The team at Blizzard unveiled the latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, on Tuesday. This is a big moment in video games that has been 25 years in the making—the game’s first post-release content update with major new features and storylines.
Blizzard is gearing up for the release of its newest expansion, Battle for Azeroth. In this interview with GamesBeat, Blizzard’s game director Ion Hazzikostas and producer Sara Wons discuss what players can expect from the new content. They also describe how they are tackling some more controversial topics like racial diversity in-game.
In a new GamesBeat interview, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas and Senior Level Designer Sara Wons address lessons learned from prior expansions, borrowed power, and the min-max mindset, as well as Patch 9.2 and the impending Sepulcher of the First Ones raid.
Design Objectives for Patch 9.2
While most of the material in Patch 9.2 was created in response to player input, one of the design objectives was to solve pain points that players often encounter when they experiment with alts and switch mains after a few months. The Creation Catalyst system was implemented to help new characters catch up while also allowing benefiting existing characters to better micromanage their sets of gear. With class tier sets representing large power gains that players would normally have to farm for several weeks to obtain, the system was implemented to help new characters catch up while also allowing benefitting existing characters to better micromanage their sets of gear.
GamesBeat, via Ion Hazzikostas
First and foremost, we’re going to be introducing a lot of new material. But, in many respects, it’s a continuation of the principles that we shifted to, in many instances, in 9.1.5 as a result of player input during Shadowlands. Building a whole new ecosystem, as well as a completely new piece of content, from the bottom up, with those people in mind.
We’re bringing class sets back. How will players feel two months into the patch if they want to switch characters or if their buddies return and they feel like they’re behind on their set pieces with no means to catch up? Okay, let’s start from the beginning and create a system, similar to the one we plugged in afterwards. We have a creation catalyst that players will be able to activate using cash a few months into the game to target and particularly speed their acquisition of set pieces, allowing them to design their own sets in a deterministic, non-RNG manner.
We’ve made the majority of our unlocks account-wide, whether it’s access to content or flying in the zone. In general, we’re basically trying to stay ahead of what gamers have been saying in previous years and incorporate those lessons into the material from the bottom up.
Raid Bosses that haven’t been tested
Ion also spoke briefly on the Sepulcher of the First Ones’ three final bosses, emphasizing how they were purposely left untested on the PTR and hinting at unique aspects in the Jailer fight.
GamesBeat, via Ion Hazzikostas
The last three bosses of the raid have never been seen in the public test realm, which is something we haven’t had the opportunity to accomplish in a long time. They’ve been rigorously tested internally, but in this zone, full of secrets and mysteries, we wanted to keep some of the mystique that’s been lost in this era of data mining and wide information. Players will have no idea what to expect when they enter the final phase of the raid in the third week of the patch. They’ll figure it out eventually. People are going to create their own guidelines. YouTube videos will be available. This is unavoidable. However, the first couple of days will be a very unique experience. That hasn’t happened in a long time in World of Warcraft.
There are also incredible encounters. In most other raid zones, Anduin might be an end boss, but he’s just a big monster two-thirds of the way through this one. On several of these meetings, the team has gone above and above with environmental integration. The Jailer combat, in particular, makes excellent use of the room’s unusual gameplay area and components. Any further information I could provide would be a spoiler.
Progression over the whole account is now possible.
Another reoccurring issue that the Game Director wants to solve is alts and account-wide advancement, since having to repeat extensive quest chains in order to re-earn prizes on another character isn’t fun. Zereth Mortis, like Korthia in Patch 9.1, now has an account-wide skip that allows alts to bypass the new zone’s introduction sections.
GamesBeat, via Ion Hazzikostas
Power growth is the fundamental character advancement. It’s the fundamental RPG experience of obtaining gear and just becoming stronger, which we believe is part of what players are seeking for when creating a new character. They’ve hit a stalemate. They’ve completed their objectives for one character. They want to go on the voyage with someone else. If you’re not being rewarded for running dungeons and gaining item upgrades since you already have everything, it seems like a huge part of the repeat experience is being taken away.
If you have to perform certain material to unlock quests in this region, access to this dungeon, or the ability to fly, re-earning those things when we ask you to do it a second or third time doesn’t seem like a reward. It simply seems like we’re imposing a punishment, and that’s not how incentives should feel.
You have massive epic quest lines that span Zereth Mortis and lead to the end of many of the events in Shadowlands, including the destiny of the Jailer and the Shadowlands as a whole. Fantastic quests. You, the player, have completed them once you’ve completed them. We don’t want to force every character, every alt, to go through those experiences unless they choose to. We make sure that the big unlocks are account-wide in this case.
