I’ve often struggled with playing Classic World of Warcraft and the two expansions they’ve done for it because although it’s nice to return and remember how things used to be, I’ve already done it all. I can’t really get excited about clearing Molten Core and killing the Lich King since I know what I’d need to do those things, and I can’t get into doing it all again. I figured it’d be the same with Classic Hardcore, and maybe worse since the threat of permanent death is always around every corner. However, I’m enjoying it a whole lot more than I expected.

Heading into Classic Hardcore launch, I knew I was definitely going to be playing a Tauren Druid. It’s what I originally wanted to play, but it didn’t fit with what my friend group at the time was doing. However, I have loved playing Druid since Legion, so there was no question about whether I would or wouldn’t level a Druid. Or at least try to level. I also decided right before the servers launched to make a run at a Nightelf Warrior, which I originally played all those years ago. My plan is to switch between the characters every 10 levels and see how that goes. Or when one dies.

My first run at it with my Druid came to a swift and unceremonious end at level 4. I left the starting area a bit early and headed straight for Bloodhoof Village. After spending some time there, I decided to work on finishing my quests and was killing things while chatting with people on Discord. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying enough attention and accidentally pulled a level 7 wolf. I might have been able to salvage the situation if I realized what happened more quickly; alas, I didn’t notice until way too late. So I decided that doesn’t really count and started over on another Druid. I have reached level 9 the second time, and I look forward to getting my bear form at level 10.

I completely forgot just how slow leveling is, which is only exacerbated by the extreme caution I am exercising after my first foray. I would have thought the extra slow leveling would get on my nerves, but I am really enjoying it. The fact that at any moment, something could happen and end the whole journey adds a new layer of excitement that had been missing in the Classic realms for me. It’s a little exhausting because I am hyper-focusing, but I can just go do something else when I need a break. It’s been a blast all around. Even when I died early, it didn’t feel awful. That might change once I get to a higher level.

The other thing I am really enjoying about Classic Hardcore is the different atmosphere among the players. Everyone is incredibly helpful, I’ve seen multiple people offering to make bags for people in the starting areas for free, which is cool. I saw one person who got themselves into a bit of a predicament with a mob, so I happily healed them and helped them kill what was attacking them. The reverse has also been true when I’ve gotten myself into sticky situations. Everyone seems super willing to give each other a hand when they can, which is refreshing.

My least favorite thing about classic era servers is how tagging works in the open world because it often leads to people fighting over mobs in certain areas, and it isn’t a whole lot of fun. Surprisingly, I haven’t seen much of that in Classic Hardcore. People seem to genuinely trade off on mobs and are more than willing to group up and help out when there are limited mobs for quests. It’s been refreshing and incredibly pleasant.

There are exceptions, though. People spam inviting people to guilds is rampant, and so is lying to people about how Classic Hardcore works. For example, I accidentally accepted one of the many guild invites I received, and people in that guild told the other members that if you leave a guild, you automatically die. Hopefully, no one believed them, but nonetheless, it’s a pretty smarmy thing to do. They also followed that up with, “join our discord we have a girl in chat,” which says a lot about that guild. I’ve also seen some people in general chat encourage players to do things that absolutely would end poorly for them. That behavior is much less of the overall experience than I thought it would be, but it is definitely there.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how all of these things change and evolve over time and as I get to a higher level. I’m also really curious if there is any difference in experience between Alliance and Horde in these respects. I’m also still very iffy about doing dungeons or raids, especially with anyone I don’t know. It feels incredibly risky.

I’m definitely not someone who was asking for Classic Hardcore to be a thing, but so far, I’m really glad it is here.