Inspiration for Fun
Decor Duels were the result of a big brainstorming session between the team, with the intent to build something fun for players regardless of how much support for the idea already exists in game. The idea of Decor Duels was really popular, and it fits well into the new housing feature as well as Silvermoon being a central hub for magic within the world.
This is an experiment for the team, leveraging systems in ways that they weren't originally intended for. When building an entirely new feature like this, it can be tough to know where to stop, and the team had so many good ideas over the course of their playtest that. It's hard to say no to a really cool idea, but at some point they have to stop and actually finish the feature or else it might not make it into the patch!
Playtesting & Design
The very first playtest wasn't actually in Silvermoon, it was at Sentinel Hill in Westfall, because it features a lot of houses to hide in. The need to spawn in a lot of props and the desire to have a more circular route that still allowed blocking visibility led them to try several more maps, but they ended up settling on Silvermoon because it's lore relevant and familiar to players right now. During the game, hiders use illusions and seekers dispel them, so the magical theme of Silvermoon really ended up making sense.
There's also some story behind decor duels. The three main NCPs discovered an ancient object and in their research determined it was an old game played long ago, which they've decided to share with the world.
Classes are such an inherent feature in WoW, the team felt that it was essential to incorporate them into the gameplay. Players have gotten very used to having diverse toolkits and agency in choosing how to play, so they wanted to extend that into this new game mode. It also just creates more variety, which helps things from getting repetitive or stale.
Speaking of classes, Spellbreaker fits the Silvermoon city guards and has a cool ability to leap as a gap closer to catch hiders. Arcane Ranger has ranged abilities and being able to stealth is very powerful in this game mode. They don't think there will be a distinct meta though, all of the classes are very fun to play and create more diverse matches - they really wanted to ensure that players aren't all just selecting the same kit all the time.
Right now they're focused on the Silvermoon location, but they really like the idea of allowing players to take the game outside of the city and create custom maps within their player houses.
New Player Onboarding
Approachability is something the team has really strived for, they want players to b e able to jump in and play without spending too much time trying to figure things out. They want to guide players without feeling like they're trudging through tutorials to get to the fun, so it's a tough balance, but they believe they've done pretty well with the Decor Duels.
The developers haven't given an end date for this event yet, because they haven't decided yet. The live team is taking a new approach, and waiting to see what players think about it before deciding where it should go next.
Duels are matchmade, but hopefully the queues should be pretty quick. It's meant to be quick, casual, frantic fun; each round only lasts about 3 minutes and there's no roll queue or composition requirement, so players should be able to get in and out very quickly.
For now, the game only supports queueing with one premade team, but they love the idea of letting players setup dedicated matches against specific teams, thinking it would make a great post-raid night activity.
Rewards for Everyone
The winning team received slightly more currency, but it's not weighted too heavily. Players should be rewarded just for participating, and shouldn't feel penalized for going outside their comfort zone to try something silly and new. Just playing matches should earn plenty of currency to acquire all of the the desired rewards.
There's no penalty for losing either. They built this game mode for fun, and it allows more creative license to try crazy ideas.
Favorite Moments
As the last Hider in his match, Jerry recalls having seekers coming towards him from both sides, hands off the keyboard, holding his breath to prevent accidental movement as the seekers walked right past him. There's a real thrill to watching the seekers miss their dispel by an inch and end up running right past you!
Some of Patrick's playtests have gotten pretty heated moments, yelling at teammates to catch the cake before it gets away or how much they hate that chair. It's cool and kind of surreal to think that this is his job.
There were plenty of bugs, including literal ones. If you stand still too long as prop, your disguised object will start attracting flies or bees, but early on they had forgotten to put a cap on the number that would spawn in around you. Returning from a lunch break to find their character absolutely swarmed with bugs was pretty funny, but not as funny as the servers straining under the unexpected load.
During one of the playtests, a designer was sharing their screen to explain the process to coworkers getting their first hands-on, except he forgot to turn it off before starting the actual match, leading to a lot of confusion over whether they'd made the activity way too easy.
Hider is the sillier side of the game mode, but each match has everyone playing as both hider and seeker, so players get to enjoy both.
Tips and Tricks
Know your kit and don't miss your jumps
Hider's have traps that can be used both offensively and defensively, making them very powerful tools. There are power-ups around the map which allows players to recharge their traps or switch them mid-match, so make sure you're using them to your advantage and not waiting till the last minute - once you're tagged, it's too late!
Try different kits too. Just because someone thinks one is OP, they're all so powerful, different, and fun, you may find one resonates with you more than another.
Please let the developers know what you think, whether through social media, content creation, or the forums. They really want to make Decor Duels an exciting feature, and hopefully the first of many future kooky game modes to come over the next few years of WoW!
