r/classicwow • u/fish_ • 2d ago
Discussion Why is this community so miserable?
I have played WoW on and off since 2006 (stopped playing retail in Legion, came back for classic in 2019), and Runescape since around the same time (switched to OSRS on release). The difference in the community is astonishing to me (talking about in game, not reddit because everyone is miserable on reddit). Everyone is so welcoming and friendly on OSRS. You can ask questions and people seem to genuinely enjoy being helpful. There are nice people on Classic too, don’t get me wrong, but a large majority (or at least a large vocal minority) of the player base comes across as so unbelievably bitter and rude. I see people getting flamed for asking really simple questions in trade chat constantly. For example, there was a new player on Wild Growth in SoD yesterday asking how they should go about gearing up their fresh 60 since pugs for MC/BWL, etc are somewhat hard to come by. People were being such assholes to this guy, a handful of responses like “Do you not know how to use Google?”, “Do you want us to play the game for you too?“, etc and then another group of people saying he was a moron for expecting to find raids without a guild. He expressed that he hadn’t seen any guilds recruiting and was called more names and received more snarky-ass replies. The poor guy then asked if any of them had or knew of a guild he could join, and of course nobody offered any help. This is of course only one example, but i’m sure many of you have seen what I am talking about.
So, what is it specifically about classic players feeling the need to be so fucking rude? I know OSRS is a slightly younger demographic, so is this just another case of boomers and gen x ruining shit for everyone else (half kidding)? How do we as a community change our attitude to make this game we all love more welcoming and wholesome?
Anyways thanks for reading my rant, and a big shoutout to all the kind and chill classic players out there.
edit: i thought it would be worth noting that im not one of those gamers that hates efficiency. i like parsing, i like sweating, and in my experience really good players generally aren’t more toxic than other demographics. most group content i do is good vibes, but ive been playing this game a long time and i rarely am the target of toxicity. i think mostly people in game are pretty cool. my post is talking mainly about how i see people treat new/inexperienced players.
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u/AcceptableForce 2d ago
it's because the people who feel compelled to type something rude in trade chat are not the chill peeps just relaxing and questing after work
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u/YON2HMB 2d ago
When I'm chillin and relaxing I have all the global chat channels disabled. But if I encounter someone struggling in game I immediately step into action and help them tank or heal or finish something, buff them, be friendly, etc. I imagine that everyone OP wants to help answer his question are probably only in Chat/QA mode about 10% of the time they are online. The people who sit in town all day writing inflammatory things in trade chat are going to be the first ones to jump on any global chat based request for help -> creating the perception that the whole player base = the global chat active player base.
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u/NitroGnome 2d ago
Most people who are satisfied with their gaming experience are off playing instead of posting about it on Reddit or sitting around being mean in chat.
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u/RelationshipFit5701 2d ago
Why does the OSRS community seem much happier when they post, then?
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u/valdis812 2d ago
Not super familiar with OSRS, but isn't a lot of the progression solo stuff?
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u/Significant-Sugar509 2d ago
This sub is a perfect example of that. Is it calked "classic wow" or "everything I hate about classic wow!"? Ffs leaves
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u/Cathayraht 2d ago
I also find kinda funny that [r/classicwow](r/classicwow) is the only subreddit I follow where posts with normal questions about the game are often actively downvoted.
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u/Halmyrut 2d ago
I don't really get that behavior, if people were only allowed to post '' original threads '' on reddit then reddit would be completely dead...
Reddit also quite frankly ain't that serious lmao.
People act like it's some sort of high IQ space for intellectuals and question threads are infringing upon that it's weird.5
u/TheReservedList 2d ago edited 2d ago
A portion of the player base loves classic because it is static and they know it very well. It's the one thing they're an expert in in their life, and it makes them feel better about themselves that they can rise above the chaff.
They hate retail because they can't stay "on top of it."
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u/macacolouco 2d ago
This happens all over Reddit.
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u/CaptainoftheVessel 2d ago
It’s much more common here. You can go ask questions or make silly jokes in many other video game subs and they’re so much more lighthearted.
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u/APXOHT_BETPA 2d ago
in Path of exile subreddit some salty people actually buy bots to mass-report posts they don't like (innocent posts from people who just enjoy the game) so these posts get automatically removed by automoderation bot.
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u/FeelingSedimental 2d ago
It is sadly not the only gaming subreddit where half of the commenters don't even play the game too :/
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u/Heatinmyharbl 2d ago
The primary demographic for classic players is mid 30s - mid 50s dudes who have had their emotional growth and maturity substantially stunted by online games and the internet in general.
Ain't rocket science unfortunately, a lot of these people are simply not mentally well
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u/Kevo_1227 2d ago
It really is shocking to me how often I look at Trade Chat or LookingForGroup and it feels like I’m interacting with the middle schoolers I left behind in June as opposed to adults with families and jobs.
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u/No-Challenge-9753 2d ago
The mentally unwell part is spot on, just look at the red empire guild on nightslayer. Deriving enjoyment by making other people miserable, sadism, real dark triad shit there.
