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[AV]

Launching June 1st 2021
​

What is TBC Classic?

At Blizzconline 2021, Blizzard announced that they would, as expected, be launching a classic version of The Burning Crusade - the first ever World of Warcraft expansion, and a fan favourite. Anyone with an active WoW subscription can access this version of the game on existing Classic servers as they roll over to TBC some time in the coming months.

Why would I want to play this old version of WoW?

Just like Classic WoW, Classic TBC will offer players the chance to see what the game was like back in 2007 - long before many systems were either implemented or removed from the game to streamline the playing process as much as possible. At the time, the game was much more of an RPG, including having to complete extensive quest chains and multiple dungeons to even access the raid content the game had, far more emphasis on crafting your own great gear, and a much greater sense of unique class identity. Not everybody could do everything in TBC - in a dungeon with no crowd control? Tough, you'd better hope you can kill everything fast enough!

Can’t I just play a private server?

You certainly could - although, as we saw in Classic, official Blizzard servers really drove a stake through the heart of a lot of private servers. Many people do not want to dump hours into a character only to find the server has been taken down the next day. This is the greatest advantage an official release has - these servers and characters are going nowhere.

What’s changing?

The meme that originated before Classic even launched was "#nochanges". While this was great in theory, it was a double edged sword of problems - first, it was always going to be impossible to have no changes. Second, playing a game designed for 2004 in 2021 meant that people had already spent years "solving" the meta, and along with that came many less than ideal situations. Some classes were far more favourable than others, guilds that required their members to spend hours weekly gathering world buffs only to lose them on the first death in a raid, etc. This time, the designers are taking a different approach - some changes. We already know of a few that have come out of recent interviews, and I will keep a list of everything that's been confirmed in the second post in this thread.

What will stay the same?

The core TBC experience will largely remain the same:

• An increased level cap of 70
• Outland, the new level 60-70 continent where the vast majority of the expansion takes place
• Two new races, Draenei for the Alliance and Blood Elves for the Horde
• 7 Outland zones and 4 new Azeroth zones
• Flying mounts, used in Outland only at level 70
• 16 new dungeons, including heroic difficulty versions of each
• 8 new raids, varying between 10 and 25 players for each
• Tons of new class abilities, talents, tweaks and overall rebalancing
• New jewel crafting profession
• PVP arenas for teams of 2, 3 or 5, and a new battleground

So will this be the very first version of TBC?

TBC Classic will run on patch 2.4.3 of the game, the final patch before the game started to transition to the next expansion. However, as detailed in the change list post below, that doesn't mean the game will contain everything 2.4.3 did at the start, just that what is in the game will act in the way that it did in 2.4.3. For example, the final raid will not be available, but changes made to classes around the time of that raid will be.

Speaking of next expansions - what about Wrath of the Lich King?

No actual confirmation yet, but it will happen. Classic was a surprise success for Activision and as you can tell from Blizzconline 2021 - this, D2 remake, Hearthstone Classic, arcade ports - they're going all-in on the remaster/remake train. Interviews with the developers hint at "any further expansions we do".

Alright... what's the catch?

A few things. For one, they're introducing a paid boost to level 58 for new/returning players to get ready for TBC. This does not sit well with some current players, some feel is compromises the integrity of what they earned in Classic. Second, there are no "fresh" TBC servers planned, only current Classic servers rolling over to TBC. This means many players will have thousands and thousands of gold already and the economy will be pretty weird. A developer has hinted at doing something about this, but taking away the rewards of people's efforts in an MMO is a big no-no, so we will see. These are probably the two most contentious issues right now, although there are other smaller problems that can be discussed in this thread as they come up.

So when’s it out?

Right now, just a vague "2021" date, with a beta coming "soon", which is par for the course for Blizzard.

Got any links for more information?

Below are links to a few recent videos, however I will be detailing the important parts of these videos in the post below if you don't have the time to listen yourself.

TBC Classic deep dive
TBC Classic developer interview

Burning Crusade item database
Level 70 gear planner (WIP)

This time, we ARE prepared. See you in Outland!

