NEWS Tag: Wow

The enthusiasm and excitement of the fans of World of Warcraft Classic finally waned. Two days ago, Blizzard announced that WOW Classic launched as a server option, which was a copy of the one before 15 years. Countless returning players jumped into the server and caused serious congestion, and the nostalgic emotions reminded them of the years when they fought side by side. Now you have access to WOW Classic without much difficulty with another question to consider, can WOW Classic really bring you back to the past days?

Quite a few ones of overcrowded players came from the past version, when they are young, they played with their friends and explored the dungeon named Deadmines to complete various challenges. Every day, they tried to earn as much Gold as possible to start a new adventure, the rewards and pleasant always came at the same time. Thirteen years passed by, they had the opportunity to experience the game scenes, mode, gameplay and maps again, but it was getting harder and harder to contact the friends who have played the game before after they left the old game.

It seems that the game is the same with only minor functionality tweaks, but it was impossible to return to Azeroth in 2006. World of Warcraft Classic is actually a new game with nostalgic dice, here you need to create new characters and classes, even fight together with a group of strangers.

Undoubtedly, with the progress of the times, the development of World of Warcraft Classic is worth looking forward to, but it is not the one you encountered 13 years ago.

We miss the past happy days and friends who made you happy, not just a game, but the past will never come back again. WOW Classic is still worth your effort, if you have created a character for it, continue what you are doing now, it will be better in the future.

In World of Warcraft’s history, some of the most interesting and controversial moments have been the addition of new races. Up until Battle for Azeroth, races would enter the game with the start of an expansion, and players would work their way up from level 1 in a race-specific starting zone that told the story of their people. Allied Races, a new addition, have dealt with factions and races we’ve helped or met in the past. These characters start at level 20 and currently, work as an endgame reward for longtime players. These Allied Races have joined both the Horde and the Alliance, and are standing with their new faction against the enemy of the other side.

The Allied Races experiment in World of Warcraft has had its hiccups, including the delay of Zandalari and Kul Tiran characters until Patch 8.1.5; despite that, there’s a strong sense of anticipation that comes along with this new system. We don’t have to wait for expansions anymore, and so there’s a sense that anyone could join any faction. The Vulpera have a lot of neat customization options — will they join the Horde? If so, do the Alliance get the Sethrak?

With all of the excitement over new Allied races, I took the opportunity to revisit two of the original additions: the Nightborne and the Void Elves. These two races are, for various reasons, the most controversial of the original additions. I was joined by Steve Burke, senior designer, and Steve Danuser, senior narrative designer, to discuss these two factions and their additions to the Battle for Azeroth.

THE NIGHTBORNE

The Nightborne was one of the most anticipated — and most controversial — Allied Races. Both the Horde and Alliance engage in an end-game campaign over the course of story patches and a raid to liberate the Nightfallen from Elisande and to restore order to the city of Suramar. The Nightborne and their leader Thalyrssa had encounters with both the Horde and Alliance during the course of this story. While the Night Elf leader Tyrande was curt and distrusting of the Nightborne, the Blood Elves welcomed them with open arms. This split was further foreshadowed during the Argus campaign, with the Blood Elves and Nightborne chatting about their values.

“We weren’t surprised that [Alliance players] felt betrayed,” Burke says. “We had the same reaction happen internally here. We had to make a choice, and both sides had very interesting arguments to make. We knew whoever didn’t get the Nightborne would feel a tinge of loss.”

“On the inside, we knew what was coming,” says Danuser. “We knew what the next expansion’s theme was, and that these Allied Races would be recruited to take place in this big war, the likes of which Azeroth hasn’t seen for many, many years. We wanted to show that tensions were so high, and stakes were so high, that the Alliance and Horde weren’t enough. We also knew the Nightborne would have been one of the biggest ‘gets’ for either faction.”

When I ask if we can expect the Nightborne to play a role in Patch 8.2, where the former monarch of their people Queen Azshara returns, both writers pause. “We’re going to be careful with that answer,” says Burke. “Yes, they will be [...] present with the events we have planned for 8.2.”

Danuser elaborates, “The Night Elves and the Nightborne have such a deep history with Queen Azshara. These characters were alive and have history and grudges against Azshara.” While both writers remained coy as to the role of the Nightborne, Danuser mentioned we will see the reactions of both Night Elves and Nightborne to “what Azshara is up to right now,” which is equally vague but very ominous.

