Remember when Blizzard said people only thought they wanted a World of Warcraft Classic? That was funny. The much-requested return to a simpler version of the MMORPG has been out for a little over a week, and it’s safe to say that people are obsessed.
First there were the hours-long queues that players were forming, not just to get into the game, but to actually be able to accept and complete quests. Then it was discovered that porn searches for Warcraft tripled when the Classic servers launched. Now, we’re getting reports that players are already hitting the level 60 cap – after just seven days.
After 79 hours of grinding following World of Warcraft Classic’s launch last Monday, a player named Jokerd managed to be the first player to hit level 60 over the weekend, winning the World First Race to 60 event which was coordinated by Warcraft guild Method.
Method starting livestreaming special Warcraft events last year, and saw the launch of Classic as a good chance to invited players to race to level 60 in its Las Vegas studio while various notable personalities from the community provided commentary.
Jokerd was a relatively unknown player who wasn’t actually even streaming from the Las Vegas studio like most of his competition. As the race drew to a close, It was clear Jokerd (who plays a Gnome Mage) was set to take the win.
Opting to stick to classic grinding techniques, Jokerd found himself comfortably ahead of his rivals, the majority of whom were trying out more advanced strategies to get the experience points they needed. His hours spent in the Western Plaguelands grinding with the undead wasn’t exactly flashy, but it got the job done.
When Jokerd finally hit that magic number, he did so in front of 347,000 people who were watching along on Twitch. To push himself over the line to level 60, the Gnome Mage left the undead and decided to best a Scarlet Paladin. The few hundred experience points he gained from that kill took him straight to the big six-o.
Brilliantly, as Jokerd zapped back to Stormind City to be congratulated by both players and those tuned into his exploits on Twitch, he opted to blast Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration” on stream. World of Warcraft Classic and Kool and the Gang, together at last? An unbeatable combo, if ever there was one.
Check out the big moment below.
As more and more players now hit level 60 and proceed to the end game content, it’s clear that World of Warcraft Classic was exactly what fans were craving.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.