General Thoughts

I'm excited, truly. When I first started exploring Azeroth in 2008 I did not think it would consume this much of my life. It is not a bad thing in the slightest, it has enflamed so much creativity and passion for fantasy that I'm glad I got that into it. Azeroth was such a big world I didn't think I'd ever explore it all. But as I got older and started understanding things better, I did come to explore most of it.

The lore is what truly encapsulated me. Seeing these different characters, like Arthas, and discovering that it's not just the "bad guy", but a hero that fell. That made me want to uncover more. Watching Nobbel87 videos to learn the history of Azeroth and truly learning what happened before our characters touched Azeroth made it seem like I was actually a part of a living world.

With Classic+, I think why it resonates so well with me is because it's returning to those stories, that sense of discovery in a time that the world truly felt undiscovered. Of course, I will come to discover it. I will learn the new stories and places. I might end up returning to the mindset of, "So... What else can be explored?" But, I'm not there yet!

When I tried out TurtleWoW, it was that old world. It was the Azeroth that I first started to discover, and there were new things to see. Locations we knew, like Gilneas, but discoverable in a time that we hadn't seen before. "What's happening here during this time?" Well, go look! Northwind, the area between Elwynn Forest and Dun Morogh, it's been 21 years and I finally got to see what it could be. This old world, where you are grounded and stuck running from place-to-place, even larger than it once seemed. That is what grabbed me with the idea of Classic+.

The art, oh my god, the art! This is a big piece of discussion currently. What should Forever look like? It is "Classic +" so should it look like Classic? Or because it's Plus it should look like Retail! I do side with the Classic idea, but honestly having an option for both is the best way to do it. With the 2005 era game, people say it's ugly, that it's outdated, I disagree. There is a beautiful simplicity to its art style that many games nowadays will never achieve. Hyperrealism is not what I want to see with this game. The medium that they have landed with back in 2005 and even today, is not realism. They have their own art style and rules they use to keep making things "World of Warcraft." I think the art in 2005 holds up today because it is its own style. It looks like that on purpose. They had technical limits back then, but they made something that was a perfect medium for expressing the World of Warcraft. It was simple, stylized, and unique.

TurtleWoW took that artstyle and built with it. They kept true to staying Classic, adding more to it, without changing the look and feel of the game. I tried Ascension for a time and it was jarring seeing that, while using the old textures and models, new textures were still being used. I'd see the old cobblestone texture in Goldshire, and then their new additions would be using updated BfA textures. The theme was lost, this was not the old world even though it was "Classic."

With Forever, I do sort of worry how they'll handle it. Do I think that the new atmospheric effects are out of place? No. Looking at it, it does still feel Warcraft. Seeing new models, if even they lower the resolution, still makes me feel that it isn't the old world anymore. I'll have to wait to play until I fully cement on my opinion, as I haven't actually run around the world and experienced it yet.

Needless to say, I am really friggin' excited for this. I can't wait to level with my friends and explore this world with them.