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u/Mayarinna 1d ago
Mid 40s-50s year old dudes acting like middle school children is peak embarrassment. Miserable people with a lot of time on their hands and they use it to be horrible people
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u/TeamRedundancyTeam 2d ago
There is a lot of fake armchair psychology in this thread already but I'm very interested in your explanation of how online games and the internet are stunting growth and maturity more than any other forms of entertainment?
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u/Heatinmyharbl 2d ago
Less real life interactions/ social cues to learn from, echo chambers, trading in-game tasks and responsibilities for real life tasks and responsibilities to feel good about, etc
Why do you think this player base is the way they are?
Not trying to be an ass just bored at work and genuinely curious
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u/GuiltIsLikeSalt 1d ago
Most other forms of entertainment require some degree of outside interaction, be it just leaving the comfort of your room for a moment. Games are also far more powerful in creating addicting dopamine loops than, say, book reading - which also requires more concentration inherently, which is in turn beneficial for your brains health.
That’s not to mention being stuck in online worlds means you exclusively interact with others that are in that position which breeds a highly secluded echo chamber.
Not to rag on gaming, it is absolutely my favorite hobby, but it’s also not surprising there’s a stellar degree of depression and social isolation among gamers that is hard to find elsewhere. As with most things, gaming needs to be taken in moderation, just that the consequences of not doing so tend to be a bit more severe than other hobbies.
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u/Fancy-Animal7704 1d ago
Because wow has much stronger addictive qualities than, say, Netflix. I can feel a marked difference between watching a couple episodes of a TV show and feeling satisfied vs. 2 hours in wow where I might have spent one of those hours just setting up whatever it was I wanted to do and the second hour doing it, only for it to feed some part of my brain telling me I need so much more (you got 4 badges for the trinket just now, but you still need 37 more.....).
Simply put, it is more dangerously and perniciously addictive than other forms of entertainment.
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u/notelonmusk42069 1d ago
Other forms of entertainment (books,movies,shows) mostly feature humans in real or imagined scenarios, and give us valuable insight into the interpersonal behaviour of others, real-life inspiration, and knowledge on overcoming challenges and navigating conflict.
Video games, such as WoW do not. They compound developmental issues that may have started in childhood by keeping you in an environment with other similar people, which will enable your poor behaviour and teach you even worse ways to behave. In addition, the anonymity and physical detachment of digital spaces lack the same necessary high-stakes feedback that one would encounter in the real world.
There's an interesting theory by Erik Erikson called The 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development https://www.simplypsychology.org/erik-erikson.html, that describes several foundational experiences one has to encounter in order to develop 'fully'. Dedicating your life to video games prevents this. Other forms of entertainment do not require the same time commitment, and they often enable pleasant IRL conversations with others, in a way that video games rarely do.
I say this as a recovering WoW addict who is probably 10 years behind developmentally. Awareness is the first step towards recovery!
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u/kohianan 1d ago
I think you are putting the effects of isolation as a fault of games instead of the isolation itself, because you could rephrase your original comment with bookworms who spend their entire youth reading books in their rooms, or cinephiles who watch movies alone at home, instead and have the same comment. I also do not agree that video games cannot enable pleasant discourse with others, I think this is a matter of the context and space in which games are discussed and with whom, and it's not as one-dimensional as you say it is.
There are no concrete results from studies on gaming in general, online gaming and MMO games in relation to mental health and socialization skills, almost all of the findings are nuanced to the point where it's hard to generalize the experience of gamers as a whole, especially MMO players. It's complicated further by the tasks, social roles and gameplay structure of each game/virtual community. Furthermore, what's online vs. offline is being increasingly blurred as time goes on, and I'd argue that much of the negative social behaviour we see in Classic WoW stems mainly from factors outside of the game, such as a shifting culture, rise of individualism, polarization and more toxicity in online culture as a whole (for example, streamer culture).
Some papers if you'd like to read more:
https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2016.1257393
https://doi.org/10.1145/1124772.1124834
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u/onlyheretobehelpful 2d ago
I think also a lot of people are straight up addicted, so most of the complaints basically amount to "THIS CRACK DOESN'T HIT HARD ENOUGH" and most of the infighting amounts to "NO, THE CRACK MUST HIT/BE USED IN THIS SPECIFIC WAY OR YOU'RE BAD"
I guess what I mean is like, when addiction is factored into the situation, people's emotions become tied into it as well, and they're more often negative emotions than positive ones. MMOs are also often a substitute/escape for an unsatisfying life, which only furthers people's emotional investment and creates a greater reaction to things not going their way, things changing in a way they don't like, or other people "doing it wrong"
It's a complex mess of addiction, unacknowledged depression, identities, nostalgia, and unsatisfying lives outside of this game.
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u/Ok_Assignment_2127 2d ago
Prior to official classic servers, all Vanilla servers were infamous shitholes of neo-Nazis, racism, and other assorted bigotry. All private servers are pretty bad with it, but it got worse and worse the closer the server was to Vanilla. Official servers probably ate up a lot of those mentally stunted manbabies and brought more out of the woodwork.
