World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Classic has finally released, and Blizzard is already asking players if they would be interested in a Cataclysm Classic next. The World of Warcraft Classic series has been successful at whisking players back to the earliest days of Azeroth for an adventure seeping in nostalgia. Blizzard has re-released Vanilla WoW, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King under this banner, and Cataclysm would be the obvious next step.

While some players may be excited to revisit Cataclysm, this re-release seems to miss the point of World of Warcraft Classic entirely. The three versions of WoW that have launched under the Classic banner all allow players to explore the original Azeroth before it was revamped through Cataclysm. This is a version of the world that no longer exists in the main game, and that is a major part of what makes World of Warcraft Classic so appealing. Cataclysm does not offer that nostalgia trip, which makes the entire idea of having a Classic version seem pointless.

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World of Warcraft Classic Brings Players to the Old Azeroth

wow classic era changes

The Azeroth that players could explore when World of Warcraft launched in 2004 is a very different world than can be found in 2022. It was made up of two different continents filled with quests to complete and stories to uncover. The Burning Crusade increased the amount of areas that could be explored by introducing Outland and a couple of new zones on Azeroth. Wrath of the Lich King further expanded Azeroth with the brand-new continent of Northrend, but Azeroth remained relatively the same as when it first launched.

The release of Cataclysm brought with it a whole new version of Azeroth that was devastated by the black dragon aspect Deathwing. Whole zones changed, and the entire world was revamped. The version of Azeroth that released in 2004 was no longer able to be explored, and some zones definitely benefited from the revamp, but many players had been clamoring for a way to explore classic Azeroth for years to come.

There were unofficial ways to explore classic Azeroth, but it was not until the launch of World of Warcraft Classic that Blizzard offered an official avenue. Players could once again explore Azeroth ala 2004, and Blizzard quickly followed it by re-releasing the first two expansions as Classic editions. Having that way to experience the classic World of Warcraft feel alongside modern WoW has been well received by the community.

Cataclysm Ushered in Modern Azeroth

wow classic deathwing

One of the biggest changes that came with Cataclysm was the giant world revamp that saw the entirety of old Azeroth replaced. There has not been a large world revamp since, and the Cataclysm version of Azeroth is still what players explore in World of Warcraft to this day. There have been a couple of additions since, and some zones have been changed by details like giant Titan swords. However, the main continents are still pretty much the same as they were when Cataclysm launched in 2010.

World of Warcraft Classic and all the versions of Classic released since have given players the ability to experience a version of Azeroth that does not exist anymore. Offering World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic would bring the game's content back to how it was during Cataclysm, and as a result the game world would match what can be seen in 2022. This version of Classic would not feel as different or special as the prior versions, so it does not seem needed right now.

World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Classic is available now on PC.

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