Avoiding Homogenization in WoW: Forever Class Design - Inven Global Interview

Inven Global interviewed Holly Longdale and Clay Stone on WoW: Forever and discussed the success of the Beta, Forever class design, dungeon experience, and more!

InvenGlobal Interview

We've summarized the key points from the interview!

Beta

• This is the largest beta they've had in terms of player participation.
• They're continuing to polish the details based on feedback.
• They've received an overwhelmingly positive response.

Camping

• They are happy to see the camping system being well received and encouraging social interactions.
• The level cap is currently 30, and they're interested in seeing how camping will be received past level 30.
• They're already discussing what's next for the camping system.

Class Design

• The overall philosophy is to "maintain distinct class identities and avoid homogenization."
• Keeping them feeling distinct is what matters the most.
• They want to make sure no spec feels unplayable or useless.
• Every spec doesn't need to be the best choice for every encounter, but there should be reasons to bring a spec to certain content.

Horizontal Progression

• When they say Horizontal, they mean horizontally expanding the world.
• They will still add new content such as professions, zones, dungeons, raids, and quests. Expanding the world sideways is what they mean by horizontal.
• Gear progression isn't entirely horizontal, and there will be a power escalation. They want to make the power jump as low as possible.
• Best-in-slot gear could come from a previous raid tier, but that doesn't mean you'll wear it forever, and it will eventually be replaced.
• They want to keep older content relevant for as long as possible.
• On the topic of gear progression, they can't say right now if there will be a soft reset. It's too early.

Dungeon Experience

• Some original WoW developers are still on the team.
• It's unlikely that they wanted players to do 1 to 60 doing nothing but dungeons.
• WoW is social, and they want players to be out in the world and create memories on their journey.
• They recently nerfed dungeon quest XP and increased mob EXP.