World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic releases on June 1st!

What is World of Warcraft (WoW): The Burning Crusade Classic?

The original World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (usually dubbed TBC) was the very first expansion for World of Warcraft. So imagine the feelings of nostalgia among fans when the re-release of this ‘relic’ was announced! The ‘classic’ TBC was released in 2007 and with its arrival, WoW players were suddenly able to explore a completely new continent called Outland, with a lot of additional zones, quests and monsters. It also introduced two new playable races: the Blood Elves and the Draenei.

Re-release of the original WoW Burning Crusade

Back then, The Burning Crusade was a direct sequel to the original WoW. Most of the expansion is set in Outland, the former world of Draenor. At that time, Draenor was a completely new continent in the game. But with the current (re)release of The Burning Crusade Classic, Outland/Draenor were already accessible for players to explore.

One of the main ‘quests’ in The Burning Crusade expansion of 2007 revolved around Illidan the Betrayer, a raid boss you have to defeat in the Black Temple. This might also be the case in WoW: The Burning Crusade Classic release. But there will be a lot more to exp-Lore! (see what we did there?) Learning about the connections between former Draenor and the current Outland for example: you’ll find out how the Dark Portal was opened and can also get a retelling of the old relationship between the Burning Legion and the Orcish shamans, just to name a few. 

Why are they re-releasing this expansion?

For all of you who feel nostalgic when they reminisce about simpler times, when everything was still fresh and new and nobody had ever stepped through the Dark Portal yet. It seems that many WoW players think back to that first, iconic Crusade into the Outlands. Also, with the success of WoW Classic, which still has a big player base, it is a logical step to take Classic WoW to the next level by re-releasing World of Warcraft's first expansion!

When is the Release Date of WoW: The Burning Crusade? 

The Burning Crusade Classic will be playable exactly at midnight, on June 1st. To gain access to The Burning Crusade Classic, players will need to have a battle.net-account and a World of Warcraft subscription. Transitioning to the Burning Crusade Classic is possible from May 18th. But you can also choose to stay in the ‘vanilla-era WoW’ on another set of servers if you’d rather pass on this whole Burning Crusade adventure.

The Classes; The Draenai and Blood Elves

The Burning Crusade Classic will introduce two new playable races as well: the Blood Elves and the Draenei have been playable since the pre-patch on the 18th of May. It goes without saying that these two new races will stay available to WoW: The Burning Crusade Classic players after June 1st. Players who decide to stay on the Classic WoW servers however, will not have the Blood Elves and Draenei as playable characters. For them, everything will stay just as it was before the pre-patch. 

Blood Elves are called Sin’dorei in their native language Thalassian. They were former high elves that renamed themselves to Blood Elves in honor of those who were killed during the Third War. They have a Hawkstrider as their racial mount. The Draenei are a faction of Eredar who have since fled their home world after the corruption of the orcs. They are part of the Alliance in the Burning Crusade. The elephant-like creature Elekk is their racial mount. 

There are some ‘New Classes’ added to Word of Warcraft Classic. Although they aren’t exactly new: Horde can now make a Blood Elf Paladin and the Alliance can make a Draenei Shaman. This was not possible before the Burning Crusade. For a full explanation, this video might be helpful: 

Character Boost en Cloning

The Pre-Patch for Burning Crusade Classic started on May 18th. From that moment on, you were able to decide whether you want to bring your current WoW character into the Burning Crusade, or if you want to leave it behind in Classic.  

When you first start the Burning Crusade Classic you will still have the option to continue playing on a pure classic server or move your character to the Burning Crusade Classic. So, if you want to keep playing on the original WoW classic, you can! But you can also continue playing on the *new* Burning Crusade Classic servers.

It's also possible to have both characters on a Classic and Burning Crusade Classic Server. In order to do this, you will have to clone your character first. However, this has a fee attached to it. This used to be $35 but has since been reduced to $15 for the cloning of one character. 

You can also purchase a boost, which gives you a level 58 character instantly, for €40. Or get the Deluxe Edition, which grants you an exclusive mount, the aforementioned boost and a month playtime for €70! 

Whether you choose to keep playing WoW Classic or take on this "new" adventure in The Burning Crusade, it is nice to see that Blizzard keeps coming up with new developments for their current WoW success formula. While also honouring the necessary nostalgia. We are ready to enter the Dark Portal at midnight on June 1st! And you?