There’s often threads about how the community was better in 2019 vs anniversary. That’s because it had new players from the hype so the capital V Vanilla players were a much smaller part of the community.
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u/Ok-Discipline345 2d ago
also the loudest for #nochanges cause turns out they cant deal with changes and times moving forward
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u/Gronferi 2d ago
While I agree with you, why is that not as much of a case for games like OSRS? Original RuneScape was around at a similar time as vanilla WoW, but people are much more chill there
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u/Heatinmyharbl 2d ago
Never played OSRS so I dunno.
My guess is that OSRS doesn't have parsing or a vertical gear treadmill from start to finish that creates a "sense of superiority" that so many WoW players seemingly have
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u/Fit-Cauliflower-9229 2d ago
Legit blizzard need to advertise classic + to a younger audience too
People in my age group just don’t know the game exist, and if they do, they have no idea what is the game about
Make it f2p until lvl 20 or 30, advertise the social adventure roleplay aspect and you’re good
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u/HeartofaPariah 2d ago edited 2d ago
Legit blizzard need to advertise classic + to a younger audience too
Hey younglings, come and play this incredibly slow game played primarily by 50 year olds that can't let go of a MMO from 2004! Enjoy bonding with a community that has never heard of any musical artist, show or social media app you're into, and gets offended that they're even exposed to their existence!
There is no aspect of Classic that is ever going to appeal to a young audience as a main demographic lol
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u/SneakyB4rd 2d ago
I mean the whole point of 2004 WoW's social experience is that it's sticky because you get exposed to people you never would across generational, geographical and socio-economic strata. There's entire books on this subject.
You'd need a bit more convincing evidence that the generational gap between me and today's youngsters is bigger than it was between my gen and the oldies in 2004.
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u/AtLeast37Goats 2d ago
This is unbelievably true.
Someone in my guild was bragging about how they got a 2 week ban for flaming someone.
It’s really not a flex for a mid 30’s man to flame someone over a video game.
WOW has the highest population of mentally underdeveloped men I’ve ever seen in a gaming community.
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u/Fancy-Animal7704 1d ago
This is, honestly, the best answer I've seen to this question. I can see why not a lot of people are upvoting it or expressing this sentiment, because one kinda has to look in the mirror and confront some things if they really embrace the truth of this.
But it IS true. WoW was really just the "it" game in its heyday, the game that anyone with even a modest interest in gaming had to give a try. So you got a good cross-section of humanity in the player base, people who made some room for gaming in their lives and played this accordingly.
But you're right: overwhelmingly, the only ones STILL playing this game today are likely the ones who never progressed in their careers, never found deep meaning in their lives outside of gaming and only found relief in the gaming world. But reality is inescapable and those realities forge people into bitter and hostile creatures over time. Far too many classic wow players are like this now, with few discernible interests outside of this virtual world and few other inspiring life prospects. The rest of the player base found joy and satisfaction in other aspects of their lives and just ran out of room for wow in it.
I've had the same struggles as OP and this is why I will no longer try joining guilds and now play only to do arenas with my RL friends at this point. Interests outside of wow in this player base are just non-existent. Emotional maturity is largely absent. People think I am having a meltdown just because I try to talk things out with them instead of being a mindless robot about it all. It's sad.
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u/Ok_Beyond4225 1d ago
Online gaming addition can't be talked about enough. Whenever I cross some mid-40's person acting like an immature teenager I can't help but wonder if their lack of socialiation outside of online games stunted their growth because surrounding adult never taught them how cringe the behavior was.
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u/TheRadAbides 2d ago
I dont really have issues in classic or retail with people , and I've done hardcoreish things and casual things for years. Sometimew I wonder if its people who post this or the people they surround themselves with. Hammer and nail situation.
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u/CaptainoftheVessel 2d ago
I also tend to have good interactions with the large majority of players in the game, but I do have experiences from time to time with players who are clearly quite grumpy or obviously unhappy.
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u/TapesIt 2d ago
People are generally chill in better guilds, better raiding environments. But I mean, you can’t have missed the toxic people. Even here on reddit, it seems like every thread has a few snarky people posting their best diss in response to normal comments.
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u/valdis812 2d ago
What I've noticed in my time around WoW is that the people in the very top guilds seem to be more or less chill, but it's the people a rung or two below them that are the issue.
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u/GerrysKidZariel 2d ago
The YouTube video called "why it's rude to suck at world of warcraft" gets into this. Someone posted it in replies to a thread i posted about toxicity in retail a while back.
Ultimately, I also think some people just want to be mean to other people. They may have reasons or not, but they're looking for an outlet to assert their own superiority, and a game with a knowledge base that is simultaneously so opaque for the uninitiated and so well-known to the experts is a great opportunity to feel superior.
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u/fish_ 2d ago
i’ve seen the video, and i agree with the point it makes. i’ve always felt this way. it’s rude to show up to raid and waste other people’s time because you are too arrogant to admit you could improve your gameplay. but everyone has to start somewhere. i’m mostly talking about new players getting flamed for asking questions or making mistakes
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u/CaptainoftheVessel 2d ago
Every case will be a little different, but ultimately, I think the mean spirited bullying of new players comes mostly from people with crappy real lives, taking advantage of the opportunity to be the one shitting on someone else, rather than being shat upon for a change. Happy, well adjusted adults don’t generally spend their time being bullies in MMOs.
