Visual and Story Development
In the first interview, Lead Visual Development Artist Gabriel González and Associate Design Director Maria Hamilton discuss the nature of the Void and the dangers of the Light going unchecked.
The main story arch of The World Soul Saga hasn't changed since it went into early development. The team already knows the big beats, where they will happen, and how they will end.
Smaller details have changed. They've shifted a few things around, thinking a piece might be better suited in The War Within or saved for later. Pacing and content releases are something they consider, so they do make some changes as they go.
The storyboard teams often work pretty far ahead of other development teams, sometimes even years ahead of what players see.
Production is already in full swing for Midnight, and even begun pre-production for The Last Titan, so the team is constantly looking ahead!
Reimagining Silvermoon City
On the art side, capturing the uniqueness and identity of Silvermoon was a major challenge. Creating a character in Eversong Woods and making the trip to Silvermoon was one of their first gameplay experiences for many players, so it was important that the city still feel familiar. They've strived to keep iconic elements, while adding more on top.
If you look at the original map, a whole half of it was destroyed kind of like the (second) Death Star. In the new version of the city, that part becomes an Alliance-friendly section, though the original footprint and volume still remain.
The main goal was making it a more pathable city, easier to get around. Now that these areas have become folded into the Eastern Kingdoms and players can fly in them, that has also become a big part of the design.
The "Alliance-friendly" section of the city is not Alliance excusive, it's available to both. Conversely, the Horde-exclusive part will not allow Alliance inside, with the statement that going there is going to kill them.
That friction is a part of the story they want to show players. Alliance Paladins showing up to defend the Sunwell is all well and good, but they continue to hang around a place in which many think they don't belong. It's one thing to help, but another to act like you own the city; as time goes by, they become increasingly restless and the friction between those factions increases.
Not entirely sure how new Blood Elves will level after Midnight, though Maria suspects they'll go through a section of the new Eversong and Silvermoon City or use Zidormi to experience the existing leveling questlines.
(note: this is Maria Hamilton saying she isn't sure, it does not necessarily mean that other more appropriate gameplay teams don't already have the mechanics worked out)
In order to make flying possible, they had to reimagine the zone, make space to ensure the mountains made a gradual transition up into Zul'Aman, so it isn't as easy as just plopping the old quests into the new zone either, but Maria doesn't believe they're rebuilding the starting experience, so they're probably just using Zidormi to level up in the old zone and come back to see the new one later on.
Arator is one of the best representatives of the conflict between the light and the void. Torn and trying to understand his place in the world, he takes a bit of a spiritual journey, which players can join him on, in visiting places that the path his father and other notable Paladins took. He'll hear from friends of his father, and learn more about what his parents were like.
Representing the Void
When we think of the void, it tends to be the absence of things, so trying to make a space that feels chaotic and doesn't lend itself to any particular aesthetic is a challenge.
Xal'atath is our current representation of the void, and she manipulates things a bit differently from enemies of the past. The Jailer's story was all about domination and it was a big theme throughout that whole arc, and so the team wants to ensure similar themes are carried across void architecture.
One of the these with Xal'atath is the idea of leashing. Instead of seeking absolute control, Xal'alath is more about harnessing energy, creating a tether and directing it towards her goal.
The Voidstorm is a real big problem during Midnight. We don't know how to get to it yet, and figuring out how to travel there will be one of the challenges players will face. We have to fend off the storm, keep the Sunwell pure, then figure out how to reach that place in the sky. You can't just fly there.
Ultimately, Umbric and the Void Elves will help with this, creating an opportunity for Void Elf players to get to explore their story a little better. While they're in Voidstorm, Void Elves are going to be in their element, so they'll have a little extra something.
The light is an especially big visual element in the Haranir home zone, and it will even show us ways in which the light can be just as dangerous as the void when left unchecked. There needs to be a balance.
Harandar has existed for a really long time, and roots from all the world trees are twisted and twined together in that place. Without spoiling anything, it's a very special place, which is going to hold an immense amount of power.
The fact that the roots are there is very important, and the fact that the light has gained a foothold in that area, tilting the balance, is important to the story. We'll learn more about the Light Bloom and what happens when that doesn't go very well.