​

 

[AV]

Important information:

• Draenei / Blood elves will be available to level 1-60 during a pre-patch period before TBC launches
• Optional one-per-account paid level 58 boosts will be available but not for the above new races
• Classic servers will roll over to TBC servers, you have to choose whether your character advances or moves to a "classic forever" server, or pay to have the character copied and do both
• No current plans for fresh TBC servers, fresh Classic servers will probably come later but not yet
• Layering will return at first to handle the launch process
• No progressive itemisation, all items will be their final 2.4.3 versions although obviously not all available at launch
• Full raid attunements at first which will be removed further down the line as newer content is released
• Spell batching removed - this was the "artificial lag" found in Classic for several reasons and was ultimately not worth having

Important game changes:

• Tier 5 content will not be in the game at launch like in 2007, and will come in its own phase later, in a system similar to Classic
• Both faction's paladins will get both seals, levelling the faction playing field so that not everybody rolls Horde
• They are looking at reworking leatherworking drums of battle so that not every level 70 raider is "required" to be one
• Bosses will be in unique states when released - they want to retain the difficulty while removing bullshit, so for example, M'uru will have his original health pool, but won't have the pushback ability that prevented spellcasters from casting, as this was considered poor design and removed. Bosses will later be brought to their nerfed state as newer content is released

Current planned release phases:

1. Karazhan, Gruul's Lair, Magtheridon's Lair, arena season 1
2. Serpentshrine Cavern, The Eye, arena season 2
3. Black Temple, Battle for Mount Hyjal, arena season 3
4. Zul'Aman
5. Isle of Quel'Danas, Sunwell, Magister's Terrace, arena season 4

 

[turtlepowa]

I'm in if the lvl 58 boost is not too expensive. I would rather go to the dentist before i level a toon from 1-58 again.

 

[Xyphie]

Thank god we're finally getting 10ms spell batching instead of 400ms, so glad they're not listening to the #nochanges retards this time around and doing sensible balance changes. I really hope they add either a Sated debuff for Bloodlust/Drums or drop the LW requirement for using them.

 

[AV]

Thank god we're finally getting 10ms spell batching instead of 400ms, so glad they're not listening to the #nochanges retards this time around and doing sensible balance changes. I really hope they add either a Sated debuff for Bloodlust/Drums or drop the LW requirement for using them.

Word, playing on the PTR with no batching is incredible, shame they don't seem to want to release that early, but I could be wrong.

If I had to guess on the drum situation, they'll just make the buff raid-wide instead. Brian said in the interview that they still want LW to feel like a strong profession choice and that raids should bring some leatherworkers, but not 25 of them. Raid-wide would cut that number to 5.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Alright... what's the catch?

A few things. For one, they're introducing a paid boost to level 58 for new/returning players to get ready for TBC. This does not sit well with some current players, some feel is compromises the integrity of what they earned in Classic.

Next expansion syndrome - the same people are aware that their raid gear will be made obsolete by the time they finish Hellfire Peninsula?

Also - if people thought Naxx was brutal Sunwell and Mu'ru will destroy people. Bonus: have fun in Botanica/Mechanar/Arcatraz

So much wasted time, but at the same time so many memories...

 

[Flintty]

I kinda want to get a Warlock levelled to 60 just to experience the opening of the portal again. That shit was insane back in the day.

 

[MagiusNecros]

I am so excited for this. I've been prepping my future Draenei Hunter with lots of gear. Classic has been so much more enjoyable then retail ever was. I really like the sense of progression and how things aren't just handed over to you.

 

[AV]

Next expansion syndrome - the same people are aware that their raid gear will be made obsolete by the time they finish Hellfire Peninsula?

Also - if people thought Naxx was brutal Sunwell and Mu'ru will destroy people. Bonus: have fun in Botanica/Mechanar/Arcatraz

So much wasted time, but at the same time so many memories...

Yeah, people are well aware of the expansion reset, it's the paid boosting that annoys them. They spent days getting 1-58 and now some people will just buy a character at that level using an outside service. Not like people have been paying third parties for the same thing since launch, or anything.

