Game Informer Website
Game Informer interviewed:
Tim Jones (Lead Game Designer)
Nora Mills (Lead Software Engineer)
We've summarized the interview below, but you can view the original piece on Game Informer's website or on their YouTube channel.
Interview Summary
WoW: Forever
WoW: Forever is a promise to players that they are building a game based on the Vanilla world.
They are capping players at level 60 and are not going to Outland. Timeline-wise, the game takes place between Warcraft III and The Burning Crusade.
They're starting in a place where Molten Core hasn't even opened.
There are major lore characters that are still alive: Arthas is still up in Northrend, and Illidan is still in Outland, but there are still so many places to explore.
They can create content for a point in time that no one has experienced before. Hyjal was a zone in Cataclysm, but players haven't visited it since the events in Warcraft III.
They're expanding into places where players haven't been before.
The Riverglades is new, but it fits so well into the Vanilla world. It feels like it could have been there the entire time.
They want players to feel safe putting their time into these characters.
New Content
It's a learning experience to design for a Vanilla-style game.
People had different software back in 2004 and some of that software isn't even supported anymore.
They had to take a look at the way things were handled previously and find a new way to recapture them so that the items and weapons feel like they've always been in Classic.
They want to recreate how players remember things were, not to directly recreate how it actually was.
New Gear
A lot of people consider Classic to be a solved game, so they want to mix things up.
They've looked at itemization in the same way that they've brought classes to become more viable.
There are new affixes on items and trinkets that only activate in certain biomes or against enemies.
They want people to think about how to build their character and experience the world.
Level 60
The beauty of having a permanent level 60 cap is that players can approach the game in different ways.
Some players will want to level fast and some players will want to experience the raid content first. They want to support this type of playstyle.
With the level cap never moving, you can take the game at your own pace.
If you only have 30 minutes, then you can log in, look at your quest log, complete a couple, and do some professions.
One of the core pillars is Journey before destination.
They created the Hall of Thanes, a sister dungeon to Ragefire Chasm. This is a level 13-18 dungeon for Alliance.
Leveling
The Legacy system is a cumulative account progression that helps you level alts.
It helps incentivize players wanting to play alts.
But it's not a rush, and players should take their time through the experience.
Camping
The campfire buffs are tied to professions.
Campfires can support objects that are crafted by other professions
You're going to need to sit down to get these buffs, and the hope is that in these moments, you can maybe find someone who is on the same quest as you.
Social
When you're on a long flight path, you might answer a question in general chat or talk to your guild.
If you look at running to a dungeon or being on a long flight path at face value, it's tempting to want to do something about it, but Blizzard sees it as an opportunity for players to slow down a bit and decide if they want to engage with other players.
Factions
There's a restriction where players have to pick one faction on PvP rulesets.
You can make opposing factions on other rulesets.
Addons
Addons are supported, and there will be parity between mainline and Forever.
They want to stray away from addons having too much power and control over players' experiences.
Skyborne Elves
The hope is that players can see what they are getting for a sub at launch is their attitude towards players.
You may not have access to the Skyborne, but you have 9 new dungeons, 1,000 new quests, and brand new zones for the same subscription price.
There are more raids, dungeons, and questing content coming to the game for the base subscription.
The Future
There's expected new content, such as Mount Hyjal and Gilneas.
They're also looking at things that surprise players, such as exploring new places like The Riverglades.
As they add new content, they're going to continue to look at all the different levels and maybe deicde to add a new dungeon to an underrepresented dungeon bracket.
They want to create new content for every level in Forever.
There's a lot of room to explore bite-sized stories, rather than big world-ending threats.
