The latest version of World of Warcraft was announced at BlizzCon. But the amount of negativity makes MeinMMO demon Cortyn despair.
No matter how you look at it, the abundance of announcements at BlizzCon 2026 was a celebration. Especially Blizzard veterans received so many announcements for both modern and classic games that there was basically something for everyone.
Accordingly, I took a look at the announcement of World of Warcraft Forever and each of the panels where details were addressed.
At the end of BlizzCon, I thought to myself: Wow, they really hit the mark. Even as a WoW fan, who actually can connect more with Classic, I realized: They went “All-In” to offer the community of this ancient game something that will last for years and likely decades.
So my naive demon brain thought, borrowing from Uncle Barlow, that the Classic fans would be happily hopping through the meadows and crying in each other’s arms that their big dream of “Classic+” with Forever will finally come true.
And yes, many are excited and thrilled. Both in my retail guild and in my private friend circle, there are many – including some who haven’t played WoW in years – who say: “Okay, I have to play this. This is the point of my return.”
A loud group that won’t let others have fun
But there seems to be a group of people trying to spoil everyone else’s fun and excitement at maximum volume.
My goodness, I have really heard and read some silly takes in the last few days. A few of my favorite statements, slightly paraphrased:
“WoW Forever is rubbish because there are first and last names. I don’t want to run into ‘Schwanzus Longus.'”
Yes. Wow. That’s obviously true. That some WoW players give themselves silly names is obviously related to whether first and last names exist. Until now, none of us have ever encountered a silly name like “Mástêrkîllór” or “Schwanzuslongus”. That can only happen with first and last names.
“WoW Forever changes so much. New graphics, new models, new areas. This is no longer my Classic.”
Again: Yes. Of course. That is precisely the idea of WoW Classic+. There have to be changes. There need to be new areas. There need to be small revisions of classes so that they all have a meaningful place in the game. It requires a handful of selected, carefully weighed modernizations. It needs new content. Because if you don’t want that, then you don’t want Classic+. You want Classic.
This meme actually captures it well:
Getting upset about the costs
The amount of mental gymnastics I see under various YouTube videos is also astonishing. There are apparently really people who are upset that the new race in WoW Forever costs money. They seem to completely overlook that WoW Forever in its basic version – apart from the subscription – costs nothing. There’s even a group that actually thinks they’d rather pay 50 € to 60 € and buy WoW Forever as an “expansion” instead of paying just 30 € for a single race.
Just to let that sink in: There are people who would rather have everyone pay double instead of just the people who want the new race contributing a significantly smaller amount.
I don’t even have the right words for that anymore.
The whole thing reminds me of a tweet that had already predicted this behavior from some people and sarcastically wrote it in advance:
“People, if Classic Forever is not exactly what I want and does not have exactly the features I want and does not exclude exactly the features I dislike, based on MY definition of what a Classic Forever should be, then I will write a nasty Reddit post!”
And exactly that seems to be what a whole lot of people read to make it the core and sole purpose of their personality for a few days.
At this point, I can also recommend a video from the channel Entenburch that goes into a few more points:
Criticism and skepticism is okay, to a healthy extent
Sure: There are points that can be discussed. They can be criticized and questioned. Whether the Skyborne are really a meaningful addition to Classic+ can be debated. Just “feeling” I find them a bit inappropriate, but that doesn’t ruin WoW Forever for me. Especially when you know that in modern WoW about 38% of all characters at max level are Elf characters (see DataForAzeroth). It simply makes sense for Blizzard to introduce another Elf race that is accessible to both factions.
But even here, in case of doubt: No one has to play it.
If you take a detailed look at World of Warcraft Forever, Blizzard here proves one thing above all: A lot of understanding for the community and a lot of sensitivity regarding changes and innovations. For pretty much everything that could be somehow controversial or divisive, there is the option to turn it off.
- Does someone not want to see the absolutely fantastic new atmospheric light, fog, and water effects? It can be turned off.
- You find transmog stupid and want to immediately recognize all other characters by their clown clothes? You can turn it off.
- You don’t want quests to show you on the map where you need to go? Can be turned off.
No matter how I turn it: With WoW Forever, Blizzard has shown such a clear vision, such a thoughtful and sensible path that is meant to preserve the Classic feeling and lead into a literally “eternal” future that I, as a retail fan, am a bit envious and wish for a similar clarity.
If WoW Forever isn’t your game, just move on
If someone truly believes with full conviction and after reviewing all the facts that Blizzard is making a huge mistake with WoW Forever and won’t appeal to many: No. You are wrong. Perhaps it would be good to take a step back and take a closer look at how much love and understanding for as many fans as possible Blizzard is trying to deliver something that will carry WoW for an “old” generation – who can’t relate to Retail, but has played Classic down to the last detail – into the next ten or twenty years.
So. That had to come out again. I don’t care whether the loud, dissatisfied people are fans of Classic, fans of Retail, or simply part of the bitter ex-player community that hasn’t played WoW for ten years, but just can’t let go of the game and feel the need to have an opinion on everything. But my advice: Get back to nature. Then play a game that brings you joy. And if that’s not possible: At least try to find joy in things, even if they were not developed 100% just for your personal taste.
How big the differences of WoW Forever compared to pure Classic, but also Retail are, our Karsten has broken down in this article: There are over 1,000 new quests, many of which are even playable during the leveling phase.
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