Classic recreates the game in the state it was in after patch 1.12.1, c. September 2006, before the launch of The Burning Crusade
expansion. The maximum level of the player characters is set to 60, all
expansion content is absent, and almost all the gameplay mechanics of
the original version have been exactly replicated.[3] As the game's
multiple expansions have dramatically changed the gameplay over time,
Classic allows players to relive the original experience, albeit some
modern interface and functional enhancements introduced in later
expansions have been integrated, as well as re-patching of bugs and
exploits that were present at the original release of patch 1.12.
Players can choose from the eight original races of World of Warcraft: humans, dwarves, gnomes, and night elves for the Alliance, and
orcs, trolls, tauren, and the Forsaken for the Horde. The original nine
classes are present: druid, hunter, mage, paladin, priest, rogue,
shaman, warlock and warrior. As in the original version of the game,
only Alliance players can become paladins, and only Horde players can
become shamans. Races and classes added in the expansions are not
available in the game. The game world is restored to its original,
pre-Cataclysm state, and expansion areas such as Outland are not
accessible.
To emulate the original game's patch release cycle, content in Classic will release in phases.This means that game content originally
released in patches, such as the Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraj, and
Naxxramas raids, battlegrounds like Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley,
and certain items and quests, will become available after launch
according to a six-phase schedule. Unlike the content patches for the
original game, these phases will not modify the core game mechanics such
as character abilities in any way; the game balance is set to the
1.12.1 version of the game.
