Work has begun on a brand new “main” World of Warcraft Classic venture, in response to Blizzard. Consequently, growth on Season of Discovery seems to be coming to a detailed.
In a forum post, WoW Classic producer Josh “Aggrend” Greenfield defined what’s subsequent for the WoW Classic workforce and dove into its philosophy behind the extra experimental Season of Discovery servers that launched in 2023, and what comes subsequent.
“Season of Discovery was successful past our wildest creativeness in 2023,” Greenfield stated. “We discovered a lot, we grew as a workforce each actually and figuratively, and we have been invigorated for the long run like by no means earlier than. That future for Season of Discovery is considerably bittersweet, as we have made the choice to decelerate on Season of Discovery and start work on our subsequent main venture within the authentic WoW design house.”
He stated Blizzard has “massive plans and large ambitions” for its subsequent WoW Classic venture, plans that can require Blizzard to take the time to “get within the proverbial kitchen and cook dinner,” he stated. Blizzard will use that point to additional form and iterate on concepts from Season of Discovery into “one thing actually thrilling.”
What that subsequent main venture will likely be continues to be unclear, however many WoW Classic followers are assuming (and hoping) it is what the group, and even Blizzard itself, has for years known as Classic+. It is an concept that requires primarily a brand new model of WoW Classic with new content material like class adjustments, raids, and zones. Moderately than progress to a brand new enlargement and landmass as was the case initially, Classic+ would stay within the core areas of Azeroth and discover places that by no means made it into the unique model of WoW, like Mount Hyjal and others. In idea, it is one thing that will be just like Season of Discovery, however much less radical in a few of its class adjustments and meant to proceed as an ongoing sport quite than a seasonal server meant to run its course.
Greenfield stated the unique plan for Season of Discovery, which added new skills and content material to the over 20-year-old authentic model of WoW, was for it to finish with the discharge of the sport’s retooled Naxxramas raid and the introduction of a brand new dungeon, the Karazhan Crypts, in January 2025. As an alternative, the workforce determined to comprehend yet one more unfulfilled dream, releasing a wholly new raid a number of months later, the Scarlet Enclave.
It is that new raid the place Blizzard is now providing a free stage 85 character enhance to make use of within the upcoming Mists of Pandaria Classic for gamers who defeat its first boss. Greenfield stated the character enhance serves as a “capstone” for Season of Discovery and a means for gamers to leap straight into a brand new model of Classic now that Season of Discovery growth is winding down. Whereas growth is slowing for Season of Discovery, Greenfield stated it has no plans to close down servers, and that they may stay on-line for a lot of months if not years to come back.
“After we consider the affect that Season of Discovery will in the end have on World of Warcraft, we take into consideration the way it helped show one thing that quite a lot of us already knew: there is a gigantic urge for food for brand new experiences set in opposition to the backdrop of authentic World of Warcraft,” Greenfield stated.