Beyond Power Progression in Gameplay
The Cypher of the First Ones Research system, which enables open world gameplay for those that desire it without needing players to participate with the system in order to be competitive in terms of player power, is another outcome of user input.
GamesBeat, via Ion Hazzikostas
But we recognize, and we’ve heard loud and clear from the community, that putting power behind a system that increases your dungeon or raid damage makes it essential, regardless of whether you like the game or not. We’re attempting to give a variety of alternatives without driving people to play the game in a manner they don’t want to. Having this as an optional feature for serious power gamers, but yet deep in something they can take at their own speed, is something we’re trying to achieve.
The Min-Max Approach
One of the reasons for such non-power-related gaming choices is the constant conflict many players have between playing for enjoyment and playing for performance, with many feeling obligated to spend time chasing for every last shred of player power, no matter how little.
For a long time, it seemed that this kind of min-max attitude was at odds with each other. You wanted players to realize that they don’t have to max out their characters, but it always seemed like, no, people want to max out their characters, and if they don’t, they feel left out. Is that the conclusion you reached as well?
Hazzikostas: That’s one of the most important lessons learnt in Shadowlands. It’s a common occurrence in gaming in general. Metagaming is the process of determining what the meta game is. People are curious about the tier list for classes or characters when a new game is released. Please don’t choose the incorrect one. We set out with Shadowlands to provide certain alternatives, some prizes that we thought would be exclusive to extreme min-maxers and completionists. If you want to add a socket to your gear for a fraction of a percent of damage, or upgrade this conduit for a fraction of a percent of damage, we wanted to offer folks who wanted to go deep on their characters, rather than going wide and playing a lot of alts, something to strive for.
People are often frustrated when they run out of objectives and lose desire to achieve anything, according to feedback. But, much to our surprise and disgust, we discovered that a far wider spectrum of gamers than we had anticipated noticed this. They got a 4% boost in power for performing something they didn’t really love as a matter of course. And that’s not what we wanted to happen. The game must be enjoyable. You should log in and look forward to the adventures you’ll have, the things you’ll do with your friends, the things you’ll discover, and the objectives you’ll pursue, rather than feeling obligated to complete a list of tasks before you can play the game the way you want to. We’re moving away from that as much as can and attempting to provide actual alternatives without power dominating gameplay.
Lessons Learned and Borrowed Power
The phrase “borrowed power” is often derided by the community, emphasizing the transient nature of newer expansions’ power progression systems. Although they were added in good faith in order to experiment with powerful and exciting additions that would quickly grow out of hand if they were all carried forward from expansion to expansion, the team recognizes the pitfalls of their temporary nature, and it’s something that’s sparked a lot of debate as they prepare for the next World of Warcraft expansion.
GamesBeat, via Ion Hazzikostas
The fact that things were temporary from the artifact system onward allowed the team to go all out with them and make them more immediately impactful, deeper, and transformative of your gameplay than they would have been if they had to last forever, if they were all going to be these additive things for your character. Imagine having all of your skills, as well as your entire artifact weapon, Azurite abilities, and covenants. It would eventually become utter gibberish.
At the same time, we acknowledge that part of the appeal of an RPG is the sensation of progress, of moving ahead, of acquiring power, and that knowing you’ll be leaving most or all of what you’ve earned behind does dampen the sense of achievement and development. This kind of growth often begins with a sense of loss, which isn’t ideal. You’re attempting to replace the old thrilling item you just lost, rather than gaining something fresh and exciting. All of this is something we’re arguing over.
We took a more organized approach to the Shadowlands mechanics, avoiding open-ended grinds while yet providing important extra choice and gameplay complexity. Looking back and continuing to consider covenant powers and how they’ve changed gameplay, they’ve been a huge success. We’ve already seen players say things like, “I hope I can keep calling spirits indefinitely,” since they couldn’t image playing a druid without it. That’s a sign of achievement.
Guilds that span factions are still a possibility.
Despite the fact that cross-faction grouping has previously been disclosed, many players have inquired about the prospect of cross-faction guilds to aid in player coordination. As things stand, a player who chooses to switch factions from their usual group of friends will be cut off, able to access items like guild chat, guild repairs, bank, and even significant milestones like Hall of Fame: The Jailer only via their Battle.net friends list (Horde).
GamesBeat, via Ion Hazzikostas
It’s a distinct probability. We know better than to shut the door on practically anything permanently. However, we want to be led by feedback.
We will never be able to reverse the effects of loosening constraints and allowing the creation of social relationships. Sorry, we concluded this was a mistake, and you can’t do that anymore. We can’t tell a group that’s been playing together for a number of months, sorry, we decided this was a mistake, and you can’t do that anymore.
