In this article, I want to talk about the current state of Official Hardcore Servers in WoW Classic. Before I get started, I must stress that I am personally very supportive of Blizzard developing them.

Besides, I will also explain to you why this is not a priority for Blizzard, nor will it ever probably be a priority, and there is a slight chance we never get Official Hardcore Servers, no matter how much we really want them to happen, and that will be explained in this article. 

What Classic Hardcore Is?

Before we start though, I just want to do a quick recap on what Classic Hardcore is, as there is a chance someone has no idea what the term “hardcore” even refers to

Basically, Classic Hardcore is a No-Death leveling challenge in Classic WoW that is taking part mostly in the Classic Era Servers, with thousands of active players every single day. The goal of the challenge is to make it to level 60 without dying, and if you die and want to keep playing in the challenge, you have to start over from level 1 again. By the way, if you want to solve this problem, maybe you can use WOTLK Classic Gold to equip yourself.

When we talk about Official Hardcore Servers, this refers to Blizzard embracing the Classic Hardcore Gameplay & Community and supporting the movement by adding official Hardcore-type of servers, where if you die you can’t resurrect or you have to delete your character, basically permanent one-life servers. 

Pros Of Having Official Hardcore Servers

So, now that we are all caught up to speed, let me highlight some of the positive aspects of having Official Hardcore Servers. Before I introduce, some people might consider me being negative or just overall pessimistic, but it’s really me looking at the idea of Classic Hardcore Servers with an objective point of view and realizing that Blizzard is a business after all. 

Here are positive aspects of having Official Hardcore Servers:

#1

There’s an obvious demand for them. I did some player scans recently, showing exactly how many people were online at the same time on the Classic Era Hardcore Server for Europe, and there’s literally between 2 and 3 thousand people playing at the same time on a regular Monday evening. 

#2

Having Official Blizzard-Supported Hardcore Servers would make it way more appealing to everyone. First, you would have way fewer grievers, like playing on the current Classic Era Servers, there’ are a lot of grievers, because they can level to level 60 and just grieve anyone else playing Hardcore, without playing Hardcore themselves. 

If we’re on an official hardcore server, grieving will be a lot more risky and a lot more difficult, because first of all the grievers have to level themselves up in a hardcore environment, and then if they decide to grief, they actually have more risk involved because they are playing hardcore themselves. 

Less grieving equals to more fun gameplay and more appealing to quite literally everyone. Right now, playing on Classic Era, you have to deal with some people playing Hardcore, and some people not playing Hardcore, and it’s actually quite messy. 

For example, if you as a non-hardcore player want to do a somewhat difficult quest or kill a named mob, and you try to group up with a hardcore player do the same thing, that hardcore player is literally not allowed to group up with you, which might cause you to get annoyed at the hardcore player because you’re killing the same mobs and could have helped each other, and if you don’t know he’s doing the hardcore challenge, he looks like a complete jackass, so it’s quite messy.

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#3

It makes it a lot more convenient & easy to try out. Right now, in order to play Hardcore, you first need to find out which serves the hardcore community is playing on, then you need to download a Hardcore addon. But if we had official hardcore servers, you eliminate having to find out which server to play because they’re already public, and we wouldn’t need the hardcore addon. 

And by the way, the Hardcore Addon has over 200,000 installs, so once again there’s obviously a demand for this.

Why Blizzard Haven’t Implemented Official Hardcore Servers?

Now, let’s think about the idea of Official Hardcore Servers from an objective point of view, and think about why Blizzard hasn’t implemented them yet, if there is such an obvious demand? Actually, it’s all about money. 

Blizzard is a company, they like making money. When they came out with Classic WoW, they tried to keep it as similar to Vanilla WoW as possible, which they said was a “love letter to their community”. 

But I will bet you right now: They always had the intention of coming out with the level 58 boost and the TBC Deluxe Editions for TBC Classic. Classic WoW was just them earning your trust, for then to profit from that trust later on, they 100% thought that through before even beginning to work on Classic WoW. 

My Opinion

So, let’s continue to Hardcore Servers. Here’s how I see it: 

Everyone that is currently playing Classic Hardcore, is playing on Classic Era. 99% of people that know what Classic Hardcore is, are currently playing on Classic Era. In essence, what this means is that 99% of people that would play on Official Hardcore Servers are already playing the game and are already giving Blizzard their monthly subscription revenue. 

Blizzard needs a financial incentive to make Official Hardcore Servers, and to be honest, I simply don’t think it is quite there yet. For the people that know about Classic Hardcore, it’s a fantastic idea, but then again, most of us are already paying & playing on Classic Era, why would Blizzard spend their time & resources on implementing new types of servers for us, when it’s obvious that we are still playing and having fun on the Classic Era Servers? 

