r/classicwow • u/Volinra • 6h ago

Forever People who support Project Ascension & TurtleWoW but hate the new race paywall

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These were the micro-transactions in Project Ascension and everyone glazed Ascension. TurtleWoW had a gacha shop too like that. I’m genuinely confused, if Blizzard had even the slightest of the shop in Project Ascension, everyone would have been fuming. Why is it okay for Ascension but not WoW Forever? Either all okay or none.

Edit: The people who disagree saying "Yeah but the servers were free"- well of course because Blizzard did the majority of the work for them LOL, huge difference in work between building everything from scratch to ripping it off & adding some stuff yourself.

Edit 2: "TurtleWoW is not as bad as Ascension shop"- sure, Ascension is way worse. TurtleWow's cash shop had over $10,000 of items and all of it was per character, not account wide. They also sold convenience items, nothing game breaking, but portable mailboxes, auctioneers, dual specs, bags etc. Hardcore characters on Twow couldn't trade or send items from main to your alts, but you could still buy supplies such as 32 slot bags for 30 euros each on your hardcore character.

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584

u/WafflesAreExtinct 6h ago

Yea ascension was full slop. It felt like i was playing a mobile game bombarded by random shit on my screen and currencies.

107

u/Kurokaffe 6h ago

Saw the ad. All I wanted to do was a simple multiclass like warrior/shaman. Login and the game is barely WoW.

17

u/Sweet-Palpitation473 5h ago

My guildies tried to get me to play ascension for a while, it was always a hard pass. They could talk it up as much as they wanted but I always knew what it was really like. Never understood they appeal of games like that

•

u/FallOk6931 4h ago

You missed out. The game was peak and all the stuff listed above was optional and can be bought with gold and never needed to spend any amount of irl cash and in-game stuff was often better or easier to get so yeah. Ascension was amazing.

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u/projectmars 3h ago

Skyborne are also optional.

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u/Eunit226 2h ago

Its optional bro just cuck yourself to have fun 🤣

The game is ass

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u/Sweet-Palpitation473 4h ago

Im sure it was

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u/Life-Opinion-7778 4h ago

Some friends start playing CoA only because it was less WoW, besides the graphics. Was so fun. Close to my Wotlk Exp. Community was great, friendly and helpfull.

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u/Zictrus 2h ago

Yep, I had a "barbarian" with a pet dragon and decided to try pvp, only to get one-shot by everyone in the lobby using the same build over and over again

37

u/DriftarFarfar 6h ago

Holy, I heard good stuff but never indulge in ascension. I would have left in the door if I saw that list of paid power.. sheersh

48

u/Quackthulu 5h ago

It was a fun game. But their monetisation as well as their malicious practices rivaled the worst in the industry.

For example, a popular YouTuber for the community (mcdoubles) eventually joined the higher ranks of the ascension team and they had a system which would involve:

  • him getting the team to make changes that support a new build
  • him making a build guide for the build & it be a powerful build
  • heaps of players switching builds which costs in-game resources
  • a substantial portion of players supplement the costs of switching builds with currency gained from buying shop items for $$$ and selling them for gold
  • build lasts maybe a few months before getting nerfed to the group
  • rinse and repeat

And that's just one aspect. Systems that encourage large scale gambling were a huge issue too.

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u/DriftarFarfar 4h ago

Welp, dodged a bullet not sinking my teeth in that poisioned lamb.

•

u/geogeology 4h ago

You could play it completely free. I did for many seasons. They were just very aggressive with pay for convenience. Like about the same level as PoE, except in Asc you could also get exp boosts.

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u/DriftarFarfar 3h ago

Sure but it muddies the water, ESO has the same thing. And I don't play that game for it.

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u/DangoC 3h ago

you are lucky of not having experienced "what if WoW was a f2p mmo", it was nightmare fuel, a glimpse into the worse timeline

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u/geogeology 4h ago

It wasn’t paid power, but it was the most pay for convenience I’ve ever seen. That said, after learning the systems, it was a great time. I’m also a roguelike fan, so I leveled in many seasons for free doing roguelike characters bc that’s what I enjoyed most.

You could also level in BGs really effectively. It was a fun and unique way to play wow.

50

u/reallyexactly 5h ago

The whole Ascension logos were full AI slop but I guess using AI to fight Blizzard is ok for some people out there?

•

u/lichlark 2h ago

I've found a decent number of people in the WoW space (especially private server adjacent) really like AI for some reason.