I don't care personally, I have 3 60s, nearly 4, and I'd rather people who actually want to play TBC come play it rather than be put off by the idea of grinding through the content they don't like first. Also, it's kinda funny given just how big the mage boosting meta has been in Classic for months - it's much easier to find a mage to pay 8g per SM run than it is to find a legit group to do it.

 

[Azzurri]

I'm torn, I want to play Horde, but I want to play BE, but you can't boost them as of now, and there is no way in hell I'm leveling one from 1-60 before the launch.

So, it's either boost a Alliance Paladin, Warlock or Mage (maybe druid too). Or just play a female Orc Mage or Warlock since they look the best in armor besides BE.

Also, really excited about TBC and eventually Wrath when they release that in 2 years. I quit right after classic, but I did play on TBC launch day at midnight and it was a shit show, and quit literally for 10 years after that. SO I missed TBC-WoD.

 

[AV]

I kinda want to get a Warlock levelled to 60 just to experience the opening of the portal again. That shit was insane back in the day.

Warlocks also happen to be top tier DPS in TBC if you decide to raid. There will be a looot of warriors rerolling warlock, or hunter. That said, their playstyle is really really boring if you aren't the token affliction 'lock who does less DPS but provides support.

I'm torn, I want to play Horde, but I want to play BE, but you can't boost them as of now, and there is no way in hell I'm leveling one from 1-60 before the launch.

So, it's either boost a Alliance Paladin, Warlock or Mage (maybe druid too). Or just play a female Orc Mage or Warlock since they look the best in armor besides BE.

I would wait and see whether the TBC XP nerfs are coming during the pre-patch or not. We're definitely getting them from TBC launch, we just don't know about pre-patch. You would still have to do 1-60 of course, but it's significantly shorter, the blood elf zones are super streamlined, and there will be tons of people rolling blood elves to do levelling dungeons with which will be cool. I'm gonna making a paladin during pre-patch for the hell of it, I love those first two zones.

 

[Xyphie]

I think they'll allow Draenei/Blood Elf with the boost down the line once the initial rush dies down kind of like how they opened up paid transfers in Classic. I think race (and maybe faction) change will happen at the same time, there's too much money left on the table not letting people change into meta races (and Blood Elves).

 

[RoyBatty]

I'm in

 

[RJMacready73]

Christ i remember back when i was levelling a warlock and the sheer epicness i felt when i finally completed the questline for my fast mount and all with some decent random strangers one saturday nite.. good times

 

[Flintty]

Warlocks also happen to be top tier DPS in TBC if you decide to raid. There will be a looot of warriors rerolling warlock, or hunter. That said, their playstyle is really really boring if you aren't the token affliction 'lock who does less DPS but provides support.

I have fond memories of raiding Kara, Gruul's Lair and SSC etc. on my warlock.I honestly can't remember what spec though. I think late expac I was Dest with sacrifice Succubus, for reasons I can't remember! It's so long ago now...

 

[Flintty]

Christ i remember back when i was levelling a warlock and the sheer epicness i felt when i finally completed the questline for my fast mount and all with some decent random strangers one saturday nite.. good times

Hell yes! That and the green fire quest line in MOP are my two stand out moments in the game.

 

[geary]

SL/SL lock anyone? Remember that was so fucking hard to kill....

 

[nkarafo]

Classic Vanilla stays as a separate option? Or is updated?

 

[Xyphie]

Classic Vanilla stays as a separate option? Or is updated?

There's three options:

1) Continue into TBC.
2) Copy your character to new evergreen forever Classic servers.
3) You will have the option to do both for a fee.

 

[iHaunter]

Hmmm......... Dare I go back into Classic TBC? Classic took up so many hours already. I don't know if I can.

 

[DeceptiveAlarm]

I tried classic out but I didn't do much. If I want to ay this will I be behind or will my character start where I should if I was going into TBC?

 

[Tg89]

GOAT expansion. Really the only expansion that was good from beginning to end. Wrath started off okay but towards the middle is when WoW started to go downhill with stuff like LFR.

Probably gonna switch to horde for this, definitely want to play Resto Shaman (probably keep my rogue or make a druid for arenas)...might still make a Draenei for my current guild depending on when pre-patch comes....but that sounds like a lot of prep work and I already have a 60 Shaman horde side.

