In Europe and America, a dry spell might be approaching for WoW fans. Because WoW Classic is first focusing on China.
For several years now, alongside the “regular” World of Warcraft, which is the current retail version with The War Within, there are also several Classic variants. In addition to hardcore realms, The Burning Crusade, and now also Mists of Pandaria, there was also the “Season of Discovery”. The latter was the first attempt by Blizzard to try a kind of “Classic+”. Now we know: There is more to come.
The bad news: At least for the foreseeable future, the developers are focusing on the Chinese realms.
The hardcore servers were a success of WoW Classic:
WoW Classic focuses on China for at least a year
What kind of realms are these in China? In China, the “Titan Reforged” realms will soon launch. This is a version of WoW Classic that does not exist anywhere else in the world. This variant includes the Classic games, The Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King. Here, it goes up to level 80, but with a special twist: All raids from all 3 games can be tackled at level 80 and provide good rewards.
Even better: Legendary items, like Thunderfury or Shadowmourne, are supposed to be permanently upgraded over the duration of the realms, allowing them to remain active permanently.
According to Game Director Ion Hazzikostas, these realms will be the main focus of the team for the coming year – alongside modern WoW and Mists of Pandaria Classic.
In other words: Blizzard wants to make a significant effort with the “Titan Reforged” realms in China.
Why is Blizzard placing a major focus on China? Netease and Blizzard had a falling out a few years ago. After an uncomfortable conference that led to no agreement, employees even went so far as to destroy a giant statue. The lines were hard, and Blizzard was hated.
In recent months, Blizzard and Netease have begun to reconcile and bring WoW back to China. To make up for lost time – after all, China missed so many events and releases – there are now these special realms called Titan Reforged.
What else was said? It is also clear that Blizzard is already working on new experiences behind the scenes that do not only concern the “Titanforged” realms in China. Because from a post by Netease, it is revealed that there are further “Classic content” that is “currently in development”. Moreover, this content will be released simultaneously “in China and in the West”.
That Blizzard is currently focusing its attention on WoW Classic primarily on China is only a temporary matter. Also, because the expansion “Mists of Pandaria” is still relatively fresh in the West and will likely provide enough content for the coming months.
Many are looking for new experiences on private servers as well – but why they are problematic is explained here.