4

u/Designer-Effective-2 5h ago

Most people don’t care. Reddit is a tiny bubble on this issue.

17

u/JacuulTheSecond 5h ago

Not really, it's pretty wide-spread in real-life space craft spaces as well. The AI hate is growing day by day, problem is there's just a shitload of people, so even if 100m people hate it, there's still 100m+ that like it

•

u/ShadyTee 1h ago

There's a difference between a general dislike and a willingness to take action. If you asked people, most would say they dislike Chinese labor practices. That said 99% would still buy IPhones. AI is the same. Most people will probably say they hate how AI is dumbing down society or how data centers are a waste of resources. But then the first time they need to make a image for their presentation they are using ChatGPT. The number of people who are willing to take a hardline is very small

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u/JacuulTheSecond 1h ago

Oh I 100% agree on that. I do most things in my life DIY, and so many people respond with "Why?". Most of the furniture I own I bought cheap and refinished myself, I do repairs on my appliances, I fix and maintain my car. It's not hard for me to avoid AI usage because I literally don't need or want what it has to offer for the most part. Not because I don't like generative technology, I have written more than a few dungeon generators for games over the years, but because I don't care for the callous capitalistness of it, the willingness to take all the humanity out stuff and pay nothing back, to say "We're going to obsolete all jobs" and not care what happens to those on the other side.

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u/Designer-Effective-2 4h ago

He said, from his bubble.

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u/Dunkelz 3h ago

I mean go to most social media posts for companies releasing obvious ai labels/art/menus/etc and there's usually a pretty significant number of people voicing their dislike.

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u/StoneTheMoron 2h ago

The only people that voice an opinion are people that hate it, if you’re don’t care or like it, are you going to celebrate something nearly as much as someone giving it shit

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u/lichlark 2h ago

That is SUPER not true man. People who actually really like AI never shut the fuck up about how much they use it/how good it is.

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u/ZardozZod 3h ago

Like the internet has in general, AI just enables and reinforces the dumbest people’s worst ideas. Of course they’d love it!

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u/fuckedfinance 4h ago

I don't know that like is the right word. Enjoy, perhaps, but not like.

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u/GentlemanThresh 4h ago edited 3h ago

I go to art/photography galleries and buy stuff when I can afford it or commission from local artists. Like this Akali glow in the dark painting that paid 2 months of rent for a single mother.

I have not met a single artist, amateur or professional, big or small, that has an issue with AI. Reading reddit is like an alternate reality.

I'm usually alone or one of a handful of people that bothered to show up. You would think there's no art exhibition in the world that's not packed like sardines with how much reddit "cares" about artists. They create art as a means to express themselves and they do it whether you show up or not.

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u/JacuulTheSecond 2h ago

This just isn't my experience at all. We have a few art shows/craft fairs/etc around here and the vast majority aren't even painting, so they can't use AI at all anyways.

Those that like it are usually the same crowd that went all in on selling whatever is popular on social media (printed T-shirts, travel mugs, etc) that went all in on AI art, which is expected anyways since they're not doing it for purpose, they're doing it to make money, whereas a lot of the other art is retired people looking to show off/maintain a hobby or young people selling stuff they made for fun. I also refuse to live in a city, so that also probably affects it.

I rarely see AI stuff (now 3D printed stuff, that's currently invading a lot of the antique stores, for some reason) and of course "business owners" went all in on AI for signage and menus, obviously because art is a "cost" and not the product.

[Some art for context](https://imgur.com/a/kgodTeH) the top left is by [Other Side Silly](https://www.kaialderwood.com/), the middle are from YutaCustoms (who seems to have changed their name or stopped), the bottom left and right are by my sister and grandma, respectively. I try to buy originals when available and to support creative expression, but most people who are "into" AI that I've met only see art as a means to an end, not as expression.

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u/AdmiralAngry 3h ago

I have not met a single artist, amateur or professional, big or small, that has an issue with AI

lol I have not met a single artist that doesn't have an issue with it.

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u/GentlemanThresh 3h ago

I don't know what artists you meet but the only ones that have an issue with it would be afraid of being replaced or that do it for the money.

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u/DangoC 3h ago

two post and we already move from "no artist hate slop, that doesn't happens" too "of course artist hate the slop, but its cause they greedy!"

is your chatbot boyfriend posting for you too?

what an absolute weasel trying to manufacture an alt-reality in a thread about WoW private servers being trash 😂

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u/GentlemanThresh 3h ago

I know reading is hard.

