Hard Modes

Like WoW Classic and Burning Crusade Classic before it, Wrath of the Lich King Classic starts at a late patch (3.3.5) in terms of balance and class changes, but game content will roll out over the course of five phases, as well as a prepatch interval I’m terming “phase zero.” It mimics the original game release to an extent, but there will be some items whose availability will be unlocked as well over the course of the phases.

One of the things about games like World of Warcraft is that character progression is very much tied to gear, and gear is tied to the use of your time in the game.