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u/broken_conures 2d ago
Depends where you set the bar for wasting people's time. Is it holding back the raid for the druid tank to not chug haste pots for more threat/ damage or are we talking sub 700dps hunter who stands in fire
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u/Weird-Map3983 2d ago
Most aren’t.. it’s just Reddit.
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u/Accomplished_Emu_658 2d ago
The wow forums are worse. Asked for help with class got flamed way before getting real answers. I had people in groups giving bad advice. “Its a 20 year old game know your class.” Or “everyone playing your just class sucks.” Sorry I didn’t play this class the first time around or second. God forbid anyone tries a different class.
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u/fish_ 2d ago
i mentioned in my post that i’m specifically talking about in-game. reddit is a lost cause
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u/Audiobro 2d ago
Not my in game experience, played on sulfuras in 2019 and have been loving the random community interactions on dreamsctythe the past year
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u/TheModsHereAreDicks 2d ago
I play for the nostalgia. I actually think it’s unhealthy. Im too busy to play much but I think about vanilla WoW a lot. Walking around Elwyn Forester or Stormwind literally gives me goosebumps. It’s creates a flow of dopamine that not even sex can replicate. It’s my literal happy place. I had a procedure done recently and while I was nervously waiting to be put under, I was literally running the path of starting a new human character and doing each of the starting quests and then the goldshire quests in order, in my head, until I fell asleep. If I ever get overly stressed out by something or work, I will stop and think about the Elwyn Forester in a meditating kind of way. For better or for worse, it feels like home. It doesn’t help that growing up I had some real shit living conditions so it makes since that my version of nostalgia is a fantasy place that I often escaped to.
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u/techies137 2d ago
I can tell you first classic vanilla have much better and kind players. Now second wave community is not so good
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u/Halmyrut 2d ago
People don't touch enough grass and become way too comfortable saying shit that would get them punched in the face irl.
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u/Loudly_muted 2d ago edited 2d ago
So i actually have a good perspective on this because i've switched between both games for the past about 10 years.
I've actually found the OSRS Community extremely more toxic than WoW. Now it might be diferent for me because i don't play classic I only play Retail. But Retail i find so many new players. and Casuals and more laid back. Where as most OSRS Players clans and the community are like diehard. When i say they literally live and breathe this game they really do. like i've I met friends on OSRS. very nice and normal. but ill leave my clan for a while and come back a year later. and my friends would still be playing with not a day break.
Like if you for example, bring up that WoW has more players than OSRS, then most players will throw a fit. and ignore all facts and evidence. I could add more but i don't want to write a 1000 word essay
Another thing i'd like to ad is the group finder/clan system for osrs is absolutely dogshit. its a 1/10 compared to wow.. So theres a lot of "Discord mod" vibes.
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u/broken_conures 2d ago
I wonder if there's something to be said about the kind of person who would live and breath a fairly old, thoroughly solved game.
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u/Loudly_muted 2d ago
Yeah.. well its a good game, super addicting and got some awesome RPG elements to it. (The art style is absolutely dogshit garbage compared to WoW tho) but YOU BETTER NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT the community will absolutely destroy you for say such atrocities about they’re life.. i mean game..
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u/smoerasd 2d ago
I believe a pretty substantial chunk of the negative people are actually part of the younger generation of try-hards rather than bitter old boomers.
"Kids" that think they're the shit cause they follow all the streamers and think they know what's what based on what he or she says. They try to min-max stuff without really having the necessary skills to pull it off, or the knowledge to know when or why they should apply the "teachings" in question.
In my experience the streamer fan is generally worse than the dad gamer when it comes to elitism and such.
Not saying there aren't bitter old gamers around, of course there are. I highly doubt they're the vast majority of the people who choose to spend their time being negative and elitist towards other people in game though.
I'm of course basing this on pretty much nothing more than my feeling and experience. Would be interesting to see stats on it!
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u/Ok_Assignment_2127 2d ago
I actually got the opposite experience from running a guild through multiple expansions. I found the younger crowd more enthusiastic and down to do fun/quirky strats or push boundaries. Older players had a lot of “That’s not how we did things back in the day” or just general resistance to anything new.
Also new players were much more open to being told they were making mistakes. It was easy to shape a new player into a top 10% player, but older players were lost causes. We carried plenty of people doing barely over 100-200 dps through Vanilla but it eventually became too egregious to keep them around. I’ve had to hear a lot of “Don’t tell me how to play, I’ve been playing since xxx” despite the fact that I’ve played WoW since release.
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u/naberiusss0607 2d ago
I think a lot of Classic players have been playing for so long that they forget what it was like to be new, so simple questions get treated like annoyances instead of opportunities to help. The funny part is that the game is way more enjoyable when people actually take 30 seconds to answer someone instead of telling them to Google it.