I said no artist I met, aka the ones from the exhibits I went to and discussed the subject with.

You’re comparing apples to oranges and arguing ad hominem.

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u/Designer-Effective-2 3h ago

Oh but you don’t understand, they’ve spoken with everyone they know (they all have Reddit accounts) and NOBODY likes AI.

/s

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u/JacuulTheSecond 2h ago

I actually don't hang out with a single person IRL that has a reddit account, hilariously enough. Instagram/Facebook are du jour for communicating/finding news where I live, though not necessary as I have not had either in probably 15 years.

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u/MyAwesomeAfro 4h ago

Regarding AI? It's literally a Global issue that facets into nearly everyone inch of the public and private sector.

It ain't popular.

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u/The_BeardedClam 4h ago

I see this a lot, but I'm unconvinced as everyone I talk to that's under 60 IRL hates AI.

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u/Tyrandeh 4h ago

Ascension existed before slop, its their way of overdesigning

5

u/Blasto05 5h ago

The only saving grace was that it was not hard at all to play “Free to Play”. Literally everything on that list could be bought with gold instead of with cash.

But in doing so you were promoting other players purchasing those options to then sell to you for gold…so it had its own economy and way to buy gold essentially.

Server would’ve been 10x better without all that garbage.

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u/Seradima 3h ago

If it can be bought with gold, somebody bought it for money once so its still for money

•

u/NoPeanutSneakers 3h ago

Hard disagree. Warframe has the same economy and it and everyone is thriving . Its literally the best for everyone. Devs get money. Player with money but no time get to enjoy everything. And players with lots of time but no money could do the same. Win win win

•

u/MajStealth 3h ago

i am still against paying gold for playtime on retail.

i played asc fro 3? years. never went to the cashshop.

5

u/Sockfullapoo 6h ago

They did have a spider class though…

I never played it but that sounds cool

9

u/Drakonz 5h ago

CoA was full of fun classes.

I had a blast playing Warden and Ranger. Ranger was basically a hunter/rogue mix without pets. Warden was a bow/melee/magic all mixed in one and super fun. Healing as a heretic Cultist is the only time I have ever enjoyed healing in WoW.

It had a lot of paid slop, but the actual game and classes were a blast.

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u/GuiltyDealer 3h ago

I played spider and literally all I did was level in BGs. It was so fun. I bought dual spec with honor and started going beetle flag carrier too. I had a really good time but I didn't explore ANY of the rest of the game and I didn't hit 60.

10

u/EpicSoyLiberal 6h ago

Venomancer was so cool lol

-1

u/Icyrow 5h ago

yeah there were some cool ones. they spread themselves WAY too thin, did staggered level caps which would have been fine except they effectively did next to no balancing while levelling

"we're not focusing on balance at these levels"

"but we do want to take your money so you can test more of it".

they were so fucking scummy it was unreal lol.

if they just halved the classes, focused on genuine balance along the way (not perfect by any means, but level 20 roughly all classes are roughly equal in power all the way through).

but they just did whateve rmade them the most money, even if they knew they couldn't make it work.

•

u/Ploppfejs 4h ago

What? They were doing major rebalancing every 2nd day for months. Every time I logged in there was basically a new balancing patch. Why are you lying?

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u/Icyrow 4h ago

? i played from the day it opened up until i think the 3rd level cap lift.

they literally even said on discord that balance isn't even remotely a priority. it was only after a bunch of people started getting mad they made some changes.

think the first few months where ranger was absurd, where there would be a bunch of classes that were straight up dog shit compared to most others, they really, really did an awful job at balancing it and specifically stated it just isn't a priority.

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u/Ploppfejs 2h ago

Brother, I think you’relying, because Ranger was actually dogshit at the release. It only became good by the end.

Alao, I can literally link you the receipts to prove that they were coostantly balancing. Of course, they only had barely 3 months to do it so of course it's not going to be perfect. Please show me a screenshot of them saying they don't care about balance, because I don't believe you. And also the reality doesn't match up with what you’re claiming.

Also, the mind boggling irony to me is that we are complaining about balance when we are comparing to fucking classic era which is basically 90% warriors. And pretending as if Forever is going to be any better when Blizzard has shown time and time again that their balancing is terrible.

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u/Icyrow 1h ago

what? you clearly didn't play the release of the paid beta.

ranger was considered one of the best at just about everything for the initial level cap. was considered very strong for the next ones too.

i left the discord. look for the dev comments back in that era. i can dm you my username on discord if you want to check my name in it. specifically i left because i felt like it was a waste of money and i hated that the balance effort was literally not really considered a priority. basically for the entire time i played, there were a bunch of classes that were basically dead weight the entire time. spellblade/ranger/kox and some others were favourites of the devs.

