Blizzcon 2019: Das Q&A zu World of Warcraft

Wie bereits zu Beginn der aktuellen Woche durch einen Bluepost in den Battle.Net Foren angekündigt wurde, beinhaltete die an diesem Wochenende in Anaheim durchgeführte Blizzcon 2019 interessanterweise auch wieder ein umfangreiches Q&A zu World of Warcraft und der Zukunft dieses MMORPGs. Während dieser informativen Fragerunde beantworteten die Mitarbeiter von Blizzard Entertainment viele aus der Community stammende Fragen und äußert sich sowohl zu der kommenden Erweiterung „Shadowlands“ als auch zu der Übernahme von Features aus BfA in das nächste Addon. er dieses Q&A nicht über das virtuelle Ticket anschauen kann, der findet folgend sowohl eine übersetzte Zusammenfassung der interessantesten Antworten als auch eine Liste mit allen gestellten Fragen.

Zusammenfassung der Fragerunde:

• Traditionsrüstungssets werden in der Zukunft auf Stufe 60 an die Spieler verteilt.
• Sylvanas und der Jailer der Schattenlande arbeiten schon seit dem Ende von WotLK zusammen.
• Der Kriegsmodus wird auch im nächsten Addon vorhanden sein.
• Das Fliegen im nächsten Addon wird genauso funktionieren, wie es in BFA der Fall war.
• Wie das Fliegen mit dem Level Squish interagiert, steht noch nicht fest.
• Legendäre Gegenstände (alt und neu) können bald für die Transmogrifikation verwendet werde.
• Die Entwickler erschaffen neue Erweiterungen immer 2 Addons im Voraus.
• Die Namen der Erweiterungen werden erst später im Verlauf der Entwicklung finalisiert. Bis dahin verwenden die Entwickler interne Namen.
• Die Entwickler wollen nicht dafür sorgen, dass das Herz von Azeroth komplett verschwindet. In den Schattenlanden soll es aber trotzdem nicht funktionieren.
• Blutelfen erhalten mehr als 40 neue kosmetische Anpassungsmöglichkeiten.
• Die Entwickler denken über weitere Verbindungen zwischen Servern nach.
• Die Entwickler möchten die Musik von Patchnotes in der Zukunft ebenfalls veröffentlichen.
• Die Allianz hat beide Kriegsfronten gewonnen. Die Gebiete gehören klassisch zur Allianz.
• Die Regeln für die Fraktionen werden erst einmal nicht gelockert. Der Konflikt zwischen 2 Gruppen ist ein Kernelement von Warcraft.
• Die Antwort auf die Frage nach dem Auge von N’Zoth war sehr kryptisch. Vermutlich planen die Entwickler noch etwas in dieser Richtung.
• Server für TBC oder WotLK wären irgendwann einmal möglich.
• Shadowlands dreht sich um Leben und Tod. Licht und Schatten spielen noch keine große Rolle. Allerdings möchten die Entwickler die Kosmologie von Warcraft weiter ausbauen und möglicherweise auch die Anhänger des Lichts auf Draenor zurückbringen.
• Wenn Spieler in den Schattenlanden sterben, dann wird ihnen ein neuer optischer Effekt angezeigt.
• Shadowlands wird erst einmal keine weiteren T-Sets mit sich bringen.

Die Fragen und Antworten:

Q: From Red Shirt Guy! Any changes to heritage armor acquisition?
A: Still have to get to max level, level 60 with the squish.

Q: Did the jailer in the maw see the Legion as a threat which is why Sylvanas worked with Varian?
A: We’ll find out more of her motivations in Shadowlands and that her relationship with the Jailer dates back a bit. Edge of Night story involves this relationship. Working with Varian was a long term strategy in order to get war chief – had to make allies but now we’re seeing the fruition of that.

Q: How do you choose between aesthetic of a covenant as opposed to min maxing the best covenant, especially for PvP?
A: Lots of things can be tuned – we kind of took the outlook that choosing a covenant is like choosing a class – lots of viability but choice has to matter. The active abilities is one thing but the soulbinds, etc count. This should be taken as a whole but also there will be lots of tuning knobs. We will not hesitate to disable things in PvP (i.e. Curse of Doom in Classic).

Q: War Mode in Shadowlands?
A: Yes.

Q: How’s flying going to work in Shadowlands?
A: Same way it has for the last few expansions – this is a compromise. It’s a contentious issue – explore from ground to begin with and then fly in later patches.

Q: How will flying work with the level squish?
A: Not sure yet.

Q: In WoW Classic, will we receive a toggle for HD Remodels?
A: We made those to match the world as we know it, characters got left behind a bit. HD Characters would feel out of place in classic so we’re disinclined to offer that.

Q: Will legendaries ever be transmoggable?
A: Short answer is yes! Original rules were very restrictive. Back then the legendaries were the coolest weapons in the game and we didn’t want everyone walking around with thunderfury. Coming soon!

