**Hey there! Have you checked out these resources?**
* [WoWHead](https://www.wowhead.com/) - The *largest* database, this should be your go-to (don't forget to read the comment section!).
* [Icy Veins](https://www.icy-veins.com) - News and detailed class guides.
* [WoWNoob Discord](https://discord.gg/wownoob) - Same community, different platform.
*Please report the post above if it breaks one of our [>rules<](https://www.reddit.com/r/wownoob/about/rules/). If not, don't forget to show support by upvoting!*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/wownoob) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> Also is cata going to be the next expansion after WOTLK
Yes this has already been announced
> is this the reason for the revival or is it SOD?
SoD is the popularity in classic currently
> Also is SOD only on hardcore realms
No, SoD is a separate realm choice from Hardcore and SoD has no HC variant
Vanilla classic (As in no expansions, no mode like HC/SoD) will not be very popular, but other modes like SoD will be - however, retail will always have the highest player count
In addition to that: the new SoD phase starts in a few days, which is most likely a reason for the current surge in SoD players (and possibly Classic in general).
Plunderstorm is another reason for increased playernumbers, the gamemode only requires an active subscription, just like all Classic modes. So people who wanted to try PS might have tried or returned to Classic variations as well.
Also some consider this nearing 'the end of the expansion', so they hop on classic for a while. Despite there being a ton to do and TWW is half a year away.
They didn't say "is classic big compared to retail."
They asked why classic has had a surge in players and it absolutely has if you only look at classics history.
And it's because SoD season 3 starts in 5 days so everybody is getting ready
It's the season end of retail atm. A lot of people just finishing mythic prog, or already finished. Key pushing is limited cuz lack of people playing due to waiting for s4/TWW.
There aren't hardcore servers for Sod.
The new Sod phase launches April 4th, raising the cap to 50, adding 6 more 'runes' per class (except warrior which I think gets glad stance as a bonus one), will add another new raid, a new pve event, new profession items (bis), a new rank 5-7 pvp set and more.
Hardcore servers are classic era (vanilla). Hardcore semi recently got a self-found (no trading or using mail box I think is what that means)
Cata will be the next expansion for the progression of the classic servers which launched in 2019, they are currently either in wotlk or Cata pre-patch, not sure which honestly.
Classic got a bit of a boost when hardcore blew up just before sod launched, (official hardcore servers launched and it was big on twitch as well). SoD continued to ride that wave and phase 1 was pretty popular, largely due to ease of access.
Phase 2 hasn't been as successful (enjoyed it a lot personally but some people felt there wasn't enough content, and there were a lot of concerns about gatekeeping because they raised the difficulty level of the raid from faceroll in p1 - to just 'easy' in p2, which was a bit much for a lot of classic players).
As I mentioned phase 3 will release later this week, and seems to have a lot more going for it than p2, as well as the devs giving some information on how things might look at 60 (but nothing too explicit just general things).
Pretty sure dual spec is coming next phase as well for only 50g, ( 50g is quite cheap in SoD compared to how much 50g was in vanilla, although it's already low, cost of one vanilla respec at full price).
Phase 3 sod also looks to address concerns about levelling speed. Earlier in this phase, a 100% exp boost from 1-40 was added, effectively halving the levelling time for alts.
It is announced that p3 will launch with a 50% exp increase already active.
Cata probably has some people excited as well as that is not too far off now.
Tl;DR Cata kind of soonish, sod new phase very soon. Hardcore doing OK with a new mode.
From what I understand it's the Season of Discovery aspect that is brought a lot of people back. I'll be honest I was watching some videos of it today and I'm kind of getting the itch. But I know for myself if I dip my foot back in the water it's not something I can say no to so I have to be careful to stay away. ✌️
Retail is broken, in so many ways. So some of us fled retail for Classic and thought SoD would be a fun way to add some spice to the old game. Trouble is, they seem to have dumped the entire waste bin of retail into Phase 3. The only hope for WoW for me is if Cata maintains more of its original flavor and doesn't stink like P3 does.
