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November is going to be a very special month for World of Warcraft fans, because World of Warcraft: Forever is nearing its launch. The amount of content players saw in the beta surprised many. Now, a Blizzard official has revealed that the project wasn’t initially this big. In an interview with PC Gamer Clay Stone (Associate Production Director) revealed that the team’s initial plan was to add just four new dungeons, which gradually grew to become much larger.
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The journey from “just four dungeons” to nine
According to Clay Stone, the initial pitch within the company was to create four new dungeons. As enthusiasm grew, the number was increased to six, and then quickly reached nine. He explained that a version of WoW: Forever could have been created that would have essentially been vanilla (the old classic WoW), with minor changes to the classes. For example, give the Paladin a Taunt and be done with it, that would have been “Classic Plus.”
But the Blizzard team and the entire company grew increasingly hungry to deliver something bigger. Stone says the scope of what was to come at launch expanded over time.
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From #NoChanges to Experiments
Stone explained that the entire journey has been a gradual evolution. The initial Classic release was designed with the mindset of “#NoChanges,” meaning no changes to the game.Mists of Pandaria Classic And Wrath of the Lich King Classic Minor changes, but the real turning point came when Blizzard Hardcore And Season of Discovery Like experiments.
According to Stone, these two experiments proved to be excellent testing grounds for the team. They revealed what players felt fit into the Classic experience and what didn’t, how classes could work, and how to create new content within the vanilla era.
Season of Discovery changed direction
According to Stone, the success of Season of Discovery surprised the team. It came out in November 2023, and the response from players was immediate and overwhelming. That’s when discussions began about a version that wouldn’t be presented to players as a “season.” This is where WoW: Forever was born.
Beta showed his strength
Harvey Randall, who played the beta, says he’s impressed by the layers added to the classic world. The new quests and dungeons are designed to seamlessly blend into the old-school gameplay. In his words, it’s like a fantastic Magic, and he’s excited to play it in full in November.
Stone also admitted that the team was very satisfied with the beta launch last month. Many players were probably expecting a much smaller announcement, but judging by the response, it seems Blizzard has exceeded many expectations.
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More information that has emerged so far
Related articles from PC Gamer reveal a few more things. Major developments at BlizzCon included the absence of separate realms, optional transmog, and significantly improved items. Another report suggests that the developers have stated that a direct sequel like Guild Wars 2 is currently difficult to make, as they argue that why throw out everything already built and start from scratch? Similarly, some of Season of Discovery’s quirky class designs, such as the Shaman tank, won’t be making their way to Forever, but the developers did hint at a “never say never” approach.
What does this story mean?
One thing is clear from this entire conversation: Blizzard doesn’t want to simply replicate classic WoW, but rather advance it, while keeping the passion of longtime players in mind. The transition from four dungeons to nine dungeons shows that the team’s enthusiasm for the project has grown.
Now it remains to be seen if the game lives up to expectations when it finally arrives in everyone’s hands in November. So far, feedback from the beta is encouraging, and this news is a welcome relief for fans of classic WoW.
