That title hurt to type.
The literal gods of Classic WoW sat down together to play what they created in 2004.
Featured are the following people and their original job titles:
- Aaron Keller (3D Artist)
- Alex Afrasiabi (Game Designer)
- Jeff Kaplan (Game Designer)
- Pat Nagle (Game Designer)
- Tom Chilton (Game Designer)
Of course, they rolled Alliance.
If you’re at work and feeling like you’re missing out on Classic WoW news, we’ve got you covered with this recap.
For those that are free, here is the video:
They talked about the first quests they made, the first building that was created (the Goldshire Inn – now a blasphemous temple for naughty RP), and how they didn’t really know what they were doing.
Jeff Kaplan explains pre-Alpha was a whole lot of experimenting and failing, but the excitement pushed them through time and time again (and the same thing is happening to the players before August 26th – only 5 more days until assured happiness). All they wanted was to make a game that they would enjoy. The beauty of Vanilla was that no managers were telling them to hit certain markers or do it a certain way; they were masters of their own fate because MMORPGs were so new.
The video constantly cuts back to the developers stuck on naming their characters.
Kaplan explains that picking a vanilla character now brings up what he felt back in 2004. He still rolls as the main tank, and Chilton is still indecisive about his class and makes a good point:
“All those same questions that were bubbling around in my head 15 years ago…it doesn’t feel like there is an absolute right answer, which is probably a good sign”
What I think he means is that you can pick a class that you enjoy, but when you roll another class the game begins again.
The Deadmines was the first dungeon ever made – hence the epic story behind it. The developers decided to run through it together for nostalgia.
They get lost and criticize their past-selves, die, and reaffirm that the original feeling is still there.
“The main character of Classic WoW was the world”. Chris Metzen said that, and they all agree that WoW was successful because of the pacing of the game (yes, running everywhere was part of what made your experience great).
The video finishes with them all getting excited about people who have never played Classic WoW (or even Warcraft), because they will get that sense of wonder we are all chasing again in 2019.
Watch this video once you get home. It’s simple but well done and shows we are in for a treat on August 26th.
Be sure to join our Discord and find our guild <Vanilla Together> on Herod (Alliance!)