"Is nobody else playing it?" - Asmongold tries Self-Found mode on WoW Classic Hardcore, left surprised to see the server empty

Zack “Asmongold” decided to try out the new Self-Found mode in WoW Classic Hardcore, only to find a shocking, unfortunate discovery. Upon making his new character, he found almost nobody in the human starting zone except for two or three people. This is peculiar, as the Alliance side of Classic Hardcore was bustling just a few months ago.

Many think Blizzard simply added the feature at a weird time or that the game mode is dead. Asmongold wandered around on the Classic Hardcore server and revealed that there were, as he said, “dozens” of people playing:

“So where’s everybody else? Is nobody else playing it?”

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WoW Classic Hardcore servers appear to be empty when Asmongold logs in to play

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Asmongold, a well-known World of Warcraft streamer, learned on Thursday that Solo Self-Found (or Self-Found) mode was added to WoW Classic Hardcore. This is a more complex, challenging way to play Hardcore that forbids players from using anything in the game other than what they find. When he tried playing this mode, it had only been out for one hour.

After reading the rules of Solo Self-Found and finding out you can opt out of the challenge mode at any time, he rolled a character and was surprised to see nobody hanging out in the Human starting area of WoW Classic:

“So where’s everybody else? Is nobody else playing it? Where is everybody?”

Zack ran from the beginning of the Human starting area all the way to Goldshire at level 1, just to see if anyone could be found in the first settlement that Human Alliance players get to in WoW Classic. As he ran, he read comments from his chat saying people were playing Elden Ring or “AAAA games” and didn’t have time for this. The OTK co-founder did come across a familiar face, though:

“Oh, this is the guy that I leveled with! He helped me level a lot! He’s still around! He hasn’t died yet!”

The WoW player that Asmongold spoke to said that the mode is dead, thanks to association with TinyViolin, a WoW Classic Hardcore player who allegedly caused nearly an entire Hardcore Raid group to die. The Twitch streamer found it disappointing to not even see people logging in at level 1. He did give his audience an update on WoW Classic Hardcore:

“Well guys, big update, crazy update. Tons of people, there are, I would say, you could maybe even say dozens of people that are playing this game right now. That’s a lot, guys.”

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Fans react to lack of playerbase for WoW Classic Hardcore at launch of new mode

Some fans have their opinions on why Hardcore fell off and stopped being played (Image via YouTube)

There are several thoughts on why people are not playing the mode. Some highlighted that “Self-found” turns off at level cap, so anyone can claim they did it, as there are no rewards for using the mode. Others suggested this works better in RuneScape.

Others in Asmongold's community thought it was because WoW Classic SoD is just better (Image via YouTube)

Conversely, it could be that WoW Classic Season of Discovery is just that much more popular. Some commenters on Asmongold’s channel talked about how big that is right now, thanks to Season of Discovery Phase 2.

Some commenters felt it was because streamers could not leech off of their communities with this new game mode (Image via YouTube)

Another person said it’s because streamers aren’t playing Hardcore, primarily. Adding onto that, the Self-Found mode doesn’t let streamers use their community to help them level or acquire gear; some users think that’s why Classic Hardcore became less popular.

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There could be many reasons that WoW Classic Hardcore’s servers, much less the Solo Self-Found option, aren't being utilized right now. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth just launched, so many people are likely playing that instead. While many think that the game mode is now dead, there is hope that fans will come back and play soon.