In the long run, sure, it could bring more people back to Classic WoW by offering something new & fresh, and it has been successful for some other games in the past, but is the financial incentive really there right now? 

I really do think, and I’m not motivating anyone to do this, but I think in order to get Official Hardcore Servers anytime soon, we would quite literally have to organize a gamer strike or an era boycott to actually give Blizzard a financial incentive for these Hardcore Servers, because that way we are sending the message: “If you want our money, give us what we want”, while right now, we are giving them the money either way and begging them to pet us on the head and say “good boy”. 

Diving even deeper into the financial incentive hole, I can’t help but think: What would Official Hardcore Servers actually look like: Judging by how Classic WoW went, it started off great, really authentic & vanilla-like, at least in most ways, and then when the expansion came out, they capitalized by introducing boosts & deluxe editions. What if a potential Official Hardcore Server follows the same trend? 

They give us exactly what to ask for, in the beginning, but then they start adding random things to milk us for every penny we have, first we would get cosmetics which people would be somewhat okay with, then we would get mounts which again people would be somewhat okay with, but then imagine if they went the extra mile and offered Paid Resurrections? 

For Official Hardcore Servers, I want to say “Death = Delete”. But if you pay $50, you can resurrect your character and keep playing! Or maybe they would make like a Chronoboon Displacer item that costs $50 and allows you to travel 1 minute back in time. So if your character is ever about to die, you can use that item. Or, maybe they would introduce a Light of Elune type of item into the cash-shop, allowing anyone to bubble-hearth, essentially. 

This is just me speculating on how many ways Blizzard could potentially screw up these servers, but I really wanted to highlight the financial incentive aspect of this conversation, as it’s something that isn’t being talked about enough. As players, we care about having fun while playing the game. As a company, Blizzard cares about making money. When you want something to happen, you have to consider both these things.

As we get a little further into 2023, the more busy we’re going to be with RPGs. Last month had us flying upon hippogriff and broomstick in the magical world of Hogwarts Legacy, taking our top spot in February. This month, however, we are more into action titles with challenging souls like combat as well as turn-based gems to take on. This month we’re in for a hellishly good time. So, let’s get into the top RPGs of March 2023.

1. Honorable Mention: Diablo 4 (Open Beta)

It’s time to unleash hell. Diablo 4 won’t be releasing until June, but you can get a sneak peek of what live has in store for you this month. An early open beta will be held from March 17th until March 19th for those who have pre-purchased the game.

Then there’s an open beta for everyone else from March 24th until the 26th. The open beta contains the prologue and the whole of act one. This means players can explore the first area of Fractured Peaks. there will be some limitations though, so your character progress will only be able to go to level 25.

Once you cap, you can still go ahead and hunt down demons to your heart’s content, but you won’t be able to level more than this. The beta will include dungeons quests and, of course, plenty of loot.

In case you missed it, Diablo 4 is the next upcoming action JRPG in the series taking place many years after the events of Diablo 3. Sanctuary is slowly rebuilding, but all threats loom in the land itself.

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Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, is closing her grip on the inhabitants, leaving them in despair. Taking out the mantle of one of the five classes, players will hack and slash their way through dungeons, demons and more. Explore the world of Sanctuary upon horseback and even eventually take part in PVP.

While Lilith readies her army for June, you can join the beta this march on PC, Xbox series, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. If you are worrying about Diablo 4 Gold, or you want read more guides about this game, then take a look at IGGM.com.

2. The Legend Of Heroes: Trails To Azure

The Legend Of Heroes: Trails To Azure is the first official in the English version to be released on modern platforms. This JRPG entry is set just a few months after the events of the Trails from Zero, concerning the political complications of the Samurai content.

While Crossbell as well as the Special Support Section seem to be at peace now, it’s only a temporary situation. Tensions are rising between the Erebonian Empire and the Republic of Calvard.

Lloyd, the main character of the story and his group of rag-tag allies must prepare themselves for the trouble ahead by gearing up. This is the finale to the Crossbell arc within the Trail Universe.

In Trails of Physio, players will be introduced to new combat features, such as burst, back, attack and the use of a customizable car. There’ll be the return of a few familiar faces from the Trails of Cold Steel series. The Special Support Section will have new members and new duties to master in turn-based battles.

Players can also import their saved data from the previous title Trails from Zero to have an enhanced experience with further event scenes and new scenes to enjoy. Saving data from Trails of Azure will give bonuses for the upcoming game.

Trails into Reverie, which releases later this year. The Legend Of Heroes: Trails To Azure heads to PC, PlayStation 4 and Switch on March 14th for North America and March 17th like EU.