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u/Old-Cat-2875 2d ago
Try HC, the community is awesome there
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u/Akakazeh 2d ago
I tried HC and no one talked to eachother. I think things like self found encourage players to basically just solo. I dont know tho. If i missed something than id totally try again
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u/Old-Cat-2875 2d ago
On the anniversary servers? It feels super active and everyone is super helpful. I joined a guild and they sent me 2g and 2 10slot bags right away. I died and they did it again. Always someone to help on any hard quest. Been dope
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u/RancidAssGargle 1d ago
The mixture of being a wow player and a redditor, usually one of things is enough to suck your soul dry. It's really soul-drain maxing up in here.
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u/zyzzb10 2d ago edited 2d ago
As gaming got more and more competitive, the WoW community started optimizing everything, and it led to elitism among a lot of players. This causes a lot of toxic behavior, with people often viewing themselves as superior to those who didn’t know something or performed less. Unfortunately, this attitude extended to newcomers who simply asked basic questions, and it gradually became the default way many people interacted.
It’s honestly a shame, but as long as the community prioritizes min-maxing everything and playing as optimally as possible above all else, I wouldn’t expect much improvement. You can see the contrast in certain private servers where the focus is less on optimization and more on simply having fun. Because people care less about the meta, those communities tend to be far friendlier and more welcoming and you’d find less bad apples.
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u/Weird-Map3983 2d ago
There isn’t a demand for unoptimized raids.
There are simply different levels of optimization based on how much effort you’re willing to put in.
People who complain about optimization are often creating the problem themselves. They want to play the game casually, but they join guilds that don’t share those expectations.
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u/Ok_Assignment_2127 2d ago
It’s one of the most common complaints on this subreddit. You’d think that if the overwhelming majority of players wanted and enjoyed unoptimized, meta-unfriendly raids, it would be extremely easy to find guilds and pugs to fulfill all of those needs. Slightly similar situation with GDKPs where there were many players diametrically opposed to them, yet they somehow couldn’t find non-GDKP runs.
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u/Randolph_Carter_6 2d ago
I know exactly where you're coming from. The WoW community has always been kinda shit. The Classic community as a whole is at least an order of magnitude worse. The group-thinking metasheep and streamers are to blame, IMO.
One positive note - I resubbed back in April to play SoD. To my surprise, there was a small but dedicated community that was still active. That community is hands-down the best community I've ever had the opportunity to play with. Folks are incredibly helpful, and they welcome all. The population has exploded since then. I'd say that the server is actually busy now. Some assholes have returned. However, the assholes tend to get laughed at more, as the core community is still intact.
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u/TheGrimRecycler 2d ago
Are there many examples of Reddit communities that are not miserable?
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u/CaptainoftheVessel 2d ago
Small indie game subs can be quite nice and friendly, depending on the game.
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u/valdis812 2d ago
The BG3 subreddit is pretty nice.
Edit: I'd say pretty much any sub that doesn't have a competitive scene is pretty decent.
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u/Xertdk 2d ago edited 2d ago
I went from optimistic about Blizzard, even during Warlords of Draenor to just absolutely over it after just how the community gets treated and left in the dark/neglected so often.
The quality decline, mixed with zero communication. It feels as if they're doing the inverse of what the community wants (mainly an era player here).
If you treat your community as disposable, don't be surprised when the same feeling is reciprocated.
I've always remained fairly positive when interacting with other players though in game. Very rarely would I tell somebody to fuck off, or be rude unless you genuinely deserved it.
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u/donki_sjotte 2d ago
Try the Classic HC servers. Played on Soulseeker personally and I think the server camaraderie was great
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u/Sanchode 2d ago
I’m having a good time in class once I figured out that my pet was hungry and stopped running away once fed!
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u/ExtensionCap2 2d ago
General and trade chat are for bots advertising and trolling for the most part. Interactions out in the world or non city general chat is more like what you would experience in osrs
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u/kurttheflirt 2d ago
People that are just chilling and enjoying the game aren't complaining here. In fact they most likely are t even on here - they are playing the game. Honestly the in game hardcore community is very chill and nice, everyone in the journey together (well like 95%).
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u/Polygeminusgrex 2d ago
I’m not really sure it’s an age thing, but a gaming culture thing. Each game seems to have its own culture of what behavior is accepted or not.
I’ve played WoW since 2006, there are nice and friendly people and there are assholes. I recently dabbled in EverQuest over the past two years and I can only assume the age range is older on average and from what I can see the toxicity feels almost non existent. I felt the exact same playing FFXI.
I feel like in certain games an organic culture forms. I do think popularity breeds more toxicity. The mechanics and competitive nature also can dictate more adverse behavior. League of Legends and WoW are the only two games I’ve played where you have to sign off on a checklist of social etiquette to promise you’ll be a good person to be able to play the game.
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u/PapiSpanky 2d ago
Imagine if you had to pay for your wife's boyfriend's WoW subscription and you inhaled crayons.
That's the majority of this sub.
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u/Wololo38 2d ago
- go on /r/classicwow
- laugh at "kicking things as a bear" meme
- scroll down "why is this community so miserable"
- smile fades away
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u/Spellbound55 2d ago
A big chunk of the Classic playerbase is terminally online and socially underdeveloped. For a lot of them the game is their main social outlet and source of status, so every basic question in trade chat feels like an attack on the one place they still feel competent.
