World of Warcraft: Live Q & A Recap
The developers are sitting down to answer community questions about all things Warcraft and the next expansion!

Key Points
  • Stat squish and item squish
  • Unique raid buffs are back and are class specific
  • Titanforging will continue, however, slots affected by the Heart of Azeroth can't warforge/titanforge.
  • More character customization options coming in expansion.
  • Jaina is not a villain, just flawed
  • Void Elves will switch into a void form in combat and have a more normal form when desired.
  • Timewalking will be expanded
  • Flying will unlock similar to Legion
  • The Legion legendary system is gone in Battle for Azeroth
  • Starting bag will increase in size if you have an authenticator attached to your account
  • Worgen/Goblin updates are on the way, but not for 8.0
  • Players get 6 new character slots per realm.

Q & A

Q: Are Warfronts similar to invasions? What are the rewards?
A: They will be built up to and up for a certain amount of time. The team is looking at other rewards such as invasions and timewalking in terms of rewards. Nothing is finalized yet.

Q: Will basic reputations become account wide?
A: Account wide unlocks try to focus on content unlocks over simple reputations. It is a separate set of goals that doesn't need to be account wide.

Q: Is there a stat squish?
A: Yes, there is another squish. The point isn't to nerf but bring everything in line. This time they are also squishing item level.

Q: Is Anduin a Paladin?
A: Anduin is still a priest. He is a hero character and so can do things normal priests can not.

Q: Will there be cross faction chat?
A: No cross faction chat at all except through battle.net. Community chat is character to character.

Q: Are there any changes in the works to help with guild recruitment?
A: Nothing planned right now, but trying to focus on social structures that are not quite as hard to get into.

Q: Will mob health and damage be scaled as well with the new scaling of the old world? What about heirlooms?
A: Team is looking to make the health and damage of mobs relevant to level. Heirlooms are scaled for level.

Q: Any comments on artifact power/knowledge and how it influenced azerite?
A: Decisions at the start of the expansion were a lot cooler than at this stage in the expansion. Team wants choices to be meaningful throughout the expansion and get rid of the crazy amount of power that needs to be obtained.

Q: What was your thought process when bringing back raid buffs?
A: There was something cool about the buffs going out before a boss. Team always looks at classes as unique and special and want to emphasize that. They don't want these buffs to be extreme but worthwhile.

Q: How do you view PVP templates?
A: Team likes the PVP talents, however, it is hard to put that into the outdoor world. They recognize how unbalanced world PVP is. Team wants you to be able to customize your character more in PVP. They are looking at the scaling technology to use within PVP, basically using the same tech that lets low levels party with higher levels. They are reworking the reward structure in PVP.

Q: What about titanforging?
A: There will be tweaks but not a fundamental change to the system. They want there to still be excitement in rewards. Titanforging will not happen on armor slots affected by the Heart of Azeroth, however.

Q: Can characters get some sort of counter to push backs and knock backs?
A: Niche for Death Knights , want to expand upon it for that specific class.

Q: What do you plan to do about the character creation being archaic?
A: Allied races are the start to this. Art team took a look at Allied races and are now going to incorporate that into the older races. More character customization is coming. Upright orcs are on the agenda. Barber will now double as a chiropractor!

Q: Is Jaina a hero in Battle for Azeroth?
A: She is complicated. Jaina is wrapped with regret. She was responsible for the death of her father and how the Horde is today. She is a damaged character and that damage will be explored. We will try to understand the way she is and try to pull her out of it. She is not evil, she is conflicted.

Q: Why do so many bosses have holes in their ceilings?
A: Functionally, there is no camera collision. Aesthetically, it allows team to show outside world without windows.

Q: What are your plans for starting zones affected by the new expansion?
A: No changes except for leveling improvements. In order to appreciate the impact of the events of Battle for Azeroth you need to understand it. Sharding technology will change the zones affected by these events for characters who are 110 and above. Other zones are also affected.

Q: Will Void Elves be stuck in Void Elf form?
A: It isn't like metamorphosis but they definitely have a void form and a more normal form. It is similar to worgen. They will go into the void in combat.

Q: How will you address trinkets and titanforging?
A: The rate of titanforging and warforging will be adjusted. Item level should win at all times. Relinquished system helps.

Q: What about adding Mythic + to old dungeons?
A: Good idea. Team is looking into timewalking keystones that are only available during the timewalking events.

Q: How soon will flying be available?
A: Same as Legion

Q: What is the future of mobile apps moving forward?
A: Team likes being able to stay in touch with character on the go and wants to continue it. Also want to merge armory app with these features.

Q: Any chance of a consolidation for timewalking?
A: Probably not all expansions active at once, but what other activities can happen during timewalking such as the outdoor world? WoD timewalking likely coming during Battle for Azeroth.

Q: How do you keep people attached to their faction instead of switching sides?
A: Play the game you want to play it. The new technologies allow for this.

