Homogenization of classes in retail expansions sucked big ol donkey balls because you didn’t have to depend on other players as much. Part of what made vanilla so fun was the fact that you identified strongly with the role you chose and built a reputation on being a kickass tank, amazing healer, or DPS that actually knew how to use their utility skills (hunters that know how to freeze trap properly, you get a gold star!).
Being forced to interact with people you often didn’t know led to a ton of new friendships or at worst fun horror stories to tell. With Vanilla, you couldn’t just hit the zoomer dual spec button and change to tank spec on the fly to fit the needs of the group. There were significant costs to respeccing that tied people to their preferred roles and forced greater interdependence between players. This is a good thing.
With a solid dedicated tank, you’d do your best to follow his marks, avoid breaking cc, and asspulling lest he blacklist you from his groups for being a pain in the ass. A good healer you might toss him any mana pots you happen to find so they’d be more willing to heal for your group again in the future.
There’s not nearly as much incentive to maintain your reputation in retail WoW with it’s soulless RDF and cross-server play that deemphasized the importance of establishing inter-player relationships that kept you engaged with the game.
Everyone on the server from Redridgeboss to the guild of Russian Bank Alts who talk in Martian on top of the Orgrimmar bank. You guys are the game. The people and the stories you create in the world are what makes vanilla wow so enthralling.