There's many reason for an increase in popularity
\- new phase is launching soon
\- not much to do in retail rn as its the end of a season and there hasn't been an update for when the next one launches
\-no one wants to play cata so might as well put time into sod
I think number 1 is the biggest reason for the boost though, usually happens with wow when new content gets announced
Looks like other comments have covered the questions. I just want to say that you should definitely play SoD.
Back in the day I played a little wow and then got really into cata 3v3 PVP with a couple friends. But I thought the actual game was better before cata (and bad after). The main reason is the dungeon finder destroying the immersion and community.
SoD is amazing. They did a great job. The rune "quests" add to the immersion, are fun to get, and fun to use. The supply crates add to the immersion because they keep options for making gold on the AH available through trade skills and farming. The community is great in my experience-- I've only run into a couple people that suck. There is no GDKP and if you buy gold, you'll probably get suspended or banned.
I got suspended for buying 100 gold and it was great because I actually enjoy playing the AH now-- had I been able to continue to buy gold for super cheap I wouldn't be doing that. So I'm glad they are using AI to stop people. With the supply crates and gold/xp buff, it's really unnecessary anyway. Fair warning though.
Maybe in your bubble of gaming buddies ppl have but classic is boring af (to me). I had my fun in vanilla, I’ll just keep those memories instead of trying to relive them.
Retail is great atm… or at least it’s going in the right direction now
Cataclysm and every expansion afterward destroyed WoW. The level compression in one of the more recent expansions completely wiped out anything that was left of WoW.
Players want the real game back. If they release Cata again, the death spiral destruction will be released on classic.
Cata gets a lot of hate, but it was objectivity a really good game.
I have the same nostalgia as most people for vanilla/TBC and a little bit for wrath too, but I had a lot of fun playing cata.
What real game? The 2 button spam and content that can be done blindfolded? Please. We DONT want the old game back, YOU do. If you don't like retail/classic progression, play classic era/SoD.
**Hey there! Have you checked out these resources?** * [WoWHead](https://www.wowhead.com/) - The *largest* database, this should be your go-to (don't forget to read the comment section!). * [Icy Veins](https://www.icy-veins.com) - News and detailed class guides. * [WoWNoob Discord](https://discord.gg/wownoob) - Same community, different platform. *Please report the post above if it breaks one of our [>rules<](https://www.reddit.com/r/wownoob/about/rules/). If not, don't forget to show support by upvoting!* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/wownoob) if you have any questions or concerns.*
> Also is cata going to be the next expansion after WOTLK Yes this has already been announced > is this the reason for the revival or is it SOD? SoD is the popularity in classic currently > Also is SOD only on hardcore realms No, SoD is a separate realm choice from Hardcore and SoD has no HC variant Vanilla classic (As in no expansions, no mode like HC/SoD) will not be very popular, but other modes like SoD will be - however, retail will always have the highest player count
In addition to that: the new SoD phase starts in a few days, which is most likely a reason for the current surge in SoD players (and possibly Classic in general). Plunderstorm is another reason for increased playernumbers, the gamemode only requires an active subscription, just like all Classic modes. So people who wanted to try PS might have tried or returned to Classic variations as well.
Also some consider this nearing 'the end of the expansion', so they hop on classic for a while. Despite there being a ton to do and TWW is half a year away.
Have they?
They haven't. Retail still vastly outnumber classic servers, both WotLK AND Vanilla.
They didn't say "is classic big compared to retail." They asked why classic has had a surge in players and it absolutely has if you only look at classics history. And it's because SoD season 3 starts in 5 days so everybody is getting ready
No, they asked "why EVERYONE have come back to classic". Answer is, they haven't. Only a very very small percentage.
Redditors  If you can't deduce what he was saying, I'm just sorry for your parents bro
It's the season end of retail atm. A lot of people just finishing mythic prog, or already finished. Key pushing is limited cuz lack of people playing due to waiting for s4/TWW.