Q: What are your plans for legendaries in the next expansion?
A: Azerite armor does what legendaries did in Legion. The legendary system from legion is not continuing into Battle for Azeroth.

Q: Will the quest log size be increased?
A: Certain quests don't need to be in the log. Team wants to tackle this first. 25 quests is already too hard to manage.

Q: Will the default backpack be increased?
A: Very close to allowing the first backpack to slightly increase. In future patch if you have authenticator is attached to account your bag size will increase.

Q: Will there be different raids based on factions/stories in raids?
A: Definitely different stories. In terms of bosses, not so much. Looking further ahead faction conflict might play out in raids. Member of opposite faction could be raid boss.

Q: Will exploits and bugs from Classic be fixed for the Classic servers?
A: Turning to the community for answers. Team wants to recreate the experience as you remember it. They do not want bugs that cause crashes or severe issues, however. Should UBRS be 10 or 5 man?

Q: Is heritage armor unlocked on all races?
A: Heritage armor is only wearable by the race it is made for.

Q: Will friends limit increase for battle.net?
A: Team needs to make this happen and will eventually.

Q: How will farming for ilvl specific greens be affected by scaling?
A: The items will still drop and will scale.

Q: How long will Warfronts last?
A: Longer than dungeons, but team is still working this out. Beta feedback will help.

Q: What classes are available to the Allied races?
A: Allied races are unique and not linked to the other classes. Identity is taken into account when figuring out what classes the race can be.

Q: Why are Nightborne Horde and Void Elves Alliance?
A: All Allied Races have introductory quests that answer these questions.

Q: What does the Legion ending mean for the demon hunter class?
A: Demon hunters are ultimately night elves and blood elves. They will continue on protecting the world that Illidan loves. One day demons might return!

Q: Are the continents completely split between the factions?
A: Silvermoon is still Horde and Azuremyst is still Alliance. They are the lingering zones for their factions on these continents.

Q: When will worgens/goblins get updated?
A: Not in 8.0 but they are actively being worked on. Animations for Goblins are fine but they need visual updates. Male worgen are decent, but females need to be reworked.

Q: Rewards for Opting into World PVP?
A: Don't want to pressure players into opting in. The exact values aren't finalized yet.

Q: Will the character slots per realm increase?
A: Yes, 6 new slots per realm.

Q: Cross realm trading?
A: Figure out a way to do it without economy issues.

Q: When is beta?
A: Opt in at the website.
This article was originally published in forum thread: World of Warcraft: Live Q & A Recap started by Stoy View original post
Comments 176 Comments
  1. mmoc1a11dff06e's Avatar
    Q: Will exploits and bugs from Classic be fixed for the Classic servers?
    A: Turning to the community for answers. Team wants to recreate the experience as you remember it. They do not want bugs that cause crashes or severe issues, however. Should UBRS be 10 or 5 man?
    I'm not 100% sure but i think that UBRS started as a 15 player raid, was scaled down to 10 and later (i think it was around end of Wotlk or Beginning of Cata turned into a 5man Version so it was open for the Dungeon Browser and turned into a new 5man dungeon in WoD?
    Can anybody confirm this or am I totally off?
  1. Kathranis's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by zemerax View Post
    Still no answer on whats going on with classes that need artifact abilities. Are they being baked in? Reworked?
    They said some would be baked into the core class and others would be going away, same as trinket and set abilities. I suspect some will also be moved to Azerite Armor pieces.

    I think a lot of this will probably have to wait until beta is underway to get hashed out. This is the kind of thing they're going to need a lot of solid feedback on.

    Honestly, it might be a good idea to start organizing threads for the different classes/specs so people can talk about which traits and legendary abilities they feel are the most important and iconic.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Crossless View Post
    Q: What about titanforging?
    A: There will be tweaks but not a fundamental change to the system. They want there to still be excitement in rewards.

    Nope, nope, nope, i'm done, fuck this, pass, see you in 2 expansions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Achilles55 View Post
    Fml seriously? WHY?! Between Guild, friends, class discord, twitch, twitter, and MMOC I've heard almost a unanimous hate for titanforging. Why are they keping it?
    They said they were reducing how frequently it could occur, and that it'll only happen for non-Azerite Armor, didn't they? Or did you guys miss that part?
  1. mmoc8d6f890807's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Frankenstain View Post
    My gosh, this people with BfA questions... start asking stuff about Classic...
    What do you need to know? Its a decent way off and it'll hopefully be the same as it was in 2004....
  1. Daan's Avatar
    So that Water Elementar boss is an Immerseus 2.0?
  1. Low Hanging Fruit's Avatar
    Looks like Legion claimed red shirt guy.
  1. Vutar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Byucknah The Red View Post
    Never heard of any of those mmos, doubt they will make any impact at all. 13 years have proven wow is going nowhere and there have always been doomsayers like you since wow came out.

