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!

My Thoughts Going Into Phase 3

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again with another post for your reading pleasure.

Nefarian, Final boss of Blackwing Lair

As you all know, Classic's been out for almost 6 months at this point. And since Phase 3 is imminent (and possibly out by the time I hit publish on this post), I thought it might be fun to just jot down some of my thoughts about the game until now. Especially since I've never really discussed the different phases much previously. So, before we all hop into Blackwing Lair and try to get those ultra-epic lewts, let me just take some time to tell about my thoughts going into Phase 3.




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As many of you know, my initial goals when Classic released was to reach the level cap during phase 1, begin raiding, and collect my full Prophecy set and Benediction. However, due to my limited time for playing the game I'd so long awaited, I wasn't able to meet that first goal. When the early release of Dire Maul was announced, with Phase 2 officially starting not long after, I was really bummed out, but it really pushed me to level as fast as I could, given my circumstances.


Well, luckily I reached level 60 and got into raiding not long after Phase 2 officially launched. And while I was still a bit bummed that I missed the initial Dire Maul rush, it felt great to finally raid Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair as relevant content. Overall, I found a lot of satisfaction with the game after finally capping.

Like...what happened with the phases? (Credit to classicwow.live)

Fast forward a bit to December 2019, and we got the announcement that Phase 3, the one with Blackwing Lair, would be launching in "Early 2020". Initially, I was furious with this news, as I'd only recently hit level 60 and had hardly even touched Molten Core. After comparing the Classic releases of the other content, like DM and battlegrounds, to their original release dates in vanilla, I felt like Blizzard was rushing out the phases and not really letting players experience it in an authentic manner. I was especially worried because, to me, "Early 2020" sounded like a mid-late January release, and with only one viable day for raiding, I thought I might have to make a choice between either finding a new guild that would continue doing MC on that day, or move into BWL without completing my second main goal - Prophecy and Benediction.

The Next Chapter...

Well, here we are with BWL about to launch, and I can say that I was definitely a bit too hasty in my initial reaction to that news. This phase's February release means that it's coming roughly five and half months after Classic's launch, only about two months sooner than Vanilla's Patch 1.6. Sure, it's not 100% true to the initial launch, but considering that most of us didn't have much actual progression in tier 1 content this time around, the timing seems pretty much right.

5/8 Prophecy AND Benediction Obtained!

Basically, what I'm saying is that though I thought Blizzard has been rushing Classic content, the release of Blackwing Lair and the rest of Phase 3 content seems like it's coming at a good time. Personally, I'm super-excited for this new chapter of Classic. Despite not having my full Tier 1 set - 5/8 as of right now - I'm ready for something new. And I'm sure that many of you out there who have been clearing MC in under 2 hours for the past few months are right there with me.


In addition to the new raid, I'm excited about a few other things coming to the game in this phase too! The Sunken Temple class quests, while not really beneficial for  my priest at this point, will give my shammy alt something to work on when I get him up to the early 50s. The Darkmoon Faire, while not necessarily something I was ever really interested in, will be a fun place to go hang out in whenever it comes to Mulgore, if only to listen to the music while chitchatting with my guild.

Most importantly, though, is that we'll start having overpowered BWL-geared raiders running with alts and newbies through Molten Core and Onyxia - boosting those toons' gear faster than ever before. Despite being old content in Classic as soon as BWL and beyond are released, the fact that MC contains so many amazing items (including tier 2 legs, some trinkets, and more) makes it impossible for certain raiders to pass up. Phase 3 is going to be a great time to have a fresh 60 in Classic, that's for sure!

Did somebody say...?

And, of course, we'll all finally get to see people running around Ironforge and Orgrimmar with, you guessed it, Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker! What a time to be enjoying Classic!






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So, there you have it. My thoughts going into this new chapter of Classic's life. Overall, I'm pretty excited, as you can probably tell, but I'd like to know what you think. Are you excited for something new, nervous about the challenges that await in Nefarian's evil lair, or annoyed by the slightly early release of this 15 year old content? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment down below. If you liked this post, add yourself to my mailing list below, or follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates when I post new content. Also, consider checking out my videos over on YouTube, as that's where all of these blog posts end up roughly a week or so after their writing.

Thanks for reading, have an awesome day, and as always...

Take it easy!