Q: What is the creative process when you choose an expansion theme? What did you do for Shadowlands?
A: Brainstorming a new expansion happens 2 expansions ahead – allows for story plot point making. Typically this happens with a large group and weekly sessions where we think of cool things, throwaway others. It’s a mix of things. We generally think about The World – the world is the main character that you explore and fill with your own story. The first question is where do we want to go next. The story sometimes has to twist and turn to get there i.e. WOD. Then you can add features that make sense alongside that world. Sometimes we put it off i.e. We could have done Legion after Mists but they put it off for 1 expansion. We gather a lot of reference i.e. images, old ideas, etc. For this one, we happened to find this image of a star specked forest and thought to pair it with bastion i.e. a heavenly side and a dark celestial forest side. We thought this deserved its own space.

Q: Ever named an expansion before you developed it?
A: No, we use an internal name. Exception was Legion „i.e. oh yeah we’ll do the legion expansion“ – that one stuck.

Q: Identity of mysterious jailer – is he someone that we know connected to death i.e. Argus or Helya?
A: Intended to be a mysterious new figure – not someone we’ve met before but an important part of the cosmology of the Warcraft universe. Applying what we know about the universe to a new place. He’s a center piece villain of this expansion.

Q: What will become of the rank 4 essences we’ve acquired in 9.0?
A: We’re going to try something different i.e. not deplete it. As you move to the Shadowlands, your connection to the heart will be depleted. It will be functional in other areas.

Q: What are some of the other customization things we will be looking forward to with our WoW characters?
A: Working hard right now on blood elves – more than 40 additional customizations for them coming. Showed some race customizations already – just a small sampling we’re going to offer. Specifically with humans, we really want to offer a diversity that you can find in the real world so that you can really be in the game.

Q: Not too many people on my server – will we ever see more realm connections?
A: Yes. We need to look at this. Cross realm grouping helps but it’s not an adequate answer for mythic raiding or a server economy. We’ll look into it.

Q: WoW Soundtrack – Can we ever get the music from Patches released? It’s not on the soundtrack. Have you considered releasing additional digital tracks?
A: Yes, we’re working on it. We are going to do this before Shadowlands for BFA. Just have to figure out best way to do it.

Q: Who won in Stromgarde and Darkshore war fronts, lorewise?
A: Canonically, the Alliance wins in both. Key old alliance locations, felt right for the story.

Q: With the faction war settling down, would you consider loosening faction restrictions on grouping with friends?
A: I understand you want to play with opposite faction and it would be easier for you but mechanically it’s a pillar of what makes Warcraft Warcraft. That division has value, although we do want to look for ways for you to play with lots of people. Formal cross faction play is not in the cards.

Q: Eye of N’Zoth – what’s the scoop?
A: „Be yourself and see what follows“

Q: We love classic – will we get a BC or Wrath server?
A: It is possible, but we have to be really careful with how to proceed. We did not have changes in mind when we put classic out. Need to be super thoughtful – not everyone playing classic wants to play BC. We just want to do the right thing, we’re not opposed to it.

Q: After the Maghar orcs scenario, what happened to that alternate Draenor? What’s up with the lightbound?
A: That Draenor is still out there ,the light still has a presence on it. Those things, we keep in the back pocket, and if something really fits that’s something we can grab to look at under a new set of circumstances. Right now it’s life and death but light and void is very interesting to explore. This is just the first step on exploring the cosmology. Chronicle is written from a specific point of view (titans) but it is canon – more stuff did happen behind the scenes though, and you’ll find some explained in Shadowlands.

Q: What happens when we die in the Shadowlands?
A: It’s very different from when you die in Azeroth – i.e. the corpse run. In Shadowlands it’s different, your spirit is not travelling back to you. We’ve created a different experience and screen effect – a different paradigm. The narrative behind it is Kiryans are the spirit healers on Azeroth who decide if a soul is ready to cross over into the Shadowlands. Our connection to Azeroth was always tethering us. In Shadowlands, Azeroth still needs us – aesthetic is different but that story is still the same. We still corpse run!

Q: The Moor and the Tower – how much of your gameplay will be taken up by the tower at max level?
A: It’s an activity designed for all players, solo or group, but time will vary between players. A range. Maybe we’ll have leaderboards! Can you win the tower? Not sure – still deciding. It’s an open ended system. We want to make sure no matter how good you are, there’s always something to test yourself against.

Q: With Mechagnomes wearing armor leglessly, can there be playable races with more or less than 2 legs?
A: Maybe! We like experimenting. New tech for Mechagnomes can be experimented with.

Q: Tier sets?
A: Wide range of epic armor sets. Class themed armor will return at some point, but it won’t come back in initial patch of Shadowlands. Sets were originally a long term goal. Over the course of WoW, it was pretty easy to get your tier set. After that, the set feels like a prison – you never swapped it out. Bonuses are definitely exciting but not necessarily with a tier set. Legendaries will be very satisfying in terms of player power. Sets in other forms i.e. 2 and 3 piece sets will continue.

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