Another thing players can do is visit the Den of Echoes, a place where the Haranir have recorded their memories, including some events that happened quite a long time ago. Players will be able to experience that, and seeing them from that perspective should be very interesting to them.
Orwena will help us reach Harandar, by opening a path through the rootways. She hasn't done what the elders wanted though, so going home isn't necessarily going to be fun for her.
The Call of The Light
When the light answered Liadrin's prayer, a call went out to many, many people. We saw the Army of Light respond, but it has also been heard by players and many others, including some creatures you might not expect. There's at least one in particular which is pretty baffled to be there, and doesn't know quite what happened... but is still there.
The cinematic was meant to show just the first people coming through, but when players arrive at the start of the expansion, the very first thing they'll do is appear in the light and join that battle.
There'll be a lot of heroes and faces that you recognize, a huge fight going on, with people to save and different places to see.
Max Customization and Player Fantasy
There are a lot of existing props and objects already present in WoW, so the goal is maximum customization. Don't worry, there are a lot of brand new objects too.
Mix and matching colors or styles is also a big element, it's all about player fantasy.
Art Direction and Technical Design
In the second interview, Senior Technical Director Frank Kowalkowski and Senior Art Director Ely Cannon discussed bringing the world of Azeroth together.
Uniting the People of Azeroth
Amani culture has always had a distinct flavor, the fun part is blowing it up and brining bigger stories to fruition. It's been a long time since we've seen them, so there's a lot of new lore to discover. Creating an entire zone has given them a palate to do so.
Players are going to experience the Amani in different ways. At points they'll be enemies, at others they'll be allies... ultimately there's a theme emerging in World of Warcraft of bringing the people and entire world of Azeroth together - uniting against the greater enemy.
Voidstorm is a great opportunity to show contrast between the Light that we're familiar with, which is well represented in the bright enchanted forest of Eversong, and the deep darkness of the Void.
Players are going to see and feel the predatory cannibalistic nature of the void all around them, both in the creatures and environment itself. It's a zone with aggressive terrain, and quite an impressive sky.
Artistic Vision and Technical Direction
When developing an early vision for the expansion, art and narrative leaders are all working in the same room together to deifine the direction, so ideas come from both sides. A level designer might come up with an idea for a creatures and raid boss inside their zone, so it's a very collaborative and symbiotic process.
There are a lot of classic zones that the team would like to tell stories in, so they believe more zones will be reworked in the future.
Ely actually worked on the original version of Eversong Woods ~19 years ago, so seeing it reenvisioned with modern fidelity is pretty amazing.
Likewise, Silvermoon is going to be the city that Blood Elves have always wanted and deserved. It's going to have a lot of content and culture, with many interesting places to explore.
No answer on whether the Battle for the Sunwell will happen during pre-patch or full launch, but we are going to see many clashes between the powers of Light and the Void. Certainly involving the blood elves, and the Sunwell itself.
No new blood elf customization planned at the moment, but it's something the team is committed to exploring more as they go.
Adding a new specialization to Demon Hunters made a lot of sense, given that they only had two, and with the emergence of the Void, these new Demon Hunter stories fit well into the ongoing narrative. There's no saying that there won't be more new specializations coming at some point in the future, they just need the right opportunity.
Plunderstorm 1 and 2 were limited time offers, and the team is listening to player feedback, but doesn't have any plan to go back for a third time at the moment.
Years of Housing Development
Housing has been a major technical undertaking, but the real challenge is in the scale of it. They don't just want to give players a house, they want them to see each other's houses, walk through their neighborhoods. It required a solid vision from the design and art side, for engineers to then figure out what the player experience was going to be.
Housing is one of the longest features ever developed for World of Warcraft, and has been in development since well before The War Within. They had an idea of where they wanted to go with it for many years now, and they began to solidify the technical design sometime in Dragonflight.
Watching housing develop from a PowerPoint presentation into a series of steps and challenges for the engineering team, then seeing it take shape as the biggest feature in World of Warcraft history has been really exciting. They really set out to create a space where World of Warcraft isn't bound by anything other than player imagination.