 

[AV]

I tried classic out but I didn't do much. If I want to ay this will I be behind or will my character start where I should if I was going into TBC?

You will either need to level a character to 60 (well, 58) yourself or buy a paid character boost to 58 so that you're ready. We don't know how much these cost yet.

In TBC, the XP needed to go 1-60 was reduced dramatically, this change will either come in the pre-patch (about a month before release if I had to guess) or on launch day.

 

[LordCBH]

WoW and the first 2 expansions were my WoW so I’m DEFINITELY in for this. TBC was peak content for me.

 

[Lupingosei]

 

[DeceptiveAlarm]

You will either need to level a character to 60 (well, 58) yourself or buy a paid character boost to 58 so that you're ready. We don't know how much these cost yet.

In TBC, the XP needed to go 1-60 was reduced dramatically, this change will either come in the pre-patch (about a month before release if I had to guess) or on launch day.

Ok thanks!

 

[AV]

And they're off! The beta has begun. All the usual suspects on Twitch are streaming right now if you're interested. I'll probably take a quick peek but I'm not gonna watch too much, I already know what's coming, no need to relive memories too early.

The Burning Crusade Classic Beta Has Begun! - WoW

The Burning Crusade Classic beta test has begun! Over the course of the test, we’ll be inviting opt-in beta testers, community veterans, press, fansites, and friends and family to check out the upcoming classic expansion and give us feedback.

worldofwarcraft.com

 

[The_Mike]

Classic went from vanilla to a delayed expansion server.

I'd be pissed if i still played classic.

 

[AV]

Classic went from vanilla to a delayed expansion server.

I'd be pissed if i still played classic.

You know they're keeping a vanilla copy of every realm, right? You have to choose whether your character stays for BC or goes to vanilla-forever (or pay to have both).

They were always gonna do TBC if Vanilla succeeded, surely you didn't think for a second that wouldn't happen?

 

[The_Mike]

You know they're keeping a vanilla copy of every realm, right? You have to choose whether your character stays for BC or goes to vanilla-forever (or pay to have both).

They were always gonna do TBC if Vanilla succeeded, surely you didn't think for a second that wouldn't happen?

I doubt Blizzard will keep the classic server forever, they will eventually be changed to tbc.

If they have separate servers for each expansion then they are gonna spli the community insanely.

Especially now that half of wow subs has unsubbed

 

[AV]

I doubt Blizzard will keep the classic server forever, they will eventually be changed to tbc.

If they have separate servers for each expansion then they are gonna spli the community insanely.

Especially now that half of wow subs has unsubbed

They'll stay vanilla long enough at least, and they already said they're going to (well, can) deploy cross-server tech to ensure the people actually still playing vanilla can find other people to play with. It's why making people choose what happens to their character was smart, they can see who actually wants to keep playing vanilla and who just wanted a copy of a character they'll never touch again.

Besides, the amount of people who actually want to stay on fully progressed realms is a really tiny minority. What is there to do? You farm 500g worth of consumables per week to clear the one remotely difficult raid in the game, that's it, there's no more progression left after KT. Any alts will immediately be rushed through every raid tier by fully equipped guilds, MMOs don't work with static content. The best (only) thing they can do is fresh vanilla some time in the future and they already strongly hinted at that happening, probably during a content drought.

 

[AV]

In the most Blizzard move ever, they've completely missed the point on the LW drum changes and are in fact... planning on making it even worse?

I imagine they'll see the community confusion and feedback on this and clarify further changes, since they very specifically mentioned making significant changes to them in the interview, but it's still a baffling thing to put out without elaborating further.

Blizzard Explains Greater Leatherworking Drums in Burning Crusade - Drops from Zul'Aman

Blizzard has provided more context for the Greater Leatherworking Drums datamined on the Burning Crusade beta.

tbc.wowhead.com

 

[Ogbert]

Lady Vashj.

We meet again.

 

[AV]

World buffs will be removed from characters at the start of raids encounters in Classic BC:

World Buffs Removed At Start of Raid Encounters in Burning Crusade Classic

In Burning Crusade Classic, world buffs will be removed at the start of raid encounters.

tbc.wowhead.com

Change for the better. It's not anywhere close to as bad as vanilla, but I think there's still stuff like Song of Battle which buffs people for TK.

