Blizzard just announced the next step for World of Warcraft: Classic (rather unsurprisingly). Later this year, it will make its way to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
Originally launched in 2008, Wrath of the Lich King brought with it numerous additions that put World of Warcraft firmly on the path of MMORPG it is today. These include the massive Northrend map; famous dungeons like Violet Hold and the elimination of Stratholme, as well as countless raids from the updated Naxxramas to Icecrown Citadel’s cold ending. It also adds features such as an achievement system, inscription classes, and the game’s first hero class: Death Knight.
Overall, the revival of Wrath of the Lich King in WoW Classic will mirror the version fans remember, albeit with a few changes. One of the biggest differences is the absence of the dungeon finder system, which was originally added to the game at the end of Wrath of the Lich King. According to Brian Birmingham, the head of WoW Classic, the decision to not add a dungeon finder at all was to preserve what the team believes is the spirit of the WoW Classic community.
“We know that classic audiences are more interested in long-term social events, and that feeling comes from reaching out to people, talking to them about how you’re going to be grouped, trying to coordinate, who’s going to play what role to go to dungeons together, trying to figure out how you’re going to be Arriving at the dungeon, who will be summoned, may encounter PVP battles along the way,” Birmingham said. “And then you finally get in there, and you have friends with you.”
Birmingham assured fans that the team is looking at improving the grouping tool already introduced in The Burning Crusade Classic, and tweaking it to help direct players to the appropriate chat channel where they can find other people to group with. They’re also considering some tweaks to the raid and lockout system, so players don’t have to run four versions of the same raid every week to optimize their characters.
In terms of smaller but still very meaningful changes, Blizzard will honor some of the tweaks made to game text and character descriptions to improve sensitivity and inclusivity. For example, a new human race ability originally added in the Lich King called “Everyone for Himself” will be called “Will to Survive” in the current version of World of Warcraft. The Barber Shop – another element added to Wrath of the Lich King – will cost in-game money instead of real money, and will include the ability to change the gender of the character.
“One of my things about the whole process is that it was really an exercise in listening to our team,” production director Patrick Dawson said of the changes. “and [we] Just listen to any feedback from all the devs making the game about things they might get noticed, not things they think we’re ok, or parts of. It’s great that we can act on things that feel like we’re not going to make that decision today. Let’s make sure we don’t release games with stuff we don’t do. “
World of Warcraft Classic Wrath of the Lich King Art and Screenshots
Another shift classic players might want to pay attention to is how Blizzard handled the transition from The Burning Crusade to the Lich King. When The Burning Crusade was first announced, Blizzard allowed players to choose whether to stay with the original World of Warcraft Classic or move to The Burning Crusade. While those who chose to stay in the original version will still be able to stay there, this time there will be no option to keep characters in the Burning Crusade expansion. Everyone who has joined the Burning Crusade must go to Wrath of the Lich King.
Fortunately, Dawson said that not many people in The Burning Crusade currently want to stay in that expansion.
“People wanted to experience certain eras of World of Warcraft in a meaningful progression style, and The Burning Crusade has done that,” he said. “I think there is an opportunity in the future to look at the different seasonal content we can offer to people who are looking [to] Revisit BC or… revisit Classic. It’s something we’ve been looking at to see what we can do. “
Wrath of the Lich King will be coming to World of Warcraft: Classic sometime in 2022. We also spoke with Dawson and Birmingham about the future of the classic and whether it will eventually move to Cataclysm. We spoke with the head of retail World of Warcraft about the upcoming new expansion, Dragonflight, and whether it will finally get a console port.
Activision Blizzard is currently facing Ongoing allegations of serious harassment and Abuse of marginalized workers. To learn more, please Visit our timetable and our In-depth report on the topic.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN.you can find her on twitter @duck lover.