VOID ELVES

Void Elves, the newest Alliance Allied Race, have been one of the most controversial additions yet. The most common critique is that they came out of nowhere, unlike the established races we met during Legion. According to Danuser, this was intentional.

“The Void Elves were a case where we didn’t want the Allied Races to be something you were always familiar with before. We wanted to introduce new ideas, and new opportunities,” Danuser says. With Alleria Windrunner’s story being an internal success on Argus, the team saw it as the opportunity for a new twist on elves. There’s just one question: If they come from a small group of Silvermoon Exiles, how are they an Allied Race? Where do the numbers come from?

“They start out as a small group,” Danuser continues. “But it’s natural as other elves have found out about them — elves who are interested in new sources of magic, power, or opportunities — would see if they could undergo a similar process. They’re not ... recruiting, necessarily, but they’re open to those who show a similar interest.”

The Void Elves’ leader, Magister Umbric, plays a prominent role during the Alliance War Campaign. Throughout the campaign, he is humble, helpful, and even offers to take the blame for a failed mission so the player isn’t inconvenienced. This manner is contrasted with the ways in which he helps, which includes creating void portals that dismantle and consume goblin mechs, or transforming the player biologically so they can infiltrate an enemy settlement. This is a way to show both the good and the bad of the Void Elves: They’re incredibly useful, but their utility comes with immense danger, and it’s stressed that they could snap at any time.

The Void Elves are popular with players, but in the universe of Azeroth, they’re maligned and stick to the shadows. In the Stormwind Cathedral, Void Elves players are either subtly threatened or politely asked to leave. “The Void is a terrible thing,” Danuser says. “It’s corruptive. [Stormwind] has seen people, including [their] own archbishop, turn against [them]. They saw what Deathwing did, and the Twilight cult that followed him. So to have someone presented to you as an ally is a jarring thing, and not everyone’s going to feel comfortable with that.”

Horde players have even more reason to hate and fear the Void Elves. The Void is horribly reactive with their font of holy energy, the Sunwell, and Alleria Windrunner’s visit nearly corrupted it. Horde players on Island Expeditions can encounter the Riftrunners, who are Void Elves nearly consumed by the voices that encourage them to kill and sew chaos.

Both of these races have immense potential for the story of World of Warcraft in the future. The Nightborne have ancient ties to the world, and specifically Queen Azshara, who is set to make her return. The Void Elves, while controversial, also had some fantastic moments in the War Campaign ... and as the Void becomes more important to the story, we’ll likely need their help. Both races also round out the factions nicely. The Nightborne bring more gravitas to the Horde, making the Blood Elves feel more natural in the faction and providing an important counterweight to the Forsaken or Orcs. Meanwhile, the Void Elves give the Alliance a potential dark side that could be explored in future content. As the upcoming war plays out, we’ll likely see both of them come back to the forefront at some point.

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Celebrate 14 years of World of Warcraft with us! Log in between now and November 30 to earn the WoW’s 14th Anniversary achievement, then check your mail for a special Anniversary Gift Package.

Inside the package, you’ll find 200 Timewarped Badges, a Celebration Package item to increase experience and reputation gains by 14% for 1 hour, and a “Letter from the Timewalkers,” which will start a new quest leading you to either Orgrimmar or Stormwind.

In addition, questgivers Historian Llore and Historian Ju’pa will have two daily quests that give players a chance to earn additional Timewarped Badges either by answering World of Warcraft trivia or by defeating some familiar foes. Collectors will also have a chance to pick up a few pieces of classic loot from defeating them.

Players level 1–59 who didn’t get to complete last year’s letter from the Timewalker’s quest will still be able to receive and complete it.

CLASSIC BOSSES TO CELEBRATE

It’s been 14 years since gates opened into Azeroth and the heroes of the Horde and Alliance began their journey of discovery and adventure. To celebrate this momentous occasion, some familiar foes have returned to Azeroth—with some slightly updated abilities. Players level 60 and above can take on Lord Kazzak, Azuregos, and one of the four Dragons of Nightmare each day for some loot and 50 Timewarped Badges.

NEW VENDOR ITEM

In addition to all the many great items available for purchase, you’ll be able to use your badges to acquire a new item this year.

• New Toy! Overturned Corgi Goggles: Change how you see the world around you when you use this new toy. While active, friendly NPCs will appear to be such good boys and girls all year round.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of this adventure so far. You represent the best aspects of the Horde and the Alliance, and you inspire and motivate us every day. We’re looking forward to sharing many, many more adventures with you in the years to come.