    No one cares.

    Never heard of three of the most anticipated MMORPGs in production eh? Ya might want to start reading a bit more.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Druki View Post
    That's 100% true. But you know, we'll be learning about BfA over the next several months. We'll learn about Azshara, the fate of our Artifacts, etc. And doesn't that make those questions irrelevant once BfA launches?


    *Over the next year* since there is no way this is coming out until next fall.
  1. iceman85's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Derzorvadur View Post
    Yes, you used to mess with things and do weird stuff " back in the day " because near the beginning it actually took you quite some time to level compared to things today so everything had more weight to it. Unless you're actively going out of your way to not level quickly, like not doing quests or dungeons, you level too quickly for there to be a need for these things. It's important for the sake of new players to start off with a basic toolkit and then unlock extra stuff as they go along so they don't get overwhelmed. A nexperienced player is going to be doing the leveling content for one of two reasons, either you're making a new toon to play at max level as quickly as possible or you're doing it because you enjoy going through the story on a new toon while learning it. Nether of which requires a talent system that has a ton of depth and meaningful choices because it doesn't improve the game play for what you're doing.
    yea i get your point, just a shame that the game got reduced to this mindless and quick experience it is now, to cater to casuals
  1. Ealyssa's Avatar
    Male worgen are decent
    Decent is allready pushing, bearable would have been better. When I saw Genn in the cinematic I said to myself "WHY TEH FUCK ARENT WORGEN LIKE THIS IN GAME". That's exactly what I thought, word for word.
  1. Krokar's Avatar
    Why is thrall not defending the home of where his new FAMILY lives? how the fuck did they leave him out completely? Where is Wrathion after all his bullshit in Pandaria about taking up his fathers mantle to defend the world from the legion? jfc blizz!
  1. Vargur's Avatar
    Q: How soon will flying be available?
    A: Same as Legion

    Guess I'm out for good then.
  1. Gadzooks's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Blayze View Post
    I was expecting evasive answers like previous Q&As.
    They've surprised me this time.
    I miss Metzen for panels like this. There is so little charisma or passion on that stage. A lot of "systems" "tweaks" and babble about controlling the player's experience more and more fine grained. Where's the fun? It's like a status meeting at work, for god's sake. I appreciate the art director's honestly about character creation issues, but overall, this was just number crunchers reviewing spread sheets. Afrasiabi's response on Jaina was just flat and uninspired and dry. C'mon, Alex. This is a game. Have some fun. None of them looked like they wanted to be there. Their body language was aweful, it looked like. police lineup.

    And, I gotta say it. Players....start considering salads. My god.
  1. Darkguyver2020's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Vutar View Post
    Never heard of three of the most anticipated MMORPGs in production eh? Ya might want to start reading a bit more.
    Just like how Warhammer online, Rift, Guild Wars 2, Wildstar, Tera, Star Wars the Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls Online, Black Desert (etc etc etc) were all anticipated MMO's but didn't even come close to being as successful as WoW. Even during Warlords of Draenor which is considered the worst WoW expansion ever.
    Yeah... I really don't care.
  1. good diu bro's Avatar
    No plague please.
  1. papajohn4's Avatar
    Great.. no question at all about professions... no info, no one cares... i guess we are not playing rpg anymore but angry birds
  1. h4rr0d's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Leyre View Post
    Anduin is still a priest. He is a hero character and so can do things normal priests can not.

    Excuse me?? Then WHAT THE FUCK IS MY PRIEST
    Well, considering he didn’t do jackshit the last two xpacs, while your priest was merely the only one capable of handling Light’s Wrath, he was probably off in some kind of “hero character” training facility that basically made him into a dual class warrior/priest. I understand Allies wanted a badass king after their last one got himself killed so good there wasn’t anything left to bury, but this is just so wrong on so many levels.

    Edit: Anduin becoming all badass is ruining the immersion quite a bit for me. They have been trying to convince us that we are important, leaders of our classes and what not, but this makes us seem like nothing more than a cog in the machine.
  1. Tarx's Avatar
    6 new character slots . Thank you Blizzard I was so many alts and I want to make more
  1. Santoryu's Avatar
    UBRS was originally a 15 man that got scaled down to 10. The 5 man instance is LBRS. Shows how much they know lol
  1. Rósa's Avatar
    Well learn something new every day.. Never noticed that bosses have holes in their ceilings .... lol
  1. Siq1ne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Crossless View Post
    Q: What about titanforging?
    A: There will be tweaks but not a fundamental change to the system. They want there to still be excitement in rewards.

    Nope, nope, nope, i'm done, fuck this, pass, see you in 2 expansions.
    Why would you assume it won't exist in 2 expansions?
  1. fathom81's Avatar
    Void elves are in voidform pre combat, not the otherway around

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