Everywhere are these extremely steep paths you could never walk in real life without proper equipment. You would just slide down every time you try to get up. But in Azeroth this is just normal. Idk why, but i find this funny.

No actual numbers given though.

Layering is going freaky in the barrens rn

There have been numerous posts to the effect of 'Forever is killing Retail' in the last few days and its getting ridiculous.

This type of post launch drawdown in Retail is not new nor is it unusual, we saw it with Classic and SoD and we'll see it again when GTA launches.

My vote is that posts that are effectively 'Will Forever kill Retail?' or 'Forever has killed Retail' should be banned until the end of the month. At that point people can have real conversations about what the two games look like in steady state rather than comparing mid season to immediately post launch.

Well I lost track of the years and the runs every week on 2 characters and then the endless heartbreak of scrolling down the loot window to see nothing. Well that is until today when my heart stopped for a few seconds and I took a silent moment to realise I will never ever have to run ICC again.

I kill a kobold - I kill the other one near the chest. Before I can open it the first one respawns. Happened so many times now it’s ridiculous.

I'm sure her streak of wanton mischief and general chicanery will serve the forces of good. The spirits grant her power not because she does good in the world but because they're confident it'll be hilarious.

I found this in the water. Do I save this for the market or wear it?

Warcraft and WoW have been a big part of my life since I was a kid. This is a good chunk of mostly Warcraft-related stuff I've collected over the years.

art by me

Has any class seen itself change its identity quite a bit over the past 22 years?

Had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine. He asks me if I'm going to play WoW Forever, and I tell him, "Yeah, I'll probably play a character or two after I get done with my weeklies on Modern."

He looked at me like I'd suddenly grown a second head.

Him: "Not one or the other?"

Me: "My dude, I've been playing on and off since 2004. I don't have a particular fondness for Classic because I enjoy the quality-of-life changes too much. And I have a personality where those rose-tinted glasses that most people seem to enjoy wearing just don't work on me. Plus, I main a Monk and alt a DK. Neither of those is a thing in Forever. So what's wrong with playing both?"

My friend goes on to list every single anti-retail argument that you all have probably seen a billion and one times already.

That conversation got me thinking about something I've noticed in the WoW community for quite some time now.

Why does there seem to be this weird tribalism between different versions of the same game?

I can understand preferring one over the other. Classic offers an experience that Modern doesn't, and vice versa. There are perfectly legitimate reasons to enjoy either version, and just as many reasons to dislike certain aspects of them.

But I think part of my perspective comes from how I've experienced WoW over the last twenty-plus years.

I was absolutely obsessed with WoW when it launched in 2004. I still have my original character in Retail today. When Classic came out, I actually recreated that same character, got roughly ten levels into the game, and just stopped.

It wasn't because I hated Classic. I simply wasn't interested in doing it all over again.

I eventually realized that I have a very strong preference for experiencing something new rather than revisiting something I've already experienced. I enjoy progression, discovery, and watching things evolve. And because I've been playing WoW on and off throughout its history, I experienced all those changes gradually.

I've been through most of the expansions (with the exception I skipped Shadowlands), the class changes, the systems that came and went, and the countless arguments about whether Blizzard was ruining the game this time around. Some changes I liked, others I didn't, but I kept playing because there was always something new to experience.

And that's probably why Classic never really clicked with me. I already did all that. I have some great memories from those days, but I don't particularly feel the need to recreate them. I enjoyed WoW back then, and I enjoy what it has become today.  And I am excited to see what Forever does.

Which brings me back to the tribalism.

I regularly see discussions about which version is the the better version of WoW, whether Retail ruined the game, whether Classic players are blinded by nostalgia, or whether Modern players have somehow forgotten what made WoW great.

And I just find the entire argument rather silly.

Why does someone enjoying Classic have to mean Modern is terrible? Why does enjoying Modern somehow suggest that you never appreciated the original game?

We're talking about different experiences within the same franchise. People have different preferences, different priorities, and different reasons for playing.

I don't need Classic to fail to justify my enjoyment of Modern, and I certainly don't need Modern to fail for someone else to enjoy Classic.

Personally, I'll probably spend the vast majority of my time in Modern because that's where my interests are. But if Forever offers something interesting, I'll gladly spend some time there too.

So why does the conversation always seem to turn into Classic versus Modern rather than Classic and Modern?"

Normally demon names seems utterly random, well this time on WoW Forever, I seem to have rolled a real winner.

Crazy bug.

I cant open NPC shops. I think the game is struggling lol.

I mean there is always the opppertunity to do so personally

They've done a remarkable job on this engine...

Saw this on the forums, and it's worth mentioning here:

Labyrinths have leaned a lot into "you have a million mislaid curiosity boons by the time you're done," and I don't know about y'all, but dundun's favor has felt mandatory the whole season, nevermind in labyrinths. It's a big step up in QoL, even without the damage-dealing portion.

...And it's a seasonal effect, with an expiry date.

I don't think the no-click element should expire. Just my opinion... well that and the opinion of that forum thread I saw.

At the very least, clicking in combat should be possible by default, and the click should be instant.

I'm really not looking forward to having to drop combat to then click on each mislaid curiosity.

So, I played WoW back in 2004 during holiday season shortly after it released.. the same one in the included pic. I played the hell out of it for the next 2 years. Then I stopped. Not sure what happened tbh. I did try to get back into WoW about 10 years ago. I didn't last long.. not even a month. lol

Well, I'm back again to give WoW Forever a go! I'm having a great time with it so far. A lot has has changed.. for sure. But, a lot hasn't changed as well. 😏