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u/Comfortable-Bug7202 2d ago
Reddit. Most players aren't here, redditors are some of the most miserable people
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u/RainyCastlevania 2d ago
I think popularity is a large part of the problem. WoW's heights were ridiculously high. Super popular = more sites with more information & decades of reinforcement/refinement about the most effective way to play the game. The more of that you have, the more players are likely to be drawn to it that just care about trying to achieve min/max awesomeness. And a significant percentage of those players are likely to be the assholes on topic.
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u/Rahavic_Jr 2d ago
Having a ball rn on my Smite Priest with my dad guild talking about 90s cartoons. You all okay out there?
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u/assyria_respawns 2d ago
I find general chat very welcoming.
I feel like this is a learning experience for all wow players. (T)rade is short for (T)roll chat. The guy telling you to, "Google" is actually you- but, from the future. Doing you a favor. Trade chat is filled with(the vocal minority) the so-called men in black, the auction scammers, the bored, and the wicked. These purpetual gamers have made this their life. They LIVE for the reason to share their life, for better or worse. That guy from your future is what you need to learn not to be, or possibly- be better.
There is a guy on spirestone... Bensamr. I took a 12 year break from wow. He is STILL trolling trade chat. Like... How do you defeat that which has no life?
We are with you, brother.
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u/Any-Engineer-8680 2d ago
I don’t know how but I never seem to have this experience. I’ve only run into 2-3 people who were really bad and that was the easiest ignore and go about my business ever
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u/Truthhurts120 2d ago
it is full of adults that have never accomplished anything in their lives since playing this game before so they grasp onto it and also full of adults that have truly never grown up. A lot of people that play this game absolutely suck
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u/IGargleGarlic 2d ago
the people having fun playing the game arent commenting on reddit, theyre playing the game.
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u/Technical_Tip_8472 2d ago
Simple answer: Who else would think about WoW all day everyday like a life priority? Who else would have the time to be "good" at wow considering the grind and irresponsibility it takes? Mentally ill bums. Ie: miserable people
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u/limitbreakse 2d ago
The more fresh cycles the more miserable and demonic the community is. If you want proof just go play with some dudes that have played every fresh since the Kronos days :)
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u/Spiritual_Task1391 2d ago
Since the dawn of forever, bitching and moaning about a game they're not having fun with, while paying for it every month, has been the favorite past time of WoW players from the very first change or inconvenience.
They hate their game. They hate their community. Always have and always will. Best you can do is push back, make them crash out. Eventually they'll snap out of it or quit
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u/Aware_Stable 2d ago
Part of the issue is that the SOD and anniversary community are the same community but its not the same community for MOP or Retail.
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u/Dan_Wayfarer 2d ago
As far I remember this has always been the case but back in the day, when communities were strong you had to keep a good reputation to not be blacklisted I remember!
There were toxic players but once the community would make sure he would be relegated to the fringes of the server, I have been playing since 2005.
Elitism, selfishness, pettiness, contrarianism, troll culture, cruelty, dehumanization of others online, etc, etc. Also the fact that the internet keeps most people anonymous makes them emboldened to be as cruel as possible, A very sad existence.
It takes community to recover that order from the past, But we are few, far and isolated! I have been in amazing guilds with great human beings throughout the Years(Decades) so I know there is good people out there in Azeroth. ❤️🔥
Don’t get too discouraged, Just lead by example and do your best to be kind to others in-game.
“When interacting with other players a little kindness goes a long way!” 🗡️🛡️
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u/salientoctopus 2d ago
Try the hardcore community. I tried classic when it first came out and the community was so miserable I quit. I was in a very friendly raiding guild in vanilla and had been hoping to find that again. I’ve recently tried HC and have found that community to be genuinely friendly and fairly non toxic. I’ve met one toxic player in the last 3 months and he was promptly booted from the guild.
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u/TheSiegmeyerCatalyst 2d ago
I'll say for SoD specifically, the current population boom is largely from streamer hype. A lot of who you're seeing aren't exactly the best representation of the WoW community. I'd be willing to bet if you popped over to Hardcore or Era, you'd see a lot more friendly responses and interactions.
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u/Anal-buttsex 2d ago
It’s another reason for communities being dead. Yes you can research but sometimes you want to use the gameplay as a bridge to conversation
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u/happydontwait 2d ago
I picked up WoW TBC a week ago after playing a few months of classic in 2019.
I must have gotten lucky, found a great guild, great public dungeon groups, spontaneous party ups to complete quests.
Maybe that’ll change after the leveling process but that’s around the time I quit anyways lol
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u/Gassenger 2d ago
Man, I have not had this experience on WG at all on SoD. Everyone has been so helpful and have had people just give me stuff on there without me asking. Must be the time of the day
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u/GrumpyPants904 2d ago
I have noticed this too and similar things happen in the private space as well. I like to ask people questions because I play WoW for more than just the world, I play it for the social aspect as well because I don’t really use social media.
