Asmongold warns WoW Classic’s Burning Crusade update may “alienate” fans

Asmongold has warned Blizzard their move to upgrade World of Warcraft Classic to The Burning Crusade expansion may “alienate” dedicated fans, and suggested they be “very careful” about how they approach the release.

The re-release of World of Warcraft Classic in May last year was one of the biggest gaming drops in modern memory. On launch day, the servers hit their cap. 1.1 million more fans sat watching on Twitch as players battled log-in issues.

While main-franchise expansion Shadowlands is expected any day now ⁠— Asmongold even admitted he’d end his Twitch hiatus early if the alpha goes live ⁠— it looks like Blizzard hasn’t forgotten their Classic fan base either.

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The first sniff the game’s original expansion The Burning Crusade could be on its way came in the form of small email surveys sent to WoW Classic players. It looks like Blizzard are set to reveal how they’ll manage Classic’s next era.

• Read more: Asmongold reveals he’s returning from Twitch hiatus

The developers have to be “very careful” with how they approach this follow-up nostalgic release though, Asmongold warned. Make one mistake in regards to the new launch, and they may “lose Classic fans forever.”

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Asmongold dismisses Blizzard’s survey-teased plans

“Ever since the release of WoW Classic, and how well it did ⁠— I think Blizzard even said it more than doubled their subscriber numbers ⁠— it comes as no surprise to me that they’re going to want to continue that success,” Asmongold said.

“Giving fans the opportunity to play the expansion again, and go through the Dark Portal for the first time is great… I myself can’t f**king wait. It’s like going from Dark Souls 1 to 3, it’s an improvement. They [Blizzard] have to be careful though.

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“The first option Blizzard gave out [in the surveys] was to upgrade all the Classic servers into Burning Crusade servers. Do not do this. There’s a reason people are playing Classic, moving them on from that will alienate them all.

• Read more: Sodapoppin explains how being a “boomer” made him quit WoW

Asmon added this would be a “big mistake,” as would Blizzard’s second choice: a full reset. A level reset would be “the most authentic,” he admitted, but disagreed it was the way forward. He dismissed the survey’s third and fourth options too.

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How should Blizzard approach The Burning Crusade re-release?

According to the Twitch streamer, the best way forward for The Burning Crusade re-release would be to “make a 2.0 server” that everyone can transfer over to with their level 60 ‘toon.’ The kicker? They bring none of their gold or items.

“Have everyone transfer over to that server with no gold and no items, and then in two months, have the dark portal open, and have The Burning Crusade officially begin. That’s what I want to see Blizzard do with this release,” Asmongold said.

For players moving to the Crusade servers, they will have something to work towards, and a time period to do it ⁠— the two-month gap before the link between Azeroth and Draenor warps open. They won’t, however, be left with nothing.

• Read more: Esfand blames Twitch fans for Asmongold’s stream hiatus

The streamer added Blizzard can’t expect to please everyone. Citing his experience across “every expansion since vanilla World of Warcraft,” Asmongold stated the game “loses players in translation. That’s just what happens, it’s unavoidable.”

Therefore, he continued, they should focus on “making sure it’s the best experience for the players that remain.” Basically, Blizzard should aim for quality over quantity when they return WoW’s faithful to the war against the Burning Legion.

When will ‘Classic’ The Burning Crusade be released?

At the moment, nothing official has been released from the World of Warcraft creators apart from the player survey. It stands to reason though, if they’re asking their player base about how to release the expansion, it’s close.

The main-franchise expansion Shadowlands will have its beta drop very soon, ahead of a late 2020 release. Blizzard wouldn’t want to have their two big WoW expansions ⁠— both classic & modern ⁠— compete against each other.

That means we can either expect to see Burning Crusade explode onto the scene quite soon ⁠— just like its story, ironically ⁠— or potentially drop in early 2021. For WoW diehards eager to jump back into the expansion, let’s hope it’s soon.