3. Mato Anomalies

Mata Anomalies is an anime inspired RPG set in a bygone city and a more neo-futuristic parallel world. Investigating anomalies is your call to the city as you follow dual protagonist Doe and Gram. Grouping up with some unlikely companions in order to unnerve the mysteries in the city of Mato as detective Doe and by traveling through roofs as Exorcist Gram.

The game lets players explore dual worlds with Rifts that provide portals beyond space and time, but jumping between these worlds won’t be easy as there are plenty of enemies to fight.

Players can take up different weapons, skills and use the dual-talent system to enhance their characters. The health system is also shared across or teammates, suppliers will need to keep an eye on bouncing risk and reward in turn-based combat.

Another interesting feature is the use of mind hacking, which uses cards instead of weapons. You strategize the best way to use action points and cards per turn, with both offensive and defensive cards to use.

If you like the idea of a persona-esque title with a more detective edge, then this could very well be likely up your alley. Mato Anomalies will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC on March 10th.

4. Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & The Secret Key

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & The Secret Key is the concluding part of a trilogy of games from the Japanese developer Gust.

The RPG follows Alchemist rise actually unlocks powerful keys that grant her advanced alchemical abilities. In the third and final installment, players will follow her adventure as she discovers the secret hideout, interacts with secret fairies and obtains ancient keys that influence her potent Alchemy.

Happy Island has been suddenly abruptly interrupted for Ryza and her friends on the kirkmen island. Seemingly out of nowhere, a new group of islands spring forth from the ocean. Instead of having extensive areas connected by pathways and loading screens found in previous titles, this one has an open world we explore. This will allow seamless exploration that will include no loading screens whatsoever.

Ryza can now run or ride through various areas without interruption. Freedom is the name of the game here and there will be tons to see. There are a total of four major regions in Atelier Ryza 3 and each will have its own distinct look and feel. Meet a total of 10 companions. You can choose from bringing the playable character, account up to 11, including Ryza herself.

This number in itself is a high point for the series as no other game has had a roster this large before. Combat involves real-time tactical battles with up to five members in the party. Using keys will help boost a character for a limited time, reducing waiting time and letting you use skills and other attacks one after the other.

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & The Secret Key will rise on March 24th to PC, Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

5. Bleak Faith: Forsaken

This one has been a while in the making. Finally getting its launch this month is a crowdfunded indie title, Bleak Faith: Forsaken.

It’s a mix of sci-fi with Dark Fantasy is an intriguing one for souls fans.

In Bleak Faith: Forsaken, players must tread through a relentless world referred to as the Omnistructure. This harsh Omniverse is filled with treacherous terrain and menacing monsters to prepare for an adventure full of intense combat and soaring boss battles.

Leap, run and climb through the apocalyptic ruins of what was once a plentiful land. Taking on the role of the last of humanity’s protectors, the Forsaken. Fighting to preserve the ancient remnants from their extinction.

But just how much of humanity is left to save? As you would expect from a soulslike. The combat will be challenging inspired by brutal combat systems. Its class and perk systems draw inspiration from the likes of the Dragon Age series. It blinks Bleak Faith: Forsaken. You aren’t alone in the Wasteland as creatures and adversaries or wait around every corner.

The enemies are what you’d expect from the game with a bleak in the title with a bloodborne-esque horror of kind of feel will with a Sci-Fi edge. Bleak Faith: Forsaken will be making its debut on PC on March 10thn. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are planned, but will come at a later date. This is a highly anticipated RPG not just for this month of March, but also for 2023.

6. Wo Long Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long Fallen Dynasty centers around the Three Kingdoms period of the later Han Dynasty. This period is fraught with power struggles and conflict, providing a fitting foundation for an intense combat game.

During inspiration not only from history but also fantasy, players will be battling against hordes of supernatural monsters that are plaguing the dynasty. Take on the role of a malicious soldier committed to fight the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The game, just like the developers’ previous franchise, Neo sets to have plenty of mythical and fantasy elements to it with some brutal sword slashing to get you excited.

Instead of a traditional character leveling system, the morale system will determine the character’s success in combat. Defeating more enemies will raise your ranks. Enemies with higher role rank will mean faster progression, making facing off against or challenging enemies much more rewarding.

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But you don’t have to go to loan as NPC characters will be recruitable and you can also play alongside friends and Co-op. Combat is set to be fast-paced using both Wizardry Spells and Martial Arts to engage in fights against enemies. The use of the spirit gauge determines when you can block or dodge, but spamming attacks will empty that gauge meaning keeping an eye on your moves in order to empower your Martial Arts.

There is a range of fantasy elements and action gameplay, which will be loved by both Neo and Ninja Gaiden fans. Wo Long Fallen Dynasty will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox series X and S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox game pass and PC on March 3rd. If you're looking for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty GQ, check out IGGM.com.