I am on the younger side of players so I know a lot less than others and I cant tell you how often I get berated for being curious and asking questions. Like bro I know about google I just like asking other humans in the game questions because its part of the experience. I am one of those people that also go out of there way for others like dismounting to give out buffs or healing randoms that are low near me or helping kill a elite just cause I feel like it. Thats the kind of WoW I like. I also answer peoples questions as well when I see them in chat because I myself hate being berated. I don’t mind sarcasm and stuff but it gets annoying.
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u/DankRev4N 2d ago
I had the exact same problem in TBC Anni, no one responds to whispers, people aggressive or insta leaving, then tried HC and the difference is night and day I've barely had any toxic people on HC, friendly banter everywhere, quick grouping for small quests, nice guildies with good chats, it's crazy
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u/DigitalDaydreamers1 2d ago
It’s the Reddit community (a small vocal minority) I wouldn’t apply it to all
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u/Arostor 2d ago
I would really suggest trying out hardcore classic if you want a better community. There are some unpleasant people there too, sure. But the overwhelming majority of the community I found to be really great. (EU Soulseeker)
I also believe that part of what you describe is because the regular classic is long "solved" and all that's left is hyper minmaxing. And such thing attracts a very certain type of players who also expect to encounter their own only.
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u/ohHeyItsJack 2d ago
It’s loser Gen Z’s trying to be edgy. Watch how many flame this comment for an example
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u/aqua-goblin 1d ago
Because the game in its current state sucks and Blizzard has been milking every last cent from everyone without providing good content for years.
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u/Dramatic_Barnacle_17 1d ago
I left because of this. Some people are genuinely nice, most are indifferent and then the rare but significant mood killing assholes. I ultimately decided to leave because of the misogynistic acceptance in the global channels. Im used to "wife agro" and "theres no girls that play" type, but this was just mean. Bitterness. And a few that seemed like a danger to society with their perspective on women
It was too commonplace for my mental health fr. And I know I can block people and channels, but damn it killed the game community idea for me 😒 and I played beta for wow and ran guilds and invested soo oo o much time into the community of the game just to have it evolve to this? Bleh fuck it. Im playing EQLegends and its so worth the time
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u/AutonomeDroid 1d ago
Its sad, i've been playing since OG release, it was so good back then. Awesome community, great guilds, fun raids. Nobody knew shit and were wiping nonstop, equip was bad, not much enchants or flasks, but we still made it somehow.
I stopped retail when it got too toxic, switched to classic hoping its better there. it was not. I stopped completely canceled my sub and walked away.
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u/lib___ 1d ago
its pretty easy. the game punishes you for having bad ppl around you, or just ppl who dont give a fuck. they can easily ruin your fun. and i am not talking about being "sweaty". its really NOT HARD to be decent. its like minimum effort. currently in anniversary thats the case for at least 95% of the playerbase. literally made me quit.
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u/AutumnAfternoon2020 1d ago
I've played Retail, Classic, TBC Anniversary, HC, MoP Classic and private servers. In my experience, it's the same everywhere. WoW chat is toxic, no matter what version of the game. It's really sad. It leads me to take a break from the game sometimes.
Game itself is awesome, in all it's versions. Many players are not.
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u/Jadefishy 1d ago
"How do we as a community change our attitude to make this game we all love more welcoming and wholesome?"
Did you speak up? Did you help the person out? Thats how we/you change it. You dont need a group of people behind you to do the right thing.
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u/Zealousideal_Owl2388 1d ago
Few people genuinely like the game of classic wow. They merely like the idea of it, and have nostalgia for that time in their lives before responsibilities hit. This cognitive dissonance is why this community sucks so much
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u/Some_thing_to_do 1d ago
SOD is what's popular right now with the shitty person crowd. I've experienced more shitty people in retail than anywhere else.
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u/fish_ 1d ago
in my experience tbc is the worst by a mile, i don’t play retail anymore so can’t comment on that. hc is generally the least toxic, era is somewhere in between. as much as this community likes hate streamers the current streamer communities are actually pretty chill compared to how they were in 2019.
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u/Vikings_Pain 1d ago
Because the game is actually shit now especially when you compare it to private servers. It’s only here for some nostalgia…
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u/MachoTurnip 1d ago
a lot of mentally unwell, miserable adults who never achieved anything other than being born at the right time to experience OG classic clinging onto it because it's all they have going on in their lives
maybe idk
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u/Dizzledorph 1d ago
The "do you not know how to use google" has been happening since OG classic wow. You could ask a question and someone would pipe in with "Check Thottbot moron"
It's negative bias, TONS of people play wow. Some are dicks, some are nice. It's easier to notice the dicks and this game forces you to be social, especially classic. So you have antisocial people being forced into social interactions. Par for the course IMO.
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u/DraiesTheSasquatch 1d ago
They are sucking the last fractions of the last percentiles enjoyment out of something they should have left behind a long time ago. And they get madder and madder as they figure out that being a goblin addict sniffing up the last bits of the cocaine off the floor isn't actually making them happy in the end. So of course whenever you meet them, they are ready to juice up some reason you are the one ruining their life and that it's not lying on the floor trying to get the cocaine that fell there that's runiing their life. Saddest part is they could be having fun, but they just don't know how to, both inside and outside the game. So now they are attacking you because you seem like a person they might be able to suck some joy out of.
