With the Classic WoW set to come to an end in just a few short months, Blizzard has been giving away a few details about what we can expect in The Burning Crusade. Some of these details have been causing a storm among WoW players, and one such issue is the level 58 boosts.

What is the Level 58 Boost?

When Blizzard released Classic WoW, they said, “character boosts are not in keeping with Classic”. This essentially meant that they wouldn’t be offering level boosts because they weren’t available in the original game, and they felt it would give some players an unfair advantage in the Classic universe. However, when it comes to TBC, it seems they’ve changed their mind. At BlizzConline, the online BlizzCon event that took place in February 2021, Blizzard announced that players would be able to pay to boost their characters to level 58 once TBC is launched.

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But why did Blizzard change do a 180 on this issue? Because they want returning players to be able to jump into the TBC action and get straight to playing the new expansion with their friends. They likely considered the alternative and figured that starting at level 1 or picking up where they stopped playing in Classic WoW would be too big a deterrent for some players.

There are some limitations on the level 58 boost:

• Players can only purchase one level boost per account.
• Players can’t boost the two new races in the game, Blood Elf and Draenei.
• Characters that remain on Classic WoW servers cannot be boosted (it’s a TBC-only boost).

If you want to boost your character but these limitations are standing in your way, there are other options. For example, if you wanted to boost a Blood Elf character, you can buy Classic WoW boosting services online. Likewise, you can pay to have your WoW characters boosted now in Classic WoW in preparation for TBC.

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It’s not clear yet how much an official WoW level boost will cost in the WoW client, but we can make an educated guess. In Shadowlands, the character boost costs $60, so Blizzard will likely go with a similar price for Classic TBC.

Why Do Some People Think it Will Destroy the Game?

• Bots: Classic WoW already has a botting problem, and some players worry that allowing paid level boosts will further exacerbate this problem.
• It could damage the economy: If bots flood to TBC to farm gold, this could massively inflate the price of gold and destroy the economy.
• Unnecessary: Leveling through Classic zones is 33% faster in TBC, so players should just level.

Counter Arguments

Any strong argument has a counterargument, and this issue is no different.

• Botters will always find a way: Botters have always existed in WoW, and level boost or not, they’ll still be there. Is it unfair to take level boosts away from good players just to deter bots?
• Boosting already happens: Mage boosting has been a huge part of Classic WoW since it launched in 2019. Some players barely played the game and instead just paid Mages to boost them through dungeons all day until they hit max level. The truth is, not everyone enjoys Classic WoW leveling, and there will always be a market for getting these players to the top efficiently and with minimal effort on the player’s part.
• It’s unlikely to have a huge impact on the economy: Many of the changes in TBC have the potential to shape the economy, and level 58 boosts are just one. WoW Gold is easier to come by in TBC than it was in Classic anyway.
• The real content is at max level: Most people play WoW for the end game, and when TBC comes out, the Classic content becomes largely irrelevant.

Why Do Some People Like the Boost?

This one isn’t hard to figure out. A lot of players are happy about the level 58 boost because it’s going to save them a bunch of time. If it happens that for some people Level 58 boost isn’t enough, they can visit sites for an additional WoW Classic boosting and get even more advantage, but again, it’s a service and it can cost. A huge proportion of Classic WoW’s player base is gamers in their mid-20s to mid-30s. These are people who played the game back when it first came out and want to relive the adventure. However, 15 years on, their lives look a lot different. Instead of racing home after school to play WoW into the early hours of the morning, they’re returning from busy days at work. They might have kids, stressful jobs, or other responsibilities that mean playing WoW for 5+ hours a day just isn’t feasible. They want to play WoW casually but still progress, and the level boost allows them to do this.