So I was at Blizzcon and I wanted to share my impressions of the new announcements with you!
WoW is huge
IT was very cool to see how large the WoW community is at Blizzcon. We brought the loudest cheers, and the wow space was jampacked, especially the esports showmatches and the testing area for season of discovery. The amount of WoW “celebrities” there was also huge, and I got to meet some of my favorites.
The announcements
We got a huge announcement of the three next WoW expansions and the general theme of them, as well as cataclysm classic and classic+ lite with season of discovery. I tweeted during the show that they were saving WoW for last because we would get the biggest news and I was right!
Retail is more of the same
As far as profession stuff it’s fairly clear that The War Within will be more of the same. Mentioned in a group interview hidden on wowwiki was the news that they will keep the general system from DF, but with new knowledge points. I honestly expect smaller trees this time (as I expect them to use less dev resources), and hopefully some catch up knowledge so you aren’t stuck behind forever.
The one thing that is really missing for me is some amount of innovation. At this point retail expansions are almost fully formulaic. 5 zones, 8 dungeons, a raid, some changes to class gameplay. Obviously loads of smaller details within that, but there is fairly little in terms of risk taking or actual shake ups. I suspect we might see even fewer as the focus now is on evergreen systems, which is both good and bad. I think we are well due a change up to the end game loops at this point, as they have not fundamentally changed since Legion.
Season of discovery
Season of discovery was for me the coolest announcement, mostly because it is Blizzard doing something risky and innovative. This seems really fun and approachable, and classic was an absolute blast. I can’t wait to play it.
Cata classic
I mostly remember Cataclysm for the stupidest prospecting shuffle WoW has ever seen. I don’t remember which of the ores it was, but you could vendor the uncommon gems for more than the ore cost in at least the first patch. Hilariously overpowered, but not too great for the economy long term. With the token now cemented in classic Cataclysm goldmaking will probably remain the best way to play WoW for free, even if your actual main game is retail. THe gold potential in crafted catch up gear, and the ease of goldmaking on the old AH is absolutely unsurpassed, at least if you’re lazy like me.