Blizzcon Interview with Classic Developers by Crix – WoW Classic

Crix’s Live Interview with Josh Greenfield & Nora Valletta BlizzCon WoW Classic What’s Next Panel Summary

Highlights

The interview covered all versions of WoW Classic, and as such we have divided the highlights into categories covering each game.

Wrath of the Lich King

• Overall, the team is happy with how Wrath Classic has played out, including the difficulty of the Icecrown Citadel raid.
• The Ruby Sanctum raid will release in early 2024.
• They are still working out the timing for when to introduce the ICC player buff.
• There are currently no plans for a Wrath Era server, but they are listening to player feedback.

Cataclysm

• The team is excited about the Cataclysm Dungeon difficulty and hope that it will challenge players.
• Patch cadence will be faster than when Cataclysm was originally released.
• There are no plans to change Raid lockouts from how they worked back in the day.
• They are looking at making the Raid loot system work similarly to how it worked in Naxxramas when new phases rolled out, perhaps make 25-man raids drop an extra item to motivate running with a bigger group.
• The Guild progression system is getting changes, to not only benefit mega Guilds but also feel rewarding for “Mom and Pop” Guilds.
• No planned changes to the Talent system.
• Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman will most likely be released as an in-between patch, rather than as a new phase itself.
• They are still discussing if LFR will be part of Cataclysm Classic or not. The team wants to listen to player feedback and not assume one way or another. They thought that no one wanted RDF for Wrath Classic, and don’t want to make a similar mistake again.
• “Never say never” regarding PvP Arena solo-queue, but currently no direct plans to implement it.

Hardcore

• Self Found Mode will be played on the same servers as we are currently playing on.
• There will be a choice at Character Creation to either play Self Found or not.
• You will be able to turn off Self Found Mode whenever you want, but will not be able to then turn it back on.
• If you make it to level 60 in Self Found Mode you will get a Buff Badge, similarly to how you got a Buff Badge if you reached level 60 without dying in Season of Mastery.
• Currently no plans for a fresh Hardcore server.

Season of Discovery

• The idea for Class Runes was a group effort, a lot of brainstorming was put into the system.
• Phase 1 of SoD will have 12 Runes per class, future phases will introduce more.
• Runes will be bound to the item slot they are currently in. Glove Runes will only work on Gloves.
• Discoveries will be very varied. Some will be simple quests, others will simply be found out in the world, and some will be more intricate with clues and “quest chains”.
• There will be hundreds of Discoveries, because each Rune needs to be able to be found no matter which continent or starting zone you are in. The same Rune might not be Discovered in the same way for a Gnome Mage compared to an Undead Mage.
• Runes are Soulbound, and will be usable items that teach you the Rune when used.
• Some Classes might have the same Discovery but get different Runes. Two Healers might solve the same puzzle, but receive different rewards.
• The leveling speed from 1-25 will remain unchanged.
• All tanks will be competitive, including Warlock, Shaman and Rogue. They will excel at different things, but all will be able to Main Tank.
• Mobs in the Outdoor World will have increased Damage, so that you will still have to think about how many mobs you engage at once.
• They are expecting to make some changes to level 60 Raids, but it is still too soon to say what those changes would be.
• Phases will be rolled out on a “longer than a month, shorter than a few months” cadence. They are keeping it purposefully vague to be able to gauge the timing based on the playerbase’s opinions.
• Not all new Dungeons-turned-Raids will necessarily be 10-man. They are still playing around with different ideas.
• Warsong Gulch will be available at launch.
• The Honor system will be on, but capped to not go beyond level 25 rewards.

Crix’s Live Interview with Josh Greenfield & Nora Valletta