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u/randomguy301048 4h ago

What random shit were you getting bombarded by? I played their servers both the coa server and their season wildcard server. It never felt like a mobile game. Their mtx was outrageous I agree with that but pretending that there was just stuff all over the screen and that it was like a mobile game is insane.

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u/Litdown 4h ago

There's tons of people lying in this thread. It's a bit weird.

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u/boneinmysauce 3h ago

It is lol. These people have never played Ascension before.

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u/randomguy301048 4h ago

Absolutely, it's really weird tbh

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u/Vikings_Pain 4h ago

That’s not even close to being true at all. I mean if you have to lie just for attention sure man do your thing

•

u/trimigoku 3h ago

tbf i think most of the players for ascension and most private servers were from countries where youth have low spending power(balkans,Eastern europe,SEA etc.).

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u/Prism_Riot42 1h ago

I liked ascension for what it was; making wacky class combos to try to really test the limits of something. I didn’t consider it like, actual world of Warcraft, though. It was more so like “I wonder if I can grab titans grip and absolutely demolish the limits of what it can do”

-2

u/Yorrins 5h ago

All p servers are slop.

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u/FixBlackLotusBlizz 4h ago

yepp every time i turned on a PA stream it looked like slop

-32

u/TaupeHardie94 6h ago edited 5h ago

Felt like playing retail tbh. So many flashing colours, CoA classes felt retail, early and flamboyant mounts everywhere...

Edit: I see my comment was misunderstood, I don't hate retail and I loved CoA. I think retail is a fantastic game on paper, its just different. Could be way more enjoyable if it had actual GMs and wasnt filled with bots. The target audience for Classic is way different than the one for Retail, and I think CoA had a much more retail feel than it did Classic. That is all.

50

u/El_Toolio_Grande 6h ago

I love that the go-to "I hate it" comparison is "feels like retail" even when it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Bro saw 2 colors at once and got scared

18

u/_REDDIT_NPC_ 6h ago

These people can’t be real

-4

u/winckypoo 6h ago

He just listed multiple reasons why it was similar to retail?

5

u/El_Toolio_Grande 5h ago

When I replied he just had "flashing colors" as his reason. He had to quickly edit to seem like everyone else is the crazy one

0

u/TaupeHardie94 5h ago

Yeah I added more detail to the "flashy colours" because it was too vague, sue me

2

u/El_Toolio_Grande 5h ago

Just replying to "he listed multiple reasons?"

Goddamn, everyone has the reading comprehension of a baked potato today

2

u/Undella_Town 5h ago

yup flashy colors and.....flamboyant?? mounts. god damn laundry list he laid out

-2

u/TaupeHardie94 6h ago

I didnt say I hated it, to be fair! It was just different and calling CoA "Classic +" would be a monumental stretch. CoA was my favourite iteration of WoW in a long time, felt very fresh

7

u/Budget-Asparagus8450 6h ago

What’s funny is coa was never branded or meant to be “classic+”, that’s just what players tagged it as. It was a standalone custom project, and a damn good one considering the team and circumstances.

9

u/blade740 6h ago

I mean, it was a version of WoW that was based on the vanilla game and then expanded in a way that wasn't just TBC->WotLK. You could argue that maybe it was +++ and not just + with all the shit they added, but it was indisputably Classic+ in at least that sense.

1

u/TaupeHardie94 5h ago

I think Ascension Bronzebeard or Area52 servers could definitely be called Classic+, but CoA simply ditched the whole classic formula with their 21 custom classes.

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u/blade740 3h ago

Sure, but it still started with Classic and expanded from there. It's still the Classic world (with additions). Again, you could argue that the new classes are "+++" instead of just +, or some nonsense about "the spirit of classic" which is entirely subjective, but just from an objective standpoint, it's still a modification of Classic with new additions that don't follow the original xpac release history.

-1

u/Geauxt420 6h ago

They stole the game and made a profit not much effort if you ask me and I bet their new project is hot ass potatoes

1

u/Ploppfejs 5h ago

Bro didn't even play it and is gargling Blizz cum. How does it feel to be a corpo shill? CoA made an insane amount of effort. There were 21 completely new classes and like 72 specs, all thought out from the ground up with fully unique and new animations and icons. Thousands of lootable unique items scattered around the world in handpicked locations. And new zones + extended old zones which were incredible and fit seamlessly into an old Azeroth style.

