It was leaked yesterday, but Blizzard has now made it official: a retro version of the World War F and Warcraft classic, the giant game online game, will be expanded to include the first expansion of the Burning Crusade this year.
That means an increased level cap of 70 (classic players will actually compare players on the modern game, whose hat is 60); Trippy by Dark Portal, an inter-dimensional adventure for the broken world of Outland; Add Blood Elf and Drainage Race; Arena player-versus-player, flying mounts and more.
As before, World War II Craft: Burning Crusade Classic (it has been dropped from “The” for some reason) will be included free of charge. Players whose dedication is actually to the original version of the game will not be forced to upgrade; You can choose whether to progress your character on the Burning Crusade extension with the rest of your server, or move to a server that will last forever on the current version of the game – which I think we’ll have to call the vanilla classic now. Original Classic. Classic? (Blizzard calls them classic Era servers.)
Serving the retro community as it splits into camps that want to experience the game as it was in a different era is potentially a minefield, but Blizzard doesn’t seem to have thought through all those options. Lead producer Holly Longdale and production director Patrick Donson told me at Zoom that players who don’t want to choose between two versions of the game will be paid to clone their character into classic Era and Burning Crusade servers. Furthermore, diehard burning crusade fans who don’t play classic and can’t cope with the long grind until the level requirement for expansion can pay to accelerate to level 58. This option is only one-time, because “” we don’t want to underestimate the achievements of people who have worked very hard to prepare their characters in the classic, “DD said.
Snowfall now simultaneously retains three versions of its flagship MMO; Potentially more, if this model continues until the subsequent WW expansion. While that may sound like a headache, the classic community is clearly large for its worthwhile endeavors – Bobby Cotick, CEO of Action Blizzard, has allowed the classic about the impact it has had on WW subscription numbers. “Yes, running multiple products in this environment is more complex,” Donson said. “But we have a world class lab operations operation team that is ready for this challenge. When we go from one mega game to two mega games. [launched WOW Classic] It was also a big change for the group. So the good news is, we’ve done it before, we know what it’s like to add a new game to the World War II craft craft. “
Like the Wow Classic, the original game content will be phased out over time so that the raiding community can look forward to opening Black Temple, Zul’aman and Sunwell next year or so. But methodically, the Burning Crusade classic will actually start from the final point of expansion. “Our initial sample is that final patch,” Dodson said. “It’s all about class capabilities, class balance and what exists for the final version of the Burning Crusade … and then we’ll move on and see what else makes sense to change that.”
Oh yes New changes. The original Blizzard adopted a purist approach and made very few changes to the game as it was for the Wow Classic, but that approach evolved as the team listened to the player’s response. “As a team, we’re calling this … I’m hesitant to say this, but I’m still … we’re calling it #Moments“Longdale laughed. It turned out that the players wanted the game to be like that – even better.
Longdale gave examples of some of the changes that will be made to the Burning Crusade classic. Spell Batching, a delay in the process of working around the limits of server hardware in the mid-2000s, was emulated in the Wow Classic, but will now be drawn into the gameplay for a “more reactive” feel. In the Burning Crusade, the Seal Blood f Blood, known as more powerful than the capacity given to Horde Palladins and equivalent to the Alliance capacity, is also being given to the Alliance Palladins. Blood Elf and Drainage races will be unlocked before the Dark Portal opens, giving players a chance to level up new characters.
Most controversially, perhaps, the team is opting for a “pre-enf raid approach.” In the classic, the players got versions of the boss behind the raid, which Dawson said was “in the case of a fight like Sitoon, which proved to be mathematically impossible.” With the Burning Crusade classic, however, the community will have the opportunity to test themselves against the boss in their horrific pre-unfinished forms. “We take a look at that raiding community and they’re extremely vibrant, they’re extremely talented raiders, and they know more today than they did 15 years ago.” “So we want to give them a pre-enrolled version of those fights.” (Well, most likely. There will be some poor game design choices left, like spell pushbacks on the original version of Muru from Sunwell Plateau, but “those hit points ENRF and Damage NORF in which we’ve met for a few weeks – let’s not do it right away.” Said, with a twinkle of mischief in his eye.)
The Wow Classic team has learned that returning the game to its original state at the beginning of time is not what the community wants – and does not take into account how things have progressed. “Like, when the Burning Crusade was first released, you had the beginnings of YouTube, right? It was a very different world – community sites, guilds aren’t as discreet and strong as they are today.” Said Dawson. “The game it created for the community holds up surprisingly well today, which is wonderful to watch. But the way people connect with it is a little different. And that’s fine. But that’s partly why we want it. Let’s make some of these changes to say, hey, let’s serve the needs of today’s community, but we’ll keep the same thing, with the feeling that people are back in 2007. “
Nostalgia is a powerful force, and memory is subjective. One of the bizarre problems facing the team is that the players’ memories of the game – even their own team of development – can be a little different from the facts. (“A lot,” interrupts Longdale.) Should it be remade like a game, or do players remember it?
“The one thing we always keep for both the classic and the burning crusade is a reference customer, so we’ll really go back and see how things really were.” “With the classic, people will bring things up and we’ll take a deep dive and be like, ‘Hey, this is just how it works.’ And they’re like, ‘Okay, but I don’t remember it’ … with the Burning Crusade, instead of just answering us ‘this is how it was’, the question is, well, what do you think it should be “and we Let’s listen. Because ultimately, we’re creating a game for people who want to play it. “
“Our goal is to bring the best experience in the number of the best players possible, however, you know, I don’t like it so much when the belly was arranged in PVP and I was constantly beaten,” Longdale said with a laugh. “It’s about keeping the spirit of the Burning Crusade and the classic, given our memorable experience. But we want to make sure that the largest number of people in the community stay as happy as possible.”
