Wrath of the Lich King Classic is almost here, giving players the rare opportunity to experience this chapter ofWorld of Warcrafta second time. The lauded expansion is fondly remembered as one of the best periods ofWorld of Warcrafthistory, and was one of the most-anticipated expansions forWoW Classicto revisit.
However, creating aWorld of Warcraft Classicexpansion is not as easy as re-releasing a 10-year-old patch without further considerations. Game Rant spoke withWorld of WarcraftClassicassociate production director Clayton Stone and senior software engineer Kevin Vigue in a roundtable interview about what decisions had to be made when creating Wrath of the Lich King Classic. They said the core of creating aWorld of Warcraft Classicexperience is balancing fans' desire toexperience Wrath of the Lich King with modern amenitiesto create an experience that is both new and nostalgic.
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A Second Chance at World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft Classicis not like other modern remakes and remasters. To re-release chapters of a venerable MMORPG as they originally appeared is something few titles could attempt, let alone succeed to the degree ofWorld of Warcraft Classic. Wrath of the Lich King’s original release was especially impactful, and its return toWorld of Warcraft Classiccould become its most important chapter to date.
ThoughWorld of Warcraft’slong historyplayed a major role inClassic’ssuccess, an even greater contributor was the difference between MMOs today versus 20 years ago. Players felt smaller, progression felt slower, and there were less quality-of-life features. This created “Social Stickiness,” as Vigue called it, by making players rely on one another rather than features like Dungeon Finder and quest waypoints. “It is easy to say it is just nostalgia, but the fabric of the game is influenced by the game design.”
Preserving that “Social Stickiness” is core toWorld of Warcraft Classic, and integral to the second launch of Wrath of the Lich King. Though nostalgia may tell someone that old-schoolWorld of Warcraftwas perfect, there are always ways to improve it, according to Stone.Though finding a group for a dungeon or raid requires more work via the Party Finder tool and chat, it helps to forge bonds that create lasting impressions on players. Some of these changes have been controversial, but they ultimately work topreserve theWorld of Warcraft Classicexperience.
“We recognize how special Wrath of the Lich King is to the player base. Thinking about the fans who would return for it, who may not have played it for a while, or all these brand-new fans who had never experienced it before, it was a really special moment in time for a lot of people.”
Another wayWorld of Warcraft Classicsurprised players on this second go with Wrath of the Lich King is through the surprise crossover mount. The Frostbrood Proto-Wyrm mount for retailWorld of Warcraftcan now be earned bycompleting the Death Knight starting zone in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. “[The positive reaction to the Proto-Wyrm] has certainly emboldened us to think about more ideas like that than we would have,” Stone said. Though it won’t be able to do these promotions all the time, the joy it sparked could create a trend for futureWorld of Warcraft Classicreleases.
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Making a New World of Warcraft Experience
World of Warcraft Classiccame about because players wanted to experience the original version of the historic MMO. “One of the things we like to do is look back at the pillars for why we releasedWoWClassic in the first place,” Stone said. “When we look to the future, we are keeping a very close eye on what we hear from players.” Like past and futureClassicexpansions, Wrath of the Lich King Classic’s development was strongly influenced by thedesire to do right byWorld of Warcraftfans.
That differentiation has become core to the design philosophy ofWorld of Warcraft Classic. Though it originally launched with the intention to make as few changes as possible,World of WarcraftClassichas introduced more small changes to provide a better experience without compromising its old-school integrity. According to Stone, that maxim applies to prior releases, Wrath of the Lich King Classic, andwhatever comes next forWorld of Warcraft Classic.
“Whenever we think about what’s to come next, we definitely want to look at it through that lens. How do we maintain that lens, and how do we continue to ensure this Classic experience is providing something different from the mainline experience?”
Beyond running on better servers, Wrath of the Lich King Classic uses the class balance from the final patch of the original expansion and will have dual spec available at launch. It also allows players to make Death Knights without having an existing character at level 55, and will be replacing 10-man raid loot drops with their stronger 25-man versions at higher tiers to keep players invested in clearing old content. These changes only happened because of the first run of Wrath of the Lich King, which acted as both teacher and test run for theClassicdevelopment team. In this way, Wrath of the Lich King Classic can be a truly unique experience whether people played theoriginalWorld of Warcraftexpansionor not.
World of Warcraftis available on PC. Wrath of the Lich King Classic launches September 26.
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