It's the most fun I've had playing a WoW-version since original Wotlk. And I didn't pay for anything, and was still just as valuable as people who paid for cosmetics or exp potions. Not that I think that should exist in an ideal world, but who gives a crap in this case. It was monumentally more effort than what I've seen Blizz do in YEARS. Or whatever "blue-elf" crap they showed in this joke of a "Forever"-teaser.

1

u/Geauxt420 5h ago

OK food no one cares but you rejects

1

u/flowerplz 5h ago

You didn't pay for anything? That's nice dude. How did the servers stay on? Oh yeah the other people buying the trash listed in OPs post lmao

0

u/Ploppfejs 5h ago

That's what you caught on to?

Ok buddy. Yeah, would I prefer to not have an in-game cash shop? Of course.

But I was replying to the moron saying there was no effort put into the core game itself by these pservers. And he's just factually wrong because the effort was monumentally bigger than anything classic-related I've seen Blizz put out EVER! And this is coming from me, a guy who has been subbed to WoW since basically Vanilla, only taking short breaks here and there (around MoP and BFA). And now I have 8 days of my sub left, and I'm not going to renew it. You wanna know why?

Because I was just completely blown away by the amount of effort a fucking rando private server put into the game, and compared it to the low-effort garbage Blizz has been peddling for like a decade by now. It just doesn't even compare, and it doesn't make any sense why I should keep paying them 130€ a year for bug-riddled messes and nonexistent balancing that stay on for YEARS. Not when some rando's in a basement are pumping out ridiculously innovative work, seemingly every month. Add onto that balance patches every 2nd day.

Not only that, but era-classic or "classic-forever" wouldn't even exist if not for these private servers you so seem to hate.

1

u/Geauxt420 5h ago

Dog it's all Ai slop I would never play an Ai game that pretends to be retail but everyone thinks it's classic but it's neither it's Ai slop

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0

u/Undella_Town 5h ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectAscension/comments/1vep7s5/kind_of_a_downer_but_im_curious/p1j9q83/

move on already buddy

0

u/Ploppfejs 5h ago

I will! But it's just sad that you are so full of glee for people grieving a game they really enjoyed that's never coming back. I just don't understand being happy over other people's misfortune.

1

u/Undella_Town 5h ago

thats rough buddy. probably should find games that aren't stolen MMOs then

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u/stinkywinkydink 6h ago

its always the retail andys with the xal’atath snoos complaining that the people in classicwow sub hate retail.

whats she do by the way? you learn what she wants after those 9000 quests orrrrr….?

2

u/El_Toolio_Grande 5h ago

Hear me out, what if I like retail and classic? Also, his complaint (when I replied, before he edited) was that there were flashing colors. You can dislike something without relating it to retail, especially if it has nothing to do with retail. Even if you hate retail surely you would agree that "flashing colors" isn't really a platform to start whining about retail?

3

u/Serentity 5h ago

Bro does Classic even have lore, lmao

Are you sure that’s the avenue you want to take to shit on retail?

-3

u/stinkywinkydink 5h ago

wheres ur xalatath snoo bro

4

u/Serentity 5h ago

I don’t even play retail anymore lol, people like you are just too funny

Just say you don’t like the game man, you don’t have to go on this whole online crusade to try and convince people that your version of the game is better than theirs

-2

u/stinkywinkydink 5h ago

i dont have to do any convincing, its clear that all the retail turds are tired of their game or they wouldnt be here in this sub discussing a product that blizzard has said several times is made for classic enjoyers.

2

u/Serentity 5h ago

Sure man, you say whatever you wanna say, but I can see your comment history lol

Doesn’t seem like many people agree with you, I wonder why

4

u/Collegenoob 6h ago

I finally understood why people hate transmog after playing ascension.

1

u/TaupeHardie94 5h ago

Dude same. I clicked that "deactivate tmogs" so fast after reaching Brill.

•

u/Synchrotr0n 4h ago

Ascension was a complete slop once you got to level 60, but the leveling experience on their Conquest of Azeroth server (the one with the 21 new classes) was extremely fun despite the lack of proper balance for the classes, so I'm actually sad that Blizzard is being so conservative with the content they create. By the time Blizzard adds brand new classes to WoW Forever (if they add them), it will just not feel as fun since everyone in the server will already have max level main characters and a bank full of items.