Nostalrius Begins - Quality wow vanilla realm (1.12)

Hey, i'm currently considering playing on this server but i've never done vanilla content before since i started playing wow in WoTLK.

My Friends are often praising vanilla wow and they're trying to make me start playing with them (on this server).

What should i expect when playing vanilla and what are the differences?

Tyvm.

Your characters are weak as shit. You don't have many abilities and you simply have to make do with what you have.

Since you played in roflk, you should remember weapon skills and spell ranks.

there is no LFG so you have to travel to each dungeon, summoning stones will not summon you, you will have to use a warlock if you want to summon people

leveling can be challenging at the lower levels, as in if you pull more than 1 mob you will probably die if you dont have a potion. once you reach lvl 20 things start to get better

the old honor ranking system is fun, even if you aren't going for rank 1

proffesion trainers are spread out across the world, for example. to train enchanting past 225 you have to go to the enchanting trainer INSIDE uldaman dungeon.

weapon trainers are located in different cities, for example. if you wan't to train guns, the trainer in orgrimmar might not be able to teach it, so you have to fly to thunderbluff to train guns.

overall though vanilla is very fun, and nice community. people are a lot nicer because there is no LFG, if you are a ninja then it will end up being hard for you to find groups because nobody will want to play with you. so this makes people actually work together and create a good environment, most of the time

The world feels a lot bigger and more dangerous -- there's a much greater sense of scale and achievement as you progress. Even low level zones (e.g. Redridge) will have areas full of elites; most rare mobs have unique abilities and will wreck you unless grouped or much higher level and so on. Unlike late Wrath and Cata onwards where heirlooms and general class mechanic buffs trivialised levelling, pulling more than 2 similar-level mobs for most classes can put you in a bad spot in vanilla and the levelling grind is pretty monotonous with fairly limited variety compared to later expansions (i.e. lots of kill 20x boars, etc). However, there are some epic chains and class quests that will take you all over Azeroth and really give a strong feeling of achievement when completed.

Classes have limited (and minimal short) cooldowns and less reactive abilities relying more on white damage as melee. Casters actually cast (lol) with no cast on the move BS and mimimal instant cast spells. Spell ranking for efficiency is key (rank 1 frostbolt, etc). Resource management is emphasized (mages gonna drink! etc) and there's limited class homogenisation (the proliferation of self-heals from later expansions isn't there thank god, for example). Class roles are more clearly defined and the hybrid tax hangs heavy (although vanilla itemisation plays a part here, e.g. feral druids).

With no cross-realm server, battlegroup, BGs, LFG and so on the server community was much more tightly knit in vanilla. People grouped together to complete quests, slay elites, run dungeons, avenge ganked companions/guildies and then raid or do BGs/form premades. There's less leeway for douchebag behaviour to be tolerated because word will spread quickly. On the plus side, guilds, trade and general/world chat (on private servers) tend to be more active and the sense of community grows through necessity and progression incentives.

In short, Azeroth is a lot less forgiving but you'll appreciate the journey and endgame much more than later expansions if you can stick it out.

^^ this guy has good explanation

If you can survive the struggle of leveling up your toon.. you are most likely to keep playing.. the leveling part is a killer for those "non retailers" but again.. doing lowlevel pvp is just some of what makes vanilla wow great..
and because theres no flying mounts we actually travel the world by foot or flightmasters
when you hit 60 and you think the hard grind is over.. .nope.. time to do more instances for lewt expect newbs but also steamrolling groups with crap gear.
40 man sharing few epics in raids is great .. because when you finally get an item .. you really got an epic item that replaces your month old piece of blue.. and you are just HAPPY .. your day is made.. yay .. time to celebrate.. and tomorrow you go pvp to try your new strenght .. later that evening you can see that little extra dps on the dmgmeter beating your friend by a few digits .. it is worth it .. it is worth it all !

also when you have to spend days and days just to hit 60.. you are more likely to actually apriciate your char much more than if you can just rush to any level in a few hours taking 5-10 mobs a time with your eyes closed..
Blood, sweat and tears lies ahead !
But damn the cookie is not a lie

Enjoy world pvp in stranglethorn, beware of pullingmore then 2 mobs at a time, find a group for elite quests and check out numerrous BiS pre raid gear guides to prepare yourself once you hit 60! anything else u find mind boggeling dont be afraid to ask the community, we ll help ya out.
On a side note: psychologically prepare for grinding as it is a big part of advancing in this wow version
but as stated before the sense of achievement will surpass the tides of grind!
Also prepare for 40 vs 40 battleground of your life.
Enjoy your stay

I forgot to add that we are very jelly at you because for you it will really really i mean really feel like vanilla:-P

The game is not terribly forgiving, especially at early levels. Generally, you will just be able to afford skills at appropriate levels, so be somewhat frugal with your money. This means not buying every little upgrade on the AH and not buying every skill you see at the trainer, just ones you will use.

Troll through the valkyrie database or another database to plan ahead if you are doing dungeons at early levels. Some dungeons have absolutely no gear for certain classes, and you might find out late that it's been a waste to do them (if you are looking for gear that is).

This probably wont happen for a bit, but twinking was a HUGE thing in vanilla. Gearing out lv 19's / 29's / 39's in crazy gear and enchantments to wreck face in BG's. Feel free to BG at any level, but you will have a huge advantage if you are at the x7-x9 levels of any group (lv 18/ 29/ 37)

Be active in zone chat to make lots of friends and get help locating things.

Enjoy your time leveling up. Don't rush it first time.
Also, Take care in STV, Arathi Highlands and Hillsbrad(for horde), it's gonna be gank'o'clock all the time there.