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Chuck Norris references. Anal jokes. Killing two dozen raptors to harvest ten raptor heads. The Barrens. Shit, after two hours of the World of Warcraft Classic demo, I’m still in the Barrens. It’s an inescapable nightmare, which is to say it’s perfect.

We wanted it hard, and Blizzard is giving it to us hard. The development team has been working furiously since even before last year’s official announcement of the retro version of the MMORPG, cramming old code into a newer framework in order to undo all the streamlining and simplification they’ve done since 2005. So far, so good.

The WoW Classic demo, available for visitors to Blizzcon 2018 and those who purchased the virtual pass for the event, takes players back to 13 years ago when Molten Core and Onyxia were the raids to beat. But demo players aren’t going on those grand adventures.

No, the demo starts players off at level 15, with Horde and Alliance players sent to the limbo of their side’s choosing. For the Alliance, that’s the golden fields of Westfall, filled with coyotes, vultures, bears, bandits, and gnolls. The mighty fortress of Sentinel Hill? Not so mighty anymore.

From the starting area, players can accept quests incredibly slowly. Remember, back then the quest text used to crawl down the page before the accept button would light up. You can go into the game’s options and change it, but what about authenticity? It’s only 15 seconds out of your life every time a quest giver is clicked on.

Once quests are accepted, it’s off to ... um. Huh. See, back then there wasn’t really a quest tracker. Players didn’t get dots or arrows on their map, showing them where their objectives were. And considering the landscape of Westfall changed significantly when the Cataclysm expansion dropped, most everybody on my beta server was just wandering about hopelessly.

It was horrible, but also beautiful. Wandering the countryside, searching for bandits, not knowing what I was going to run into—that’s the World of Warcraft that drew me in so many years ago. And when I, only my second Alliance rogue of the demo, finally found the bandits I was supposed to kill, I felt like I had really accomplished something.

But I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on the Alliance side. I mostly meandered about the Horde’s rolling golden plains, the Barrens. I created a mage, picked a suitable name, and set off to see if things were as bad as I remembered.

Horde players spawn at the Crossroads, and it was good to see the now-deserted area brimming with life. People were dueling, there was a dance party going on at the mailbox, and folks in area chat were going out of their way to make the seemingly never-ending level 10 through 20 hell feel like old times. Comments included:

“Anyone want to check out my LiveJournal?”

“Friend me on Myspace!”

“This zone is so big, it took Chuck Norris two spin kicks to cross it.”

“Let’s watch Tik Tok!”

Of course, there was the requisite complaining about Blizzard. While a majority of folks in chat seemed to be loving the demo, they weren’t so keen on one of Blizzard’s other big Blizzcon announcements.

Many players expressed disappointment that the demo didn’t dial back their ages 13 years to when they were 15. Having been 31 when WoWlaunched, I hate those players, but I love them just the same. We were all taking a trip back in time together.

To the days when an orc named Mankirk would task Horde players with finding his wife, lost during a brutal battle with quillboars.

After which new players would spend an hour running about the ridiculously expansive zone, looking for any sign of “Mankrik’s Wife,” with no real indication of where to find her.

To a time where our spells and abilities were tired, and some folks would swear that some lower-tiered spells were more efficient than their upper tier counterparts. When we could buy skills from all three of our specializations at once, and spend hours pouring over the branching talent trees to find just the right combination of enhancements.

And of course, to a time when animals and monsters would only sporadically have the items quest givers wanted us to gather. Things one would expect them to all have, like zhevra hooves. Zehvras are basically horses, so one might think killing one would get an adventurer up to four hooves, but no. Not in WoW Classic.

In WoW Classic we run through the plains, battling against other players for the few striped horses roaming about. There’s no kill sharing, as there is in modern World of Warcraft. The first person to hit the creature gets to credit. Warriors charge, mages use their instants. It’s a struggle sometimes, but a glorious one.

And best of all, it truly is an inescapable hell. The demo is limited to Westfall and the Barrens. Should a player attempt to cross into another zone, they are instantly teleported back to either Sentinel Hill or the Crossroads. I’ve had nightmares like that.

World of Warcraft Classic will launch officially next summer. Between this demo and the passion, the developers displayed during yesterday’s “Restoring History: Creating WoW Classic” panel at Blizzcon, I’m confident that fans like myself eager to revisit the bad old days are going to be quite pleased.