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In the summer of 2019, Blizzard will release World of Warcraft Classic.
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A fully fledged recreation of its beloved MMO as it was over a decade ago.
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With that said, let's take a look at everything you need to know before buying World of Warcraft Classic.
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Blizzard Entertainment made waves in the industry when it announced that the fourth game in its critically and commercially acclaimed Warcraft series would also be its first MMORPG.
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Over the course of nearly five years of development, Blizzard released World of Warcraft on Nov. 23, 2004 in both North America and Australia, with a European release following in February 2005.
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The game was unique in many ways, establishing itself as an MMO for both Mac and Windows users.
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The physical boxed release.
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Something that's obviously not necessary in its current state, included "hybrid CDs" that players could utilize on either platform.
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Also, it allowed for Apple and PC users to team up together via a cross-play system that, to this day, still remains a point of contention for gaming properties throughout the industry.
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There's no doubt that WoW's release had a major impact on the video game world, and still does today.
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"Someone once said that you can't go home again, but they lacked vision… and a temporal discombobulator!"
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At its core, World of Warcraft Classic is all about the nostalgia of the early days of the game.
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It's a "faithful recreation" of the original game that dates back more than a decade ago.
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Optimized for current computers, the game looks and feels as if you're playing the WoW of 2006.
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If you've ever longed to replay, or wondered what it was like to play, a version of the game before any expansions, this is how you'll do it.
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If you're used to 2019 WoW, Classic will provide a completely different experience.
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Combat mechanics, character models, and skill trees all look and feel like the early days of this fantastic MMO.
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Meaning that you'll be transported back to the game's inception.
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When everything was new, raw, and much more difficult.
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This is "vanilla" World of Warcraft, and it's something you've either never experienced or haven't been a part of in years.
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But this isn't simply a nostalgia trip for Blizzard.
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The development of Classic comes complete with a content roadmap for the game.
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Split into six phases, players will have access to a whole load of fantastic content from the early years, along with a slew of both PVE and PVP gameplay.
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It won't be long before players will get their hands on WoW Classic.
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Prepare to do some pwning come Aug. 26, 2019.
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"Looks like you're about to get pwned."
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However, character creation begins a couple weeks before that, on Aug. 12 or 13 depending on your location.
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And you'll certainly want to jump in early to claim your character name and prepare up to three characters for use once the game launches in full.
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As long as you have an active WoW subscription, you can take advantage of this early aspect of Classic.
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And ensure that you're one of the first to get into this retrospective experience.
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As far as paying for the actual game, all you need to do is keep up with that subscription.
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If you currently have one for the main game, you know that it's simply the standard $14.99 per month.
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If you're new to WoW and need to sign up, you can do so via the Battle.net website, which offers discounted subscriptions if you purchase three or six months at a time.
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If you're a veteran of the MMO, you'll remember the days of patch 1.12, otherwise known as Drums of War, as some of the best times in "Vanilla WoW."
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If that's the case, then you'll surely be happy to know that Classic is rooted in 1.12.
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For new players, what does that mean?
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Essentially, this patch signifies one of the most stable, pre-expansion eras of World of Warcraft.
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According to Blizzard, the team chose this particular patch, quote, "because it represents the most complete version of the classic experience."
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However, this doesn't mean the game will look and feel exactly like it did in August of 2006, when this patch released to the world.
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Classic is a modern version of the game built using the 1.12 framework.
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In-game content, including vanilla raids, will mimic what was available in this update, which came right before the iconic Burning Crusade expansion.
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However, the game will utilize the extensive back-end improvements and changes that Blizzard has implemented over the years.
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In late May, Blizzard opened up a beta stress test for a select group of active, dedicated World of Warcraft players.
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On various dates throughout the summer, these players will have the opportunity to put the game servers through the wringer.
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Check out some of the classic content up to a level cap of 40.
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And help the dev team prepare for the August release.
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Recently, Jason M. Gallagher over at Den of Geek got his first look at the beta and had some positive thoughts.
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He cited the strategy involved in each dungeon pull, something that the game got away from over time.
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Gallagher explained, "Anyone who has played WoW in recent years knows that most dungeons are now an AOE grind fest."
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"From some of the yelling I heard, this is no longer going to be a successful strategy come August."
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Eliot Lefebvre at Massively Overpowered expressed that, for those looking for a, quote, "faithful recreation of the game that it's trying to recreate,"
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WoW Classic completely hits the mark.
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He elaborated, "This game is very decidedly the classic WoW experience, even adjusting for my own memory and nostalgia filters."
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