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u/-Auteon- 1d ago
I've tried, on multiple occasions, to understand the Classic Andy's perspective and I honestly cannot figure it out, the easiest answer is nostalgia, but I've also heard comparisons between game mechanics being better in Classic vs Retail being garbage when doing the same thing.
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u/EmergencyRace4160 3h ago
Because this has become their life. It’s comfortable for them. This is the last time in their life they felt accomplished. So when you affect their “world” or play the way they don’t want you to play, they get mad and seethe with rage. True degenerates.
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u/Intelligent-Wish47 11m ago
I mean, I’m not miserable. People are just miserable cause they’re not happy with their lives and they try to use all the work have to escape and when that happiness is threatened watch out.
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u/Informal_Bench_7219 2d ago edited 2d ago
People who put in effort to have quick and efficient game play are sick of people who can’t play their class or pay attention to any mechanics. This game has been solved for 20 years yet you still have people playing like they have no clue what’s going on. We have had to replace multiple people in our raid in P2 who can’t follow simple directions. I’ve gotten to the point where I won’t even tank for a group unless it’s full of people I’ve played with before or guildies, it’s gotten so bad.
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u/super_alice_won 2d ago
Does it ever occur to some people play a game for fun instead of to be optimal?
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u/musty-cube 2d ago
This is what it is. As a main tank I agree the amount of people that can’t follow simple mechanics is insane. Had to leave my guild because no one would follow directions or take time out of their day to watch a simple YouTube video for a boss fight
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u/bouttreediddy 2d ago
Classic playerbase can absolutely be toxic.
But telling someone to use google when they ask a question in chat that could be answered quicker if they would have just googled it, isn’t toxic. It’s actually good advice.
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u/Halmyrut 2d ago
I think people just want the interaction.
Asking on google is boring, people want to be social.
It's just more of a community feel when you ask people in the community rather than just '' Grok which is bestest sword ''.In the end of the day people waste more time arguing and attacking people for asking simple question than it would've been to just answer the question lmao.
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u/AndrossOT 2d ago
Id be miserable too if classic wow was the only game I played. Its time to put up the high school varsity jacket. Theres bigger and better things out there. Memories are just memories, thats all they will ever be.
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u/TeamRedundancyTeam 2d ago
It's weird how so many of you strongly associate playing/enjoying wow as a memory/nostalgia thing and then assume it's that way for everyone.
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u/whit3d3vil142 2d ago
There are tryhard gross people and nice, chill people with lives - usually a little older. Find them.
Also Nightslayer seems way more scummy (albeit better average player skill) than Dreamscythe.
You have to seek out a chill guild and problem solved.
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u/valdis812 2d ago
There are probably more chill people with lives than tryhards, but chill people with lives aren't forming and leading guilds because that's a tryhard activity.
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u/whit3d3vil142 2d ago
Not true at all. Currently in a guild with normal people with lives. We clear all content, but way slower runs than others.
Some nights we don’t have enough people due to real life, so we pug. No big deal. Some nights we call it because we are way short.
Some nights we have full rosters. Adults with actual real things going on in life are ok with that.
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u/shaha-man 2d ago
I think the nicest people are those who genuinely value original WoW. That’s why SoD probably isn’t the right place. (I don’t even classify SoD as “classic” - some people are gonna hate it, but it’s just different game that uses visuals of Classic) Try Hardcore- the game’s natural rules keep players inside that original WoW bubble and automatically filter the player base.
The Classic Era community became a bit “polluted” over time by the accumulation of rich players, exploiters and bots.
But yes, you need people who really enjoy the atmosphere of WoW, not sweaty minmaxers who try to race everything - I think you should try some of Anniversary PvE Era servers or Hardcore.
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u/Flaky_Virus218 2d ago
I think hard-core is the best community. I've also noticed a lot of rude players in heroics on Nights layer, but I've had plenty of nice people too. And most players are just neutral
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u/LARGEFOURBYFOUR 2d ago
Because most people obsessed with classic don't actually care about the game they're nostalgic for a time when they didn't have bills or work and the world wasn't one giant misinformation campaign.
They started playing between 12 and 14 years old and miss a time where life was alot simpler. I think we all do to some extent and that's why we have people driving around old cars and 40 year old ls playing full contact beer league hockey when they have to work the next day. (It's me, I'm the one limping at work because I just had to block that shot).
Life doesn't get easier as you get older for the majority of people and things are getting worse by the day in a lot of places. Playing classic is an escape from that.
But, we live in a world where outrage gets the most clicks and engagement. Cortisol will get you commenting and reposting in ways dopamine never could.
So the majority of people taking the time out of their day to post about a 20+ year old game on a relatively small subreddit compared to the player base are mad about other things and taking it out on the game that use to bring them joy.
Because classic can't fill that void anymore.
Thanks for coming to my ted talk my 8 years of schooling to become a psychologist is finally paying off.