go far to see this mentality echoed, with many on Reddit expressing disappointment that the classic servers aren’t going to offer anything other than Vanilla and Cataclysm. Not to mention, there is a reason that some WoW private servers that only offer The Burning Crusade expansion are extremely popular. Perhaps Blizzard will change its mind on this point and finally learn from the huge mistake that was the Cataclysm expansion and give the people what they want: dedicated Wrath of the Lich King servers in Classic WoW.
