If anyone has an itch to play a semi-classic WOW server with being able to make a custom class, then the ascension private server is there.
I played on that server for a while and I dropped it for reasons that some here might identify with:
1) The "classless" server ends up being a server with four classes (hyperoptimized backstabber, Boomkin Mage with a ton of instants, Titan's Grip Guy and multi-DoT Shadowform; in PvP, every single build stacks up a ton of gap-closers as well, so you get one-shot all day, every day, shit looks like Dragon Ball Z) + one tank build + one healer build.
2) I realized that I enjoyed having the restriction and class fantasy of classes and went back to another, classic private server with 3.3.5a (as Ascension isn't "true" vanilla, it's just modded 3.3.5a, so Wrath).
My tank went through Molten Core and stars aligned for me in such a way that Thunderclap was supposed to be my primary tanking skill, as I received unique enchants pertaining to the skill.
Unbeknownst to me that Thunderclap is utterly bugged to give
no threat (in spite of the tooltip), I sank gold into enchanting the special Thunderclap enchants and talented for the spec and then my primary threat generation skill was... Innervate. Innervate ramped up your Threat Per Second to RIDICULOUS proportions to the point where my co-tank and I set up a simple system where I would Innervate someone in the raid, he would Taunt-swap to snap to #1 in aggro tables, Innervate someone else, I would taunt-swap and I'd be set up for the entire raid. This worked for most tank'n'spank bosses in the vanilla raids (we were locked at level 60, but with Wrath), but turned out to be a less lucrative proposition for raids such as Onyxia. I wasn't amused as the special enchants for items can be worth hundreds if not thousands of gold (farmed at vanilla rates...), respecs were expensive, dual-specs were
insanely expensive (no way I could just switch into a DPS spec to farm), and my primary skill was effectively
worthless.
Raids themselves have also been bugged to hell, most notable encounters being Lucifron, Executus and Ragnaros himself. Our guild was plenty optimized to deal with the beefed up encounters, but no one could predict erroneous, raid-ending behavior; Ragnaros once launched half the raid into a rock and they got stuck there, or the fire elementals on the ground would require you to fully reset the instance or they'd stay spawned and then barrel down on you.
It was also schizophrenic in the sense that, for example, it had a triple-or-so XP rate at the time, but you still had to deal with vanilla problems like mounts only available at level 40, even though we're playing on Wrath. None of that really mattered as it simply meant a near-mandatory skill tax on everyone having Travel Form. I wasn't sure what the point of this was as no one was fooled that we're having anything close to a vanilla experience.
On top of that, every Tank build is expected to sink a ton of points into a Voidwalker pet; there is no use for it as it's basically a dummy that carries your Soul Link (-10% damage reduction) and gives you a personal damage reduction buff. On the other hand, more cost-effective skills and talents like Aspect of the Monkey got nerfed into the ground. Between the tax imposed by certain skills and the amount of bugged skills, I didn't feel like I'm free to experiment after all.
It's a fun enough idea to screw around in, and I do admit that I didn't bother with the "high-risk" realm, but with the massive prices on Books of Ascension and the penny-pinching policy on most basic things like respecs, I figured out Ascension really isn't my cup of tea.
This guy's experiences line up with mine.
All of the above was roughly 2 years ago, and I can't say whether any of the grievances have been improved upon, but I won't come back and I would advise not getting
too invested in it. Just my 2 cents; the intent is nice and the concept interesting, but I can certainly say I would never do this again. I do hope you're having fun, deama!
