// PC GAMER — GAMING
Stop trying to make a console war out of which WoW is better, you're all exhausting
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I've been very much enjoying the World of Warcraft: Forever beta—and I will be the first to cop to the fact I think it's recapturing a lot of the essence of an oldschool MMO that we lost. Tongue in my cheek, I'll even join in with the "reject modernity" crowd. But, crucially, I'll be doing so as a joke.
I've noticed, skimming my hand across the surface of the discourse, a propensity for folks to be getting up in arms about which version of their favorite MMO was better and to do so loudly, passionately, and obnoxiously. These factions stand divided:
Behold, the cruel efficiencies of the Church of Retail, who believe that modern WoW's conveniences, that their hoards of amassed transmogs and mounts and player housing, are indeed the better option, and that these upstarts are merely nostalgia-peddlers.
The hard, leathery-faced veterans of House Classic, who believe that no changes are to be wrought upon their favorite game—that these $30 Skyborne elves are a pox upon the land, and that even the slightest whiff of quality of life is a heresy.
The new fledgling Coalition of Forever, who scoff at the implications that they are in a "millenial retirement home". Nay, instead, their day has come! A glorious dawn peeking over the horizon to lead them into what MMORPGs should have always been!
I am in the center of this bloody battlefield, going: God, you're all exhausting, before being deservedly riddled with arrows and dying. Such is the life of someone with opinions—but before you nock an arrow into your bow, I'd ask you to hear me out.
My heart lies with the Coalition, sure. I think Forever is one of the most exciting things to happen in the MMO space in years. I have a fondness for the old tab-targeting techniques of older MMOs and a resentment for the dodge roll, and I much prefer the slow-paced explorative nature of Forever to something like Retail, which has, I admit, temporarily lost me with its seasonal structure.
But I am also a lover of variety. My favourite games range from hopecore science fiction RPGs like Citizen Sleeper to basically every Soulslike I can get my hands on. I adore silly "friendslop" games and the hope-crushing simulator that is a MOBA, which Deadlock has pulled me kicking and screaming back into. Point being: I think there's a space for everyone.
I don't think the design of retail World of Warcraft is inherently bad, it's just different. I think Midnight has got a lot of things right—player housing is an absolute win, the game's increasing alt friendliness suits what it has become, the lack of mandatory borrowed power chores is nice, and I like being able to rinse through my Delves and Preys and zip around on my flying mount. It's frictionless, easy, keyboard-smashing fun.