Wrath of the Lich King Classic has yet to arrive, but Blizzard appears to be looking at the next step in the evolution of the old World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft Classic began with a "vanilla" version of Blizzard's MMO in 2019 and has evolved into the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King material, which may continue into the future with a new Blizzard survey that explicitly asks players for their thoughts and opinions on what they liked and didn't like about the 2010 expansion pack. What remains the same, however, is that players will still need to purchase WotLK Classic Gold.
A recent survey released by Blizzard aimed to determine if World of Warcraft Classic players needed such a progression. After a series of general questions, the survey asked players for details about the history of the World of Warcraft Classic and Cataclysm sourcebooks. It detailed the features of the sourcebooks, allowing players to comment on what parts of the original Cataclysm they liked and disliked, and what parts of the sourcebooks they would like to see in World of Warcraft Classic. Finally, it asked players if they would be interested in Cataclysm Classic from the first iteration, with or without changes.
Other questions posed by the survey include whether players want major changes to Cataclysm or to leave it as it was in 2010, what might stop players from wanting to play Cataclysm Classic, and what players might expect from the next content The Warcraft Classic expansion pack will follow Wrath of the Lich King. The survey apparently has some changes, with one question asking players to choose their favorite color, which will then generate questions about whether there is an unchanged version of Cataclysm Classic or a significant change.
In various interviews for Wrath of the Lich King Classic, Blizzard has openly discussed the idea of a Cataclysm Classic Edition. As Wowhead points out, an interview earlier this year between famed World of Warcraft anchor Asmongold and World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas also touched on the topic, with Hazzikostas saying he wanted to hear from players about what should happen next and to better understand why for many Classic players Cataclysm is the "beginning of the end" in terms of World of Warcraft's popularity for many classic players.
Cataclysm marked a major shift in Blizzard's MMO, with a major overhaul of Azeroth, the introduction of team matching for finding team copies of the system, an automated dungeon finder available since the beginning of the sourcebook, a more streamlined questing experience, major profession changes, and much more. As Hazzikostas said in the interview, the new survey clearly shows that "there's a lot on the table" as far as the direction of Classic is concerned, and Blizzard seems to be trying to figure out where to go next.
Until then, however, there will be Wrath of the Lich King Classic, which is scheduled to arrive on September 26. The game's pre-patch, which introduces Death Knights, achievements, career changes and inscription professions, has already seen an influx of players, with many of the game's most populous servers having five-hour or longer login queues during peak play times.
While the nostalgia for Cataclysm is not as strong, it is still an important chapter in Warcraft history - one that many believe deserves classic treatment. Although it was the first World of Warcraft sourcebook to split, Cataclysm still scored a 90 on Metacritic, ranking just below the previous sourcebooks. Survey or no survey, World of Warcraft Classic players should voice their opinions on Cataclysm so they can help chart a course for Blizzard's ongoing trip down memory lane.
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