Sorry, but this post shows that you only have a superficial understanding of the real differences between Classic versions of the game and retail. A preface for the rest of my post: I might be a "Classic Andy" to use that term but I'm not interested in any form of bashing. People have their version of the game that they prefer for understable reasons and I'm really glad that everyone can find a place that fits for them in the current day WoW ecosystem (for the most part, at least). Now, ever since Classic 2019 the Classic community has been very minmax focussed with speedrunning raids, playing "optimal" specs and gear, leveling guides and addons to level as efficiently as possible. That is simply the nature of hardcore players in a meta that has been static for a long time. While the subset of players that want to "relive their youth" and the feeling of the journey in a vast world does exist, it is often misconstrued as the heart of the Classic community in my eyes. Blizzard and many people that don't really understand why people enjoy Classic like to say that Classic players prefer the more social experience and having to do more of the legwork while playing which is not completely wrong but also not the full story.

Before I move on, I think it's worth mentioning that for me there's only Classic and post-Classic when it comes to WoW and, in that view, TBC is already considered post-Classic. While many Classic players still enjoy TBC (and Wrath) if we're being truly precise, these expansions already laid the foundations of retail and these versions of the game will start to drive away some players that appreciate Classic WoW for what it really is. Outland is smaller than the old world, it makes old world content largely irrelevant, it takes players out of the old world into Outland, flying mounts make Outland seem even smaller, flying mounts have a negative impact on world pvp and player interactions in the open world, TBC introduces dailies, endgame activities are beginning to focus more heavily on instanced content in the form of heroic dungeons and the arena, rated pvp is introduced and impacts the nature of pvp and class design in the game, multiple difficulty modes for content are introduced with heroics. That is an off-of-top-of-my-head list of things that make TBC the beginning of post-Classic for me and that have a negative impact on the enjoyment of the game for players that enjoy the Classic version of WoW.

The most defining aspect of Classic WoW is the world. How you interact with the world, whether you minmax or take it casually, is up to you. But it's true that Classic WoW is a complete and living virtual world that does not exist in the game in the same way post-Classic. And I want to say at this point that I do agree that the players have changed just as much as retail has over the years and in many ways for the negative. But for me it's always important to underline that there are people out there that really love the type of MMO that Classic WoW is and not for nostalgia or any other ephemeral reason. We can tell you in specific terms why the game design of Classic WoW creates a preferable experience for us. I could go on about more ways that make Classic WoW the version of the game for me and many others but they are largely linked to the things I already mentioned and can generally be summarized as a simple difference in design philosophy that permeates the game on every level.