Our WoW Classic enthusiast Karsten has eagerly dived into the beta of World of Warcraft: Forever and is thrilled. In fact, he currently only sees one new feature that could prove to be a bothersome fun spoiler.
Do you remember which games you had your best gaming phases with? I’ve been gaming for quite a while now and fortunately, over time I’ve been able to accumulate many great memories … of LAN parties in a friend’s basement, a historic FIFA tournament in a barracks in Koblenz, evenings at a quarry where we projected Goldeneye and Perfect Dark onto the side wall of a camper van with a projector at night …
My best, because most fun, fascinating, and emotional gaming phases are directly connected to classic WoW:
- The start of WoW in spring 2005 until the fall of the heroic Lich King at the finale of Wrath of the Lich King – those were simply wonderfully amazing years with my guild Godmode, which has shaped my life to this day.
- A comparably fun time in WoW Classic with a similarly great community and the opportunity to settle a few open debts in AQ40 and Naxxramas.
I simply love the classic WoW gaming experience, with its focus on the lengthy leveling phase, significant character progression, and social interactions. All of that tends to get overlooked in modern MMORPGs. Correspondingly, my excitement about the announcement of WoW: Forever and the start of the beta was immense.
A beta that makes you crave much more
By now, I have played the beta for several hours with multiple characters and I am … blown away! The Blizzard developers wonderfully manage to balance the beloved, familiar classic experience with the new content in almost all areas.
As a classic veteran, I regularly stumble upon new quests and NPCs right from the start that feel so fittingly classic, yet I often find myself unsure: “This is new, right? Hmm, it plays like back then. It must be new. Or am I old (and very forgetful)?”
The same goes for the new dungeons. If you’ve always wanted to explore “Old Ironforge” under the Alliance city in snowy Dun Morogh, you can do so now. The instance has wonderful Blackrock Depths vibes. Meanwhile, the new dungeon at the entrance of Undercity feels more like Scholomance. Both fit wonderfully into the classic WoW experience.
On our MeinMMO YouTube channel, you’ll find a fresh new video dedicated solely to WoW: Forever and the currently known information. Feel free to check it out:
Like back then, but maybe a tad faster
Many adjustments await you in the classes, races, values, and items of WoW: Forever. The developers’ goal is to create better balance among the various specializations of all classes. They also seem keen on rewarding players early on with strong (sometimes almost too strong) gear.
In the first 20 levels, this has a noticeable effect. The hunt for experience points feels slightly faster than in WoW Classic, simply because in the beta less time is taken for regenerating health or mana, and because through the mix of new or adapted quest rewards, drops, racial abilities, and talents, you deal more damage and can withstand more compared to back then.
However, everyone still needs to be careful with their pulls, as two or three enemies at the wrong moment can quickly lead to death. In group fights, threat remains the important factor. Healers must keep an eye on their mana reserves. This is still the classic player experience, subtly adjusted.
All of this is underscored by slight, yet noticeable improvements in classic visuals. It’s hard to believe, but the new lighting moods, fog, and water effects really create a noticeably denser atmosphere in Azeroth.
So everything perfect?
Aside from details like unfinished UI elements or bugs, there is only one thing that currently bothers me on a purely subjective level, and a second thing that makes me worry about the launch in November.
The first point revolves around the sky-born, who with their visual style, availability in both factions, and starting area, do not seem to fit into WoW: Forever but rather into the gaming experience of Burning Crusade or later.
At least the racial abilities of the blue-skinned elves are not so strong that they would drive all min-maxers to purchase an otherwise optional Forever Bundle. And if it ultimately helps make WoW: Forever a long-term success, I’ll gladly swallow this pill.
What truly worries me, though, is the new realm system of World of Warcraft. In theory, it sounds great because Blizzard wants to offer the strengths of language and mega servers without us suffering from eternal queues, player shortages, or a severe faction imbalance due to the wrong server choice.
In practice, however, this system still needs to prove itself. The beta does not yet fulfill all its promises but presents potential issues:
- I still cannot select a preferred language in the options and therefore encounter players from all over the world. Also, I have rarely crossed paths with characters I have done quests with since then – but that could be coincidence.
- Unfortunately, it happens very regularly that the game warns of an impending phase switch. You can then trigger it manually, or you have 5 minutes to find safety (as in the worst case, you can appear right in the middle of a group of enemies). Its frequency in the beta often pulls me out of the quest flow.
- It seems that even without this warning, there are still dynamic phase changes occurring in the game world. Sometimes characters even switch phases in the middle of PvP fights, only to reappear moments later. This could completely ruin open-world PvP in WoW: Forever.
It is clear that the new realm system aims to reconcile many factors and wishes of the players. I sincerely hope that the developers can master this mammoth task. How crucial the server foundation is for the classic player experience was impressively demonstrated by WoW Classic a few years ago.
All in all, I am very much looking forward to the launch of WoW: Forever. In the areas I have played so far, Blizzard has often hit the nail on the head and made the right decisions.
It feels like coming home, but the wallpaper looks a bit fresher, someone has aired it out, and there are a few new pieces of furniture that fit well with the old inventory. And here and there we’re building on it. How exciting! Have you played the beta of WoW: Forever? What is your first impression? Feel free to share it with me in the comments! More opinions on the new World of Warcraft can be found here: It’s not modern WoW that will collapse under Forever, but Classic
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