Sodapoppin explains how being a “boomer” made him quit WoW Classic

Twitch star Chance ‘Sodapoppin’ Morris has revealed why he hasn’t returned to World of Warcraft since December, despite being such a big fan of the MMORPG’s Classic release that he took two months off streaming to grind it non-stop.

Before Blizzard dropped the long-awaited WoW Classic release, Sodapoppin was dubious that it would be a hit, but once the nostalgic title launched on August 26, the Twitch star became enamored with the MMORPG.

His love of the game even led to him taking a two-month hiatus from streaming to grind for the hallowed WoW Rank 14. When he returned to full-time broadcasting, however, he never again set foot in Blizzard’s huge fantasy world.

According to the variety streamer, his grind for Rank 14—the highest rank you can achieve in WoW, managed only by months of daily playing—made him realize he “wasn’t cut out” for the MMORPG’s competitive life.

• Read more: Sodapoppin mocks viewer’s ridiculous appeal to be unbanned

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Blizzard’s immersive world, and the possibilities that lie within. In fact, he enjoyed the hundreds of hours he sunk into WoW Classic since launch. It was more just down to the fact he “couldn’t keep up.”

After one of his viewers asked him “What happened to Classic WoW?” during his February 18 broadcast, Sodapoppin knew it was time to explain why his fans hadn’t seen him loading back into Azeroth since his return.

“I was a [weapon] at that game, I took two months off of streaming to play it off-stream,” he replied. “Honestly, man, here’s what happened though. I played Classic World of Warcraft, and I realized I wasn’t very good at the game.”

That realization, the Twitch star admitted, slammed the breaks on any personal hype he had for the title, as well as his Rank 14 grind, and after taking some time to think about whether he really wanted to play, he shelved WoW for good.

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“I’m 32 years old, I’m a boomer in a zoomer world, and I just can’t keep up with these kids. Their reaction time is outrageous. I learned my place very quickly, that I cannot function in the competitive gaming industry,” he continued.

Ever the dry-witted critic, Soda also made sure to salt a little bit of humor into his World of Warcraft revelation. He’s been playing plenty of The Isle, a dinosaur game where you enter the world of prehistoric beasts, and he felt that reflected his new path well.

• Read more: Limit defeat N’Zoth to claim WoW Race to World First title

“So here I am, back on the stream, ready to play as a dinosaur, old and extinct like me soon, just trying to fit in with my people. That’s what happened to Classic WoW,” he explained in a deadpan voice, before breaking into a smile.

Considering Soda had invested more than 1,400 hours into the MMORPG—basically 25% of his stream’s overall content according to TwitchTracker—it must have been a major decision for him to call time on his Azeroth career.

It seems to have been the right choice for him, however, as he made his triumphant return to the world of live gaming in January without a major dip in viewers.

• Read more: Sodapoppin roasts WoW players who ignore real life for the game

Just because Soda has handed in the keys to the WoW kingdom too doesn’t mean other players haven’t been more immersed than ever, especially after Blizzard unlocked the next major Battle for Azeroth raid: Ny’alotha.

After a series of dev-caused restarts, and some mishaps with the final boss that caused raid guild Complexity to slam Blizzard for “meddling” in the challenge, the North American team finally lifted the World First title on February 6.