Speedrunners are totally still gonna use them for trash, but that's on them.

 

[TheContact]

i was in a super hardcore raiding guild in BC, most notably duing sunwell progression. many nights i watched the sun come up, and looking back i'm not sure it was worth it though i do have a lot of memories i'll never forget. we did get a couple US firsts there but the race to get the first kills was thrilling. the dynamic between vanilla and classic is so different despite the game itself being mostly the same. it'll be interesting to see how BC is min-maxed

 

[Lupingosei]

Let's get hyped

 

[AV]

Raid testing next week:

TBC Classic Beta Raid Testing Next Week - Warcraft Tavern

Kaivax has announced raid testing for the Burning Crusade Classic beta starting next week starting with phase 1 raids: Karazhan, Gruul’s Lair, and Magtheridon’s Lair each opening on successive days starting with the 13th. This will be done on a new beta realm created with template characters...

www.warcrafttavern.com

This beta is zooming right along. For those that didn't know, weeks ago someone datamined May 18th as the pre-patch date, which obviously doesn't confirm it, but it's looking more and more likely. Knowing Blizzard that pre-patch will be at least a month to squeeze the extra subscription out of people - and give people time to level Draenei / Blood Elves, of course.

I think a mid-June release is realistic at this point. Works just fine for me, gives me time to clear out the 4-5 games coming out before then!

 

[Xyphie]

My bet for a release date has been the week of August 23rd giving us exactly a 2 year cycle for Classic. I think prepatch will be quite long, 2 months at least to give people ample time to level shamans/paladins and get them some levelling gear.

 

[AV]

My bet for a release date has been the week of August 23rd giving us exactly a 2 year cycle for Classic. I think prepatch will be quite long, 2 months at least to give people ample time to level shamans/paladins and get them some levelling gear.

Guess it depends when A. the new retail raid releases and B. when the D2 remake drops. Gonna be a hell of a lot of overlap - I guarantee a lot of retail players will check out TBC for a week or two for nostalgia, probably do 60-70, heroics, Kara and then dip. And I know that many WoW players of both versions are definitely gonna hit up D2.

I imagine they wanna spread these things out as best as possible while also getting something out while people are still largely at home worldwide. We'll see!

 

[Xyphie]

Guess it depends when A. the new retail raid releases and B. when the D2 remake drops. Gonna be a hell of a lot of overlap - I guarantee a lot of retail players will check out TBC for a week or two for nostalgia, probably do 60-70, heroics, Kara and then dip. And I know that many WoW players of both versions are definitely gonna hit up D2.

I imagine they wanna spread these things out as best as possible while also getting something out while people are still largely at home worldwide. We'll see!

I think we'll see 9.1 July or so -> TBC -> Diablo 2 in November.

Phase 2 TBC maybe before D2? Phase 1 content will get raid logged fast with only 3 25M bosses and should be clearable by most guilds as soon as they manage to get 25 raiders.

 

[AV]

I think we'll see 9.1 July or so -> TBC -> Diablo 2 in November.

Phase 2 TBC maybe before D2? Phase 1 content will get raid logged fast with only 3 25M bosses and should be clearable by most guilds as soon as they manage to get 25 raiders.

If 9.1 is July I would more expect TBC in June to give the retailers something to tide them over for a few weeks. Is it really that long between raids in retail right now? I haven't played since the start of Legion.

P2 for TBC is a really tricky one. Not much PVE content (rightly so, releasing T5 at launch would have been a massive mistake) but they also need to have arena season 1 at launch, and season 2 in P2, and from what I can tell Arena season lengths are all over the place. Absolutely no idea how they're gonna approach that with a BC re-release, no way it's as long as it was in 2007, we'd be doing T4 for five months.

 

[Paasei]

I'm in until the moment the #nochangea retards build up a new standard meta and ruin the entire experience once again, just like in Classic right now.

The people playing are the ones that fucked it up for me, not Blizzard. Funny.

