Tl: dr; If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend you to include the choice of music in your preparations for the launch of Classic. Extensive grinding paired with a limited choice of music can condition your brain to relax in response to listening to a song you've associated with being happy. This can give you a powerful tool in your life to fight stress whenever you need it.

This is the story of a lucky coincidence. I'd like to share it because I see many people going to great lengths with their preparations for the upcoming launch of Classic. I plan to do the same. I've read all the guides that I could find, continue to work on my personal route and intend to spend the time left until release with some more test runs. However, I'm also spending a considerable amount of time putting together a playlist of songs that I will be listening to. Why?

When Vanilla was released I was fresh out ouf school and had all the time in the world to play, which I did. My setup back then consisted of a laptop that barely managed the game and a stereo that could play 5 CDs on repeat. Those five CDs were various editions of the "Bar Lounge Classics" series. They were long albums each, and going through the full playlist took hours. It was basically nice background noise, so I kept it running.

Days passed. Weeks. Months. Years, eventually. I never really got tired of the music, both because it wasn't too present and it was varied enough to not feel repetitive. I listen to all kinds of music otherwise, but if I make a deliberate choice to listen to music I can't do something else and ignore it. So I ended up listening to the same selection of music over and over and over again while happily farming away. Raid preparation, Winterspring Frostsaber, PvP

Rank grind, Reputations (all before the end of BC). You name it - I've done it. Eventually I decided to stop playing (honestly, right before it could fuck up my studies completely) and moved on with my life.

A few months later I ended up having drinks at a random lounge bar. I recognized the song in the background immediately and spaced out to the Hinterlands, but didn't get the memo. Some time later the same thing happens in a coffee shop, this time I'm in Winterspring. Then late at night at a house party. Silithus. I start to wonder. Eventually, years later, youtube's algorithm points me back to the same songs while I'm at work. And I shit you not, that moment changed my life forever.

I finally realized what's happening. When this reaction was triggered earlier I was already in places where I was supposed to be relaxed, so I couldn't notice the difference. But now I'm in the middle of a steaming pile of garbage and for some reason I'm still happy. I'm focused. I'm calm. I'm in my comfort zone. Even though there's shit happening all around me I'm now back where I used to belong. I know this place. This is home. And it's the music!

I know this sounds a bit weird, but playing Vanilla extensively in the way that I did conditioned my brain to immediately relax as a result of listening to certain songs. It's an incredibly powerful ability. I can literally flip a switch (listen to one of the songs) and I'm calm and focused for hours. Since then I've used this gift to deal with stress when I needed to, push my own limits (do not challenge me to a late-night crunch session at the office) and get things done in general. It got me through the end of my studies, my early working years, and a PhD. Without exaggeration, I can work in the middle of a construction site and not give a shit if I'm listening to this playlist.

Under the right circumstances, grinding in Classic can have the same long-term effects as extensive meditation. Don't miss this opportunity if you have a lot of stress in your life. It can also soften mood swings and help you through negative phases. It takes very little to make this possible and could save your life many years later, just as it saved mine.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it helped someone.

Edit: I thought it was self-evident from my post, but maybe I should clarify this. The effect that playing the game had on me helped me to repair damage that was done by playing the game in the first place of W0W classic gold. Excessive grinding is not a healthy activity and has serious negative side effects, mostly in the form of missed opportunities to learn something. A repetitive life doesn't make you grow, it just makes you older.