The work on the Classic servers for World of Warcraft begins. The team is being assembled, and ideas are gathered – and the community is an important helper!
At Blizzcon 2017, it was announced that Blizzard is working on a Vanilla project for WoW. There will be servers in the future where the game can be played without expansions.
No more detailed information has been provided yet – only that a team is being recruited specifically for Classic WoW that will focus solely on its implementation. This team will operate separately from the Retail WoW team, which takes care of the current version of the game. So nothing will be neglected.
The class balance in Classic WoW – the beginning of something even more important
On this occasion, a discussion about the class balance in WoW Classic broke out in the US forums. It was not really good, actually nonexistent. Some specializations were so weak that they were unplayable – others so strong that they almost had to be chosen.
This controversial topic even prompted Community Managers “Ornyx” and “Ythisens” to take action. The two well-known writers are in close contact with the community, as well as with the current leaders of the forming Classic team. They serve as a connection between players and developers.
They stated, among other things, that the class balance on the Classic realms may not reflect the state of the past. It depends on what the community has to say about it.
The community decides how Classic WoW will be!
The “Blues” are calling for a factual discussion about the advantages of authenticity or adjustment. Ornyx specifically said: “The community will truly be what dictates the direction of Classic as we work towards it together.”
From this statement, it can be inferred that the wishes of the players will be taken into account as the Vanilla servers are developed. It confirms the announcement that Blizzard wants to bring back “the feeling of Classic” and does not necessarily rely on the hard facts of the past to make Classic purely authentic.
In the Q&A with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas and Community Manager Josh Allen, the two addressed this very issue. Classic should definitely mean Classic – with all its inconveniences. The internal question at the moment is which patch version of the game will be agreed upon. However, the community should still remain in the foreground!
How exactly the team will manage to incorporate the community’s wishes while not changing too much of the game remains to be seen. However, it sounds like it will not just be Classic on new servers, but a continuously supported game with patches and ongoing service!
What is your opinion? Should Classic be completely authentic, or would you like some “Quality of Life” changes from later versions of WoW? Leave us a comment!