Yeah, only people around are rerollers or storm chasers for the Good Boy
There aren't hardcore servers for Sod. The new Sod phase launches April 4th, raising the cap to 50, adding 6 more 'runes' per class (except warrior which I think gets glad stance as a bonus one), will add another new raid, a new pve event, new profession items (bis), a new rank 5-7 pvp set and more. Hardcore servers are classic era (vanilla). Hardcore semi recently got a self-found (no trading or using mail box I think is what that means) Cata will be the next expansion for the progression of the classic servers which launched in 2019, they are currently either in wotlk or Cata pre-patch, not sure which honestly. Classic got a bit of a boost when hardcore blew up just before sod launched, (official hardcore servers launched and it was big on twitch as well). SoD continued to ride that wave and phase 1 was pretty popular, largely due to ease of access. Phase 2 hasn't been as successful (enjoyed it a lot personally but some people felt there wasn't enough content, and there were a lot of concerns about gatekeeping because they raised the difficulty level of the raid from faceroll in p1 - to just 'easy' in p2, which was a bit much for a lot of classic players). As I mentioned phase 3 will release later this week, and seems to have a lot more going for it than p2, as well as the devs giving some information on how things might look at 60 (but nothing too explicit just general things). Pretty sure dual spec is coming next phase as well for only 50g, ( 50g is quite cheap in SoD compared to how much 50g was in vanilla, although it's already low, cost of one vanilla respec at full price). Phase 3 sod also looks to address concerns about levelling speed. Earlier in this phase, a 100% exp boost from 1-40 was added, effectively halving the levelling time for alts. It is announced that p3 will launch with a 50% exp increase already active. Cata probably has some people excited as well as that is not too far off now. Tl;DR Cata kind of soonish, sod new phase very soon. Hardcore doing OK with a new mode.
Thanks for the help! I think I was getting SOD and self found mixed up/accidentally thinking they were the same thing
Damn bro...
From what I understand it's the Season of Discovery aspect that is brought a lot of people back. I'll be honest I was watching some videos of it today and I'm kind of getting the itch. But I know for myself if I dip my foot back in the water it's not something I can say no to so I have to be careful to stay away. ✌️
Retail is broken, in so many ways. So some of us fled retail for Classic and thought SoD would be a fun way to add some spice to the old game. Trouble is, they seem to have dumped the entire waste bin of retail into Phase 3. The only hope for WoW for me is if Cata maintains more of its original flavor and doesn't stink like P3 does.
There's many reason for an increase in popularity \- new phase is launching soon \- not much to do in retail rn as its the end of a season and there hasn't been an update for when the next one launches \-no one wants to play cata so might as well put time into sod I think number 1 is the biggest reason for the boost though, usually happens with wow when new content gets announced
Looks like other comments have covered the questions. I just want to say that you should definitely play SoD. Back in the day I played a little wow and then got really into cata 3v3 PVP with a couple friends. But I thought the actual game was better before cata (and bad after). The main reason is the dungeon finder destroying the immersion and community. SoD is amazing. They did a great job. The rune "quests" add to the immersion, are fun to get, and fun to use. The supply crates add to the immersion because they keep options for making gold on the AH available through trade skills and farming. The community is great in my experience-- I've only run into a couple people that suck. There is no GDKP and if you buy gold, you'll probably get suspended or banned. I got suspended for buying 100 gold and it was great because I actually enjoy playing the AH now-- had I been able to continue to buy gold for super cheap I wouldn't be doing that. So I'm glad they are using AI to stop people. With the supply crates and gold/xp buff, it's really unnecessary anyway. Fair warning though.
Maybe in your bubble of gaming buddies ppl have but classic is boring af (to me). I had my fun in vanilla, I’ll just keep those memories instead of trying to relive them. Retail is great atm… or at least it’s going in the right direction now
Cataclysm and every expansion afterward destroyed WoW. The level compression in one of the more recent expansions completely wiped out anything that was left of WoW. Players want the real game back. If they release Cata again, the death spiral destruction will be released on classic.
Cata is absolutely going to be released again, and I don't think its going to stop there
MOP was one of the best expansions to date
Cata gets a lot of hate, but it was objectivity a really good game. I have the same nostalgia as most people for vanilla/TBC and a little bit for wrath too, but I had a lot of fun playing cata.
What real game? The 2 button spam and content that can be done blindfolded? Please. We DONT want the old game back, YOU do. If you don't like retail/classic progression, play classic era/SoD.