Two sides of the same coin

This is my second time going into a classic revival. For context I played WoW from EU launch in 2005 (Speedhaak NE Rogue on Shadowmoon) up until the end of Wrath. I played a little then again in MoP but not much.

Those early years were pretty full on. Being in college, I was able to play pretty much all day for a very long time.

Playing Classic again in 2019 was very special, and again now with this anniversary release.

It did however peak my curiosity on retail so I tried it out over the weekend. Exiles Reach was fun enough but I didn't see any other players.

Diving into the main world then afterwards was pretty daunting but I decided to play some Timelost? Dungeons as a prot pally.

This is pretty much where my experimentation came to an end. I ran four or five dungeons and the entire experience was just unfun.

Nobody said a word the entire time, the only interaction I had was spamming reruns when the dungeons finished.

Even when I spoke no one would reply. Meh. The minute the dungeon loaded as well people would just charge in and pull everything and anything. Spells and effects going off left right and center, dozens of mobs swarming my FOV - Jesus what a disorienting and unfun experience.

I was level 25 in about two hours with absolutely no feeling of accomplishment or connection to the community.

It's safe to say, for me as an older player with roots in the launch of the game I could never play this retail version.

I hopped back on to classic and logged onto my Rogue in Duskwood and within moments I was chatting to people and building relations.

This really has cemented for me the importance of community, meaningful progressions and more tactical gameplay.

I'm sure there are people who love Retail for different reasons. After all there are two sides of the same coin.