 

[AV]

I'm in until the moment the #nochangea retards build up a new standard meta and ruin the entire experience once again, just like in Classic right now.

The people playing are the ones that fucked it up for me, not Blizzard. Funny.

Yes and no - they're abandoning #nochanges, as they should, although so far they seem to have gone back on their word regarding LW drums. Like done a total 180 from what they said clearly in the initial interviews, it's baffling.

The meta will still be the private server meta though, that won't change. Most raiding guilds will follow the expected comps, stack hunters/warlocks, one shaman in each group, one melee group, that kinda thing. Gonna be a lot of disappointed warriors and rogues who think they're getting easy raid spots in BC.

 

[Rathalos]

I'm not massively hyped as I cleared everything back in the day, but my best friend is dripping in hype so I've agreed to play it with him. Probably going to roll a Hunter this time.

 

[AV]

Character transfer service will be down for "multiple weeks" from April 30 while they prepare for the character snapshot before the BC pre-patch.

Datamined May 18th pre-patch date still looking like the target to me.

WoW Classic Character Transfer Temporary Closure -- 30 April

In order to prepare our systems which will handle snapshotting WoW Classic player-characters and preparing them to be separately playable on Burning Crusade Classic and WoW Classic Era realms, we will close the character transfer service in WoW Classic on 30 April at 18:00 BST / 19:00 CEST in...

eu.forums.blizzard.com

 

[AV]

Hello? Anyone in here?

Drum nerf is actually happening:

Burning Crusade Classic Beta Notes on Leatherworking Drums Change

Blizzard has just released a Blue Post detailing an upcoming change to Leatherworking Drums, adding in the Tinnitus debuff.

tbc.wowhead.com

If you didn't know: in TBC there's a leatherworking item called Drums of Battle that increases your party's haste by something like 5%. The effect lasts 30 seconds with a 2 minute cooldown, so in raids you would have 20 leatherworkers divided among the 5 groups who daisychained their drums throughout the fight to provide constant uptime.

This sucks. It forces 80% of the raiding playerbase to go leatherworking and play the drum minigame every fight, or miss out on a huge group buff. With this change, when a player benefits from a drum, they cannot benefit from it again for 2 minutes whatsoever, meaning that instead of 4 leatherworkers per group, you only need 1. It also doesn't make already easy content even easier. This is so much better, it keeps the unique LW perk while also not forcing most raiders to go LW just for this. Some classes with be going LW anyway so expect to see hunters, enhancement shamans etc. as drum bois.

 

[royox]

When are they releasing this? I'm 100% sure they will do it the same week as FFXIV Endwalker expansion as they always do.

 

[AV]

When are they releasing this? I'm 100% sure they will do it the same week as FFXIV Endwalker expansion as they always do.

They're doing a pre-patch first which introduces the new races/early zones, spell and talent changes etc. All signs are pointing to that pre-patch being mid-May, the 18th specifically. At least a month of pre-patch before full release.

Does Endwalker have a date attached yet? Can't find one, but if that's more like Fall, they will probably time the release of Tier 5 (big raid content) with FF rather than launch. No way in hell TBC releases later than August.

 

[cucuchu]

Hopefully yes but I think Blizzard is focused on rolling out 9.1 for Shadowlands first and foremost since that version of the game desperately needs an update and they are already VERY far behind, so that could delay things. I know it's different teams working on each version of the game but Blizzard is also very tactical about when they release any new game/update. They did state they don't want to overlap 9.1 with TBC classic so we'll just have to see how that all plays out.

Diablo 2 Resurrected releases this year too so that may play into the timeline as well. My guess is that will be the card they play against FFXIV Endwalker releasing in the Fall.

 

[AV]

"On June 1st, return to Outland..." was accidentally shown very briefly on the official launcher today. If (huge if) we take that as gospel, it would fall perfectly in line with the previously datamined May 18th prepatch lasting two weeks.

Again, nothing confirmed whatsoever, but all signs still point towards that being the case. May 18th is also two weeks today, and everyone's seen the launcher leak, so I would not be surprised at all if Blizzard officially announce the dates today. At the same time they probably want to make 100% sure the character snapshot is going to work, so this may well all get pushed back.