Naxxramas Begins Testing On The World Of Warcraft Classic PTR

            World of Warcraft has been a game shaped by a relatively long passage of time, a period of over 15 years. When your game model is dependent on continuous play, you need to be constantly changing and growing with your player base. This is figurative in the sense that video games are a rapidly changing medium/market. But this is also very literal if you consider that people who started playing World of Warcraft when they were 16 will be around 30 when the newest expansion, Shadowlands, releases at the end of this year. That is pretty wild if you think about it. How many of us can say that we have a lot of games that we have played consistently for 15 years?  While most of us are much older now and have way less time available to play, you can skip the grind and buy a WoW Classic account rather than grind up yourself.

            The most interesting thing about more than a decade and a half of development is getting to look back and compare it to its roots. And with the most recent pre-expansion patch drastically restructuring the leveling system we thought there would be no better time to want to reminisce about how we used to play. Blizzard has made doing that particularity easy for players who want to relive the “glory days”. World of Warcraft Classic is a version of the game that has been remade the way the game used to be. Technically all the changes made to WoW were intended to be improvements, and undoing one or two changes could make the game less enjoyable. But what about taking away 15 years of changes. It really is a completely different game.  One thing that has not changed in World of Warcraft Classic is the grind.  Even after a player grinds to level 60, they must still grind out gold for potions, flasks, repairs, and other raid necessities.  Since not everyone has time for this, some players choose to buyWorld of Warcraft Classic gold to save on time.

            The nostalgia factor is definitely worth it for the veterans, but what about players who got into WoW longer after the release? Is it worthwhile for newer players to experience WoW classic? The general consensus is that while the older version of the game does focus more on the MMO grind it is a pretty different experience from the more modern iteration of the game. So if you are interested in experiencing one of the very first MMORPGs as it was originally designed to be played, then the classic release is definitely worth your time. 

                        There is a bit of debate about how “loyal” of a recreation WoW Classic is compared to the original. Some features have been altered to allow for a more social experience, which is not only considered an improvement by reviewers but also an improvement on the modern version of the game as well. Some criticize Classic for its use of layered servers, especially since it is found that this server format can be exploited for profit by players, but this issue has been reduced overall and occurs in only servers with high populations.

            If there was a perfect time to hop from WoW to WoW classic, I can’t think of a better one. While some new content came with the “level squish” patch, there isn’t nearly enough to fill the gap caused by the delay. A lack of main game content isn’t the only reason to make the transition now, though. An old favorite zone just entered the Player Test Realm (or PTR) and one that we think is definitely appropriate for the upcoming Halloween season.

            Naxxramas, the floating necropolis and home to some of the most vicious original WoW bosses has made its debut in testing. While you can’t play it in its original format for the time being, it’s still being tested after all. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun in the testing process, plus giving a helping hand to the developers means you’ll get to play Naxxramas as it was meant to be experienced that much sooner.

            What is testing out Naxxramas really mean? Well, first and foremost, as of writing this, the developers are only testing the Plague Quarter and its bosses, so if you participate in the test you’ll be squaring off against Noth the Plaguebringer, Heigan the Unclean, and Loatheb but not anybody else. The other drastically different thing about testing a raid is all the players participating receive pretty sizable buffs to their life and power. The developers have stated that they need the players to be at a specific level of power in order to adequately test the raid bosses and their abilities, so everyone participating will be effected by this buff. The buff can vary from run to run since they might need to tweak it for testing purposes.

            Another big change is you won’t be able to access Naxxramas in the traditional fashion, which is mostly a given. But how do you get to the flying necropolis then? Well, a special NPC named Johnny McWeaksauce will be present in all capital cities to teleport you to the testing area. Pretty simple stuff, right? And with a name like that, there is a good chance Johnny is going to stand out. Johnny’s brother Jimmy will also be present within Naxxramas in order to provide stuff like healing items, again to aid with the testing and its parameters.

            Now the test of Naxxramas is only for a limited time and when it will close is not set since it will depend on how the testing goes. But, if you happen to miss it, you have no need to worry. This “new” raid will be available to WoW Classic players in the near future and you will be able to get your fill of undead boss bashing, not to mention some nice loot that probably isn’t available to players helping test the rebooted raid.

            As fun as the concept of World of Warcraft Classic may sound to some, it is understandable for some players to be skeptical at the idea of paying to play the same content twice.  Some players may play for a few weeks, then remember why they quit in the first place.  For those players that do decide to quit, Accountwarehouse is a great option to sell WoWclassic accounts. Though, if you think about it, its kind of funny of a game being updated to the point that older content is no longer available. Though not unheard of in the era of post-release game patching, does that mean it should be acceptable? Should someone’s access to the game’s content they have paid for change over time? Yet another layer to the questions that digital products add to the list of issues with the definition of legal ownership. Still, the chance to experience some nostalgic fun might be too tempting to pass up.