Classic TBC? My Thoughts and Plans

Hey dudes, Silvite Soltis here. And today, I've got another quick thoughts post for you.

As I'm sure everyone is aware of at this point, Blizzard recently sent out a survey asking players which method of character progression they'd be most in favor of to transition from Classic to The Burning Crusade if they were to release TBC servers. The four options given were essentially:

1 - Your whole server progresses to TBC, but you can transfer off to stay capped at 60 vanilla.
2 - You start fresh at level 1 on a TBC server.
3 - You start fresh at level 58 on a TBC server.
4 - Your server stays capped at 60, but you can transfer off to progress into TBC content.

Obviously, options #1 and #4 are the most likely scenarios, with #4 being my personal preference, but the most important aspect of this survey isn't really HOW they plan to progress into TBC, but the fact that it's basically confirmed.

So, though we don't have an official announcement of a Burning Crusade rerelease quite yet, I thought it might be fun to just discuss some of my thoughts and plans for when it is eventually released...

What will I do?

Got'em!

So, since we don't know exactly when Classic TBC will come out, it's hard to say for certain what I'll do. Though I would very much like to clear Naxxramas, I can't say that I'm really devoted enough to farm out consumables, past tiers of raiding content, and progress through the raid every week. Blackwing Lair took my guild 7 weeks to clear, due to our condensed 1-night raiding schedule, and the prospect of trying to clear BWL, AQ and Naxx while also taking care of my work and family life does seem too be quite daunting.

7/8 of the only set I care about

So, basically, I think that I'll most likely jump over to Classic TBC immediately when it releases - whenever that is. I've completed two of my biggest Classic goals at this point - slaying Nefarian and obtaining Benediction - and the third and final one is within my reach (currently at 7/8 Prophecy with only the helm left to collect). Sure, it'd be nice to kill Kel'Thuzad and get decked out in full T3, but unless we've got a full year or so of Phase 6, it just isn't a feasible goal for me.

What will I roll?

Hello, New Main!

Throughout Classic thus far, my priest has been absolutely amazing. I can say that I've truly enjoyed everything about leveling as a Horde character, and learning how to properly heal the dungeons and raids of original WoW. That being said, I do feel that I missed out a lot of adventures with my family by not playing Alliance - which both of my brothers and my sister-in-law rolled. Plus, I did level multiple characters - both Alliance and Horde - up to 70 during the Burning Crusade back in the day (Priest, Warrior, Druid, and Mage). So I don't think I'm missing anything in terms of quests and storylines like I did in vanilla.

As such, I've got two options that I'm considering very heavily. If we get to copy/transfer our Classic characters, I'll be maining my dwarf protection paladin, as 1- tanks are always in high demand, 2 - he's already level 47, and 3 - I love playing it, even in Classic! However, if we do end up starting completely fresh, I'll definitely roll a draenei enhancement shaman, as it's another class I've learned to love through leveling one in Classic. I may go resto at level cap, as I do love healing, but since I've never mained a melee dps, I'd probably stick to enhancement if that ends up being the case. Still though, the paladin is my hope.

So...when do I think it will come out?

Though I've been thinking a lot about this since the survey came out a couple of days ago, I honestly don't think that Classic TBC will be out for a while. For starters, we're not even into phase 4 of Classic yet, meaning that we still have at least 7 full months left - assuming phases 4 through 6 last as long as phases 1 through 3 did (and phase 6 will probably be much longer). Moreover, the new expansion to retail - Shadowlands - is still set for a 2020 release as far as I'm aware. So since it wouldn't make much sense to release two big WoW subscription-drivers in the same year, I'm going to guess Classic TBC will release in mid-2021 - most likely in July or so. Though Blizzard seems to really enjoy their August releases in recent years, they have been pumping Classic out a bit faster than originally anticipated to meet the players' demand for more content. As such, I don't think we'll have a full two years of original Classic. But really, that's just speculation and only a select few in Blizzard know for sure.

Final Thoughts

Looking Forward to This Place Again

Obviously, all we have to go on right now is a survey that was only sent to a few people, but for me, that's enough. I'm still enjoying Classic a lot, but I am getting more and more hyped thinking about TBC with every passing hour. As a senior in high school back in the day, I played the hell out of it, but I was about 8 months late to the party - only really starting around August of 2007. So though I did get to raid through tier 4, and later tier 6 content on my shadow priest back when it was relevant, I skipped over tier 5 almost entirely due to the availability of catch-up gear. This time, I'm looking forward to doing everything, but as a different role. And even if my real life responsibilities keep me from doing that, at very least I know that I can do some Karazhan with my family every week. And that'll be a blast...

Anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed reading me ramble about my excitement for the most-likely upcoming TBC rerelease for Classic, let me know by leaving a comment down below! And if you'd like to see more content in the future, add yourself to my mailing list, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter while you're at it! Also, consider checking out my videos on YouTube for more Classic, and eventually TBC related content! Thanks a lot for reading, have an awesome day, and as always...

Take it easy!