Playing Ahead: Making Choices in WoW Classic
Greetings WoW Classic adventurers!
With Burning Crusade Classic arriving on June 1, we want to share more details on what you can expect when we release the pre-expansion patch for Burning Crusade Classic and launch our Era realms.
First Steps
Beginning with patch day, players will have the opportunity to make a choice for each existing Classic character. Will that character continue into Burning Crusade Classic or remain in the Classic era?
Currently, when you log in to WoW Classic, you can see general information on what’s coming by clicking the Burning Crusade Classic button at login.
What’s Happening to my Realm?
As of the pre-expansion patch, all current World of Warcraft Classic servers will progress to Burning Crusade Classic content. When you first log in, you’ll then make a choice on each existing character whether to advance that character into Burning Crusade Classic or choose to play on a World of Warcraft Classic Era realm available as a new game download on the Battle.net Desktop App.
Each character can be unlocked once for free either in Burning Crusade Classic or World of Warcraft Classic. If you want to play a character in both Burning Crusade Classic and World of Warcraft Classic, you can opt in to the “Character Clone” service for a fee.
Choose Your Game
When you log in to the Battle.net App, you’ll see the following options under the “Game Version & Account” selection screen under “Live”: Warcraft Classic, Burning Crusade Classic, and World of Warcraft.
As mentioned during the BlizzConline Deep Dive Panel for Burning Crusade Classic, with the pre-expansion patch, players will be provided the option to play their character on the new Classic era realm just as it was as of the last day before the patch or continue on into Burning Crusade Classic.
It’s important to note that all current realms will progress to Burning Crusade Classic content. World of Warcraft Classic era realms are new but retain the same names as before and exist as they did prior to the pre-expansion patch.
All the characters that you created and played before servers come down for the patch will appear on the same realms. You’ll see those realms listed in both Burning Crusade Classic and World of Warcraft Classic games. That means you’ll see all your pre-existing characters in both versions of the game.
To explain what you’ll see on patch day, let’s take a further look at the details.
Burning Crusade Classic
If you last logged into World of Warcraft Classic before patch day, your default option in the Battle.net Desktop App will be Burning Crusade Classic. If you want to move on into Burning Crusade Classic, select that option.
At login and character select, you will see a Burning Crusade Classic screen. You can select the realms you played on before the patch and see your characters listed on those realms.
You’ll notice each of your existing characters will be required to make a choice as indicated by the “Choose Expansion” text shown beneath your character name.
For example, Moonrasmin shown above hasn’t made a choice yet. Upon selecting Moonrasmin, you’ll be presented with the option to make a choice for this character.
When you select the “Play Burning Crusade” button, you will need to confirm your choice by typing in the character’s name in the confirmation screen.
Once you click “Accept,” your character will now be part of Burning Crusade Classic. While Outland won’t be available to play with the pre-expansion patch, you will have the ability to begin leveling and playing Blood Elf and Draenei races and the Jewelcrafting profession with early access.
World of Warcraft Classic Era
To join and play on Classic Era realms, you will select the World of Warcraft Classic game in the Battle.net Desktop App and install it as a new game. If you already have existing characters prior to patch day, they will appear on the same realms where they were originally created.
When looking at your selected realm and pre-existing Classic characters, each character will show a requirement to choose an expansion. (For this purpose, you can consider WoW Classic Era as its own expansion!).
As an example, when Misha is selected in the character select list, you’re presented with the options screen as follows:
After selecting the “Play Classic Era” button, you’ll confirm your choice by typing in the character’s name in the confirmation screen.
Clicking “Accept,” will set you on your way to continuing your journey in the World of Warcraft Classic Era.
What’s a Clone?
For players who want to play a character in both Burning Crusade Classic and World of Warcraft Classic, we have a new optional service we call “Character Clone.”
This optional service will only become available on a character after you have made a choice for that character in another game. For Thuata, shown below, she was unlocked in Burning Crusade Classic.
Upon installing and logging into the other game, in this case, World of Warcraft Classic, you’ll see Thuata listed and is greyed out. The text under her name now reads as, “Clone Available.” A Clone icon will appear next to Thuata’s name as shown below. A tip will appear on mouse-over of the Clone icon.
If you click the Clone icon, a confirmation window with more information will appear. It shows the “cloned” date of the character which includes all progress on the character up to that date.
Clicking “Accept will take you to the store screen which will allow you to purchase the Character Clone service.
Upon completing the transaction, Thuata is ready to play.
Stay Classic!
We hope this information helps prepare you for your adventures to come and we’ll see you soon!